Born on the Fourth of July

Rating:
Summary: Best Book Review
Review: "Born on the Fourth of July," by Ron Kovic is a riveting, true autobiographical story of the life of a young man who leaves his small town after high school to enter the harsh Vietnam War to honor his country. He tells his story of the horrors that he had to face and watch as a soldier confronted with many difficult situations. While serving his nation, he gets badly injured in action and is forced to stop fighting and go to the hospital. What he sees is what no man should ever have to experience. His injury is severe. He is paralyzed from the waist down and will never be able to walk again. The hospitals were in gruesome conditions. The government did not want to give the funds for better equipment. Kovic explains how the conditions of the hospital were worse than the war itself. Kovic goes through a life changing event. He struggles with his handicap as he also struggles with the horrific memories of the war. During the course of the book, Kovic seeks to find himself in a world that he is lost in. The book goes into deep detail of Kovic's post war experience. Ron Kovic becomes an active anti-war advocate and goes to many demonstrations. He travels to Washington D.C. and even sits in on a speech given by the president. He and many other anti-war veterans hold up signs and try to draw national attention to themselves. Kovic feels so strongly against this war that he even puts himself in a position where he was sent to jail for his beliefs. Kovic moves a lot of people with this powerful book of his life.
The unique aspect about Kovic's book, "Born on the Fourth of the July" is that Kovic wrote the entire book from personal experience. Kovic is not a writer but had a lot to say. He writes his beliefs and thoughts down to tell the world. Suppressed from the government, this is Kovic's way of expressing his self and getting the word out to the general public in regards to the atrocities of the Vietnam War. Kovic believed that the war was wrong. Here is a person who believed in supporting his country and then came upon the realization that he and his country were wrong in their actions. His writing style accentuates the fact that he is like most males from his generation. With only a high school degree, Kovic switches throughout his book from first person to third. This can be confusing to a reader but is not impossible to understand. In fact, the opposite occurs. The reader gets sucked into the dramatic scenes the book portrays and it is hard to put the book down. Kovic wrote this book with his heart and soul in his words. The book is a valuable resource as it provides great historical accuracy and abundant information to the reader while maintaining its compelling appeal as a story. Because this was written completely from first hand experience this book is completely factual. However, the demerits of the interpretation of this book is that it is completely one sided. Throughout the entire book Kovic complains about how badly he feels about himself, his life, his injury, and the war. A reader may view this as him whining and even may detract them from the book and his writing style. On the other hand, this gives a person that has not experienced such an incident an insight into the feeling the helplessness, hopelessness, and lack of self worth a veteran may suffer. This is an insider's view of the war that one would not normally be exposed to. This type of interpretation is hard to depict yet Kovic does this with flying colors. This book comes highly recommended from majority of its readers. It is a good book to read for not only the historical issues discussed, but to read for the pure pleasure of it. A reader does not have to be a history buff to enjoy Ron Kovic's, "Born on the Fourth of July." It conjures up vivid imagery that allows a reader's imagination to create a distinct picture long after the words have been read. These are memories that the reader will keep with them once the book is finished. Kovic uses intense, powerful words that the reader will find hard to forget.
"I am the living death
The memorial day on wheels
I am your yankee doodle dandy
Your john wayne come home
Your fourth of july firecracker
Exploding in the grave"

Rating:
Summary: The Brave, The Loyal, The American Kid
Review: "Born on the Fourth of July" is a fantastic novel about the tragedy and revival of Ron Kovic. He wanted to be John Wayne fighting the Vietnam War. He wanted to be an American hero. He truly turned out to be one. But, no thanks to the United States. Great Reading. You'll learn plenty about America and even about yourself.

Rating:
Summary: One of the Better True Vietnam Stories
Review: I became familiar with Ron Kovic while still a Marine. Probably in 71 or 72 after I returned from Vietnam. Luckily I was not wounded. While stationed in Hawaii after returning, I had the occasion to join Vietnam Veterans Against the War. A friend tried in vane to persuade me to join, but I never could quite do it. I had been taught just like thousands of other young recruits that ours was a noble deed. I still believe that. However...after having read this book, I became much more enlightened to what a lot of men experienced after being wounded/and or wounded severely and emotionally. This book is not about a man against America, but in favor of waking some people up to the horrors of war and the terrible losses we all suffer because of war. A must read.

Rating:
Summary: One of the Better True Vietnam Stories
Review: I became familiar with Ron Kovic while still a Marine. Probably in 71 or 72 after I returned from Vietnam. Luckily I was not wounded. While stationed in Hawaii after returning, I had the occasion to join Vietnam Veterans Against the War. A friend tried in vane to persuade me to join, but I never could quite do it. I had been taught just like thousands of other young recruits that ours was a noble deed. I still believe that. However...after having read this book, I became much more enlightened to what a lot of men experienced after being wounded/and or wounded severely and emotionally. This book is not about a man against America, but in favor of waking some people up to the horrors of war and the terrible losses we all suffer because of war. A must read.

Rating:
Summary: Powerful
Review: I felt this book was a tragic tale of a Vietnam vet. The book was powerful and gripping. Once I got into it, I could not put it down. This is one of the best written Vietnam books that I have ever read.

Rating:
Summary: Poignant is an understatement
Review: I had first seen Oliver Stone's adaptation when I was 11 years old. My pre-pubescent sensibility didn't allow me to comprehend what was on the screen, either did my post-adolescent sensibility. This past summer I had read Mailer's "Armies of the Night", and never stopped pondering the concluding line, "For we must end on the road to that mystery where courage, death, and the dream of love give promise of sleep." So then, what does it mean to be an American? Kovic brought this statement forth in such a compelling manner, that I couldn't help asking myself this question, while reading. I sit cozily, well-fed, and warm, reading this book as an undergraduate; Kovic's experience is unfathomable to a slothful log like myself. Perhaps, this is the point of Kovic's heart-felt articulation, to awaken us, the slumbering masses, who watch a media blurb on war and violence, then leave it behind us and change the channel, while eating our turkey breast with gravy. Things like Vietnam will always happen as long as people remain quiet and content! Thank you Ron Kovic for reminding me of this lesson.

Rating:
Summary: To Ron Kovic- BRAVO!
Review: I had to pick a book to read for history class in order to "broaden my outlook in the past"- this did more than that. This book is touching and should not go unread. Kovic has achieved to touch us both mentally and emotionally. His book will stay with you, haunt you, and will not let you forget the lesson he gives us through his experiences. It will make you wonder of the power we have if we could create such a hell for our fellow human beings.

Rating:
Summary: A Moving Story
Review: I have just read Born on the Fourth of July. I found it to be a very moving account of Ron Kovic. He is very graphic when he explains his thoughts, feelings, and the hospitals. I think that it should be that way. The war should not be sugar coated the way some people depict it. If it wasn't, America would not know what the veterans really had to go through. From this book I have learned more about the Vietnam War then I ever learned in school. I think Ron Kovic did an excellent job writing this book. I recommend it to anyone interested in veterans or the Vietnam War.

Rating:
Summary: A Moving Story
Review: I have just read Born on the Fourth of July. I found it to be a very moving account of Ron Kovic. He is very graphic when he explains his thoughts, feelings, and the hospitals. I think that it should be that way. The war should not be sugar coated the way some people depict it. If it wasn't, America would not know what the veterans really had to go through. From this book I have learned more about the Vietnam War then I ever learned in school. I think Ron Kovic did an excellent job writing this book. I recommend it to anyone interested in veterans or the Vietnam War.

Rating:
Summary: This book is amazingly touching.
Review: I read this book when I was in Middle school and developed an interest in the Vietnam war. I really was touched at what the author went through. I am now in High School and I wander what it would feel like getting out of high school, only to be drafted and sent to war. This book clearly shows the emotional effects the war had on the young soldiers who gave all they had for the most debated war in American history. I will never forget this book because it was the first of a series of books I read about Vietnam. I will strongly recommend this book to anyone who likes to see the war from a soldier's point of view. The book is one of the best autobiographies or narrative I have ever read.