The Yellow Birds: A Novel

Kevin Powers' much-talked-about first novel, THE YELLOW BIRDS, is a very disturbing look at the Iraq War, variously referred to by its narrator as "a sh***y little war" and "our little pest of a war." The story is told by Bartle, John. An odd choice of names perhaps, unless you are familiar with Herman Melville's 19th century tale,  Bartleby the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street (The Art of the Novella series) . A 'scrivener' is one who writes, or records things. Young John Bartle, a damaged veteran of the Iraq war, is living in a cabin in the Blue Ridge mountains and is recording his own story, as well as that of his even younger (18) ill-fated army comrade, Daniel Murphy.Novels of war seldom end well, and THE YELLOW BIRDS does not deviate from that rule. Powers tells his tale artfully, with a sure sense of pacing and plot. But the characters here are what get your attention and hold it. There is Sterling, the battle-hardened veteran sergeant, who is only a few years older than Bartle. If one wonders about his importance or significance to his young disciples, there is an early hint in the following scene -"He waved us to him and took a piece of pound cake from the cargo pocket on his trousers ... He broke the dry cake into three pieces. 'Take this,' he said. 'Eat.'"And again, much later in the book -"And Sterling? The truth is he cared nothing for himself ... His life had been entirely contingent, like a body in orbit, only seen on account of the way it wobbles around its star. Everything he'd done had been a response to a pre-existing expectation. He's been able to do only one thing for himself, truly for himself, and it had been the last act of his short, disordered life."And then there's 'Murph,' a boy really, even in his smallness. He is an innocent, a fugitive from a Virginia mining town, a diminutive Daniel in the merciless and dangerous lions' den of war, but unlike the Biblical figure, there is no miracle to save him. Murphy's Law rules.But it is the narrator, Bartle, who will remain in your memory the longest. The scrivener, trying futilely to make sense of it all, he writes it down -"... really, cowardice got you into this mess because you wanted to be a man and people made fun of you and pushed you around in the cafeteria and the hallways in high school because you liked to read books and poems sometimes and they'd call you f** and really deep down you know you went because you wanted to be a man and that's never gonna happen now and you're too much of a coward to be a man and get it over with ..."Despairing, Bartle watches his small friend Murph, unravel, give in, succumb to the sheer awfulness of the constant killing and death that surrounds him; feels responsible, yet helpless. Even his Sterling leader can't help them. In the end I could only think of Melville's Bartleby, surrendering to the pointlessness of his work and refusing to continue with it, telling his employer only: "I would prefer not to."Ah, Bartle. "Ah humanity!"The early buzz, the praise, the heaped superlatives - they are all well deserved. THE YELLOW BIRDS is indeed an important work, full of truths about men and war. Bravo, Mr. Powers.- Tim Bazzett, author of the acclaimed Cold War memoir, SOLDIER BOY: AT PLAY IN THE ASA

Loved this book! So poetic

I read The Yellow Birds for an American Lit class about a year ago and loved it! The author's background in poetry is credited as influencing his spare writing style and the book goes by quickly. While I have no doubts he drew from real life experience in the service circa 2004, why is a work of fiction so underappreciated compared to the overabundant memoir selection? I understand that the public appetite schews more and more toward nonfiction by the day, especially when it comes to warfare and people craving the most realistic depictions and recollections possible. But what's so terrible about fiction? Why is this book AND the star-studded movie made based on it, so unsung? There are little things I could pick at, but the protagonist's numb state as a recently returned veteran is powerful. His indifference, oversleeping and alcoholism that borders on death-wish behavior at one point is quite melancholy, but this happens in real life and I want to read about people like that, whether in fiction or not. Sidenote, the short story collection called Redeployment is also a work of fiction, but clearly from an author who knows what they're talking about. We seem to embrace Matterhorn, but not books like this and I think that's partly to do with the instatiable appetite for nonfiction memoirs established in the '90s and perpetuated post-9/11, but this book and Redeployment are far superior to memoirs like Lone Survivor that have great premises, but lackluster writing. I got really into Generation Kill after seeing the HBO miniseries, which caused me to buy the full book by Evan Wright and also two books by men he embedded with. I'd love to see more appreciation in the public eye for works of fiction about modern war, as well as less of an appetite for hyper-masculine stories like Lone Survivor. The Yellow Birds doesn't portray the ultimate alpha male who deals well with readjusting to civilian life. But isn't that real life? As someone who was a HS senior on 9/11, I know all too well that my peers who enlisted are dying by suicide and drug overdoses (mainly heroin) at alarming rates. Let's embrace stories about veterans struggling instead of focusing on glorifying the ones who have sky-high mental capacities to handle war and its aftermath, combined with more glorious experiences in battle. If I'm gonna read nonfiction, I prefer stuff like Sebastian Junger and Evan Wright to glorified memoirs. The Yellow Birds may or may not be super close to home for the author; I wouldn't insinuate it's thinly-veiled memoir considering the serious issue that arises regarding Murph's body, but what's wrong with credible authors writing fiction based somewhat on "what they know" instead of writing full-blown memoirs that conform to a certain formula?

Came across on Bubba's Book Club and decided to get it. Was not disappointed. Didn't realize until I was just about done that it was a novel not based on a true story but believe there are guys out there who have had very similar experiences when deployed abroad and the isolation when they got back home. Young men, brave deeds.

This book is beautifully written..... sometimes it's almost poetry which seems impossible when you consider it's about the dark world of military combat, through the eyes and mind of a soldier trying to fulfil a promise and unable to do so. War is gruesome, the human body cannot remain intact when hit by modern weapons and the men who have to see this carnage become something other than who they were in their attempt to cope. I found the book took me to a place that was very depressing. The words of the song 'Little Yellow Birds" kinda sums it up!

Clarity of perspective - poetic even - from Kevin Powers - about the terrible effects on human beings of being in a war - of those who somehow survive - and of the civilians and comrades who endure the grieving for those sacrificed - for god alone knows what geopolitical or economic resources reasons. This is a classic piece of literature which should be required reading for all politicians/bureaucrats - especially those who have themselves never been near a war unless calling for them and sending others to them.

I enjoyed this book a lot, read it on Kindle. It is an incredibly interesting story that keeps you hooked - I had trouble putting this book down!

Great read, written like poetry, and resonates on many levels