Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.14 AVERAGE
4.14 AVERAGE
Dispatches is hard to describe. The book was a little inaccessible. Parts of it were intellectual, big parts felt like inside jokes I didn't understand, and yet other parts were...psychadelic? It was interesting, but I don't think it would be in my list of recommended books on the Vietnam War for those who weren't there and want to learn (which is me).
Like many books about Vietnam.. It's almost as if the book won't end as Herr discovers more stories and memories. There seems to be no end and no beginning. Dizzying. Short sentences that contain so much more than the handful of words could ever portray. Despite his good writing and ability to convey a blur of emotion and meaning, I was happy that it ended.
dark
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Herr was a war correspondent and this is his memoir of his time as a correspondent for Esquire magazine (1967–1969) during the Vietnam War. This is a no holds barred account of his time heavily embedded with US troops. Some incredible stories that I thought would be great to depict in a movie so I wasn't surprised to hear he helped with Apocalypse Now script. Anyone who is interested in factual a-politcal non-heroic gut wrenching account of the Vietnam war will love this.
reflective
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Vietnam was the world of my childhood. I remember watching it on the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite. I can remember the incredible gut-wrenching footage and some of the absolutely breathtaking still photos. I remember the footage of Saigon falling and the day Jimmy Carter gave amnesty to the folks who left for Canada. My interested was further piqued by my parents, who were both anti-war activists.
In high school I started reading some books about the war and one of them was Dispatches. I read a lot of Vietnam books in my life, but this one is the best of the best. First there's the writing style which is hard-hitting but poetic - stream-of-consciousness when the consciousness is out on the ragged edge. I realized re-reading this that my fiction writing was definitely influenced by his writing style.
Next, there's the gut cold honesty of the book, the author's ability to tell a story, and his fearless self-reflection. Particularly valuable is his analysis of his own compulsion to go to Vietnam, to voluntarily ride out with the Marines, and the dangerous romanticism of that choice. This is a man wrestling with the knowledge that he voluntarily put himself in harm's way and that there is damage from that that he'll struggle with for the rest of his life.
Also prominent are thoughts about American soldiers, particularly Marines, and all the ways they both disgust and compel him. He presents a clear picture of men and boys who are as brutal as they are compassionate and he ponders their futures.
I have always thought that the reason we've gone into recent conflicts and stayed for years is in part due to the lock-down of the press by the military. War correspondents and photographers no longer roam free. Footage and photos tend to be pretty sterilized. I suspect that if the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan would be over if they were in our living rooms every night.
If you want to read a beautifully written, highly intelligent, and heartbreaking memoir of the Vietnam War, this is the one to read. It will inform you in ways you can't currently imagine and it will make you think differently about Vietnam, but also about our current warfare. It's a beautiful, amazing book.
In high school I started reading some books about the war and one of them was Dispatches. I read a lot of Vietnam books in my life, but this one is the best of the best. First there's the writing style which is hard-hitting but poetic - stream-of-consciousness when the consciousness is out on the ragged edge. I realized re-reading this that my fiction writing was definitely influenced by his writing style.
Next, there's the gut cold honesty of the book, the author's ability to tell a story, and his fearless self-reflection. Particularly valuable is his analysis of his own compulsion to go to Vietnam, to voluntarily ride out with the Marines, and the dangerous romanticism of that choice. This is a man wrestling with the knowledge that he voluntarily put himself in harm's way and that there is damage from that that he'll struggle with for the rest of his life.
Also prominent are thoughts about American soldiers, particularly Marines, and all the ways they both disgust and compel him. He presents a clear picture of men and boys who are as brutal as they are compassionate and he ponders their futures.
I have always thought that the reason we've gone into recent conflicts and stayed for years is in part due to the lock-down of the press by the military. War correspondents and photographers no longer roam free. Footage and photos tend to be pretty sterilized. I suspect that if the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan would be over if they were in our living rooms every night.
If you want to read a beautifully written, highly intelligent, and heartbreaking memoir of the Vietnam War, this is the one to read. It will inform you in ways you can't currently imagine and it will make you think differently about Vietnam, but also about our current warfare. It's a beautiful, amazing book.
challenging
informative
Takes a while to get into but it’s worth it.
It was a fantastic, whirlwind, visceral read regarding the war. I’ve been on a stretch of books about the Vietnam War, Marlantes’ tome “Matterhorn”, Fredericks’ straightforward interpretation of marine life in “The Killing Zone”, and Mason’s freewheeling, loose, and honest “Chickenhawk”; all of which were superb.
This was a pleasant departure from those, being from a reporters viewpoint. While seemingly more light hearted, I found it to be equally as heavy in every way as a soldiers viewpoint. You get more of a feel of the temperament, the humor, of those in country, but not engaged at all times with the enemy. How it was to be a civilian, or a citizen in country at the time.
The writing is truly excellent. I was lost visually in the book quite often. The vocabulary used is stunningly hypnotic. When it’s done, and if you get into it, you’ll be done with a quickness, you’re definitely left wanting his story to continue.
This was a pleasant departure from those, being from a reporters viewpoint. While seemingly more light hearted, I found it to be equally as heavy in every way as a soldiers viewpoint. You get more of a feel of the temperament, the humor, of those in country, but not engaged at all times with the enemy. How it was to be a civilian, or a citizen in country at the time.
The writing is truly excellent. I was lost visually in the book quite often. The vocabulary used is stunningly hypnotic. When it’s done, and if you get into it, you’ll be done with a quickness, you’re definitely left wanting his story to continue.