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4.08 AVERAGE
4.08 AVERAGE
challenging
inspiring
sad
tense
slow-paced
Big parts of the book are too self-aggrandizing and too Jesusfreaky. For someone who went through that horrific experience, Luttrell shows himself to have surprisingly little humility.
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
sad
fast-paced
This really is an outstanding book about heroics of the first degree. It is thoroughly engaging and is difficult to put down.
Why did I not rate it 5* which it should be rated but for the preconceived notion that in hostile territory, every person should be treated as an enemy and killed without further thought. Perhaps this due to the propagandist crap the media dishes out all so frequently. It is not lost on me that Luttrell is also critical of the media in pre-empting his personal outcome.
Sadly also lacking is the news of the village Sabray and Gulab whose lokhay kept Luttrell safe and out of harms way. Maybe it was left to the reader to infer that not everyone in hostile territory is an enemy and neither are all muslims terrorists.
Why did I not rate it 5* which it should be rated but for the preconceived notion that in hostile territory, every person should be treated as an enemy and killed without further thought. Perhaps this due to the propagandist crap the media dishes out all so frequently. It is not lost on me that Luttrell is also critical of the media in pre-empting his personal outcome.
Sadly also lacking is the news of the village Sabray and Gulab whose lokhay kept Luttrell safe and out of harms way. Maybe it was left to the reader to infer that not everyone in hostile territory is an enemy and neither are all muslims terrorists.
I would have given up if I didn't know what was coming (I've seen the movie). The first half of the book was essentially Marcus telling us how much he loves Texas, America, God, guns, and Texas, and how much he hates the liberal element of the media (it becomes clear why he loathes them so much later in the book). Admittedly, I'm an Aussie, which is perhaps why the repeated and unbridled patriotism for the US of A (and Texas) got a bit much for me. But, hey, he clearly loves where he comes from and who he is, so good on him. I just couldn't stomach much more of it. Which is why I was mighty relieved when we finally got around to the story of Operation Redwing. And, man, what a story it is. Unbelievable. Those Navy SEALS are tough hombre's.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Good book and an amazing story. Would have been 4 1/2 or maybe even 5 stars except for the foul languange.
I have mixed feelings about this novel. Undoubtedly, everyone who participated in operation Red Wing were incredibly brave and men I am proud to say served this country. The actions of these men even after sustaining incredible injuries is amazing to me. Luttrell in my opinion does an excellent job of detailing the Murphy's Ridge fighting and giving each man their credit for their incredible valor. I also enjoyed hearing about SEAL training in the first half of the novel, I found the process fascinating and horrifying at the same time. It just goes to show how hard these men have to work to be the elite.
That being said, here is where I hold issue with this novel. It is incredibly braggadocious. Luttrell always finds a way to insert his superiority, even when he is by himself being beat by the Taliban. He brags about how he could have taken them all. I get it, in order to be a SEAL, in order to face any situation the armed forces are asked to face, you have to have a certain amount of bravado and belief that you are the bee's knees. It's excessive in this case, and it takes away from the story he is telling. Also, I can understand his frustration with the media and the US civilian bleeding heart populations who don't understand that there are unfortunate casualties in war.......BUT I don't need to hear your political leanings so many times. It would have been entirely sufficient to explain why they were worried about ***Spoiler*** killing the goat herders and how the Taliban would have used the media to talk about the SEALS killing innocents. ***END spoiler*** How that media story would have been picked up by the US media and they would have been publicly perceived as murderers and likely been charged as murderers under social pressure to "make an example" even though every military strategist would have said to kill them so that your position stays secure. It would have been enough to explain that, rather than every chapter bitching about the "liberal media".
Overall, I think it is important to tell the story of Operation Red Wing, I think it's important that the men who died there be remembered and memorialized for their bravery. I just am not sure that this novel did the best job of it. I enjoyed the story, just maybe not the way it was told.
That being said, here is where I hold issue with this novel. It is incredibly braggadocious. Luttrell always finds a way to insert his superiority, even when he is by himself being beat by the Taliban. He brags about how he could have taken them all. I get it, in order to be a SEAL, in order to face any situation the armed forces are asked to face, you have to have a certain amount of bravado and belief that you are the bee's knees. It's excessive in this case, and it takes away from the story he is telling. Also, I can understand his frustration with the media and the US civilian bleeding heart populations who don't understand that there are unfortunate casualties in war.......BUT I don't need to hear your political leanings so many times. It would have been entirely sufficient to explain why they were worried about ***Spoiler*** killing the goat herders and how the Taliban would have used the media to talk about the SEALS killing innocents. ***END spoiler*** How that media story would have been picked up by the US media and they would have been publicly perceived as murderers and likely been charged as murderers under social pressure to "make an example" even though every military strategist would have said to kill them so that your position stays secure. It would have been enough to explain that, rather than every chapter bitching about the "liberal media".
Overall, I think it is important to tell the story of Operation Red Wing, I think it's important that the men who died there be remembered and memorialized for their bravery. I just am not sure that this novel did the best job of it. I enjoyed the story, just maybe not the way it was told.