"Poisoned Jungle" by James Ballard

Publisher:  Koehler Books
Copyright: 2020
ISBN: 9781646633111

I had the good fortune to read the advance copy of this book. Many reviewers will say things like "Couldn't put it down" and such, but in my case it actually was close to being the truth. Thanks to this silly virus that's messing up everyone lives I got to stay up late and keep reading, as we we're still not allowed to return to full time hours.

The novel itself is definitely engrossing, and brings you right into the life of a combatant during the Vietnam War. You get to experience the horrors of war, and the frustration the soldiers themselves experienced had having to be there. While I've never experienced anything like this myself (and hope I never do) I'm sure their one year tour of duty, likely seemed almost never-ending. When you add to this the way they were treated by their government, and others when they returned it makes you very sympathetic to their plight.

The story takes you through the life of Andy Parks starting in 1969 when he was the medic in the Mekong Delta, and his dream that the seemingly endless war he was living thorough would be over for him when he returned home, but not realising that it would continue for many years afterward. We meet the various members of this unit, and watch as their lives unfold. We get a glimpse of what Andy experienced during his time there, and I'm fairly sure this was somewhat scaled back.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking to find out what the life of a veteran is/was like for those who returned from Vietnam. I'm looking forward to James' next book which I've been told is in the works.