- Paperback: 640 pages
- Publisher: HarperLargePrint; Lrg edition (Oct 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0060570016
- ISBN-13: 978-0060570019
- Product Dimensions: 22.8 x 15.4 x 3.1 cm
- Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
O'Hara's Choice
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More About the Author
Product Description
Review
The New York Times Book Review, Pete Hamill ‘Leon Uris is a storyteller, in a direct line from those men who sat around fires in the days before history and made the tribe more human. The subject is man, not words; story is all’
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.Product Description
Uris used his own experiences in the Marine Corps as the basis for his first novel, Battle Cry, published in 1953. Fifty years later, Uris revisits the Marine Corps and it's history, with O'Hara's Choice, his last novel, bringing him full circle.
Irish immigrant Paddy O'Hara was a legendary Marine – one of the first – and the inspiration for a fraternity of Marine brothers who call themselves the Wart Hogs. In the years following the Civil War, these stalwart warriors engage in the fight of their lives, struggling to keep the Marine Corps a vital part of the country's armed forces. There are those in the government who would like to see this unruly band of brothers dissolved and the Navy given sovereign rule of the waves. The Marines' one hope just may lie in Zachary O'Hara, the young, brash, fiercely intelligent son of their hero Paddy.
As Paddy O'Hara's son, Zachary practically grew up in the Marines, and is as dedicated to saving the Corps as any Wart Hog. He hadn't planned on falling in love, though, and certainly not with the passionate, obstinate heiress Amanda Kerr, daughter of one of the biggest industrialists in the country. But more than just differences in background could come between Zachary and Amanda: Paddy's son is haunted by a secret he can never tell, a secret that may force him to choose between a stunning career as an officer in his beloved Corps and life with the woman who fulfils his every desire.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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First Sentence
The Royal Society of Paddy O'Hara's Wart-Hogs were the ugliest and most vile men to ever wear the uniform of United States Marines. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
The Royal Society of Paddy O'Hara's Wart-Hogs were the ugliest and most vile men to ever wear the uniform of United States Marines. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
From the opening pages of Battle Cry, through Mila-18 and Exodus, Uris develops his fine stories of people in battle. Battle against prejudice, against poverty, against class structures, against themselves. This, his last novel, once more places people in jeopardy. Covering a period from just before the Civil War to the early 1890's, it is a tale of honorable men fighting to save what they believe in, most noticeably Uris' beloved Marine Corps, but also fighting for a chance to live life and love as they wish, to acknowledge the right of all to be free, and for honor itself.
Zachary O'Hara is the model Marine; practically raised within the corps by his father, Paddy O'Hara, a Civil War Medal of Honor hero who, at one point or another, had saved most of the lives of the male characters in this book. Zachary must fight the battle common to children of famous parents, that of making his way in the world out from the shadow of his parent. His external battle takes the shape of drafting policy papers that will show the necessity of Marine Corps as a functioning part of the U. S. Military, both in the present time and in the foreseeable future, as in the late 1880's the general feeling was that the Marine Corps was a body that had outlived its usefulness.
But this battle must take place alongside his battle to be able to love Amanda Kerr, daughter of ship-building magnate Horace. As Zachary is clearly below Amanda's station, marriage would seem to be out of the question - but Amanda herself is a strong-willed, intelligent woman who knows how to broker deals.
With this as the skeleton upon which to construct his novel, it would seem that sure-handed Uris would have an easy time building a strong novel. But perhaps because Uris died before doing the final edits on this work, the novel comes off as somewhat disjointed, characters (especially the minor ones) not as clearly delineated as is normal for Uris, and occasional pieces of text are repeated, something I'm sure he would have eliminated had he had the chance. As it is, there are places that feel incomplete, dialogue that seems to assume the reader knows more than has been presented, and the prime story, that of ensuring the continuance of the Marine Corps, does not seem to carry the sense of urgency and criticality that I'm sure Uris intended the novel to portray. The historical backdrop of both national events and his character's past does not have enough detail to really make this era come alive. The climax of the story comes as something of a surprise, as only minimal hints about it have been set in earlier portions of the novel.
What could have been a strong story of love and nation-building is compromised, leaving only the feeling of what could have been with perhaps another hundred pages and some strong editing. A disappointment from an author who almost never failed to engage both the hearts and minds of his readers.
--- Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
17 reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
a disappointment
31 Dec 2003
Format:Hardcover
Don't bother buying this book unless you feel you must read Uris' last book. Surprised to see it on the half-price table, I bought it from curiosity and finished it out of loyalty, having read 'Battle Cry' in the '50s and almost all his subsequent books. This book has almost no military action, an almost melodramatic plot, and (worst of all for me) the dialog sounds like people speaking in modern times. Having served with the Marine Corps, I found some of the sentiments and attitudes hoaky and the romance between the two main characters (this being a clash of strong wills) was wooden. You'd do better with Ayn Rand. Shortly after starting the book, I noticed that Uris died this year; I'm betting his secretary and a sophomore American Lit major finished it for him. This is a sad way to cap a fine career, one that brought me enjoyment most of my adult life.
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
"O'Hara's Choice"
30 Jan 2004
Format:Hardcover
My advise: read the whole book (it is pretty good), but skip the last chapter. Compose your own ending. Believe me, your ending will be a better ending than the one the author penned.
Being a former Marine, I was satisfied with the treatment of the Marines, in general. The ending, however, was all wrong. It was as if Uris had died (which he did in 2003), and some anti-military feminist finished the last chapter for him.
Being a former Marine, I was satisfied with the treatment of the Marines, in general. The ending, however, was all wrong. It was as if Uris had died (which he did in 2003), and some anti-military feminist finished the last chapter for him.
You've been warned.
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
A Last Dim Hurrah
29 Dec 2003
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
From the opening pages of Battle Cry, through Mila-18 and Exodus, Uris develops his fine stories of people in battle. Battle against prejudice, against poverty, against class structures, against themselves. This, his last novel, once more places people in jeopardy. Covering a period from just before the Civil War to the early 1890's, it is a tale of honorable men fighting to save what they believe in, most noticeably Uris' beloved Marine Corps, but also fighting for a chance to live life and love as they wish, to acknowledge the right of all to be free, and for honor itself.
Zachary O'Hara is the model Marine; practically raised within the corps by his father, Paddy O'Hara, a Civil War Medal of Honor hero who, at one point or another, had saved most of the lives of the male characters in this book. Zachary must fight the battle common to children of famous parents, that of making his way in the world out from the shadow of his parent. His external battle takes the shape of drafting policy papers that will show the necessity of Marine Corps as a functioning part of the U. S. Military, both in the present time and in the foreseeable future, as in the late 1880's the general feeling was that the Marine Corps was a body that had outlived its usefulness.
But this battle must take place alongside his battle to be able to love Amanda Kerr, daughter of ship-building magnate Horace. As Zachary is clearly below Amanda's station, marriage would seem to be out of the question - but Amanda herself is a strong-willed, intelligent woman who knows how to broker deals.
With this as the skeleton upon which to construct his novel, it would seem that sure-handed Uris would have an easy time building a strong novel. But perhaps because Uris died before doing the final edits on this work, the novel comes off as somewhat disjointed, characters (especially the minor ones) not as clearly delineated as is normal for Uris, and occasional pieces of text are repeated, something I'm sure he would have eliminated had he had the chance. As it is, there are places that feel incomplete, dialogue that seems to assume the reader knows more than has been presented, and the prime story, that of ensuring the continuance of the Marine Corps, does not seem to carry the sense of urgency and criticality that I'm sure Uris intended the novel to portray. The historical backdrop of both national events and his character's past does not have enough detail to really make this era come alive. The climax of the story comes as something of a surprise, as only minimal hints about it have been set in earlier portions of the novel.
What could have been a strong story of love and nation-building is compromised, leaving only the feeling of what could have been with perhaps another hundred pages and some strong editing. A disappointment from an author who almost never failed to engage both the hearts and minds of his readers.
--- Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)
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