Aaron's Commentary
Joe Haldeman - Forever Peace
Although this novel is deeply flawed, it is worth reading because it is a
new approach to Haldeman's usual themes of war and violence. I sympathized with Julian, and I
thought it was very effective for him to be the one always required to do violence, when he's such
a pacifist that even obviously justified killing makes him suicidal.
The biggest problem with the book is the issue of the disastrous Jupiter
Project. The focus of the story, the effort to "humanize" everyone, gets badly overshadowed by the
fact that THE UNIVERSE IS ABOUT TO END. Instead of seeming noble, the main characters seem
incredibly stupid working on their scheme to end war rather than doing everything they can to stop
the Jupiter Project. The interesting moral issues - Should you pacify everyone? Even against
their will? Even if some will die in the process? - also get lost. Haldeman should have dropped
the whole Jupiter Project sub-plot and replaced it with something related to the humanization
scheme, like a plan by U.S. leaders to expand the scope of the war (with the Hammer of God pushing
to expand it all the way).
Haldeman also has a problem with plausibility. Ten days linked together
and soldiers are killing machines, fifteen days and they're totally pacified? And if nanoforges
can magically make almost anything, why don't people demand more of them? What on earth would
motivate the Hammer of God, and what have they been doing up to now? And why do they do such
stupid things, like deciding not to kill someone because it might attract attention, so instead
leave him wandering around with no memory? Haldeman needs to try a lot harder to convince me of
all of this.
The characterization is just adequate. Everyone but Julian is
interchangeable (all nerds). The constant switching from first to third person is distracting.
And the story is not well-structured. Things like Ameilia's affair and Gavrila's hunt don't end
up tying into anything else, and the ending of the novel pops out of nowhere.
All of Haldeman's stories about war merit attention, but this one suffers
in comparison to his other work.
What do you think? Your comments are
welcome. Please send them to
vanaaron@excite.com |
