Episode 47 - Harry Parker: Part 2

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