Edward's Reviews > Fives and Twenty-Fives

Pitre’s fine Iraq war novel is unusual in one sense that it’s not primarily about combat and destruction of the enemy. The Marine platoon that he writes about has a mundane support mission, filling in bombed-out holes on Iraq military highways,.“Fives and twenty-fives” refer to the clearing of the area around the holes to make sure there are no undetected bombs. Platoon members scan for five meters and then carefully walk for twenty-five meters . If the area is clear then the men mix and shovel cement to fill the holes and make the highway usable. Nerve-wracking work, but the hope is that nothing will happen, that their mission will be routine and ordinary

The story is told from three perspectives. One is a that of the second lieutenant, Pete Donovan, the second is Lester Pleasant, a medic, and third is an Iraqi translator, Kateb al Harari, referred to as Dodge by the men. Each man has problems, Donovan who was assigned this role after his predecessor was killed by a bomb has doubts about his leadership abilities Pleasant feels guilt about two men who die and develops a drug habit. Dodge comes from a privileged Baghdad family and was kidnapped and forced into service as a translator. He finds himself at odds with his family and friends who are fighting the Americans.

Originally, Dodge was going to write a thesis on HUCKLEBERRY FINN, in fact he still carried a battered copy around with him in combat. Why Twain’s book? Dodge thinks of the ending where Huck lights out for the territory, leaving “civilization” behind him. If the Iraq war is an example of 21st century civilization, Dodge escapes only to find that there no place where war doesn’t exist.

The novel has alternating narratives among the three, and follows their lives after their Iraqi experience when they return to civilian life, Donovan and Pleasant to the United States, and Dodge who escapes to Tunisia. Donovan and Pleasant keep thinking back to the war; part of their consciousness that they cannot escape from. . The point is emphasized when Donovan goes to visit a young woman, Sergeant Gomez, who was a part of his platoon. She was shot in the head by a sniper, but has lived on in civilian life, now brain dead,

They of course are not brain dead but the war has scarred all three of them. Pleasant and Donovan have serious problems in relating to women they meet, find a blankness when they try to connect with their families, and have alcohol issues Dodge, who had hoped to find some peace in Tunisia instead finds himself in the middle of a violent revolution.

All three of them are powerless to control the events around them, Pleasant in particular whose job is to patch up and save injured men., frustrating he’s only of use when a catastrophe occurs. Donovan is the “leader” of this platoon, but he questions how much leadership he is providing.

Dodge expresses one view of the war: "The Shia in the south want to give our country to the Iranians. The Sadrists in Baghdad kill men like us for spite. Out here in the desert, Saudi and Egyptian brats who joined al-Qaeda in a fit of boredom kill good men for nothing. The Americans and the Kurds kill us all." That’s an oversimplification, of course, but the complexities of war are always oversimplified by the participants and it’s this novel’s strength to avoid that easy route.