Anatomy of a Soldier is a stunning first novelâof patriotism, heroism, and profound humanismâthat will immediately take its place on the shelf of classics about what it truly means to be at war. Letâs imagine a man called Captain Tom Barnes, aka BA5799, whoâs leading British troops in the war zone. And two boys growing up together there, sharing a prized bicycle and flying kites before finding themselves estranged once foreign soldiers appear in their countryside. And then thereâs the man who trains one of them to fight against the otherâs father and all these infidel invaders. Then imagine the family and friends who radiate out from these lives, people on all sides of this conflict where virtually everyone is caught up in the middle of something unthinkable. But then regard them not as they see themselves but as all the objects surrounding them do: shoes and boots, a helmet, a bag of fertilizer, a medal, a beer glass, a snowflake, dog tags, and a horrific improvised explosive device that binds them all together by blowing one of them apartâforty-five different narrators in all, including the multiple medical implements subsequently required to keep Captain Barnes alive. The result is a novel that reveals not only an author with a striking literary talent and intelligence but also the lives of peopleâwhether husband or wife, father or mother, son or daughterâwho are part of this same heart-stopping journey. A work of extraordinary humanity and hope, created out of something hopeless and dehumanizing, it makes art out of pain and suffering and takes its place in a long and rich line of novels that articulate the lives that soldiers lead. In the boom of an instant, and in decades of very different lives and experiences, we see things weâve never understood so clearly before.
Hardcover:
9781101946633 | Alfred a Knopf Inc, May 17, 2016, cover price $25.95 |
About this edition: Anatomy of a Soldier is a stunning first novelâof patriotism, heroism, and profound humanismâthat will immediately take its place on the shelf of classics about what it truly means to be at war.
Paperback:
9780571325825 | Gardners Books, March 3, 2016, cover price $20.05 |
About this edition: NA
CD/Spoken Word:
9780735206564 | Unabridged edition (Random House, May 17, 2016), cover price $40.00