The Good Soldiers
ISBN:9780374165734 read summary

This is a great book if you want to read about the Battalion Commander and a select few soldiers. As someone that was there I was really disappointed in the book. I already knew my company would be left out because the author wasn't allowed near us. Other then that it gives a good perspective of Iraq from a battalion commanders point of view.

I discovered this book in People magazine as a recommendation and received as a gift this past Christmas. I read it fairly quickly. Finkel does a great job of making the reader really feel like they're in the middle of Iraq with the soldiers. It can be pretty sad at times, but what do you expect from a book about the soldiers over in Iraq right now? Finkel does have a way of throwing in some laughs as well though to lighten the mood. Overall, this is a great book and I would definitely recommend to anybody interested in what is going on overseas. You get a better idea of the military terminology and (I think) I better less biased (not completely unbiased) report. After watching the movie Hurt Locker, they seem very similar, which I think supports the story's authenticity rather than destroy it.

The book took me much longer to get through than I anticipated because it absolutely weighed heavy on the heart. Finkel was an embedded reporter with a batallion in Iraq in 2007. This is their story and it is a difficult one but a worthy read.

If there was a mandatory reading list for Americans, The Good Soldiers should be on it. The writing is simple. As a matter of fact, itfs almost too simple. The tragedies and insanities of war are relayed with such a high level of frankness, itfs practically impossible to forget this is a true story. You want to get lost in description and mood but forget it, Finkel doesnft give you a break. And why should he? Itfs something not afforded to his comrades. The 15 months of the 2-16s deployments are presented to you in a devastating matter-of-fact manner as if Finkel himself is trying to smother his own emotions.

The only betrayal to how Finkel perhaps views the war is the clever strategy of beginning each chapter with an excerpt of whatever speech former President Bush delivered the month he is covering in that chapter. Doing so, he creates a complete disparity between the reality of the 2-16s experience and the Presidentfs interpretation of the situation in Iraq as presented to the American people.

The story is incredible and reminds the reader there are indeed remarkable people in this world. There are also very damaged individuals roaming among us who served us well and deserve our care and attention.

On a related note: If you read The Good Soldiers, or even if you donft, and are moved by the service of these VERY young men and women and would like to reach out and help in some way, I cannot recommend AnySoldier enough.The soldiers greatly appreciate letters from home especially notes or drawings from our nationfs children. If you can do a little more, they can always use care packages as we are not equipped to handle supplying them adequately.

"The Good Soldiers" is war journalism at its best. David Finkel has deservedly won a Pulitzer Prize with this gripping narrative of the "surge" in Iraq. It is a compelling read.

Finkel spent 8 months with the 2-16 Infantry Battalion of the US Army in Iraq in 2007 and 2008. He has no axe to grind and shows no political bias one way or the other. He has simply written an account of what he saw. And what he saw was the raw edge of war. He saw young men with an average age of only nineteen place themselves in harm's way on a daily basis. From the distance where I sit, it is hard to imagine what drove these soldiers. Each day they would traverse the streets of a dusty Iraqi town in humvees driving slowly and ever alert for improvised explosive devices. Danger always lurked.

Never having been exposed to war, I had no understanding for some of the trauma brought on these young men. The descriptions of molten copper searing through limbs and walls is frightening. Finkel pulls no punches. He describes events just as he sees them. I found myself admiring the bravery of the soldiers while questioning the rationale for the exercise itself. To drive through towns almost as targets seems insane. A wiser mind than mine will have to explain why this was being done.

I recommend this book unreservedly to the general reader trying to understand the conflict in Iraq. Yet for all Finkel's mastery in bringing the drama of the war to the reader, one is brought no closer to an explanation for how the US can leave this benighted country. What is the exit strategy? Don't get me wrong, Saddam Hussein was a barbarian for whom no one should regret his passing. The world is better rid of him. However, what happens next? Finkel inevitably brings this question to mind. I am no closer to finding an answer.

Overall, a good book that held my interest, but lacked the intense combat of such books as "Moment of Truth" by Michael Yon, "House to House" by David Bellavia, etc. I found the book focused on three things: biography of Lt. Col. Kauzlarich, IED's, and anti-bush rhetoric. I'm not defending Republicans or Democrats, but when I read a war book--especially by a journalist--I would like the author's political views restrained. Some of the accounts of medical trauma, and the road to rehabilitation, had me teary eyed. It was written well, and while a tad dry at times, I believe it is worth the read.