by Paul Bailey
First published 1980
The old soldiers gather in their familiar places, weathered men whose wars have long ended but whose battles continue. They face the daily skirmishes of aging bodies and fading relevance in a world that has moved beyond them. Through their conversations and silences, their routines and disruptions, Bailey reveals how these veterans navigate the territory between who they were and who they have become. The story moves among these men as they confront illness, loneliness, and the weight of accumulated years. Their military service becomes both anchor and burden, a source of identity that grows more distant even as it defines them. Bailey examines not just these particular soldiers but the universal struggle of growing old, the way time erodes certainty and transforms heroes into forgotten figures. The emotional heart lies in their quiet dignity, their persistence in the face of diminishment, and their search for meaning in lives that feel increasingly invisible to younger generations.
Genres: literary-fiction, american-fiction, 20th-century, adult-fiction, 21st-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: character-study, slice-of-life
Period: 20th-century, 21st-century
119 pages · Hardcover · London, Cape (1980).