This is an OK book. It's not a brilliant book by any
stretch, but it's not bad either. It's well written, some of it is compelling,
but it is blighted by two major problems.
The first is the structure. The book is essentially split
into four parts. The first recounts the experiences of a young soldier, Avi,
whose reminiscences are gleaned from diary entries and letters he wrote home.
The second is based on the campaign by the mothers of some of the fallen for
Israel to pull back from the Lebanon. The third part deals with the author's
experiences of the army, and in particular his service in the base atop the
Pumpkin, the hill which grants the book it's title. Finally, the fourth
recounts the author's efforts to return to the Lebanon incognito after he has
left the Israeli army and see some of the sights from the other side. The third
and fourth parts are most compelling. The first not so much. Perhaps because
I'm not Israeli and have never travelled to Israel, I found the third section dealing
with the mothers' campaign a little difficult to relate to. More generally, I
found this disjointed structure prevented the book from flowing and feel it
would be better had the author concentrated more on fleshing out his own
experiences.
The second major problem to blight this book is perhaps a
bit more serious. And that's that not much happens. In some ways it reminded me
of Jarhead, another war biography to garner critical acclaim (the Gulf War of
1991), in which I couldn't see the fuss. Both describe much sitting around
waiting to engage the enemy and nothing much else besides. Now of course I'm
aware of the problem here. I've never served in the military, of any nation.
I'm fully aware that I'm writing this review from the comfort of my sofa. A perfectly
valid critique of this review might be to point out that these books reflect
the reality of war, that there is much sitting around and waiting, that it's
not like the movies. And I get that, I really do. Opening my copy of
Pumpkinflowers, I wasn't expecting Call of Duty, I really wasn't. But I've read
a number of accounts of war and they're not all so banal. Perhaps some of those
others are embellished. Perhaps it's because most of the stories that make it
into print are the more sensational: special forces and the like. Perhaps both
Jarhead and Pumpkinflowers describe a greater truth of a much larger body of
soldiering.
And there is much to commend in this book. The author's
highly dangerous journey back to Lebanon as a civilian is highly compelling,
and while he had a Canadian passport, had it been discovered that he was an
Israeli citizen and a former soldier at that, his life may well have been
forfeit. But equally, there is some that grates. On the whole the author keeps
politics out of intruding on his recollections of military life, but on the
occasions that it does, his analysis is deeply depressing. He claims that the
Israeli citizenry has all but given up on peace with its Arab neighbours and
lays the failure of the peace process squarely on their shoulders. No mention
of illegal settlements here, or of the Israeli's State's constant efforts to
undermine anything even approaching territorial integrity for any future
Palestinian entity. And when he gets to Lebanon, he seems oddly incurious as to
what makes the poor Shi'ite communities that form the bedrock of Hezbollah
tick.
Once again this is a biography and this might just reflect
his honest opinions and outlook. And who am I to say he's wrong? But like the
author, I'm only human, and thus can only review a book on the basis of my own
perceptions and opinions. And that said, for the reasons outlined above, I can
only really give this book three stars.
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