#the moon is down

My thirteenth book of 2020. This book terrified me when I first read it. I was on a weekend pass from the Army in Texas, where I’d been training with my unit to go to Afghanistan. And this book is all about the futility of an occupying army’s effort to subdue a people. THE MOON IS DOWN (1942) is clever war propaganda meant to motivate people in countries occupied by Nazis. While I don’t identify with Nazis, as I read the book, I did identify with an army of occupation. I was pleased to learn later that our mission in Afghanistan was liberation and reconstruction, not occupation and exploitation. While the soliders in this book are looked upon by the people with hatred and suspicion, we got along well with the Afghans, working with them to improve their lives and fight the Taliban we all hated. On election day in Farah, Afghanistan an line of Afghan voters down the block waved and shouted “Thank you! Thank you!” Such a scene was impossible in this book, or in the events that inspired it. A fantastic book!

Less of you is more than I can take // Further Seems Forever.