Gritty book about an even grittier war

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	• A Rumor of War Philip Caputo Ballantine Books, 1980 average customer review:based on 105 reviews
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highly recommended

Gritty book about an even grittier war

While reading A Rumor of War, you can get a pretty good description of what occurred during the Vietnam War. I thought it was a very believable fiction story. I thought that the overall mood of the book was very believable. As the story begins, the main character almost feels knightly going into war. He sees it as a glory event, in which he wants to take part of. But realistically, his mindset changes as the war goes on. I thought the human emotion showed was right on. The main character gets steadily more depressed, and eventually leads his men into slaughtering an entire village. I thought that was pretty depressing, especially his outlook on life.

Were I to be in the soldier's position, I would have similar outlooks on life, but he just seems so gloomy all the time. He started out vibrant, and ended up being calloused and tough. This isn't a very surprising change in a person during war, but it was a change nonetheless. The main character as a whole I liked though. He was young, in his 20's, and shared a few of the same viewpoints as me on life.

Most of the book was pretty exciting, as it had plenty of action and bad language, but it also had some drab conversations. It felt like reading a war movie, so either Hollywood or the authors, Caputo, do pretty good work in describing war. I haven't read any other war books, so I don't know how this one would compare to another. Worth reading if you enjoy war material.

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Great book

It takes alot for me to rate anything a 5 but this book is amoung my favorite litature from the vietnam war. I read It about 5 years ago when I was still in High School before I joined the Army, And when ever someone I know is reading a book about vietnam I always recromend this one to them

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The heart of darkness

Of all the Vietnam narratives I've read, Rumor of War strikes me as the most well-written. Here tells the story of Phillip Caputo, a baby boomer who grew up in the golden years of John F. Kennedy and the sweet success of World War II. Caputo joined the Marines like many others from a sense of patriotism and a desire to prove his toughness. Training instills in him the tradition of the Corps, but as his tour in Vietnam progresses his disillusionment grows.

For those who are searching for a glimpse of combat, here it is in all its brutality. Then more than now, Rumor of War provides a unique non-John Wayne view of warfare. This is the real-life 'Heart of Darkness'. Caputo goes from an idealistic American kid to a jaded war vet, all in a few years. As death piles up around him, he descends into the realm of numbness and hate. I firmly believe that what happened to him can and does happen regularly to those under war's grim watch.

World War II taught that war can be necessary, 'moral' and profitable as well. Vietnam showed us the other edge of the blade. So, where do we go from here? I imagine many will put down this book with one word on their lips: Iraq. Is that parallel correct? Maybe, maybe not. There are two lessons I hope Rumor of War provides (though the second goes beyond the book's scope). The first lesson is that war is no romantic diversion. Abandon that instinct, for modern war deals death in a horribly random manner. For every hero's death there are twenty ignoble ones. It's a waste. The other - not covered by the book - is that sometimes in history, this savagery of war is an unfortunate necessity.

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VIVID AND TRUTHFUL

This is one everyone should read. If you were a part of it, it is a stark reminder of what was. If this was before your time, then this work will come as close as a work can to "how it was."
The author's handling of the subject of war, from a personal prespective, is without flaw. This is one of the better first hand accounts of any military conflict I have read. The "history books" and accounts of Generals and Politicians are all well and good, and of course should be read to gain greater a
understanding, but they are nothing when compaired to a work such as this. The author is able to make you feel. This is important. Very much recommend you read this one.

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True

The truth is, people who don't like this book don't like it because it tells the truth about the war of Vietnam. It tells us how stupid it was, how pathetic the reasons were, how high the prices our own people paid were. This isn't one of my favorite books, but it is one of the best books on war I have ever read. For its genre, it definitely deserves five stars.
Philip Caputo describes his experience in the war of Vietnam. He tells us what he saw, what he lived, how those things changed him and his life. He speaks with a sad tone, and the book is very sad, at times even depressing, but it is also very refreshing because it is so true and so heartfelt. Caputo expresses what he feels almost as if he were the only person in the world, not caring or saying what he says for anybody but for his own peace of mind. That is what makes this book so honest. There is nothing to dislike about his writing or the way he tells the story. Plainly, if anyone tells you they don't like it, it is because they don't agree with what it says. And how sad we won't admit it, because deep down we know, all of us, that Vietnam, just like Iraq, was a mistake.

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