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4.22 AVERAGE
4.22 AVERAGE
It's cute... I mean, there may be some basis in truth but as a rational human being I come to the conclusion that the author drank the kool-aid and went from bisexual Rolling Stone writer to flag-waving proponent of the worlds most bastardized military organization. Goddamn autocorrect. Or maybe he did whatever he thought would sell some dead trees.
Sell it does, turning the words from a series of short-form magazine articles to a hasty book to a television series for HBO- which was fucking epic, by the way. Can you say Skarsgard? Zowie.
I still wonder, though, what this book was supposed to be. The characters are huge, all loveable, all backgrounds thoroughly set, and all a little bit too much. The situations are all very black and white, set against our loveable (yet occasionally misunderstood) characters, and everything turns out ok in the end. Well, a few not-so-ok endings are stitched in afterwards, just in case one suspends disbelief for a bit. Ahem.
Cynical mocking aside, I loved it. Really. After I started to treat it as a novel it was utterly grand. Think of it as a WWII pilot adventure and all will be well. --A rollicking tale of salty characters doing unlikely things as part of a war you'll never understand let alone connect with.
Sell it does, turning the words from a series of short-form magazine articles to a hasty book to a television series for HBO- which was fucking epic, by the way. Can you say Skarsgard? Zowie.
I still wonder, though, what this book was supposed to be. The characters are huge, all loveable, all backgrounds thoroughly set, and all a little bit too much. The situations are all very black and white, set against our loveable (yet occasionally misunderstood) characters, and everything turns out ok in the end. Well, a few not-so-ok endings are stitched in afterwards, just in case one suspends disbelief for a bit. Ahem.
Cynical mocking aside, I loved it. Really. After I started to treat it as a novel it was utterly grand. Think of it as a WWII pilot adventure and all will be well. --A rollicking tale of salty characters doing unlikely things as part of a war you'll never understand let alone connect with.
Wow, what a read. To get the insiders view of what troops in Iraq/Afghanastan go through, really does make you appreciate them more. The HBO series of this book was great too
An absolutely fantastic book about the invasion of Iraq. I had previously watched and loved the mini series, Generation Kill, and this book did not disappoint. Whereas the tv series throws you in the deep end, no one explains their terminology or the devices they use. This book explains it all to us normal civilians. This book will infuriate and make you shake your head with disbelief at how idiotic some of the people leading the invasion can be.
I also like how unbiased the author is, although, from what I believe he is anti-war, he never betrays his own feelings, just those of the men around him. I believe this is definiatly our generations, Band of Brothers.
I also like how unbiased the author is, although, from what I believe he is anti-war, he never betrays his own feelings, just those of the men around him. I believe this is definiatly our generations, Band of Brothers.
A good book that gives great insight into a Marine Recon unit that was "boots on the ground" through the Iraq invasion.
The characters were very real and I was quite emotionally connected with them.
Not to spoil too much but some of the part-time or office-staff officers in the company end up looking like idiot arse-holes. Like in, what I imagine is, the real life situation in combat, too many people have too little skill to make good decisions.
Happily none of the main characters die, which comes off as a bit of a miracle.
The characters were very real and I was quite emotionally connected with them.
Not to spoil too much but some of the part-time or office-staff officers in the company end up looking like idiot arse-holes. Like in, what I imagine is, the real life situation in combat, too many people have too little skill to make good decisions.
Happily none of the main characters die, which comes off as a bit of a miracle.
adventurous
funny
informative
reflective
fast-paced
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
tense
medium-paced
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Oh my goodness, I loved this book. I can't seem to talk about it without talking about the miniseries, they complement each other so well, so I'm going to go ahead and do that.
See, the miniseries (which I watched before reading the book) did an excellent job at focusing on the one Platoon of Marines, even better on the men in Sgt. Colbert's vehicle. I loved getting to know those Marines, and seeing what the invasion was like from their point of view. I got frustrated along with them at the conflicting orders, and seemingly completely incompetent leadership, all of the things they had to go through.
And then the BOOK, does this really spectacular job of just telling you EVERYTHING. Like, they, there's a reason they keep going first into these villages where all of these people are shooting at them. They are PURPOSEFULLY DRAWING FIRE, which apparently was something no one bothered to tell them during the actual invasion. Or the time they punched north as a diversion so that the Iraqi army would follow them. Another successful mission accomplished, except no one told them that's what they were doing that time either. I mean, I expected that broad focus from the book, and I really appreciated getting that narrow focus from the miniseries, because the contrast between the two is incredibly interesting.
It was really fascinating to see how many things in the miniseries were just lifted word for word from actual exchanges in the book. Some of them incredibly endearing (like Espera's letter home to his wife, I still laugh at the "dog, you think that's too harsh?"), some of them (like the Marine who wants to see what a grenade looks like blowing up from inside a body) just downright unsettling. I love that Wright is man enough to tell us when he was scared, that the only thing he could remember when being shot at by a sniper was Peter Falk yelling "SERPENTINE!" at Alan Alda in The In Laws.
I was kind of sad to learn that Garza didn't actually lose his helmet (because I do love the image of Sixta screaming spittle at him about how the kevlar wasn't his to lose! it belonged to every Marine!), and that Wright's girlfriend's picture didn't actually get traded to another Platoon for batteries, but those are pretty minor detractions in an otherwise amazing book.
In the end, I like books that make me think, that draw me into a world I hadn't considered before, that show me a side of things I'd never seen. And that's exactly what Wright does with this book, shining a light on modern warfare and the modern Marine warrior, with all of it's warts and ugly spots, along with all of the courage and valor (and, you know, a certain amount of blasphemy and vulgarity) exhibited by these Marines. I'm grateful to him for writing it.
See, the miniseries (which I watched before reading the book) did an excellent job at focusing on the one Platoon of Marines, even better on the men in Sgt. Colbert's vehicle. I loved getting to know those Marines, and seeing what the invasion was like from their point of view. I got frustrated along with them at the conflicting orders, and seemingly completely incompetent leadership, all of the things they had to go through.
And then the BOOK, does this really spectacular job of just telling you EVERYTHING. Like, they, there's a reason they keep going first into these villages where all of these people are shooting at them. They are PURPOSEFULLY DRAWING FIRE, which apparently was something no one bothered to tell them during the actual invasion. Or the time they punched north as a diversion so that the Iraqi army would follow them. Another successful mission accomplished, except no one told them that's what they were doing that time either. I mean, I expected that broad focus from the book, and I really appreciated getting that narrow focus from the miniseries, because the contrast between the two is incredibly interesting.
It was really fascinating to see how many things in the miniseries were just lifted word for word from actual exchanges in the book. Some of them incredibly endearing (like Espera's letter home to his wife, I still laugh at the "dog, you think that's too harsh?"), some of them (like the Marine who wants to see what a grenade looks like blowing up from inside a body) just downright unsettling. I love that Wright is man enough to tell us when he was scared, that the only thing he could remember when being shot at by a sniper was Peter Falk yelling "SERPENTINE!" at Alan Alda in The In Laws.
I was kind of sad to learn that Garza didn't actually lose his helmet (because I do love the image of Sixta screaming spittle at him about how the kevlar wasn't his to lose! it belonged to every Marine!), and that Wright's girlfriend's picture didn't actually get traded to another Platoon for batteries, but those are pretty minor detractions in an otherwise amazing book.
In the end, I like books that make me think, that draw me into a world I hadn't considered before, that show me a side of things I'd never seen. And that's exactly what Wright does with this book, shining a light on modern warfare and the modern Marine warrior, with all of it's warts and ugly spots, along with all of the courage and valor (and, you know, a certain amount of blasphemy and vulgarity) exhibited by these Marines. I'm grateful to him for writing it.
This book was beyond phenomenal! After just reading Catch-22, this was a great book to read after it. The TV show based off of this book and going by the same name is my second favorite TV show. The TV show did justice to this book. If you want to know more about the Marine Corps and the Iraqi war, read this book. This is the war my father fought in. Reading this book helped me understand my father better. The Marines in this book are real people and I love that Evan Wright was able to show all of their complexities. I honestly think that Evan Wright did these Marines justice. He didn't hold anything back, and this gave the book a very nuanced feel. This book does not glamorize the war. It is real and it is brutal. It lets the reader know what it was actually like for these Marines.
After binge-watching HBO's bloody brilliant limited series of the same name, based on this book, it wasn't even a question to read the book itself. Meanwhile, I've discovered Nate Fick's - Bravo Company's Second Platoon's commander - memoir, [b:One Bullet Away: The Making Of A Marine Officer|1214456|One Bullet Away The Making Of A Marine Officer|Nathaniel Fick|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1347633461s/1214456.jpg|112166], and decided to read that first, as it gives a bit more detail on the process of becoming a Marine Officer. Although Wright's and Fick's books are similar regarding the subject, they are totally different both in tone, as in genre.
Wright was embedded with Bravo Company's Second Platoon's lead vehicle, Team One Alpha, led by Sgt. Brad Colbert, one of the most established recon marines in the company. They basically rolled through Iraq on the top of the invasion, sometimes as the most northern American unit in the country. The book is about this journey, sometimes in the most gruesome details. It's not just a retelling of the events but gives a brutal picture of how dysfunctional can the worlds biggest military force can be. Starting from not providing their men with sufficient supplies or information, up until the sheer incompetence of some of the officers.
It's not a war story. Much more like a Hunter S. Thompson-ish road-diary, set in a hostile country with occasional ambushes and assaults. The main focus is not on the war itself but rather the individuals fighting it.
I highly recommend both this and Fick's book, just as much as the TV series. They complement each other and all together can give you a bit fuller picture of the first Operation Iraqi Freedom and why Recon Marines are the best of the best in the whole USMC.
Wright was embedded with Bravo Company's Second Platoon's lead vehicle, Team One Alpha, led by Sgt. Brad Colbert, one of the most established recon marines in the company. They basically rolled through Iraq on the top of the invasion, sometimes as the most northern American unit in the country. The book is about this journey, sometimes in the most gruesome details. It's not just a retelling of the events but gives a brutal picture of how dysfunctional can the worlds biggest military force can be. Starting from not providing their men with sufficient supplies or information, up until the sheer incompetence of some of the officers.
It's not a war story. Much more like a Hunter S. Thompson-ish road-diary, set in a hostile country with occasional ambushes and assaults. The main focus is not on the war itself but rather the individuals fighting it.
I highly recommend both this and Fick's book, just as much as the TV series. They complement each other and all together can give you a bit fuller picture of the first Operation Iraqi Freedom and why Recon Marines are the best of the best in the whole USMC.