I don’t normally post dual reviews, but I think this one lends well to a comparison.
War Year was Joe Haldeman’s first published novel. It is not in the science fiction genre he is a Grand Master of. I believe it is a thinly-veiled account of much of his Viet Nam service as a combat engineer. 1968, however, takes his experience and allows him to paint a broader picture of the time, with a main character who is at home.
War Year is not a long work; easy-to-read and in the vernacular of soldiers in the thick of it, but with enough explanation for those who haven’t served. 1968 uses an omniscient narrator at times with a 1990s perspective and multiple points-of-view that no one character could know.
For War Year, I read the Kindle version keeping the paperback version in print. Doing a little research the original hardcover had a different (apparently longer) ending. What I read was powerful. Since I’m an acquaintance of Mr. Haldeman, I wrote and asked him why it was changed. He said that the paperback (preferred ending) was “deemed too sad [by the editor]…too grim….too authentic.” (Haldeman’s emphasis.) I’m probably not going to be able to read the hardcover version, but I recommend War Year.
I have always been fascinated by the Viet Nam War. I was too young to really understand, but grew up in the time after it ended when America had to grapple with its place in history.
Haldeman covers this well in 1968. The characters that stay at home (with Beverly being the lead one) deal with civil rights, free love, and violent demonstrations. The main character, “Spider” Spiedel is a draftee who serves as a combat engineer (as Haldeman did). Where the book diverges from his own experience (I assume) is that Spider suffers from intense PTSD in making his way stateside after his discharge. There are some intense sections of both the combat experience and life back in the states. My biggest complaint is that the book glosses over Spider’s adjustment time, not giving it the same depth as the combat experience. Maybe that’s because of the constraint of titling the book as one year’s experience, but the book just….ends. I am curious what happened to Spider and to his ex-girlfriend Beverly.
