Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #196641 in Books
• Published on: 2004-01-19
• Binding: Paperback
• 260 pages

Mark Bowden, author of BLACK HAWK DOWN
'JARHEAD will go down with the best books ever written about military life'

MARTIN AMIS
'JARHEAD is not only a work of reportage from a "privileged" observer. It is also a work of genuine talent'

Tony Parsons
'One of the great war narratives'

Customer Reviews

AMAZING WRITING
I never saw the film. I read the book a bit prejudiced. However the writing style is fantastic. This guy is a born writer. As for the context, it once again proves to me that the American fighting machine is a myth based on lots and lots of money spending and hollywood type propaganda. All they do is shoot up unarmed civilians and rabble forces.Unfortunately in this historical period of the world they rule. Thats all.GREAT BOOK AS FAR AS THE WRITING STYLE IS CONCERNED.

Jarhead
Unlike the vast majority of people, I have read the book but have not yet seen the film. Whether this is a help or a hindrance to this review I am not sure, but I do believe that the book will benefit immensely from the "Silver Screen" treatment.

In 'Jarhead: A Soldier's Story of Modern War,' it seems that Swofford has tried to balance his account of the war with anecdotes about his personal life before and after it. This is a perfectly fine idea, and would work if the reader were not confused by the frequent changes that destroy the fluidity of the book.
Anthony Swofford surprised me with the quality and thoughtfulness of his prose, which was indeed at times very moving and unexpectedly deep, but the great disappointment of this book is that it does not really say anything. It meanders from his childhood, to basic training, to the war, to his adolescence and finally the end of the war. Unfortunately, he fails to explore more thoughroughly the impact that the war had on him, as this is perhaps the most interesting section of the book. When the last page has been turned, the reader has gained a small measure of understanding about what being a soldier is really like, but that is all.
I would recommend this book to a casual reader seeking an insight into the workings of modern warfare and the psychological profile of a highly trained soldier. However, this book is not so much a story as a collection of events in the author's life.

American Dreamland
I enjoyed the book, it was quite factual in parts but fictional in others. I find it interesting that the negative reviews are from those in the USA who are both very patriotic yet insular!! Having both served in many conflicts with the British Army and serving alonside the USA Army (in conflict zones, who are quite different in their approach), I can without hesitation quantify that this book is not a negative towards the USA Military par sa, but reflects the demands on young soldiers who are expected by Military environments to confirm to macho, killing pseadonism by order.

You cannot be trained to be ordered to kill, but you can be trained to kill to order, instinct does indeed take over and yes you react accordingly, but if you think as this book reflects you cannot think and kill without a killer instinct, you think, especially as a sniper and you cannot perform.

This book illustrates that behind every conflict is a human. To critisice this book is contradicting the general statement "we are soldiers therefore we kill" ethos, fortunately, those who generally criticise have never been in that situation or those who have live with the consequences and tend to live with it daily "the film, behind the eyes" do, read the book, make you own assessement, put "you" in that scenario, it's not cowardice it's not bravery it's surviving. In my opinion not a great book but an interesting read, looking forward to the film )although very dramatised i suspect)