The Forever War

ok, i joined another book club and i was dreading this sci-fi title. even though i've recently discovered i like sci-fi, i assumed it was only the current stuff. this book was published in the '70s and i envisioned all the crap that hubby used to read (with sexual caricatures for women, and just plain boring details of futuristic machines)
anyhow, it was engrossing. it helped that the author's note made it clear he was writing through the prism of the Vietnam War (and that, because it was obvious, publishing houses wouldn't touch it) the novel spans centuries of warfare and the character progresses through the chain of command so there always something new to learn. there's space travel, and there's a future earth, and there is the senselessness of war. and somehow, there's also a happy ending. what more could you ask for?

While neither the ordinance nor the writing was anything out of the ordinary, there was nevertheless something compelling about this story. the 'hops', for want of a better phrase, did provide a fascinating glimpse into a rather divergent potential future. The military stuff was also quite good, though not anything overly new - but this book was originally written quite some time ago.

There's more of the same, so I'm told. One day, assuredly.

After having read the science heavy epic "Cities In Flight". I was geared up for another round a sciency-heavy Sci-Fi.

Which was a complete contrast to what I found in The Forever War. This is a very human book, presenting a few universal axioms on which to base the rest of the book. The pyschological and sociological explorations are staggering, and I've not read anything like it before.

This is the only book where I've had to turn to the last page to "just make sure" to keep myself from crying on the London Underground.

Genuinely amazing.