Other fiction deals with veterans and their suffering robert stones dog soldiers, national book award, 1975, the effects of the war on families bobbie ann masons in country, 1985, living and working in vietnam before the war ward justs a dangerous friend, 1999 and reinterpretations of our involvement denis johnsons tree of. The top 10 books about returning from war books the. Heres an admittedly subjective list, posted on the military history now website, put together by mark masse, a ball state university literary journalism professor. By 1955, and after decades of resistance to french colonials, vietnam was partitioned into northern and southern territories. Winner of the 1974 national book award for fiction, dog soldiers is a story of the vietnam war and of drug smuggling. Decades after the vietnam war, where does violence begin. A national book award finalist for non fiction, this memoir chronicles the authors experiences as an army first lieutenant in the vietnam war. An important book on the war combing fiction and the personal experience of the author is tim obriens b. Search results for vietnam war download free fiction.
An important early study of the war and its literature. Dog soldiers won the 1975 national book award for fiction, the first vietnam war novel to do so. Critically acclaimed since its release in 1977, dispatches was one of the first books which offered an insiders account of the vietnam war to the general public. Please check out my book happiness is a warm guna vietnam story.
In 2006 the online bookstore abebooks reported that it was among the 10 novels most frequently sold to american soldiers in iraq the only war fiction in the top 10, in fact. A novel of the vietnam war is a novel by american author and decorated marine karl marlantes. The things they carried by the vietnam war 1432 words cram. A slew of war memoirs stand with the best writing of that genre. The necessary war, michael lind if you only read one book on the vietnam war, this is it. A rumor of war, philip caputo to call it the best book about vietnam is to trivialise it. While the list of books about this conflict includes hundreds of enlightening works, we pick ten of the best texts offering illuminating perspectives on the war, its context and the effects it had on vietnam. Heinemann bores into the mind of the books antihero, paco sullivan, as he struggles with his personal demons after duty in vietnam left him severely woundedand the lone survivor in his unit. An oral history of the vietnam war by black veterans. The forever wars stance on war is probably best summed up by this quote. Death eaters are still at large and the ministry is focused on capturing them and reopening hogwarts. From the firsthand accounts of onsite doctors to novels about soldiers on the frontlines, the following ten books describe the tragedies and triumphs endured by the men. Jul 12, 2016 a national book award finalist for non fiction, this memoir chronicles the authors experiences as an army first lieutenant in the vietnam war.
The things they carried is a fiction book based on the vietnam war. Among the most positive is an abundance of topnotch books, many written by veterans of the conflict. Literary legacy of the vietnam war ken lopez bookseller. Ninh, a north vietnamese veteran, telegraphs the theme of his novel in the title. The best vietnam war books five books expert recommendations.
Often compared to joseph conrad and ernest hemingway, and largely considered one of the best vietnam novels, stone focuses on two characters, one of whom is a sailor traveling home from vietnam. We lived our relationship through letters, phone calls, violence and determination. The events of the book are set in hong kong during the vietnam war. A white house at war, a revolt in the streets, and the untold. Beyond that, on the fiction front, we quickly traipse into forgettable territory. The book provides a brutally honest assessment of what these young soldiers, who were little more than children at the time, did to survive. It was about a patrol looking for cacciato who was going to paris, so they followed him to paris. False atrocity tales, swift boaters, and winter soldierswhat really happened in vietnam. A novel of the vietnam war intense, powerful, and compelling, matterhorn is an epic war novel in the tradition of norman mailersthe naked and the dead and james joness the thin red line. In 2010, the new york times described obriens book as a vietnam classic. A novel of the vietnam war, was published in 2010 and became one of a new york times top ten best. In addition, he is known for his war novel, going after.
His coverage of the war in dispatches was groundbreaking for its presented a type of journalism that traded monotonous details for. My story is just one about a young couple in love during one of the most turbulent times in this countrys history. These include winners of national book awards and pulitzer prizes, both fiction and nonfiction. Pages in category vietnam war fiction the following 15 pages are in this category, out of 15 total. The book is not only a splendid account of a conflict often forgotten in the aftermath of americas war in vietnam, but it also speaks to the debate that continues to rage among military experts on the nature of the two wars in indochina and the proper ways to fight them, wrote george herring, the author of americas longest war. Pages in category vietnam war novels the following 45 pages are in this category, out of 45 total. It is very easy to get into the weeds, when trying to discuss this matter. Before beginning his tour of duty, wolff spent a year in washington, d. Mar 06, 2015 dog soldiers won the 1975 national book award for fiction, the first vietnam war novel to do so. Dec, 2017 in the fiction section, you will find the best books on vietnam war, other vietnam bestseller novels as well as novels set in vietnam. It was adapted into the feature film full metal jacket 1987, directed by stanley kubrick. The 15 stories collected here in this pulitzer prize book, all written in the first person, blend vietnamese folklore, the terrible, lingering memories of war, american pop culture and family drama. Heinemanns second literary work, pacos story, a biting tale of the vietnam wars emotional aftermath, won the national book award for fiction. Jan 23, 2015 after the war, marlantes began to write about his experiences in vietnam.
One of my favourites from this list is the beauty of humanity movement, it might be an oldie but it is a great book that tells an interesting story about key characters and their lives in old vietnam. The recon company that earned five medals of honor and included americas most decorated green beret. An epic novel of vietnam by anthony grey happens to be one of the best books on vietnam war. Not all of these books have a direct connection to any particular anti war movement. Michael herr was a war correspondent for esquire between 1967 and 1969. The first one, going after cacciato, was very surreal. Spector has produced a firstrate history of the war. Apr 25, 2017 after vietnam, after the economic and tonal shift, haldemans book was published. In the fiction section, you will find the best books on vietnam war, other vietnam bestseller novels as well as novels set in vietnam. Organized chaos, seemed like a contradiction in terms, but after a few weeks in vietnam, it seemed plausible. Personally, im drawn to stories about the period after the vietnam war. The book is presented by the author as nonfiction but considered to be untrue by military historians, and usually sold as fiction. It tells the story of josephs first visit to saigon in 1925. Three are novels, two of which were written by vietnam war.
In his third and most powerful work of fiction, the acclaimed author of the coming of rain and bound for the promised landbiographer also of thomas moreimmerses us in the rich life of an american town, in the subtle and complex experience of becoming an american, in the good and evil of a time gone by. Readers weighed in on the best books about the vietnam war. I like this book because it was his second book about vietnam. Matterhorn by karl marlantes, the things they carried by tim obrien, the th valley by john m. We would be organized militarily, but we would have to break the bad habit, of trying to fight a conventional war in a guerrilla warfare environment. The screenplay by hasford, kubrick, and screenwriter michael herr was nominated for an academy award. Butlers literary ventriloquism, as he mines the experiences of a people with a great literary tradition of their own, is. An absorbing and definitive modern history of the vietnam war from the acclaimed new york times bestselling author of the secret war vietnam became the western worlds most divisive modern conflict, precipitating a battlefield humiliation for france in 1954, then a vastly greater one for the united states in 1975. This intervention would become one of the most divisive decisions in u.
Although he was a conscientious objector, gary kulik came from a military family and loved being a medic in a war zone. The 1143yearlong war had begun on false pretenses and only because the two races were unable to communicate. Dec 05, 2016 this passionate and disturbing book captures a different part of our society in the years following vietnam. The author was a government engineer and became involved in the corruption common at that time. Ten vietnam war novels to read council on foreign relations. Small print extolled the book as an adventure novel, but the message was clearthis book was fiction, not. Oct 06, 2017 decades after the vietnam war, where does violence begin.
Contemporary fiction from vietnam edited by wayne karlin and ho anh thai curbstone press the most recent collection of contemporary vietnamese fiction, this 642page book contains work from some of vietnams most talented writers. Best books on vietnam 194 books meet your next favorite book. The book spans over 25 years, after deborah portsmouth girl and christy vietnam veteran and history professor at a small nh college meet in portsmouth, the hometown of his buddy, who died in vietnam. Your next book is a classic of vietnam war books, the things they carried 1990 by tim obrien. The top 10 books about returning from war us marines veteran phil klay, whose short story collection about the iraq war won a national book award, chooses his favourite books about homecoming. May 16, 2018 a reasonable crime reader might very well feel partial to the fiction that followed the depression, wwii, the korean war, florida, or any number of anguishes experienced en masse here in the states and elsewhere. William timothy tim obrien born october 1, 1946 is an american novelist.
The vietnam war has produced as much literature as w. Intense, powerful, and compelling, matterhorn is an epic war novel in the tradition of norman mailers the naked and the dead and james joness the thin red line. Now that ken burns pbs documentary has concluded, were rereading the classics of the vietnam war s literary canon. Harry and his friends come to terms with the losses they have all sustained and they work together to rebuild a broken society. Jun 14, 2018 winner of the 1974 national book award for fiction, dog soldiers is a story of the vietnam war and of drug smuggling.
The list includes fiction and non fiction, and books for children and younger readers. Up and ship me home, going after cacciato paterson, katherine. Just as the vietnam war stretched our definitions of warfarewith such memorable lines as we had to destroy the town in order to save itthe literature of the war wants its own categories, and falls uneasily into the standard ones. The vietnam war has scarred, transformed and inspired countless writers and art practitioners. It tells the story of cacciato, the main character, who decides to escape from the battlefields by walking from vietnam to paris. He is best known for his book the things they carried 1990, a collection of linked semiautobiographical stories inspired by obriens experiences in the vietnam war. The th valley by john del vecchio there have been a number of excellent books about vietnam. This story will cover the 19 years that harry finds.
List of books and articles about vietnam war in literature. There is catch22, and slaughterhouse five, and these are classics to be sure. Perhaps the only decent thing to emerge from the vietnam war is a body of literature unsurpassed by the writing thats come out of any other war. In a fight to reunify their divided country under communist rule, the north vietnamese rebelled against the anticommunist southwhich included their longtime enemies, the french. Complete organized chaos for the new guys would begin as we landed in vietnam. It is the timeless story of a young marine lieutenant, waino mellas, and his comrades in bravo company, who are dropped into the mountain jungle of vietnam as boys and forced to fight their way into.
Vietnam war 35 vietnam war biography 2 vietnam war fiction 4 vietnam war history 35 vietnam war memoir 7 vietnam war novel 7 vietnam war poetry 1 vietnam war posttraumatic stress disorder 1 vietnam war themed novel 10 world war ii novel 1 events 2 in service newsletter inside vva chapters 655 press releases 168. The ultimate 2020 list of best vietnam books to read. The shorttimers was published in 1979 and became a bestseller, described in newsweek as the best work of fiction about the vietnam war. All the strongest work is here, from mainstream bestsellers to radical poetry, from tim obrien to marvin gaye. Shortlisted for canadas prestigious giller prize, this profoundly humane novel vancouver sun, wrings suspense and humor out of the everyday choices we make, revealing the delicate balance between sacrifice and selfinterest, doing good and being good. The cold war was a war between the united states who were trying to spread democracy and the soviet union who were trying to spread communism. This rare account of the american aka vietnam war by a north vietnamese army veteran, although fiction, revealed truths to many people inside and outside vietnam. Its based on his book, vietnam warrior voices, which we will be read more. The fall of an empire and the making of americas vietnam, by fredrik logevall fredrik logevalls book focuses on the french conflict in vietnam at the end of world war ii and the beginning of the american one in 1959. This story takes place directly after the final battle.