“American Sniper” is really two stories in one: Chris Kyle‘s journey to becoming the United State’s most prolific military sniper ever; and a surprisingly frank account of a couple’s marriage strained by the separation caused by the war and Kyle’s commitment to the Teams.
Interwoven into the story of Kyle’s deployments overseas and his brief times back at home are short sections supplied by Taya Kyle documenting her feelings and her side of the story. The combination serves to provide a poignant contrast between the brutalities faced by warriors in battle and the worry and emotions ripping through their families at home.
I get the feeling that Chris Kyle is a man of few words because his descriptions of events and memories tend to be on the spare side. But the author’s (Jim DeFelice) ability to capture the tone and meaning of Kyle’s stories is excellent. You can pick up the cadence and rhythm of Kyle’s speech with the one-liners leaving you chuckling. With a few haunting exceptions, there is almost always a comical or humorous side aspect to Kyle’s stories.
For those who want to pick up a lot of detail about being a SEAL or a sniper, you’re not going to get much. There are some nuggets in the stories that you can probably only mine if you have some knowledge of combat and shooting. For example, you won’t find a reference to a Mil-Dot anywhere. But, Kyle talks about using a tree behind some insurgents to help him on an extremely long-distance shot. Shooters will know what he is talking about. Others probably won’t get the significance of the tree. (His longest shot, by the way, was 2,100 yards taken to kill a bad guy getting ready to launch a rocket at an Army convoy). He fairly brushes over his experiences during BUD/S and Hell Week, telling the reader that the process is well documented in other sources.
There is a bit of treasure on p. 126 (Geared Up) where he does give some good descriptions of his gear and the reasoning behind his likes and dislikes on each piece. Likes? .45 over the 9mm; belt holster over the drop-leg holster. Depending on the mission he would carry an M-4, a Mk-11 (Knight’s Armament SR-25 in 7.62), a .300 Win Mag and, later, a .338 Lapua (which he used to the make 2,100 yard shot).
I found the book extremely fast-paced and I found the addition of Taya’s sections valuable in making this a very memorable account of their lives. I easily read it in a few sessions.
God bless Texas if the Lone Star State keeps producing heroes like Chris Kyle (and his buddy Marcus Luttrell). He doesn’t mince words and calls the situation like he sees it. His experience gives him some very simple, yet insightful, answers to situations that seem to perplex politicians. He is a bad-ass and he hands out copious amounts of kudos for others who are bad-asses. Not surprisingly, he has few nice things to say about cowards and those unwilling to commit.
Great book. Entertaining and worth the read.
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