The Names of the Dead [Paperback]

Stewart O'Nan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1997

In Ithaca, New York, in 1982, Larry Markham awakes to discover his wife, Vicki, has taken their young son, Scott, and left him--not for the first time, possibly for the last. It is a deep blow to a life already in fragments: adead-end job delivering Wonder Bread; a strained relationship with his agingfather, a veteran of World War Two; and weekly visits to the VA hospital whereLarry, a former Army medic, leads a support group for disabled Vietnam vets.As he struggles to win Vicki back, Larry finds he is in danger of a far moreimminent sort: A disturbed member of the support group--a trained CIAassassin--has disappeared, and is stalking Larry and his family. His methodssend an unmistakable message: The game will end in death.

At the same time, "The Names of the Dead" is a harrowing and heartfeltportrait of the Vietnam War and the men who fought it. The year is 1968, theplace A Shau valley, and Larry Markham--nineteen and green--must find a way tokeep his platoon alive. Here we see the stories Larry cannot bring himself totell--of friends who made the ultimate sacrifice in a war their countryscorned.

"The Names of the Dead" is the story of a man trying to find his way backto himself--a story about storytelling and memories that refuse to fade. It isthe story of a man rediscovering the courage to love one woman, and, throughher, the world, his country, his family, and finally himself.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Heart-rattling melodrama set against a thriller background hallmarks O'Nan's second novel?just as it did his first, Snow Angels, which won the 1993 Pirates Alley William Faulkner Prize for the Novel. By 1982, Larry Markham, an army medic in Vietnam, has been reduced to delivering Hostess snack cakes around Ithaca, N.Y. One morning, he awakens from familiar dreams of combat to find that his wife, Vicki, has left him again. Fed up with his attachment to the war and with his reluctance to share his wartime memories, she has fled with their learning-disabled young son, Scott. As Larry struggles to reunite his household, the failing health of his father becomes a problem, as do his growing feelings for Donna, the lonely neighbor who looks out for him in Vicki's absence. Worse, Larry also is being stalked by a dangerous hospital escapee, a trained assassin and fellow Vietnam vet with a mysterious score to settle. This suspense element, though ably presented, is the least satisfying facet of the novel: it's neither as poignant as Larry's complicated family drama nor as original (Peter Straub's Koko limned a similar scenario). Unusually powerful, however, are the extensive renderings of Larry's Vietnam memories, which come alive with gruesome violence, complex camaraderie, tension, humor, hope, superstition and terror. While not as seamless as O'Nan's first novel, this follow-up offers a confident, gripping narrative, as well as some of the most searing wartime storytelling in recent memory.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

Having triumphed with his first novel, Snow Angels (LJ 10/15/94), winner of the 1993 Pirates Alley William Faulkner Prize, O'Nan ventures forth with a tale both subtle and sensational: a down-and-out young man whose wife has disappeared with their child discovers that they are being stalked by a former member of his Vietnam veterans group.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (April 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140263098
• ISBN-13: 978-0140263091
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #839,224 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Stewart O'Nan's award-winning fiction includes Snow Angels, A Prayer for the Dying, Last Night at the Lobster, and Emily, Alone. Granta named him one of America's Best Young Novelists. He lives in Pittsburgh.

www.stewart-onan.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stunning, not the usual Viet Nam book, May 31, 2000

By 

Janice M. Hansen (California United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Names of the Dead (Paperback)

This is not your typical Viet Nam read. As usual, Stewart O'Nan takes his incredible literary skills to a new dimension. He portrys the life of a young medic in his first mission in Viet Nam. His experiences are gripping as you track this vulnerable young kid on the plane there, and eventually living with the guys in his unit and out on their daily duties. Included in the recount of his experiences, is the hell he is going with as he struggles to adapt and make peace with himself. I passed this book on to several friends who were in Viet Nam. When one of them handed the book back to me, I asked them what they thought of it. I got a nod, a silence, and a choked up stammering response. It was so good, he couldn't even talk to me about it yet. We will talk about it some day, I hope. After a while, perhaps, when it doesn't seem so real to him. I knew to wait and be patient.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dealing with incurable illness, June 9, 2001

By 

Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Names of the Dead (Paperback)

Stewart O'Nan plunges the reader into the chambers of horrors that are the aftermath of Vietnam. He understands the razoredge tension of being underfire, the hopelessness of being without the security of even minimal coping that eats the brains of many Vietnam Vets, and he knows the vagaries of the promised paths of healing from physical and mental war wounds. Some writers describe actual moments of battle contact better than O'Nan but few dig into the battle rattle that so chronically impaled the men and boys who came home from Vietnam. And with all this ammunition on board, O'Nan has written a very fine novel that is, yes, grounded in the sequelae of war, but succeeds in unraveling a fascinating story of at least one man's survival. This is a pithy book and deserves to be placed on the shelf along with O'Brien, Caputo, Turner and the other fine writers who still struggle to make sense out of the irrational Vietnam error.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I would have given it 5 stars, but..., January 16, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Names of the Dead (Hardcover)

I'm a viet vet (navy)- found the book well written with excellent descriptions of action and inaction throughout. I would have given it 5 stars, but I didn't understand the ending. The present-day plot doesn't wrap up until the final 4 or 5 pages. It left me confused as to what, why, how... and I really was interested in knowing w,w,h. I suppose it could be that I'm just dense or maybe it's supposed to be indefinite, but if anyone can clue me in, I'd appreciate it (by email- I don't want to give the ending away).