The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers

On Monday, June 2nd, the Booked for the Day Book Group met to discuss the book, The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers. Here are a few things we discussed during the meeting:

We started our discussion talking about Power’s credentials for writing a war novel and we learned that he joined the Army National Guard in 1997 and his unit was activated in 2003.  He served as a machine-gunner during the Second Gulf War. After the war he received a M.F.A. in Poetry which is evident in his writing. Some of the members thought that some of the flowery passages were too lengthy but most enjoyed his writing.

The headlines in the news the morning of the book group talked about a US soldier freed from captivity after 5 years.  Sargent Bergdahl was disillusioned with the war and walked away from his post without his gun and was captured.  Many soldiers saw him as a deserter.  Some of the members heard about this in the news and thought that the situation sounded eerily similar to Murph’s experience.  While reading the novel we never thought about the possibility that Bartle and Sterling did not retrieve Murph’s body because he could have been labeled a deserter. Most of us thought the reason was because they did not want Murph’s mother to see his disfigured body.

We talked about the letter that Bartle wrote to Murph’s mother. None of us understood why Bartle felt compelled to write the letter and wondered what could have been in the letter.  This was a lose thread that we wish they would have cleared up.

It also was not clear why and when Sterling committed suicide.  Was it because he could not acclimate made himself to civilian life, was it because of the way they deposed of Murph’s body, or was it because of the civilian killings that took place in order to conceal Murph’s disappearance.  This was another thread that we wish they would have cleared up. One member mentioned that she could understand not clearing things up if it was a nonfiction book, many things typically are unknown in nonfiction, but this is a fiction book.

We talked about the girl in Germany and her interaction with Sterling. None of us saw the purpose of this section, where they were going with it, and if Sterling has some sort of history with this girl it was not evident.

We talked about the promise that Bartle made to Murph’s mother.  We all thought it was wrong of her to pressure him into a promise. We all wish he would have just said, “I’ll do my best” or “I’ll try to do my best.” Both boys were so young and it was unfair of her to expect so much from Bartle.

One of our members thought that the reason this book was written was so you had some understanding of what some of the armed forces went through. It is not meant to justify, condemn, or explain their actions but to relay some of the emotional turmoil these soldiers went through.

One of our members is a Vietnam veteran and explained to us it is very hard to talk to people about your experiences in battle. Very few people understand what it is like so veterans tend to keep things to themselves. We talked about how the Vietnam Vets were not recognized for what they went through but like Bartle and our member, they do not like people calling them heroes.

As far as recommending this book, most members thought they would recommend it. Others thought it was just too sad. And one member thought that the book was not realistic and gave the impression that all veterans came back emotionally disabled and would not recommend it. These are just a few things mentioned during the discussion. Please feel free to add any of your thoughts in the comment section.