I have been meaning to write about Paul Yoon’s second novel, Run Me to Earth. The tale of three lives during the Laotian Civil War is haunting in its depiction of the frailty of life. Yoon brings to life the humanity of the nameless during a time of death and despair.
The setting of the novel is just as important as the lives of its characters. The Laotian Civil War, from 1959–1975, centered around the conflict between a royalist party and a communist party. The Royal Lao Government was the ruling authority in the country from 1947. The Pathet Lao party would eventually overthrow the government in 1975, bringing the end to the war and the official establishment of communism.
The “Secret War” involved CIA backed forces aiding the Royal Lao Government to thwart the rise of communism. As part of the Domino Theory, the actions of the US should be situated within the surrounding events in Cambodia and Vietnam.
Run Me to Earth captures the devastation of the war in the fallout of the endless bombing inflicted on the country. Beginning in 1964, and ending two years before the conclusion of…