Dispatches

This is a staggering book, by far one of my favourites, which brought me to my knees as I read it. I would say it provides an almost definitive account of the Vietnam War in that it reflects that which the war meant on an almost conceptual, rather than an historical or even social, level. With this book Michael Herr wrote the language of the Vietnam War and defined the cultural vocabulary with which it would become discussed and analysed over the years, particularly in films such as Apocalypse Now and Full Metal Jacket (with which Herr had some involvement). It is the awful combustion of the sacred and the profane, and Herr's almost psychedelic manipulations of language, which make you not just understand what it was like to be there, but what the Vietnam War was to all those people it sucked in and spat out.

I think Herr's account, notwithstanding the huge count and dizzying range of stories, is a deeply personal one. It also comes to some uncomfortable conculsions - men love war, par exemple.
I haven't read Unreasonable Behaviour but I'll keep my eye out for it.

Yes - 'Dispatches' is an astonishing and unsettling book. But for me the ultimate, visceral account of Vietnam (and beyond) is Don McCullin's 'Unreasonable Behaviour'. The photographs are easily as eloquent.

Herr's often humorous, often sickening accounts are unparalleled amongst Vietnam War reportage. Plus his writing ability makes me nauseous with jealousy.