Curtis’s Reviews > A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam > Status Update

7 years left in war, 100 pages left! How can it conclude? Book becomes much less immersive after Ap Bac, leaning on broad view instead of intimate first-hand accounts on the ground. Enjoying anything to do with VC tactics, HCM trail & its maintenance/camouflage. Vann's sections seem more disjointed--he's often well placed to describe war & social aspect, but sections on sex life are jarring compared to the rest.

Great section on effects of massive US troop increase: hierarchy of people making money off Americans w/ prostitutes on top. Towns unable to keep workers on since they're running to get rich catering to US so garbage piles up. ARVN displaced from war as US takes over, refugees from bombings flood cities, petty crime/drugs/homelessness. When Vann's life detailed, feels odd because you're reminded this is a biography.

Like start of new book halfway in. At Book 6, Vann returns to a transformed Vietnam War & duties. Love the social front details, the daily life, the absurdity of corruption & portrait painted to show why VC so popular with locals in face of US/Saigon tyranny. Great section on man taken hostage by VC seeing their perspective. Battles tough to keep track of & done broadly instead of personal accounts. Final section!

Book 5 feels like starting new book, suddenly recounting Vann's life. His mom was nuts, abused by priest--but Vann turned out sick himself; disgusted with him. But section works as twist as well--his career wasn't heroically sacrificed for principle; it was tarnished by his behavior & he saved face & risked lots due to this. Section still much too long & struggles to maintain momentum, but neatly cuts book in 2.

US government changing out heads of government once its clear they're not doing what they want, but CIA-trained their best men so it's US-trained vs US-trained. Similarly US equips Viet Cong more than the North can--like an ouroboros war. Vann using press to get truth of futility out--Sheehan is part of it. Excellent breakdown of US Army's MO using WW2 as precedent. Big shift coming; going back to Vann's childhood.

Ap Bac told over 70 pages--suspenseful, frustrating, even funny at times. Sheehan flawlessly weaves together dense historical context with driving narrative that almost feels like a novel. While USA are the villains, perspective shifts makes you invested in their motivations as well as VC's. Love hearing VC tactics, especially training them to shoot, & cynical ladder-climbing in midst of war. Really liking this!

Backstory of war deconstructs notion that US could wash its hands of much of South Vietnam's atrocities, both under French & Diem rule. US bankrolled these rulers while feigning distance from decision-making. Sheehan highlights his own naiveté in early years there. Concentration camps, mass murder campaigns, US misunderstanding of cultural/factional distinctions. Doesn't romanticize VLF violence either. Really good.

Covers neocolonialism & US interference over other nations' self determination as systemic. Brief, but appreciated! Also got backstory on US/French interest in Nam before-after WW2, Philippines, a bit on Ho Chi Minh, suggesting the book's gonna 'flashback' to provide context as it chugs along instead of spending early chapters setting things up. So far this is done effectively, helps Vietnam seem alien upon arrival.

Really took off pg. 60-ish. Great portraits of figures that gets into personalities, motivations. Expose on why US lost war rather than critique of being in Nam at all, so far. Culture of bureaucracy/saving face/quota reports leading to war incompetence & atrocities on locals. Vann by the books US idealist confronted with admin that won't budge & callous disregard of life--makes good central figure for this. Excited!

Plenty of colourful anecdotes about Vann--his death drive initiations were funny, attitudes of people, locals, etc. Sheehan bounces from subject to subject to immerse you in life in Nam before war got hot, highlighting low casualties due to VC not wanting to turn attitudes against their liberation struggle. Chapters are really long. Not much sense of momentum yet; feels scattershot. Hoping it picks up!