Customer Reviews

The Last War: A Novel

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I loved this book, but first I want to say that readers who prefer a story with a definite plot, especially a chronological plot, may not care for the style of this book. It's not a novel of the wars going on in the Middle East, although that is the setting. If that is what you are looking for, there are other books, fiction and nonfiction, you will like better. The main character is a photojournalist, not a writer. This distinction is made several times and is important. Her husband is a journalist in Iraq, and friends and colleagues are journalists that have been in India, Afghanistan, Iraq, and currently Istanbul since 9/11. These people are Americans and Europeans.

In photography (one of my hobbies, not my profession like the narrator's) it's really themes that are important and this is why I think they take precedence over plot in this book. Certainly war is one theme and all the destruction it causes to societies, as well as personal losses. Another is loneliness. Flash, the narrator, is still in Istanbul, while her husband is in harm's way in Baghdad. A third is the experience of being a foreigner in another part of the world, especially during a war, and how the population of the other country sees one. How much you miss by not knowing the language (Turkish is so vastly different from English that an American would really be up against a wall). Foreigners can be made fools of or walk into danger without knowing it. The foreigners' world (if any of you read details of the Green Zone) is seen as artificial by the native population, with good reason. The fact that the book is seen through the eyes of a photographer also helps create the setting. Istanbul (and I've only seen pictures) is supposed to be a really beautiful city, half in Europe and half in Asia. Even the airport Amsterdam-Schihpol (where I have been many times) is well-drawn for the reader.

The writing is also beautiful. This author has won prizes. The story does have several surprise twists at the end. I'd recommend this book, with the caution above, that you expect imagery and theme over plot.

I received a copy of this book from Goodreads (thank you so much) and was very interested since I had been an expat myself and lived in several countries overseas. The Last War states it is "a breathtaking novel of love, war and betrayal". Flash is a photographer and is married to Wonderboy, a journalist. They both cover war stories, sometimes together and sometimes apart. At the beginning of the book, Flash is in Istanbul and Brando (wonderboy) is in Iraq. Flash is waiting for a visa to join him but really has little intention of joining him. Most of the book is Flash's thoughts, depression, street wanderings and indulgences. She receives a letter that tells her Brando has been unfaithful which feeds her depression and inward focus.
There is some minor coverage of the wars, bombings, but it is very minor. There is some description of the towns, cities and countries they are traveling in, but again that is mostly minor. The story line reads a little like a soap opera. I felt like Flash is very self indulgent and being able to spend many months in a nice apartment in Istanbul without having to work or actually do anything seems unrealistic.
With all my travels and time spent as an expat, none of the story line rang true to me. Granted, I was not a journalist, but I did live and work in many foreign countries. There are parts of the story line that seem to be going somewhere, and then it fizzles and never really grabs me. I see glimpses of greatness but mostly just find average writing. Maybe for someone that has never traveled the experience would be different. The Last War could have benefited from some great editing and additional details of the environment.
This book would be a good read for someone that is interested in the subjects of depression, inner reflection and love lost. It doesn't, in my opinion, live up to its hype of "a breathtaking novel of love, war and betrayal".

Ana Menendez's novel is her third and most personal.It tells the story of a woman photojournalist married to a war correspondent, and a time in their life when things were falling apart. A letter and a chance at betrayal. A good novel but not outstanding, until you discover that the author, Ana Menendez, was married to a war correspondent, Dexter Filkins, and a letter and a real betrayal occurred. Aha, now this novel becomes much more interesting.

'Flash' the nickname of writer who is telling this story, was a photojournalist in war torn countries. She followed her husband, Brando, or Wonderboy, as she called him to the dangerous places. They worked as a team. Now, he was in Afghanistan and she was in Istanbul, awaiting her papers to join her husband. But, she knows she won't be joining him. Things have changed, some deterioration in their relationship has occurred, and she is sitting waiting for something to happen. They communicate by phone and email. On a day much like any other, Flash receives a letter from someone who tells her that her husband is having an affair, and she deserves to know. This letter changes her entire life and how she looks at and how she feels for her husband. She does not, for some unknown reason, question Brando or tell him about this letter. She tries to investigate herself, but gets nowhere. She seems to be caught in a web of not knowing and not wanting to know. An anonymous letter but it serves as a vessel for all her questions. She stays in Istanbul, stays alone, and visits the city and looks for all of the interesting places and things that this city has to offer. But, always in the back of her mind is this letter. The letter has destroyed her life as she knows it. Alexandra, a woman friend pops in and out of her life and brings her fun and interesting places to go and fun things to do. But this serves as a respite. She does not have to face the music, and she does not have to confront the truth. The times and events of her marriage flash before her eyes, and we learn a little here and a little there. But not enough to completely understand life on the frontlines of war and life with a chance of betrayal..

'The Last War' appears to be written for Ana Menendez to lay out the issues at hand .of a betrayal and a marriage lost But, most of us do not know that, so the novel does not appear to be as interesting as it really is. There is a part of the novel that needs to be told, and the author has left out the most interesting piece. It is well written but there is more that we need to know. I know it, and it gave me insight into this novel. I understand the emotional aspect of Flash and so much more.

Recommended. prisrob 08-05-09

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Loving Che: A Novel

THE LAST WAR is my favorite type of novel--it is like a dream, a painting, a photograph--provoking thought, beauty, and doubt. The prose is beautiful, impelling the mind to see and the heart to feel. The dialogue is such that it could be our own--if it were we in the place of the characters, if we had their wishes and fears. There is much more here than words on a page. There is a backstory intertwined with the creator. This type of novel is an author's attempt to make sense out of life, or at least explain it. Sometimes, as in a dream, a novel reveals the world as we wished it were, or had been.

The Last War appears to me to be Ana Menendez's dream. Her ex-husband is Dexter Filkins and his latest work, non-fiction, is THE FOREVER WAR, about the war in Iraq where he was an embedded reporter for the NY Times, with the Marines in the battle of Fallujah. In The LAST WAR, the narrator is the wife of "Wonderboy," a war correspondent in Iraq. "Flash," the narrator and a photojournalist, lives in Istanbul and becomes bitter and resentful of her husband after receiving an anonymous letter that he had been unfaithful. (The part about the letter happened in the real world.) There is a third character, a writer and a beauty, a "friend" of Flash, who acts as her inner voice, confidante, and rival. What ensues is the deterioration of the marriage, due largely to the failure of the couple to communicate honestly and well; the "help" of the friend; and the competition between the couple for gratification and appreciation. The author, Menendez, covers all the bases, and that could be nothing other than a reflection of the way things were. In one conversation, Wonderboy calls Flash in a hysterical state, having just escaped death while on patrol. Flash, consumed with his alleged infidelity, can't listen or support him, and they talk over and scream at one another, without compassion or understanding, each accusing the other of being "delirious." (pg. 157)

In the real lives of the two authors, I wonder: What was that conversation like? Filkins did escape death when a US Marine stepped in front of him, took a bullet, and died. Is the fiction the way it went down? Is it Menendez's version? Recollection, rationalization, or dream? For the sake of art, it doesn't matter. It works. Filkins, it has been reported, armed himself, effectively becoming a fighter, a soldier, a warrior. A repeated "theme" in THE LAST WAR is: "The warrior always triumphs over the poet." In Menendez's "dream" - a roadside bomb kills Wonderboy, and Flash goes on towards a successful career. (Take that! Dexter. "Revenge is for Life." That comes from the Koran and is used in both books, recounting the same event--an execution in Afghanistan in 1998 that the couple witnessed together.) However, in the real world, Filkins is by far the more successful and acclaimed writer. It is worth noting that Menendez writes fiction because she felt two journalists in a marriage would not work. (She began her career as a war correspondent, also.) So much for deference to bolster love and marriage.

This is tragic story, both of them, all of them. Yet, war is still glorified. There is all this pain lying beneath the surface, covered up by bravado, hubris, competition, and striving for recognition, achievement. War shouts "Be somebody!" Christopher Hedges' fine book, WAR IS A FORCE THAT GIVES US MEANING is apropos.

I watched an interview with Filkins [...] and he says pointblank that war is thrilling and fun. His joy in being able to participate is unmistakable. He says in Forever War: "I told him [another American reporter] I couldn't have a conversation with anyone who hadn't been there about anything at all." (pg. 341) That comes through in the above mentioned dialogue in Menendez's novel. There is resentment visible in Menendez, in her writing and an interview [...] of men getting all the fun and glory, and her sacrifices for that end. She looks at this in the novel - through conversations between the two girlfriends.


This is a remarkable, layered work. I sense it is about the other kind of wars--the wars within and between the sexes. Maybe that is what all war is ultimately about--sex. The last words written by Filkins in THE FOREVER WAR: "I lost the person I cared for most. The war didn't get her, it got me." (pg.346) Truth or fiction? I don't know ... but I can still see him smiling in the interview. I can still see Menendez, too, smiling.

Ana Menendez's, THE LAST WAR, offers an opportunity to peer into the personal lives of those who dedicate themselves to chronicling the atrocities of war. While this novel is fictional, from researching Menendez's bio, online, it appears to represent many of her own personal experiences. As a world traveler---one who has lived in Istanbul and Cairo, there's no doubt she has probably really drank a few glasses of that bitter, Turkish wine. It's also no wonder, that she so deftly brings Istanbul to life, for the reader who has never ventured there.

The storyline is quite simplistic, and, it's a quick read, but the prose is skilled and lovely enough to keep you drawn to the page. Basically, this is more of a story of fading love and passion, than a war-torn drama, although there are some elements of the brutality of war, and, of course, the cost to the psyche of those covering the darkest deeds of humanity---war, greed and hatred. If fortunate enough to survive, the emotional collateral damage, leaves deep scars, which is well drawn out with these characters, but not in a melodramatic manner. Instead, we see common human emotions, with which we can all relate.

The story takes place in 2003. Flash is a photojournalist residing in Istanbul, while her war correspondent husband, Brando, (also known as, Wonderboy) is covering the war in Iraq. Flash is awaiting traveling documents to join Brando in Baghdad, but she appears to be procrastinating. She is beginning to feel estranged from Brando---not only by distance, but by something missing in their communication. Even so, her heart and her fond memories tell her that love is not lost.

The unthinkable happens. She receives a mysterious, type-written letter claiming Wonderboy has been unfaithful. She is obviously devastated and with no one to ventilate with in Istanbul, she medicates her failing spirit with the only wine readily available---the bitterest of Turkish wines.

While wandering the streets of Istanbul, she notes a mysterious figure in a black abaya. She eventually confronts this woman to learn that it is an old colleague, Alexandra, who shares quite a bit of history with she and Brando, from time spent together in Afghanistan. She has mixed emotions about their reunion. On one hand, she is glad to have company; on the other, she seeks isolation to lick her wounds.

Alexandra is a very colorful character, who is integral in breathing life, and mischief, into the novel. Together, Flash and Alexandra drink more wine, and reminisce about the past, which offers some interesting back-story. With Alexandra's support, Flash is able to confront her anger, grief and feelings of betrayal, while she learns a great deal about herself---even her own ability to be dispassionate and cruel.

The bitter Turkish wine, that Flash gradually learns to accept, becomes somewhat of a metaphor for her own emotional bitterness, that must be put to rest---accepted. Will she heal with, or without, Wonderboy? Their fate, is definitely worth the read.

While I enjoyed this novel, I found some difficulty with the nicknames, including Flash and Wonderboy. And, if that was not bad enough, Flash had another nickname, Tunes. I felt these juvenile names took away from the eloquence of the story and the depth of the characters. I wouldn't have minded their use occasionally, but not throughout the entire book.

Bleak but artfully crafted, this novel brings home the horrors of war in Afghanistan and Iraq and the way of life of American journalists there viewed through the eyes of a young woman photographer who's both disaffected and hard to really know. Much of the story takes place in Istanbul, where East meets West and narrator "Flash" ruminates about her life and uncertain marriage in an airy apartment paid for by her husband's newspaper while he's off covering the war in Iraq. "It was one of the perks of being a foreign correspondent," she remarks, "Being allowed to live several social classes above one's means while the paper paid for everything, like some kind of aloof rich uncle." She also notes, "Of course the war did nothing to change the way we lived. When you're an American abroad, suffering is for the locals." And so it is in her apartment, where the doorman lives "in a little closet" without even "a proper window," though Flash never notices, while she herself has a maid, chauffeur and office manager.

The beginning of the story was a little slow for my taste and seemed both flat and strangely colorless. I later realized this was no doubt due to the depressed, preoccupied state of the narrator, whom I really began to care about only after she received a letter that her husband had been cheating on her. That must explain her malaise and inertia, I thought, but it really didn't. The story picked up pace with the mystery of who had written that letter and then the question of whether a woman in a black abaya was in fact following Flash, but Flash herself still seemed to lack much spark or inner light.

The most effecting parts of this novel for me were the descriptions of her time in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan and the uncertainty of what happened to her, her husband, and the woman in the black abaya there. The writing of those portions seemed richer and more alive, and it was as if Flash finally came out of her dream state and actually saw the world and people in it. The author paints a stark and horrifying picture of Taliban rule in Afghanistan, where little girls routinely had to marry grandfathers and teenage boys were stoned to death. These chapters alternated with the ones where Flash is in Istanbul remembering the experience, and I felt a real sense of suspense about what was going to happen. There were a couple of surprises, but not the sort I expected, and the overall effect was depressing and disheartening.

Yes,the events made sense in the context of the story and they were artfully portrayed, but I'd hoped to see Flash change or learn more. I grew tired of her gloomy views about life and marriage but was engrossed by the accounts of war, the foreign cultures, and Americans abroad. Overall, a worthwhile read though not an emotionally uplifting one. Three and a half stars.

The story is set against the backdrop of the U.S. invasions in Afghanistan and Iraq, but mostly takes place in Istanbul. The main character, Flash, is a photojournalist married to Brando, a journalist; both cover wars around the world. The couple has a residence in Istanbul and when Brando reports to Iraq, Flash stays behind for reasons unknown to her. When she receives a letter about her husband's infidelity, she begins to reflect on their past. Told in part in flashbacks, I found the chronology a bit confusing at times. Also, the writing was thin.

One of those slice of life dramas telling the story of a relationship between a photojournalist and a reporter, this enthralling novel is set against the chaotic backdrop of the Middle East. To be honest, it IS a good, solid story, though as someone quite familiar with the Near East, I found the portrayal of the region to be a little shallow. It's more of an exotic backdrop to a very real human story. Don't let that put you off though. Menendez manages to weave in various threads of contemporary war and politics, giving her story a surprising degree of depth. While it may eventually seem dated down the road, the story itself is quite moving, and no doubt will stand the test of time. I'd recommend picking it up.

They had the perfect marriage. Brando was a journalist, Flash was a photographer. Together they roamed the world, documenting wars for audiences safely at home. Now Brando is in Iraq in the early days of the war, embedded with the troops, while Flash waits in Istanbul for her visa. At first, she misses him immensely, but as the days pass, she wonders if she wants to follow him one more time, if this war will be any different from all the others.

Then the letter comes. A sly, smug letter, informing her that Brando is living with another woman. She doesn't recognize the name of the letter writer, although the author writes as if she knows the couple well. Flash is torn. Fiercely rejecting the news one minute, down in the depths of depression and validating it the next, she doesn't know what to believe. Days go by. Brando continues to call most days but she doesn't mention the letter to him. She wants to see his face when she asks.

As she wanders Istanbul, she keeps seeing a mysterious woman in Muslim garb, who seems to be following her. After several encounters, she confronts the woman and discovers that it is a former acquaintance, Alexandra. Alexandra is a writer, fixer, mover, who floats from culture to culture, always in demand but never that close to anyone. Flash and Brando met her and her young Arab lover years before in a convoy in Afghanistan, and have run into her over the years since.

In the next weeks, Alexandra seems to take Flash on as a project. She forces her to get out and about, telling her there is no truth to the letter. Kind and sympathetic one day, she is cruel and dismissive the next. This leaves Flash in more disarray than ever, never knowing from one moment what is true and what is false, who can be believed and who will betray her.

I. Loved. This. Book. It engages the reader on the first page and never lets go. Everyone has had the experience of loving someone, and reading about the agony of wondering if that love has been betrayed struck to the heart. As the author reveals layer upon layer of the characters, showing past events that have led to the current stages and hinting at causes, the reader is entranced. The mood is languorous with an undertone of menace. As the best books do, it makes the reader question what they know about life and love. This book is recommended for all readers.

I spent a good thirty minutes trying to think of ways to begin this review. The biggest challenge stems, as always, from my opinion of the book; an opinion that's torn.

On one hand I can appreciate the story being told; the story of a broken marriage, a woman used to peering into the lives of others and having to, ultimately, examine herself with that lens. There's a touch of mystery, did "Wonderboy" cheat or did he not cheat? Who wrote that damning letter? Did the letter actually affect the already strained relationship between "Flash" and "Wonderboy" or was it broken beyond repair before it appeared?

Then, on the other hand, I wanted to reach into the book and just slap some sense into the selfish bitch that was "Flash". As a privileged American I took the rebukes of the author to heart; yes, I get that war and famine and death is happening around the world and I get that, honestly, it does not affect my daily life. Sure I can pray about it - but I am not different than the majority of Americans out there going to work and play without much thought spared toward the hardships of those around the globe. But "Flash" didn't seem to learn any of this ... in fact, I didn't see that she learned much of anything at all except maybe not to judge without speaking to the individual first.

What it all boiled down to was that, for me, this was not a good read. I had to force myself through the last half of it and in fact enjoyed the "About the Author" more than I did the story itself. The Author wrote her "About me" section talking about the preparation of food and the comfort that simple alchemy can give. That I could relate to, more than anything she had written about "Flash".

I'm not going to steer you away from this book; I don't know enough about your lifestyle to know if it would help you or not. I'm just here to tell you that this was a book that evoked some strong reactions in me; some of which were not good.