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A Rumor of War [Paperback]

Philip Caputo
4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (65 customer reviews)
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Book Description

Nov 15 1996
The classic Vietnam memoir, as relevant today as it was almost thirty years ago.

In March of 1965, Marine Lieutenent Philip J. Caputo landed at Da Nang with the first ground combat unit deployed to Vietnam. Sixteen months later, having served on the line in one of modern history's ugliest wars, he returned home--physically whole but emotionally wasted, his youthful idealism forever gone.
A Rumor of War is more than one soldier's story. Upon its publication in 1977, it shattered America's indifference to the fate of the men sent to fight in the jungles of Vietnam. In the years since then, it has become not only a basic text on the Vietnam War but also a renowned classic in the literature of wars throughout history and, as Caputo explains, of "the things men do in war and the things war does to men."

"A singular and marvelous work." --The New York Times




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Product Description

From Publishers Weekly

20th-anniversary edition of Caputo's memoir of fighting in Vietnam.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

“To call it the best book about Vietnam is to trivialize it . . . A Rumor of War is a dangerous and even subversive book, the first to insist—and the insistence is all the more powerful because it is implicit—that the reader ask himself these questions: How would I have acted? To what lengths would I have gone to survive? The sense of self is assaulted, overcome, subverted, leaving the reader to contemplate the deadening possibility that his own moral safety net might have a hole in it. It is a terrifying thought, and A Rumor of War is a terrifying book.”—John Gregory Dunne, Los Angeles Times Book Review

“Caputo’s troubled, searching meditations on the love and hate of war, on fear, and the ambivalent discord warfare can create in the hearts of decent men, are among the most eloquent I have read in modern literature.”—William Styron, The New York Review of Books

“Every war seems to find its own voice: Caputo . . . is an eloquent spokesman for all we lost in Vietnam.”—C. D. B. Bryan, Saturday Review

“A book that must be read and reread—if for no other reason than as an eloquent statement against war. It is a superb book.”—Terry Anderson, Denver Post

“This is news that goes beyond what the journalists brought us, news from the heart of darkness. It was long overdue.”—Newsweek

“Not since Siegfried Sassoon's classic of World War I, Memoirs of an Infantry Officer, has there been a war memoir so obviously true, and so disturbingly honest.”—William Broyles, Texas Monthly

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This book does not pretend to be history. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews

4.8 out of 5 stars
4.8 out of 5 stars
Most helpful customer reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Candid account of the brutal reality of combat Feb 22 2004
Format:Paperback
I read this in two sittings. This book consumes you. If you harbor any romanticized notions of combat, A Rumor of War will shatter them. Caputo joins the military for the same reason so many other young men do: to validate his masculinity through acts of valor. It is Caputo's story, but it could be the story of so many others. He "escapes" his banal suburban town and becomes a Marine officer. Soon the monotony of Marine training is replaced by the stark realities of combat. The reader can sense a gradual transformation of Caputo's pysche. At the onset of the conflict Caputo is transfixed and mesmerized by the carnage(he describes in lucid detail what brains look like as they spill from a man's skull). By the end of the book Caputo is savage and even bloodthirsty, completely callous and almost indifferent to the brutalities that surround him. I honestly think this book hits harder than any film can (saving private ryan, platoon, etc.) about how hellish combat is. Film can only utilize imagery, but literature, through words, more vividly captures the tattered consciousness of the participant. I thought the most disturbing part of the book was when Caputo recalls the euphoria that he felt when he finally accepted the inevitability of his own death. at that point i think he ceased to be human in the sense that most people know. the only thing that detracted from the book was the somewhat mundane descriptions of military logistics.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars My favorite text book Oct 9 2003
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
My military history class used this book as one of our main text books. It was and still is the only text book that I have ever enjoyed reading.
Caputo uses great writing skills to take the reader through his tour as a Marine Corp's officer in Vietnam. I have read many other books on Vietnam, but this book is exciting while keeping a respectful tone for the war. This is an excellent book for educating civilians about the atrocities that the soldiers experienced. This book will be eye opening for everyone!
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars From Camelot to Quang Nam Feb 26 2004
Format:Paperback
Mr Caputo (as in TOE) takes the reader on his journey from college to war to military inquiry and part of the power of the work is how well the language illuminates that experience. It begins with clear, concise prose, as the young man is clear in his goals and what his country "stands for" , and rises to poetry of a kind as the narrator descends into a confused hell, where his goal becomes simple survival and he is uncertain about his country and its values. The narrator's journey in his early twenties, is from a sobriety to a delirium and back again but on that return, the open, trusting individual, is transformed into a cold, hardened, and cynical Nam Vet. There is some especially good analysis of "courage" (p.294) and the nature of a patrol by a platoon (p.252). The passage on 240 has a music and power which I could imagine being quoted as a classic piece of war prose/poetry in which the phrase "All secure. Situation remains the same" is echoed five times throughout the piece in a kind of fugue. Great writing which summarises the misery and the exhaustion men suffered on patrol, especially the power of the landscape and climate to overpower.
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Most recent customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Exceptional, Purely Exceptional.
This book had me captivated from the start, and had my crying in parts. Caputo has written a masterpiece of a memoir. Thank you for helping me understand the Vietnam War.
Published on Jan 25 2010 by Cameron Craig
5.0 out of 5 stars I was there...it's true
I landed in "Chu Lai" with the Marines on May 7, 1965. Do you want to know what it was like? Read this book. Read more
Published on May 26 2004
5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome book
If you are intending to serve in the military, this book should be required reading. It's not pretty, in fact a bit depressing, but seriously good. Read more
Published on May 6 2004 by K. Goddard
5.0 out of 5 stars WOW! I was impressed.
I was required to read this for my Vietnam War class, yet, I have been interested in the War my father fought in for several years. Read more
Published on Feb 17 2004
5.0 out of 5 stars not just a classic
People have compared this to "The Red Badge of Courage" and "All Quiet on the Western Front." I never liked the first and the second is fiction while this of course is a true... Read more
Published on Feb 14 2004
5.0 out of 5 stars Make your young men read this book!
Waste: the soul of war. Mr. Caputo tells the truth and the choice is ours whether or not we learn from it.
Published on Feb 1 2004
5.0 out of 5 stars Must Read
Its simply one of the best books I have ever read.
Published on Oct 27 2003 by Chad
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Excellent Excellent!!!!
I read this book on my train and plane rides on my recent trip to Europe, and I seriously could not put it down. Read more
Published on July 28 2003 by C. Crowell
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Infantryman's Treatise
Philip Caputo's Rumor of War is an excellent autobiographical study of the infantry officer's plight during the Vietnam War. Read more
Published on May 15 2003 by "p_trabaris"
5.0 out of 5 stars Mallowcups for Philip
Truth makes free--that was the odd thought flitting in the background when I read this book. I could have chosen a history book to try and understand the Vietnam war; I'm glad... Read more
Published on April 20 2003 by Tracy Groot
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