Blood and Raisins An Intimate Taste of Terror in Afghanistan D Scott Wilson 9780692271193 Books
Download As PDF : Blood and Raisins An Intimate Taste of Terror in Afghanistan D Scott Wilson 9780692271193 Books
An Outsider’s View from Inside the War. A liberal itinerant anthropology professor is swept into the heart of the beast. From the bizarre incompetence of the Army’s controversial Human Terrain System to Pashtun farmers’ harsh struggle for survival in the Kandahar deserts to hallucinatory horrors inside Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Wilson’s unflinching irreverence cuts like a scalpel. This moving account of his life-changing journey is filled with dynamic characters and encounters ranging from hilarious to harrowing. Marching ever deeper into carnage and chaos, he teases out the threads of his life leading to the dawning realization that he was born and bred to this. After being blasted to the depths of his own personal hell, he is rescued first by brave soldiers and again by loving friends and family.
Blood and Raisins An Intimate Taste of Terror in Afghanistan D Scott Wilson 9780692271193 Books
Should social scientists agree to serve with combat units? When the Army kicked off its Human Terrain System (HTS) in the midst of the Iraq War, lots of anthropologists said “no.” But a few did not. One of them, D. Scott Wilson, has written a compelling account of his experiences, training an ethnographer’s eye on it all, from initial recruitment, to Afghanistan, and the ghastly wounds he suffered from an IED in 2009.Had Joseph Heller been a documentarian describing the fight in Afghanistan, rather than the great satirist of WWII, American vernacular might be without the wonderful phrase “catch twenty-two.” But we could also have a book as full of insight about the mis-adventure of fighting the Taliban, as Wilson’s. Not that “Blood and Raisins” is devoid of humor – at least not of the mordant variety. (What wicked fun Heller would have had with the Army sending Wilson a $1200 bill for the helmet lost after his head was nearly torn off!)
Wilson faces the key question squarely: How ought a skilled American ethnographer use his talents in the service of U.S. combat operations in Afghanistan’s hinterland? To his credit he acknowledges the inevitability of “intelligence gathering.” (Indeed, it’s likely that the Taliban recognized the same, when it seems to have targeted the author with one of its remote-controlled bombs.) But, as Wilson demonstrates, antipathy toward HTS shouldn’t hinge on a cliché. Better "ethnographic intelligence" in the service of villagers who would rather see the Taliban, with its “Night Letters” and kidnappings, out of their midst, benefits the very people whom anthropology today considers most in need of its help.
It would be misleading, however, to think “Blood and Raisins” is a work of academic analysis. To the contrary, it is a riveting adventure story, a first-person account from the interior of the modern military’s attempt to perform a mission without a solution. A chief source of difficulties is seen in Wilson’s depiction of the detritus washing into HTS’s ranks. This, of course, is in part a direct consequence of the taint that anthropology’s hierarchy cast on the effort from the outset. Had a cohort of young, freshly-minted Ph.D.s responded to the call, rather than an amalgam of used-up colonels and jobless criminologists, who knows how the program might have turned out.
In the book’s final segment, the author recounts the months recovering from near-lethal wounds. The Army’s surgeons work their reconstructive miracles, while Wilson undergoes smothering post-traumatic stress. These pages alone make “Blood and Raisins” a terrific read. Seldom does a writer of Wilson’s ability draw from such a rich autobiographical well.
Howard J. De Nike, J.D., Ph.D.
Anthropology Lecturer, University of San Francisco
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Tags : Blood and Raisins: An Intimate Taste of Terror in Afghanistan [D. Scott Wilson] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. An Outsider’s View from Inside the War. A liberal itinerant anthropology professor is swept into the heart of the beast. From the bizarre incompetence of the Army’s controversial Human Terrain System to Pashtun farmers’ harsh struggle for survival in the Kandahar deserts to hallucinatory horrors inside Walter Reed Army Medical Center,D. Scott Wilson,Blood and Raisins: An Intimate Taste of Terror in Afghanistan,Campanile Press,0692271198,BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY Adventurers & Explorers
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Blood and Raisins An Intimate Taste of Terror in Afghanistan D Scott Wilson 9780692271193 Books Reviews
Scott has captured the essence of war -- not an endless parade of battles and firefights to be won, but a hidden terror that unveils itself when least expected and endures long after the dust has settled. Scott's narration of his painful recovery at Walter Reed Army Medical Center after being wounded in Afghanistan is more powerful than "Johnny Got His Gun" in portraying the brutal realities of war. Cosmo.
An amazing book. I've always wondered what men get out of war and why being a soldier is so appealing. Written by an educated, thoughtful man. I understand now men's attraction to combat, and how life and death situations can change them in ways that make no sense to me, but that I can at least appreciate. Does not aggrandize war or sanitize it either. A clear-eyed insider's view that haunted me for months. I'm not trying to be sexist. I suppose some women feel the same way as the author. I am just not one of them, and this book helped me understand the veterans in my life.
Blood and Raisins is an absolutely amazing account of what life is like over in the countries that we are at war in/with, from the daily life of the soldiers to the daily life of the local people. The amazing part is that there is no hint that Dr. Wilson went there with a political or social agenda, so besides the ego agenda that we all have, he just reported it as he saw it, the sign of a true anthropologist.
This book lives up to its subtitle, "An Intimate Taste of Terror in Afghanistan", but if you want any clue at all as to what is going on over there on a day to day basis, this is a book that you won't be able to put down. An amazing account of the life he lived that lead him there, the life he lived while there, and life after having been targeted by the Taliban and nearly being killed by an IED.
As one of the very few certified Ph.D.-level cultural anthropologists to ever deploy with the Human Terrain System, D. Scott Wilson's time in the program offers a new window from which to view this often over-exposed piece of the Decade of War. While some might find nothing particularly new about the descriptions of the US-based program itself, it is his openness, honesty, and clarity, along with his sharp prose and excellent dialogue that has made this book something special. As one of the first real long-form descriptions of what life was like on a Human Terrain Team, it offers an in-person insight into the day-to-day occurrences not previously seen. This makes the book exceedingly rare, and therefore even more valuable, amongst the literature on HTS.
Wilson's chronological structure allows him to show how his views on the program, his team, and war progressed over time--how experience often trumped initial theory. This structure is also filled with break-out sections where he goes back in time and place. What makes these transitions work so well is that he is connecting significant moments in his life with the story of his deployment. Thus, as an example, in discussing the positive feeling of receiving an email from a long-lost friend while in theater during a particularly negative phase, he goes back in time to describe how he found that friend, and how they fell apart. This also has the added benefit of adding to the humanity of the story, and the simultaneous connected/disconnected feeling one gets in a warzone, particularly where there is Wi-Fi.
The interchanges between the characters is beautifully written and what I love about the book so much. Whether Wilson has an excellent memory, took insanely detailed notes, or just filled in the blanks the best he could, it doesn't matter, the dialogue is real to the reader. It is relaxed, flowing, and easily conveys the emotion of the moment. And considering the tight physical space all the characters exist within--whether in training, at a military base, a COP, or in an MRAP, the dialogue isn't a voice-over commentary on what is happening at the moment; it is the open display of the moment in time. Wilson doesn't hide his--or anyone else's--foibles, mistakes, and screw ups either. All is put on display for the reader.
The cast of characters definitely helps Wilson achieve all this. HTS has always offered up a slew of highly interesting types. Even the `normal' ones, whether military or not, provide an unending list of quirks to enjoy. Wilson manages expertly to describe these characters as they are to him, and his interaction with them, that it can be hard to argue with his assessment.
I found the growth of Wilson throughout the entire process a gratifying subtle subtext. From getting used to daily life in an hostile and austere environment, to having to learn new mindsets, cultures, and lexicons, and to see him adopt some of them openly shows just how much impact a situation can have on someone. And the moment he suddenly finds himself an integral, welcomed, and intricate part of a group he initially saw himself as consciously apart from was clearly a life-changing moment for him. I'm sure the overall narrative of the book would be different if that had not happened as it provided Wilson with a better view as to how both he, the HTS program, and the war in Afghanistan ended up where they did.
On that same note, the description of the inter-team dynamics, how certain personalities could harm, hinder, or positively affect an entire team really does show how difficult creating these `Teams' were for HTS. It shows why many HTT'ers would often go work individually or in smaller sub groups. It could also show just how powerful a well-functioning team could be. Wilson also got to a very major point that, because of his wounding, never really dealt with in the end--the importance of a military command that accepted the approach Wilson and HTS embodied. Whether U.S. or Canadian, or even Afghan for that matter, the level of importance that the military placed upon those techniques had a direct impact on the ability of the Team and its members to function appropriately and effectively. It is an oft-forgotten piece of the HTS story.
I went back and forth on the name changes of the people with him. Obviously I understand his reasoning for changing everyone's name, but when he's describing well-known and publicized (and published) individuals, overtly using unique identifying descriptions, it just seemed excessive. As someone with a good deal of knowledge on the program, I often struggled to remember whom the non-de-guerre were for the individuals as I know them by. This might not be a problem for those not steeped in the program, but I struggled at times. So for anyone else in the same boat, I recommend creating a list of who's who as you go through it from the start.
The last 100 pages of the book where Wilson describes his recovery from his injuries is heartbreaking. The pain, disorientation, disconnect, and sense of falling is all too real at times. This section is not so much on Wilson's recovery itself as it is about his family and friends. It is a `thank you' of sorts for coming to his bedside, and his way of remembering the pain and suffering his wounding put them through, while still showing just how tough it is to come back injured, both mentally and physically.
As expected, more and more HTT'ers are publishing on their time in the program, or engaging in projects and theses about the program. Thus the real history of the program is slowly being built that is far removed from the histrionic, at times anti-scholarly, and manipulative descriptions of the first few years. Wilson's `Blood and Raisins' is therefore a superb addition to the literature on HTS and the Afghan War.
Michael C. Davies
Co-author, Human Terrain Teams An Organizational Innovation for Sociocultural Knowledge in Irregular Warfare
Should social scientists agree to serve with combat units? When the Army kicked off its Human Terrain System (HTS) in the midst of the Iraq War, lots of anthropologists said “no.” But a few did not. One of them, D. Scott Wilson, has written a compelling account of his experiences, training an ethnographer’s eye on it all, from initial recruitment, to Afghanistan, and the ghastly wounds he suffered from an IED in 2009.
Had Joseph Heller been a documentarian describing the fight in Afghanistan, rather than the great satirist of WWII, American vernacular might be without the wonderful phrase “catch twenty-two.” But we could also have a book as full of insight about the mis-adventure of fighting the Taliban, as Wilson’s. Not that “Blood and Raisins” is devoid of humor – at least not of the mordant variety. (What wicked fun Heller would have had with the Army sending Wilson a $1200 bill for the helmet lost after his head was nearly torn off!)
Wilson faces the key question squarely How ought a skilled American ethnographer use his talents in the service of U.S. combat operations in Afghanistan’s hinterland? To his credit he acknowledges the inevitability of “intelligence gathering.” (Indeed, it’s likely that the Taliban recognized the same, when it seems to have targeted the author with one of its remote-controlled bombs.) But, as Wilson demonstrates, antipathy toward HTS shouldn’t hinge on a cliché. Better "ethnographic intelligence" in the service of villagers who would rather see the Taliban, with its “Night Letters” and kidnappings, out of their midst, benefits the very people whom anthropology today considers most in need of its help.
It would be misleading, however, to think “Blood and Raisins” is a work of academic analysis. To the contrary, it is a riveting adventure story, a first-person account from the interior of the modern military’s attempt to perform a mission without a solution. A chief source of difficulties is seen in Wilson’s depiction of the detritus washing into HTS’s ranks. This, of course, is in part a direct consequence of the taint that anthropology’s hierarchy cast on the effort from the outset. Had a cohort of young, freshly-minted Ph.D.s responded to the call, rather than an amalgam of used-up colonels and jobless criminologists, who knows how the program might have turned out.
In the book’s final segment, the author recounts the months recovering from near-lethal wounds. The Army’s surgeons work their reconstructive miracles, while Wilson undergoes smothering post-traumatic stress. These pages alone make “Blood and Raisins” a terrific read. Seldom does a writer of Wilson’s ability draw from such a rich autobiographical well.
Howard J. De Nike, J.D., Ph.D.
Anthropology Lecturer, University of San Francisco
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