Beaten Zone A McLean Swanson 9781481101318 Books
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beaten zone n. the area of ground struck by gun-fire (Oxford English Dictionary). The blaze of war tempers the mettle of soldiers in Beaten Zone. Let there be no doubt American War Fighters are the standard-bearers of their nation's freedom; they are the vanguards of that nation's democracy. However, a prolonged, unpopular and undefined war erodes them. Instead of returning from theaters of combat hardened like steel, the perpetual return to the blast furnace of battle makes them like cast iron poured into no mold, brittle and formless. The story of the Global War on Terror, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, has yet to take shape. The legacy of those wars, however, is coalescing. It is a narrative of individual pride and national failure. It is a microcosm of the American Experience of the first decade of the new millennium. Since the 9/11 attacks, the United States of America is a nation suffering from PTSD; the stories within these pages are explorations of that affliction.
Beaten Zone A McLean Swanson 9781481101318 Books
Beaten Zone is a great collection of short stories. The stories are complete and artfully written in various literary styles. Common throughout is the exploration of humanity with an intimate exploration into the essence of the central characters.Use of segmentation helps the stories maintain a compelling rhythm. Certainly, this short story collection is literary, which these days, essentially means anything written above an 8th grade reading level.
But the accuracy of internal struggle and development, that's done very well and can enrich the understanding of humanity for any reader. Great literature for Soldiers and those who love and support them.
I highly recommend Beaten Zone.
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Tags : Beaten Zone [A. McLean Swanson] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. beaten zone n. the area of ground struck by gun-fire (Oxford English Dictionary). The blaze of war tempers the mettle of soldiers in Beaten Zone. Let there be no doubt: American War Fighters are the standard-bearers of their nation's freedom; they are the vanguards of that nation's democracy. However,A. McLean Swanson,Beaten Zone,CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform,1481101315,Fiction,Fiction - General,Fiction Literary,Literary
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Beaten Zone A McLean Swanson 9781481101318 Books Reviews
This is a collection of short stories and as such it is hard to review it as whole. I'm sure those who like to read military literature will find this captivating. There wasn't many military jargon that I couldn't figure out, I had to consult my ex-military hubby only once on "suppressive fire".
What pulled me out of reading was the constant jumping between now and then. It happened from paragraph to paragraph and I had to re-read many times to see what I missed only to realize that the characters are reliving the war. This made it for a choppy reading and I wondered if it's to show the effects of PTSD on how mind works and cannot steady the thoughts. However, once I settled into this style, it seemed all right, but that didn't happen until almost the last story, which by the way will pull on your heartstrings.
The dialogue placed outside quotation marks also took a bit of adjusting to, since the author did use proper formatting for dialogue in some scenes then switched back to telling.
Though, I must admit this book depressed me but it made me think as well. It does seem as if only thing that's left nowadays is to take up a minimum paying job and be "happy". At least in Canada, minimum wage is all that's going up, besides the cost of living. And kids play gory computer games hours on the end, grow up bombarded by commercials and constant stream of info, realize there's not much to life than this, pick up real weapon and go on shooting rampage. Not sure what else I can say about this book other than it makes you think, makes you feel for those solders and leaves you wondering with one question is it worth putting one's life on the line? Everyone should read Beaten Zone, especially those thinking to join army for whatever reason.
It's difficult to review this collection of short stories as a unit because they are written with such a wide range of styles and techniques. As a whole, they were all accurate to their subject matter and the author's military experience was evident in each story. Furthermore, it is clear that the author put great thought and effort into choosing a writing style for each story. This is not the work of an amateur author. Rather I imagine that most of my former English teachers would absolutely adore the opportunity to read these stories and then analyze every detail for symbolism, choice of writing style, and all other forms of literary technique. Unfortunately, my English teachers and I often disagreed on what makes a good book; much like I found the classics such as `The Great Gadspy' and Ernest Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea" to be exhausting reads, so were some of these stories. Other stories had less depth in the writing style but they were easier to read and for me, more enjoyable.
Elements I disliked
In some of the stories, the author had the tendency to jump back and forth between past and present or between two different stories. When this happened, there usually wasn't any break between the paragraphs to indicate the shift and it would take one or two (sometimes more) sentences for me to realize a shift had occurred. I'm sure the author did this for a reason, and I'm sure there are some people out there who would love to speculate to that reason, but I personally didn't like it. It prevented me from being able to get engrossed in the story because I was constantly trying to reorient myself.
One story was written with about 2 to 4 footnotes per page. The footnotes were interesting and they did add a different undertone to the story, but again I wasn't able to get engrossed because I constantly had to jump down and find the right footnote.
The other minor thing that bothered me slightly was the lack of quotation marks around speech in a couple stories. I'll admit, it added emphasis to have the text plainly without quotation marks. The effect was neat. But on occasion, I had to reread a line or two to follow what was going on. In case it's not clear yet, as a matter of preference, I really dislike being jarred out of a story - even a little.
What worked
First of all the realism in each story was excellent. The technical details and the author's ability to capture exactly what it would be like to be in enemy territory really impressed me. As someone who is completely unfamiliar with circumstances or situations that are even remotely similar to war I found these stories very interesting. Other stories focused more on what it was like for soldiers after they returned from Afghanistan or Iraq and I found this information equally interesting.
I was also thrilled to see a book that captures how ugly war is. Several stories referred to and somewhat denounced the graphic video-games that depict war today or the books that make war seem `romantic' as the author put it. I appreciated these stories for trying to expose how wrong such books and games are. I once spook to a teenager who was a year or two away from graduating high school. He was telling me he planned to join the air-force upon completion of his studies and in the same breath he was telling me how awesome some of the graphic war video-games he played were and how cool it was when walls collapsed or the like. Joining the military can be an honorable act, but I thought it was a little ugly just how excited and enthusiastic he was about choosing a profession that might call on him to kill human beings. I think this book and more literature like this can help counter the effects of video-games and similar media. If I knew where that teenager was today, I would give him a copy of these stories to read.
Finally, since I critiqued the writing style earlier, I feel I should add that the style of each story was very professional and clean. The author clearly selected every word, and even every punctuation note, with a meticulous eye. For this reason alone, I think the book deserves at least 4 stars. Also, I would like to thank the author for offering me a free copy of his book for my honest review.
The stories in this book are obviously told with first hand perspective. Gripping, gritty, often raw accounts of war and the affects on the human psyche. I look forward to reading more by this author.
This is excellent look into the psyche of a modern US soldier. I read it just before Veterans Day and it truly captures the mental weight that unconventional combat places on a veteran.
A very well written book. At times almost impossible to put down. Spellbinding events at times. The book puts you in a different time and place
A gripping collection of short stories that are based loosely on the authors experiences while serving in the military during the first few years of Iraq and Afghanistan. Part fiction, part memoir, Beaten Zone has the prose that is part Don DeLillo, Denis Johnson, and Tim O'brien, but still remains faithful to his own voice.
Beaten Zone is a great collection of short stories. The stories are complete and artfully written in various literary styles. Common throughout is the exploration of humanity with an intimate exploration into the essence of the central characters.
Use of segmentation helps the stories maintain a compelling rhythm. Certainly, this short story collection is literary, which these days, essentially means anything written above an 8th grade reading level.
But the accuracy of internal struggle and development, that's done very well and can enrich the understanding of humanity for any reader. Great literature for Soldiers and those who love and support them.
I highly recommend Beaten Zone.
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