Excellent Mike Davis piece connecting the marauding, raping protagonists of Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian with the recently revealed Tiger Force atrocities no on is talking about (from the Vietnam era), and by implication, atrocities we may yet discover if the Government keeps pouring on the counterinsurgency efforts in Iraq. Good question he raises: How the fzck is Bob Kerrey still president of the New School after it came out that his unit was a bunch of throat slashers in Vietnam? That was then, this is now, right.
I'm looking forward to this. (will read later) Blood Meridian was one of my favorite books in the 80's. The paralells between McCarthy's scalp collectors and tales of U.S. Vietnam trophy collecting were unavoidable.
My friend Philip finally read the novel last month and called to get my opinion of what it is about. War is the only answer I have ever come up with. And secondarily that the charactor of The Judge is an archetype of the western (european) mindset. Philip will devote more thought to the book than I ever have, I'll email him the link.
Oops, I assumed the piece dealt more with Blood Meridian. Good article.
Yeah, it's really more of an attempt to get the Tiger Force stuff out there, which the feelgood media is ignoring, using the McCarthy book for context. Still, I have to admit I didn't make the connection between the book and Vietnam that strongly when I read it. I tend to personalize these things, as in "What's going on in the author's life that's not so good?" I did get the rapacious Westerner vs the Third World connection but didn't connect scalps and ears until Davis laid it out so clearly. Maybe I was buying into the "My Lai was an isolated incident" rationale more than I realized.
thanks for the link. i quite appreciate your sense of totality. you should check out the writing of douglas valentine, specifically "The Phoenix Program" if Tigerforce type of stuff interests (outrages) you.
party heart.
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Excellent Mike Davis piece connecting the marauding, raping protagonists of Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian with the recently revealed Tiger Force atrocities no on is talking about (from the Vietnam era), and by implication, atrocities we may yet discover if the Government keeps pouring on the counterinsurgency efforts in Iraq. Good question he raises: How the fzck is Bob Kerrey still president of the New School after it came out that his unit was a bunch of throat slashers in Vietnam? That was then, this is now, right.
- tom moody 11-17-2003 9:42 pm
I'm looking forward to this. (will read later) Blood Meridian was one of my favorite books in the 80's. The paralells between McCarthy's scalp collectors and tales of U.S. Vietnam trophy collecting were unavoidable.
My friend Philip finally read the novel last month and called to get my opinion of what it is about. War is the only answer I have ever come up with. And secondarily that the charactor of The Judge is an archetype of the western (european) mindset. Philip will devote more thought to the book than I ever have, I'll email him the link.
- steve 11-18-2003 6:03 pm
Oops, I assumed the piece dealt more with Blood Meridian. Good article.
- steve 11-18-2003 9:07 pm
Yeah, it's really more of an attempt to get the Tiger Force stuff out there, which the feelgood media is ignoring, using the McCarthy book for context. Still, I have to admit I didn't make the connection between the book and Vietnam that strongly when I read it. I tend to personalize these things, as in "What's going on in the author's life that's not so good?" I did get the rapacious Westerner vs the Third World connection but didn't connect scalps and ears until Davis laid it out so clearly. Maybe I was buying into the "My Lai was an isolated incident" rationale more than I realized.
- tom moody 11-18-2003 9:19 pm
thanks for the link. i quite appreciate your sense of totality. you should check out the writing of douglas valentine, specifically "The Phoenix Program" if Tigerforce type of stuff interests (outrages) you.
party heart.
- george (guest) 11-29-2003 10:34 am