Harry Parker

Anatomy of a Soldier is a stunning first novel—of patriotism, heroism, and profound humanism—that will immediately take its place on the shelf of classics about what it truly means to be at war. Let’s imagine a man called Captain Tom Barnes, aka BA5799, who’s leading British troops in the war zone. And two boys growing up together there, sharing a prized bicycle and flying kites before finding themselves estranged once foreign soldiers appear in their countryside. And then there’s the man who trains one of them to fight against the other’s father and all these infidel invaders. Then imagine the family and friends who radiate out from these lives, people on all sides of this conflict where virtually everyone is caught up in the middle of something unthinkable. But then regard them not as they see themselves but as all the objects surrounding them do: shoes and boots, a helmet, a bag of fertilizer, a medal, a beer glass, a snowflake, dog tags, and a horrific improvised explosive device that binds them all together by blowing one of them apart—forty-five different narrators in all, including the multiple medical implements subsequently required to keep Captain Barnes alive. The result is a novel that reveals not only an author with a striking literary talent and intelligence but also the lives of people—whether husband or wife, father or mother, son or daughter—who are part of this same heart-stopping journey. A work of extraordinary humanity and hope, created out of something hopeless and dehumanizing, it makes art out of pain and suffering and takes its place in a long and rich line of novels that articulate the lives that soldiers lead. In the boom of an instant, and in decades of very different lives and experiences, we see things we’ve never understood so clearly before.

A novel

Anatomy of a Soldier

Anatomy of a Soldier is a stunning first novel - of patriotism, heroism, and profound humanism - that will immediately take its place on the shelf of classics about what it truly means to be at war. Let's imagine a man called Captain Tom Barnes, aka BA5799, who's leading British troops in the war zone. And two boys growing up together there, sharing a prized bicycle and flying kites before finding themselves estranged once foreign soldiers appear in their countryside. And then there's the man who trains one of them to fight against the other's father and all these infidel invaders. Then imagine the family and friends who radiate out from these lives, people on all sides of this conflict where virtually everyone is caught up in the middle of something unthinkable. But then regard them not as they see themselves but as all the objects surrounding them do: shoes and boots, a helmet, a bag of fertilizer, a medal, a beer glass, a snowflake, dog tags, and a horrific improvised explosive device that binds them all together by blowing one of them apart - forty-five different narrators in all, including the multiple medical implements subsequently required to keep Captain Barnes alive. The result is a novel that reveals not only an author with a striking literary talent and intelligence but also the lives of people - whether husband or wife, father or mother, son or daughter - who are part of this same heart-stopping journey. A work of extraordinary humanity and hope, created out of something hopeless and dehumanizing, it makes art out of pain and suffering and takes its place in a long and rich line of novels that articulate the lives that soldiers lead. In the boom of an instant, and in decades of very different lives and experiences, we see things we've never understood so clearly before.

Anatomia di un soldato

Frank Charles Bowen

Arthur George Holdsworth Macpherson

Mail and Passenger Steamships of the Nineteenth Century

"A ... first novel--of patriotism, heroism, and profound humanism--that will ... take its place on the shelf of classics about what it truly means to be at war.  Captain Tom Barnes, leading British troops in the war zone.  Two boys growing up there sharing a prized bicycle and flying kites before finding themselves estranged once foreign soldiers appear in their countryside.  The man who trains one boy to fight the other's father as well as the infidel invaders.  The family and friends who radiate out from these lives on all sides of this conflict.  These are the people who populate this fiercely dramatic and moving novel.  But we see them not as they see themselves, but as all the objects surrounding them do: shoes and boots, a helmet, a trove of dollars, a drone, that bike, weaponry, a bag of fertilizer, a medal, a beer glass, a snowflake, dog tags, an IED -- forty-five different inanimate narrators whose unexpected voices tell the story of this heart-stopping journey.  Anatomy of a Soldier gives us a way to clearly see and understand those who fight wars in ways we never have before"--

Anatomy of a soldier

A gripping, eye-opening account of how technology might be about to alter our understanding of what it means to be human - from the bestselling author of Anatomy of a Soldier "I loved Hybrid Humans. It is modest, wise ... and a way of looking at the future without nostalgia for the past" - Jeanette Winterson "Harry Parker has explored the cutting edge of interaction between humanity, computing and AI ... a captivating and cautionary travel guide to a new world" - Gavin Francis, author of Adventures in Human Being Harry Parker's life changed overnight, when he lost his legs to an IED in Afghanistan. That took him into an often surprising landscape of a very human kind of hacking, and he wondered, are all humans becoming hybrids? Whether it's putting on contact lenses every day or DIY biohackers tinkering in garages, Parker introduces us to the exhilarating breadth of human invention - and intervention. Grappling with his own new identity and disability, he discovers the latest robotics, tech and implants that might lead us to powerful, liberating possibilities for what a body can be.

Dispatches from the Frontiers of Man and Machine

Hybrid Humans

Dojemná. Upřímná. Brutální. Jdoucí až na dřeň. Anatomie vojákova těla i duše. Věci kolem nás mohou mluvit, vyprávět příběhy. Nevěříte? Začtěte se do řádků této knihy a pochopíte, co všechno vám může vyprávět improvizované výbušné zařízení, bezpilotní letoun, ručně tkaný koberec či chirurgická pila. Díky nim se seznámíte s příběhem britského vojáka BA5799, poznáte osudy chlapců Latifa a Chariduna a dalších kdesi z daleké země na východě. Jsou to příběhy o ideálech, válce, bolesti, smrti i smíření. Hlavně však o naději, bez které nemá život smysl.

Anatomie vojáka

Le jeune capitaine britannique Tom Barnes est envoyé en mission dans une zone de conflit. Au retour d’une patrouille nocturne, il marche sur un engin explosif improvisé et est immédiatement rapatrié en Angleterre. Débute alors un autre combat tant psychologique que physique durant lequel le héros va parvenir à surmonter « ce à quoi l’on ne pouvait survivre » grâce à l’aide non seulement des médecins, mais aussi de sa famille ainsi que de l’être aimé. Raconté tour à tour par quarante-cinq objets – garrot, sac à main, gilet pare-balles, verre de bière, prothèse, miroir, sac d’engrais, vélo, pile électrique, basket blanche... – conçus pour assister, observer ou nuire, ce récit est un tour de force qui nous fait découvrir de manière inédite le destin et les pensées profondes des acteurs du conflit et de leurs proches, qu’ils soient patriotes ou fanatiques, cyniques ou manipulés, bienveillants ou éblouis par l’idéalisme de la jeunesse. Chronique singulière et néanmoins réaliste, Anatomie d’un soldat est en outre un témoignage saisissant et chargé d’émotion : celui de la reconquête de soi-même, de cette dignité et de cette force qui sont le propre de l’Humain.

Harry Parker

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