Anatomy of a Soldier: A Novel

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About Anatomy Of A Soldier: A Novel

Product Description Here is the unforgettable story of Captain Tom Barnes, whom we first meet as he is leading British troops in Afghanistan. We then meet two young Afghani boys—and the man who trains one of them to fight against the infidel invaders. Finally, there are the family and friends who radiate out from these lives: the people on all sides of a war where virtually everyone is caught up in something unthinkable. But this novel regards them not as they see themselves but as the objects surrounding them do: a helmet, a bag of fertilizer, a beer glass, dog tags—and a horrific improvised explosive device that binds them all together by blowing one of them apart. A work of extraordinary humanity and hope, Anatomy of a Soldier takes its place among the great novels that articulate the lives of soldiers. In the boom of an instant, we see things we’ve never understood so clearly before. Review “Beautiful. . . . Prismatic. . . . A gestalt view of a soldier’s journey from mutilation to recovery.” — The New York Times Book Review “A novel of concentrated ferocity and chilling accomplishments, tense and unflinching but alive to every nuance of feeling.” —Hilary Mantel, author of Wolf Hall “Harrowing. . . . Powerful. . . . An unusually worthy addition to the growing body of veteran literature.” — San Francisco Chronicle   “One of the most intimate and detailed accounts of a wounded soldier's recovery ever committed to paper.” — The Wall Street Journal “Behind this absorbing novel lies the indomitable spirit of Harry Parker. He has fought his way back from the darkest boundary of life to become a husband, father and, as this book shows, a writer of gifts and promise.” — The Wall Street Journal “We’ve become desensitized to war stories, but Harry Parker—not simply through the originality of his approach but also through skillful storytelling, intimate observation, and an endless ability to surprise and move the reader—cuts past our callouses and delivers a bold new narrative of war and its aftermath.” —Phil Klay, author of Redeployment “Unprecedented. . . . In eschewing a traditional first-person narrative, Parker gets at insights that might regularly sit obscured. . . . Make[s] the unthinkable conflict real.” — The New Criterion “A tour de force. In this brilliant and beguiling novel Harry Parker sees the hidden forces that act on the bodies and souls of combatants and non-combatants. These pages are dangerous but they contain compassion and sorrow too. There is wonder here at what men have done to themselves. It feels like war through the looking glass but it is utterly real.” —Nadeem Aslam, author of Maps for Lost Lovers “This is a brilliant book, direct from the battle zone, where all the paraphernalia of slaughter is deployed to tell its particular and savage story.” —Edna O’Brien, author of The Little Red Chairs “Moving. . . . Innovative. . . . Acute and sensitive. . . . Following the well-worn advice given to first-time novelists, Parker has written about what he knows. It just happens that he’s done it unusually well.” — Financial Times “A great novel: a defining work about a place beyond survival, where the terribly damaged succeed not just in living and adapting, but in bringing illumination back from the abyss. It will be read with wonder, with respect and with gratitude.” — The New Statesman “An extraordinary achievement.” — Express “A gripping wartime story boldly and creatively told . . . Parker’s unflinching tone lends the novel its lasting power.” — Publishers Weekly “This debut novel chronicles a soldier’s maiming and recovery with an inventiveness that in no way mitigates war’s searing heartbreak—or the spirit’s indomitability . . . You couldn't call this novel an antiwar tract . . . But you could certainly label it a pro-understanding work of art—and those may be more in need right now than ever before.” — Kirkus Reviews “An arresting and unconventional first novel . . . Deeply compelling.”