Jason Christopher Hartley

I first became aware of this book right around the time it came out. I'd been teaching STS--Science and Technology in Society--for a few years by that point, and part of the course's goal was to look at how the development of new technology influenced society, and vice versa. Even before the book, I'd been aware of Hartley's blog and the censorship discussions it had prompted. In short, if you haven't heard about the controversy surrounding the blog, it comes down to this: A soldier started keeping a blog while he was deployed in Iraq, and even though his goal was to talk about the life of a soldier (going to pains to avoid giving up any information which could potentially compromise national security), his military superiors requested he take it down as soon as it was discovered. Later on, when he put it back up toward the end of his deployment, he was demoted and penalized for doing so. At the time of the blog's writing (2003-2004), the military wasn't yet prepared for soldiers' widespread use of the internet while overseas. Policy hadn't caught up to technology, so there was a loophole allowing for a soldier to, essentially, informally report his day-to-day life to whoever wanted to read it.

In the case of Hartley's blog (though his wasn't the only one), the blogs talk about everything from food to sex to fighting, with particular focus on average soldiers' positions and thoughts.

When we talked about it in my class, this was a real-world, current example of technology and the government being out of step when it came to capability and policy, and we had some amazing discussions in relation to some of the blog entries I shared. As a result, I always meant to get around to reading the whole book... and finally got around to it now.

I have to admit, it was hard to read at first. Not because of the war, but because of the unflinchingly sarcastic and non-PC comments that, on some level, I guess I've gotten used to not seeing (especially not coming from a voice that I'm already preconditioned to be sympathetic to). So, it took me some time to get used to Hartley's voice, and also to remember that all this was written nearly two decades ago, when what could pass for jokes--even if seen in bad taste--were still on some level seen as acceptable and not to be censored. Do I think that this, as it stands, would get printed today? Probably not without some of those non-PC jokes being removed. (And I don't say this lightly, but I admit I cringed at a number of moments, especially in the beginning when I wasn't quite prepared for some of what I was walking into, or had just perhaps forgotten some of the jokes I'd come across in reading original entries.) At the same time, there's something to be said for this being a snapshot backward in time, and providing a real look at soldiers on the ground, so in some ways I actually appreciate that none of it was toned down.

Can you tell I've got mixed feelings about the voice? Well, there you go.

That said, Hartley's writing is powerful, and the honesty that comes from the pages is more powerful because he doesn't go to pains to over-analyze what he's saying or censor himself. What's printed in the book is, in large part, simply a printing of the blog that he wrote while on the ground in Iraq, which he was writing even when he wasn't allowed to post online. I'm glad to have read it now, and I'm glad it got published in this form; ultimately, I'm also glad that Hartley kept writing, and pushed the boundaries of what he was "allowed" to have an opinion on as far as the army was concerned. The book is worth reading for all of those reasons.

Would I recommend it? Well, it depends on the reader. It is a snapshot backward in time. If you're looking for the thoughts of an average soldier in those days, or a look into the day-to-day stressors, mindsets, and difficulties, it's worth reading. Hartley's talent for bringing the people around him to life in few words, and for not censoring himself, make the book a powerful one that's got a lot of sincere thought, and no little amount of humor. It is, at times, hard to read, and it's not meant to be a full story of the war or politics in any way, so if you're looking for a full history in that dimension, this book isn't it.

Yet, I'm glad to have read it, and as jaded as some of its pages and reportings are, there's a lot of goodness to take from it, too.… (más)

Like "The Last True Story I'll Ever Tell" this is a memoir written by a National Guardsmen about his Iraq War experiences. This book is average. Parts of it succeed in holding your interest. The book is based on the blog of the same name. The author is National Guardsmen from a unit based in NYC. The author describes his and his fellow soldiers' contempt for the Iraqis, the boredom punctuated by intense action, and the futility of searching for insurgents.
It may be too soon for an Iraq War version of "Rumors of War" or "Things They Carried" to be written. Time will bring perspective and allow more of the men there to write about their experiences. If one is deeply interested in the Iraq War it may be interesting, but if you only have a casual curiousity I wouldn't recommend it. For something similiar, I would recommend "Forever War" although it was written by a journalist, it conveys the visceral aspects of war much better.… (más)