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A review by rageofachilles
The Winds of War by Herman Wouk
3.0
This novel is a classic example of a certain type of historical fiction. I don't know if this genre has a name, but essentially, the main character (and his family) are a fictional creation. The family spreads out across the world so that the author can encapsulate the entirety of the beginning of World War II: we have the German invasion of Poland, the German air raids of London, the Britain air raids of Berlin, the German invasion of Russia, and the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor. There are some notable historical events missing from here (i.e. Dunkirk), but the author does a great job of making the reader feel like he or she has a broad perspective of the war. The main character, Pug Henry, even interacts with the major players of the day: Roosevelt, Stalin, Hitler, Churchill.
The best character in the book is Byron because he is the only one who is a "round character." Pug is a ubermench who always says the right thing, always survives, always takes risks. He's a little boring to read about--and it is as if he is just there in the text so that we can run into famous leaders. Warren is a fighter pilot who barely plays into the narrative at all (I'm interested in the treatment of his father-in-law, an antisemetic senator who pushes for an alliance with Germany). Byron, meanwhile, marries a Jewish woman; gets bombed in Poland; joins a submarine unit; and has to fight a war when his wife and new born son are stranded in Italy (they arrive at Turkey at the end of the book). His narrative feels like it is the most interesting because it takes the most risks.
The best character in the book is Byron because he is the only one who is a "round character." Pug is a ubermench who always says the right thing, always survives, always takes risks. He's a little boring to read about--and it is as if he is just there in the text so that we can run into famous leaders. Warren is a fighter pilot who barely plays into the narrative at all (I'm interested in the treatment of his father-in-law, an antisemetic senator who pushes for an alliance with Germany). Byron, meanwhile, marries a Jewish woman; gets bombed in Poland; joins a submarine unit; and has to fight a war when his wife and new born son are stranded in Italy (they arrive at Turkey at the end of the book). His narrative feels like it is the most interesting because it takes the most risks.