Sorry About That

Rating:
Summary: all absurd on the eastern front
Review: jim umlauf's "sorry about that," the story of a drafted american pacifist in vietnam, contains elements of m.a.s.h., catch 22, teahouse of the august moon, and thanks to slick the wonder dog, even rintintin. radio carrier carter's fumbling fatalism,self-effacing humor and lowkey personality create a portrait of a soldier not so much enmeshed in that war as uneasily skimming over it.

The war itself appears as a series of cultural clashes and bureaucratic blunders, not unlike the the way the m.a.s.h. tv series portrayed the korean war, with most of the horror and guts kept antiseptically out of sight. this allows the author to plot his strengh, absurdist humor, at which he excels. if the book has a shortcoming, it's that the light tone is too pervasive. the reader doesn't see carter change or learn any hard lessons until the final few chapters. but then, perhaps a man can be created in a second, especially in war.