Customer Reviews

The Year of the Monkey: A Novel

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

 

 

Maybe if I had read this book 25 years ago, I wouldn't be the ex-wife of a Vietnam Veteran. My ex served 2 tours in Vietnam; 1968-1969 and 1970-1971. His first tour ended, he came home, went to flight school and returned. I was against his going back. (maybe the fact I was pregnant both times he was gone had something to do with my feelings at the time)

When he returned home, we never discussed what happened to him over there.
He drank more and more...became more distant.

Mr. Lewis let me feel what he was probably feeling at the time. As I read the book, my heart raced in fear; I felt anger and hatred; I was confused; and I cried. He has a God given ability to make you feel as if he is one of the characters telling you his story.
The language is rough; it reminded me of the first dinner my ex had with our family upon his return when he said "Pass the f---- salt"! I was shocked; he had never talked like that before.
After too many years of trying to talk, trying to get through to him, we divorced. I think had I known all that Mr Lewis so eloquently told I would have tried harder. I couldn't fight the unseen demons anymore.
Thank you Mr Lewis for sharing which I'm sure must have been a part of your own experience. And "thank you" for serving your country for all of us.

Barb

Full disclosure: I am a Viet Nam-era veteran (Navy), but beyond seeing Apocalypse Now and The Deer Hunter, I have been content to put the whole unpleasantness of that time out of my mind. Evidently, the great majority of my fellow Americans feel the same way. That's more than a shame: in view of current events, it's a tragedy. Now more than ever we need to be reminded of how important it is we know where we've been as a nation, where we've gone wrong, and, if we can only gain a few glimmerings of wisdom, where not to go in the future. Some think democracy is the great wave of the future. There's probably a better argument to be made that stupidity is the wave of the future.

That's why The Year of the Monkey, by William W. Lewis, is most timely. For me, it brings back memories long forgotten, and in sharp detail. It rings true. The story is set at the time of the Tet Offensive, when Communist forces mounted a surprise counterattack against Hue, a supposedly safe city in South Vietnam. The attack failed in the short run, but the political ramifications it caused are viewed by many historians as the beginning of the end of our ill-advised and bungled adventure in Indochina. To tell his story Lewis interweaves the lives of four characters: a Marine Sergeant, a CIA operative, a journalist, and a seemingly humble Vietnamese barber, who is really a double agent and a devoted patriot. These threads are brought together with great skill and grace in cleanly-written, convincingly detailed prose. The resulting tale is one in which the reader cares for the characters, imperfect though they all are. At the end one can only shake one's head at the waste, the stupidity, and the cruelty which make savages of us all, including the ignorant and uncaring back home.

That sounds terribly somber, but the book is not, really. The editing is nearly immaculate. It's a page turner in the good sense: fun to read despite its serious subject matter. For those with super-delicate sensibilities, I should mention that the language of most of the characters is rough indeed. It is also accurate: I know! See the first sentence, above.

The Year of the Monkey is a terrific example of an independently-published book that is outside the norm, not below it!

Author Bill Lewis captured the sights, and sounds that was Viet Nam. He was also able to separate the bravery of the young men who fought there from the lunacy of their leaders. Well done.

William Lewis has written a very solid novel with The Year of the Monkey. It is set in the backdrop of early 1968 before the Tet Offensive and features the usual list of Vietnam War story characters: The veteran who gets returned to the front after have tasted life again back home. The undercover government aid program worker who is really working for the CIA on a counter insurgency project. A savvy, knowing war correspondent who has none of the markings of a professional journalistic license but rather goes by intuition, his nose for news. And then there's the mole. The Vietnamese barber who seems like the simple, steady servant yet is actually the highest ranking Viet Cong member in the province.

With all of this set in motion William Lewis weaves and interesting tale of cat and mouse which ends very tragically. His story is a euphemism for the intractable fruitlessness of the Vietnam War. Once the war was over neither country was the better for it but there were only the stories to tell. Yet Lewis's story didn't have winners; they all negated one another's gains. There were no real heroes; only anti-heroes. So William Lewis left The Year of the Monkey in the end to be told by the one natural observer: the journalist.

If you like novels of action and war then I believe you will like this book. I wouldn't look for much new from the book in terms of understanding the tragedy but the author does have a good, tough style of storytelling that will definitely appeal to military literature enthusiasts.

"The Year of the Monkey" is compelling and insightful and a solid prompt to remember what is lost and gained from conflict. The characters are rough and complicated. Their confusions and assertions about why they are where they are will ring true with any readers who have the same questions about their own lives. The authors grasp of language is strong and he creates realistic conversations and commands. His ability to illuminate the sights and sounds of a place and time that may be known to readers only through the study of history is commendable. This book is not an easy read, only because the content is difficult to face and adjust to. Those readers who want to understand a warriors experience will be given an eloquent and evocative portrayal."