The Good Soldiers

Finkel, of The Washington Post, surpassed most Iraq reportage with his account of his time in Baghdad in 2007 with 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division – the 2-16 Rangers for short.

Embedded with soldiers on the shifting front lines of a savage war, what he showed was neither good nor bad: it just was.

Finkel’s title echoes The Good Soldier Svejk, Jaroslav Hašek’s first world war satire. There’s satire in Finkel, about American notions of Iraq and war that deepened with a home-front sequel, Thank You For Your Service. But there is… show more.

I loved this book because it told such a human story of war and loss. For me, it was a reminder of how important it is to be able to confront hard truths and realities and not bury one’s head in the alluring sands of optimism.

I live by the principle of positivity, of the belief that the capacity to make things better is always there and lies in your own hands. Yet this doesn’t mean you shy away from grim realities and issues that must be addressed. Or that you don’t accept the dice role of luck in outcomes… show more.