Compositions of Light and Literature – JMH

The gentleman who referred to Broken Under Interrogation as the MOST depressing book he has ever read changed his mind on Amazon.com review and posted the following review:

After more thought, this book should be given three stars, but Amazon won’t let me change my rating.

Let’s start by saying it’s not impossible to actually take a very depressing subject on its face and provide social comment, satire, truths, or philosophy while never losing sight of the depressing reality. “Hogan’s Heroes” was an entertaining comedy about life in a German WWII POW camp. “Catch 22″ and “MASH” both found irony and humor among the destruction and meaninglessness of war, and used them to illustrate “greater truths” about humanity. Vonnegut was in my opinion the master of balancing the personal futility and ugliness of war with irony and humor to allow “the rest of us” to avoid looking the other way.

This plot has its roots in the Iraq Wars and the military, but focuses on all the shattered dreams, broken promises and disturbing trends of American cultural life to create one of the most depressing books I’ve ever read. Once is constantly hammered with the devastating consequences of this needless war to the personal lives of veterans and to the lives of all whom they touch.

There is no joy. There is no hope. There is no humor. There is no point. There is only the abyss and the apocalypse, dripped drop by acidic drop into your face until you want desperately to look away–to pretend it doesn’t exist.

The narrative, considering the subject, is emotionally flat and brings home the legendary “thousand yard stare”, because none of these people have anything worthwhile to live for except the glimmer of surviving another day. Having no military experience myself, only reading of Paul Fussell’s works prepared me for this. There is no glory, there is no lasting success, there is no justification.

So, why should you read this book? If you want to see the “personal” costs of these policies that created and exploited this war, this book hits you full in the face with it. If you want to see the policy consequences to the people least able to bear them, this book works. It doesn’t demonize enemies or glorify Americans, and it is relentless. It may actually change for its readers, the cavalier attitude with which we order our young men and women into harm’s way with no genuine regard for long term costs or consequences. Be brave. Read the book.

Jeffrey M. Hopkins says:  I am trying really hard to find the irony and humor in my experience.  Perhaps twenty years from now, when the aesthetic distance has been achieved and the outcome of our experiment in the deserts of Iraq have been realized, I can write another book.  For now I think that Broken Under Interrogation gets the point across.  I’m glad this gentleman reconsidered his review.  When you get into John Powers’ mind, you realize this is PTSD put to paper.  The numbness, the isolation, the longing for conflict, the horror……the horror.

I publish them all here folks, the good with the bad.  I really don’t think this one is all “bad” though.  I have highlighted what I believe to be telling in what this gentleman from Palestine, TX said about Broken Under Interrogation.  He gave the book 2 out of 5 stars.   

Let’s start by saying it’s not impossible to actually take a very depressing subject on its face and provide social comment, satire, truths, or philosophy while never losing sight of the depressing reality. “Hogan’s Heroes” was an entertaining comedy about life in a German WWII POW camp. “Catch 22″ and “MASH” both found irony and humor among the destruction and meaninglessness of war, and used them to illustrate “greater truths” about humanity.

This plot has its roots in the Iraq Wars and the military, but focuses on all the shattered dreams and disturbing trends of American cultural life to create one of the most depressing books I’ve ever read. There is no joy. There is no hope. There is no humor. There is no point. There is only the abyss and the apocalypse.

The narrative, considering the subject, is emotionally flat, because none of these people have anything worthwhile to live for except the glimmer of surviving another day. I have read authentic stories of the Holocaust that were far more uplifting and inspiring.

Posted by an Amazon.com Vine Program member who gave Broken Under Interrogation 4 out of 5 stars:

I am normally not a big fan of fiction books but must say that this one managed to keep me glued to it. The main character in the story is a young man named John Powers who returns from a tour in Iraq. He gets out of the service and returns to the US only to find trouble on the streets fighting drug lords. I feel the author did a pretty good job in plot construction and writes in a manner that never bores.

Originally posted on Amazon.com Broken Under Interrogation page.

This is posted by an individual from New York City on Amazon.com.  They gave the book 5 out of 5 Stars.  

Hopkins clearly took a lot of inspiration from George Orwell to produce this genuinely frightening book. “Broken Under Interrogation” is the story of an Iraq veteran who gets his hands on information that may be a potential threat to the U.S. Government and pays a dear price. A good read.

Broken Under Interrogation is the story of John Powers, an intelligence professional who takes to robbing and murdering drug dealers in his rust belt hometown upon redeployment from Operation Iraqi Freedom.  It is a novel that is set in the periphery between the American Dream, and an American Nightmare.  

As posted on Amazon.com:

This is from a person in Tulsa, Oklahoma who gave it four out of five stars.

Like most of the others who have reviewed the book, I found most of the subject matter to be dark and disturbing. 

The topics are timely and although harsh, they deserve some thought. 
I enjoyed the book, but don’t think it would have universal appeal.

Jeffrey M. Hopkins writes:

Timeliness.  Dark.  Disturbing.  Harsh.  Could it be that we are living in Dark, Disturbing, and Harsh times?  As for universal appeal, what book has universal appeal?