A flawed, powerful novel. ( )

In The Watch, author Joydeep Bhattacharya draws his inspiration from the Greek myth Antigone and creates a novel of war that touches on themes that are as old as time itself while still infusing the story with modern idiom and pop culture references. An ancient tale brought into today, passed along by different narrators that manages to portray the brutality, stupidity and gut-wrenching violence that war brings to the living.

A young, mutilated Afghanistan woman shows up outside the American outpost the morning after a fierce fight to first request, then demand the return of her brother’s body. She claims that her village has been destroyed and her family wiped out by an American drone so in retaliation her brother led the attack on the American fort. The Americans, sleep deprived and battle weary, are suspicious of her motives suspecting that she could be a spy or a suicide bomber.

I loved how each chapter was from a different viewpoint, the author excelled at inserting the reader into the story and make them feel a part of it. Each chapter displays a different morality and we come to know these people through their innermost thoughts. What shows through clearly is the stress, tension and uncertainty that living in a combat zone generates. The Watch is a deceptively simple story with a timeless theme about the futility and senselessness of war. ( )

Roy-Bhattacharya toont de realiteit van de oorlog, en de rol van elke schakel in het geheel. Hij toont niet alleen de spanning tussen de strijdende partijen, maar ook die tussen de Amerikanen op de basis.Veel meer dan het zwart-wit-verhaal dat er al snel van gemaakt wordt.
Volledige bespreking via http://wraakvandedodo.blogspot.be/2014/10/joydeep-roy-bhattacharya-de-zoon-van.h... ( )

This book troubled me from beginning to end because the American soldiers always seemed to border on the superficial. As for the Afghan woman I’m not sure and there is very little of her voice except at the beginning. My conclusion, like the myth of Antigone on which this novel is based, the story is more mythological than plausible and couldn’t be a real story except for the ending which I could believe. The question is, can a person who is not American, never in the military as far as I know, write a convincing story about this subject?
August 2013 ( )

A kaleidoscopic meditation on the cost of war, this beautifully written novel challenges the notion of good guys and bad guys in combat and shows the reader the abundant gray area inherent in battle. It's the story of an Afghan woman who goes to a U.S. military base to claim her brother's body for a proper burial, after he is killed in a firefight. Each chapter is told from a different character's perspective, which saves the novel from focusing on which side is "right" or "wrong" and zeroes in instead on the collective effect of the conflict.

There are some graphic scenes; the author doesn’t pull any punches describing the realities of war. The story feels gritty and real, and it is fascinating and haunting to see the differences in each character's perception of the situation based on their own background and experiences. The best and the worst of humanity are present, with a great deal in between. Deeply impactful and highly recommended. ( )