Poisoned Jungle, James Ballard s debut novel, reflects the Vietnam War with graphic ferocity, portraying its horrible atrocities and evilness while rendering the historical context contemporary, vivid, and chaotic.
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The story is a gripping depiction of war, with tremendous dark emotional and terrible ramifications. One caveat: it s hardly a happy-go-lucky story; nonetheless, it begs to be taken seriously. It demands to be told and retold, reminding us of the futility of the war. And Ballard is well-suited to write about the war having served in Vietnam s Mekong Delta as a medic, witnessing firsthand its calamities.
The narrative is framed into three periods in the life of the narrator, Andy Parks, nicknamed Doc. In the first period, we read about twenty-year-old Andy in 1969, serving as a medic in the Ninth Infantry Division of the US Army in Vietnam. We are informed that he is one-quarter Cherokee, who