Vietnam vet Karl Marlantes on going to war

The Iraq War may be winding down, but the fighting is far from over. So says decorated Vietnam veteran and acclaimed novelist Karl Marlantes in his memoir, "What It Is Like to Go to War" (Atlantic Monthly Press, $25), which traces his route from Yale to Oxford to the front lines and back again. The deeply honest and haunting work mixes philosophy, history and criticism with Marlantes' personal story, making clear that for many soldiers, an entirely different war begins once they return home. No pacifist, Marlantes remains a proud Marine (though not on active duty), and in a recent telephone call he discussed fear, mechanized fighting and how to write honestly about war.

Your novel, "Matterhorn," is somewhat autobiographical. How was writing pure nonfiction different?

At times, I didn't want to write what actually happened. I would write something false, then reread it and have to steel myself and say: You've got to write this true. To write honestly about warfare, you have to write about doing bad things. I would think, "Do I really want everybody in the world to know this?" But keeping quiet is not healthy for society or for the veteran.

Do you hope being vulnerable on the page will help other veterans open up?

Yes, I hope they see it's healthier to open than to close up. I'm a pretty normal guy; I didn't want to talk about it when I got home, and my wife got me in touch with my emotions. That's the thing -- it's not just you at stake. Most veterans come back and have families.

What drew you to sources as varied as the Bhagavad Gita, mythology and Homer for the book?

These all deal with the spiritual soul level of our existence and touched a major part of the wound that psychology and vet benefits and the GI Bill can't. A decent kid is told all his life, "Don't hurt anybody." Then he kills someone in war, and now what? These texts helped me understand the universality of this struggle.

Many soldiers go through PTSD therapy when they come home, which you liken to putting on armor after the war.

Telling somebody beforehand about the possible reactions they'll have can help normalize the experience. Military training should include the concept that this is something your soul is going to wrestle with. And society needs to recognize we're all related in this process. The 19-year-old is our weapon, and we all did the killing -- he pulled the trigger and exposed his life, and we went shopping on Saturday. We need to let these kids know they didn't do this all by themselves.

What are you working on now?

I'm done with war! My next novel has a character who is a veteran, but war will be only a scene, not what the book is about. I have six novels in my mind that I'd love to write, but if they take me as long as "Matterhorn," which took 30 years, there will only be one!