Rating: 
Summary: Beautiful, sad and very lonely
Review: Earlier this year I decided to improve the quality of the books I was reading - or, at least, to mix more "good" books in with the easy reading. The Naked and the Dead was the first of these - and what a good choice it was.Norman Mailer writes with a clarity that is often missing from other good novelists. He develops very strong characters and focusses closely on the interactions between them and their environment. Don't expect an action-packed story: The tales here are the soldier's lives and the lack of action is part of war which seems to be very realistically reconstructed. The story, for what it's worth, follows a band of recon soldiers on an island in the Pacific during World War II. The book opens with the initial assault on the Japanese-held island; it finishes with the quick and anti-climatic (deliberately so) mopping up of the last troups. In between we follow the soldiers' progress through the jungle, go with them on a desperate recon. mission, and learn about their lives through a series of personal flashbacks. We also see a full range of characters - at all levels in the army - and see their private and semi-private battles with authority. Often the authority in question is an over-demanding or idiotic superior; just as often it is an insolant, stubborn inferior. It is this interplay between the ranks that makes this novel stand out. The book seems long, but it really is a page turner up with the best of them. At the end of it, you'll be able to say you really enjoyed a work of great fiction.
Rating: 
Summary: Best War Book ever
Review: I am reading this book, and I think it is a better novel than I thought it would be, I thought "oh, great more lies about World War 2." Until I read this. Most books show about a little blond private that never gets hurt, until he hears the bullet whizzing past his head then he dies. But this book was different; it tells the reader about what happened about some story that never happens. This is s non fiction book, if you're into war novels you should like this book the plot is very easy to understand, so I recommend this book to you, if you are into war novels.
Rating:
Summary: Origin of a Species
Review: I bought the book based on size and reputation. I read nothing from Mailer prior to this book, and I needed something to occupy several hours of travel in Europe. Over 800 pages of prose would do the trick. I ended up reading the book in the hotel, four hours at a stretch. I was fascinated by it, particularly in seeing so many familiar literary devices originate with this novel. The backstories of the characters were excellent, and I found it to be a compact way of developing the characters and explaining their motivations. What I particularly liked was the writing style, and the Lieutenant-General struggle was perhaps the real soul of the book. The self-awareness of each competitor, and the misconception of what each was trying to accomplish, was a microcosm of each struggle throughout the book. Every point of conflict was sharply defined through a misunderstanding, a lack of communication, a little misstep here or there, compounding to some surprising and gut wrenching conclusions. Because the ending was frustrating to me, I found it completely believable and realistic. I can see someone stumbling into a victory; I can see our hero dying due to betrayal; and I can see the flawed, vaguely malignant leader emerge largely unscathed from the chaos. ...I can understand the reservations of some reviewers, but only in an abstract, "right to your opinion" sort of way. For me, this was a 4.5 on a 5-star scale. The only reservation was the self-censoring of certain words and phrases to pass editorial review, something I feel should not be an author's consideration when writing. I can forgive this weakness in a 25 year old Norman Mailer, however. He's certainly earned it.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best war novels ever written
Review: I've read this masterpiece last summer. The book still rings fresh in my mind, although it has been a little more than a year since I've read it. The book is simply the best American masterpiece on war written in the latter half of the 20th Century. The book ultimately rankles in its frustration and later disenchantment with the triumph of totalitarianism embodied in an institution that was the Army. That Lt. Hearn is ultimmately murdered by the sadistic Sgt. Croft and aloof Gen. Cummings, echoes the hopelessnness and frustration that Master Mailer--one of America's literary gods--felt with the Left. Many writers since have tried to emulate his gritty and cutting prose without much success. The book not only brilliantly gives the realistic feel for ground combat at a small unit level, but effectively shows how the macro-view (grand strategy)-- as presented by Gen. Cummings and his staff--affects the I & R (Intelligence & Reconnaissance) Platoon. But more importantly, the recon mission of the platoon serves as a fable of struggle between two contending ideologies, and between Man and Nature. I've yet to see one book--save CATCH-22--that has succesfully juggled these aforementioned elements. It is simply splendid.
Rating:
Summary: Failure and Triumph
Review: It is an honor to be able to write a review of such a terrific book. The Naked and the Dead is far and away the best book that I have ever read. It makes me question why back in High School they made us read All Quiet on the Western Front. The Naked and the Dead blends the voice of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest with the message of All Quietand the symbolism of the Lord of the Flies. It then adds a reasonable plot and understandable (if bizarre) characters. The book places a platoon of soldiers on the fictitios, Japanese-held island of Anopopei during the Second World War. As they move about the island on a perilous scouting mission, the reader is made to understand, symbolically, the evils of war. In a reasonably engrossing writing style. Make no mistake, this is not the best book for everyone. It deals with VERY mature themes like sex, war, prejudice, and violence. People who's reading comprehensions are not "up to snuff" will find little here but an average plot and an incomprehensible tangle of words. Basically, if you can't BREEZE through The Lord of the Flies, you'll waste your money with this one. In answer to other criticisms, Mailer is NOT anti-semitic. Many of his characters are, but they are clearly not protagonists. It is clear that Mailer is writing about anti-semitism, but that he does not believe in it. Goldstein (a Jew)is by far the most engrossing, understandable character. He is the only one in the platoon blessed (or perhaps cursed) with feelings of empathy towards others, with a decent personality. He is the only character who is not a womanizer, a murderer, or an evil person. Goldstein is made a Jew for a reason: Mailer needs to show his readers the evils of prejudice, rascism, and ethnocentrism. Mailer's symbolism is matched only by his voice, which comes through easily and demonstrates Mailer's incredible talent. Yet Mailer's words force the reader to come to grips with his own nature. They advance powerful views on war, futility, good and evil. An absolute JEWEL of a book, the Naked and the Dead belongs on every serious reader's shelf. It is difficult for a book like this to be thought of as being UNDER rated given its rave-reviews. Having read it, I think that it may be the most under-rated book of all time.
Rating:
Summary: A classic, yet flawed
Review: Mailer's Naked and the Dead is the story of a group of soldiers on an island in the Pacific during world war II, trying to take control of the island. Rather than focus on the macro-elements of the campaign, Mailer gives us an almost cinematic treatment of this platoon of a dozen soldiers, showing us their fears and desires, their foibles and prejudices. With flashbacks (Time Machines) giving the context and past of each of the men, you start to understand them more as the book moves on. By the time the platoon sets out on a reconnaissance patrol, you are familiar with all the main characters. But the book suffers from over-wordiness at times, especially since so much of it is description of the soldiers' movements and surroundings. The tension among the men could be tauter, and the book could be a hundred pages shorter. But Mailer's gut-punching style, using simple words and sentences, gives an earthy feel to this book, which certainly was more influential when it was released than it is now. It's still a must-read, though.
Rating: 
Summary: Could've Been Worse
Review: Mailer's take on war, is just a weak "Three Soldiers" which was written by a much better writer: Dos Passos.
Pass on "The Naked and the Dead",
pick up the real deal: "Three Soldiers".
Rating:
Summary: This book lays bare the soul of America and its people.
Review: The characters Norman Mailer has created in "The Naked and the Dead" are without doubt the most living and memorable I have ever read about. Mailer, through dialogue and thoughts gives each of them sheer perfection - his 'Time Machine' sections taking you into a character's past expose in graphic detail America's roots. Basically you can see in an instant how a personality has been formed. Of course this is only possible because the men are under the tremendous trial of war. As the gripping story unfolds you see the fear of death becoming stronger and stronger; the men are worn down by fatigue amidst the rawest, most realistic human struggle you will ever read of.
Rating: 
Summary: Mailer didn't get it right
Review: This book was strikingly similar to The Thin Red Line. The characters, the use of literary techniques, the settings and subsettings all similar. However, Mailer and Jones did not get it right. These books don't tell the true story of war. They certainly dipict physical side of war, the torn land and the carnage, but it is the personal side of war that they miss. In this book Mailer fails to capture the true essence of human nature. Because the fact is people at war depend on each other. Mailer and Jones display the rivalries among the men. Ofcourse, rivalries are common in the young men the write about. Men at war do not often get along together, you always have the jerks and the sadsack, but they bond far more than they compete. No fiction I have read regarding WWII has managed to capture this. The Naked and the Dead is just another example of the dry, monotonous, and even lousy world war fiction that has been written. I truthfully cannot explain all the great reviews on this book, it is very very average. You want to know what it was like, read Stephen Ambrose, Gerald Astor, or Eugene Sledge.
Rating:
Summary: Mailer didn't get it right
Review: This book was strikingly similar to The Thin Red Line. The characters, the use of literary techniques, the settings and subsettings all similar. However, Mailer and Jones did not get it right. These books don't tell the true story of war. They certainly dipict physical side of war, the torn land and the carnage, but it is the personal side of war that they miss. In this book Mailer fails to capture the true essence of human nature. Because the fact is people at war depend on each other. Mailer and Jones display the rivalries among the men. Ofcourse, rivalries are common in the young men the write about. Men at war do not often get along together, you always have the jerks and the sadsack, but they bond far more than they compete. No fiction I have read regarding WWII has managed to capture this. The Naked and the Dead is just another example of the dry, monotonous, and even lousy world war fiction that has been written. I truthfully cannot explain all the great reviews on this book, it is very very average. You want to know what it was like, read Stephen Ambrose, Gerald Astor, or Eugene Sledge.
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