David Finkel
Hardcover | Pages: 287 pages Rating: 4.24 | 7149 Users | 868 Reviews
Identify Epithetical Books The Good Soldiers
| Title | : | The Good Soldiers |
| Author | : | David Finkel |
| Book Format | : | Hardcover |
| Book Edition | : | First Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 287 pages |
| Published | : | September 15th 2009 by Sarah Crichton Books (first published January 1st 2009) |
| Categories | : | Nonfiction. War. History. Military Fiction |
Representaion In Favor Of Books The Good Soldiers
It was the last-chance moment of the war. In January 2007, President George W. Bush announced a new strategy for Iraq. He called it the surge. “Many listening tonight will ask why this effort will succeed when previous operations to secure Baghdad did not. Well, here are the differences,” he told a skeptical nation. Among those listening were the young, optimistic army infantry soldiers of the 2-16, the battalion nicknamed the Rangers. About to head to a vicious area of Baghdad, they decided the difference would be them. Fifteen months later, the soldiers returned home forever changed. Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post reporter David Finkel was with them in Bagdad, and almost every grueling step of the way. What was the true story of the surge? And was it really a success? Those are the questions he grapples with in his remarkable report from the front lines. Combining the action of Mark Bowden’s Black Hawk Down with the literary brio of Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, The Good Soldiers is an unforgettable work of reportage. And in telling the story of these good soldiers, the heroes and the ruined, David Finkel has also produced an eternal tale—not just of the Iraq War, but of all wars, for all time.Describe Books Supposing The Good Soldiers
| Original Title: | The Good Soldiers |
| ISBN: | 0374165734 (ISBN13: 9780374165734) |
| Edition Language: | English URL http://us.macmillan.com/thegoodsoldiers/DavidFinkel |
| Literary Awards: | J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize (2010), Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism (2010), ALA Alex Award (2010), Cornelius Ryan Award (2009) |
Rating Epithetical Books The Good Soldiers
Ratings: 4.24 From 7149 Users | 868 ReviewsPiece Epithetical Books The Good Soldiers
My son was in this battalion and is an admirer of the battalion commander, "Col K" as everyone calls him. I had heard many of the stories in this book but not in their totality. David Finkel has written an intense, compelling, and emotional account that succeeds in covering the war on so many facets simultaneously: strategic, operational, tactical, homefront, and the Iraqi perspective as well. A map would have been nice but this was not an account written to stop and reference maps, but to beWow. This book was so difficult to read, even though it had a lot going for it. The writing style was excellent. I felt like I got to know the people featured in the opening chapters. The author seemed to do a superb job getting into the mindset of these soldiers and showing the shift from hopeful optimism (we're going to win this war) to grim reality (friends are dying every week, and for what?). Lt. Col. Ralph Kauzlarich is often quoted as saying, "It's all good." Later in the book, after
Now here is a book that will turn your hair white.It is a confronting book and had me so depressed by the closing chapters that I wanted to find a bar. And get so completely wasted to drown out my misery....and I don't even drink. That's how much it got under my skin.Dropped a star. Really wanted to give it 5. In the end, there were a few things the author did that I didn't like and I made the tough choice to drop a star. 4 stars is still a top rating in my book though.
Each year, my daughter's university chooses a theme for the freshman writing seminar and assigns a reading to go along with the theme. I like to read the books also as the selections tend to be outside my normal choices and they broaden my knowledge and thinking on the topic. The Good Soldiers was the book chosen this year. I found it to a description of the war in Iraq that was very painful to listen to. I brought my experiences as a mother to the reading and found it so difficult to read about
David Finkel, a reporter who lived with an Army battalion during the Iraqi surge, describes in great detail some of the tragic events that took place during their deployment and the backstories of some of the soldiers affected by those events. His narrative does not give a political opinion either way; rather, the theme that he does make very clear in his book is that the political pundits (both Republican and Democrat) were (and are) out of touch with the reality of the Iraqi ground war. One
This is very graphic account of the Iraq war from the ground perspective of the American soldier. I am not exactly sure why this title was chosen because I dont get any feeling of goodness coming out of these 273 pages. Instead soldiers die horrifically, are bodily mutilated and will suffer for the rest of their lives. The soldiers who do survive without physical disabilities will doubtless experience deep mental anguish for the duration of their lives. Many of them were taking sleeping pills
As someone who reads military related books (nonfiction and fiction) frequently, this is 1 of my favorite books I've ever read in this genre. Parts of it were horrifying but it was raw and real. I couldn't put it down. I look forward to reading Thank You for Your Service.
0 Comments