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Carrying
Theodore Weesner (The Car Thief) launches his first new novel in fifteen Carrying, a gritty and realistic work of fiction that throws the reader into the detonating heart of the first Iraqi war (Kuwait).
With unapologetic candor, Weesner navigates literary cherry bombs surrounding young warrior and South Boston native Jimmy Murphy, who writes a secret journal to his old English Professor, Herman Roth. Weesner's contrapuntal narrative elegantly weaves two gripping journeys between Roth's struggles with his waning academic career while Jimmy's life pulsates with rage, racial prejudice, desire, and the struggles of a "Southie" who must confront personal demons to become a top gunner in one of the U.S. Military's elite fighting groups.
Jimmy's rapid rise through the ranks to become a top-flight tank gunner gives him a sense of purpose and direction in a war that rapidly becomes ruthless. Iraq transforms into a wasteland of burning oil wells layered with the stench of burned corpses, as the 2nd Cavalry tank division obliterate the Iraqi army. And when it's all over, will he really be able to leave it behind?
This timely and beautifully written novel, by a great American writer inserts itself into the zeitgeist about the legions of young men and women who return home but never quite leave the battlefield, carrying the deepest wounds of heartbreak, shock, fear, and aggression, and how one soldier comes of age in the age of terror and endless war.
With unapologetic candor, Weesner navigates literary cherry bombs surrounding young warrior and South Boston native Jimmy Murphy, who writes a secret journal to his old English Professor, Herman Roth. Weesner's contrapuntal narrative elegantly weaves two gripping journeys between Roth's struggles with his waning academic career while Jimmy's life pulsates with rage, racial prejudice, desire, and the struggles of a "Southie" who must confront personal demons to become a top gunner in one of the U.S. Military's elite fighting groups.
Jimmy's rapid rise through the ranks to become a top-flight tank gunner gives him a sense of purpose and direction in a war that rapidly becomes ruthless. Iraq transforms into a wasteland of burning oil wells layered with the stench of burned corpses, as the 2nd Cavalry tank division obliterate the Iraqi army. And when it's all over, will he really be able to leave it behind?
This timely and beautifully written novel, by a great American writer inserts itself into the zeitgeist about the legions of young men and women who return home but never quite leave the battlefield, carrying the deepest wounds of heartbreak, shock, fear, and aggression, and how one soldier comes of age in the age of terror and endless war.
420 pages, Hardcover
First published March 12, 2015
3 people want to read
About the author
Theodore Weesner
24 books3 followersAmerican author and Professor at Emerson College.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 13, 2016
I was asked to review this book by Librarything.com.
For the author's fan this book has been an 8 year wait.
This book explores race and class in America and continues on the story of Jimmy Murphy from a teenager attending school to being a trained soldier. The books sees Jimmy mature and a mentorship emerges with his professor as jimmy is engulfed in a war zone.
This was an unusual book for me but for readers out there who are interested in war fare and military novels this will be right up their street.
The author writes well and has researched his subject well.
For the author's fan this book has been an 8 year wait.
This book explores race and class in America and continues on the story of Jimmy Murphy from a teenager attending school to being a trained soldier. The books sees Jimmy mature and a mentorship emerges with his professor as jimmy is engulfed in a war zone.
This was an unusual book for me but for readers out there who are interested in war fare and military novels this will be right up their street.
The author writes well and has researched his subject well.
May 30, 2016
Carrying follows the life of Jimmy Murphy, from South Boston, as told by his ex teacher and friends Herman Roth.
The plot follows Jimmy’s life from a young 14 year old to an amateur boxer through to a serving soldier deployed to the gulf war. It then follows his life outside of the army, after serving for his country.
I must say straight off that I had quite a hard time reading this book. I really wanted to love it as the Gulf War was something that I studied and was interested in. I kept journals of events and newspaper cutting, etc, so it was a war I knew a thing or two about.
However, I found the book hard to swallow. There was a lot of racial and expletive language, and also a few words that when translated into British English had a completely different meaning, which took some getting used to.
The book opens quite slowly building up to the war, and I felt like it dragged on for a little too long. The part where Jimmy served in the Gulf War was the most interesting and was quite action packed.
Unfortunately, I didn’t connect with the characters, and I feel this is one of the reasons that I found the book hard to read.
I’m sorry to say that this book really wasn’t something I could get my teeth into, even though I really wanted to. In the right hands this book could be a five star rating, for me, I’m afraid it is only three stars.
Reviewed by Stacey at www.whisperingstories.com
The plot follows Jimmy’s life from a young 14 year old to an amateur boxer through to a serving soldier deployed to the gulf war. It then follows his life outside of the army, after serving for his country.
I must say straight off that I had quite a hard time reading this book. I really wanted to love it as the Gulf War was something that I studied and was interested in. I kept journals of events and newspaper cutting, etc, so it was a war I knew a thing or two about.
However, I found the book hard to swallow. There was a lot of racial and expletive language, and also a few words that when translated into British English had a completely different meaning, which took some getting used to.
The book opens quite slowly building up to the war, and I felt like it dragged on for a little too long. The part where Jimmy served in the Gulf War was the most interesting and was quite action packed.
Unfortunately, I didn’t connect with the characters, and I feel this is one of the reasons that I found the book hard to read.
I’m sorry to say that this book really wasn’t something I could get my teeth into, even though I really wanted to. In the right hands this book could be a five star rating, for me, I’m afraid it is only three stars.
Reviewed by Stacey at www.whisperingstories.com
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews