The forever war
- Written by Joe Haldemann
This morning I finished reading this book. What a ride! I feel like something is missing now, a sort of hole in my chest.
addition on the 29th of october:
Over approximately 2 to 3 weeks, on and off, I read The forever war. I might not have done it justice by reading it a few pages at a time, in bed, before sleeping.
Never the less, trodding through the pages, this book gave me a longing, melancholy probably, for a live i've never lived and never missed, as Haldemann describes the protagonist returning to his mother after what was in his perception a mere months, only to find the planet, his home and what he might have left behind radically different.
By desribing the small, mundane, everyday things that now differ and having them be presented to the protagonist in a understatedt, offhanded way, just to emphasize that this startlingly different way of living has become the new way, and settled as such.
The yellow science-fiction edition I read provides introductory information, which, while enriching, in my opinion, should have not been placed before the story, as it discloses so much about the author and even provides it's own interpretation or alludes to a way of interpretation, which, once you've read it, becomes hard to shake off in order to form your own take.