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cactusfinch 's review for:
Not well written, very little character depth, super repetitive. Highly disturbing to read from a moral standpoint. [also apparently factually suspect? Luttrell estimates 200 Taliban fighters to be at one firefight...official Navy reports after the fact estimate that there were fewer than 15 lmao]
I have a lot of respect for the individuals who decide to put their lives on the line to serve their country in the military. But this book actually worked towards eroding that respect (and was eye-opening towards the current political firestorm over a Trident pin). Luttrell paints himself and his fellow SEALs as mindless machines of violence-and instructs the President to just point him towards a problem (because SEALs, according to Luttrell, think all problems in the world can be solved with brute force) and give orders (which Luttrell claims they will not question at all). I am very thankful that Luttrell's general belief that everyone in the SEALs thinks like him is not actually true.
Additionally, he continuously rails against the liberal politicians in Washington and the liberal media because he thinks they villainize special forces when they kill innocent civilians. He thinks that politicians (presumably only the liberal ones he hates) should mind their own business, and leave war to the soldiers. He actually says that the Rules of Engagement are ridiculous and should be done away with, because innocents always die in war anyway, so, I guess, why have rules that try to prevent it. Abu Ghraib is brushed off as no big deal, and Afghans are continuously called barbaric.
Also, if you expect a moving account of brotherhood and sacrifice, you won't get it. There is a huge focus on training, which was interesting, and some about Luttrell's childhood growing up in East Texas (which was more East Texas stereotype than I had ever encountered when actually there). But Luttrell never gives us any real depth or characteristics of any of his SEAL teammates. We get to know where they're from, how tall they are, that they're tough, and that they were all damn good SEALs. The most detail is given into their mortal wounds, but since the reader doesn't really know any of these characters, their deaths are sad only in the same distant way it would be if I saw X number of SEALs dead in firefight.
v rambling review because this book literally made me nauseous to read at some points.
I have a lot of respect for the individuals who decide to put their lives on the line to serve their country in the military. But this book actually worked towards eroding that respect (and was eye-opening towards the current political firestorm over a Trident pin). Luttrell paints himself and his fellow SEALs as mindless machines of violence-and instructs the President to just point him towards a problem (because SEALs, according to Luttrell, think all problems in the world can be solved with brute force) and give orders (which Luttrell claims they will not question at all). I am very thankful that Luttrell's general belief that everyone in the SEALs thinks like him is not actually true.
Additionally, he continuously rails against the liberal politicians in Washington and the liberal media because he thinks they villainize special forces when they kill innocent civilians. He thinks that politicians (presumably only the liberal ones he hates) should mind their own business, and leave war to the soldiers. He actually says that the Rules of Engagement are ridiculous and should be done away with, because innocents always die in war anyway, so, I guess, why have rules that try to prevent it. Abu Ghraib is brushed off as no big deal, and Afghans are continuously called barbaric.
Also, if you expect a moving account of brotherhood and sacrifice, you won't get it. There is a huge focus on training, which was interesting, and some about Luttrell's childhood growing up in East Texas (which was more East Texas stereotype than I had ever encountered when actually there). But Luttrell never gives us any real depth or characteristics of any of his SEAL teammates. We get to know where they're from, how tall they are, that they're tough, and that they were all damn good SEALs. The most detail is given into their mortal wounds, but since the reader doesn't really know any of these characters, their deaths are sad only in the same distant way it would be if I saw X number of SEALs dead in firefight.
v rambling review because this book literally made me nauseous to read at some points.