Review: Playing Soldier by F. Scott Service

A riveting reflection on life, loss, service, and sacrifice, Playing Soldier by F. Scott Service is an original and intense memoir that shakes up one’s assumptions of a soldier’s life before, during, and after a conflict.

The majority of this book takes place during Service’s time in the military and while stationed in Iraq, but notably, most of the action takes place in his mind, in the gritty details of his internal monologue, the dark patterns of his thoughts, and the brutal conversations he has in the solitude of service; a soldier may not be allowed to speak his mind, but an author can. As Service’s story takes him across the country, and the world, the writing runs a violent emotional gauntlet, from blind rage and poisonous resentment to selfless love and powerful moments of peace.

The book easily transcends the war memoir genre, stretching across decades of experience, from seminal childhood moments to harrowing recollections from the front lines in Iraq, all bound up with a visceral web of pain, grief, projection, denial, loneliness, and ultimately clarity. The unexpected candor and vulnerability in the prose is perhaps its most surprising element. Rarely does a memoir feel this raw and immediate, as though some part of the author never left the far-flung places that changed his life forever.

At times, it feels as though the author is writing the book to himself, interrogating his intentions and his beliefs even as he summons them on the page. What this produces is a savagely honest work, unadulterated by too much self-editing or posturing. Challenging subject matters like addiction, violence, and self-destructive behavior are handled with tact, grace, and authenticity, without losing the author’s inimitable attitude.

The author’s writing style is as unique as the narrative itself – he vacillates between stream-of-consciousness memories and tangential riffs on patriotism, philosophy and loyalty, interspersed with completely immersive scenes of basic training and battle, bringing readers deep into his jumbled mind, and into the action. While much of the storytelling is innocent, or seemingly innocuous, the author has a penchant for ending his sections with gut-punches or poetic turns – “A lot of war stories begin with heroes” or “Sitting up straight now. Another world waits below.”

The intimacy with which the author tells his story does make the prose feel like poetry, but there are certain instances where the language could be tweaked to flow more smoothly, and there are some metaphors or convoluted descriptions. There aren’t many typos or obvious errors, but some grammatical inconsistencies are present, and a superficial edit would help smooth over these last rough spots.

All told, however, this is a nontraditional memoir that embraces experimentation in storytelling, making Playing Soldier an unabashedly unique and captivating read.