An American Requiem: God, My Father, and the War That Came Between Us

I was so surprised by reading the few negative reviews of this book that I felt obligated to comment. Yes, his story is one-sided, and no, he doesn't explore his father's perspective much, or what the proponents of war were really thinking. And yes, he obviously feels that he was in the right to protest the war. But this isn't a book about his father, the Catholic Church, and especially not about the Vietnam war. This is simply the story of his life, as he presents it. Like the best of books, you root for the protagonist, you sympathize with him, and sometimes you wish he had done things differently. It is a fascinating, absorbing read and a good glimpse into the spirit of a time that I am too young to know myself. It's also an odd juxtaposition with the current events of our nation at war.

This is an honest, soul-searching book about a man who questions his faith and his father's role in the Vietnam War. Rather than taking a "moral high ground," like one of the earlier reviewers claimed, I found Carroll's writing to be very humble and self-effacing. He readily admits to "standing in the background" on many of the early protests.Although Carroll's questioning of religious AND military apologists will no doubt raise the ire of dyed-in-the-wool conservatives, his perspective is a breath of fresh air to those of us with moral questions of our own.

Jim Carroll has written a remarkable book. Contrary to the reviewers on this site, Carroll is not a moral coward. To stand up for what you believe in the face of family and friends is the opposite of cowardice. And Carroll is not Anti-Catholic at all, if you read carefully, you would understand that, while he has differences with his religion, that he still holds the church in respect. Read this book...and you will understand how the negative reviewers have completely missed the boat and have let their own ideological agendas cloud their judgment.

As a reader in my early twenties, until I read this memoir it was difficult for me to understand the enormity that was the Vietnam War to American consciousness. The power of the book is two-fold. The first is the picture Carroll paints of his family -- a distinctly American creation with which most readers can identify, especially those like myself who had a military upbringing. The second is the historic moment in which Carroll's emotional story unfolds. Until this book, I never truly felt what a blow the Vietnam War was to many Americans' faith in their country. The pathos in the story lies in the fact that while Carroll finds himself politically and ideologically in the tumultuous era of the 70's, he simultaneously alienates himself from his beloved father and the values the older man embodies. Some readers may think that the memoir is overly sentimental, yet the sincerity and introspection with which Carroll writes makes the emotions in the book more evocative than the more tired tear-jerkers out there. The complex emotions of love and regret are expressed beautifully by the close of the book. One of the most emotionally evocative books I've read in a long time and also an informative glimpse into a period of American history.

I suppose this is a very sad book; and I often wanted to reach back and relieve Jim Carroll of his self-doubt and conflict, waive those growth experiences which most certainly made him into the person he is. What I'm saying is that I suffered right along with him and longed to put him at rest. He made me FEEL his pain. What he never managed to do and to which I have no objection, is to make me feel his father's pain. And, after all, American Requiem is Jim Carroll's story and NOT his father's. A lovely, lovely, book; and one I shall treasure.