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4.06 AVERAGE
4.06 AVERAGE
This is a magnificent memoir of one man's tour of duty in Vietnam. Caputo was part of the first ground combat unit committed to fight in Vietnam, and thus his memoir begins with youthful idealism and the idea that Vietnam would be a "splendid little war" that would be over quickly. Caputo lost his innocence along with the rest of the nation over the course of his sixteen month tour of duty, and the book is a stunning look at how war can change and age a young man. It also highlights the painful contradictions that every soldier experienced daily. One of the most evocative images for me was Caputo's story of seeing a young soldier angrily set fire to a hut in a village suspected to be populated with VC sympathizers. Seconds later, that same Marine turned around, raced into the same burning hut, and rescued a civilian. Caputo's point seems to be that some soldiers are good men, and some are not, but most often they are a mix of the two. It's not an apology for the war, nor is it an antiwar polemic; instead, it is one man's story.
emotional
fast-paced
Author intentions were super cool - trying to take the reader to Vietnam, putting his experience on the pages as clearly and vividly as possible. A lot of it was slightly boring but I think that was the point. The best themes/parts of the book was the author himself changing over time and eventually he got court-marshaled for a murder charge (while bodycount was the only thing command cared about and "a dead Vietnamese is a dead VC, so passively promoted killing civilians), they raided a village and killed a couple of Vietnamese citizens because they all got so bloodthirsty and mentally twisted. Creepiest part was how much him and his platoon were laughing and enjoying themselves. Couldn't use the war in his defense either, it wouldn't help his case because you can't blame the war. The crux was this moment as well as raiding a village for VC and eventually losing control over their inhibitions and going full war animal kill people burn shit mode. Brutally honest with the public he really aired out his entire life in those years. Pretty extreme stuff. Was a story of himself and the war descending into unrecognizable rage, despair, exhaustion, and horror. I really like how he ended his prologue and the start of the book:
"Finally this book ought not to be regarded as a protest. Protest arises from a belief that one can change things or influence events. I am not egotistical enough to believe I can... It might, perhaps, prevent the next generation from being crucified in the next war. But I don't think so."
beginning of book: "At the age of twenty-four, I was more prepared for death then I was for life. My first experience of the world outside the classroom had been war."
Not a ton of quote-worthy things but nevertheless it is exactly what Caputo wanted it to be. Honestly very brave of him to write this, probably took a lot. Great read.
"Finally this book ought not to be regarded as a protest. Protest arises from a belief that one can change things or influence events. I am not egotistical enough to believe I can... It might, perhaps, prevent the next generation from being crucified in the next war. But I don't think so."
beginning of book: "At the age of twenty-four, I was more prepared for death then I was for life. My first experience of the world outside the classroom had been war."
Not a ton of quote-worthy things but nevertheless it is exactly what Caputo wanted it to be. Honestly very brave of him to write this, probably took a lot. Great read.
PJ Caputo wanted his memoir of the early Vietnam War to be “a vicarious tour of duty”, and it is. A Rumour Of War brings out both the crushing boredom of a staff job and the fear and exhilaration of combat - mainly the fear as he leads his men through a jungle against an enemy that he almost never sees.
However, most interesting is his frank discussion of war crimes committed by men under his command, and which he may at least partially be responsible for.
There’s no doubt he’s generally a decent man, but under the strain of war, having lost several friends already, he gives an order to go into a village and root out two Viet Cong men - dead or alive. It is an order that is dubious at best, but also understandable in the context of being told his job is “to kill VC”.
The mission goes wrong and he ends up facing a court martial, charged with murder along with some of his men.
It is here that the mentality of the war is perhaps shown most starkly. The jury that tries him are all men who have been or could be in his position, and they know it. The verdict was never really in doubt; if they convict a man for doing his job - killing VC - where would that place them?
It’s rare that a civilian jury is able to properly identify with a defendant, at least in my limited experience. But when they can, it’s clearly a powerful disincentive to convict
However, most interesting is his frank discussion of war crimes committed by men under his command, and which he may at least partially be responsible for.
There’s no doubt he’s generally a decent man, but under the strain of war, having lost several friends already, he gives an order to go into a village and root out two Viet Cong men - dead or alive. It is an order that is dubious at best, but also understandable in the context of being told his job is “to kill VC”.
The mission goes wrong and he ends up facing a court martial, charged with murder along with some of his men.
It is here that the mentality of the war is perhaps shown most starkly. The jury that tries him are all men who have been or could be in his position, and they know it. The verdict was never really in doubt; if they convict a man for doing his job - killing VC - where would that place them?
It’s rare that a civilian jury is able to properly identify with a defendant, at least in my limited experience. But when they can, it’s clearly a powerful disincentive to convict
*3.75*
I'm not typically a huge fan of books following a war, but I think this was incredibly well-written and did a great job of diving into the psychological elements and anecdotes as well as the battles and the violence. Some of the descriptions were especially gruesome and I made the mistake of reading it while eating breakfast once, but considering I had to read this for class and I never would have otherwise reached for it, I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.
I'm not typically a huge fan of books following a war, but I think this was incredibly well-written and did a great job of diving into the psychological elements and anecdotes as well as the battles and the violence. Some of the descriptions were especially gruesome and I made the mistake of reading it while eating breakfast once, but considering I had to read this for class and I never would have otherwise reached for it, I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Author intentions were super cool - trying to take the reader to Vietnam, putting his experience on the pages as clearly and vividly as possible. A lot of it was slightly boring but I think that was the point. The best themes/parts of the book was the author himself changing over time and eventually he got court-marshaled for a murder charge (while bodycount was the only thing command cared about and "a dead Vietnamese is a dead VC, so passively promoted killing civilians), they raided a village and killed a couple of Vietnamese citizens because they all got so bloodthirsty and mentally twisted. Creepiest part was how much him and his platoon were laughing and enjoying themselves. Couldn't use the war in his defense either, it wouldn't help his case because you can't blame the war. The crux was this moment as well as raiding a village for VC and eventually losing control over their inhibitions and going full war animal kill people burn shit mode. Brutally honest with the public he really aired out his entire life in those years. Pretty extreme stuff. Was a story of himself and the war descending into unrecognizable rage, despair, exhaustion, and horror. I really like how he ended his prologue and the start of the book:
"Finally this book ought not to be regarded as a protest. Protest arises from a belief that one can change things or influence events. I am not egotistical enough to believe I can... It might, perhaps, prevent the next generation from being crucified in the next war. But I don't think so."
beginning of book: "At the age of twenty-four, I was more prepared for death then I was for life. My first experience of the world outside the classroom had been war."
Not a ton of quote-worthy things but nevertheless it is exactly what Caputo wanted it to be. Honestly very brave of him to write this, probably took a lot. Great read.
"Finally this book ought not to be regarded as a protest. Protest arises from a belief that one can change things or influence events. I am not egotistical enough to believe I can... It might, perhaps, prevent the next generation from being crucified in the next war. But I don't think so."
beginning of book: "At the age of twenty-four, I was more prepared for death then I was for life. My first experience of the world outside the classroom had been war."
Not a ton of quote-worthy things but nevertheless it is exactly what Caputo wanted it to be. Honestly very brave of him to write this, probably took a lot. Great read.
I am generally disinterested in war, and the descent into brutality it engenders, but this book really helped me understand the misery soldiers endure. In his telling, combat is actually the highlight (unless you get shot or blown up, of course) and the long periods between engaging the enemy is when true suffering occurs. He'll toss off a sentence about it taking all afternoon to cover two miles through the jungle, and then you remember a couple pages back when he offhandedly mentioned that people's feet are literally rotting off, and you really get a sense of what a horrible, senseless, stupid activity war is.
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced