'Lost Soldiers' by James 'Jim' Webb

Having lived in Vietnam for nearly 3 months now this book had my attention immediately. I bought it 6 months ago on a whim. There were two huge carts full of books at Goodwill and after rummaging through about 300 of them, this book ended up being my only purchase. The classic style of the hard cover and the map of Vietnam on the inside of the cover convinced me that this book would not spend it's life on my bookshelf.

A rich plot that keeps you on your toes til the last minute and, more importantly, a realistic and enchanting view of the life of a Vietnam Vet trying to find a life in the aftermath, Congressman Webb does a commendable job of creating a protaganist that is so awful we can't help but love him. It has been done better by others but this was not far from the mark. Unlike other virtuous villians, I think the reader can almost immediately see through the veil to the deep morality of Condley. Not that this is bad but some of the abrasive mannerisms and lack of social graces come across as unrealistic.

I would read more Webb but I won't spend much time seeking him out. On a cursory search, it doesn't seem that the majority of his work is centered in Post Vietnam War Vietnam. That was what drew me in most of all.

Mr. Paradise by Elmore Leonard

This author is well lauded by his peers. Stephen King called him 'the Great American Writer'. He is known for writing in a way that leaves nothing for the reader to skip and making the dialogue so real that it doesn't feel like writing at all. This may be true but I didn't appreciate his style. It certainly didn't feel like writing but when the dialogue jumps from one person to another with little holding the conversation together it gets quite jumbled. In a movie it would work. In novel it just confusing. I am not saying that script dialogue has no place in a novel but it should be supplemented with more traditional ways of letting the reader keep some sense of reality about it.

Furthermore, the plot was fairly non-existent in this novel. We are told what happened in the first chapters and we spend the rest of the time waiting for the bad guy to get caught. They are not smart and do not try to evade capture. Not exactly a nail biter. I was expecting a 'whodunnit' and got a 'thisiswhathappenedandithappenedinaveryboringandrealisticway'.

I don't need to find another Leonard novel but I am grateful for the adaptations his work has brought into being.

Exodus by Leon Uris

Fantastic book. Intertwined great historical descriptions with a characters that draw you in, impress you, and leave a mark.

This was more than just the story of a group of Jews trying to get into Palestine, it was an epic tale of the 200 years of worldwide Jewish persecution leading upto the moment in time when such a trip means so much to so many.

Learning about the massacres in Russia, Poland, and Germany in the precedent centuries was revelatory. I want now to learn more about the history of the state of Israel. The way they redeemed the land and fought so valiantly to defend it makes me yearn to read more.

This book was great, and if a bit biased, it certainly showed the reader why.

'For Whom the Bell Tolls' by Ernie Hemmingway

It's been a long time since I've read a book that didn't contain the title, almost word for word, somewhere within. This book, as per his style, did not.

You can read so many books and so quickly forget what good writing feels like. This book refreshed my memory.

Robert Jordan is an American fighting Franco and the fascists in the Spanish Civil War. He is an explosives expert and we join him as he enters the small guellerio party of Pablo and his woman Pilar. Along the way we meet memorable and valiant characters like the old man Anselmo, the pissant Augustin and the masculine champion El Sordo. The coltish young lady Maria or 'little rabbit' also finds her way into our story, forever changing our protaganist.

Things I loved about this book:
1. The almost seamless way he blended the English and Spanish. He even wrote the translations from Spanish in a manner that gives the language a higher respectability. Thee and Thou are scattered throughout and the sentence structure finds itself embedded in the English translation. I loooooved that.

2. The use of the words obscenity or unprintable instead of vulgarities. It's more fun to fill in the words myself.

3. The subtle, not overbearing, manner in which the theme of the life of one versus the progress of a philosophy was approached was refreshing.

4. This book had killing, sexing, drinking and philosophy. My dad would say the movie should have all the necessary factors for a good flick.

5. A bad guy you can hate but not too much. You feel the humanity and can empathize.

This book was worth the adventure. Can I get some more Hemmingway please?