This is the final week of the Paco’s Story read-a-long, check out the discussion questions.

If you missed the first round, second round, and third round of questions, check them out.  You also can check out my responses to section 1, section 2, and section 3.

In the final chapters, the narrator takes us back to Vietnam and sheds light on some of the horrors of the war and Paco’s part in the conflict.  We learn that Paco has a specialty in booby traps and bombs, and that each member of the unit has their own tasks.  The unit is tight knit and the camaraderie is made evident, but there is a darker side to this group.

Paco and his men find a young, female Viet Cong member after she kills several of their fellow soldiers.  Unfortunately, her punishment is the worst thing a woman can imagine, and Paco takes part.  This scene is detailed and gruesome, but it serves to demonstrate how far the war can twist the human mind and its ability to discern right from wrong when revenge becomes the top priority.  It is not just revenge against the female Viet Cong for killing their men, but for all the enemies who have won battles and killed Americans and dragged them into this war.

In previous chapters, we’ve seen Cathy watch Paco from afar and flirt with him. . . tease him.  She teases him when he comes back to the Hotel Geronimo as she waits in her doorway in little more than a man’s dress shirt, and Paco’s expectation is that if he can get to her door before she closes it, they will become as intimate as they have imagined.  Her flirtations know no bounds.  One evening she leaves town, and Paco sneaks inside her room and reads her diary.  Sadly, what she says about him cuts him to the core, making him realize that his fantasies of fitting in and returning to the living are just that fantasies.

Another interesting aspect of Paco’s Story is the similarities that can be drawn between Vietnam and Boone, Texas, from the hot and sticky climate to the desolate feeling of being alone in the “jungle.”  Whether its enemy territory or a town full of people that do not want you there, both places make Paco feel ill-at-ease and out of place.  Setting plays an important role in the story and helps establish the pressures Paco continues to feel even though the war is over.

Finally, the ending of the book may be ambiguous, but it is fitting given our visit with Jesse and his penchant for traveling across the United States to experience life and forget about war.  Paco seems to be embarking on a similar path.

Paco’s Story is a novel that anyone interested the Vietnam War should . . . no must read.

Even if you aren’t participating in the Vietnam War Reading Challenge, we hope that you will join us for the Paco’s Story read-a-long.

This is week 3 of the Paco’s Story read-a-long, and the third set of discussion questions were posted on Wednesday, July 21 for Chapter 5.

If you missed the first round and second round of questions, check them out.  You also can check out my previous post for section 1 and section 2.

Paco’s Story takes a new turn with the narrator showing us how well Paco is acclimating to his new life in Boone.  He’s the dishwasher at the Texas Lunch, but his work is not all that keeps him moving.  His dreams are ripe with danger and disturbing dreams.  The narrator’s identity becomes clearer in this chapter, and the ghosts of Paco’s past are identified.

Paco seems to take to the work at the diner because it provides a routine with very clear parameters, much like those in the military.  But once asleep, Paco is at the mercy of his past and the ghosts that still haunt him.  While he hasn’t outwardly asked why he was the only one that survived the massacre, it is clear that he wonders, though in his dreams he actively keeps his head down to make sure a different outcome does not occur.

The complexity of Paco’s character shines in this chapter — his hold on the past and the tug of the here-and-now, his ease with fellow soldiers before the massacre, and his ability to become robotic and get tasks done.  However, he is still paralyzed, as paralyzed as he was in the jungles of Vietnam, unable to share the darkest moments of his life and of the war.  They are too fresh, too real.

Even if you aren’t participating in the Vietnam War Reading Challenge, we hope that you will join us for the Paco’s Story read-a-long.  Until next week.

I’ll be participating in the War Through the Generations Vietnam War Reading Challenge read-a-long of Paco’s Story by Larry Heinemann in July.

For those outside of the Vietnam War Reading Challenge who are interested in joining the Paco’s Story read-a-long, you are more than welcome to join us.

How it will work: You read the designated chapter(s) and visit War Through the Generations on the Wednesday for the discussion questions

What you do: You read and then talk about what you’ve read so far and answer the discussion questions provided either in the comments on that Wednesday or on your own blog.

Here’s the schedule:

Week 1: Chapters 1 and 2
Discussion Questions posted on July 7

Week 2: Chapters 3 and 4
Discussion Questions posted on July 14

Week 3: Chapter 5
Discussion Questions posted on July 21

Week 4: Chapter 6 and 7
Discussion Questions posted on July 28

For discussions on twitter use the hashtag #Paco

***Oh, and here’s the button for the read-a-long: (link to image is http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1303/4679014202_5351e02497_o.jpg)

Thanks for making the button Monica!