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4.19 AVERAGE
4.19 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
tense
medium-paced
A smart, brisk, moving read that discusses the lives of the soldiers of Third Battalion in the hyper-dangerous Korengal valley. Junger alternately discusses the soldier's lives, describes what his experiences, and then examines the nature of war and why we fight it and what fighting means to young men in general.
This book takes no political sides but you do get a sense of what these men are sacrificing and how it rewires their brains.
Intelligent, funny, piercing and ultimately sad.
This book takes no political sides but you do get a sense of what these men are sacrificing and how it rewires their brains.
Intelligent, funny, piercing and ultimately sad.
This was one of the most impactful (is that a word?)...full of impact books i have ever read. Junger wrote the classic "Into Thin Air", as well, and in "War" he brings his eye for detail and true stories to the war in Afghanistan. the author visited a front line company 5 times over the course of a year, living with them for weeks at a time, going on patrols, attacks, and being attacked by Taliban forces. and when i say front line, i mean the front of the line for the entire US Army in Afghanistan. the Korengal Valley was the farthest extent of US "control" in the country at the time, with a firm line between Taliban controlled and not-Taliban controlled villages in the valley.
coincidentally, this is the exact same area where the SEALs in "Lone Survivor" got cornered and killed.
Junger befriends the privates, corporals, sergeants, as well as the rotating lieutenants, more competent captains and the senior officers who were mostly out of touch with the front. several of the soldiers he comes to know are killed or gravely wounded in the time he was visiting and during later re-deployments. Junger touches some on the problems that the soldiers have dealing with re-integrating into civilian society and even with being on leave at rear bases, but i would have enjoyed more of these sometimes touching stories.
basically, Junger and his cohort, a photographer who was later killed covering the Libyan revolution, were lunatics to me...going into combat situations at forward bases and in Taliban villages with no weapons, limited body armor and a medkit, so that they could see how the soldiers really lived... and died. one of the operations they went on resulted in Sergeant Salvatore Giunta becoming the first living person to receive the Medal of Honor since the Vietnam War. much of their work was turned into a documentary called "Restrepo", which was nominated for an Academy Award in 2010.
a truly fantastic book.
coincidentally, this is the exact same area where the SEALs in "Lone Survivor" got cornered and killed.
Junger befriends the privates, corporals, sergeants, as well as the rotating lieutenants, more competent captains and the senior officers who were mostly out of touch with the front. several of the soldiers he comes to know are killed or gravely wounded in the time he was visiting and during later re-deployments. Junger touches some on the problems that the soldiers have dealing with re-integrating into civilian society and even with being on leave at rear bases, but i would have enjoyed more of these sometimes touching stories.
basically, Junger and his cohort, a photographer who was later killed covering the Libyan revolution, were lunatics to me...going into combat situations at forward bases and in Taliban villages with no weapons, limited body armor and a medkit, so that they could see how the soldiers really lived... and died. one of the operations they went on resulted in Sergeant Salvatore Giunta becoming the first living person to receive the Medal of Honor since the Vietnam War. much of their work was turned into a documentary called "Restrepo", which was nominated for an Academy Award in 2010.
a truly fantastic book.
En sær bog, jeg havde svært ved at finde ud af. Meget amerikansk sine steder, men andre steder skabte den en sær genklang i mig.
This book was about a journalist embedded with soldiers in Afghanistan. It really shows you how soldiers are fighting the war there and what they go through on a day to day basis.
Sebastian Junger follows a platoon in Afghanistan for a 15 month period of deployment in 2007-2008 in the Korengal Valley, which was the most dangerous outpost in Afghanistan. Through this book, WAR, you get a real feel for the experiences these young men go through in combat and in their down time. Junger also examines the psyche of the American soldier, who fights not so much because they believe in the cause, but because they’re fighting for the person to the right and left of them. I thought the author, Junger, was surprisingly neutral in the book. You didn’t get the impression that he was either for or against the Afghanistan war. WAR was an excellent book that I would recommend to everybody to read.
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I had to read this book for class, but I've enjoyed it so much that I keep forgetting it was assigned.
Sebastian Junger was embedded in an Army Airborne unit in the Korengal Valley of Afghanistan, right near the border with Pakistan in 2007. It was and is a place that with a lot of combat. Devoid of overtly political aims or message, Junger describes what a deployment is like, the conditions they are in, and the brotherhood that comes out of it. It's completely a pro-soldier book with little added about the broader war. It was completely refreshing to read something that strived so hard to portray the facts of a situation and the truth of the people involved without inserting personal beliefs.
I had watched Junger's documentary, Restrepo, before reading this book and it definitely helped with picturing the people in the book as well as the scenery and events. It is not a book (nor is the documentary) a cheerful read. It is heavy and does not shy away from some of the results of combat. Reader discretion is advised. It was entirely enlightening and I look forward to reading other books like it.
I had to read this book for class, but I've enjoyed it so much that I keep forgetting it was assigned.
Sebastian Junger was embedded in an Army Airborne unit in the Korengal Valley of Afghanistan, right near the border with Pakistan in 2007. It was and is a place that with a lot of combat. Devoid of overtly political aims or message, Junger describes what a deployment is like, the conditions they are in, and the brotherhood that comes out of it. It's completely a pro-soldier book with little added about the broader war. It was completely refreshing to read something that strived so hard to portray the facts of a situation and the truth of the people involved without inserting personal beliefs.
I had watched Junger's documentary, Restrepo, before reading this book and it definitely helped with picturing the people in the book as well as the scenery and events. It is not a book (nor is the documentary) a cheerful read. It is heavy and does not shy away from some of the results of combat. Reader discretion is advised. It was entirely enlightening and I look forward to reading other books like it.
What an eye-opening read! I love the way Junger goes into the psychological aspects of war and what really goes in the minds of our brave soldiers.
This book really improved my understanding of the life of the soldier. Before, I just couldn't understand how the average young man in some horrible outpost could stand (what I perceived to be) the senseless violence. Junger's explanation that soldiers kill not just to kill but to protect (their brothers, not their necessarily their country) made war seem, I dunno, more...humane. I still think that most of the violence associated with most wars is pointless, but I think this book provides some valuable insights into the honorable side of the armed forces.
(**This book was about an extremely remote, male-only site. Otherwise, I would not generalize about brotherhood. In this case, though, brotherhood was the point)
(**This book was about an extremely remote, male-only site. Otherwise, I would not generalize about brotherhood. In this case, though, brotherhood was the point)
I've been searching for years to find a book on war (and the reasons why it happens!) that captures the real human essecense of it. After having read this book I don't feel the need to read another book on war ever again.
This book is a compelling, intelligent, incredibly human and incredibly sad take on the war in Afghanistan.
There is no macho chest-thumping, nauseating patriotism or one-sided bias but a very real and genuine take on war which feels completely relateable despite how far we are from it.
This book is a compelling, intelligent, incredibly human and incredibly sad take on the war in Afghanistan.
There is no macho chest-thumping, nauseating patriotism or one-sided bias but a very real and genuine take on war which feels completely relateable despite how far we are from it.