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Title: In Pharaoh's Army : Memories of the Lost War by TOBIAS WOLFF ISBN: 0-679-76023-7 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 26 September, 1995 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.29 (24 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: This Boy's War
Comment: This book continues where THIS BOY'S LIFE left off, following Tobias Wolff into the Army and Vietnam. Wolff is very funny and very insightful, and he pulls you into the story right away. You get to know his friends, the "Army types", the Vietnamese people, his (pathetic) dog, and his Stateside circle of intimates. These characters are all fully-drawn, especially his best Army buddy.
This is not a humor collection of amusing wartime anecdotes; war is ugly, and nobody gets out unhurt. Wolff includes all of this, but he has a sense of irony about events, and a sense of compassion toward people. Also, each chapter can stand alone as a fully-realized short essay.
I've read his short fiction and his memoirs, and I think Tobias Wolff is one of the most gifted American writers of this generation.
Rating: 5
Summary: Simply excellent
Comment: I read this after This Boy's Life which was terrific. In this book you get the same honesty the same dazzling writing. It's hard to pin down but the way Mr. Wolff writes you REALLY feel like you know him. There is no pretension, no hype to his writing. No bs. Wolff has alot of anecdotes to tell about his youth. Off the top of my head I can recall his experiences watching Bonanza on tv. in Vietnam. It was quite a story believe me. And it touched on things like, the savvy of his second in command, the day to day life of a soldier... This book is filled with telling stories like this. You won't see this sort of thing in your usual Vietnam memoir. Least I wouldn't think so. I will say one thing though. Before I read any of Wolff's work it seemed, from the reviews and the book jacket that I was in for a kind of dull book that had a way of obliging the reader to acknowledge it. Nothing could be further from the truth. This book has all the colors of the rainbow, chills, thrills, laughs, I mean this book has it ALL.
Rating: 3
Summary: Well written but ultimately a letdown
Comment: I'm not quite sure what to make of this book. Wolff is a gifted writer, but it doesn't seem like he's got a whole lot to talk about when it comes to his time in Vietnam. Wolf portrays himself as an inept soldier, someone who got his officer's commission by an idiotic stroke of luck. He even gives examples to back it up. A great example is a practice parachute insertion, when he mistakes a garbage dump for his intended drop zone and orders his team to jump.
The more I read, the more I began to dislike Wolff. After reading the combat memoirs of men like Frank Miller (Reflections of a Warrior), Robert Mason (Chickenhawk), Bruce Norton (Force Recon Diary), and others, it's hard to feel otherwise. He comes off as an extremely self-centered individual-not only in 'Nam, but in every aspect of his life.
On a side note, the book ends with a truly bizzare paragraph explaining the type used to print the book and a brief biographical note about the type's creator. I have no idea what purpose this paragraph serves, but I mention it here because it is, by accident or design, one of the books most memorable parts.
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Title: This Boy's Life: A Memoir by Tobias Wolff ISBN: 0802136680 Publisher: Grove Press Pub. Date: March, 2000 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Old School by TOBIAS WOLFF ISBN: 0375401466 Publisher: Knopf Pub. Date: 04 November, 2003 List Price(USD): $22.00 |
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Title: The Night In Question : Stories by TOBIAS WOLFF ISBN: 0679781552 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 30 September, 1997 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Back in the World : Stories by Tobias Wolff ISBN: 0679767967 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 01 October, 1996 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: In The Garden Of The North American Martyrs : Stories by Tobias Wolff ISBN: 0880014970 Publisher: Ecco Pub. Date: 01 October, 1996 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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