I have, for a very long time, been a huge admirer of Marilynne Robinson, whose work I just love. Phil Klay admirerhugelong Change image and share on social
If we fetishize trauma as incommunicable, then survivors are trapped - unable to feel truly known by their nonmilitary friends and family. Phil Klay familyfeelfetishize Change image and share on social
I don't believe in any Greatest Generation. I believe in great events. They sweep ordinary people up, expose them to extremes of human behavior and unimaginable tests of integrity and courage, and then deposit them back on the home front. Phil Klay backbehaviorcourage share on social
Certainly, my exposure in high school to writers like Flannery O'Connor, Shusaku Endo, Fyodor Dostoevsky and Graham Greene was formative. Phil Klay connordostoevskyendo Change image and share on social
Supposedly, going to war initiates you into this gnostic priesthood of people who've had a liminal experience forever separating them from civilians. Except... you go there, and it is what it is. A form of human activity as varied as any other. Phil Klay activitycivilianexperience share on social
I started with things that I was troubled by or confused by or interested in, and then I wrote stories to try to puzzle my way through it. But the question is not how to represent war, because it's an abstract thing that's felt differently for all the characters. Phil Klay abstractcharacterconfuse share on social
We're so used to using military terminology in civilian speech that we forget those terms might mean something very specific. Phil Klay civilianforgetmilitary Change image and share on social
I have two friends named Matt. They're both scouts in the cavalry. They both served in the same section of Iraq. They both worked with the same Iraqi translator. And yet, if you talk to them, their stories couldn't be more different, because one was there in 2006. One was there in 2008. Phil Klay cavalryfriendiraq share on social
There's a tendency to look at anybody who joined the military as if they underwrote everything that happened policy-wise. That's not really the case. I have a friend who both protested the Iraq War and joined the military, and ended up serving two deployments in Afghanistan. Phil Klay afghanistancasedeployment share on social
