Customer Reviews

The Things We Do to Make It Home: A Novel

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is one of the best books I've read. It is beautifully written with spare dialogue--not an unnecessary word in the book. I wouldn't limit it to the boomer generation, but those of us old enough to remember the war, and its effects on our friends--will be moved by the stories of these characters--the loyalty of the comrades, and the anguish of the women, left outside. It blew me away, yet left me with hope.

A novel about the women who live with Vietnam vets. However, this is not a book about war. It is a book about what it means to live with men who in one way or another are not able to return love in ways that women need. Very poignant. Kept me reading until the last page. Don't miss it.

For so long war has been described from a male point of view. In this warm, loving novel, we hear about Vietnam through the eyes of the women who live with Vietnam vets. These women are unforgettable and the stories they relate are both sad and uplifting. This is a book worth reading more than once.

For so long war has been described from a male point of view. In this warm, loving novel, we hear about Vietnam through the eyes of the women who live with Vietnam vets. These women are unforgettable and the stories they relate are both sad and uplifting. This is a book worth reading more than once.

I really liked this book. It is true, as one reviewer stated, that it is not a novel, per se. It is a series of character portraits that hang together based on similar situations. One of the things I do love about this book is the title. To me, it is two-fold: it is what we, the veteran, do to make it home from the war and it is also what we, the wife, child, parent, friend do to make "home" home again. The dialogue is very believable in this book and the characters are too. It is important to keep in mind that this is one writer's take on a very emotionally charged subject and also not to lose sight that this is a work of fiction. Some people will not like the way in which the Vietnam vets are portrayed; others may simply look at it as a story where some character traits are viable and others are not. I still think that some vet wives or partners might find this book interesting and maybe even helpful.

Author's bias is very clear. "Those vets" are portrayed as having absolutely no redeeming qualities and the reasons for their issues are, if not completely ignored, unfairly minimized. I realize that some women have suffered in relationships with veterans, for various reasons; however, I do not think that demonizing the veteran and deifying the woman is the way to go. I believe that the suffering of "those vets" is at least as important as any other issue.

I found this book lacking substance of any sort. The author was unable to develop characters which are believable or explainable. The Vietnam veterans presented run the gambit of total disability to mild. Never are these disabilities explained or presented correctly which is obvious to the reader with even minimal knowledge of/experience with PTSD. This is a terrible offense to anyone who has or has had to suffer with PTSD. In addition the veterans portrayed give the reader the incorrect notion all Vietnam veterans have been unable to come to grips with their experience and move on in life. I bought the book because it was written by a woman and hoped it would shed light on women who have loved men suffering from PTSD. Instead the women in this book are portrayed in a scattered fashion. Never are their reasons for caring, loving, and tolerating these men explained. They appear to be a group of terribly weak codependent females. Very sad since PTSD victims depend heavily on strong family/friend/spouse/ significant other support in order to achieve recovery. Vietnam left a mark on all of us and will forever effect this nation along with the generation of men/women who were most closely aligned with the events of the time. This book does nothing to help today or tomorrow's reader understand anything about these fictional characters or their era. The story presented here is as lost and purposeless as the characters the author failed to fully develop. VERY disappointing to say the least.

To call this book a novel does a disservice to the book and the author. This is a collection of linked stories, and the publisher's attempt to market it as a novel is misleading and infuriating. While a novel can be many things, several elements characterize it as such: pacing, narrative arc, character development, plot development, resolution. Beverly Gologorsky is a talented writer with a lean, taut prose style that pierces the heart of an image or mood. But in this book, she has not made the leap from story-writer to novelist. In fact, she may not even want to: story-writing is as equally challenging and compelling a craft as novel-writing. But simply calling this book a novel to increase sales, prestige or market share doesn't make it one. I was very excited to purchase this book, and walked away very disappointed.