Home Feed
Home
Search
Search
Add Review, Blurb, Quote
Add
Activity
Activity
Profile
Profile
Anatomy of a Soldier
Anatomy of a Soldier: A novel | Harry Parker
9 posts | 10 read | 10 to read
Anatomy of a Soldier is a stunning first novelof patriotism, heroism, and profound humanismthat will immediately take its place on the shelf of classics about what it truly means to be at war. Lets imagine a man called Captain Tom Barnes, aka BA5799, whos leading British troops in the war zone. And two boys growing up together there, sharing a prized bicycle and flying kites before finding themselves estranged once foreign soldiers appear in their countryside. And then theres the man who trains one of them to fight against the others father and all these infidel invaders. Then imagine the family and friends who radiate out from these lives, people on all sides of this conflict where virtually everyone is caught up in the middle of something unthinkable. But then regard them not as they see themselves but as all the objects surrounding them do: shoes and boots, a helmet, a bag of fertilizer, a medal, a beer glass, a snowflake, dog tags, and a horrific improvised explosive device that binds them all together by blowing one of them apartforty-five different narrators in all, including the multiple medical implements subsequently required to keep Captain Barnes alive. The result is a novel that reveals not only an author with a striking literary talent and intelligence but also the lives of peoplewhether husband or wife, father or mother, son or daughterwho are part of this same heart-stopping journey. A work of extraordinary humanity and hope, created out of something hopeless and dehumanizing, it makes art out of pain and suffering and takes its place in a long and rich line of novels that articulate the lives that soldiers lead. In the boom of an instant, and in decades of very different lives and experiences, we see things weve never understood so clearly before. From the Hardcover edition.
Amazon Indiebound Barnes and Noble WorldCat Goodreads LibraryThing
Pick icon
100%
review
Emmalibby
post image
Pickpick

3.5/5
I really like this in the end. It took a little while for me to get into this which is why I couldn't put it at a 4.
Really interesting narration style but it wasn't until halfway through that I started liking it. It was good that it was also told from others affected by military action as well as the soldier. Tough in places as well because the author is writing from experience.

#readingchallenge #whatireadin2018 #fiction

Bklover Belated welcome to Litsy!! 7y
Emmalibby @Bklover thank you! ☺ 7y
robinb Happy to have you here! 😊 7y
Emmalibby @robinb thanks! ☺ 7y
38 likes2 stack adds4 comments
review
Karenmartinreads
post image
Pickpick

Original, raw, honest. Engaging and unique narrative style. Read more at karenmartinreads.blogspot.com

review
8little_paws
post image
Pickpick

This is not just about a British officer who loses his legs, it's about the people affected by military action as well. Told from the perspective of objects encountered by terrorists, soldiers, and families, this framing device gets the reader thinking about the massive scope of the military industrial complex. Harry Parker was an officer in Afghanistan and Iraq and did lose both his legs, so he writes from experience. Tough read but worth it.

Zelma I removed hearing about this one on a podcast. The use of objects to tell the story was a really inventive one and reminds me of the idea behind The Things They Carried. Intriguing. 8y
Zelma *remember, not removed. 8y
32 likes1 stack add2 comments
blurb
8little_paws
post image

That feeling when you have a seat on a crowded train so you can read on your way to work!

HardcoverHearts I call it "victory". ? 8y
Zelma @HardcoverHearts absolutely! 👍 8y
32 likes2 comments
blurb
8little_paws
post image

#tbrtuesday! Just got this from the library this weekend, so I should be reading it in the next few weeks! It's a bunch of short stories from the perspective of items a soldier would have, per the blurb. Sounds interesting!

review
KowhaiAnne
Pickpick

Authentic. unique and engaging

blurb
javadiva
post image

My beautiful #24in48 stack for summer 2016!

blurb
sprinklefingers
post image

So far, so good. Super unique narration and a truly mind-bending approach to discussing the objects of war.

sprinklefingers Finished and truly loved it. Unsure about the last chapter (whether it's necessary), but overall really loved this unique pov. 8y
1 like1 stack add1 comment