When I first started reading this book I was a little skeptical about the way Mason was going to present the story since she herself was not a Vietnam war vet and therefore wouldn't have "first-hand accounts" of what truly went on over there, like O'Brien did. From what I've read so far though she has been able to encompass the war as it truly was. I looked up online some information about this book, and Bobbie Ann Mason got help writing this novel from a friend named W.D. Erhart and Mason makes reference to this person at the beginning of the book. She says that Mason called her and was embarrased about writing a Vietnam war story because she was afraid of introducing military terminology or hardware that was not appropriate to Vietnam, or create scenes or situations that were not possible in reality. W.D. Erhart said that there were a few mistakes here and there like the wrong use of weapon or wrong terminology but overall it was well written and that not many people get to read a best seller before it's even published.
Another thing I thought was interesting was the way Sam handled herself. When you first read this book you are set up with this expectation that she is going to be some little emotionally crushed girl because her dad died in the war and her mom left her to start a new family so you wouldn't blame her for being immature or shy, but we actually see an immature girl that is set in her own ways and doesn't care that she came from a troubled past. I came into the book expecting Emmett to be the father figure for Sam but instead she is the one that watches over him and makes sure that he gets his skin checked out and gets him to the doctor.
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2 comments:
Its funny you would mention this because I was thinking about the same thing. I was skeptical about how the book would fare against some of our other reading due to the whole "I was there" idea that has been tossed around again and again but so far I think its been a really great read. Its clear that a lot of thought and time went into writing the story.
I must have read the same article over Mason and also found it very interesting for her to want to write over a topic that she actually didnt experience first hand. She had to of had a lot of doubt in writing this and must of done extensive research to make sure it fit into the time and the experiences. If I were Mason I would have been afraid to write over the Vietnam war because I would be afraid of offending those who actully experienced. I respect how well she did write the book and well it does indeed fit.
(I am from group 3 and just commenting in your group)
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