Carry Me Home

by John M. Del Vecchio

Book Overview

In this powerful and poignant epic, Del Vecchio transports the soldiers of the Viet Nam experience to their final battlefield--the home front. High Meadow Farm, in the fertile hill country of central... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0553572768
• ISBN13: 9780553572766
• Release Date: April 1996
• Publisher: Bantam Books
• Length: 864 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 4.2" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

An almost perfect book - "The Deer Hunter" in book form

I remember seeing the film "The Deer Hunter" years ago and being blown away by the excellent performances, characters, and story. I never thought I'd see or hear of anything like that movie again, but thankfully I was wrong."Carry Me Home" is "The Deer Hunter" in print. Don't infer any hidden meaning from that sentence; the plots of the two are as different as night and day. But they both deal with the same subject - the aftermath of the Vietnam war, what that means to several men (and women) in small-town America, and how each of them deals with it.The two main characters in this book are Robert Wapinski and Anthony Pisano, of Mill Creek Falls, PA. In such an environment it seems incredible that these two men apparently never met before the events in this novel, but that's what Del Vecchio seems to imply. And it really doesn't matter whether they did or not, because their lives become more and more intertwined as the story unfolds.Their lives take radically different turns. Robert becomes moderately successful as a real estate broker and then as a pioneer in the solar and ecology field. Tony, on the other hand, drops out of society - he just can't handle what people think about him as a Vietnam vet (and more importantly, he can't handle what he thinks about himself as a Vietnam vet). That statement, including the parenthetical comment, may not make any sense unless you know something of the history of US involvement in Vietnam (e.g., Lt William Calley and the My Lai massacre). But Tony does try for a little while - he courts and marries a girl and has two children, but the pressure just becomes too much for him. And even though Robert seems able to integrate himself back into society, he too is haunted by what happened and what he did in Vietnam.What these two men do to heal themselves and other vets forms the crux of this story, and Del Vecchio never falters in the telling of it until the very end. At that point he seems to deal too much in psychology and not in the people themselves. But until then this is a fantastic story of a subject that not too many novels deal with. The Chicago Sun-Times said of Del Vecchio's "The 13th Valley", "...quite simply, THE novel about the Vietnam war." Well, quite simply, "Carry Me Home" is THE novel about that war's aftermath.

Great Friend...great book...

I know John Del Vecchio, he's a friend of my ex-girlfrind's mother and I met him on several occasions. He was always such a nice guy to me and I bought this book because of several recomendations and because he's just a genuine, nice guy. I read the book and was blown away by his attention to detail and emotional weight. Being to young to remember the Vietnam war, this was an interesting lesson in coping with the seriousness of war and a country that doesn't want you back. The story is very involved and very fine tuned. Though not exactly light reading, the book is involving and beckons you to read on.I had a chance to discuss the book with him a while after I read it and expressed my admiration and respect for him and his book. He was gracious and said he was working on a new book. This soon turned out to be "Darkness Falls"...Another great book by Del Vecchio. "Carry Me Home" requires dedication to read, but you're left with a real connection with the characters and a feeling of accomplishment...

One of my all-time favorite books

I have read both of Del Vecchio's earlier books and looked forward to the release of Carry Me Home for a number of years. I certainly hope it is reprinted since I gave away my only copy. The book is an excellent story about the returning Vietnam vets and an inspiration to present day persons in all walks of life. DelVecchio is my favorite author.