War is hell and the battlefield is no playground. But can war change a boy into a man, and more than that, a leader of men?
Psychedelic Six is the story of Sylvester Wright, an insecure and immature young man at the threshold between adolescence and adulthood. In an effort to gain the approval of his tough and demanding father and the respect of his bullying peers, Sly joins the Army and volunteers for combat duty during the Vietnam War.
Upon his arrival in the war torn country, he meets Tan, a Vietnamese man who had recently defected from the Viet Cong. Tan befriends Sly and the two men join Green Platoon of Alpha Company, located in the marshy heart of the Mekong Delta. Sylvester, Tan, and Green Platoon battle against the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese Army, and over time they are changed drastically.
Green Platoon is transformed from a group of pot smoking drunks into a crack combat unit that the enemy comes to fear and respect. Sly develops into a confident, mature leader who learns much about bravery, life and love from his Vietnam experience. He also comes to love the country and its people in general, and one beautiful, young Vietnamese woman in particular.
Over time he resolves his internal struggle concerning his father's approval and his peers' respect. The unique climax finds Sly, Tan, and Green Platoon fighting to survive a terrible, two day battle against a totally unexpected enemy that outnumbers them ten to one. Psychedelic Six is about the Vietnam War, but it's also about love, courage, trust, growing up, growing old, and the wisdom one gains during life's battles.
Excerpt
Min walked up to the grave temple and to Sly's amazement, she walked right in. He climbed down from his seat on the sarcophagus and walked over to her.
"Tan told me what you are doing tomorrow," Min said. "I want to say thank you. You are doing a wonderful deed for all of us." After she spoke, Min looked around at the interior of the temple, and Sly thought that in the fading sunlight, with the backdrop of Vietnamese art, she looked more beautiful than ever, almost like an illusion. The aroma of her jasmine perfume and the sound of her musical voice completed the orphic vision. She walked up close to Sly, looking at him through half closed eyes, and put her arms around his neck. "I think I feel the spell of the dead princess." And then she kissed him full on the mouth.
Before Sly knew what was happening, his arms were around her waist, pulling her as close as he could, and he was returning her kiss. The tips of their tongues met and circled each other, and Sly felt as if he were falling into a bottomless abyss. A few seconds later, Min's head receded slightly and their lips parted. With his eyes still closed, he heard Min whisper softly.
"I love you older brother."
Sly opened his eyes and saw a look on Min's face that a man would give all he had for. His heart was pounding and his head was spinning, but as a soldier, his feet were grounded in reality.
"I love you, too, younger sister. I promise that I will love you forever." Their arms were still around each other and the aura of the temple was intoxicating, but Sly knew what he had to say. "This is a forbidden love my beautiful sister. If you command, I will be your slave, but I know our love will make many people unhappy." He kissed Min, but only a quick peck with closed lips.
Min dropped her arms from around his neck, and the parure of her eyes were sparkling like brilliant amber diamonds. She smiled and Sly blinked as he felt the flashbulb go off again.
"I think this place is magic older brother, and I, too, will love you forever. You have said words that I will never forget and will always carry in my heart. But you are correct; we cannot be so selfish and make so many people unhappy." Min stood on her tiptoes, gave Sly a quick peck on his cheek, and pulled his arms away from her waist. "So now older brother, there will be no more kissing." Min walked out of the temple toward HQ, and looking back over her shoulder, said. "I will see you tomorrow beloved older brother." Sly's heart was still pounding and his head was still spinning; all he could do was sink to the floor with his back against the sarcophagus and light a Camel.
Professional Reviews
Kirkus Discoveries
Spock, Paul
PSYCHEDELIC SIX
Trafford Publishing
400 pp. July 11, 2006
ISBN: 978-141208236-5
A well-done, enjoyable novel of Vietnam.
Scientist Spock turns his attentions to more soulful pursuits in this fictional tale of one man’s experience in Vietnam. Although the book opens with a clumsy and unnecessary grandfather-to-grandson rumination on the war, it soon delivers its hero into the Vietnam War at its apex. Secure in his patriotism but unsettled by a fear of dying, Sergeant Sylvester “Sly” Wright volunteers to become a combat infantryman in the fall of 1968, the year of the devastating Tet Offensive. The young soldier, leaving behind his wife and daughter, is promptly sent to the heart of the Mekong Delta, where he reports to Alpha Company. Sly’s ragtag Green Platoon, who quickly dub him “Psychedelic Six,” is composed entirely of peculiar malcontents more interested in getting high than fighting the enemy. In a diverting subplot that complements the more familiar sights and sounds of jungle warfare, Sly befriends a Vietcong defector named Tan and a heartbreaking Vietnamese beauty named Min. Their inclusion provides a compelling window into the culture of Vietnam and a nuanced dichotomy to the more traditional bravado of Sly’s fellow soldiers. While the platoon’s Dirty Dozen–like exploits are familiar from post-war cinematic portrayals of Vietnam, Spock infuses Sly’s rites of passage with a verisimilitude rooted in combat details and the short-hand language of warfare. The company has an implausible superstition barring the use of a certain expletive, and Green Platoon sings a swaggering theme to the tune of “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown.” But those are small quibbles with a mostly rewarding novel. Sly’s transformation from wide-eyed recruit to jaded but determined leader of men is compelling, albeit not entirely original. While no replacement for classics like Tim O’Brien’s Going After Cacciato or Phillip Caputo’s A Rumor of War, Psychedelic Six is nonetheless a satisfying excursion into a terrible conflict, buoyed by its particularly empathetic point of view.
An earnest meditation on the experiences of brothers in arms.
Kirkus Discoveries, Nielsen Business Media, 770 Broadway, New York, NY 10003 646-654-4686 fax 646-654-4706 discoveries@kirkusreviews.com
Psychedelic Six by Joanne D. Kiggins
Joanne D. Kiggins – Author, Columnist, and Reviewer
In his debut novel, Psychedelic Six, Paul Spock takes the reader into the villages of Vietnam and the foxholes of the Vietnam War with the Green Platoon through the memories of Sergeant Sylvester (Sly) Wright. The book opens with an introduction and the first few paragraphs slams the reader smack into action with mortar shells and bullets cracking and popping above the heads of soldiers cowering in a canal of foul smelling water. Then, at bullet speed, you’re uniquely swept past nearly forty years after the war when Sly takes his grandson, Bobby, on a fishing trip. With Grandpa Sly as the narrator of the story, he tells Bobby of his time spent in Vietnam, a story he never before told, not to his wife, his parents or his friends.
As the fishing trip ends the story begins and Spock goes behind the scenes of the Vietnam War, into the minds of the soldiers, into the lives and villages of the Vietnamese and into the hearts of the people. Spock depicts the lay of the land with just enough description to envision the surroundings, the soldiers, and the people affected by the war, while adding humor in just the right places. From the rice paddies to the busy villages, the soldiers make their way into hot zones and the jungle of swamps that soon become their battlefield. Psychedelic Six tells more than a war story, it shows the poor conditions in which the Vietnamese lived and how they survived.
Had Psychedelic Six not been billed a novel, this reader would have thought the events were as real as the pages of the book. Spock’s characters, the antics he puts them through, added with the humor he strings through this serious story, makes for a good read about a bad situation. The ending is as unique as the beginning and the entire novel is full of characters one can reach out and touch. Psychedelic Six is about the Vietnam War, but it’s also about love, courage, trust, growing up, growing old and the wisdom one gains during life’s battles.
Psychedelic Six by Mike Hawkins
Mike Hawkins – Historian and Writer
How much did I like this novel? How’s this? I took it along for two separate weddings, out of town, which I had eagerly been anticipating. My friends and family remarked amongst themselves that I was unusually quiet and noticeably absent. I was in my hotel room reading Psychedelic Six!
I especially enjoyed and appreciated the meticulous research, which stands out in this novel above so many others. As an avid and life-long reader of the war genre, I was surprised that the Author was able to uncover new and fresh material. Mr. Spock has excellent descriptive skills and he adds a nice touch in keeping music going in the background of the story.
It is easy to imagine yourself walking behind Sergeant Sylvester “Sly” Wright as he plods through the Army bureaucratic, while fighting his emotions between his responsibilities as a Platoon Leader and the compassion he gains for the native people in a country against which he has been ordered to fight. Fortunately for the U.S. Army, Sergeant Wright is able to compromise his feelings effectively to exploit his image as a wild, crazed and lucky leader. He is successful at meeting the honor of his orders but takes added risk to avoid innocent casualties.
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