LAST FLAG FLYING by Darryl
Ponicsán is a fast-paced military fiction that brings together two Navy
SEALs and the hapless sailor they escorted to prison nearly 35 years
ago. Now it is December 2003, and not much has changed in regards
to the three except a few extra pounds and a couple gray hairs. I found
that the setting and tone of the overall novel is set early on. In this
sequel to The Last Detail, you will find lots of drama, flashbacks,
action, and suspense. Taking place in the not so distant past, the plot is
relevant to what so many in the military continue to go through.
Readers go on the road trip with the characters, from Norfolk and
Portsmouth, as well as on ships, inside a prison, and other important
Navy locations along the way.
I enjoyed reading this novel and found myself laughing while reading
some of the passages. There were times when I almost cried as I read
about the loss of Meadows' son, who was killed in Iraq. Together, these
three men are trying to bring the body home, a grim and tragic task.
While on this journey they retrace the past with all the shameful,
ridiculous, controversial, and proud moments they've had throughout
their lives. They share secrets about health issues, politics, family, and
loss. Ponicsán has a way of writing dialogue that is uncanny, and you
will experience a wide range of emotions while reading
LAST FLAG FLYING. I found this
book to be a good read that is so much more than just a military fiction
novel. For anyone who likes a good book that will take you on a journey
while reading, this is a book for you. I hope to read more from Darryl
Ponicsán soon.
Darryl Ponicsán's debut novel The Last Detail was named one of the best of the year and widely acclaimed, catapulting him to fame when it was first published. The story of two career sailors assigned to escort a young seaman from Norfolk to the naval prison in Portsmouth, New Hampshire—and of the mayhem that ensues—it was made into an award-winning movie starring Jack Nicholson. Last Flag Flying, set thirty-four years after the events of The Last Detail, brings together the same beloved characters—Billy Bad-Ass Buddusky, Mule Mulhall, and Meadows—to reprise the same journey but under very different circumstances. Now middle-aged, Meadows seeks out his former captors in their civilian lives to help him bury his son, a Marine killed in Iraq, in Arlington National Cemetery. When he learns that the authorities have told him a lie about the circumstances of his son's death, he decides, with the help of the two others, to transport him home to Portsmouth. And so begins the journey, centered around a solemn mission but, as in the first book, a protest against injustice and celebration of life too, at once irreverent, funny, profane, and deeply moving. Last Flag Flying is now a major movie, directed by Richard Linklater and starring Bryan Cranston, Steve Carell, and Laurence Fishburne.
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