1 - Faith of My Fathers by John McCain
I read John McCain’s 2000 autobiography in tandem with Barack Obama’s Dreams From my Father for a book discussion. The first 200 pages are so boring and badly written that I didn’t even get to his time as a POW before the discussion. I am amazed that neither the ghostwriter nor the editor cut the book by 50-100 pages.
The first 80 pages consist mostly of 1-2 paragraph anecdotes about McCain’s father and grandfather, and are supposed to give an impression of the character of the two men – honorable, honest and tireless servants to the military, who were disliked by some but respected by all – and how they influenced the author. But who thought it was a good idea to relay this information in this way? It reads as if McCain just sat down and told stories for hours, and the ghostwriter wrote them down and published them as is.
The book also assumes a knowledge of the military that most civilians would not have. When McCain relays the story of his POW days, he repeatedly refers to the Code of Conduct, without much explanation; he inexplicably includes the entire text of the Code 80 pages and years into the narration of his POW experience.
Around the 200 page mark, McCain is captured when the wing of his plane is shot off. The story of his years in captivity is the real meat of the book, and greatly more engrossing than anything leading up to it. McCain and the other POW’s formed intense bonds that got them through the experience, which ranged from crushing boredom to intense torture. McCain also relates his impression that the guards were easier on him (easy, of course, being relative) than the other prisoners because his father was Commander in Chief of the Pacific at the time, and they knew of the positive propaganda value of treating him well, and the negative propaganda of treating him badly.
Besides the way the tale of survival and resistance reveals the character of the men involved, the story is fascinating for the camarederie built among the POW’s. They still adhered to the chain of command, such that the highest ranking POW would be consulted for important decisions. The men were punished for communicating, but still did it surreptitiously, getting to know each other’s histories and characters. The story of their last Christmas is especially touching, as the men shared gifts with each other including IOU’s for imaginary poker chips to a man who had consistently lost to the others, and chits for the gifts they wish they could give each other.
Although the material of this section is interesting, it is again, not great writing. By the third time that McCain praised someone as ‘the bravest soldier he ever knew’ and then told a story about ‘the bravest act’ of resistance he witnessed, I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. The end of the book is more confounding than anything – McCain is freed on page 342, and the book ends at 349. After the details of the captivity, I found myself wanting more details about his re-integration into society and the healing of his injuries, largely untreated since his capture. I would have easily traded any of the pre-POW portion of the book for more substance on his experience after release.
As the book neared the end, I found myself thinking about Werner Herzog’s documentary Little Dieter Needs to Fly, another story of a pilot in Vietnam – Dieter Dengler, a German-American – who spent time as a POW and survived. (Herzog also remade a fictionalized version of the movie in Rescue Dawn). I would recommend it highly over McCain’s book for a story of survival and courage – not because Dengler was braver or suffered more, but because of Herzog’s masterful storytelling.* Although McCain provides more specifics on the POW experience, Herzog’s story painted in broad brushstrokes somehow gives a more complete picture, both by revealing more of the subject and hinting at a world of undefinable, unknowable qualities of the man. That’s the thing about McCain’s book, it is written as if there is one absolute meaning to everything, clear and concise, and as if there is no un- or sub-conscious to a human being. Herzog also shows Dengler’s re-integration into society, and the way his experience still lingers with him today, whereas McCain merely dismisses his experience as something that he has left behind as much as he can. While Herzog brings up more questions than answers, McCain seems to have never thought there were questions or uncertainties.
*It also provides one of the best ‘WTF, Werner Herzog?’ moments in any of his movies, when he takes Dengler back to where he was a POW and hires local actors to march through the jungle, physically recreating the details of Dengler’s captures while the man himself simultaneously describes them. Great idea, Herzog, no chance that is going to cause flashbacks or anything.
November 4th, 2008 at 9:15 am
The reason he didn’t go into any detail was so he could write another book about his political career - but don’t bother, it sucks. I read both when I was in high school, and neither offer any real satisfaction about what McCain must have actually been feeling at the time. It’s all ‘this guy was so amazing’ and ‘that guy is also so amazing’. There’s no mention of any of the typical social problems POWs face when they finally come home, probably because McCain wanted to be president, and campaigns are no time for nuance.
Great review.