Rating: 
Summary: Should be a mandatory reading in every high school
Review: Caputo describes "the splendid little war" as his road from an enthusiastic idealist poisoned by the romanticized view of war as a chivalrous and noble enterprise to the dehumanized and desensitized wreck that he becomes during his tour in Vietnam. The book is an amazing testimony about the true nature of war with all its atrocities and horrors. Caputo brilliantly captures the endless despair of being strained in the jungle with no clear reason for being there, the hopeless madness of chasing the guerillas and the agony of loosing friends. But the most important aspect of this book is that it shows how a normal mentally healthy person can be turned into a thoughtless killing machine in the course of a few months, fast on the trigger, without any remorse for his victims. Caputo uses very strong and vivid images such as "pigs eating napalm-charred human corpses" to force the reader into his story and feel what Caputo has felt. Very realistic book that cannot leave you indifferent, definitely up there with Remarque's "All quiet on the Western front." If you want to know what fighting the Vietnam War was really like, I can't imagine how any book can possibly be better than Rumor of War.
Rating:
Summary: Mandatory Reading.
Review: There are a few books which I believe should be mandatory reading for everyone, regardless of age, social position, political leaning, etc. "A Rumor of War" by Philip Caputo is one of those books. I would put it at the top of the list of most important books of the 20th century. What Caputo does with remarkable skill and power is strip away all the myths that have ever been perpetuated about the act of war, whether those myths came from sanctimonious politicians, overly vocal patriotic robots, or bleeding hearts subject to knee-jerk bouts of insecere moral condescention.Caputo's approach is simple. He tells it like it was, without embellishment or concealment. He says early on in his forward that every word contained in the book is ture and thanks to his clear and lucid memory, the plausibility of his stories, and the attention paid to detail. He doesn't try to shock us with overwrought language or uptight narratives, he simply lets the truth present itself. He tells us what he did and why he did it; what he felt and why he felt it. The beauty of this approach is the empathy it inspires. It is not at all hard for the reader to imagine himself as Caputo in the jungle, waiting for the VC to show himself. "A Rumor of War" thrusts us into the heart of the Vietnam War, one of the most important and forgotten chapters of 20th century history. Through this book we bear witness to the essence of warfare, without the moralizations and distortions of those who make the wars, those who justify them, or those who condemn them. I think anyone in a position of power should be required to read this book, as should everyone else. It's not easy for the conscience to rest once we realize that this is the kind of world we live in.
Rating:
Summary: The best book ever
Review: I cannot describe the emotional impact this book had on me. The vivid descriptions and detail truly brings the scope of what the US did in Vietnam into focus. As Caputo puts it, the people are no longer numbers we hear in history class, they are his friends and men. That perhaps was the greatest emotional and psychological impact on me.
Rating:
Summary: A Rumor of War
Review: I must say this book really opened my eyes. I never quite understood why many people have troble whith thier lives after coming back from war. Well this book totaly opened my eyes. It showed my the horrors of war. It showed me what people go through. It contains a little bit of everything action, hummor, and most of all honesty. If you want a book that will give you the absoulutly brutally honest truth of Vietnam this is the book.
Rating:
Summary: Great span of experience
Review: This an excellent description of the beginning of the American ground involvement in Viet Nam. I especially like the way Caputo describes his and his fellow Marines' attitudes before they shipped out, and how they soon changed as they started to fight the war. It took me several reads to fully comprehend how much he and his fellows changed in less than a year. His account of the fall of Saigon is a real snapper too, when it's compared to the beginning of the book. A fine companion to the Best and The Brightest, and A Bright and Shining Lie.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: Not much else I can say that everyone else hasn't already, this one's has a 5 star average for a reason. A very well-written book that somehow pulls you in even when there is very little action occurring. A must-have for anyone interested in the Vietnam War experience.
Rating:
Summary: phillip caputo puts you in the jungle and the battle !
Review: if you were fortunate enough to miss the horror of the vietnam war but always wondered what it was truly like, then phillip caputo puts you there. he makes you experience the war with all of your senses. i spend very little time reading but was unable to let this book set for more than a few hours at a time, if you only read one book about vietnam, do yourself a favor and read this one, you wont be disappointed, i have a new found respect for our vietnam vets after reading this book.
Rating:
Summary: riveting...i was unable to put down the book.
Review: probably the most interesting book i have ever read about vietnam
Rating:
Summary: Eyes awaken
Review: I just finished this book for my tenth grade honors american history course. At first I wasnt getting into it. The text seemed too philosphical to me. But as the book progresses everything becomes crystal clear. It was absolutely riveting. What keeps a man from going insane and dropping into the bottomless pit of moral character? This has done for me (about the Veitnam "conflict") what Saving Private RYan did for WW2.
Rating:
Summary: Caputo's Greatest work ever
Review: I recently read this novel for my elevnth grade honors class. It was so good i bought my own copy of the book.
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