The Fearless Man : A Novel of Vietnam

Rating:
Summary: A Novel of War--not Vietnam
Review: Throughout the reading of this novel, I was entirely engrossed. Yet, in the end, I was oddly unsatisfied. The book is subtitled "A Novel of Vietnam," but--aside from the setting--the book could have been written in any American war zone. The uniqueness of Vietnam was barely confronted. It was a fine war novel, but to compare it to the Vietnam novels that directly deal with the confounding aspects of that war is inaccurate.

Perhaps the author intended to write a novel that universally addressed the moral conundrums of battle--not just those in Vietnam. Or perhaps the author wished to address the existence of God in an overtly cruel world. Those, in fact, would be grander ventures. Unfortunately, the narrative does not rise to those sweeping purposes, either. We know nothing of the enemy, little of the average marine, and never have clarity regarding the motivation of the principals. Consequently, readers cannot adequately fathom the choices--moral or amoral--made by them. Finally, frustratingly, the narrative lets Mac off the hook morally for his choices in Hue, thus, obscuring one's ability to understand him or the war.

It seems the author intends to expand his insight into certain characters, but gets lost or disinterested. For instance, about a third of the way through the novel, Pfarrer seems to consider elucidating the motivation (and perhaps even mental stability) of Gunnery Sargeant Hitchcock. Unfortunately, he jettisons that aspect, and, ultimately, presents the reader with a simple hellbent-for-leather marine, a characterization just this side of stock.

That being said, this is a good and worthy novel. The battle scenes are meticulously detailed and carry the verisimilitude that could only come from one who had similar experiences. The narrative is gripping if not profound. It raises questions --ontologically and morally--that are potent in a war context. Unfortunately, the novel does not have the depth to allow any answers.

Rating:
Summary: The best novel to come out of the Vietnam war.
Review: Donald Pfarrer has brought into being a vivid, living work of art, a classic story of men at war. The Fearless Man joins a handful of Vietnam books that have transcended the genre; it is a coolly amazing epic, a well drawn, reflective work of literature.

The story follows two men, Mac Clare, a law student who drops out to volunteer for service in Vietnam, and Paul Adrano, a Jersey boy who joins the priesthood against his father's wishes. Adrano, a navy chaplain, arrives in Vietnam and volunteers for duty with the Marines-hoping that combat will confirm his faith and the existence of God. He meets Mac Clare, a company commander who leads from the front. Mac Clare is a Marine's Marine, an officer whose seemingly unshakable courage conceals a deeply thoughtful and conflicted soul. These two unlikely companions are thrust into the crucible of war, combat made real, almost visceral by Pfarrer's taught, rhythmic prose. Pfarrer portrays the swirl of jungle fighting with scrupulous detail and piercing emotion. Multiple narrative threads contain Adrano's struggle with faith and temptation, Mac's agony at the loss of his men, and the quiet, valiant ordeal of Mac's beautiful wife, Sarah, who waits with other officer's wives back in Quantico, all of them knowing their worlds hang by a thread... a thin cord waiting to be cut by a single telegram.

With its comrades, Dispatches, by Michael Herr, The Things they Carried, Tim O'Brien and Tobias Wolff's In Pharaoh's Army , The Fearless Man strikes to the heart and remakes our judgments of the Vietnam war and the soldiers who fought it. Let me expand Donald Pfarrer's peer group: The Fearless Man joins The Red Badge of Courage, A Farewell to Arms, and The Naked and the Dead as one of the most impressive and best books of the American language.

Powerfully written, masterful in its description and commanding in intellect, The Fearless Man will become a classic.

Rating:
Summary: Great Read!
Review: This book depicted the Vietnam War from several different view points and did a terrific job. It is a great read for anyone interested in this time period in our country and how it affected the people involved, from soldiers, to family members, to politicians, to draft dodgers. I would highly recommend it. The story captures the reader from the first page to the last page.

Rating:
Summary: An extraordinary, classic portrait of men at war
Review: This book joins the classic and very best portraits of men in battle. Its accounts of the fighting on the ground in VietNam will ring true to any who have entered that hellish zone we call combat and emerged alive, relatively intact, with the hope that they can rejoin and still make a life in the world at home and with the women they left behind.

This is not just a book for men and it is not simply a war story. It is for all of us. It is about an unending phenomenon in the human experience - war - and how civilized people struggle to do what they must and, at the same time, keep alive the feelings and values that, within, they treasure. Readers who have not experienced combat will find Pfarrer a clear eyed and sympathetic but never bathetic guide to and within this other world that each generation seems destined to create, this parallel world that has clear boundaries and into which we often send our best.

Rating:
Summary: Extremely Disappointed
Review: Three quarters of the way through The Fearless Man, I simply abandoned reading it.
While the experience of the grunt in Vietnam was captured realistically, the characters were two-dimensional - from Mac to the Chaplain to the women back home . A shame because Pfarr's Vietnam is vivid and harrowing. But to truly add depth to the novel, a good deal more craft is required.

Rating:
Summary: The War That Haunts Us
Review: Vietnam is the war that never goes away---and Donald Pfarrer's brilliant, brutal, ultimately uplifting novel tells us why.

With incredible realism, Pfarrer depicts the experience of Marine combat troops in action, matching themselves against a shrewd, courageous, and dedicated enemy fighting on its own ground. You have never read a clearer, more vivid, more truthful depiction of combat and its consequences for the human soul.

Read this book and you will understand why those of the Vietnam generation lucky enough to survive came back from the war irrevocably changed. Those men, some fearless, some cowardly, most a conflicted amalgam, are still among us. Get to know them. Get to know what they passed through. Read this book.