R.M. Ryan

There’s a Man with a Gun over There is a novel rich with references to music and culture of the 60s, and powerful with relevance to today. Based on author R. M. Ryan’s military experience during the Vietnam era, it’s not so much a tale of the Vietnam War or Vietnam’s ills, but rather one of beating the military system and being beaten by it just the same. “Over there” might be Europe or Asia or beyond, but the price of that gun is surely still paid “over here.”

The man who escapes being sent to Vietnam ends up working with the military police in post WWII Germany. There, his story starts with the blood of an unknown victim, and reads back through the life of an everyman wounded by everyday sorrows then thrust into the role of wounding others. Surely languages can’t hurt. Surely obeying orders won’t kill. Surely meeting the occasional Nazi won’t change who a man is at heart. But this story moves inexorably toward a cruel price, and “over there” might be the loving husband and father next door, the guy in the store, or the neighbor and friend, as all too many of our neighbors and friends learn the true cost of wars.

Author R.M. Ryan writes with a uniquely compelling style. Short scenes evolve into each other through a natural progression of thoughts, while high school teachers, war criminals, betrayed wives and more flit through the author's mind. The well-drawn intersecting timelines never confuse but work seamlessly together, weaving a tale of life’s rich weave torn apart. “The day the music died,” plays in the background while poetry’s music struggles to bear the wounds, and the facts of lives, of photographs, and of memory all run from the fabled gun.

Next time I see the Vietnam memorial, those names unknown will have faces and histories, thanks to a man who wasn’t over there. And frozen tomato sauce will never seem the same. This book is a must-read revelation of a generation, growing more relevant with each newscast to today. And the oldest business in the world isn’t prostitution after all.

Disclosure: I was given a free preview edition and I offer my honest review.… (mais)