- Paperback: 160 pages
- Publisher: University of Chicago Press (Sep 2007)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0226318885
- ISBN-13: 978-0226318882
- Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
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Product Description
Synopsis
Follows the career of the sardonic narrator from the organized sadism of Marine basic training to an assignment as a combat reporter in Vietnam to his experiences as a platoon commander after the Tet offensive, portraying the descent into barbarism that marked America's intervention in Vietnam.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I can't tell anyone how good this book is, but i'll try. It's a very emotive and well written book. By far the best Vietnam book i've read. Gustav Hasford really grabs you by the throat and throws you out there with Delta 1-5. I read it in a day...twas brilliant.
Gustav Hasford - The Short-Timers - "The acclaimed novel upon which the movie 'Full Metal Jacket' is based."
18 Dec 2011
Format:Paperback
"Vietnam, 1968. A nightmarish landscape blackened by napalm and littered with once-human debris. Where victories are measured in mountains of corpses and ordinary men are transformed into obsessive executioners. This is the brutally honest story of Cpl. Joker and his battle-hardened company, survivors of months of unimaginable horror - the crazy-tough and phony-brave, religiously counting the days until their release from the green prison of combat. But they all know one unspoken truth - that even though they're on their way out, their last few hours in Nam could become their last hours on earth."
"A savage, unforgiving look at a savage, unforgivable time." - Los Angeles Times
"The best work of fiction about the Vietnam war." - Newsweek
"Fine and real and terrifying" - Kirkus
A grim little novel of infantry combat by American Marines in Vietnam written by a former USMC war correspondent.
"A savage, unforgiving look at a savage, unforgivable time." - Los Angeles Times
"The best work of fiction about the Vietnam war." - Newsweek
"Fine and real and terrifying" - Kirkus
A grim little novel of infantry combat by American Marines in Vietnam written by a former USMC war correspondent.
Format:Paperback
Firstly, the product itself. Obviously since the book is out of print, it wasn't shiny or new. It showed the signs of age, was slightly battered, but then I liked that. It arrived relatively quickly, and easily, with no trouble.
The text itself is absolutely amazing. Like most readers, I saw the film first and the book second. However, while the film is powerful, the book gives gripping (and savage) a whole new meaning. Hasford writes in a blunt fashion and realistic, and you feel that you too are being shouted at by marine sergeants, travelling across the muggy Vietnam landscape, and fighting the V.C side by side. Descriptions can often be shocking, but that is the truth of war, and Hasford doesn't shy away from that. He tells the real story behind war and soldiering, and leaves an imprint on the reader, of the horrors and atrocities of war, and the mindset of a solider.
Ultimately, Hasford tells the brutally honest story of what it means to be a solider. A veteran of 'Nam himself, he very honestly portrays the conflict. You won't regret buying this book, it's worth every penny. I personally finished it within 24 hours, and wish I'd savoured it a little more, and taken my time. This is the kind of literature our kids should be studying, not Dickens. I hope it makes a return to print in the near future, no author deserves it more, posthumously or not.
The text itself is absolutely amazing. Like most readers, I saw the film first and the book second. However, while the film is powerful, the book gives gripping (and savage) a whole new meaning. Hasford writes in a blunt fashion and realistic, and you feel that you too are being shouted at by marine sergeants, travelling across the muggy Vietnam landscape, and fighting the V.C side by side. Descriptions can often be shocking, but that is the truth of war, and Hasford doesn't shy away from that. He tells the real story behind war and soldiering, and leaves an imprint on the reader, of the horrors and atrocities of war, and the mindset of a solider.
Ultimately, Hasford tells the brutally honest story of what it means to be a solider. A veteran of 'Nam himself, he very honestly portrays the conflict. You won't regret buying this book, it's worth every penny. I personally finished it within 24 hours, and wish I'd savoured it a little more, and taken my time. This is the kind of literature our kids should be studying, not Dickens. I hope it makes a return to print in the near future, no author deserves it more, posthumously or not.
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