Wednesday, July 03, 2013

The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers


"The war tried to kill us in spring. As grass greened the plains of Nineveh and the weather warmed, we patrolled the low-slung hills beyond the cities and towns. We moved over them and through the tall grass on faith, kneading paths into windswept growth like pioneers. While we slept, the war rubbed its thousand ribs against the ground in prayer. When we pressed onward through exhaustion, its eyes were white and open in the dark. While we ate, the war fasted, fed by its own deprivation. It made love and gave birth and spread through fire."
I've been meaning to post about this book for a while. It tells the story of two young soldiers who fought in the Iraq war and the toll the war took on their lives. This is the first book I have read that approached this subject and it was incredibly powerful, emotionally intense, poetic and will make me never look at a young man in army dress the same again. Highly recommended. One of the best books I have read this year. 


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