The Depth Test War. A book about war, a review for surfers.

In: The Depth Test by Stu Nettle 2 Comments Thu 5th Aug '10

Tags: wayne rabbit bartholomew , ross clarke-jones , war , sebastian junger , the perfect storm

Stuart Nettle
August 5, 2010

"Now I'm walking to the water, Dawn Patrol vest under one arm, clear, light lance under the other. I am a Viking warrior king about to conquer a new world. I am Alexander the Great leading my horsemen over the plains of Sidon. The power and glory pulsate through my veins. The battleground is before me." - Wayne 'Rabbit' Bartholomew.

"It was like going to war." - Ross Clarke-Jones

Until I gave it some thought, I hadn't realised how much surfers used war talk. Pacifists we may be, yet we have a metaphorical arsenal full of bomb sets, exploding lips, big guns and detonating barrels. But it's the big wave game where the analogy between surfing and war becomes explicit. Just listen to the hairy-chested surfers attempt to describe (and justify) what they do there on the outer reefs by likening it to real combat.

Such analogies, however, run the risk of trivialising war. Can big wave surfing, a recreational activity that one chooses to do and where the likelihood of death is remote, be compared to war, where soldiers fight for causes greater than themselves and death is a reality?

If Sebastian Junger, the author of War, were asked that question, I imagine he would say yes. In one of the opening passages of his latest book he makes this observation: "The moral basis for war doesn't seem to interest soldiers much....they generally leave the big picture to others." The soldiers in his book heed no greater calling. Politics do not concern them, they simply love combat. They enjoy weighing the risks, overcoming the fear and running on adrenalin. Just like big wave surfers.

War is Junger's account of his time spent in a remote valley in Eastern Afghanistan. There he stayed with a platoon of thirty soldiers that accepted him as one of their own. He followed them on patrols and into firefights. Some of the men died. Junger himself was riding in a military vehicle when it ran over a mine, trapping he and the occupants in enemy gunfire.

That was how he researched this book. For a man with a wife and kids it seems extraordinarily reckless, yet by so doing he built up trust with the soldiers and they became willing case-studies. The result is a book about war more candid than any I've read.

Junger doesn't bother with the big picture of the Afghanistan war, or even the 'War on Terror' that started it. Rather, he explores the psychological and social elements of combat. Showing himself to be an astute observer of human behaviour, Junger approaches the topic from many angles and peers deep into the questions.

What he comes up with is occasionally macho, often profound, but mostly full of surprising insight.

If you enjoyed Junger's last book, The Perfect Storm, you'll enjoy this too. Double them up on your next trip to the North Shore and I'll see you on the outer reefs.

War is published by HarperCollins and retails for $29.99.

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