Seeing as though today is Australia Day, it seemed fitting to do a book review from an Australian author. My favorite Australian author is Bryce Courtenay, and I have been rereading some of his works recently. In the others, I was a bit surprised by how much I had forgotten, but I remembered the books enough to know more or less what to expect, and the general arch of the story. This one, however, seemed somehow a bit more distant, more remote. There was a lot of stuff that, truth be told, I simply could not remember during the first reading, which was strange and perhaps a little alarming.
Smoky Joe's Cafe is very different book than the previous book from Courtenay that I reviewed late last year, "Whitethorn." That one took place in South Africa, as did "The Power of One," the book Courtenay is best known for around the world, as well as it's follow-up, "Tandia."
No, this one takes place in more contemporary times, although it is not quite the present day. This book is supposed to take place in the late 1970's and early 1980's. It features a group of Australian Vietnam veterans, who suffered severe trauma during their experiences in Vietnam. It is told by one of the vets, Thommo, who is married to a beautiful woman, Wendy. Together, they have a young daughter, Anna, who has serious medical issues that are likely related to the exposure to Agent Orange by the Vietnam veterans (in this case, her father Thommo).
The Australian government (much like the American government at the time) was trying to avoid any kind of responsibility. So with the government trying to do everything to bury these kinds of stories from their Vietnam veterans, it is up to the band of veterans whom Thommo served with in Vietnam to try and come up with a solution. What they come up with is kind of genius. They will sell marijuana, which at the time was illegal, so it is extremely risky.
Thommo's wife, Wendy, knows something is up. And she forces her way into the scheme, which winds up rowing more sophisticated and involved seemingly by the minute. During the course of this book, you likely will learn all about different sorts of marijuana, and even get an idea of how it is made, and the different uses. Good information.
Meanwhile, the veterans getting together serves almost as therapy, at least to a certain degree. They discuss what they saw and learned during their time in Southeast Asia, including some of the horrors. Somehow, I was taken by surprise at how graphic some of the depictions of the violence wound up being here. Again, I do not remember it being quite like that during my first reading. Makes me wonder just how closely I was paying attention (or not).
In the end, we get a different perspective of the Vietnam experience, which is usually told from the American perspective. Here, we get the Australian experience, which was different. We also get to know a little bit of a North Vietnamese point of view at times, with one of the characters. Some interesting stuff here.
This was an enjoyable read. Again, I found it more powerful than that first reading. Also, I got more into the book this time around than that last time (which was probably somewhere around 2006 or 2007, maybe 2008 or so). This book is generally not available to American audiences, or at least was not, so it might be more difficult than usual for Americans to get their hands on a copy (at least a physical one). It likely will not be available in a local library, unless you live in one of the British Commonwealth countries.
If you do get a chance to read this book, I strongly recommend it!
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