Our man Paco, not dead but sure as shit should be, lies flat on his back and wide to the sky, with slashing lacerations, big watery burn blisters, and broken, splintered, ruined legs. He wallows in this greasy, silken muck that covers him and everything else for a stone’s throw and dries to a stinking sandy crust. He lies there that night and all the next day, the next night and half the second day, with his heels hooked on a gnarled, charred, nearly fire-hardened vine root; immobile. And he comes to consciousness in the dark of that first long night with a heavy dew already soaked through the rags of his clothes, and he doesn’t know what hit him.
(from Paco’s Story, page 18)
Set during the Vietnam War, Paco’s Story, winner of the 1987 National Book Award for fiction, is a haunting novel about the only survivor of the massacre of Alpha Company at Fire Base Harriette. Paco is an ordinary soldier who somehow managed to live, but it almost seems as though his surviving was the easy part. Haunted by the ghosts of the soldiers who died that day, Paco must re-enter the land of the living.
Larry Heinemann uses a ghostly narrator to tell Paco’s story, someone who can observe the people who interact with Paco, how they feel about the war and their concern (or lack of) for the returning veterans. Paco takes a bus to Boone, Texas, with his AWOL bag and a cane, and a sympathetic WWII veteran gives him a job as dishwasher at the Texas Lunch. Full of painkillers and booze, Paco lives a quiet routine of work and sleep — quiet, aside from the nightmares. The owner of the diner, Ernest, and Jesse, a Vietnam vet passing through Boone, talk about their wartime experiences, which is something Paco is unable to do, leaving that job to the narrator.
The narrative often seems choppy and can be difficult to follow at first, and I saw so many things I missed the first time I read this book in college. There are many layers to Paco’s Story, from Paco himself to the secondary stories about the medic who found Paco and a promiscuous young woman intrigued by him, among others. These asides might seem out of place at first glance, but given that Paco isn’t telling his own story, the reactions and observations of the people around him say a lot.
It is easy to pity Paco the victim, and Heinemann does a great job showing how difficult it is for Paco to live with the pain of his wounds and memories. But Paco isn’t an innocent soul, and in a horrifying, brutally violent scene involving a Viet Cong girl, Heinemann drives home the point that war isn’t pretty. Paco’s Story will force readers out of their comfort zones with graphic imagery and harsh language, but its raw honesty is what makes the book so important. The book doesn’t sugar-coat or romanticize war, and readers soon understand why some Vietnam vets continue to struggle with memories of their experiences and find it hard to talk about what they did and what they witnessed as soldiers.
At War Through the Generations, we hosted a read-a-long for Paco’s Story during the month of July. If you’d like to learn more about the book, check out Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4 of the discussion.
Disclosure: I purchased my worn-out copy of Paco’s Story. I am an Amazon associate.
© 2010 Anna Horner of Diary of an Eccentric. All Rights Reserved. Please do not reproduce or republish content without permission.
This is one of my favorites because it doesn’t romanticize the war and shows the harsh realities of what happens to soldiers when their humanity and morality is stripped away — even if it is done little by little — until they hardly, if at all, recognize themselves.
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Well said!
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I have yet to read a Vietnam book that is even the least bit soft, but this one was particularly harsh. I just wrote up my comments for week 4, and will post them tomorrow. I wasn’t entirely sure how I felt about the end. Realistic, I guess, and incredibly sad. I felt slightly nauseous.
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I felt the same way about the book being nauseating and especially harsh. But I think it was necessary to make Paco’s story realistic.
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I can see choppy narrative being appropriate for a book about war. I need to try to get to this book soon.
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I hope you read it for the challenge. It’s one of the best Vietnam War novels I’ve read.
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I do enjoy books which take readers outside their comfort zone, force them to encounter something new. Sounds like a great read.
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Then you definitely should give this one a try.
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This is one that I’ve been following on Serena’s blog. I really think I need to read it.
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You should, and since you followed the read-a-long, at least you’ll be prepared for what you’ll encounter.
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This sounds very intense, Anna, and makes me more aware of all the vets out there. Excellent review, as usual!
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Thanks, Suko!
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Great review Anna! This sounds like a really good portrait of a person living through the Vietnam war. I added it to my TBR.
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Thanks, Teddy! I hope you give it a try.
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I forgot about the first part being choppy, because I eventually got used to the unusual narrative. I agree with you completely that the book will bring readers out of their comfort zones. But I think it’s important that the book does. It makes a good statement on the Vietnam War. I always enjoy, love, and respect books about War that don’t romanticize it (although some books and movies aren’t bad that do), I always find ones that don’t paint a great picture and Paco’s story doesn’t fail.
Great review, you pointed out things, I completely forgot about in mine. Great choice for the read-a-long. I’d likely not have read it otherwise.
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I’m so glad you joined us for the read-a-long, especially considering you wouldn’t have read the book had it not been for that. It’s true that eventually you get used to the narrative, but it did take me awhile.
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Hi Anna, I did not join the read-along but I did get the book after reading so many good reviews about it. I read a lot war books and I don’t want to miss out on the ones about Vietnam. I’m starting on this as soon as I’m done with IF YOU COME SOFTLY by Jacqueline Woodson.
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I’m glad you got the book, and I know you’ve already posted your review. I’ll have to check it out soon. I’m so behind in blog reading and responding to comments.
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I need to read about this war and survivors. Some classmates and some of my female fiance, brothers or friends died. My cousin doesn’t speak of what he experienced but only of troubles and pain he has suffered since.
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It’s books like these that make us understand why the veterans don’t want to discuss their experiences. I’m still haunted by this book years later. Thanks for stopping by, Lidia.
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