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nicofic's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
5.0
stribr9's review
adventurous
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
mrbear's review
4.0
Somehow also missed this review! Overall, this was much less good than Wouk’s grander series starting with The Winds of War - this is a much smaller scale story. The dialogue doesn’t age well (though it gives interesting historical insight into life for younger military men during and after WWII as a result), and the story itself is good but not amazing. Overall, I did enjoy it, even if I’m not sure I fully followed the pro-military stodginess at the end. One thing to say: the movie definitely aged MUCH worse (and is painful to watch, in my opinion). Listening to the book is definitely more fun.
mwash87's review
5.0
Amazing war novel. Intensely well-developed characters... you feel like you're a member of the ship's crew. Couldn't put it down.
yash590's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
When I started reading the book, all I remember about the movie was that Humphrey Bogart played the main lead in the movie. When Queeg entered the story, I read the book assuming that he was the hero of the book. That quickly changed and kept changing so many times over the course of the novel.
The story of the ship is as interesting as the court room drama that follows it. The court room drama was not dramatic because of the elements that normally make such elements dramatic. The perspective that the defence lawyer Greenwald gives is eye opening and almost flips the entire story in its head.
Willie Kieth and his love story is probably the weakest part of the book but that serves as a contrasting civilian background to a predominantly military setting. The character of Queeg is written in a very interesting way but in some places it was laid bare rather explicitly, which takes away the charm of studying a character. And Keefer’s fate was portrayed as one in which he got what he deserved but in Keith’s words Keefer is “clever” enough to internalize and rationalise his jumping off the Caine.
The story of the ship is as interesting as the court room drama that follows it. The court room drama was not dramatic because of the elements that normally make such elements dramatic. The perspective that the defence lawyer Greenwald gives is eye opening and almost flips the entire story in its head.
Willie Kieth and his love story is probably the weakest part of the book but that serves as a contrasting civilian background to a predominantly military setting. The character of Queeg is written in a very interesting way but in some places it was laid bare rather explicitly, which takes away the charm of studying a character. And Keefer’s fate was portrayed as one in which he got what he deserved but in Keith’s words Keefer is “clever” enough to internalize and rationalise his jumping off the Caine.
kimball_hansen's review
4.0
I thought this book was pretty good. Very detailed and entertaining. The narrator did exceptionally well with all the voices. I read this book while driving from AZ to UT to TX. However I didn't finish the last four hours of it when I finally arrived to TX. I waited two months to start it up and finished it. I had forgotten some of the characters which made it tricky piecing everything together towards the end. I was mad at the ending of the book because it ended abruptly. I was hoping it'd go on to say he at least got May. Same with The Chosen One. I wished that had kept going too.
katzreads's review
1.0
I just couldn't do it. I know it won the Pulitzer and is supposed to be this amazing tale, but oh my god it was so stilted and dated and I could not get myself to go to that place!!!