MASH 1969 - Visions of War, Dreams of Peace > Comments > "Review of MASH 1969 - Visions of War, Dreams of Peace"
Piece Comment
Commenter Profile
- David Swatling
- Username: swatling
- Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Joined PRX: Jan 22, 2004
Piece Information
- "MASH 1969 - Visions of War, Dreams of Peace"
- Summary: Profiles of poet George Evans, a veteran medic, and Lynda Van Devanter, whose experiences as Vietnam nurse inspired China Beach. Warning: Graphic Depictions of Medical Operations.
2 comments
5 star: |
|
(0) |
4 star: |
|
(1) |
3 star: |
|
(0) |
2 star: |
|
(0) |
1 star: |
|
(0) |
Review of MASH 1969 - Visions of War, Dreams of Peace
David Swatling
Posted on November 30, 2006 at 07:41 PM
The power of this program lies in the raw honesty of the two speakers. As they each talk about their experiences of the Vietnam War and how it turned them into anti-war activists, layers are peeled away revealing more and more of their inner spirit. George Evans is an engaging storyteller who looks back on the past in a wryful way. It's clear Lynda VanDevanter is speaking in a public forum and sometimes reading from her memoir. But the emotion which overtakes her as she reads is heart-wrenching.
The stories are interspersed with bits of evocative music that sets the tone and time. (I could've done with losing a couple of the breaks, but this is a minor point hardly worth mentioning.) This is the second program I've listened to in this series and along with reviews I've read of other pieces can highly recommend it.