Karl Marlantes, Vietnam War veteran and author of the semi-autobiographical novel Matterhorn, has shared his top ten war stories with The Guardian here.
It's no real surprise to see texts from the First World War dominate the list but what is interesting is the lack of entries from the war Marlantes participated in himself.
Perhaps those stories are too painful to re-visit, maybe the author wants to encourage those interested in Vietnam to read his book. Or could it be the influence and impact that visual representations of the Vietnam War had on Marlantes. As he states, in a previous piece also from The Guardian, "How can any modern novelist not be affected by the movies?" The film nearest to his own experiences was Oliver Stone's depiction of warfare: "Only Platoon came close to getting it right".
I have not had a chance to read Matterhorn yet but hope to do so in the not too distant future. The fact that it took 35 years to write and publish gives some indication of the trauma Marlantes must have experienced and the difficult journey he has subsequently been on to see his life's work realised.
It's also a good bet that the books on the top 10 list have provided some stylistc inspiration for the author as have, I'm sure, the more note-worthy films about the Vietnam War.
The relationship between written and visual representations, and the influence they have on each other, is a fascinating topic, but that's for another day...
According to Blunden's biographer, Sassoon and Blunden found over 300 factual errors in Goodbye to All That. I've read elsewhere that Graves was considered to have written it with an idea of what would sell. I think Undertones of War would have been a better choice.
ReplyDeleteIt's too bad Marlantes' list couldn't have been a little longer as well, to include Catch 22 and The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien.
Hey there Stephen. Interesting article. You're correct in that Karl experiences a lot of trauma during the war and a lot of painstaking recovery since then. There's a lot of interesting information on the Matterhorn Facebook page at www.facebook.com/matterhornbook with interviews and news articles about his thoughts on all this. Stop by and I encourage to "like" that page so we can get the word out about Matterhorn.
ReplyDelete@KyleThanks for the information Kyle, I will be sure to check it out.
ReplyDelete@Rags and Paper Undertones of War is a good shout. I'm also a fan of Sassoon's Complete Memoirs of George Sherston which, although 'fictional' could be seen as more accurate than Graves' 'autobiography'. In their different approaches, I think all three writers reveal some idea of the effect the First World War had on them, even if accuracy is often replaced by artistry.
ReplyDelete