Redeployment

By: Phil Klay

Narrated by: Craig Klein

Length: 7 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

Winner of the National Book Award for Fiction

Selected as one of the best books of the year by The New York Times Book Review, Time, Newsweek, The Washington Post Book World, Amazon, and more.

Phil Klay's Redeployment takes listeners to the frontlines of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, asking us to understand what happened there, and what happened to the soldiers who returned. Interwoven with themes of brutality and faith, guilt and fear, helplessness and survival, the characters in these stories struggle to make meaning out of chaos.

In "Redeployment", a soldier who has had to shoot dogs because they were eating human corpses must learn what it is like to return to domestic life in suburbia, surrounded by people "who have no idea where Fallujah is, where three members of your platoon died". In "After Action Report", a Lance Corporal seeks expiation for a killing he didn't commit, in order that his best friend will be unburdened. A Morturary Affairs Marine tells about his experiences collecting remains - of US and Iraqi soldiers both. A chaplain sees his understanding of Christianity, and his ability to provide solace through religion, tested by the actions of a ferocious colonel. And in the darkly comic "Money as a Weapons System", a young Foreign Service Officer is given the absurd task of helping Iraqis improve their lives by teaching them to play baseball. These stories reveal the intricate combination of monotony, bureaucracy, comradeship and violence that make up a soldier's daily life at war, and the isolation, remorse, and despair that can accompany a soldier's homecoming.

Redeployment has become a classic in the tradition of war writing. Across nations and continents, Klay sets in devastating relief the two worlds a soldier inhabits: One of extremes and one of loss. Written with a hard-eyed realism and stunning emotional depth, this work marks Phil Klay as one of the most talented new voices of his generation.

©2014 Phil Klay (P)2014 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"Redeployment is hilarious, biting, whipsawing, and sad. It’s the best thing written so far on what the war did to people’s souls.” (Dexter Filkins, The New York Times Book Review)

A Must Read - Fantastic Heart Rendering Shorts

This book is a collection of short stories. Each story makes its point but leaves you with something to consider. The author does not preach but offers a perspective the each and every main character's POV in each short. This offers us the opportunity to experience the circumstances first hand and unfiltered. Some of the stories are more traumatic than others. There is a touch of gruesomeness of war, but no more than you would find in a Steven King novel and these stories are real. I like the book precisely because it make you think instead of telling you how it is.

Although the narrator is good, the transition from one story to the next sometimes jars you as the narrator switch personas without changing voice. It would have been more effective if there were two narrators alternating each short.

The other thing that will be a little challenging is understanding all of the three letter acronyms. For example FOB mean forward operating base. Luckily I have a good grip on the vocabulary, but for some, you are going to have to use the Internet. My wife, daughter, and boyfriend of daughter are reading it while I listened. It is a part of our book circle. My daughter's boyfriend recommended it and it has been a excellent choice. I would recommend for a club setting. Those you loved Kite Runner may find this book interesting. I give it a thumbs up.

Riveting

This riveting story helped me understand war and veterans more than any other book I have read. I finished with greater compassion for the challenges veterans face. Great book.

REDEPLOYMENT

“Redeployment” is a work of fiction. It is written by Phil Klay, a Marine officer who served in Iraq in 2007/2008. (Klay is awarded the 2014 National Book Award for fiction.) “Redeployment” is about joining, deployment, and redeployment in the military. It is also about the ambiguity of combat, and the consequence of killing.

Joining the military, particularly when one is in their teens or early twenties, is often to escape. It is to escape adolescence, poverty, or a rudderless life. For a few, joining is an adventure, a career, an opportunity to get in shape or see the world. For others, joining may be a family tradition, a romantic notion of defending one’s country, or a desire to impress parents, guardians, or friends.

Klay is a veteran. He seems to be saying that it is important to understand what it means to become a soldier before signing up. “Redeployment” is neither right nor wrong but it can be right and wrong. A listener concludes the best civilians and soldiers can do in a war zone is communicate clearly, choose projects that are right for the circumstance, get it done, educate and train the indigenous, and leave what is done in the hands of the native population.

Excellent

This book gave me a glimpse of what my friends who were deployed experienced. It is an amazing book and I encourage everyone to listen to it.

you will either understand it or you wont

I couldn't stop listening. I appreciate the author not distracting the audience by explaining every acronym or militarism. I imagine that makes it challenging for someone unfamiliar but not insurmountable. thank you for writing this book.

The human cost of war is felt on all sides

This was at times light and at times a difficult story to follow. The dirrering perspectives of marines returning from war, redeploying to the theater, or transitioning out into civilian life was jarring and eye opening. One of the lines that stuck with me throughout was the fact that we say "thank you for your service...andcin most cases we have no idea what that service is". This book shows how true that really is. Unless you lived it yourself, one can never truly know.

An Overhyped, Decent Read

The horrors of the bureaucracy, folly, & brotherhood of war. It's all here in stark, sharp prose. It's the modern Iraq-war version of "The Things They Carried."

I thought this was pretty good, but not worthy of the National Book Award. For one thing, it is very difficult to distinguish any of the characters from each other. By the end of the book, I did not feel like I remembered many distinct characters or stories. It does provide interesting insight into what the war in Iraq was like, however.One thing that detracted from my reading was a lot of military acronyms that I mostly had no clue what they meant. A few stories were very disjointed to read because of so much military jargon. I felt like I needed time to absorb each story which related its own notable and important perspective.

Overall: You're not going to finish this book and feel good about it. Think of a dark, gloomy, and rainy day. That's how you'll feel when you finish this book.

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Very moving book

Would you listen to Redeployment again? Why?

Yes, I would listen to it again or, better yet, read the book on my Kindle.

Any additional comments?

Excellent, multi-faceted, multi-character set of stories, all linked together from the Iraq war. Very well written & well narrated.

Interesting..an eye opener about how we value life

The book is a bit confusing at first till you realize each chapter is a different story. The author brings forth a multitude of aspects of the war. In the end I think you can conclude that the experience of war leaves a deep scar ..that pulses with pain at random.

Probably best for vets or their families

It was difficult for me to tell which character was speaking although the readers voice was perfect for the book. I did find the story difficult to follow.