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3.76 AVERAGE
3.76 AVERAGE
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Thoughts:
A hard but insightful read. The contrast between the beginning believing they won't be there long and the end of Perrys tour where the action is becoming intense is clear and escalating. It also shows the deterioration of different soldiers mental states and what causes it.
Favourite Quote:
“Maybe the time had passed when anybody could be a good guy.”
A hard but insightful read. The contrast between the beginning believing they won't be there long and the end of Perrys tour where the action is becoming intense is clear and escalating. It also shows the deterioration of different soldiers mental states and what causes it.
Favourite Quote:
“Maybe the time had passed when anybody could be a good guy.”
This was a great perspective on the Vietnam war from a young black soldier's point of view. Myers really captured the fear the soldier's felt not only while they were fighting, but also the whole time they were in Vietnam. This was a great snapshot into the mind of a soldier from the beginning to end of his time in Vietnam.
I read this book in high school and absolutely loved it. It is extremely graphic and detailed, and at many times not at all pleasant (well of course not, it's during the Vietnam War!), but it is so deep and so human that it is easy to fall in love with.
This book was a decent war story, but I'm not so much convinced that it was a decent Vietnam war story. I also, to be honest, wasn't that fond of the writing but recognize I may not be the audience intended for this book. I would say its much more suited to teenage boys.
Fallen Angels takes place in the Vietnam war and follows an enlisted black soldier named Perry. He, along with some friends and comrades in arms he meets along the way is dropped in Vietnam where, despite being told that the war may be ending soon, they have to fight in skirmishes and just try to stay alive. Each handles it their own way but Perry finds himself growing close to PeeWee, another black soldier and they share their fears of the war together. With enemies all around and terrible food, Perry finds himself wondering how he got here since he was supposed to have a medical file keeping him away from the fighting and he just wishes he could get back to the "World."
Perry was an ok character. Since the author chose to focus on the war from the black soldiers it offered a different perspective than one might normallly see. Perhaps the soldiers were treated a little bit different, but for the most part I think it was the same view of war as any other person would have. He was scared and didn't really want to be there, seems universal to me. I liked PeeWee, he offered some comedic relief to the book which was taking place in a not so comedic atmosphere. The other characters I could take or leave, none of them really added anything for me.
The jargon in this book was kind of hard to follow. I don't know much about war or weapons but this book seemed to think that I would and only gave the barest descriptions of what some things were. And it may just be me, but the way these men talked and some of the things they did just didn't seem to fit the Vietnam era. It seemed more modern than that. I will concede that it was probably authentic to war itself though. The language was somewhat slang and offered a more unique readability than if it had been written without it. There is a lot of mention of death, violence, pain, and fear and these can be some pretty heavy themes. But considering this book is about war I think it is to be expected. I do think that the book was paced too fast. While we get some of the emotions coming through it just seems like it bounced around a bit and you never had a chance to grow close to the characters.
Not really a book for me but as said before I can see it appealing to teenage boys. There's enough action in there along with that tiny squeak of emotion that they may find it interesting. I'm not sure I'd check anything else out by Walter Dean Myers, but I won't write him off completely.
Fallen Angels
Copyright 1988
309 pages
Review by M. Reynard 2011
More of my reviews can be found on ifithaswords.blogspot.com
Fallen Angels takes place in the Vietnam war and follows an enlisted black soldier named Perry. He, along with some friends and comrades in arms he meets along the way is dropped in Vietnam where, despite being told that the war may be ending soon, they have to fight in skirmishes and just try to stay alive. Each handles it their own way but Perry finds himself growing close to PeeWee, another black soldier and they share their fears of the war together. With enemies all around and terrible food, Perry finds himself wondering how he got here since he was supposed to have a medical file keeping him away from the fighting and he just wishes he could get back to the "World."
Perry was an ok character. Since the author chose to focus on the war from the black soldiers it offered a different perspective than one might normallly see. Perhaps the soldiers were treated a little bit different, but for the most part I think it was the same view of war as any other person would have. He was scared and didn't really want to be there, seems universal to me. I liked PeeWee, he offered some comedic relief to the book which was taking place in a not so comedic atmosphere. The other characters I could take or leave, none of them really added anything for me.
The jargon in this book was kind of hard to follow. I don't know much about war or weapons but this book seemed to think that I would and only gave the barest descriptions of what some things were. And it may just be me, but the way these men talked and some of the things they did just didn't seem to fit the Vietnam era. It seemed more modern than that. I will concede that it was probably authentic to war itself though. The language was somewhat slang and offered a more unique readability than if it had been written without it. There is a lot of mention of death, violence, pain, and fear and these can be some pretty heavy themes. But considering this book is about war I think it is to be expected. I do think that the book was paced too fast. While we get some of the emotions coming through it just seems like it bounced around a bit and you never had a chance to grow close to the characters.
Not really a book for me but as said before I can see it appealing to teenage boys. There's enough action in there along with that tiny squeak of emotion that they may find it interesting. I'm not sure I'd check anything else out by Walter Dean Myers, but I won't write him off completely.
Fallen Angels
Copyright 1988
309 pages
Review by M. Reynard 2011
More of my reviews can be found on ifithaswords.blogspot.com
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It’s a very emotional story about the Vietnam war. I spent most of the last 100 pages hoping earnestly that Peewee wouldn’t die, then, after I was finished, spent time wondering how (and maybe even why) he didn’t. The images and the emotions of what combat in Vietnam (and, most likely, in Iraq) must be like are the reason to read this book, to teach it, and to recommend it to others. The hint at what flashbacks must be like for those who have seen human atrocity was chilling: Monaco, rolling out of bed and shooting at the open door of the hooch was a ghostly scene, and it made me think back to Mr. Kremin and the small amount of information he shared with us about his experiences in Vietnam. Perry’s narrative and viewpoint were just the right way to tell the story based on what genre of war novel it was, and I really appreciated his thoughts on things. The book made me sad, but happy for Perry as it were, because he got to go home. I was really left wondering if a whole other war was just starting for him on his way back to “the World.”
Classic tale of a coming of age story through the Vietnam War.
This book is not really my kind of thing. Too violent and too much foul language. Having said that, I believe it was realistic to the era. I learned things about the Vietnam conflict that I didn't know before. It dealt with the mental and emotional trials of war as well as the physical.
This heartbreaking story was so good! I think I might even still have it in my garage somewhere...
