OK, so I am almost done with the first half of the book "Jarhead" by Anthony Swofford, and it is not as bad as I thought it would be. When I herd military history I began to cringe, and think another "in my day" novel of hardships, war, and a good old fashion whippin'. I mean come on, read one read em' all, but not so with this one it was raw, to the point, a true depiction of what happens when real men are sent away endure heat, hunger, and sexless nights to fight for a country that has given them oh so much.
Swofford starts off beautifully allowing the reading to almost hear the sand fall to the ground from the old map of Kuwait found in his ruck. We can almost smell the liquor on his breath as he goes through his old military equipment remembering each man one by one and the events of the gulf war. As I continued reading it gave me a new view on America, the land of the "free", a term that shouldn't of been used so freely when it came to the Jarheads. Swofford goes on to tell his readers the truth behind the TV interviews and what these men of war were really thinking.
Jarhead is starting to grow on me, not only for the raw speech and vivd war discriptions, but more because of who it is written by, someone I could relate to, an average fuck up!
1 comment:
Good stuff although I question what you mean by "a true depiction of what happens when real men are sent away endure heat, hunger, and sexless nights to fight for a country that has given them oh so much." Why is this true? What makes you believe him?
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