Rating: 
Summary: Unforgettable, Haunting, Painful
Review: Vladislav Tamarov is barely nineteen when he is drafted into the Soviet army and sent to Afghanistan. His immersion in Soviet propaganda does not prepare him for what he will find there. His training has little to do with his assignment as a mine-sweeper. He serves his two years, somehow survives, and returns home to Leningrad. His life becomes chaotic. Somehow his Afghan experiences seem more real than the life he is living. Later he emigrates to the United States where he lives now, thirty-eight years old. But really, he never comes home from Afghanistan. In his spirit, he is still trapped in that war.As luck would have it, Vlad (as he likes to be called) is a talented photographer and writer. Somehow he manages to keep a journal and take pictures during his entire tour of duty. Now he shares the pictures with us. Plain pictures of grim, haunted young men. Men who will never go home. Men who will die within hours of being photographed. Men resting briefly before the next battle or ambush. The book is built around these photographs, with accompanying text that is simple and spare. Vlad serves his time, but really, he never comes home. In his spare, simple writing, his consciousness wanders back and forth between "home" and Afghanistan, never at peace. For him, only the war experience is real. The only people he can really feel at home with are Afghan veterans, and--interestingly--veterans of Viet Nam. Afghanistan is not a sentimental book. It is a simple, plain-spoken account of a very bad time. It is a powerful statement about war, all war, yet it does not lecture the reader. It is not a book you enjoy, but it will make a deep impression on you. It is exquisite photo-journalism. I recommend it highly. Reviewed by Louis N. Gruber
Rating:
Summary: A Powerfully Sincere Indictment Against War
Review: Vladislav Tamarov served in the Soviet War in Afghanistan in 1984 and 1985. The experience was devastating, the same devastation that has murdered the bodies, minds, and souls of countless soldiers for centuries. In an attempt to shout out against War in general, Tamarov has written a journal lavishly interspersing his terse words with photographs - not great artistic depictions of battles or of atmospheres in a foreign land, but photos of his friends who at ages 18 - 20 years were thrown by their government into a land aginst which they had no personal vendetta or political musings. This journal is a paeon to survival, enlisting our hearts to realize that war, any war, and no matter on which side of the no-man's land you stand, war is only about survival. Kill in order not to be killed. Tamarov does not believe in any of the military/political platitudes that are supposed to justify murdering another people. His heart is filled with pity and remorse at having even been in Afghanistan as a soldier. So much can we learn from this book. Would that it would be required reading for every highschool student, every young person who faces the possibility of conscription. Those of us who have spent time in America's wars whether [with me] in Vietnam, or in Korea or Europe or the Middle East can only shed tears of shared memories while reading this emotional book. Maybe with time enough voices such as that of Vladislav Tamarov will create a chorus loud enough to descry war of any kind. Until that time we stand in quiet unison behind those with the bravery of Tamarov to speak the truth. Most especially now....
Rating:
Summary: Memories of the Future
Review: Vladislav Tamarov was 19 years old when he learned, firsthand, the meaning of this Article of the Constitution of the Soviet Union: "To serve in the Soviet Army is the honorable duty of Soviet citizens." Tamarov was drafted and sent to Afghanistan. When he arrived there, a finger pointed to him and said "Aha! I see a minesweeper!" His boot camp was inadequate and useless training as a parachute jumper in the Soviet Airborne Forces. Parachute jumping is useless in the mountainous terrain of Afghanistan. He had no training as a minesweeper--this was on the job training of the most frightening kind. Tamarov took pictures (sometimes setting up the camera for friends to photograph himself) and kept a kind of journal of his tour of duty in Aghanistan. When he returned, he was, as he puts it, an old young man. His black and white photographs won contests, but he dropped out of college, determined to write a book based on his personal journal. The book, first published in 1992 was recently republished by Ten Speed Press. There are two good reasons to read this book. First, the photographs are amazing, not only for their journalistic value, but their artistry as well. They remind me of the Walker Evans photos in "Let Us Now Praise Famous Men" or Dorothea Lange's work of the Dust Bowl years. Second, Tamarov writes from the gut, about his fears, the friends who died, the waste of life, the failed mission in Afghanistan, where, the reason for going was "at the request of the Afghan people." Trouble was, nobody could figure out why they were there before plenty of young men who couldn't get into university, bribe an official or break a leg were sent there only to return home again in a zinc box. The writing is good, but the organization of the book, being a sort of journal, is sometimes choppy. Tamarov only follows a sketchy chronology, sometimes jumping forwards and backwards in time. This can be hard to follow. The translation captures the Russian feel, the Russian wry sense of humor well. You hear the author talking directly to you. Afghanistan was Russia's Viet Nam. Tamarov quotes Alexander the Great "One can occupy Afghanistan, but no one can vanquish her." Alexander's troops left behind a memorial column when they marched out of Afghanistan. It stands today, and Tamarov's picture of the ancient monument and Alexander's prophetic statement are a chilling reminder of mistakes of the past, and perhaps the future. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
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