Michael Ramos, a former U.S. marine who fought in Iraq, is presently teaching creative writing. The After is his collection of twenty-five essays that focus on his life experiences as a marine in the army and later as a retired vet in society. The book tries to explore the dynamics between vets and civil society after they leave the force. Ramos vehemently criticises the tendency of civilians to regard veterans based on ideological standpoints. I received a review copy of the book from its publisher, the University of North Carolina Press, through Netgalley.

Many of the essays in this collection were published in other journals. This is evident because we find the same instances and the same personalities being introduced repeatedly in different essays. But the writer has managed to use them in different contexts so that the effect on the readers' minds when they reappear another time is distinct from the previous ones. Even when all the essays are centred on the impact of experiences in the armed forces that affect dealings with the civilian world, the writer has used a multi-dimensional approach. He takes us to the different kinds of interactions with civilians and then uses his military experiences to make us aware of the gap between the perception of war between a served vet and a person who has ever seen a war only on screen.

The chief difficulty with reviewing this book is what it has in common with conspiracist thinking, to wit that any criticism is folded right into what it's criticizing. Challenge a conspiracy theorist and you're part of the conspiracy. Challenge this memoir's take on military life, or on civilians, and that's because you're one of the annoying Civilians Who Just Don't Understand. Nevertheless, here goes: the experience of reading The After made me wonder whether this was what my therapist feels like when I vomit unprocessed emotions all over her without letting her get a word in edgewise. This book isn't so much a memoir as a reliving -- or, to put that another way, it's emotion recollected in no tranquility whatsoever.

Some of the points Ramos insists on beggar belief, which is to say that it's hard not to smell denial in the air. He expresses so much grief for his dead fellows, yet he claims to feel no fear for his son, who has just enlisted with the Marines. In the foreword, he writes: "if you’re a civilian reader and think I’m angry with you, ask yourself if you’re doing the things I call out, like assuming I’m a hero or a victim, or wanting my story to meet your expectations, for example. If these things don’t apply to you, then don’t worry about it." I'm uneasy about credentialing myself, but here goes anyway: my beloved father was a WWII Polish soldier who for obvious reasons became a POW in Germany more or less instantly, and I've read enough military history and accounts of soldiers' lives that I don't think I walked into The After with a lot of presuppositions about What Soldiers Are Like. Yet I sure did feel as if I was being raged at for being a civilian at all. Make of that what you will.

And consider a passage like this, in which Ramos describes a conversation with another soldier when they're both posted on Okinawa: "Sixty years ago. Men our age. In our same companies fought, sometimes to the last man, here. I stopped talking. Yeah, it’s heavy, he said after a long pause. A huge legacy to live up to, he said. He looked across the ground into the distance with those blue eyes of his. A lot of tradition, he said." Ah. Well, WWII, like all wars, was replete with atrocity, but a "tradition" of US forces in the Pacific during that war was to not take Japanese prisoners, and, fine, I'm a civilian so my opinion doesn't count, but there's something morally obtuse in getting misty-eyed here. Or at least in honoring the courage without acknowledging what often accompanied it.

There's a lot of value in The After, for example the passages that articulate grief and guilt over the deaths of Ramos's fellow soldiers, and in Ramos's descriptions of the daily experience of soldiering in Iraq: "We hadn’t eaten anything in days because you couldn’t open your canteens to fill the MRE heater because the water would turn to mud from the grit and the sand would fill an open MRE pouch in seconds and no one wanted to eat spoonfuls of sand. We were sick of MREs anyway."

All that having been said, even a civilian is capable of knowing what unprocessed trauma looks like, and The After is one long outpouring of unprocessed trauma, whether it would piss Michael Ramos off to hear me say so or not. The more I read, the more I thought about John Keegan's book The Face of Battle, Denis Winter's Death's Men, and Jonathan Shay's Achilles in Vietnam -- and the many other documentary accounts of soldiers' wars -- and the more skeptical I became.

I'll close with something Jonathan Shay says in his Odysseus in America: "Modern battle is a condition of captivity (even when it has been entered voluntarily), a fact that has escaped notice because the captives move about in the open carrying powerful weapons, and because the role of captor is cooperatively shared by the two enemy military organizations — which are presumed to cooperate in nothing. 'Primitive' warfare, of which Iliadic warfare is an example, is and was voluntary — Achilles really could say, 'I quit.' Modern combat is a condition of enslavement and torture."

Thanks to the University of North Carolina Press and NetGalley for the ARC.

As an avid reader of war books, I was disappointed with Michael Ramos' "The After." While I appreciate his service as a Religious Program Specialist in the Navy, his bitterness towards his own career is evident throughout the book.

Michael Ramos wanted to be a Marine in 2001, but 9/11 had not happened yet and no positions were available. He joined the Navy instead. However, Ramos seems to be bitter about his unglorified post as a Religious Program Specialist in the Navy. If he wanted to be a true warrior, he should have tried becoming a SEAL or a Navy SWCC, who are personnel within the United States Naval Special Warfare Command. Instead, he became a salty sailor. Being an RP is honorable and excellent, but I felt that he was unsatisfied with his career.

Ramos seems to wish he had been a remarkable war hero who fought in countless firefights or suffered grave injuries, instead of just an RP with a ho-hum Navy career. He constantly talks about "my Marines" and his Marine uniform and boots, which is annoying. Is he writing so much about his gear because he saw little combat action?

Furthermore, his writing style is too creative, with run-on sentences and paragraphs that go on for pages. While I respect Ramos and appreciate his service, this is the worst war book I have ever read. I have read dozens of war books, and this one falls short.

This book could be useful for those want to hear about the struggles that war veterans face when they return home, but I believe other books do a better job doing that.

DISCLOSURE: My wife is a happy Navy Corpsman who is also embedded with the Marines. She loves her job.

"The After" by Michael Ramos is a gripping exploration of a post-apocalyptic world where humanity faces the aftermath of a catastrophic event. Ramos skillfully crafts a narrative that follows a diverse cast of characters as they navigate the challenges of survival, examining the complexities of human nature in the face of adversity.

The author's vivid descriptions and evocative prose paint a stark picture of a shattered society, emphasizing the resilience and vulnerabilities of the human spirit. The character development is exceptional, with each individual contributing to the overarching story in unique ways. Ramos weaves together elements of suspense, emotion, and introspection, creating a multifaceted tale that keeps readers engaged from start to finish.

"The After" stands out not only for its well-paced plot and intricate world-building but also for its thoughtful exploration of morality and the essence of humanity. It prompts readers to reflect on their own values and priorities, making it a thought-provoking read. Michael Ramos has delivered a compelling work of speculative fiction that resonates long after the final page, leaving an indelible mark on the reader's imagination.

I received this ARC, I was curious about what the book could be like. It is not my normal read or genre, but I know many veterans and active military. The book was very well written and very raw. It details stories that are impactful to the veteran and goes through what life was like while in the military, some insight into things that they experienced, and what life was like when he returned home. I loved how Ramos prefaced the book by addressing civilians who had not had military experience. He mentions that he seemed angry at civilians, but that was untrue. He was just.. angry. Ramos uses his words and this book to express to civilians that military life is not talked about much; they don't always share their stories, not because they are looking out for others but for themselves. I loved reading this and think anyone who has ever asked someone who has returned home from deployment to "tell their story" should read this first.