War Year

by Joe Haldeman

As part of the Bravo Company engineering corps, young John Farmer must survive the toughest combat of the Vietnam War, but his toughest job is burying the soldiers who die in action.

Genres: Fiction, War, Science Fiction, Historical Fiction

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1972

About the author

Brother of Jack C. Haldeman II

Haldeman is the author of 20 novels and five collections. The Forever War won the Nebula, Hugo and Ditmar Awards for best science fiction novel in 1975. Other notable titles include Camouflage, The Accidental Time Machine and Marsbound as well as the short works "Graves," "Tricentennial" and "The Hemingway Hoax." Starbound is scheduled for a January release. SFWA president Russell Davis called Haldeman "an extraordinarily talented writer, a respected teacher and mentor in our community, and a good friend."

Haldeman officially received the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master for 2010 by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America at the Nebula Awards Weekend in May, 2010 in Hollywood, Fla.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is Haldeman's somewhat autobiographical first novel, a short and straight forward account of a soldier's life in Viet Nam in 1968. It's not science fiction, but harshly realistic. It's rather stark, but quite compelling. It makes a great leg of a tripod along with his 1968 and The Forever War.

[Eric_W · Rating 4 out of 5]

Haldeman, author of numerous award-winning scifi novels, wrote this following a year in Vietnam. He had originally intended to study mathematics, but after a meeting with numerous authors at a convention, he realized he might be able to make a living writing. Through the gracious assistance of Ben Bova, his Vietnam novel was accepted for publication, and he put grad school in the rear-view mirror.
While it’s not the best novel about the war, it has to be the most depressing. It’s a fast read, the story of an army engineer who just wants to make it through a year. He is injured when a good friend steps on a Bouncing Betty. I won’t say much more, except that the ending is suitably abrupt.

[Mike Lilly · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW.....ranks right at the top of Vietnam memoirs. Great reading and compares highly to "Vietnam -Perkasie" by Bill Ehrhart and "Fields of Fire" by James Webb. Great writing by a great G.I. who was actually there, wounded and lived to tell us all about how horrible the Vietnam War was for those who gave their last breath as a fighting soldier.

[Zack Wussow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Powerful book, in an interesting style. Haldeman expected the book to be used for a "easy-readers-for-adults" program which never happened, so it's written using only the 500 most common words in English.

[Terry Plumb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good and easily digestable

I have loved Haldeman's book The Forever War but had never heard of War Year. I thought it was excellent. Very straightforward and impactful. It seems very authentic.

[Ralph Carlson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is probably the fifth or sixth time I have read this awesome little book. Probably won’t be the last.

[Tyler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short and powerful. Haldeman’s first novel and not science fiction at all. Just the horrors of the Vietnam War. Its a shame more people haven't read this; I think its one of the author's best works. That ending. Man. This will stick with me for a while

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid, if no frills, account of a soldier's time in Vietnam circa 1968. It's pretty direct, without a lot a lot of fancy, vivid prose, but it has a solid ring-of-truth to it. With a length of about 120-130 pages, it should still be an easy, engaging read even if you find the prose a little flat.

[Thrillers R Us · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bruce has always done his own thing, following the highly successful actioner DIE HARD with the commercially as well as critically unmemorable Vietnam War drama IN COUNTRY. Opening in late September to get Oscar attention of Academy voters, IN COUNTRY pits Bruce Willis as a Vietnam veteran against PTSD in an uncharacteristically low-key role, letting the story of a teen getting to know her KIA father via photographs and letters take center stage. Just over fifteen years earlier in 1972, WAR YEAR by Joe Haldeman acquainted readers with one soldier's experiences during his tour of duty in the Vietnam War. Set sometime in 1968, WAR YEAR naturally involves a lot of letter writing and picture taking of the '365 and a wake-up', taking the reader deep, albeit briefly, into the quandary of America's formerly longest war.

Sounding a lot like Oliver Stone's lauded PLATOON in places, WAR YEAR is a book that doesn't lay a bad trip, it does, however, show what the Vietnam War was like on a day to day basis. Just IN COUNTRY and getting a taste of Southeast Asia after processing through Cam Ranh Bay, John W. Farmer, a tall Oklahoman with B Company, 4th Engineers arrives at his home for the next year, Camp Enari. Naturally nicknamed Oklahoma by his compadres, Farmer soon realizes that there's a war going on the other side of that barbed wire. Upon arrival, all newbies are taught the facts of life during a quasi indoc week, during which they learn about weapons, booby traps, jungle survival, and even get to spend a night out in Charlie's Country on the other side of the fence. Moreover, WAR YEAR is an excellent primer on artillery rounds and will teach you how to work C-4, blasting caps, det cord et cetera, just in case you weren't paying attention during DIE HARD. Thereafter, it seems, good old John W. turned into a base-camp commando, doing a lot of writing of LETTERS HOME FROM VIETNAM, fading out of sight to dodge enterprising sergeants cruising for "volunteers" for petty work details, and sitting around in a circle, passing Scotch around, washing it down with beer and telling lies. Pretty standard fare for the Army, even in a war zone.

Almost in the form of an epistolary, WAR YEAR gets serious in the few moments when combat visits home and the letter scribe finds out that war and combat is much different than murdering tin cans on the range. Constantly reiterating to not get cocky, careless, or sloppy and to keep their weapons clean at all times, WAR YEAR reminds that out in the boonies, everybody depends on everybody else, and that nothing good ever starts on time in the army. Moreover, the grunts and the readers are advised that there's no such thing as a bad trip home, never to trust a sergeant, you don't want to jingle in the jungle, and most of all, RHIP; rank has its privileges. Not nearly as tense and tightly packed with instances of combat, WAR YEAR has a grander, year-long scope and is nonetheless condensed. Rather short and sudden, WAR YEAR takes a turn in a different direction once a Bouncing Betty makes its appearance, yet still not able to shake Farmer's inability to get up much hate for the enemy, insisting that it's President Johnson's war and he should fight it. Unlike most other books about the same subject, WAR YEAR is not a conventional yarn about a year-long TOUR OF DUTY during the Vietnam War; there aren't a lot of extras or fluff. Minimal, tough, raw, and abrupt, WAR YEAR is a fascinating tour and day to day view of life in Vietnam in the middle of a brutal war.

[Allen Randall · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was lucky enough to be born so that I turned 18 in the middle of 1974. I still had to register with the selective service and report that I was in college but they were no longer drafting people. I remember, as a kid, seeing the evening news with the nightly casuality reports of dead and wounded but I really didn't grasp what was going on until later.
I have read several of Haldeman's book prior to this but I didn't really know what to expect. What I found was a descriptive, somewhat scary representation of what was happening in Vietnam at the time. His description of ambushes, firefights and jungle fighting made me wonder how I would react in those situations. If just reading about them scared me, I can't imagine what it would be like being there. Haldeman shows his how his experience, through John Farmer, fed the narrative of the story. This was not typical of his other books in that it wasn't a science fiction but based on experience. And this experience shows through the way the story is laid out and grows. John Farmer isn't really a hero, at least he doesn't set out to be one, but becomes one when he is wounded in one of the firefights. You feel the pain, the grit, the need for morphine to cover the pain, the slow path to rehabilitation which is interrupted because he didn't stroke a one-star general's ego by saluting his jeep as it drove by. He is prematurely sent back to the fire base and, although he is given a light duty, is forced back into the jungle to join the Engineers again.
This was a short book written through exposure to years of experience in the jungle. You will feel Farmer's pain and frustration all the way up until the end. I heartily suggest you read the book to experience it. It is not just a story but an experience.

[James Joyce]

Very interesting read. Haldeman was an engineer in Vietnam, before becoming an author, and this novel is based on those experiences.

The hero, John Farmer, is an engineer with a couple of half-assed lessons in handling the explosives that are his responsibility. Scared, looking for a way out off combat duty, and dealing with the day-to-day combinations of boredom, labour, and sheer terror.

Haldeman wrote it in the kind of easy way that had me almost feeling like I was watching the second half of Full Metal Jacket, but without the Hollywood humour. Gritty, dark, but a slim book. Well-worth the read, if you're interested in first-hand experiences of the Vietnam War.

[Kieran McAndrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oklahoma resident John Farmer is drafted to Vietnam and his experiences range from the mundane to the extraordinary.

A sparsely narrated tale, Haldeman mixes grim reality with dark humour to expose the strange theatre of war.

[Ted · Rating 3 out of 5]

It reads more like a biographical account (Halderman did serve in Vietnam) than a fictional one. I didn't read any reviews prior to reading so I was very much surprised by the abrupt ending.

[Mary H. Law]

This book was well written yet graphic! However, it ended way too abruptly. Was expecting so much more.

[William Hence · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lucky to be smart

It was a good book to read and made me happy I got a 2s and missed nam and go to Penn state,

[James Stroffolino · Rating 5 out of 5]

War Year was a very plain and basic type of book, the author didn't add fancy descriptions or take 5 pages just to introduce a new character. Many may disagree but that's the best type of book to me; to the point, action packed, and what needed to be told was told. Almost like it was told by a REAL soldier. The ending was a huge shocker though, a disappointment in a way but not really. I'd recommend this book for those who hate boring books that just go on and on with details that are irrelevant to the story.

[Bob · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was OK, there are better Vietnam War book out there. I seem to recall really liking Winston Groom's Better Times Than These better when I read it some time ago. If you like Joe Haldeman's prose style when he wrote Forever War, this book will probably appeal to you--the voice is very similar (without the time travel and space war, of course!) It was worth the time to read.

[Little Timmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Haldeman didn't write alot of straight fiction, he pretty quickly moved into the SiFi field and made his name there. This is one of his earliest works and alot of his war experience comes out in the story. Any military person will see all the quirks of serving come out in the book. Good Read, Recommended

[Leif · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although he would move on to write some excellent speculative fiction, this early work of Haldeman's may be his most poignant. Too sad to really recommend, but interesting to see what it is like when the author writes a normal ol' fiction book.

[Greg Burrell · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's by Joe Haldeman but this is NOT science fiction. It's fiction but all-too-real, one gets the sense it's an autobiographical account of Haldeman's time in the Vietnam war. The ending is abrupt but that's the point and it makes an impact.

[Joe Baptist · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a short and engaging book about a soldier in Vietnam in 1968.
Note that the ending of the paperback edition is different and much darker than that of the hardcover edition.

[Mhorg · Rating 5 out of 5]

written by a man who is today one of the best science fiction authors around, this is an unblemished look at one mans year in Vietnam. an excellent book.

[Droydicus Malojan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well written in a reportage style and then it just... stops. An early indication perhaps of Haldeman's problem with endings.