Here, Bullet by Brian Turner
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Book Reviews of Here, Bullet
Book Review: Iraq Through the Poet's Eye
Summary: 5 Stars
"The history books will get it wrong.
There will be nothing written
about the island ferris wheel
frozen by rust like a broken clock...."
"Ferris Wheel"
In Here, Bullet, U. S. Army veteran Brian Turner gets it right as only a poet can. Through vivid and varied images and voices, Turner illustrates the nuanced reality of the Iraq War Theater. He shuns cliché as he chronicles the scenes of war from unique and unexpected perspectives. In "Baghdad Zoo," Turner displays the chaos widely reported after the 2003 invasion not through familiar images of looting, sniper fire, and explosions, but through the experience of displaced animals thrust into a surreal and alien habitat. The absurdity of the scene provides a powerful metaphor that rings excruciatingly true.
Turner displays a profound respect for the rich culture of the Middle East that is often overlooked in the strife of battle. In "Alhazen of Basra," Turner pays homage to scientific and mathematical advances that form the foundation of academics. "Gilgamesh, in Fossil Relief" honors both the ancient poet and the modern archaeologist. Narthere, a painter, strives to capture in art the war around him as Turner depicts his frustration in "Easel."
Many have been touched in one way or another by the current war. Turner broadens his readers' perspectives with the voices of soldiers, medical personnel, and Iraqi civilians. Through these balanced points of view, Turner does what no camera or history book can do. He reveals what it is like to feel a life slip through the fingers, to be at the center of an exploding market, to strive for a sense of normalcy in a world turned upside down. Turner jars the imaginations and emotions of his readers through the concise words of a skilled poet.
With a minimum of judgment, Turner illuminates the world that friends, children, siblings, and spouses have experienced in Iraq. And he reminds his readers of the common human emotions and desires shared by combatants on both sides of war and by civilians caught in between. Far from a political statement, it is a statement of the human condition in a time of war.
Book Review: A vivid rendition of the war in Iraq that you won't get from the mass media
Summary: 5 Stars
After hearing Brian read some of his poetry, I decided that this was a volume worth purchasing. Upon investigating, I was thoroughly surprised to find that only one person had reviewed this book on Amazon. Given the readability and timeliness of the material, I would have expected it to have found a much broader readership.
The review excerpt on the back of the book says worlds about "Here, bullet":
"The day of the first moonwalk, my father's college literature professor told his class, `Someday they'll send a poet and we'll find out what it's really like.' Turner has sent back a dispatch from a place arguably more incomprehensible than the moon - the war in Iraq - and deserves our thanks..."
- The New York Times Book Review
Irrespective of the reason Brian decided to forgo a more traditional career path and seek out experience as an enlisted soldier, we are in his debt. His prose presents a vivid picture of the beauty of the desert nation as well as the violence that punctuates the life of its inhabitants. Though not qualified to judge the poetic merit of Brian's material, I feel strongly that his feel for the language, coupled with his experience with a war that promises to galvanize a generation, will make him an interesting poet and author to keep track of in the future.
Book Review: Fundamental Humanity
Summary: 5 Stars
Subject aside, this is raw poetry. It is bare. It is honest. It has all the marks of a true theophany: the mystery that attracts irresistably, and the horror that repels, that paralyzes with trembling fear at the same time. If you cannot have the experience itself, or if you want to read someone elses notes on an incomprehensible experience you've shared with them, you will want to read this. Most "great" poetry about world shaking events was written decades, if not centuries, after the event. There is, however, a short shelf of poetry written by the people who were there, written when it happened. i think people hesistate to call it "great" because it lacks the essential distance of greatness. That does not make it any less personal, any less human, any less intense--and a hundred times more fundamentally human. Reading this, I'm reminded of the overwhelming effect the Crusades had on European culture. The conquorers were conquored one by one, and Western culture is all the greater for it. I hope Brian Turner goes on to cast this writer's eye on every detail of the remainder of his life. The everyday life he grew up in the US with is no less worthy than the life he experienced over there--after all, THAT is the life millions have grown up with as everyday, by definition. Yet look at how extraordinary.Book Review: ASTONISHING, GUT WRENCHING, GORGEOUS, HORRIFYING
Summary: 5 Stars
If you hear gunfire on a Thursday afternoon,
It could be for a wedding, or it could be for you.
Always enter a home with your right foot;
The left foot is for cemeteries and unclean places.
O-guf! Tera armeek! Is rarely useful.
It means Stop! Or I'll shoot!
Sabah el Kahir is effective.
It means Good Morning.
Inshallah means Allah be willing.
Listen carefully when it is spoken.
You will hear the RPG coming for you.
Not so the roadside bomb.
There are bombs under the overpasses,
in trashpiles, in bricks,, in cars.
There are shopping carts with clothes soaked
in foogas, a sticky gel made of homemade napalm.
Parachute bombs and artillery shells
sewn into the carcasses of dead farm animals.
Graffiti sprayed onto the overpasses:
I will kell you, American.
Men wearing vests rigged with explosives
walk up, raise their arms and say Inshallah.
There are men who earn eighty dollars
to attack you, five thousand to kill.
Small children who will play with you,
old men with their talk, women who offer chai-
and any one of them
may dance over your body tomorrow.
Book Review: Profound, deep, moving - everything poetry should be
Summary: 5 Stars
Brian Turner's poetry about his experiences in Iraq are, in a word, excellent. I could hardly believe that Publisher's Weekly panned it the way they did. Turner is not a Sassoon, Owen, or Graves, the war poets of an earlier age - his is a more contemporary voice. The opening poem, "A Soldier's Arabic" clearly demonstrates this - it is a poem not just about war, but about separation, love, tragedy and confusion. The entire collection shows the irony, sadness and yes, beauty of the Middle East.
"What Every Soldier Should Know" and "Ashbah" haunt me still with the raw emotion presented on the page. "Sadiq", "Last Night's Dream" and "9 Line Medivac" express feelings common to any combat soldier with a power rarely seen in literature. "Night in Blue", one of the final poems in the book, is a fitting way to conclude the collection, providing a sense of closure as Turner describes his journey home.
I hesitate to compare Brian Turner to other authors who have written of their combat experiences. The comparison only fits in that they are all veterans; _Here, Bullet_ is unique, profound, haunting and troubling. It is honest - which is as much as anyone can ask of a poet. Highly recommended.