Krakauer once again tells a very engaging, wide-ranging, complex story of an interesting and unusual character. The book switches back and forth between the life of Tillman and the events in the world and especially Afghanistan, as they (in hindsight) inexorably grind toward that day when all the stories intersect on the battlefield and result in Tillman's death. It's brilliantly done and I think you will love it. Much of my review will be made in reaction to some of the complaints against the book: Because I specifically disagree with them, in detail.
Some have complained that this book is either not a well-told story or not up to Krakauer's usual standards. To me, this is nonsense. This book was every bit as much a page-turner as any other of his books. The way he weaves the story of Afghanistan, US policy and actions, Al Qaeda's increasingly bold series of attacks, and Tillman's life is skillful and does not come off as contrived as it so easily could have. Krakauer frequently makes direct linkages in time between Tillman's life and events in Afghanistan (and elsewhere), for instance on p. 79, "In the predawn hours on the day of that game, as Pat was asleep in his hotel room, a Toyota delivery truck appeared at the entrance to a parking lot behind the American embassy in Nairobi, Kenya."
The history of Afghanistan Krakauer provides, admirably brief, is needed to set the stage on which Tillman will eventually play. (I have read extensively on Afghanistan and the rest of central Asia; and, based on my conversations with others, the vast majority of Americans need this historical overview to make sense of the events in the book.) This is not a narrowly-focused biography of Tillman that plops him (surprise!) into an unknown Afghanistan to die in a meaningless way. Setting the stage in Afghanistan gives great meaning to flow of events that brought him there and his motivations. In spite of the complaints that it's not a straight biography of Tillman (it wasn't intended to be), it chronicles Tillman's post-adolescent life, especially his post-enlistment life, in great detail (almost too much for me.) There are frequent long quotes from his journals. Many direct quotes of Tillman's own public and private statements. Frequent quotes from interviews with his friends, family, wife, coaches, roommates, fellow students, fellow soldiers, his commanders. I doubt more detail could have been written about his service in the army and still remain readable.
Many of the negative comments on the book complain about Krakauer's "criticism of the Bush Administration." A book about a man whose death was part of a large public cover-up and whose very exposure to combat was part of a controversial set of geo-political actions by the US Administration (our first preemptive war, for one thing, a decision that will haunt us into the distant future), inevitably MUST be in part political. However, the plain facts about who took what decisions and the results of those decisions are laid out in a very dispassionate way. In no way does the book devolve into a political diatribe. (Anyone familiar with Krakauer's writing knows that understatement is one of his strengths.) Some of those decisions were clearly bad blunders. I'm sure that burns in certain political quarters. Bush, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Cheney, et al. are rarely mentioned. Clinton comes off as a weak CinC, crippled into inaction against Al Qaeda by his affair with Ms. Lewinsky. All of our failings come off looking bad, because of course they were bad. We did fail, as a nation, to react correctly to Al Qaeda and the Taliban. These are plain facts.
Several reviewers have commented that Krakauer, since he is not a combat veteran, cannot have the perspective to make any valid commentary on the actions of men in combat. I respectfully assert that this is nonsense. He can't give a soldier's personal perspective; but there is a long and distinguished history of non-military writers on military subjects, including personal combat. Mainly they do it by interviewing soldiers and reading their journals: Which is exactly what Krakauer has done. I refer the reader to Blackhawk Down by Mark Bowden, Thomas Ricks' Making the Corps, and John Keagan's books, in particular The Face of Battle, among many other excellent books on combat (or being a soldier) by non-combatants.
The Face of Battle (Hardcover)
Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War [ILLUSTRATED] (Hardcover)
Making the Corps: 10th Anniversary Edition with a New Afterword by the Author (Paperback)
Krakauer has made some quite extreme technical climbs in remote mountains. I have never been in the military nor in combat (I'm grateful to say.) However, one of my closest climbing partners of many years was one of the LRRP soldiers in Vietnam: They were dropped behind enemy lines in small groups every 10-14 days to search and destroy for 4-9 days at a time. He saw plenty of "action." He tells me that the only thing that had the intensity of combat is the intensity and peril of difficult technical mountaineering (at least this was true for him.) He also noted that the camaraderie of the rope was comparable to the unit cohesion of the military: The trust and comradeship. I met Krakauer on Mt. McKinley while he was soloing the mountain: He's a solid customer and quite bold. I can say for myself that difficult, exposed climbing in remote places have been the most riveting experiences of my life. You get completely into "the zone" where nothing is in your mind except the here and now, this concrete second in your life. The comradeship and trust of the rope are peak experiences. Your partner, their hands on your rope, literally holds your life in their hands. The point is: Krakauer does have some perspective on life-and-death high-stress situations, even if he hasn't been in combat.
Some have complained that Krakauer notes Tillman's lack of religion: "I am also unclear as to why Krakauer feels the need to tell everyone Tillman was an agnostic/atheist" This is bizarre to me. Would they be complaining if it were noted that Tillman were a Christian (he wasn't)? Is one's religious stance not important to one's motivations? Are not Tillman's motivations for enlisting some of the main points of his story? There are two pertinent quotes:
p. 34 "[in his diary, Tillman] opined that religion was inadequate to elucidate the mysteries of existence."
p. 116 "But there was more to his decision than he shared with ESPN. Pat was agnostic, perhaps even an atheist, but the Tillman family creed nevertheless imparted to him an overarching sense of values that included a belief in the transcendent importance of continually striving to better oneself - intellectually, morally, and physically."
And there is also:
p. 16 "When [Tillman and his brothers] had to be indoors, they engaged in clamorous discussions about current events, history, and politics with their parents and each other. Almost no subject was off-limits. Encouraged to think critically and be skeptical of conventional wisdom, Pat learned to trust in himself and be unafraid to buck the herd."
These all seem quite on topic in a discussion of Tillman's life and what motivated him to enlist in the army. Many American Christians seem to believe that none of their non-co-religionists are in possession of morals or proper values (viz.: Lt. Col. Kauzlarich, pp. 314, 315). The point is directly pertinent to that attitude.
Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman
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Last update: 12-15-2024
Top reviews from the United States
J. Blilie
Another Superb Book by Jon Krakauer
Reviewed in the United States on September 24, 2009
KR
Fantastic book
Reviewed in the United States on January 24, 2024
Gordon Wagner
Just the facts, in Krakauer's inimitable style
Reviewed in the United States on December 2, 2009