The Innocent [Paperback]

Robert Taylor (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1997

Captain Matthew Fairchild has his eyes opened to his own sexuality as well as to the people and country of Vietnam and U.S. military involvement there, during his tour of duty as a desk officer in the 1970s--especially when he observes a Calley-like village massacre and learns that the Army has tortured his Vietnamese boyfriend into telling of their affair.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This first novel by a former U.S. Army captain offers a unique perspective on the Vietnam War as experienced by a gay man. Capt. Matthew Fairchild is a desk officer in Saigon who, despite his constant struggle with hiding his sexuality, does superior work and is admired by his superiors. His affair with a young Vietnamese busboy named Nham gives him insight into the people he is fighting and himself as well. When Fairchild discovers secret information of misconduct involving the massacre of a Vietnamese village, his personal ethics as well as the inevitable disclosure of his homosexuality bring the novel to a tense and ultimately satisfying conclusion. Despite some weighty passages involving religion, Vietnamese history, etc., the author moves the story at a brisk pace and is exceptionally good at dialog. Readers will care about the characters, and this fictional account of a timely topic should be of interest. Recommended for all fiction collections.?Phillip Oliver, Univ. of North Alabama Lib., Florence
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"Fairchild, no longer a puppet of his past, metamorphoses into a person fully aware of each moment. His mind, once numbed by culture, religion, and tradition, begins with startling alacrity to follow his conscience regardless of the consequences. The Innocent is an enjoyable and easy read, clear and colorful, peppered with elements of suspense, violence and sex fitting for a story of a gay man in the military in the midst of the Vietnam war. The story is a page-turner, engaging to the very last, satisfying line." -- Ellsworth American, January 15, 1998

"Mr. Taylor has crafted a very thoughtful novel that takes the time to examine several issues around the Vietnam War, such as the Vietnamese view of hundreds of years of foreign invasion and our own military's code of unconditional obedience.... I was enthralled by how Taylor wove into his story the rich tapestry of the Vietnamese people--from its earliest poets, philosophers, and political leaders to the invasion by China, Japan, Portugal, France and the U.S. The Innocent is a compelling and provocative first novel. I guarantee it will make you think." -- Gay & Lesbian Resource Center Bulletin; February, 1998

"Readers will root for Fairchild in the midst of his moral dilemma." -- Publishers Weekly, October 6, 1997

"Taylor is an immensely talented writer and The Innocent launches him auspiciously into fiction.... Few first novels exhibit the force and control Taylor brings to The Innocent , a title that appears to apply equally to Fairchild, his Vietnamese lover Nhan and to Vietnam itself.... Robert Taylor is a novelist to whom readers will eagerly look for more." -- Maine Sunday Telegram, November 16, 1997

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Fithian Press; First edition. edition (November 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 156474230X
• ISBN-13: 978-1564742308
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #474,807 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A stunning first novel, August 23, 2001

By 

John Faulstich (Nobleboro, ME USA & Yalaha, FL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Innocent (Paperback)

Robert Taylor's The Innocent is truly a stunning novel. That it is his first published novel makes his achievement all the more significant. Although the story is told in the first person by an intelligence officer stationed in Vietman during the darkest days of that conflct, and although his story is also about his love for a beautiful young Vietnamese man, the novel is more than a book about being gay in the Army or about the Vietnam war. Because Robert Taylor writes from the soul, and because he draws on the wellsprings of the deepest human sensitivities, the novel draws the reader into self-examination of what it means to be human in an inhumane world and what love means when the value of human life and deep personal relationships are turned upside down by rigid stereotypes and human cruelty. This is not escapist pap. Be prepared to have to think, to feel deeply, perhaps to be challenged in some of your most private and intimate assumptions about your own life and values.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Lovely and well structured. A bit cold, but well told, April 8, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Innocent (Paperback)

Fairchild was kind of a lame guy wasn't he? Did I believe it? Hell yes! The entire book seemed very real to me. I am a United States Navy Man stationed in Asia (8 years) and I connected right away with the characters. I felt some of the character generalizations were over done. The whole story was great, but it was told with no passion. Where was the sweat? Where was the gut-renching neausiating fear? Where was the teeth-grinding nostril flaring sex? Why did the affair end so suddenly? None of the relationships were ever fully developed. Frustrating...

What a marvelous job weaving the Vietnamese history in with the story. That was smooth and impressive. The whole story seemed well structured and very controlled. Too controlled. Almost like reading an outline.

I can't wait to read Taylor's next work. I think if he lets loose a little we are in for a rush.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A dilemma of conscience, April 2, 2010

By 

Benjamin (UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Innocent (Paperback)

Captain Matthew Fairchild is assigned to Army Headquarters in Saigon, where he works in army intelligence, he does a good job and impresses his superiors, that is until his conscience starts to influence his actions, soon he finds himself no longer the golden boy.

That Matthew is gay, and has by a fluke circumnavigated the system that should have prevented him securing his job in intelligence, in no way affects his efficiency, but it is something, that if discovered, can be used against him, by friend or foe. So by embarking on a love affair with a beautiful young Vietnamese busboy he is taking a great risk.

The Innocent is an eye-opening story about the US Army in Vietnam, written by someone who served there as a Captain in 1967. It reveals the hypocrisy and betrayals deemed necessary by those in charge in order to achieve their aim, and aim that Taylor progressively challenges in his novel.

Taylor also gives us an insight into the Vietnamese people, and their long and battered history, the history of a proud people with a great respect for learning, for the past and tradition, but a people corrupted by Western influences and impositions.

The Innocent is well written, with well formed characters. Matthew's affair is touchingly described, and his dilemma of conscience convincing. The outcome, while not conclusive, is positive and satisfying.