The second part of our chat with Harry Parker about his debut novel Anatomy of a Soldier begins with a cheerful discussion of decay and destruction of both objects or people. ----more----Parker prefers the word entropy while discussing his own recovery after the bomb blast that destroyed his legs. From there we moved onto:
- can fiction resolve trauma?
- questions of identity: what Parker sees in the mirror
- 'fetish of the possible': prosthetic limbs as objects of hope
- value and cost: how much is a human life worth?
- anger and mourning: recovery and resolution
- would Parker shake hands with the man who blew him up
- 'If you are going to be stupid enough to be a soldier, then you have got to expect that this stuff might happen'
- empathy or hatred: Parker's view of the insurgents
- the Parker family's relationship with the British army
- why did he join up
- 'The best soldier is anti-war...'
- 'It's bloody difficult': the challenges of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan
- did the occupying armies make life better or worse?
- fear and boredom: life as a soldier on duty
