Eve Gilbert

Eve Gilbert adapts and illustrates the first-person account of Vietnam War veteran and anti-war activist Scott Camil, based on her own recent interview with him and one he previously made in 1992 as part of an oral history project.

The first third of the book consists mostly of Camil confessing to war crimes he committed or witnessed during his time as a U.S. Marine during the Vietnam War. Frankly, by the time he returned to the U.S., I was so disgusted with him as a person that I considered setting the book aside, but I did not. Unfortunately, despite his subsequent attempts to be a whistleblower about the crimes being committed and his activism in trying to stop the war, I just could not get past his complicity. Indeed, as his narrative progressed, he continued to do highly questionable things and exhibit behaviors that made me wonder about his credibility in general.

Oral histories are important and can be powerful, but they also have the reliability issues of any eyewitness testimony in that human memory can be malleable and changeable, subject to internal and external influences. One way to counteract such veracity issues is to provide corroborating testimony and supporting evidence, but Gilbert presents Camil's words alone, free of context.

While I find his story interesting and troubling, I am left with too many doubts and questions to make this a satisfying experience.… (meer)