Jarhead: A Solder's Story of Modern War - Anthony Swofford

Truly Amazing

Many people believe the film version of this book isn't worth waching but I believe that by both watching the film and the book, everything become perfect sense.
The book talks about a person's extraodinary experience during the first gulf war in operation desert storm and shield.
Reading this book deeply decribes how your mind mentality dramatically changes when you enter a war zone.
The book is not what you would call action packed but you still understand the experiences of what a war does to a soldier.
I love this book and so deeply reccomend this to any war book reader.

A miniature masterpiece

Lauded by both the book-reading public and reviewers worldwide, and described by the UK Daily Telegraph as a "miniature masterpiece", this internationally critically acclaimed book - now a motion picture - has deservedly been recognised as a classic contemporary memoir of military life, told from the seldom reported perspective of an ordinary work-a-day soldier in the US Marines.

Very good, very poignant

An extroidinary piece of work highliting the mental battles that a US marine went through during the Gulf War. Very graphic, but necessarirly so. A fantastic read for anyone looking for an insight into a soldiers mind during war

Great modern day solider's memoirs

I really loved this book as it's a fascinating insight into the life of the modern day US soldier. Reading all about the drills Swofford's unit do and the excercises they HAVE to do, to keep themselves from being bored - you can understand their desire to get stuck into the war and actually fire their gun, or DO SOMETHING - which, of course, they never do. Swofford appears to be a down to earth guy as this is a really straight-talking account of his time in the Gulf War and might not be the easiest of read's for the American military. It's nowhere near as haunting or as vivid as Albert French's account of the Vietnam war -called 'Patches of Fire' - (a simply unforgettable book) but Jarhead will keep you engrossed to the end.

Excellent and thought provoking

Firstly, I'd agree wholeheartedly with everything "caffreysisgoodforyou" said - I could have written that review myself.

My own little twist on the review is this. If I were a parent of a teenager who said he was intending to join the armed forces, I would hand him a copy of this book and tell him to read it before making his mind up. And possibly The Forgotten Soldier too. If that didn't change his mind then at least I would feel comfortable that I had done my bit. It's that good.

Anthony Swofford is clearly far more than a "jarhead" (as he keeps referring to himself). A very intelligent man with a real talent for writing.

I only gave this 4 stars because I was expecting something different to what I got, as I suspect many other buyers have. If I could have given it 4.5 then I would have! However, this is an excellent account of what war can do to you as an individual and thereby deserves to be read by all and sundry.

Truly Amazing

Many people believe the film version of this book isn't worth waching but I believe that by both watching the film and the book, everything become perfect sense.
The book talks about a person's extraodinary experience during the first gulf war in operation desert storm and shield.
Reading this book deeply decribes how your mind mentality dramatically changes when you enter a war zone.
The book is not what you would call action packed but you still understand the experiences of what a war does to a soldier.
I love this book and so deeply reccomend this to any war book reader.

A miniature masterpiece

Lauded by both the book-reading public and reviewers worldwide, and described by the UK Daily Telegraph as a "miniature masterpiece", this internationally critically acclaimed book - now a motion picture - has deservedly been recognised as a classic contemporary memoir of military life, told from the seldom reported perspective of an ordinary work-a-day soldier in the US Marines.

Very good, very poignant

An extroidinary piece of work highliting the mental battles that a US marine went through during the Gulf War. Very graphic, but necessarirly so. A fantastic read for anyone looking for an insight into a soldiers mind during war

Great modern day solider's memoirs

I really loved this book as it's a fascinating insight into the life of the modern day US soldier. Reading all about the drills Swofford's unit do and the excercises they HAVE to do, to keep themselves from being bored - you can understand their desire to get stuck into the war and actually fire their gun, or DO SOMETHING - which, of course, they never do. Swofford appears to be a down to earth guy as this is a really straight-talking account of his time in the Gulf War and might not be the easiest of read's for the American military. It's nowhere near as haunting or as vivid as Albert French's account of the Vietnam war -called 'Patches of Fire' - (a simply unforgettable book) but Jarhead will keep you engrossed to the end.

Excellent and thought provoking

Firstly, I'd agree wholeheartedly with everything "caffreysisgoodforyou" said - I could have written that review myself.

My own little twist on the review is this. If I were a parent of a teenager who said he was intending to join the armed forces, I would hand him a copy of this book and tell him to read it before making his mind up. And possibly The Forgotten Soldier too. If that didn't change his mind then at least I would feel comfortable that I had done my bit. It's that good.

Anthony Swofford is clearly far more than a "jarhead" (as he keeps referring to himself). A very intelligent man with a real talent for writing.

I only gave this 4 stars because I was expecting something different to what I got, as I suspect many other buyers have. If I could have given it 4.5 then I would have! However, this is an excellent account of what war can do to you as an individual and thereby deserves to be read by all and sundry.