Kevin Powers
Kevin Powers
Kevin Powersis an American fiction writer, poet, and Iraq War veteran...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionWriter
Date of Birth11 July 1980
CountryUnited States of America
distinction remembered
There is a sharp distinction between what is remembered, what is told and what is true.
memories powerful school
Noises and smells, those can bring back powerful memories. I remember when I was going to school one Fourth of July, and there were a lot of fireworks going off. I knew that I was in Richmond. I knew that I was a college student. But I thought people were shooting at me.
war light honest
I can't envision an honest war novel that left war in a positive light.
letting-go giving-up fall
You want to fall, that's all. You think it can't go on like that. It's as if your life is a perch on the edge of a cliff and going forward seems impossible, not for a lack of will, but a lack of space. The possibility of another day stands in defiance of the laws of physics. And you can't go back. So you want to fall, let go, give up, but you can't. And every breath you take reminds you of that fact. So it goes.
pain judging feelings
I had the feeling that if I encountered anyone they would intuit my disgrace and would judge me instantly. Nothing is more isolating than having a particular history. At least that's what I thought. Now I know: all pain is the same. Only the details are different.
expect knew win
I wanted to win the DVC, and we got a lot more than that. Now we're in the sectional final. I really didn't expect to be here, but I knew it was a possibility.
army beating exactly expensive good high join offer pay provide school student
I wasn't a good student in high school. I wanted to go to college, but they weren't exactly beating down my door to offer me admission, and it's so expensive in the U.S. If you join up for a period, the army will pay your school and provide a stipend.
simple thinking people
I think a lot of the guys I know and a lot of people I've talked to, what they want is very often what most people want, a kind of simple life, a livelihood, a family, people who care about them, people they can care about. I think vets on the whole want the same things that everybody else does.
men choices illusion
All choices are illusions, or if they are not illusions their strength is illusory, for one choice must contend with the choices of all the other men and women deciding anything in that moment.
home soldier risk
It's not just: you get off the plane, you're back home, everything's fine. Maybe the physical danger ends, but soldiers are still deeply at risk of being injured in a different way.