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The Weekly Reporter's Review: Articles of War

"Arvin is…capable of sentences that stop you cold"
by Manny Perez
Each week a different member of the Living and Arts staff will present a new review of anything ranging from the latest chart topping blockbusters to obscure potato chip flavors; always insightful and always through an honest perspective, the WRR gives a critical picture into today’s content rich world.

Articles of War
    One Book/One Denver, the citywide project to bring together readers around a hand-selected book by the mayor, is a great idea. Imagine, once the program begins to ascend in popularity, turning towards friendly looking people on the bus or while waiting for the elevator and asking “So what did you think of Articles of War”? Too bad these people will reply with only an exasperated sigh and return to leafing through their thesaurus for more interesting words. Or is that just me?

    Nick Arvin’s Articles of War follows the story of a young eighteen-year-old farm boy from the Midwest who goes off to join the army during World War II. The book takes us through the paces as he trudges along France waiting for deployment, making fleeting contact with a woman, and the brutal war itself, all while riding on the emotional rollercoaster of the soldier. The entire work is only a meager 178 pages long, but in this case brevity is a positive thing. And while the entire book isn’t necessarily bad, in some instances maybe even brilliant, some poor writing examples and rigid, sometimes even stagnant pacing place it on either a pedestal to be worshipped by some or on a skewer to be roasted by others.

“Arvin is … capable of sentences that stop you cold” - Newsweek

    I found this book to be boring. Newsweek hit a bull’s-eye with this quote taken from the acclaim section in the front of AOW, because I did stop cold. Not from a strong emotional reaction though, but from sheer dullness from the slow plot. The criticism hits nothing harder than the main character himself, George Tilson. Worthy of note is his nickname, Heck, for his absolute denial to swear, but that is unfortunately where his persona stops being interesting and he reverts back to being a boring and grey-haired nobody from Iowa.

    Although there could be the argument that that is the whole point to Heck - an average Joe, an every-man, an unremarkable and forgettable nobody being put through a horrific ordeal - it’s just that a lukewarm character makes for a lukewarm book, and Heck might as well have been an emotional cactus on wheels for all he, himself, did for the story. One such example would be during the battle scenes; while action and excitement surround the kid in the form of whizzing bullets and crashing rockets, we get the screen filled with lengthy explanations of his most obvious emotion: fear.

    The plot itself could have done with a rewrite. While the actual war scenes are intense, vivid, and immersive; like playing Call of Duty or watching Band of Brothers on paper, it was the camp settings that just dragged on. These had to do with Heck just lounging around waiting to be sent to the battlefield, which could take weeks or more. These parts are slow and sigh inducing, transforming the page-turning almost into a liability, but luckily Arvin usually decides to throw in some plot twists occasionally, sparing readers from simply dropping the book. By the end, satisfaction runs low and leaves readers clinging to whatever piece of new information that they are given.

    Articles of War is not bad, really. It may take the book a while to get into its pace and by the time that happens the ending is in clear-view, but it still holds tremendous power in its pages and comes highly recommended not just from me but also a few other, and slightly more respected, sources such as The Denver Post, The Rocky Mountain News, The New York Times, and of course the Big Cheese himself, Mayor John Hickenlooper.

    The ending ultimately was a complete masterpiece and really saved the entire book. The situation presented was not only a wave of irony that - for lack of finding a better term - was completely awesome, but the tie-in with the authentic historical figure Private Slovik was simply a touch of genius on Arvin’s behalf and deserves nothing but the highest praise.

    To say the least, Articles of War may have only been 50 pages longer than The Adventures of Captain Underpants, but the book has the adequate ability to say a bit more than the spine can hold, and for that Arvin becomes one of the most celebrated authors ever to live in, or even glance at a map of, Denver, Colorado. Or at least by some peoples’ standards.
 

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Copyright © 2007 Thomas Jefferson Journal