The Yellow Birds

This is a remarkable and deceptive book. Deceptive because it is both gentle and poetic, but graphic and unrelenting in its portrayal of the senseless act of killing and the pointlessness of a war that did not need to be fought, let alone won. The story is all too familiar, and like the veterans of all wars, depicts a generation of soldiers - men and women - who have seen things they should never see, and done things they can never undo, let alone live with and understand. They are the "other" victims of war - lionized for acts that are both heinous and yet necessary to survive, and tragically almost always too painful to be able to share. Power's writing is powerful and unsentimental; and yet woven through every word is an overwhelming sense of futility and loss -loss of innocence and loss of humanity. This candid depiction of the willingness to adopt a "rambo" image of the modern day soldier that belies the trauma and the reality of the merciless killing and torture of both the enemy and the ally, is a must read. Whatever else Power's goes on to write this will become for many of us a poignant reminder of why wars are never really "won". In the meantime, this war has spawned a writer with great potential and I look forward to seeing more.