Read Anatomy of a Soldier: A novel by Harry Parker Online

A work of extraordinary humanity and hope, created out of something hopeless and dehumanizing, it makes art out of pain and suffering and takes its place in a long and rich line of novels that articulate the lives that soldiers lead. Anatomy of a Soldier is a stunning first novel—of patriotism, heroism, and profound humanism—that will immediately take its place on the shelf of classics about what it truly means to be at war. In the boom of an instant, and in decades of very different lives and experiences, we see things we’ve never understood so clearly before.. But then regard them not as they see themselves but as all the objects surrounding them do: shoes and boots, a helmet, a bag of fertilizer, a medal, a beer glass, a snowflake, dog tags, and a horrific improvised explosive device that binds them all together by blowing one of them apart—forty-five different narrators in

Joel Rosenberg said Four Stars. Very unique, moved along well, was interesting throughout, a fast read from beginning to end.. While this is certainly an interesting way to tell a story, I found that the actual execution of the idea fell flat. BA5799 is a British soldier fighting a war in an ambiguously Middle Eastern country. The narrative jumps between his time before, during, and after his service, as well as the backstories of some of the people he encounters while abroad. The catch is, this isn’t just his story told by him – it’s told by everything around him. Rather, all the objects that he and others in his life encounter, use, manipulate, and interact with. It’s not BA5799 who tells us how it felt to fly to his assignment – it’s a round of ammunition. It’s his mother’s purse that tells us wha. Liat"A story in pieces" according to Liat2768. Harry Parker has created something unusual and wonderful in this book based on his time as a soldier in Afghanistan. The book was born out of cathartic writing and is a collection of short narrations by the different items that keep a soldier alive and well on duty, during a catastrophe and during recuperation. Through inanimate objects we get to know our young protagonist, the doctors who care for him and the events that lead to the tragedy at the center of the book. Parker writes beautifully for a first time author and almost every chapter is a perfect little story. You can feel the dust and heat of Afghan. 768 said A story in pieces. Harry Parker has created something unusual and wonderful in this book based on his time as a soldier in Afghanistan. The book was born out of cathartic writing and is a collection of short narrations by the different items that keep a soldier alive and well on duty, during a catastrophe and during recuperation. Through inanimate objects we get to know our young protagonist, the doctors who care for him and the events that lead to the tragedy at the center of the book. Parker writes beautifully for a first time author and almost every chapter is a perfect little story. You can feel the dust and heat of Afghan

“This is one of the most intimate and detailed accounts of a wounded soldier’s recovery ever committed to paper. These pages are dangerous but they contain compassion and sorrow too. It provides a vivid description of life as a soldier in Afghanistan and of life after being seriously wounded. It just happens that he’s done it unusually well.” —Carl Wilkinson, Financial Times  “Parker’s prose,economical but evocative and at times wincingly graphic, confidently shepherds you through the ruptured timeline morally and emotionally complex.” —Chris Power, The Guardian “A mighty achievement stark and

He sea-kayaks in his spare time. HARRY PARKER grew up in Wiltshire and was educated at University College London. . He now lives in London. He joined the British Army when he was twenty-three and served in Iraq in 2007 and Afghanistan in 2009. He’s also a painter, attends art school, and has completed a postgrad degree at the Royal Drawing School