Rating: 
Summary: #2
Review: Characters are often interchangeable in war novels. This is true even in the works of some of the best novelists of the WWII era; including Mailer (Naked and the Dead), Wouk (The Cain Mutiny) and even James Jones (The Thin Red Line). Shaw is able to portray soldiers as true individuals fighting to remain individuals in the framework of the military and a world war. While this novel covers much in the way of history and geography, it is really the story of three very-real and independent men who live in a world that does not value independence.
Rating:
Summary: #2
Review: Don't be put off by the war setting. This brilliant epic novel revolves around a richly drawn cast of characters - just ordinary people at the onset of the story - and shows how their lives become entwined in the ensuing conflict of WW2. One word of warning, though: James Salter has written a great reflective introduction to this new edition of the classic novel (first published in 1949) but spoils it by giving away the ending of the story and divulging the fate of the three central characters you're supposed to be rooting for over 662 pages! If you haven't read The Young Lions before, then I suggest you skip the introduction and go back to it after you've fininshed the novel.
As for the author: one of America's greatest and most-gifted novelists and short story writers, Irwin Shaw is best remembered for his Rich Man, Poor Man TV mini-series in the 1970s (now available on video). The quality of writing and depth of character in his classic novels is far superior to most of his predecessors today. A groundbreaking pioneer of the big multi-character blockbuster novel, every author who has followed Irwin Shaw - from Stephen King to John Grisham - owes a debt to this literary trailblazer. My favourite novels are The Young Lions; Rich Man, Poor Man; Nightwork; Evening in Byzantium; Two Weeks in Another Town; and the short story collection Five Decades, which contains such gems as 'The Girls in their Summer Dresses' and 'In the French style.'
Try to get your hands on the brilliant biography, Irwin Shaw by Michael Shnayerson, for the full story of this legendary author's life and work.
Rating:
Summary: Perspective, anyone?
Review: I have never been presented with a better view of World War II. Usually, I get the point of view of a U.S. soldier in France, pushing against the Panzers. Never have I had the opportunity to see the war through Nazi eyes, or even Jewish eyes. Seeing that our enemy was just a kid, concerned with nothing more than his own well-being. Seeing the German Army as a unit just as dysfunctional as the U.S. army is usually portrayed was absolutely beneficial, as was the presentation of Christian's hesitation in turning a Jew in, but does anyway, just out of duty. The perspectives is the first of two standout characteristics of The Young Lions. The second is the way Shaw manipulates the characters to manifest them into believable, tangible people, to which everyone can relate. Even the Nazi, usually hated by Americans, is portrayed realistically and humanly, instead of in the more typical animalistic, murderous way.
Rating:
Summary: A Forgotten Classic of World War II
Review: It seems that Irwin Shaw is mainly remembered for light popular novels such as "Rich Man, Poor Man" and "Beggarman, Thief," and "Nightwork," but he was also a great writer of short stories (a former star for the New Yorker) and in "The Young Lions" he emphatically staked his claim to be numbered among the great American war novelists. In my opinion, Shaw's book belongs in the company of "The Red Badge of Courage," "A Farewell to Arms," "The Naked and the Dead," and "Catch-22." Hopefuly this new edition from Chicago will help to bring a forgotten classic of World War II before a new audience. Many war novels hover uneasily at the brink of sentimentality and melodrama, and many more simply fall in. But in this story about three young soldiers who are "The Young Lions" of the title, with their hopes, fears, loves and hatreds, Shaw's touch is deft and his clear, smooth prose leads the reader through an absorbing and tragic story that remains as fresh and moving today as it was when it first written over half a century ago.
Rating:
Summary: A Forgotten Classic of World War II
Review: It seems that Irwin Shaw is mainly remembered for light popular novels such as "Rich Man, Poor Man" and "Beggarman, Thief," and "Nightwork," but he was also a great writer of short stories (a former star for the New Yorker) and in "The Young Lions" he emphatically staked his claim to be numbered among the great American war novelists. In my opinion, Shaw's book belongs in the company of "The Red Badge of Courage," "A Farewell to Arms," "The Naked and the Dead," and "Catch-22." Hopefuly this new edition from Chicago will help to bring a forgotten classic of World War II before a new audience. Many war novels hover uneasily at the brink of sentimentality and melodrama, and many more simply fall in. But in this story about three young soldiers who are "The Young Lions" of the title, with their hopes, fears, loves and hatreds, Shaw's touch is deft and his clear, smooth prose leads the reader through an absorbing and tragic story that remains as fresh and moving today as it was when it first written over half a century ago.
Rating:
Summary: GOOD BOOK
Review: Only a great writer could compose a complicated work of this class. A difficult book to write but an easy one to read and to remember.
Rating:
Summary: Exceptional writing
Review: The narrative of this book is extraordinary. Every sentence is truly crafted to tell the story as succinctly as possible. The protagonists are a small group of soldiers that start the war as complete strangers but go on to become the best of friends and anonymous enemies. The author tells the story in a remarkably nonjudgmental way, thereby giving the reader a great deal of insight into the nature of war in general. My only disappointment is that I have just this moment finished it. I will pick it up again, someday, I'm sure. This is the first Irwin Shaw book I have read, but I knew ten pages into it, that I was a true fan.
Rating:
Summary: A great storyteller --and his greatest story
Review: There were dozens of novels based on World War II, but only three that captured American readers by storm. Mailer's THE NAKED AND THE DEAD, Jones's FROM HERE TO ETERNITY and Shaw's THE YOUNG LIONS. Of the three, the most compulsively readable and the least self-conscious is Irwin Shaw's absolutely beautiful novel of love and loss during World War II. If there is a better sculptor of character in 20th century American fiction, I'd like to know who it is. Shaw has a knack for creating palpable characters (including some you'd ordinarily hate -- such as an errant Nazi) who live and breathe. All of his characters -- from Christian and Michael to Hope -- are people we care about, and many of the great historic scenes of the war come alive for even the most casual reader. The subplots (and there are quite a few of them) are integrated seamlessly and the pace is relentless and exciting. One wonders why Shaw never tried to repeat this stunning performance, but perhaps novels as fine as this only occur once in a lifetime. If you want to sink into a richly detailed, compulsively readable saga of World War II, this is the genuine article. A pity there aren't six stars.
Rating:
Summary: Probably the Best WW 2 novel ever written
Review: This is one of the few books I've read twice (so far). Irwin Shaw - in my opinion - was one of the best novelists of the 20th century, and it's sad to see so many of his work out of print. It is therefore great news that at least "The Young Lions" is now available again in a new paperback edition.A passionate book about the world at war, seen through the eyes of a group of desparate young soldiers. While Herman Wouk's "The Winds of War" worked brilliantly on a grand scale, Irwin Shaw's novel lets the war happen on a frighteningly real personal level. It's tough, it's emotional - an unrivaled novel that will leave no reader cold.
Rating:
Summary: A true classic of men at war.
Review: This is truly one of the great novels dealing with World War Two. Throughout, the novel switches perspectives from that of a German lieutnant to an American private. The story begins shortly before the outbreak of war, and continues until the war's ending. Irwin Shaw seems to capture the flavor of both the American and German armies, and what the attitudes and perspectives of their soldiers might have been like. One thing that Shaw cannot be criticized for is soft-peddling the crimes of the German Army. One of the things the reader will see is the slow descent of the German protagonist from an essentially good man to a thorough skunk. Personally, I thought Shaw might have overdone it a little bit (just my opinion). To clarify: I thought it might have been more effective to show the German soldier as a basically good man caught up in an organization committing wrongful deeds. Instead, Shaw chose to have the character himself become evil. Well, that's the author's choice to make, and Shaw certainly tells a compelling story. This is an engaging story that has a strong authentic feel to it. I found it to be a rich reading experience and this is one of the truly great stories of World War II.
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