Reflections and Questions

After reading this book, I have found that I have a whole new respect for those that serve our country. I have now seen the things that they do, the things they live through, and the things that that they have to live with for the rest of their life. They put themselves directly in harms way to protect us. Some even have to do unimaginable things that I could not bring myself to do, no matter the situation. 

After reading the book, I can't help but to wonder what things he didn't tell about, and was removed at the request of the government as it says in the authors note. We're there entire missions left out, or even government cover up like some people theorize about? I also wonder if the views and experiences described by Chris Kyle would be similar for other people in the SEALs, Navy, and other branches of the Military. I think that that woul be interesting to know. 

Throughout the book, we saw parts that were written by Taya, his wife. I think it would also be interesting if she were to write her own book, because I feel that there is more to know and understand about living her life having her husband gone, and not know what he is doing most of the time. Especially since Chris has mentioned that the book is for the families left behind. It would also be nice to see how she is coping with everything after he has passed away. 

I highly recommend this book to anybody. Whether you are thinking about joining the military, have a family member in the military, or are just looking for a book to read, this book is a good one. It has shown me that there are things that could be worse for me, and has taught me to be greatful for the freedoms I have. Without these men and women doing what they do, we wouldn't have that. 

Accuracy of the Book

While fact checking American Sniper, I found it difficult to focus on the book.  Most of the articles I found were proving the movie to be true or false.  I think that this is because the movie came out, and it was simple for the screenwriters to embellish the truth to make it more interesting and make more money.  The movie is based on the book, but what happens in the movie does not match completely with what is in the book.  I more believe the book because it is by Chris Kyle himself, and he seems like the type of person that would tell the truth, no matter what.  He is an honorable man, and he cares about his country.  We see this in the stories that he tells about being outraged at how people don't care about the war, or have uninformed opinions abut what is happening.  

In the beginning of the book in a Author's Note, he states that he Department of Defense and other Navy personnel read and reviewed the book before publishing for accuracy and sensitive material before publication.  I believe that this is good reason to believe that the things in the book are accurate.  It also says that there were requests that some material be taken out or changed for security reasons.  I don't believe that this would take away from the accuracy of the book.  This is done for our security as a country.  The changes I made, I would assume, would be changing names or taking out specific locations or other information that would possibly cause problems if put in the wrong hands.

Another thing that Kyle states in the Author's Note is that the dialogue was reconstructed from memory.  Obviously, he doesn't have a perfect memory.  He isn't going to remember what exactly was said at every moment from the times discussed in to book.  Nobody would.  But he says that though the dialogue is not word for word, the meaning is still the same.  I think that this is understandable, and does not mean that the book is inaccurate.

Special Vocabulary

In reading "American Sniper," I have found so many terms and names for things that I didn't know.  Most of these are acronyms that are used in the SEALs and throughout the military.  The author uses these because they are what they used, and are more common.  It is also easier to write UDT, opposed to Underwater Demolition Team.  This is one example, there are many others in the book.

This can be a bit difficult to read, because he only defines the term once, and then uses it throughout the book.  He might not talk about one of the acronyms for a portion of the book, then when he comes back to it, you have forgotten what the acronym stands for.  Something I wish I would have done in the beginning of the book was start a journal or dictionary of the terms and acronyms.  I think that would have been interesting to see once I had finished the book, and also to reference when I'm reading.  

Another form of vocabulary that is special to this book is all of the terms about weapons.  Because it is about his time being deployed, there are many times that he tells what weapon he was working with.  In these times, he will give the name, and define what it does, as well as when it is usually used.  This is helpful to readers that aren't that knowledgeable about every type of weapon, or any weapons at all.  To the people that do know a lot about weapons or have military experience, this might seem really simple and redundant after a while.

I think that the Kyle does a very good job at helping the reader understand the vocabulary that he is using.  He tries to give you a mental picture of what he is talking about, and does a good job doing that.  He wants the book to be aimed toward more than military personal, and for him to do that, he has to make sure they understand the words he is using, otherwise they will get bored and stop reading.

Is the Author Biased?

I believe that in his writing, Chris is biased.  He is writing about his experience being a SEAL, so he is talking about this through his own eyes.  Anybody is biased when they are telling their own story, because often they don't know the other side of the story.  This is a good kind of bias in my opinion, as the topic of the book is hit experiences and how he was effected.

It is mentioned in the beginning that multiple powers high up in the government have read and revised some of the book, so there is some bias there as well.  We may not get the whole story, or some of the stories could be watered down.  This could be a good or bad thing.  It's good because there obviously needs to be some reservation in telling everything, as some of the stories and information could still pose a threat to our national security.  It is bad, because we don't get the whole story, and that's what the book is supposed to be.

Another way we can look at the bias throughout the book, is that there is another side to the war.  We are reading about missions and attacks from and against the other side.  The people that they were fighting had to have a reason and a belief to be doing the things they are doing.  Chris doesn't know this, or the whole story of this.  He says in the first part of the book that he hates the people he is fighting, because he "hates the evil they possess."  He doesn't know their reasoning to do the things they do.

Bias is a good thing to think about, and it is often justifiable, as in this case.  He has no way of knowing, and the book is screened and biased for our protection, and the protection of our country.

Context of the Book

This book spans a wide range of times, as it covers his life.  He begins with his young times starting in his childhood.  He was born in 1974, so the first memories he writes about begins in the 80's in his high school times.  He then tells his story through growing up, joining the Navy, training, time overseas, and family life after he left the service.  This happened in approximately 2009.

During this time, we were in multiple wars as a nation.  We had troops in Iraq, which is where Chris was stationed for the majority of his service.  We were also beginning to send troops to Afghanistan following the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Centers.  Most of the story centers around his time in the service dealing with the things he had to do for our country in the war.

The war happened, and he was a big part of it.  But that's not why he was writing the book.  He says in an interview with Time Magazine (Find it here) that he write the book because he wanted to give credit where credit is due.  He had a lot of men out there in the field and in other locations that have died heroes, but they don't get the credit they deserve.

He also states that he is writing the book for the families that are left behind.  A major aspect of the book is the excerpts written by Taya, his wife, and how she and their family was affected by Chris being gone and in the service.  He wants to show them that it's okay.  Things are tough, but that they are able to make it through it.  One thing that he said in the interview that really hit me when I heard it was that he was writing to "show the sacrifices of the single mothers now raising the children."  This was because now his family unfortunately had to make the sacrifice, and they are living without him.

It's important to remember that people in the service don't usually talk about their time in the service.  Him writing this book was a big challenge, and officials higher up in the government had to review it for sensitive material.  I think it's really neat that he wrote the book, not to glorify himself as it has, but to honor and give credit to others.  That shows how much he cared for others.

Why I Chose "American Sniper"

I chose to read "American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. History," by Chris Kyle because I had heard about it from another person at school.  I had heard her talking about it, and even read the introduction.  I had seen the movie and loved it, so I decided that when I got a chance, I would read it.  This has been a little under a year ago, and I had still not found the time to pick it up and read it.

When I heard that we would be reading nonfiction books that had to be American, this was the first book that came to mind.  I would be reading a book that I wanted to read, and doing class work at the same time.  I am also guilty of not doing reading for a class, so by reading a book that I was interested in and wanted to read, I am more likely to read it.

I am not reading this book because it is a movie.  I understand that in the movie (Spoiler Alert!!) he dies, and it is the story of his life.  Obviously, because it is an autobiography and is written by Chris Kyle himself, he does not die.  I am interested in seeing the thoughts behind what I have seen in the movie.  I want to see what he was thinking when he was going through the things he went through.  This is something a movie cannot show you.