****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
Companion volume to Shay's 1993 "Achilles in Vietnam", these two books should best be published in a single edition, as they deal with the same themes. Shay's brilliant thesis is that the Iliad and the Odyssey represent the universal experiences of soldiers throughout the centuries. His careful and extremely insightful interpretations of the Homeric epics serve to describe a new theory of psychological trauma, its causes, treatment and prevention. The idea alone is genius, but Shay's lucid and elegant prose make the reading itself a sublime experience.Using the Odyssey as a metaphor is not new. What is new is that Shay interprets each chapter in light of the experiences and behavior of returning veterans, based on Shay's many years of experience treating veterans of the Vietnam War. In the original tale, each adventure further stripped Odysseus of his men, his ships and his dignity; Shay argues that in fact Odysseus was at fault for much of this loss through poor judgement and egoism, stemming from his own history of trauma. Particularly poignant is the relationship of Odysseus (and every veteran) with the dead--comrades, enemies and innocents alike, and how Shay has worked with this by bringing veterans to the Memorial Wall in Washington DC.Shay ends with a discussion of how combat trauma might be prevented if the US military were reorganized and certain protocols instituted. There is some indication that his advice is being followed, although progress is slow. Nonetheless, Shay's contribution to military mental health is significant and far-reaching.I couldn't give this book 5 stars because of one error that stood out. Shay argues that military changes that exacerbated combat trauma began during WWII, and refers to "the poor combat performance of American troops against their German army adversaries," saying that "we lost so many of our battles against the Germans" as a result of poor leadership and lack of cohesion. Shay says that American officers "demanded blind obedience" while the Germans practiced "positive leadership" and displayed integrity and sensitivity to the needs of their subordinates. This is totally contrary to historical fact.Shay is clearly an expert on the US military of the Vietnam era, but these bizarrely inaccurate statements about WWII show that he has much to learn about both the American and German armies of that period. I think he is not above distorting the facts to make a point.All that aside, I enjoyed this book thoroughly and will refer back to it often in my work with trauma survivors.
