Michael’s comment > Likes and Comments

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Well said, your entire post.

What can I ad but to express my admiration for an author who can keep my interest with so little dialogue and absence of plot. The first-person voice locks us into the mind of the protagonist, which, while limiting us to that person's experiences, does at the same time lend access to the depth and breadth of his feelings. What is truly exceptional are the author's ability to express them. Most people would be psychologically numbed by such traumatic events.

The vast majority of military combatants have either repressed their traumatic memories or they have no stomach for reliving them, certainly not well enough to write them down in a fashion palatable to others.

This is why this book stands out. This author, by some miracle, had the mental wherewithal to take trip after trip into the furnace and sit with his flaming pen long enough and often enough to create such a noble record. No one in his right mind would want to do this, but the proof is between the covers.

You said "I think it was the most beautiful book I've read" and I understand what you mean. It has been a long time since I've read this book but my lasting impression of it is that it was beautiful and poetic even when the subject matter was almost gruesome.

Wow, what a great quote.

Great explanation.

Sublime ;)