Don't Mean Nothing, by Susan O'Neill (Black Swan)
This debut collection of fictional interlinked stories gives a remarkable insight into the Vietnam War, especially from a woman's perspective.
Written by a former army nurse who served in Vietnam in 1969 and 1970, this is a realistic and moving piece of work filled with desperation.
The unifying character is a nurse and the various stories travel with her through the three combat hospitals to which she is assigned.
Characters we meet include a soldier seeking to adopt a Vietnamese orphan, a pregnant captain, an alcoholic nurse who reads palms and a militant anaesthetist.
Her fictional doctors and nurses do their best to keep their sanity, but the overwhelming message here is that war achieves nothing positive.
Noting that "don't mean nothing" was a popular catchphrase in Vietnam's combat hospitals, O'Neill offers a damning update: "I am convinced that, to our government, Vietnam really, truly Didn't Mean Nothing."
O'Neill's 11 months in south-east Asia provided some truly harrowing stories for her to tell, and that she does it so well is perhaps testament to the fact that she has waited until now to do so.
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