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4.08 AVERAGE
4.08 AVERAGE
appreciate the sacrifices this guy has made, and his story is heartbreaking. For me he epitomized the American bravado and overconfidence that is so common in the US military and makes us so unpopular around the world.
Such an amazing book. Read like an adventure story, only to continually be hit with the fact that this really happened and it wasn't made up by some fiction author. Very moving, would read over and over. This book is the most accurate reflection of true heroism that exists.
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
A good story proving the resilience of Navy SEALs. Less interested in Lutrell’s political views about the ‘liberal media’.
I have so many feelings about this book. Mostly, I was conflicted on how to rate it because I just never feel like memoirs should be rated on writing quality, because if someone is brave enough to be vulnerable and let strangers into their lives in any way, that is commendable and how well they tell the story shouldn’t detract from that.
This story is no different. It is one of the most gut wrenching war stories I’ve read, and I can only imagine the trauma and PTSD that Marcus Luttrell has and will have to cope with for the rest of his life as a result of these events. He goes into that trauma a little bit, but I’m sure writing it down tore open so many wounds. The process of writing this book may have been partly cathartic, but ultimately I’m sure it was a devastating process.
Where I’m conflicted, is that although I never want to judge the writing quality of memoirs, especially that of an American hero who likely never intended to write a book - especially of this magnitude - I had a really hard time with the writing for the first half of the book. The ordering of the events were not as cohesive as I would have liked. It was also largely tangential and repeated a lot of the same thoughts/events/jokes.
Once the story got into the actual battle itself, I was awestruck and I thought he did a very respectable job of retelling his horrifying experience losing his friends and teammates, his time missing in action, and some snippets at returning home after he was rescued. He honored his fallen brothers and I really appreciate how he touched on the families and his experience visiting with them at the end.
Overall, I am glad he got permission to write this book and that he was brave enough dig into those open wounds that will never fully heal in order to portray the truth of what happened during Operation Redwing. It could’ve been done with less opinionated moments (particularly about the media) but it was an important book nonetheless.
This story is no different. It is one of the most gut wrenching war stories I’ve read, and I can only imagine the trauma and PTSD that Marcus Luttrell has and will have to cope with for the rest of his life as a result of these events. He goes into that trauma a little bit, but I’m sure writing it down tore open so many wounds. The process of writing this book may have been partly cathartic, but ultimately I’m sure it was a devastating process.
Where I’m conflicted, is that although I never want to judge the writing quality of memoirs, especially that of an American hero who likely never intended to write a book - especially of this magnitude - I had a really hard time with the writing for the first half of the book. The ordering of the events were not as cohesive as I would have liked. It was also largely tangential and repeated a lot of the same thoughts/events/jokes.
Once the story got into the actual battle itself, I was awestruck and I thought he did a very respectable job of retelling his horrifying experience losing his friends and teammates, his time missing in action, and some snippets at returning home after he was rescued. He honored his fallen brothers and I really appreciate how he touched on the families and his experience visiting with them at the end.
Overall, I am glad he got permission to write this book and that he was brave enough dig into those open wounds that will never fully heal in order to portray the truth of what happened during Operation Redwing. It could’ve been done with less opinionated moments (particularly about the media) but it was an important book nonetheless.
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Amazement at the skills and strength of Navy SEALs was my response half way through. By the end, I was crying. This is modern day heroism, up there with Odysseus and Achilles.
medium-paced
First half of this book can be summed up by saying, SEALS are the best and the liberal media and Afghans are are the worst. The last few chapters are where the story starts.
THEN at the end of the book I wondered what happened to Gulab so I looked it up. What I found about Gulab and other findings made me sceptic of Luttrell's narrative. It seems it was a little less than truthful which I guess left me feeling...I don't know what. I just feel like the story that should have been told here was Marcus going in with no love for the Afghan people and then having those same people he finds so disgusting save his life. The story that should have been front and center here is the humanity he found in that village. The mission and the battle don't need to be shown as heroic or embellished because what he found after was so amazing and I don't think he appreciates that.
THEN at the end of the book I wondered what happened to Gulab so I looked it up. What I found about Gulab and other findings made me sceptic of Luttrell's narrative. It seems it was a little less than truthful which I guess left me feeling...I don't know what. I just feel like the story that should have been told here was Marcus going in with no love for the Afghan people and then having those same people he finds so disgusting save his life. The story that should have been front and center here is the humanity he found in that village. The mission and the battle don't need to be shown as heroic or embellished because what he found after was so amazing and I don't think he appreciates that.
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced