Dreaming the Enemy
By (Author) David Metzenthen
A&U Children's
A&U Children
23rd March 2016
Australia
Young Adult
Fiction
Childrens / Teenage social topics: War and conflict issues
FIC
Winner of Queensland Literary Award - Young Adult Category 2016 (Australia)
Paperback
304
Width 128mm, Height 198mm
344g
WINNER: 2016 QLD Literary Awards, Griffith University Young Adult Book Award
I am still moving despite the fact that this dreamed-up bastard Khan walks with me - no, he doesn't walk with me, he rises up to fire, has my life in his hands, my head in his sights, and that is the image of all images that I have somehow to lose.
Johnny Shoebridge has just returned from fighting in the jungles of Vietnam. He no longer carries a weapon - only photos of the dead and a dread of the living.
Pursued by a Viet Cong ghost-fighter called Khan, Johnny makes one last stand - knowing that if he cannot lay this spectre to rest, he will remain a prisoner of war for ever.
Drawing on courage, loyalty and love, Johnny tries to find a way back from the nightmare of war to a sense of hope for the future.
An elegant and deeply moving novel, set in the aftermath of the Vietnam War, by one of Australia's finest writers.
David Metzenthen is a Melbourne writer who is married, has two children, and numerous pets. Both his father and grandfather served in the Australian Defence Forces, fostering David's great interest in the role Australians have played in armed conflict. The author's interests include fly-fishing, surfing small waves, and the greater environment.