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jasonathan 's review for:
The Philosopher's War
by Tom Miller
Final Grade: A
TL;DR - A great war story, and a Great War story.
Similar works: All Quiet on the Western Front (1979 film), Full Metal Jacket, Band of Brothers (miniseries)
I don't read a lot of war novels. In fact, I don't really watch much in the way of war movies or TV shows either. Mostly, it's the machismo that turns me off. At best, they're usually a narrative played straight along the lines of "Tough Guys are excited to fight for their country, go to war, find out War Is Hell, return home broken." Some do it better than others.
That being said, I loved The Philosopher's War. It feels qualitatively different from other war stories. Maybe it's because the focus is on non-combatants,although they end up being combatants . Or maybe it's because all the characters besides the protagonist are women, and they aren't written as one-note Action Girls. For the most part, they're fully formed characters, and the reader comes to care about them and their well-being. There's certainly no shortage of War Is Hell drummed into you. However, the stakes feel real, the losses feel tragic, and there's a real sense of the old adage that war is "months of boredom punctuated by moments of terror."
FYI, for those coming in from [b:The Philosopher's Flight|32620364|The Philosopher's Flight|Tom Miller|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1501539028i/32620364._SY75_.jpg|53208047], a lot of the threads from that book are put on hold for the duration of this book. Fair enough, our baby boy Robert's gone off to war, and he's too busy to keep up with domestic affairs. Regardless, I got the sense that the author intends to return to all of that business in the next installment.
Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for unbiased feedback.
TL;DR - A great war story, and a Great War story.
Similar works: All Quiet on the Western Front (1979 film), Full Metal Jacket, Band of Brothers (miniseries)
I don't read a lot of war novels. In fact, I don't really watch much in the way of war movies or TV shows either. Mostly, it's the machismo that turns me off. At best, they're usually a narrative played straight along the lines of "Tough Guys are excited to fight for their country, go to war, find out War Is Hell, return home broken." Some do it better than others.
That being said, I loved The Philosopher's War. It feels qualitatively different from other war stories. Maybe it's because the focus is on non-combatants,
FYI, for those coming in from [b:The Philosopher's Flight|32620364|The Philosopher's Flight|Tom Miller|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1501539028i/32620364._SY75_.jpg|53208047], a lot of the threads from that book are put on hold for the duration of this book. Fair enough, our baby boy Robert's gone off to war, and he's too busy to keep up with domestic affairs. Regardless, I got the sense that the author intends to return to all of that business in the next installment.
Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for unbiased feedback.