Rating: 
Summary: Great Title! Great Cover!! Great Bore!!!
Review: Mr. Laurence certainly has a lot to say, as evinced by this hefty tome's volume. Unfortunately for the hapless reader this lot is not well put. Thas is to say that Mr. Laurence, while perhaps an exemplary television newsman and radio reporter, is not a particularly gifted writer. Part of the problem may be the difficulty of reconstructing daily events in minute detail thirty years after the fact. Having said that, it would seem that a great raconteur would have used the intervening thirty years between event and authorship to hone the tales he wishes to tell into finely crafted, razor-edge vignettes that would bring the experience and the characters alive for the author. Sad to say, Mr. Laurence failed to do this. So, I suspect that you, like I, will eagerly delve into this book, then plod through, then get bogged down in a swamp of wispy, vapid detail until finally tossing the book aside with a sigh heavy with unmet expectations and dashed high hopes. At the end of it all, one must say to oneself, "So, there is some stuff from the Vietnam war that simply is not worth recounting, and I have found it." One of the promotional blurbs touting this book makes the comparison between this and Herr's book. I believe that this is a pretty good comparison as neither is particulary well done; although, as between the two, I'd choose Dispatches. I would recommend to you instead a two volume set (or the one volume compilation republishing) titled 'Reporting Vietnam' which is absolutely, jaw droppingly fine Vietnam War reportage which must not be missed. Good Luck.
Rating: 
Summary: No Dispatches
Review: Mr. Laurence's self pity and self regard run a close race in his endless memoir of his years as a Vietnam correspondent. Self regard wins by a hair.
He's a deep thinker! The house he shares with colleagues is not just a place to smoke dope, its a salon where incredibly aware people see the truth denied mere mortals. Certainment, Monsieur Voltaire.
He feels deeply! Another reporter's death convinces him he must fly to New York and represent the deceased's Saigon friends. Never mind that two telegrams to the widow clearly indicate she has no idea who he is, or why he's coming. But, he needs a ride to the airport, his buddies are getting stoned and not helping. Someone else might arrange alternate transportation, but the author sticks out the last joint, misses his flight, and finally gets to NYC an hour after the funeral. Well, its the thought that counts.
He inspires awe! A chance encounter with a pilot he met previously in Vietnam leaves a young producer "wide eyed in wonder." As he passes through the newsroom, people stare, "isn't that the guy who was in Vietnam, how young he is."
He laughs at danger! Mr. Laurence's breathless account of his live 2 minute voice over done at CBS studios in New York just makes one wish he had also described a no doubt thrilling parallel parking incident.
He's modest! He hesitates to tell some flight attendants exactly how dangerous and important his work is for fear of sounding "portentous." Of course, Mr Laurence crossed that bridge about 500 pages earlier and kept going through the towns of Pretentious and Tendentious.
As I slogged my way through this book, an incident described in the early portion ran again and again through my mind. Why, oh why, didn't Morley Safer actually slug him?
The New York Times blurb comparing this book to Dispatches should embarrass the reviewer, it certainly insults Michael Herr.
Rating: 
Summary: Unforgettable
Review: My wife, strictly a fiction fan, was spellbound when I read her passages from "Cat." I can't recall taking the time to reread a book before, but look forward to experiencing this one again... perhaps in audio?!
Rating:
Summary: One Great Book!
Review: Of all the writing on the Vietnam war this is one of the more outstanding books. Much work and love went into this. I place this book next to Michael Herr's "Dispatches" in a place of honor. Mr. Laurence has done well.
Rating:
Summary: Vietnam: Into our Living rooms
Review: Remember John Laurence, the CBS reporter, who brought Vietnam into our living rooms? His vivid portrayal of the grunts and soldiers who lived and died for their country was seen on
television on a nightly basis. The real war came home for the first time. "The Cat from Hue" continues this theme with more
details and behind the scene stories told from his viewpoint and
often from the words of the original speaker.
So well written I feel I am "In Country"- a book hard to put down- not much is left out -Vietnam in first person.
Rating:
Summary: Extraordinary!
Review: The "cat" resides in the homes of all of us who either reported from or served in Vietnam during the war. My former CBS News colleague John Laurence has moved his exceptional skills as a war correspondent from the TV screen onto the printed page in The Cat From Hue. He is a gifted writer. The war in all its glory and pain comes alive. Reading this book is imperative for all Americans and across the sweep of time it will be a valuable tool for news correspondents, fighting men and women, military planners and historians. Bravo John!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Xin Loi !!!
Review: The author covered the War in Vietnam from '65-'70 as a corespondent for CBS News. RVN Vets drop the "19" from the years spent in country. In defense of Mr. Lawrence, he was no rear echelon armchair observer, no "Cam Ranh commando". So many of those types sat around the bar at Saigon's Caravelle Hotel filing their cynical stories far removed from any danger. Not the author. Intrepidly and often, he went deep into the bush with, at various junctures, the Marines, the Army Special Forces and most notably the First Air Cavalry Division ("the Cav"). He even accompanied an A1 Skyraider pilot on a bombing run! In further defense of Mr. Lawrence, a healthy amount of cynicism is an absolute requirement in writing about Vietnam so a fair reviewer must cut the author some slack. But as my buddies and I used to ask: "How are you gonna act''? There is a limit to a reader's patience. The principal problem with "The Cat" is its' egregiously excessive length. TC tells of too many flights out to the boonies, too many patrols, too many interviews. Further, it tells of far too many rushes to beat deadlines, too many cables back to CBS Headquarters with too much corporate politics thrown in. Most distressing of all, TC is strewn with too many "convenient" trips back to Saigon for nice little in country R&Rs complete with all the entertainment that dump could after the sun went down. It gets worse! The author's buddies/fellow journalists hobble TC. This reviewer has yet to experience such an absolutely unmitigated self-centered, narcissistic, hedonistic, self-indulgent, pampered elitist bunch of jerks anywhere! Someone needs to whisper in their collective ears (if they are still alive and capable of hearing) that they are HARDLY the only people ever to find a good meal, a woman, some wine, and some grass in Saigon- all while listening to Crosby Stills and Nash. Memo to Mr. Lawrence: The troops were the story, not you. The bottom line to TC is that the author went back for one too many tours and burned out. I believe he also succumbed to the elitist attitude that the media in general (and CBS in particular) ultimately adapted as the war dragged on. The tone of TC deteriorates from the sharpness of his early tours to that of his final one. His portrayal of the First Cav in the summer of '71 is stunningly anti-military and brimming over with ingratitude to the command that tried so hard to work with him. Lawrence even manages to make the invasion of Cambodia routine. The foregoing contains several warranted criticisms of the TC but this reviewer isn't finished! The Cat's website does NOT contain the promised update on some of the folks mentioned. Further this reviewer is distressed that in 848 pages no mention is made of the 1,818 (as of 20 May 2003) POWs still unaccounted for in Indochina. For a guy who spent so much time over there, couldn't he have reflected on them? He does, to his credit briefly write about the scores of missing journalists. It is also true that Lawrence routinely mentions soldiers' hometowns! This reviewer was a military journalist and THAT was rule # 1. In reviewing the ultimate Vietnam book, "Street Without Joy", I mentioned that its' author- the late Bernard Fall-"would be a great guy to have a few beers with". I only wish I could state the same about Mr. Lawrence. Two closing comments: 1) the English translation of the headline to this review is "tough luck" or "sorry about that"-a very appropriate comment on the Cat. 2) There IS a physical cat. The author rescued one from the siege of Hue in '68 and brought him home to the World. This cat lover appreciated that very humane gesture. Most Vietnamese cats wound up as someone's dinner.
Rating:
Summary: Bridging the Gap
Review: The Cat from Hue by John Laurence
In my generation, there was a major schism between those who went to Vietnam and those who did not. I did not. I was safe and smug in the United States, threatened by tear gas and possible arrest at the many demonstrations I attended, not mortars, rockets and every other kind of artillery faced by soldiers and journalists in Vietnam. Years later, the rift which had opened in the 60's and 70's had not healed. Neither side seemed to acknowledge the truth--even the existence--of the other. The Cat from Hue, by John Laurence, provides a carefully built bridge across that chasm for those of us, male and female, who ranted "Hell no, we won't go!" to those of us who drafted, enlisted and, hell yes, went.As a gung-ho young journalist, awash in his luck that CBS had decided to send him on the biggest story around, Laurence went to Vietnam. His willingness to go into the field with the "grunts," to submit himself to discomfort and danger to bring their story home, was perhaps built on several faulty premises: that he was invulnerable, that there was glory to be witnessed and reported, and that it was his good luck to be there. In fact, it was and is our good luck. The stories that Laurence told then, from candid talks with soldiers to the harrowing mutiny caught on film in "The World of Charlie Company" did much to convince those at home that our involvement in Vietnam, fuelled by thousands of young men, was a mistake. Now, more than thirty years later, Laurence views the encounters, the battles, the debacles, through a longer lens. Now the particulars of what happened can be placed in a larger context. His crystalline memory, augmented by thousands of feet of film, dozens of reporter's notebooks and endless interviews, makes The Cat from Hue a journey on many levels. It is reportage, metaphor, autobiography and history. The hypnotic, sometimes hallucinatory, story-telling makes each chapter a finely-crafted tale, from the appearance of the tattered but defiant "Vietcong" cat to the death of a dear friend in battle. This is not a "guy" or a "chick" book. This is not a "hawk" or a "dove" book. This is a book which reflects us all--where we've been, and where we are.
Rating:
Summary: THE CAT FROM HUE IS NOT AN ANIMAL STORY
Review: The cat from Hue gives the reader some chuckles as the antics of this alley cat are threaded throughout this 845 page book. This is the story of our war in Vietnam and is the best book about war I have ever read. It talks of why the truth is never told about what actually happens on the battlefield much of the time (politics and morale, mostly)particularly when the battles are in reality being lost. The field reporter is constantly trying to keep out of the way, yet reporting on what is happening on the battlefield. The reader is right in the thick of battle and is party to the success and failure of events as they unfold. I read every page of this big book just because it is all most interesting and highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Engrossing from cover to cover
Review: The Cat from Hue proved to be the perfect companion for a trip to SE Asia (a 24 hour trip), both in terms of length, topical relevance, and writing. It is a compelling book from the first page to the last. Laurence's prose is vivid, economical, but never showy. It's a personal perspective, but lacking in self-pity or self-aggrandizement. The book communicates the evolution of the war as well as the changes in Laurence's opinions about the conflict. One gets the picture of changing military tactics and objectives, as well as Laurences' gradually diminishing willingness to go along with the status quo. The more negative reviews seem to come from people who want Laurence to support their particular cause or idiocyncratic view of the war. The book easily stands as a memoir, thoughtfully told. The book's relevance for considering present day conflicts comes across loud and clear without ever being mentioned. If you want polemics or grandtstanding for a cause, this is not your book. This also is not a straightforward chronology of the war nor an exhaustive military history, but a useful supplement to those kinds of books. It belongs with the best of first-person journalistic accounts, such as those of Neil Sheehan.
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