Patches of Fire: A Story of War and Redemption

i was reading a book just recently and a part of the book was about the vietnam war. this immidiatly brought me to think about albert french's "patches of fire" which has stayed with me for ever after reading it a few years back. the reason this book is so special to me is that not only is the book so touching and amazing but i had the most unforgettable chance to meet the man himself. i so happened to be working at a restaurant where albert french was being interviewed by an english newspaper. this man was something out of the ordinary and was the kindest to me. we got talking while is was taking their order and i will never forget that moment. alert said he just wanted a simple lunch nothing to fancy, as long as it came with fries. he explained how he had been eating or rather not eating during his time in vietnam and how that had affected him for life. he started telling me a story, which is also in his book, about how his food had bacically been "alive" one day during his servicetime but cause of hunger and no other option had to simply eat it etc and his story could had gone on but i was busy serving other customers. and to cut a long story short, he said he was going to have his book sent to me, so i could sort of hear him out and so it happened.reading "patches of fire" had an enormos impact on me, and i must admit that i truly cried finishing the book.i give my highest recommandations for this book.

French gives the reader real insights into what war is like, and what Viet Nam did to the men that fought there. I have struggled to find books about Viet Nam and other wars from the point of view of real soldiers, not generals and journalists. This one does the job terrifically well.French, as an African American gives us insight into what race meant before, during, and after the war. But the book does much more than that. What is remarkable and compelling for the reader is to see how much the black and white soldier had in common in the foxholes and rice paddies in Viet Nam, and then, as deeply troubled psyches, in the decades of recovery that our soldiers have gone through.Finally, French's book is a fascinating book about writers and writing. Here is a man that first had to write to heal. In that he discovered his remarkable talents as an unschooled, but brilliant writer.

Albert French writes not only from the perspective of an American fighting in Vietnam, but also as an African-American, a view which is often neglected. I read this book for a college history course, and never before has an assigned text moved me to the point of tears. This book brings to life a time and place that many of us know little about. Though French obviously cannot, nor does he attempt, to speak for all Vietnam veterans, his story does offer an example of the long term effects of that period of time.

I fell in love with "Billy" and with "Holly" and French continues his exciting work with "Patches of Fire." I was expecting a story similar to his earlier work, and soon realized that this was going to be something different. A man who has found the strength and the means to share not only his horrific experiences of war but also his fellow soldiers. French's raw and at times conflicting narrative grip the reader with the same pain and torment with which he has been living with since the war. French has let us into a world that few can ever imagine. His story has allowed him to share his burdened conscience with his readers. The one that won't let him forget the smiles and the hopes and dreams of all these young men that perished needlessly. "Patches of Fire" is not simply a story of redemption for French, he is also redeeming the memory of his fallen comrades