Smoky Joe’s Café, by Bryce Courtenay, read by Humphrey Bowers, produced by Bolinda Audio, downloaded from audible.com.I have a whole series of Courtenay books that I haven’t read, so I’m going back to catch up. They’re all read by my favorite Australian narrator, Humphrey Bowers. This one deals with an Australian Vietnam vet who comes home after the war and seems to not be able to get hold of anything. He runs Smoky Joe’s café, which his wife inherited from her father. It’s an old-style diner with American music from the ‘50’s and ‘60’s which most of the current patrons wouldn’t even know about except for hearing it in the café. This book is set, I believe in the 1980’s. The vet is suffering from Agent Orange exposure, but it is before either the U.S. or Australia are admitting that Agent Orange is the cause of so much damage. So in this book, a group of Vietnam vets who served together decide to grow hashish and sell it in has honey to earn enough to help vets who have been harmed and who aren’t getting help from the government. It’s totally illegal, but they have this enterprise for a year, raise a lot of money and help a lot of people. It’s a very interesting book with the vet and his wife coming back together after having almost been separated by the events of the war because he can’t talk about them. Also, some interesting contrasts between experiences of Australian Vietnam vets and American Vietnam vets.
I loved this book, read it in one sitting, crying my way through it. I was a young teenager during the Vietnam War, but was deeply affected by it. I still cry over it when reminded of it by music, books or pictures. Told a friend a couple of years ago that I was sad because of the Vietnam War. She told me it was over. I laughed as that statement hit me with a kind of shock. I know it is over, obviously, but in my heart I guess it is not over. I knew only casually a boy who had been in the war, I was not personally affected through a family member or good friend. Yet that war colored my world. I grieved, I still grieve. It made me more of a patriot, not because I was impressed with our government as I was not, but because I loved our boys and couldn't stand how our country gave away their lives and didn't even thank them. I want very much to visit the Memorial Wall in Washington D.C. and I try to attend Memorial Day events. These were our boys, they deserve recognition, thanks and love. I also think the Australians were a lot smarter sending boys who were older and better trained for jungle warfare. Even so, it was terrible for everyone. The Agent Orange spraying was simply criminal and the cover-ups and denials made it just that much worse.
What do You think about Smoky Joe's Cafe (2001)?
This story deals with the aftermath of vietnam from an Australian solider's perspective - a man named Thommo. His daughter develops leukemia, and they are unable, and too poor, too find a proper donor. He, his vet friends and his wife create a marijuana selling-scheme in which the proceeds go towards medical expenses for vets and their children. The plan lasts one year and is undetected by police. The end nets them around $3 million which is managed by their newly created foundation. In the end, the governments in both the US and Australia have to stop denying and start dealing with inquiries into the various chemicals used during the war, as well as account for the poor treatment given to vietnam vets. A revealing story into the horrors faced by vets long after the war.
—Linda I
A well researched novel which presents Australian Vietnam Vets in a sympathetic light having suffered from the horrendous effects of Agent Orange and other chemicals to which they were exposed. It is narrated by Thommo whose young daughter is dying from leukemia and whose wife, Wendy, feels as though she, too, is a Vietnam Vet despite the fact she never set foot in Vietnam. Her marriage to Thommo which is strained due to his escalating mental, emotional, and physical problems and Anna's potentially terminal illness bring out Wendy's fighting spirit and her need to see justice done. I thoroughly enjoyed and choked up over this raw novel.
—Ida
A fictional tale regarding the woes veterans of the Vietnam War faced, and an insight into how the Vietnam War and the battle of Long Tan was swept under the carpet and erased from the memory of the American and Australian public. This work outlines the struggle these veterans faced dealing with the exposure to Agent Orange and its effect on their lives and the lives of their families. A very interesting tale enlightening me in an enjoyable sort of way on what actually happened in Vietnam twenty years before I was born.
—David
