The Caine Mutiny: A Novel of World War II: Amazon.ca: Herman Wouk: Books

Product Description

Book Description

The Novel that Inspired the Now-Classic Film The Caine Mutiny and the Hit Broadway Play The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial Herman Wouk's boldly dramatic, brilliantly entertaining novel of life-and mutiny-on a Navy warship in the Pacific theater was immediately embraced, upon its original publication in 1951, as one of the first serious works of American fiction to grapple with the moral complexities and the human consequences of World War II. In the intervening half century, The Caine Mutiny has become a perennial favorite of readers young and old, has sold millions of copies throughout the world, and has achieved the status of a modern classic. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From the Publisher

Each decade new readers discover the characters and curious activities aboard the U.S.S. Caine in this classic tale of pathos, humor, and scope. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

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Customer Reviews

50 Reviews

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
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Average Customer Review

4.6 out of 5 stars (50 customer reviews)

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5.0 out of 5 stars More Than A War Story, Jun 22 2004

By

James Gallen (St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A.) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Caine Mutiny: A Novel of World War II (Paperback)

Good literature can transport the reader into the world of the book. Great literature enters the world of the reader. "The Caine Mutiny" is great literature. Many have seen the movie so I can say a little about the story. Set on an obsolete destroyer-minesweeper during World War II, "The Caine Mutiny", seen through the eyes of a young officer, Willie Keith, tells the story of an inadequate captain whose mismanagement leads to his relief from command when a crisis confronts the ship. With romance and a domineering mother, the book intertwines several stories which hold the reader's interest.

Perhaps a Navy veteran would see much about the service in "The Caine Mutiny", I do not know. Although it is set on a naval vessel in wartime, it is much more than a war story, although that it is. I saw much about life in it. It contains instances and characters which I encounter in a life about as far from the Caine as one can imagine. This ability of this book to enter into the world of the reader, even as the reader enters the world of the book, earns "The Caine Mutiny" a place in the canon of great literature.

I enjoy reading, but I cannot remember a book which I was so loath to set down. This book is a real page turner. Years ago my father told me to watch the movie, which I did. I finally took his advise the next step and read the book. Since I cannot return the favor, I will pass it on. READ "THE CAINE MUTINY"!

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5.0 out of 5 stars A ripping novel of World War Two in the US Navy., April 29 2004

By

Roger J. Buffington (Huntington Beach, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Caine Mutiny: A Novel of World War II (Paperback)

This is perhaps not the greatest novel ever written about World War Two, but it may be the most readable. This is an engrossing, ingenious, and well-written story of ordinary men at sea, placed in an uncommon predicament. Their predicament is simple: their captain is a spectacularly bad leader. This leads to consequences that Wouk develops brilliantly. Wouk's own experience in the US Navy gives this book a gritty authentic feel. The reader really gets a flavor of what it must have been like to be a junior US Naval officer aboard a destroyer-minesweeper. The discussions of officer efficiency reports, the codebreaking duty, casual discipline, and more, all ring true.

The real story is the maturation of Willie Keith. At the beginning of the novel he is a spoiled, overprivileged lad living an aimless life. His time in the service, and the unusual predicament in which he finds himself, hardens him into a true fighting-man in a way that has happened to countless thousands of servicemen. Wouk tells this story exceedingly well, in a manner that most readers will be able to easily relate to. I found this novel to be an unusually good read primarily for this reason. Wouk's writing is first-rate, and it is easy to see why this novel appealed to readers of the early 1950s, many of them with fresh memories of World War Two. The flavor of that war lingers in the novel even today, and gives the twenty-first century reader a notion of what those times were like.

This is altogether a remarkably good novel, deserving of every one of its five stars.

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5.0 out of 5 stars My Favorite World War II Novel, Jan 24 2004

By

Grant Waara (Lusk, Wyoming, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Caine Mutiny: A Novel of World War II (Paperback)

This is my favorite of the great World War II novels and I've read many of the great ones, which includes Mailer's "The Naked & the Dead" and James Jones' "From Here to Eternity."

Wouk broke much ground with this novel and the Pulitzer was well earned. The superb court martial, Willie Keith's coming of age, and of course who can forget Phillip Francis Queeg, perhaps the most famous modern naval captain in fiction?

With a wonderful assortment of characters and a superb plot, we see Willie Keith go from naive and arrogant young college graduate, to a mature tempered man who has endured the fires of war. It is a novel to be read and reread. The movie version with Humphrey Bogart isn't bad either. But as they say, the book is always better.

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars I appreciate it even more on my third read
This is perhaps the third time I have read The Caine Mutiny and now with a little age under my belt, I appreciate it even more. Read more

Published on May 17 2004 by Robert Wynkoop

3.0 out of 5 stars No Mutiny: Little Action But Lots of Words
When THE CAINE MUTINY was first published in 1952, it became an instant hit since the memories of the Second World War were still quite fresh in the collective minds of the adult... Read more

Published on April 9 2004 by Martin Asiner