Dreaming the Enemy

by David Metzenthen

I am still moving despite the fact that this dreamed-up bastard Khan walks with me - no, he doesn't walk with me, he rises up to fire, has my life in his hands, my head in his sights, and that is the image of all images that I have somehow to lose...

Johnny Shoebridge has just returned from fighting in the jungles of Vietnam. He no longer carries a weapon - only photos of the dead and a dread of the living...Pursued by a Viet Cong ghost-fighter called Khan, Johnny makes one last stand - knowing that if he cannot lay this spectre to rest, he will remain a prisoner of war for ever.

Drawing on courage, loyalty and love, Johnny tries to find a way back from the nightmare of war to a sense of hope for the future. A deeply moving exploration of trauma and recovery.

Genres: Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Historical, War, Australia

304 pages, Paperback

First published March 23, 2016

About the author

As a child, David Metzenthen was a nature boy; he loved fishing and farm work, exploring the bush, and being outdoors under the stars. He also lived very much inside his own head; feeling that the world was a place of unlimited adventure. He harboured dreams of becoming a cowboy, a fisherman, a farmer, a sailor, or a writer. Instead he left home at eighteen, with a copy of Jack Kerouac's On the Road for company, and hitch-hiked his way around New Zealand. Returning to Australia, David worked as a builder's labourer and advertising copy writer before finding success as a writer of books for children and young adults.

David Metzenthen now lives with his wife and two children in Melbourne and is one of Australia's top writers for young people. He has received many awards for excellence, including the 2000 CBCA Book of the Year Award: Older Readers for Stony Heart Country, a 2003 Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Wildlight, and a 2003 Queensland Premier's Literary Award for Boys of Blood and Bone. In 2004, Boys of Blood and Bone also won a NSW Premier's Literary Award and was an Honour Book in the CBCA Book of the Year Awards: Older Readers. His novel Black Water was an Honour Book in the 2008 CBCA Book of the Year Awards: Older Readers, and Jarvis 24 won the CBCA Award for Book of the Year: Older Readers in 2010, as well as being shortlisted for the Prime Minister's Literary Award, WA Premier's Literary Award, Inky Awards and SA Festival Awards for Literature.

Reviews

[Jeann (Happy Indulgence) · Rating 2 out of 5]

A really confronting look at war between Australian troops and Vietnamese Cong, with strong Australian slang and flavour. It explores PTSD of a soldier whose returned from war and haunted by what he's seen on the battlefield.

Unfortunately I was quite confused by the non linear storyline and had difficulty surmising what was real, imagined, past or present. Aside from his survival of the war and his imagining of his enemy Khanh, Johnny really didn't have any defining traits that I could connect with as a character.

I actually enjoyed Khanh's point of view a lot more (or at least, Johnny's imaginings of it) as he returns from war in search of his true love Phuong who he fought with in the war. Sadly much of the Vietnamese setting is quite clinical without much insight into the country, political makeup or beliefs of its people, when there was a great opportunity to delve into another culture.

Dreaming the Enemy feels like a very personal account that captures the thoughts and feelings of a returning soldier experiencing PTSD. Unfortunately, due to its confusing narrative, lack of character connection and wrap up that only makes sense within the last few pages, I found it to be a messy and convoluted read. I also couldn't see where the YA part of this book comes in as it's obvious that the characters are older based on what they're experiencing.

I received a review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Figgy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Actual rating 1.5

This is an incredibly hard book to get caught up in, and after struggling through it for a while, I had to put it down.

I don’t normally review books I didn’t finish, and those I do review usually rate a 1 or 2 out of 10.
In the instance of Dreaming the Enemy, however, I can appreciate what the author was going for. There is a disconnection here between the reader and the characters, and the story is told in a cold and passive way with lots of telling and very little, if any, showing. It follows a non-linear path that makes it hard to tell what’s now and what’s then, what’s really happening, and what’s in Johnny’s imagination.

The rest of this review can be found HERE!

[Aimee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a copy of Dreaming the Enemy from Allen and Unwin New Zealand to review. This sounded really good when I read the synopsis but there was one thing that ruined it for me.

This book had so much potential (for me) but the author had this really annoying habit of using two names for his protagonist. It wouldn’t have been so bad if he’d used ‘Johnny’ for the present and ‘Shoey’ for the flashbacks but he used both names in the same paragraph. I’ll share a spoiler free example –
“Thanks. You too.” Johnny meant it. The man might be well-off but he was fair and reasonable. There was a lot to be said for that. Shoey turned and walked away.
That happens a lot throughout the book and it really drove me crazy. Just pick a name and stick with it! It really did ruin the book for me, I just couldn’t enjoy it because the main characters name kept changing.

I did like the story once I started to ignore the name thing. I chose to call him Johnny through the book and ignore ‘Shoey.’ I don’t read a lot of books based around wars and I’ve never read a book about the Vietnam War. I’ve also never talked to anyone that’s fought in a war. But I do know that a lot of people have problems like PTSD when they get home.

Johnny and a lot of men were conscripted to fight and die in a war they didn’t believe in. The ones who did come back were injured physically and/or mentally. Johnny was having flashbacks to his time in the war and dreams (both while he was awake and asleep) of a man called Kahn that he fought in Vietnam. Johnny decides to live out the flashbacks to the end of the story in the hope that once he’s relived everything that’s happened to him it’ll be over and he can move on.

Johnny goes on a journey, across Australia and in his mind, to get back to the person he used to be before he went to Vietnam, or as close as he can get because the war changed him. But Johnny is determined that it won’t ruin his future.

Overall I did like Dreaming the Enemy but there was that one thing that really annoyed me and unfortunately ruined it for me. I don’t know if I’ll be reading any other books of David’s any time soon.

[Trisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tough to read. War stories always are (for me).

The internal relationship that Johnny develops with Khan over the course of the novel is both poignant and insightful.

It's also a healing journey.

The book lingers a little too long for me. But of course, it's all the things - assured, important, challenging, and informative.

Also hurty.

[Pauline · Rating 5 out of 5]

David Metzenthen not only knows how to write about war and its horrific and destructive aftermath but he also knows how to write about young men. Not always a pleasant read but highly recommended for young people to learn a little about some of Australia's recent and often ignored history.

[Adele Broadbent · Rating 5 out of 5]

Johnny Shoebridge has just returned from Vietnam. He’s suffering from PTSD, with constant visions of the places he’s been, the things he’s seen and the things he’s done.

Those memories are also haunted by a Viet Cong soldier Johnny saw in more than one battle in the Vietnam jungle. Johhny calls him Khan and as Johnny searches for some peace from his memories, Kahn too is looking for peace in Johnny's dreams and nightmares.

But peace is a hard thing to find. Johnny spends time on his own, away from family and friends, while he works through his memories to finally find something to banish Khan from his mind for good.

This novel is written in third person and the tension rachets up through the novel until a firestorm between the Viet Cong and the Allied forces. This battle and Johnny’s memories up to it and through it, shapes the story and then Johnny’s future when he remembers something to finally give him some of the peace he’d been longing for.

Excellent fiction for older teens. Guys will love this. It’s gutsy and raw, taking the reader into the jungle, wondering whether a gun is being aimed at you, a mine is below your feet or a grenade is flying towards you.
Wonderful writing by this talented author. I loved Tigerfish and I love this even more.

[Dimity Powell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stunning. If you think you have difficulties getting your head around this psychological battle, spare a thought for the main character, Johnny Shoebridge. His tale of post Vietnam traumatic anxiety is as wrenching and spell-binding as it is complicated and beautiful. Metzenthen has woven an elegant web of infinite detail, spinning tragedy and despair with hope and love, undoable finality with incomplete futures, expanding on the truism that a solider may leave the battle field behind but that the battle may never truly leaves him. Older teen readers will gain much from this powerful and stirring read as will the rest of us.

[Isabel Ogilvie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-read for all young Australians.

[Margot McGovern · Rating 4 out of 5]

Johnny Shoebridge has returned home to Australia after serving in Vietnam. He was conscripted to fight and watched his best mates, Lex and Barry, die in battle. Johnny never imagined himself a soldier or that his government would send him to a foreign country to kill people he knew nothing about. He did unspeakable things in the name of duty, but now that he’s home, few people recognise the sacrifice he’s made for his country, and it’s not only the memory of his friends that haunts him. He also dreams of an enemy soldier he met in battle. Johnny calls him Khan. And as Johnny looks back on his time in Vietnam, he begins to imagine how the war looked through Khan’s eyes and how he might also be struggling to build a new life for himself now that the war is over.

Dreaming the Enemy is a story of compassion and healing that follows a young man’s struggle to return to normal life after experiencing the trauma of war.

It’s also not the kind of book I’d typically pick up. However, Metzenthen’s premise had me intrigued. I loved the idea of a soldier putting himself in his enemy’s shoes and trying to understand his point of view. I think it’s something we could all stand to do more often.

"Johnny had first glimpsed that skinny, quick Main Force enemy fighter in a battle in the Suoi Chau Pha valley. He hadn’t had time to kill the guy as the young bastard in black sprinted between rice paddies while American Cobra gunships tore the village apart. But he’d had too much time to ever forget him. So Johnny gave him a name and a life because they’d crossed paths more than once in the war, and now it seemed they would cross paths always."

Initially, I found the shifts between Johnny’s ‘present’ self, his recollections of the war and his imaginings of Khan’s present life and war experiences a little confusing, but once I got my head around the setup, it was easy enough to follow. At first, I was also unsure how I felt about an Australian soldier making up the Vietnamese soldier’s story for him: why didn’t Metzenthen make Khan a ‘real’ character and let him speak for himself? But in the end, having Johnny imagine Khan creates a direct connection and opens a dialogue between the two characters that wouldn’t otherwise be possible. More than that, it’s part of Johnny’s healing process: learning to see ‘Charlie’ not as ‘the enemy’ but as young people with jobs and families and dreams, just like him. Indeed, he feels closer to Khan than most of his fellow Australians.

Australia’s involvement in Vietnam isn’t often depicted in fiction and film. I remember learning about it in school, but even still, most of what I (and I suspect many of my generation and younger) know about Vietnam comes from American films, and from watching many of those you could be forgiven for thinking Australia wasn’t even there. In fact, according to the Australian War Memorial, almost 60,000 Australian troops fought in Vietnam. We lost 521 Australians as a result of the war, and more than 3,000 were injured. As in the US, we had conscription. We also had a strong anti-war movement and returned soldiers were often greeted with hostility. To read a fictional narrative about how the war looked through an Australian soldier’s eyes made me feel more connected to those soldiers and what they experienced: if I’d been born a generation earlier, the young men in Metzenthen’s story might have been my friends.

More than humanising the soldiers on both sides of the war, Metzenthen’s story looks at the very difficult process soldiers both past and present face when returning to civilian life. PTSD is an inconvenient truth at odds with the heroic narratives we often craft around war. In Australia, the ANZAC spirit is a substantial part of our cultural identity. At the Dawn Service on ANZAC Day, we speak about the Diggers’ bravery, mateship and the extraordinary sacrifice they made and continue to make for our country. But the returned soldier who’s traumatised by war and can’t move beyond their experience doesn’t gel with the image of the brave young larrikin fighting beside his mates under the Australian flag. As a nation, we’re also not great at talking about our feelings. (Like a true Aussie, you’ll notice I say ‘not great’ when I mean ‘bad’.) For men, in particular, discussing and displaying non-aggressive emotion is too often stigmatised as ‘weak’ and ’emasculating’. So PTSD is something that a lot of young men, like Johnny, find difficult to own. Dreaming the Enemy sends a powerful message to young readers that it’s both important and brave for trauma survivors to seek help. It’s also a reminder that not all battles take place on the front lines and that war doesn’t end when the fighting stops.

Dreaming the Enemy is an important story for all the reasons I’ve outlined above, but for me, some of that was tarnished by Metzenthen’s depiction of women. There are four (minor) recurring female characters in the story: Johnny’s pre-war girlfriend, Jilly; Carly, a beautiful but troubled girl Johnny meets upon returning home and who helps Johnny get back on track; Lien a pretty girl Khan likes in his village; and Phuong a plain but brave girl who, like Khan, served as a soldier and has been missing since the end of the war. The depiction of these women irked me for a couple of reasons. First, Metzenthen keeps coming back to whether or not the women are physically attractive. It’s their defining attribute. Indeed, the only thing we learn about Lien is that she’s beautiful, as Khan’s friend Son says:

"Lien is a captive to her looks. If she doesn’t give herself to someone soon, she’ll have nothing left to give. Those breasts are like flowers in a vase, Khan. They will wilt. But they are in full bloom now."

Because snagging a man is where it’s at, ladies. Metzenthen makes a particular point of showing how noble Khan is for pursuing ‘plain’ Phuong instead of trying to win over ‘beautiful’ Lien.

"…Khan shook his head, imagining. What could be more delightful than that girl? Nothing, nobody, surely?
You’re forgetting someone, Johnny suggested. Aren’t ya, mate? What about the other one? Phuong, the plain one. The special one. The fighter. The courageous one. Concentrate on her, champ, because this chick, Lien will just bring you pain. What you need now is someone who thinks like you, knows what you know, has seen and done what you have seen and done—and might still be able to talk about it."

Somebody give the boys a trophy for recognising that looks aren’t everything. Nevermind what Lien might want or the fact that it’s clearly not Khan.

Second, when Johnny and Khan imagine their relationships with these women, they primarily think about what support the women can offer them. The boys give little consideration to what the women might want or who they are beyond their relationship. I found this to be particularly the case with Johnny and Carly. She helps him find a place to stay, sorts out temporary work for him and tells him who to speak to at the CES (Commonwealth Employment Service). She’s also there as a friend and someone who’s willing to listen. Then, soon as Johnny gets his head together, he ups stumps and leaves to find his girlfriend—wham, bam, thank you, mam—even though it’s clear that Carly is also having a hard time and could use a friend herself.

Finally, Jilly and Phuong are positioned as ‘prizes’ the soldiers will receive for surviving the war and navigating the transition back into civilian life. After taking some time to sort himself out, Johnny embarks on the long journey to Melbourne to find Jilly, while he imagines Khan travelling from village to village searching for Phuong. These ‘quests’ support the age-old message: the hero gets the girl. She is a reward for his labours; something he’s entitled to. As a woman, this makes for uncomfortable reading, especially given Dreaming the Enemy is a story aimed at teenagers: is this the message we want to send to the next generation? Gah! It’s so frustrating because the book is so strong on so many other fronts!!!

Okay, rant over. Overall, I’m not sure I enjoyed Dreaming the Enemy. As YA goes, it’s a harrowing read and Johnny is a real slang-slinging bloke’s bloke. I didn’t like him, but I felt for him, and by extension for our soldiers in general. I respected Metzenthen for crafting a story that explores some of the less glamorous realities of war and, in doing so, challenging and complicating the narratives we construct around war.

Thank you to Allen & Unwin for providing a copy of Dreaming the Enemy in exchange for an honest review.

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[Rainier · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book, easy to read, worth a read. A couple times the 'Johnny dreaming up Khan's perspective' concept took away from the story. You could get into what was happening and then get dragged out again because the author decided you needed reminding that 'this is what Johnny imagined'. But worth a read, and interesting.

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Couldn't finish this novel. I like the idea of it, what with the strong themes and historical side to it but I just couldn't get past the boring parts where nothing was happening. The first few chapters need to be captivating or else I don't enjoy it.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway. A book that gets you thinking about the horror of war from a participants view. Have a greater understanding on how this would affect someone, well written.

[dope · Rating 4 out of 5]

A tour de force

It's a shocking thing to be taken inside the head of a traumatised young conscript who's just returned from his enforced tour of duty in Vietnam and is trying to make sense of the horrors he's been a part of. It appears that David Metzenthen has written mostly for young adults but it's hard to say how teenagers would cope with this raw telling of the too terrible truths of that troublesome conflict. The author's determination to put his reader in the middle of the action, and to see the war from both the Australian conscript's and the North Vietnamese volunteer's point of view, was gripping and ultimately satisfying, for this reader at least. Definitely not an easy read but one well worth the effort.

[Mistress Bast · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was not for me. I think mostly it was because it was a character driven book and all the characters seemed wooden, two dimensional and not quite real. None of the writing resonated with me and absorbed me. I felt as if Metzenthen spent a lot of time telling me things, but his attempt to show somehow fell flat for me. I hope other people find the book different, because I think it deserves to be enjoyed more than I managed.

I can see why Metzenthen decided to mirror Johnny's story with Khan's, to show that fighting soldiers have more in common with each other than they do with the people directing their movements. But I could have done without Johnny's commentary - it didn't give me the impression that Khan was haunting Johnny, but it did make Johnny feel almost sanctimonious at times.

We were told that Lex and Barry were Johnny's best mates. In fact Johnny spent the whole book telling me they were. But for the life of me I couldn't spot anything that would have made them friends. Near the end there was a little bit camaraderie and banter going on, but before that? Nadda. And Khan's friends Thang and Trung - they might as well have been called This One and That One for all the personality they had...

I was also disappointed by the epiphany that Johnny had at the end. I would have preferred the book to have taken Johnny's "now" story across more years (instead of having that weird nothing relationship with Carly and Malcolm in a random town that didn't have any significance to the narrative beyond being 'somewhere') showing that PTSD is a life sentence, not something that can be made better with an epiphany.

[annie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting premise, but something was off. I thought this would be a quick read but it took me quite long, considering the length of the book.

I can't quite pinpoint what I didn't like in this book, but maybe it just wasn't for me, which is surprising, considering that I love Australian historical fiction, war novels, character driven stories and mental health.
I didn't find the non-linear part to be confusing as others did, but I did get confused with what Khan and Johnny were actually doing.

I can't say I'd recommend it, but I don't regret reading it because it was definitely interesting and insightful.

[TheCosyDragon · Rating 2 out of 5]

This review has been crossposted from my blog at The Cosy Dragon . Please head there for more in-depth reviews by me, which appear on a timely schedule.

Although Johnny Shoebright has returned from the jungles of Vietnam, he remains haunted by the acts he was forced to carry out, and the ones he endured. He fears the living, and finds it hard to believe that anyone could possibly feel like he does.

It’s the 20th anniversary after the Vietnam War. Since this novel was published and made its way into my hands I have seen a bunch of novels on the same topic. I know better than to ask for them though. I’m not even sure I asked for this one.

There’s just something about the prose and the interlacing of fact and fiction that didn’t do anything for me. The dreams of Johnny are very different to the life he finds himself in now, and I accept that it is probably a genuine choice of the author. Johnny himself is split between the person he ‘should be’ and the person he is. Brilliant execution, just not the right subject.

I think it’s just me. I’m not particularly interested in war stories (says the person who read Max, and enjoyed it), and so this perhaps never would have worked for me. I’d love to be proved wrong, but my rule of generally rejecting novels about wars seems to be the right choice for me at the moment.

I feel guilty, but I only got about half-way into this novel before I was distracted by something else shiny. I did read it solidly, paying attention to the details, but in the end, I just couldn’t bring myself back to read it. I’m giving this only 2 stars, I think that for the right audience it would be a hit – that audience is just not me.

[St Stephen's C C]

Two young Vietnam War veterans who fought on opposing sides return home, struggling to recover from their experience. A moving story of trauma, resilience and the challenging road to recovery.
I am still moving despite the fact that this dreamed-up bastard Khan walks with me - no, he doesn't walk with me, he rises up to fire, has my life in his hands, my head in his sights, and that is the image of all images that I have somehow to lose.
Johnny Shoebridge has just returned from fighting in the jungles of Vietnam. He no longer carries a weapon - only photos of the dead and a dread of the living.
Pursued by a Viet Cong ghost-fighter called Khan, Johnny makes one last stand - knowing that if he cannot lay this spectre to rest, he will remain a prisoner of war for ever.
Drawing on courage, loyalty and love, Johnny tries to find a way back from the nightmare of war to a sense of hope for the future.

[Leeann Nolan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an incredibly moving story of a returned Vietnam War Veteran, and his struggle to return to civilian life when the war ended.

The novel deals with complex issues such as PTSD, and the anger that many back home held towards men who had fought, even those who had been conscripted.

The fractured narrative mirrors the tortured thoughts of Johnny Shoebridge (Shoey), as he tries to regain his sense of self after being made a pawn of the Australian and American Governments.

I particularly enjoyed Johnny's imaginings of Khan, a member of the Viet Cong. These accounts humanised the 'enemy', and allowed the reader to understand the strength and determination that the Vietnamese had in fighting the Western imperialist powers, including the French.

As a Modern History teacher, I think this book explores the war in intricate detail, and I will be recommending it to all my students. It is a haunting story that will linger in the reader's mind long after it's finished.

[Jeannie May · Rating 2 out of 5]

I struggled with this book, and was relieved to finish it. While the concept of the storyline was excellent, I found it unfortunately became disjointed and confusing. The moments of brilliance were few and far between, in what otherwise could have been a fantastic book.

[Gloria · Rating 2 out of 5]

Confusing and difficult to follow. DNF

[Zoe]

Never finished it

[Rob Carseldine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent! An Australian Vietnam war veteran trying to deal with his post traumatic stress.