Suggest a good starter war novel please

[skra75]

I read Full Metal Jacket in HS and wrote a term paper on it, it was (is) a great book. But, I'm a slow reader witha short attention span - can anyone suggest a good vietnam era war novel for me? I'm in that kind of a mood. Not a Tom Clancy mood though.

[wavin_goodbye]

Not Vietnam Era, but All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque (WWI) is very readable and simply brilliant.

Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo (WWII) is also quite good.

[MC Moot]

Vietnam....hmmmm......probably "Fields of Fire" by James Webb.....but I prefer WW2 or Spanish Civil War stuff....."The Thin Red Line" by James Jones is my fave....(y)

others:

"A Midnight Clear" by Willaim Wharton

"And No Birds Sang" by Farley Mowatt

"The Big Red One" by Samuel Fuller

"A Farewell to Arms" by Hemingway

"Letters From Iwo Jima" by Kumiko Kakehashi

[afronaut]

Gravity's Rainbow. An action packed easy to read starter war novel about WWII.

[Bob]

haha

Not Vietnam Era, but All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque (WWI) is very readable and simply brilliant.

Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo (WWII) is also quite good.

i was going to suggest all quiet on the western front too

[MC Moot]

Oh!....I just remembered "Of Rice and Men" by Richard Galli an excellent Vietnam era read...

[ms.peachy]

i was going to suggest all quiet on the western front too

That was my first thought as well. Brilliant book. I haven't read it in over 20 years and there are scenes in it I can recall as vividly as if I read it a week ago.

[skra75]

guys, is that book lofty in it's language, or is it something more conversational? I don't think I can hang with lofty.

[ms.peachy]

guys, is that book lofty in it's language, or is it something more conversational? I don't think I can hang with lofty.
I would say not at all. It is translated from German, but it is pretty plain language. It's not meant to be sophisticated - the narrator is just a very ordinary young bloke who gets shipped off to war.
An excerpt:
Three o’clock in the morning. The breeze is fresh and cool. The pale hour es our faces look gray. We trudge onward in single file through the trenches and shell-holes and come again to the zone of mist. Katczinsky is restive, that’s a bad sign. “What’s up, Kat?” says Kropp. “I wish I were back home.” Home - he means the huts. “We’ll soon be out of it, Kat.” He is nervous. “I don’t know, I don’t know --- “ We come to the communication trench and then to the open fields. The little wood reappears. We know every foot of ground here. There’s the cemetery with the mounds and the black crosses. That moment, it breaks out behind us, swells, roars and thunders. We duck down - a cloud of flame shoots up a hundred yards ahead of us. The next minute under a second explosion part of the wood rises slowly in the air, three or four trees sail up and then crash to pieces. The shells begin to hiss like safety valves - heavy fire. “Take cover!” yells somebody, “Cover!” The fields are flat, the wood is too distant and dangerous - the only cover is the graveyard and the mounds. We stumble across in the dark and as though he had been spat there every man lies glued behind a mound. Not a moment too soon. The dark goes mad. It heaves and raves. Darknesses blacker than the night rush on us with giant strides, over us and away. The flames of the explosions light up the graveyard. There is no escape anywhere. By the light of the shells I try to get a view of the fields. They are a surging sea, daggers of flame from the explosions leap up like fountains. It is impossible for anyone to break through it. The wood vanishes. It is pounded, crushed, torn to pieces. We must stay here in the graveyard. ... Before me gapes the shell-hole. I grasp it with my eyes as with fists. With one leap I must be in it. There, I get a smack in the face, a hand clamps onto my shoulder - has a dead man woken up? The hand shakes me. I turn my head in the second of light I stare into the face of Katczinsky. He has his mouth wide open and is yelling. I hear nothing. He rattles me, comes nearer, in a momentary lull his voice reaches me: “Gas – Gaas – Gaaas - Pass it on.”
I grab for my gas mask. Some distance from me there lies someone. I think of nothing but this: That fellow there must know: Gaaas – Gaaas – I call, I lean toward him, I swipe at him with the satchel, he doesn’t see - once again, again - he merely ducks - it’s a recruit. I look at Kat desperately. He has his mask on - I pull out mine. My helmet falls to one side, it slips over my face, I reach the man, his satchel is on the side nearest me, I seize the mask, pull it over his head, he understands, I let go and with a jump drop into the shell-hole. The dull thud of the gas-shells mingles with the crashes of the high explosives. A bell sounds between the explosions, gongs, and metal clappers warning everyone – Gas – Gaas – Gaaas. Someone plumps down behind me. I wipe the goggles of my mask clear of the moist breath. It is Kat, Kropp and someone else. All four of us lie there in heavy, watchful suspense and breathe as lightly as possible. These first minutes with the mask decide between life and death: is it air-tight? I remember the awful sights in the hospital: the gas patients who in day-long suffocation cough up their burnt lungs in clots. Cautiously, the mouth applied to the valve, I breathe. The gas still creeps over the ground and sinks into all hollows. Like a big, soft jellyfish it floats into our shell-hole and lolls there obscenely. I nudge Kat. It is better to crawl out and lie on top than to stay where the gas collects most. But we don’t get as far as that; a second bombardment begins. It is no longer as though shells roared; it is the earth itself raging. With a crash something black bears down on us. It lands close beside us; a coffin thrown up. I see Kat move and I crawl across. The coffin has hit the fourth man in our hole on his out-stretched arm. He tries to tear off his gas-mask with the other hand. Kropp seizes him just in time, twists the hand sharply behind his back and holds it fast. Kat and I proceed to free the wounded arm. The coffin lid is loose and bursts open, we are easily able to pull it off, we toss the corpse out, it slides down to the bottom of the shell-hole, then we try to loosen the under-part. Fortunately the man swoons and Kropp is able to help us. We no longer have to be careful, but work away till the coffin gives with a sigh before the spade that we have dug in under it. It has grown lighter. Kat takes a piece of the lid, places it under the shattered arm, and we wrap all our bandages round it. For the moment we can do no more. Inside the gas-mask my head booms and roars - it is nigh bursting. My lungs are tight, they breathe always the same hot, used-up air. The veins on my temples are swollen. I feel I am suffocating. A grey light filters through to us. I climb out over the edge of the shell-hole. In the dirty twilight lies a leg torn clean off; the boot is quite whole, I take that all in at a glance. Now something stands up a few yards distant. I polish the windows, in my excitement they are immediately dimmed again. I peer through them. The man there no longer wears his mask. I wait some seconds – he has not collapsed – he looks around and makes a few paces – rattling in my throat I tear my mask off too and fall down, the air streams into me like cold water, my eyes are bursting, the wave sweeps over me and extinguishes me. The shelling has ceased. I drag myself to the crater and tell the others. They take off their masks. We lift up the wounded man, one taking his splintered arm. And so we stumble off hastily.
(sorry it's all one big paragraph; that copied from a pdf with no paragraph breaks.)

[Schmeltz]

All Quiet on the Western Front is great, but my hands-down favourite war novel has got to be Catch-22 by Joseph Heller. Not only is it easy to read, bitingly satirical, and surreally hilarious, but it's also set in WWII, which is cooler than Vietnam anyway.

If you're ever looking for a challenge I suggest The Winds of War and War and Remembrance by Herman Wouk. Still easy to read, but monumentally long.

[insertnamehere]

i was going to suggest all quiet on the western front too.

[HEIRESS]

Chickenhawk (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Chickenhawk-Robert-Mason/dp/0552124192)

or

The 13th Valley (http://www.amazon.com/13th-Valley-John-Del-Vecchio/dp/0312200811)

my favorite vietnam war books.

[AceFace]

my husband reads the HELL out of Stephen Ambrose. Try reading Band of Brothers. they made it into an HBO mini series too. it was soooo goooood.

[YoungRemy]

my husband reads the HELL out of Stephen Ambrose. Try reading Band of Brothers. they made it into an HBO mini series too. it was soooo goooood.

i was about to recommend Helmet For My Pillow by Robert Leckie...
HBO is now shooting this in Australia, calling it "The Pacific"

it is going to be the companion piece to Band of Brothers

[Bob]

for a more advanced war novel, i'd suggest something by cornelius ryan. he's more of a historical writer, so i guess they wouldn't be novels exactly, but if you're interested in WWII, i think he's one of my favorite writers on the subject. his two most popular ones are "the longest day" (about d-day) and "a bridge too far" (about operation market garden, a really fascinating but often overlooked battle), both of which have been made into movies (and they both have sean connery in them, among dozens of other big-name actors). it's not fiction, it's a historical read, but it's great because he sort of explains it from the perspective of both the allied and german sides of the fight. there's also stories told by individual soldiers in the battles, i don't know, i think he's very good at it.

they're long though. a bridge too far is something like 500 pages. i think the longest day is a little shorter though.

[Freebasser]

Das boot is 600-odd pages long and they only fire their first torpedo with about 50 pages to go :/

[roosta]

William Shatner "TekWar"

[Bob]

i actually own das boot on DVD...i think it's the director's cut too, i'm pretty sure that it is, without exaggeration, over 4 hours long. i know it spans both sides of the disc

i watched it once, but i only remember the ending. and something about fuzzy meat, or maybe it was fruit. also that it's all in german. i don't wanna read no 4 hour movie

William Shatner "TekWar"

kids have to learn about it sooner or later

[Freebasser]

I'll give you the gist, Bob.

DAY 1: Got in the submarine. Went to my bunk.

DAY 2: Sat in my bunk all day.

DAY 12: Still sitting in my bunk.

DAY 18: This bunk sure is comfy.

DAY 21: Stretched legs out in bunk a little bit. Not too much, I don't want to overexert myself.

DAY 35: Our first sight of the enemy! Later turned out to be a seagull. Was disappointed. Got back into my bunk.

DAY 53: My beard is really looking rather stylish at the moment. Bedsores developing.

DAY 77: Still in bunk. Looked at my beard in mirror for several hours.

DAY 96: At last, a real encounter with the enemy! I bravely wait in my bunk for the action to die down so that I may return to looking at my beard.

DAY 154: Fritz tells me that we may be docking soon! I can't wait to get out and stretch my legs! Still in bunk.

DAY 156: We've been under attack for several hours. I have been lying in my bunk waiting for the Captain to give us more information.

DAY 156 Part 2: We've been sunk! We're lying on the bottom of the straight of Gibraltar and all I can do is sit in my bunk and cry!

DAY 156 Part 3: We're ok! And my beard is still in one piece! Retired to my bunk to try and forget about the days events.

DAY 162: We fired our first torpedo! Unluckily for us the war was officially declared over 17 weeks ago and we sunk a container ship full of bunk beds! Oh, the humanity!

[jabumbo]

the killer angels


/close thread



(and this is with me saying that catch-22 is my favorite book ever)

[Gareth]

http://www.amazon.com/War-Trash-novel-Ha-Jin/dp/0375422765

http://www.amazon.com/Tu-Patricia-Grace/dp/0824829271/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-4383751-9980749?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1191869994&sr=1-1

[HEIRESS]

http://www.amazon.com/War-Trash-novel-Ha-Jin/dp/0375422765

http://www.amazon.com/Tu-Patricia-Grace/dp/0824829271/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-4383751-9980749?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1191869994&sr=1-1


noted.

[Bob]

I'll give you the gist, Bob.

DAY 1: Got in the submarine. Went to my bunk.

DAY 2: Sat in my bunk all day.

DAY 12: Still sitting in my bunk.

DAY 18: This bunk sure is comfy.

DAY 21: Stretched legs out in bunk a little bit. Not too much, I don't want to overexert myself.

DAY 35: Our first sight of the enemy! Later turned out to be a seagull. Was disappointed. Got back into my bunk.

DAY 53: My beard is really looking rather stylish at the moment. Bedsores developing.

DAY 77: Still in bunk. Looked at my beard in mirror for several hours.

DAY 96: At last, a real encounter with the enemy! I bravely wait in my bunk for the action to die down so that I may return to looking at my beard.

DAY 154: Fritz tells me that we may be docking soon! I can't wait to get out and stretch my legs! Still in bunk.

DAY 156: We've been under attack for several hours. I have been lying in my bunk waiting for the Captain to give us more information.

DAY 156 Part 2: We've been sunk! We're lying on the bottom of the straight of Gibraltar and all I can do is sit in my bunk and cry!

DAY 156 Part 3: We're ok! And my beard is still in one piece! Retired to my bunk to try and forget about the days events.

DAY 162: We fired our first torpedo! Unluckily for us the war was officially declared over 17 weeks ago and we sunk a container ship full of bunk beds! Oh, the humanity!

hahaha

oddly enough that is not the ending i remember from the movie. in the movie, i thought (putting it in white text so as not to spoil it for people who want to watch 4+ hours of a guy in a bunk) they got back to some port and they were all going to go home safely or something, then a bunch of planes bomb the port and everybody dies

[Freebasser]

You are correct, Bob; that is indeed what happens. I always feel a slight twang here *points at chest* when the blood comes gurgling out of Jurgen Prochnow's mouth before he falls to the floor and damn it if it doesn't make me wish that we hadn't won the war just to be able to see his happy smiling face again :<

[ericlee]

Crap, I forgot the name. I believe it's called "The Boys of Company B"...IT's a book about the company that the movie Platoon was made from.. Actually a true story.

I'm gonna have to check out that Letters From Iwo Jima. I've read Flags of our Fathers and loved the hell outta that book.