First up, three war books that have really stuck in my memory as awesome reads:
- My Brother Sam is Dead by James and Chris Collier: YAL about family on opposite sides during the American Revolution
- When God Looked the Other Way by Wesley Adamczyk: Memoir about the forced exile of the Poles to Russia during WWII
- Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut: SciFi semi-autobiographical about WWII and time travel
- The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane: Hated it in high school. With a passion
- The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien: Short stories set in Vietnam
What war books do you think should make the list?
Good list. I would also add add the recent novel Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great list, and If there were more slots available, I would echo the above poster and add Matterhorn and also Unbroken.
ReplyDeleteI loathed Red Badge of Courage. Blech!
ReplyDeleteLOL, I think I have a "worst best" in every category. Love that label.
ReplyDeleteI was pretty sure someone would have mentioned The Book Thief before me, but apparently not :P
ReplyDeleteI haven't read your other two favourites, but I adored Slaughterhouse-Five. Adding them to my wishlist.
I so agree with you about Red Badge. Ugh!
ReplyDeleteDo read The Things They Carried! It's a wonderful collection!
Yes yes yes, read the O'Brien. Such a good book.
ReplyDeleteI need to buckle down and read THE THINGS THEY CARRIED as well!
ReplyDeleteI need to read The Things They Carried as well. I keep hearing about it but never quite get around to reading it.
ReplyDeletelol I just posted on RED BADGE OF COURAGE today. I didn't like it either and wanted too...
ReplyDeleteI remember liking Red Badge when I read it forever ago and enjoyed Morning by Howard Fast when I read it a few years ago. My husband loved Catch-22, but I hated it. But he listened to the audio, so maybe that helped :)
ReplyDeleteI remember liking My Brother Sam (if I recall, it was pretty sad right?) and All Quiet on the Western Front.
ReplyDeleteI read My Brother Sam is Dead WAY back in the day. Other books around war I enjoy:
ReplyDeleteThe Things They Carried
All Quiet on the Western Front
Summer of my German Soldier (one I also read way back in the day)
And, as Nymeth mentioned, The Book Thief
All Quiet on the Western Front, definitely - so sad. The Cruel Sea by Nicholas Monsarrat is fantastic. I really enjoy Alistair MacLean's war novels, but I wouldn't claim they're particularly well-written. Requiem for a Wren by Nevil Shute is set both during wartime and afterwards, and which I really like; likewise his A Town Like Alice is partly set in Japanese-occupied Malaya. And Summer of My German Soldier is lovely but sad (I cried at one point).
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