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Northwest Passages: Karl Marlantes
Seaside native Karl Marlantes spent 30 years writing Matterhorn, his bestselling novel about the Vietnam war. He served as a Marine in Vietnam.
When I needed to deal with the war, I would go into the basement and whale away on this novel. It kept me out of the bars and off drugs. The question is why I kept trying to get it published.
He first tried in 1977. Last year, Atlantic Monthly Press put out the hardcover version. The paperback followed this month. Marlantes calls Matterhorn a story with shades of the Percival myth, about a young man who has to learn compassion in a very hard place.
We'll talk about how Marlantes's novel parallels his own experience, the meaning of the Vietnam war today, and his new non-fiction work coming out in the fall.
Have you experienced war? Have you read much about it? Have you read Matterhorn? What would you like to ask Karl Marlantes?
Tagged as: books · karl marlantes · northwest passages · war
