A review by nzthim
The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer

3.0

This is regarded as one of the first great novels written about the Second World War. It draws on Mailer’s own experiences in the Pacific campaign to describe the battle to capture a Japanese island from the point of view of a platoon on the ground as they land ashore and undertake duties and patrols. There is a huge cast of characters and Mailer handles each at length. Long passages of this novel are spent developing the backstories and mentalities of each of these different soldiers and the way they interact with each other, the jungle, the war and their own ambitions, fears and resentments. It does mean that the actual story often moves along at a labouring pace and you empathise with the default position of those in the book in waiting for something to happen. Some characters, such as Croft, are very well rounded while others play more minor roles and yet Mailer still dedicates long sections to their detailed backstories. I found this a little tiring as I didn’t necessarily care enough about these particular characters to feel the need to learn about their childhood. There are more than a few moments of brilliance however. The initial chapter covering the build up to landing on the island and the frantic moments coming ashore is breathtaking. Mailer also successfully captures the depth of the soldiers’ struggle against the jungle and the landscape as much as against the Japanese army. Overall it’s a book worth reading. The journalistic style can make it hard going at times, but Mailer does manage to create an empathy with the soldiers, and the often mundane and menial ways they pass the time in war between the fighting.