"This Republic of Suffering - Army of Death

The president of Harvard University, Drew Gilpin Faust, wrote a book on the Civil War. It's called 'This Republic of Suffering". Here is how the review in the NYTimes starts:

During the Civil War, my great-great-grandfather, a Presbyterian clergyman, served as chaplain to the 104th New York Infantry Regiment. He was a man of stern moral conviction and in weekly letters to his parishioners back home allowed little to escape his censorious eye. President Lincoln’s erratic church attendance irritated him. So did mud and heat and the “intemperance” and “profanity” that he believed were the “great sins of our army,” and he was infuriated by the proximity of his quarters to the “tents of several of the most blasphemous, immoral persons I ever heard.” But in the aftermath of Gettysburg, words failed him. “Sad scenes!” was all he could write after two days spent officiating at the trench burials of Union and Confederate boys. “I have no time, strength nor heart to recall and narrate what I have seen!”

Little wonder. Some 7,000 corpses lay scattered across the Pennsylvania countryside, alongside more than 3,000 dead horses and mules — an estimated six million pounds of human and animal flesh, swollen and blackening in the July heat. For weeks afterward, townspeople carried bottles of peppermint oil to neutralize the smell.

Americans had never endured anything like the losses they suffered between 1861 and 1865 and have experienced nothing like them since. Two percent of the United States population died in uniform — 620,000 men, North and South, roughly the same number as those lost in all of America’s other wars from the Revolution through Korea combined. The equivalent toll today would be six million.

The lasting but little-understood impact of all that sacrifice is the subject of Drew Gilpin Faust’s extraordinary new book, “This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War.” “Death created the modern American union,” she writes, “not just by ensuring national survival, but by shaping enduring national structures and commitments.” And she continues: “The work of death was Civil War America’s most fundamental and most demanding undertaking.” Her account of how that work was done, much of it gleaned from the letters of those who found themselves forced to do it, is too richly detailed and covers too much ground to be summarized easily. She overlooks nothing — from the unsettling enthusiasm some men showed for killing to the near-universal struggle for an answer to the question posed by the Confederate poet Sidney Lanier: “How does God have the heart to allow it?”

Reading Log

Snow Falling On Cedars
Chapter 1-7


Chapter 1

The book starts with a description of the main character – Kabuo Miyamoto. In Chapter 1 we find out that he spent 77 days in jail, but we don’t know yet, why. After describing the court room and the jurors, the book goes on with a description of the beautiful landscape and the city, San Piedro, and we also get to know the local reporter Ishmael Chambers, who, at the end of Chapter 1, talks to Kabuo’s wife Hatsue.

“Snow fell that morning outside the courthouse windows, four tall, narrow arches of leaded glass that yielded a great quantity of weak December light. [ . . . ] The sea wind drove snowflakes steadily inland, hurling them against the fragrant trees, and the snow began to settle on the highest branches with a gentle implacability.” (Page 6, 20-31)
I like this part of the text, because the reader is able to imagine the happening place a lot better. I also think that this part is well written and it’s a great opposite of the part before, where the writer only describes Kabuo and his habitation in jail.

The characters we get to know in Chapter 1 are mainly Kabuo, his wife Hatsue and the reporter Ishmael.
Because Kabuo doesn’t say much in this Chapter, I can’t really form an opinion about him, yet. Hatsue and Ishmael seem to be familiar with each other, because Ishmael calls Hatsue by her forename. In this Chapter Ishmael starts to be very likeable for me, because it seems like he’s a man who had to go through a lot of stuff in his life, for example he lost his left arm during war, and while he talks to Hatsue he seems to be a really caring person.

A question I was asking myself after reading Chapter 1 was, how Ishmael and Hatsue know each other. It says that there are some racial conflicts in the book aswell and because of that I can’t imagine a Japanese woman and an American reporter being friends.
Another question that came to my mind was of course, how Kabuo got into jail.

Chapter 2

In Chapter 2 we first find out some stuff about the crime the book is about. A fisherman, Carl Heine, died on September 16th. Then, in the courtroom, the proceeding starts when the prosecutor, Alvin Hooks, interrogates a witness – the sheriff Art Moran. During this interrogation we also get a little description of Art Moran. After that, there is a leap in time and we find Art Moran and his deputy Abel Martinson talking on the boat of the dead fisherman, the Susan Marie, suggesting about his death. Then we find out a lot about Carl Heine and his life and that he was found dead in his fishernet.

“His eyes were open too, but the pupils had disappeared – Art saw how they’d revolved backward and now looked inward at his skull.” (Page 20, 2-4)
I think this part of the text is important because it shows how immense the crime is and that violence was involved, because we also find out that the victim hit his head really hard. I think it’s a creepy sight to see someone’s eyeballs revolving backward into the skull and I can imagine it was hard for the sheriff to see because he knew the victim.

The new characters in Chapter 2 are the sheriff Art Moran, his deputy Abel Martinson, the dead fisherman Carl Heine and the prosecutor Alvin Hooks.
The person I like least in this Chapter is Alvin Hooks, because in my opinion he asks a lot of useless questions. Sheriff Art Moran is a person I like because he’s a person that demands and wants to get behind things.

After reading Chapter 2 I was asking myself, how the fisherman Carl Heine died and I wondered how he got the big wound on his head. We don’t know yet if he died because of that or if he drowned or if there are more wounds that Art and Abel didn’t find yet.

A reaction I can totally understand is, when Abel has to vomit after finding the dead body of Carl. I think I would’ve reacted the same way if I was his age (He’s 24) and hadn’t seen a corpse all my life.

Chapter 3

The proceeding in court continues in Chapter 3. Here, Kabuo’s defender, Nels Gudmundsson, interrogates the sheriff Art Moran.

“’A 6 and a 8?’ Nels said.
‘Yes.’
‘I did some measuring down at the chandlery,’ said Nels. ‘A D-6 is wider than a D-8 by an inch. It wouldn’t fit into the Susan Marie’s battery well, sheriff. It was an inch to large for that.’” (Page 24, 3-7)
I think this is an important part in Chapter 3 because it shows how interested Nels is in this case and how he demands everything the witnesses say. After reading this I also shortly thought about the sheriff being the one, who killed Carl.

New characters in Chapter 3 are only Nels Gudmundsson, Kabuo’s defender in court.
Nels is also a person that seems sympathic to me because I can totally understand the questions he asks in court about the inventory of the ship.

“’Are you sure of this?’
‘I don’t remember hitting him on anything, no, Mr. Gudmundsson. We were careful, as I’ve said already.’” (Page 26, 16-18)
I can understand this answer the sheriff gave and I think I would’ve reacted the same. Of course he can’t be sure the wound on Carl’s head didn’t come up when he and Abel pulled Carl up from the net but I also think it’s not as possible as the murder hitting him on the head. If Carl got the wound during being pulled up Art and Abel would’ve recognized, so I think this reaction of the sheriff is very good.

Chapter 4

Chapter 4 starts in court where the judge calls for a recess. After that we find out a lot about Ishmael and his father Arthur. Chapter 4 also says that Ishmael knew Carl from school. Then there is a leap in time and it’s the afternoon after court and Art and Abel meet other fishermen at the docks. Then there is a part about fishing in general in San Piedro. When Ishmael arrives at the docks they all talk about Carl and his death and the sheriff finds out that some of the fishermen saw Carl going out to sea the day he died and that Kabuo and other Japanese people also fish in the bay and his ship is called Islander. After that Art and Ishmael leave the other men and Art tells Ishmael what would be best to write in his article.

“’You see Susan Marie?’ asked Ishmael.
‘I did,’ said Art. ‘Boy.’
‘Three kids,’ said Ishmael. ‘What’s she going to do?’
‘I don’t know,’ said the sheriff.
‘She say anything?’
‘Not a word.’” (Page 38, 4-9)
I think this part is interesting because it’s the first time in this book we actually find out what Carl’s wife Susan Marie (He named his boat after her) thinks about the whole situation and it’s the first time she’s actually mentioned for some time. It made me really sad after reading because I can imagine what a big loss it is to loose your husband when he’s doing his job and I can totally understand that Susan Marie didn’t want to talk to the sheriff.

New persons in Chapter 4 are Lew Fielding, the judge, some fishermen (Dale Middleton, Leonard George, Jan Sorensen, Marty Johansson and Willian Gjovaag), Carl’s wife Susan Marie and Ishmaels wife Lillian is mentioned, too. The fishermen also talk about Kenji, but I’m not sure if he’s Kabuo’s brother or if they just work together.

The fishermen are absolutely not sympathic to me, they make jokes about Ishmael and the Japanese people in San Piedro and talk really bad about them.
Ishmael still seems like a good person to me because he still stays at the docks and talks with the sheriff even though the fishermen don’t like him and make jokes.

Chapter 5

Chapter 5 starts in court, where the Island County Coroner Horace Whaley is going to be interrogated. There is a little description about Horace, too. After that there is a flashback and the scene changes to when Carl’s dead body is brought to Horace and he sends Abel away so he can do an autopsy. There he finds out that Carl died in the water, he drowned. Before, he was hit with a Kendo stick, a stick Japanese people use for fighting.

“He had not died first and then been cast beneath the waves. Carl Heine had gone in breathing.” (Page 50, 21-22)
This part of the Chapter is really important to me because it raises the interest of the reader in this criminal case. The Coroner finds out that Carl didn’t die because of his wound in the head. He drowned and now it is unclear if the person who hit Carl on the head just wanted to hurt him, or if he threw Carl into the sea after hitting him.

New characters we get to know during Chapter 5 are Horace Whaley, the Island County Coroner.
He seems like a weird person to me because he does his job very seriously and carefully but he also doesn’t seem very social when he sends Abel away and thinks about him as a Damn Kid.

The main question I asked myself after reading Chapter 5 was of course, why Carl drowned and if the person who hurt Carl just wanted to hurt him or if he also threw Carl over board so he would drown.

Chapter 6

This Chapter also starts in court when Nels interrogates Horace. He wants to prove that it doesn’t has to be a Japanese Kendo stick that hit Carl on his head. Then, Art takes Abel’s truck to see Susan Marie and tell her that her husband died. When he arrives at the house the two older children, two boys, open the door. Susan Marie just took care of the little baby when the sheriff brings the bad news.

I think it is really hard to understand the time of every part. Sometimes the scene happens in the past, sometimes in the present, and in my opinion it isn’t always easy to understand in which time the part you’re reading is written.

“’Carl is dead,’ said Art Moran.
[ . . . ]
‘Carl?’ said Susan Marie Heine. ‘That can’t be.’
[ . . . ]
Suddenly she backed away from him, blinking, sat down hard on the bottom stair, and set the baby bottle on the floor beside her toes. She dug her elbows into her lap and began to rock with the diaper between her hands, wringing it between her fingers.
‘I knew this would happen one day,’ she whispered. Then she stopped rocking and stared into the living room.” (Page 66/67, 31-42)
In this part I can totally understand Susan Marie’s reaction. It has to be hard to know that your husband is out alone all day at sea. First, I couldn’t understand why she said she knew it would happen one day but then I thought about that it is very possible for fishermen to die or have an accident during fishing, when they’re out alone.

New characters in Chapter 6 are only the two boys of Carl and Susan Marie. But Susan Marie really takes action in the story for the first time, aswell.
She seems like a real mother to me, she walks around in no good clothes and without make up and she’s in the story for the first time now and what she just did was taking care of her children.

Chapter 7

In this Chapter we first get to know a lot about the Japanese people in San Piedro. Then, Hatsue visits Kabuo in jail and we find out how she deals at home without Kabuo. Following there is a description of Hatsue and her life, which was very hard and strict. This Chapter also tells us that Ishmael was Hatsue’s first kiss, not Kabuo, but she never told him. After that Hatsue and Kabuo talk about the past and the first time they slept together and that Kabuo had to leave to fight in the war.

“Hatsue would remember on the day of her wedding that her first kiss had been from this boy, Ishmael Chambers, while they clung to a glass box and floated in the ocean. But when her husband asked if she had kissed anyone before, Hatsue answered never.” (Page 78, 29-32)
In this part my conclusion that Hatsue and Ishmael know each other becomes true. From the beginning, I always thought about some relationship between the two of them. This part is really important for the story because we find out that Hatsue lied to Kabuo, because he was not the first man in her life.

A new person we get to know is Mrs. Shigemura, Hatsue’s former teacher. She told Hatsue everything about being a woman and a good wife and how to deal with men. She doesn’t seem like a sympathic person to me because she seems to be very strict and in my opinion she kind of ruined Hatsue’s former life.