'Dispatches'

Dispatches and its author, journalist Michael Herr, are interesting on a number of levels. 

First, Dispatches is considered one of the best examples of New Journalism or a nonfiction novel. Popularized by Truman Capote, Tom Wolfe, Hunter S. Thompson, Terry Southern and Norman Mailer, it came about in the middle of the 20^th century when journalists started writing novels like Capote and In Cold Blood, something that started out as an article in The New Yorker, but grew into a whole novel. Or it even came from fiction writers deciding to do nonfiction. 

New Journalism is subjective, raw and intense. It leaves little stone unturned and tells a more honest and, often, brutal portrayal of events. This is especially true for Dispatches, the reporting of Herr as a columnist for Esquire during the Vietnam War.  

It’s not only just a good novel: It’s one of the most truthful depictions of the Vietnam War and it was one of the first open for consumption by the American public. 

The fact that Herr later went on to work on scripts for Apocalypse Now and Full Metal Jacket – which contain composite characters taken from Dispatches to the point that it’s achingly obvious to anyone that’s seen the film – makes me love those films even more. 

Eerily enough, Dispatches includes two characters – Sean Flynn (Errol’s son) and Dana Stone – who were kidnapped by communist guerrillas and were never seen from again. They are presumed dead. 

Vietnam always scared me. I think the reasons are obvious. It was a destructive and silly war fought over ideologies. Land, money, spite or hate are reasons I can understand in war. Quibbling over ideologies is something I can’t grasp. 

It was a war fought in a strange land against a truly angry opponent that were smarter and very confident. It seemed no one came back from Vietnam the same way they left: Physically or mentally. It was chaos and seemingly the first complicated war where sides were blurred.