Summary

Chapter Eight focuses on war stories and which attributes make them “good stories.” Nguyen applies this concept broadly, including written stories as well as art that addresses war. He states that this question involves the content of the story and how it is told. In his view, stories must cover both the seductions and horrors of war. They must acknowledge what we find appealing about war as well as its traumatic effects. Most war stories describe soldiers and the war machine. They are seen as “true” because they describe the actual character of battle and justify future wars.

However, war stories rarely address the banal aspects of war, its effect on civilians, or the plights of refugees. These stories do not explore how civilians support the war machine by default as they continue their daily lives while their country conducts war, nor do they...