- Paperback: 256 pages
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster (2 Oct 2002)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0743227840
- ISBN-13: 978-0743227841
- Product Dimensions: 20.2 x 13.6 x 1.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Review
Scott Anderson author of "Triage" and "The Man Who Tried to Save the World" Bauman renders the true spirit of men at war -- not just the frustrations and fear that come with operating over a dangerous landscape but also the deep bonds that tie men and women together through such experiences. With both humor and compassion, he captures well the deeper wounds that such places can inflict.
Product Description
Just as "The Things They Carried" and "Catch-22" spoke to their generations with truth and dark humor, this brilliant first novel defines the experience of war for its era.
Benjamin Jones, twenty-three, discharged after an army tour in Somalia, heads cross-country on a Greyhound, seeking refuge on the West Coast. He has left behind his best friend, Trevor, and Liz Ross, a female soldier with whom Jones has fallen in love. But Jones has also left behind a tragedy -- a horrible, split-second action made in Somalia -- that Trevor, Jones, and the army have implicitly agreed to forget.
Alone on the streets of San Francisco, and then north on the Washington coast, Jones finds that an uneducated ex-soldier is qualified only as a peep show fantasy object or as a hired hand to a bottom-feeding smuggler and pornographer. Recurring visions of his life as a soldier gradually reveal the full truth -- and agony -- of his experience, and a reunion with Liz and a violent confrontation with Trevor bring the young soldier's journey to a wrenching conclusion -- but one not without hope.
At equal turns tense, brutal, and poetic, "The Ice Beneath You" is a soldier's story for a time when there weren't supposed to be any more soldiers' stories.
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Customer Reviews
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Christian Bauman- A New Writer To Watch,
By
This review is from: Ice beneath You, the (Paperback)
This great first novel is a profound statement about the humanity within the modern soldier, friendships, and the many strange detours life holds in store for a young man without a plan. It is the story of 23-year old Benjamin Jones, a soldier finishing up a harrowing tour of duty during the1993 war in Somalia in one of the few remaining U.S. Army gunboat units. Bauman tells his story through often non-sequential passages that delve deep into the mind of Jones, further building on the psyche of the character. This is a soldier's story, but is often more about life than soldiering. Early in the story, we find Jones shortly after his discharge, on a journey across America aboard a Greyhound bus. Often, through a hazy stream of consciousness we meet the many characters accompanying him on his bus journey as Jones lapses between exhaustion, half-sleep and deep thought. Jones pensive friendship with fellow soldier and best friend Trevor (who decides to reenlist), and constant thoughts of Liz, his female obsession provide a current that brings the reader in and out of the bus journey much as it does Jones as he ponders his life in between stops. Incredibly candid, and never boring, Bauman's story puts his character into many unexpected places, yet remains incredibly true to the experience of so many young men searching to find their way. To the reader who believes they know what sort of man joins the military and endures violent conflict will be pleasantly surprised, and cast aside all stereotypes. The Ice Beneath You is an incredibly well-written, wonderfully layered story, while remaining simple and avoiding the cliches expected from fiction when war and men are featured alongside one another.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Christian Bauman- A New Writer To Watch,
By
This review is from: Ice beneath You, the (Paperback)
This great first novel is a profound statement about the humanity within the modern soldier, friendships, and the many strange detours life holds in store for a young man without a plan. It is the story of 23-year old Benjamin Jones, a soldier finishing up a harrowing tour of duty during the 1993 war in Somalia in one of the few remaining U.S. Army gunboat units.Bauman tells his story through often non-sequential passages that delve deep into the mind of Jones, further building on the psyche of the character. This is a soldier's story, but is often more about life than soldiering. Early in the story, we find Jones shortly after his discharge, on a journey across America aboard a Greyhound bus. Often, through a hazy stream of consciousness we meet the many characters accompanying him on his bus journey as Jones lapses between exhaustion, half-sleep and deep thought. Jones pensive friendship with fellow soldier and best friend Trevor (who decides to reenlist), and constant thoughts of Liz, his female obsession provide a current that brings the reader in and out of the bus journey much as it does Jones as he ponders his life in between stops. Incredibly candid, and never boring, Bauman's story puts his character into many unexpected places, yet remains incredibly true to the experience of so many young men searching to find their way. To the reader who believes they know what sort of man joins the military and endures violent conflict will be pleasantly surprised, and cast aside all stereotypes. The Ice Beneath You is an incredibly well-written, wonderfully layered story, while remaining simple and avoiding the cliches expected from fiction when war and men are featured alongside one another.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.5 out of 5 stars (12 customer reviews) 18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Christian Bauman-- A New Writer To Watch...,
By Jonathan Colcord - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Ice beneath You, the (Paperback)
This great first novel is a profound statement about the humanity within the modern soldier, friendships, and the many strange detours life holds in store for a young man without a plan. It is the story of 23-year old Benjamin Jones, a soldier finishing up a harrowing tour of duty during the 1993 war in Somalia in one of the few remaining U.S. Army gunboat units.Bauman tells his story through often nonsequential passages that delve deep into the mind of Jones, further building on the psyche of the character. This is a soldier's story, but is often more about life than soldiering. Early in the story, we find Jones shortly after his discharge, on a cross-country journey aboard a Greyhound bus. Often, through a hazy stream of consciousness we meet the many characters accompanying him on his bus journey as Jones lapses between exhaustion, half-sleep and deep thought. Jones pensive friendship with fellow soldier and best friend Trevor (who decides to reenlist), and constant thoughts of Liz, his female obession provide a current that brings the reader in and out of the bus journey much as it does Jones as he ponders his life in between stops. Incredibly candid, and never boring, Bauman's story puts his character into many unexpected places, yet remains incredibly true to the experience of so many young men searching to find their way. To the reader who believes they know what sort of man joins the military and endures violent conflict will be pleasantly surprised, and cast aside all stereotypes. The Ice Beneath You is an incredibly well-written, wonderfully layered story, while remaining simple and avoiding the cliches expected from fiction when war and men are featured alongside one another. 10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
excellent,
By Reader - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Ice beneath You, the (Paperback)
this is the highest quality writing, where simplicity is the forte. unlike the various guises of genius in joyce or nabokov, bauman relies simply on the story/character at hand and some subtle but VERY effective writing techniques. i often vascillate between fiction and non fiction, fiction always feeling a little too contrived, but this is a STRONG pull for fiction. most writers should take it as a lesson, and then a pleasure.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Former waterborne,
By J. Stine - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Ice beneath You, the (Paperback)
Being a former waterborne soldier, I ordered both books by Bauman. Bauman definitely has related the experiences of a waterborne soldier and the experiences of a soldier transitioning into the civilian world. I was amazed at his accurate portrayal of reasons why soldiers enlist, why they risk their lives defending what others think is important, and the difficulty of transitioning into the civilian world. Memories came flooding back when he mentioned the Gasthaus and experiences in the barracks.. Experiences mentioned are very truthful. Although fictional, Bauman has captured the essence of the waterborne soldier.
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