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Most helpful customer reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Very Mysterious Life,
By Ian Gordon Malcomson (Victoria, BC) - See all my reviews (HALL OF FAME) (TOP 10 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman (Paperback)
I can't imagine a more misunderstood person than the late Corp. Pat Tillman of the US Rangers. His life was a case of the proverbial square peg never quite making it into the round hole. As Krakauer describes Tillman's checkered life in "Where Men Win Glory", he was a man who definitely kept his own counsel and marched to a different drummer throughout his brief life. This rawnbone, wiry, and undersized man committed himself to overachieving in all kinds of physical and mental endeavours that would cow even the strongest of us: jumping off cliffs, playing professional football, running triatholons and marathons, and eventually enlisting in the army and going to war. Krakauer uses this book to shine some light on why Tillman the oddball eventually became the Tillman the national hero under some of the most bizarre circumstances that might forces some of us to question his sanity. As he traces Tillman's life from early childhood in California, to a college and professional football career in Arizona, to eventually serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, Krakauer strikes a very objective and sympathetic view of how Tillman tended to see life in a very straight-up and uncomplicated fashion. He did what he did simply because he innately believed it to be right. The books describes numerous occasions where Tillman remain firmly loyal to his natural sense of justice, even it meant being offside with those around him, especially the US military. As a rugged individual Tillman was prepared to give it his all so that he could say that no human or natural force got the better of him in his effort to live life at the next level. It makes for interesting reading to see how this ideal urge drove him to move from the rough-and-tumble world of professional football with the Cardinals to the exceedingly more dangerous one of modern warfare in the Middle East. Did Tillman ever find peace in his life as he took on new and more difficult challenges as a way of massaging his restive spirit? If the comments of his wife, brother and friends are anything to go by, Tillman was one of those one-of-a-kind characters who couldn't be bribed, cajoled, or deceived into accepting any lifestyle that deprived him of the right to go full out to the end. The reader is reminded that there is a terrible price to be paid for living the life of being "captain of all you survey". Tillman always had to try harder to preserve his individuality, live with scorn from those who didn't understand his mission, and invariably be promoted by the powers that be as a national icon for his apparent selfless sacrifice on behalf of his country. When you probe the he-man images usually associated with the Pat Tillman on the gridiron and in battlefield, you should, with Krakauer's help, discover a man who was not reckless but, instead, very passionate about life, which allowed him to be deeply critical of how Washington was agressively and illegally pursuing war in a foreign land. I found of particular interest in this story Krakauer's in-depth discussion on the unethical and sinsiter cirumstances surrounding Tillman's death in Afghanistan in 2004 and the subsequent cover-up. What is tragic about Tillman's all-to-brief life is that he never got to prove to the cynical and crass world-at-large that his unique take on things had value. I recommend this book to anyone who wants an extensive disclosure and a balanced discussion of a life most misunderstood and misremembered.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Krakauer does it again,
By Redwessa (Victoria, BC, Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman (Hardcover)
Jon Krakauer is one of the best writers around. His research is so in depth and expansive that you really learn a great deal about the wars in Iraq & Afghanistan, American history, the American military and the very interesting and indelible Pat Tillman. The book is very well written; Krakauer's story telling is exceptional. The way he weaves the personal story of Tillman into the greater story of the political situations in the US, the reasons for war in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the political climate in the middle east is outstanding. Read this book and learn more about US foreign policy than you could ever find out on any website or television news. You will also learn about a very driven, highly intelligent and occasionally, baffling, young man. Pat Tillman was the personification of a unique individual. I am not a football fan, but I found his story extraordinarily interesting. This is a very compelling read. I was in the middle of exams but I could not put it down. I cannot recommend this book more highly.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Captivating,
By
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This review is from: Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman (Hardcover)
Like Chris McCandless from Mr. Krakauer's Into the Wild, Pat Tillman is an idealist whose own convictions become his very undoing. He joins the American army in 2002 because he believes that, after the attacks of 9/11, fighting for his country is the right thing to do. From his actions, the testimony of friends and colleagues and entries from his own diary, we learn that doing the right was a mantra for Mr. Tillman practically his whole life. Why else would he give up the money and glory and fun of playing professional football? Unfortunately, after he joins, he quickly becomes disillusioned with the realities of army life. He has little in common with his fellow soldiers nor the Bush administration, which engages a war in Iraq with which Pat Tillman has serious reservations. It's ironic that the tragedy of his death would be made worse by attempts by the army to hide the realities of his demise so that he could remain a poster-boy for purposes of recruiting other men for a war he never believed in. Mr. Krakauer must be commended for telling this story and Mary Tillman for pursuing the truth of her son's tragic death. The story is incredibly engaging about war, politics, the media and most importantly, a man and his family for in the end, family is Where Men Win Glory, not in the barren hills of a country on the other side of the world fighting a war against an abstract noun.
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