Classic Trash discussion

This topic is for those who wish to discuss the book in progress. No spoilers please!

I started this book and am at the 25% mark. I'm surprised how well this story holds up. It feels like it could've been written today. Lots of action and lots of blood. Thankfully the chapters aren't that long so I can stop reading and take a little break from the violence.

You can tell the author had been through combat situations, because the scenes feel realistic. Training accidents, friendly fire and enemy fire are all shown, as well as needless killing of "civilians" and unarmed aliens. Haldeman's Vietnam experiences are put to use when writing this book.

I’m going to post as I read in the Spoilers folder, even though I’m not finished yet.

I’ve wanted to read this for a very long time. I read a short story in this universe once and was very impressed. However, reading this on Mother’s Day, I’m NOT IMPRESSED by the way the main character judges his mom who is super nice and accepts what he has done as a soldier. So she got a little randy with her neighbor - who cares? She’s your mom, stop being such a dick dude. It’s not like she agreed to murder a group of alien beings under hypnosis or anything. Bruh!

What are you talking about? I don’t remember any of that. Is this a joke I’m not getting?

I’m referring to his mother’s “roommate” when he came back. Am I accidentally reading the wrong book? Uh oh…

There are actually two or three versions of this book that have been published. The one I read was the “ultimate version” by the author in the 90s, so it could’ve been a bit different. The roommate in my version was a woman, who was revealed to be her lover. The son accepted it, with a tiny bit of uncomfortableness in the version I read.

He left early without saying goodbye in my version. Interesting that there are different versions out there!

Sarah wrote: "He left early without saying goodbye in my version. Interesting that there are different versions out there!"

Yes. I did not know until I read the Intro to my book. I guess one version was a serialized in a sf magazine. The second was published as a novel in the 1970s. The final version was published by the author in the 1990s. I wonder if the author thought he should “tone down” the main character’s reactions to the homosexuality, as his own attitudes had changed? I remember thinking it would’ve been a radically liberal way of viewing homosexuality in the 1970s.

In my version, he leaves without saying goodbye but doesn't seem too mad about it. He seems fine-ish with lesbians but weirded out with dudes.

that's one of my biggest problems with this book. the ideas about homosexuality are so freakin' dated. the idea that sexuality was a choice was pretty much typical back then, and we're still dealing with it today. he's a good writer, but his hang up on sex is tedious. find myself wanting to yell at him "yeah, I got it. get on with it" and yes, there are too many versions! lol. slogging on....