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The Sandbox[ THE SANDBOX ] by Zimmerman, David(Author)(Paperback)Apr 05 2011
“The Sandbox sabotaged me. I read the first four pages and my sleeve got caught in the lives of these soldiers, and the story was gritty and real and offhand, and so I lost the day and the next, and I’m so happy to report back that this terrific novel offers us both the world of the conflict and another story just as powerful. Zimmerman’s made a fine book.”—Ron Carlson, author of The SignalOperating Base A three hundred-year-old fortress in the remote Iraqi desert where a few dozen soldiers wait for their next assignment; among them, Private Toby Durrant, a self-described “broke nobody.” Then a deadly ambush touches off events that put Durrant in the middle of a far-reaching conspiracy. Insurgents massing in the nearby hills, a secretive member of military intelligence, an abandoned toy factory, and a mysterious, half-feral child—Durrant must figure out the links between them if he’s to survive. A classic story of a decent man trying to do right under impossible circumstances, this blistering look at military life in “the sandbox” of Iraq marks the debut of a major new talent.David Zimmerman, the eldest of six children, was raised in Atlanta, Georgia by an army nurse and an army JAG officer. After receiving his MFA degree in creative writing from the University of Alabama, he spent several years living and working in Brazil and Ethiopia. The Sandbox is his first novel.
- GenresFiction
Unknown Binding
First published January 1, 2010
12 people are currently reading
57 people want to read
About the author
David Zimmerman
52 books31 followersDavid Zimmerman was raised in Atlanta, Georgia and attended Emerson College and the University of Alabama. He spent several years living and working in Brazil and Ethiopia. After winning the Three-Day-Novel Contest, Anvil Press published the resulting novella, Socket. His debut novel, The Sandbox, was published by Soho Press in 2010, and his newest novel, Caring is Creepy, will be released in April of 2012. He now teaches at Iowa State University.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
September 24, 2017
A surreptitiously weird book, "The Sandbox" follows the story of Toby Durrant, soldier and screw-up, who ends up in something way over his head while deployed in Iraq.
The weirdness begins when Durrant's convoy comes across the body of a little girl lying in the road. When they stop to investigate, they come under attack, setting off a chain of events that lead Durrant into an abandoned factory where he sees what he thinks is a feral child, but everyone else assures him is a figment of his imagination. But this causes him to stumble onto a secret that his superiors desperately want to keep from him.
"The Sandbox" is a hybrid book, part war story, part mystery, part literary fiction with hints of magic realism. Although it is grounded in Durrant's day-to-day experiences, which are mostly about being hungry, dirty, and horny (FYI: like a lot of American war novels, bad language and porn feature heavily, so don't read if you're easily offended by that kind of thing), it keeps veering off into other, more mysterious or even metaphysical territory, raising more questions than it answers. Stylistically, it combines the grit of the modern war story with a polish that smacks strongly of the MFA, a particular genre that either appeals to you or it doesn't. In any case, it is good to see the Iraq war being given the literary fiction treatment.
Durrant himself is sort of sympathetic--but, like many characters in this kind of literary fiction, only sort of. He's a serial screw-up whose relationships are largely selfish, something that he is somewhat aware of and even takes tiny steps to overcome, but again, much is left unresolved and it's hard to say how successful he is. He is the epitome of the modern war hero: disaffected, cynical, self-centered, and full of doubts about his life, his war, and the part he is playing in it. "The Sandbox" is not a grand, sweeping narrative or a feel-good story of heroism, but the slightly off-center story of the very personal nature of war.
The weirdness begins when Durrant's convoy comes across the body of a little girl lying in the road. When they stop to investigate, they come under attack, setting off a chain of events that lead Durrant into an abandoned factory where he sees what he thinks is a feral child, but everyone else assures him is a figment of his imagination. But this causes him to stumble onto a secret that his superiors desperately want to keep from him.
"The Sandbox" is a hybrid book, part war story, part mystery, part literary fiction with hints of magic realism. Although it is grounded in Durrant's day-to-day experiences, which are mostly about being hungry, dirty, and horny (FYI: like a lot of American war novels, bad language and porn feature heavily, so don't read if you're easily offended by that kind of thing), it keeps veering off into other, more mysterious or even metaphysical territory, raising more questions than it answers. Stylistically, it combines the grit of the modern war story with a polish that smacks strongly of the MFA, a particular genre that either appeals to you or it doesn't. In any case, it is good to see the Iraq war being given the literary fiction treatment.
Durrant himself is sort of sympathetic--but, like many characters in this kind of literary fiction, only sort of. He's a serial screw-up whose relationships are largely selfish, something that he is somewhat aware of and even takes tiny steps to overcome, but again, much is left unresolved and it's hard to say how successful he is. He is the epitome of the modern war hero: disaffected, cynical, self-centered, and full of doubts about his life, his war, and the part he is playing in it. "The Sandbox" is not a grand, sweeping narrative or a feel-good story of heroism, but the slightly off-center story of the very personal nature of war.
February 27, 2011
I first encountered "The Sandbox" at my local library where I was struck by its desert-themed cover. Drawn to any book these days about the Iraqi war, I immediately cracked open its cover and found myself drawn in by the first few paragraphs, their ominous tone and evocative depiction of a soldier coming across the body of a dead child in the middle of the desert highway. I thought to myself wow, this is going to be an amazing glimpse into a soldier's personal journey, one in which his own internal damage (either regarding his childhood or perhaps the loss of his own child) is forced to cleanse itself and heal, however painful, in the midst of a war that kills children every day.
The first chapter sets this trajectory up, gets us ready, and then--AND THEN--something very strange happens: the novel loses its identity. By "identity" I mean that the novel takes a very sudden turn, several of them actually, as it begins as a promising literary story that veers off into a bizarre military mystery, into an over-the-top political damnation of the war, into a Hurt Locker-esque examination of adrenalin-war junkies, into soldier "bromance" and brotherhood, and finally into the overwhelming ennui of the Iraqi war itself. Within all these twists and turns, I managed to lose my footing, lose my interest, if only because I never knew where my readerly eye should fall, and because, quite frankly, I never really understood (other than the opening chapter) the true, motivating force of the main protagonist himself. A satisfying arc was never delivered.
In all honesty, the novel reads more like a promising first draft--a solid first try at a story where the author throws everything including the kitchen sink into the landscape--rather than a polished, focused novel, ready for readers, and confident in its vision.
One star for potential, unrealized.
The first chapter sets this trajectory up, gets us ready, and then--AND THEN--something very strange happens: the novel loses its identity. By "identity" I mean that the novel takes a very sudden turn, several of them actually, as it begins as a promising literary story that veers off into a bizarre military mystery, into an over-the-top political damnation of the war, into a Hurt Locker-esque examination of adrenalin-war junkies, into soldier "bromance" and brotherhood, and finally into the overwhelming ennui of the Iraqi war itself. Within all these twists and turns, I managed to lose my footing, lose my interest, if only because I never knew where my readerly eye should fall, and because, quite frankly, I never really understood (other than the opening chapter) the true, motivating force of the main protagonist himself. A satisfying arc was never delivered.
In all honesty, the novel reads more like a promising first draft--a solid first try at a story where the author throws everything including the kitchen sink into the landscape--rather than a polished, focused novel, ready for readers, and confident in its vision.
One star for potential, unrealized.
November 23, 2022
What happens to Durrant?
This book was a real page turner! It hooks you right in. The two main story lines are entwined but separate. The author does a very good job keeping your attention of both throughout the story. I wished he had made a more concluding ending. But that's just me. I like closure unless there is a sequel.
This book was a real page turner! It hooks you right in. The two main story lines are entwined but separate. The author does a very good job keeping your attention of both throughout the story. I wished he had made a more concluding ending. But that's just me. I like closure unless there is a sequel.
January 20, 2020
Actually 1.5 stars but I always round up since Goodreads won't allow half stars. As it started out, I thought it was going to a story about the soldiers in Iraq experienced during their time over there. Then it took a turn into being a mystery, but I'm really not sure what it was about.
He finds a kid hiding in a deserted factory, but the book never explains who the kid was or where the kid was from or how he/she came to be in the factory. As a matter of fact it was never made clear if the child was a boy or girl.
I think the plot was centered on some missing money and who took it and where the money was hidden. I'm not really sure. Talk about a mystery. Lol
And the ending...... It really didn't resolve anything. Maybe the author is planning on a sequel? I don't know.
He finds a kid hiding in a deserted factory, but the book never explains who the kid was or where the kid was from or how he/she came to be in the factory. As a matter of fact it was never made clear if the child was a boy or girl.
I think the plot was centered on some missing money and who took it and where the money was hidden. I'm not really sure. Talk about a mystery. Lol
And the ending...... It really didn't resolve anything. Maybe the author is planning on a sequel? I don't know.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 11, 2020
Oof. Had this one on my list for a while. Didn't have too many expectations going into it, but this was not what I expected. The story could have been good, but there were so many odd twists that just didn't add up, and seemed forced. Not terrible, but certainly not great either.
May 29, 2010
Although the writer has never been in the military, one would never know it from his prose which perfectly captures the vernacular of the infantryman. A recent review in the LA Times lauded the writing but thought the conspiracy plot was totally absurd. I take a different view that the conspiracy wasn't so far fetched at all. In light of the corruption rampant in Iraq and Afghanistan and recent incidents involving soldiers trying to trap insurgents posing as NATO interpreters in their units this plot line was very realistic. The chapters are short. One just says something like "I didn't get any sleep last night" and that's it. It's written in a frenetic style that just keeps you turning the pages. I'm saying to myself that certain things can't be happening but there is an air of plausability not absurdity. The ending leaves you wondering and perhaps somewhat disappointed in that nothing is resolved. Howver, this is a very realistic look at life on a forgotten outpost in the middle of nowhere where the enemy is within and outside the wire. Bonds of trust between fighting men crumble under the temptation of money and the anxiety that there is a traitor among them. It's all about trust.
May 14, 2010
War, sand,blood, reality. The guts of Iraqi war spewed out. Two stories, one about war, one about doing the right thing. A matter of fact, down to earth REAL cast of characters. The only reason I didn't rate this book higher is that I didn't like the ending. Guess I wanted something all tied up neat. Not going to happen in real life, not going to happen here. Kept my attention. Kept me reading.
June 9, 2010
Okay, I really wanted to learn a little more about the grunt perspective in our latest, dubious, conflict. I mean, they have to do the job regardless of the political implications....and I realized I knew nothing about daily life in Iraq. As a descriptive narrative of said daily life, it's spot on.....as a mystery, it needs a little help.
November 27, 2011
I picked this book up and the first few pages swallowed me and took me back to my days in the Army. The characters were right out of my memories and the language and descriptions were spot on. I tore through it and enjoyed every minute. Lucky find for me and I'll be looking for more from Zimmerman.
June 3, 2013
The short chapters and action packed plot create momentum from the first page. After I got about a third of the way in, I was unable to put the book down. The dialogue and voice are amazing and authentic (and at times hysterically obscene).
June 5, 2016
This book pretty much hooked me, but not because of the plot, which seemed quite secondary and a bit buried in the sand. Zimmerman is a really good writer, though. His characters and depiction of a (very) hostile environment kept me reading.
September 9, 2010
Nice details, but pedestrian mystery
October 11, 2010
A stark look at war and the people it affects including children
Currently reading
November 23, 2011This was a pick form my book club. I wouldn't usually gravitate to the subject matter of war, but I'm finding this writing so compelling. I'm learning about being a modern soldier.
October 23, 2012
Great novel of the Iraq war. You can taste the sand and it twists nicely into one of those paranoid thrillers that were de rigueur for the 1970s.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews