Then I hit high school and switched to murder mysteries; Patricia Cromwell’s medical ones and Sue Grafton’s ABC crime novels like “N is for Noose” were my idea of quality reads. My pathetic excuse was that I read enough scholarly books at school so reading for enjoyment should be light and casual.
The truth is, I didn’t actually read most of the books for English class—“Catcher in the Rye,” “The Stranger,” “Raisin in the Sun” and “Chocolat” are the only ones that vaguely ring a bell. Thank you, Sparknotes. I tried to maintain a glimmer of literary pride by devouring “The Da Vinci Code,” “Angels and Demons” and all else Dan Brown, but even that’s stretching it.
After my trashy literature phase I got to college and felt the need to acquire a more mature taste in books. Enter “My Horizontal Life” and “Are You There Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea” by my girl Chelsea Handler. What a step up. While wildly entertaining and further fueling my obsession, these were obviously not going to help my image.
So, I made a legit attempt at this literary makeover and found a book and author that ended up leaving a huge impression.
“The Forever War” by Dexter Filkins is a book everybody should read. Written by a New York Times correspondent, it candidly explores how we (the United States) got where we are today. It exposes with raw observation the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan in the 1990s, the Sept. 11 attacks and the war in Iraq. It was named best non-fiction book by Time Magazine and was the New York Times Best Book of 2008.
Filkins infiltrated himself into Iraqi and military culture, spending 2003 to 2006 at The New York Times’ Baghdad Bureau. During this time he went above and beyond that of an average reporter and got down to the bare fundamentals of what this country is all about.
He presents an intimate landscape of characters, from innocent locals to ruthless Iraqi insurgent leaders to hardened American military commanders and baby-faced soldiers barely out of high school. Filkins’ unwavering commitment put him in often fatal situations with the odds constantly stacked against him—trolling the streets past curfew, tagging along on active military missions, dodging snipers, racing past roadside bombs and perhaps most daring, running along the streets and paths of Iraq cities beyond the fortified confinements of the Green Zone.
Filkins was told over and over to leave Iraq and return home. He didn’t listen such was his desire to capture the true essence of the war-torn nation. He was one of the last American reporters at the Baghdad Bureau.
The scenes are told vividly, leaving no detail to the imagination and painting a starkly shocking portrait of the Iraq war from both an American and Iraqi perspective. Straight reporting tells us the U.S. military presence is getting the job done, reforming Iraqi culture and implementing democracy. Interviews with Iraqi families and candid relationships with Iraqi translators tell a different story of terror, destruction, heartache and a country so set in its ways that any democratic progress is ultimately torn down—again and again.
Filkins weaves a tale that is deeply personal, sharing each interaction no matter how disturbing or touching. He tells of carnage from suicide bombings and public displays of punishment.
A man kills another over farmland. His punishment? The victim’s family members deliver death with a shot to the head, sometimes preceded by torture to draw it out, all playing out in front of crowds gathered to watch as if it was an afternoon soccer game. Children frolic in mine-ridden fields, indifferent to the accidental victims that are often blown to bits. Lines to vote stretch for miles, only to be interrupted by suicidal explosions.
What Filklins sees, the reader sees. What he feels, the reader feels. He goes beyond relaying first-hand accounts and observations to put himself in the story, making him not just the author, but a pivotal character.
He said that he wanted “The Forever War” to be vastly different from other war books out there. Most are told from a certain distance; from the outside looking in point of view. Filkins is in the middle of battlefields, shares dinner with locals, spends extensive time on military operations and readers travel right alongside him. He said he didn’t want to write a play-by-play of the war but what it felt like to be there. He succeeds.
Before this December I was admittedly ignorant to the war in Iraq. I knew the basics, whatever the news told me about casualties, bombings, elections and spending but it’s difficult to fully decipher what it all means and why we’re there from bare, spotty and detached reporting. “The Forever War” triggered a profound reaction as I scrambled to finish it before spring semester when I would have no time for leisure. I realized that the articles we read and broadcasts we see don’t even begin to tell the real story. In many ways, they don’t tell anything at all.
Suddenly, everything is clear. The good the U.S. has done pales in comparison to the destruction it has imposed on a confused and unsuspecting nation. Iraq is a country that’s culture leaves little room for flexibility. Democracy will forever be a notion, an idea implemented here and there but ultimately dismantled. I’ve always been against the war but for no solid or passionate reason. I just knew that we didn’t belong there and we never did. Now, I’ve realized why this is painfully true and for the first time, I care.
“The Forever War” cannot be summed up in a one-page book review. I wouldn’t even call this a book review; let’s call it more of a book suggestion or recommendation. Its impact, relevance and necessity cannot be put into words, will not be given justice. Read the book. Your impression of our country and this war will be forever changed. Filkins is brilliant, courageous and has made, perhaps, the most vital contribution to this war.
To learn more about my new favorite writer and journalist, trek over to www.dexterfilkins.net. You can also read more about the Iraq war on nytimes.com, the At War blog where reporters contribute photos and posts directly from Iraq. Check it out!
