Quote:
Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward
Hmmm. with every good story, there's and other level beneath the level you look at.
The hidden level in The Forever War is that of an average person trying to cope with a new (and not understandable) environment, and every time he approaches coping, the rules completely change again. Over and over. When he finally strips down to his innermost core, he get pitched out of the funhouse... (until the sequel, where he gets shown the that the world outside the funhouse is an even bigger funhouse.)
Haldeman is not my favorite writer, but I've read some of his works. Buying Time is the best of the ones I've read. But they all have big flaws in their structures, and depend too much on Deus Ex Machina for their endings. But he fits a era and an age that has a group of readers that haven't grown too old yet, so he's still highly rated.
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I think you may be right about the age thing, I think his books may resonate more with those that were alive during Vietnam. I've seen that mentioned a few times.
You're definitely right about the Deus Ex Machina. The final book in the Forever War trilogy is the only one I've ever read that had a literal use of that. I didn't find it a satisfying conclusion.
But as I said, I did enjoy the book overall. I don't want to come across as too down on it.