I had high hopes for this novel. It's almost 600 pages and I made it to page 250 or so. The role of mercenary (or conscription by different means) Korean soldiers in America's war with Vietnam is a subject that keenly interested me, and I looked forward to a completely different perspective on a war that, in my mind, has little left to offer in terms of a subject for fiction. The Korean author was persecuted in his home country for his writings but subsequently won high literary honors there. I had never heard of him.The length of the novel was my main, but significant, issue. The novel's subject, the black market in arms, materiel, and wartime and consumer goods during the war is unique but the plot bogged down and I found it impossible to continue understanding who is doing what to whom. Although that could have been a fine characteristic (loyalty knows no bounds in the black market), it proved confusing instead. No single character stood out to grab my sympathy or empathy. I could not anchor myself in the story, nor did it carry me to parts known or unknown. Other issues were in translation, or seemingly so. Whole paragraphs read like non-fiction. Some of the history of the conflict and the Korean role was repetitive. A book half the length of the one before me seemed more appropriate.Still, I respect the publisher for taking on The Shadow of Arms. The subject is a very important one even if it, in my mind, did not translate to the novel form all that well. Bringing these perspectives to English-reading audiences is vital.
