These Heroic, Happy Dead

For some reason, I've been on a short story kick lately and this one did not disappoint.

These Heroic, Happy Dead is a collection of short stories of the war. Soldiers reminiscing about the old days, the days they had everything figured out, the days they can never forget. The feel of the book is that once you've fought for your country, it's hard to live a normal life. I don't want to say it's depressing, but it's a depressing book. It caught me off guard because many of these stories have open endings. For example, my favorite story was To the Lake. The ending leaves so much unanswered, but we can only assume what the ending actually was. 

Honestly, the title lets you know this book will be full of death, and it truly is. However, the short stories make death much easier to swallow. Another fun thing I noticed while reading, some of the short stories overlap. There are recurring characters that really helped with the understanding of the story. I highly recommend These Heroic, Happy Dead!

If you liked this and want to read something similar, check out The Things They Carried!