War Is a Force that Gives Us Meaning Author:Chris Hedges As a veteran war correspondent, Chris Hedges has survived ambushes in Central America, imprisonment in Sudan, and a beating by Saudi military police. He has seen children murdered for sport in Gaza and petty thugs elevated into war heroes in the Balkans. Hedges, who is also a former divinity student, has seen war at its worst and knows too well ... more »that to those who pass through it, war can be exhilarating and even addictive: “It gives us purpose, meaning, a reason for living.”
Drawing on his own experience and on the literature of combat from Homer to Michael Herr, Hedges shows how war seduces not just those on the front lines but entire societies, corrupting politics, destroying culture, and perverting the most basic human desires. Mixing hard-nosed realism with profound moral and philosophical insight, War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning is a work of terrible power and redemptive clarity whose truths have never been more necessary.« less
This book is ok and the author makes a few interesting points about the addiction of war by individuals and society, but I felt that his stories and ideas could have been better organized. Also, he relies heavily on recollections from his time in Bosnia and Kosovo and as a result I felt like there was a lot of repetition of points and example stories between the chapters. I was expecting a more comprehensive look at war, but I was disappointed and was left feeling like there is no hope for humanity to ever break the cycle of constant war - in which case, why even bother reading this book?