The Yellow Birds

A Novel

By: Kevin Powers

Narrated by: Holter Graham

Length: 5 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's summary

"The war tried to kill us in the spring," begins this breathtaking account of friendship and loss. In Al Tafar, Iraq, 21-year-old Private Bartle and 18-year-old Private Murphy cling to life as their platoon launches a bloody battle for the city. In the endless days that follow, the two young soldiers do everything to protect each other from the forces that press in on every side: the insurgents, physical fatigue, and the mental stress that comes from constant danger.

Bound together since basic training when their tough-as-nails sergeant ordered Bartle to watch over Murphy, the two have been dropped into a war neither is prepared for. As reality begins to blur into a hazy nightmare, Murphy becomes increasingly unmoored from the world around him and Bartle takes impossible actions.

With profound emotional insight, especially into the effects of a hidden war on mothers and families at home, The Yellow Birds is a groundbreaking novel about the costs of war that is destined to become a classic.

©2012 Kevin Powers (P)2012 Hachette Audio

Stunning

Thought provoking and powerful. Now, I need time to reflect on what just happened to me.

An Outstanding Book: Thoughtful, Sad, Insightful

It is difficult to review this book without waxing so eloquent that potential readers/listeners won't become incredulous.

Without question, this is one of the most thoughtful and well written stories I have read in ages. It follows the lives of two young soldiers, Bart and Murph, as they go through basic training and are deployed to Iraq. For the next several months we follow them as they descend into the hell of war. The war and its players are not romanticized. Instead, the terror of war comes to life and the reader/listener has a front row seat as Bart (short for Bartle) chronicles the impact of this terro on him and Murph (short for Murphy). Considering that Bart made a commitment to protect Murph, his distress is compounded as he watches Murph slip away from him.

If you have ever wanted to understand war and its affect on warriors, this is the book for you. Be prepared for a strong emotional response, however. Not just because of the blood and guts (there is some of that) - but because of the the incredible psychological toll that war takes on everyone.

Graham did an outstanding job of narrating this story. His voice lent an authenticity to the story. He did a good job with multiple voices. But he did best at reflecting Bart's struggle to be a good person, a good soldier, and a good comrade. In the end, he did an outstanding job of portraying Bart's effort to understand the war and how it changed everything he knew about himself and those around him.

A Soldier Story

The narrator couldn't have been more perfect for this book. I loved chapter seven when his honest emotions came through in such a raw moment. I obviously do not have first hand knowledge of the going ons in war but I would have to believe that this couldn't be far from actual accounts. It reminded me in part of the Katherine Bigelow movie that won the Oscar year before last.

'I WANTED TO RETURN TO ORDINARY'

So says Private Bartle in the 'Yellow Birds'. This book in concert with the novel 'Matterhorn' and the movie 'The Hurt Locker' have assisted me in having a little insight into the devastating impact that war has on the ordinary men and women not only the active participants but those at home. To some degree, in this age of instant news and our own short term attention span, sometimes wars such as Iraq and Afghanistan do not register as wars. As the protagonist refers to Iraq as 'our little pest of a war'. We need to focus our attention and support on these brave men and women. 'The Yellow Birds' is a terrific book, well read and a real punch in the gut. Two thumbs up !!!!!

Intense Read

The book kept my interest from start to finish. The voice performance was intense and added more tension and urgency to the story.

Sad and Unforgettable

I accept that it is not possible to know what it is like to be in combat unless one has actually experienced it, but good literature is as close as one can get. The Yellow Birds, set in Iraq, tells the story of two young American soldiers from Virginia, their experiences and the aftermath. It is not a pretty picture. The genius of the book, a first work by Kevin Powers, is that it uses powerful and artful writing to not only tell a story, but to provide insight into the consciousness of other human beings who are caught in the madness of war and killing. This is not a story of hope or spiritual uplifting; rather, it is an exposition (not an explanation) of existence under this latest version of war. It is sad and unforgettable. Beautifully read.

Things to like, but …

I haven't finished this book yet, but with an hour to go, think I have a handle on it. The essential story is Bart's — what he did in the war in Iraq and what it did to him. There's lots of physical description, and some of it adds to the story, and some Hemingwayish affectations with concatenated conjunctions that don't. The characters are thin, especially Murph, the best friend fated for a bad end, Sterling the jaded non-com trying to keep his troops alive. The officers (FD: I was one) were truly cartoonish, as were the mothers.

Seems to me that author Powers was trying to write a very interior novel. I don't know how well that works in a war story. It turns into a story of one man's angst set in a war/afterward. In war stories I find memorable, including Catch-22, Cacciato, and parts of Wind-up Bird Chronicle, the reader's able to live with the character, because they're more than a bundle of angst, they deal with other, more real characters in interesting, believable ways, and more happens.

Powers has promise, and his work is moving/lyrical by bits and pieces. This seems like early work, and makes me hope for bigger+better later on.

The reader is excellent.

Good Story

It is a very sentimental story of the Iraq war. However, it lacks some authenticity that only comes with actually experiencing the war first hand. It's a good story but some of the fine details feel very "Hollywood". I guess I am just being overly critical.

A very good listen

What made the experience of listening to The Yellow Birds the most enjoyable?

The reader was clear and into the story.

What does Holter Graham bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The emotion of living the story.

Any additional comments?

This is a great listen for those who feel that the Iraq / Afghanistan wars should continue and what a lost cause this era and wars have been. I am an 81 year listener and find the story very emotional and real.

Brutal Honesty

Any additional comments?

This was a heartwrenching story. Very real and eye opening to what deployment is really like and how combat changes lives. I thought I had an idea of combat, as a military wife, but this was enlightening, in a bittersweet way. I have a much greater understanding of the how and why of PTSD. I believe combat is one of those experiences you could never understand unless you have been there, but this is definitely the closest thing to it. An amazing story and I appreciate the author going to these places in his mind to help us see a glimpse of war.