Rating: 
Summary: GOOD READ
Review: i enjoyed this book.but some of the jargon was hard to decipher,not having a military background.it would have been nice to have some description on some of the wording and abbreviations.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful Mindblowing Nightmare
Review: A tour guide through a seductive hell, Michael Herr describes his Vietnam, a place equally nightmarish and exhilerating. Helicopters are ubiquitous, the style and organization often surreal. Herr leaves you with burning images of a colonel who will pound the enemy with meat, Hendrix blaring out of a transistor radio in a rice paddy, or (worst of all) ponchos that fail to conceal the dead like body bags do. Their humanity restored, the grunts speak volumes in clipped phrases. In the end you wonder what happened to the flamboyant Sean Flynn (inspiration for the Clash song on "Combat Rock"). Or what that soldier returning from Hill 875 said to the fat girl in the Peanuts sweatshirt to make her cry. If you count yourself among those who have what Joseph Conrad termed "a fascination with the abomination," this book will blow you away. It's an astonishing read.
Rating: 
Summary: this is amazing
Review: This is one of the most interesting books I've read in a while. Reading it was an experience. I read it in one night because the refreshing vignettes always kept my attention. The book is filled with military jargon, so it might help to read a history of the Vietnam War beforehand.
Rating:
Summary: Great Journalism
Review: I first read this book while in journalism school in the late 70's. There was constant discussion in our classrooms about the coverage of Viet Nam. We had professors who had covered the war. Mr. Herr's book took us there and let us experience it for ourselves. What better compliment could be paid to a journalist? I've read it numerous times since college. It chills me still.
Rating:
Summary: About as real as it gets
Review: I was born in 1974, and my impressions of the Vietnam War have generally been shaped by the politcal, emotional baggage left in its wake. People talk about what Vietnam meant, what it was about, why it was right, why it was wrong, but rarely about what it was. This book does just that.With prose that comes at you like it's being fired out of a machine gun, Herr describes the action on the ground as it was: terrifying, brutal, and appalling. But he also writes about the tenderness, brotherhood and compassion that war bred between men who would have otherwise never met. This is a powerful, important book that anyone who wants to understand Vietnam as an experience should read.
Rating: 
Summary: Dispatches: My review
Review: The first and last third of the book were the best. The middle section on Khe Sanh became boring after a while. Herr used many military terms that are not known to the common people. He does a wonderful job of making the reader feel like he/she is in Vietnam. His descriptions let you picture the scene, until he goes into military terms.
Rating:
Summary: The Real Vietnam by Real Troops
Review: Without a doubt, this is the most heart-wrenching account I have ever read. What makes it so powerful is that Michael Herr presents it by letting those who fought the ground war, the Marine grunts, tell it in their own words. I highly recommend it for today's young people who only know VN as history; they need to know how horrible war really is--not as glamourized in the movies. A MUST read.
Rating:
Summary: Blew Me Away...
Review: A mindblowing account of that electric guitar war called Vietnam. Deep, chaotic, surreal. After reading it years ago the images are still burned into my consciousness. The closing left me breathless.
Rating:
Summary: More real than any of us wants.
Review: Though criticized for it sensationalism, Dispatches owes its power to the fact that it is not a mere iteration of the facts of battle, but a bold, and successful, attempt to transport the reader to the moment, leaving one with the eerie sensation, as the last pages turn, that one has indeed been "in country", and is just heading home. It is Herr's ability to capture the essence of war that led his contemporaries to acclaim Dispatches the best book written about war, any war, ever. If you are unfamiliar with the Vietnam War, reading a straightforward primer before Dispatches will enhance your appreciation for it.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: Being only 17 detracts from my ability to fully appreciate the novel, because I never experienced Vietnam or society from that time. I have done research of Vietnam, analyzing Platoon, When Heaven and Earth Changed Places, and research from other wars. The book fully portrays the "reality" of war, and definitly makes the reader appreciate that they're reading someone else's account. I did however find some fault in the stream of consciousness writing, though not from my inability to understand it. I have read Joyce, the pioneer of the writing style, and possibly spoiled by his masterful use, I found some displeasure in Herr's use. However, don't let momentarily lapses of coherency ruin the book for you, because the feeling of depth and knowledge gained at the end fully redeems any faults. It agrees with all other accounts of the war I've seen, and possibly adds more of a personal touch that a reader must respect. For anyone that enjoys war history, human psyche, or harsh speaking reality, then this might be a book for you.
|
