Love blooms in Bloomington; survives Vietnam

"The Well House," by Mark Van Voorhis and Ed Kugler, tells an endearing tale of two students from the Bloomington campus in 1967 who share a bond of love capable of conquering a vicious war, frustrating protests and even death. In a series of love letters sporadically scattered throughout the novel, the authors unveil two loving friends separated by the barriers of family values and a country in turmoil because of the ongoing war in Vietnam.\nOne of the more appealing aspects of the novel is its hauntingly familiar descriptions of places students visit and pass by every day, such as the Rose Well House, the Indiana Memorial Union and the brick paths that lead to the observatory. The book even mentions the Indiana Daily Student.\nYet most of these descriptions become lost beneath the overwhelming relationship between a rich girl from the Gold Coast whose family values include protesting every aspect of the government and Vietnam and a farm boy who comes from a strong line of military men. When Clayton decides he will follow in his family footsteps and volunteer to go to war, the novel quickly becomes more involving. The descriptions of the violence and destruction of jungle warfare are suspenseful, and the perspectives of the soldiers stationed on Con Thien in Vietnam are incredibly realistic.\nBut if you want to read a novel that portrays war similar to the way Tim O'Brien does in "The Things They Carried," this is not the book for you. Much of the war is embedded in the love letters sent from Maggie, the rich Chicago girl, to Clayton in the midst of a war that neither of them understands.\nIn the opening pages of this 1960s romance, the letters draw the reader in through suspense and mystery, as the first letter alludes to the horrifying death of Clayton. Of course the reader immediately assumes that authors seldom begin 360-page novels with the death of the main character and then drag you through the entire book only to actually have the character die.\nYet even the suspense of wondering whether or not these authors will kill the main character is barely enough motivation to get through the first nine or 10 frustrating chapters. The authors begin the novel with little faith in the ability of their readers to have more than a 10-second attention span and a five-second memory. In the first chapter alone, the terms "pig farmer from Hope, Indiana" appear in some way or form at least 13 times (which in the novel becomes the equivalent of about every other paragraph). This is one of many similar phrases that readers are berated with page after page until the authors seem to finally be caught up in their own story, relaxing and confiding in readers' ability to follow the plot.\nThis initial overemphasis on names and the redundant phrasing of several different chapters serves to deconstruct the first 50 pages of the novel. Yet if you can stick it out through the beginning (which I recommend), what you will find is a wonderfully collaborated tale of romance and a love that truly can conquer all, including each character's struggle to overcome or accept American family values and a war in which many young men lose their lives.\nIf you are in search of a book that will move you, "The Well House" describes a beautiful romance that is not only familiar since it begins and ends on the IU campus, but inspires the reader to believe in two unique individuals' abilities to overcome any circumstances in order to reach the one they love.