Rating: 
Summary: Credible Asian characters
Review: A book as lush and florid as the Asia it describes. Unlike many books written by Westerners about Asia, where the protagonist is European or American, and Asia and its peoples are merely a passive or negative backdrop to the plot, this book gives a sympathetic and nuanced portrayal of Asian characters. From the downtrodden ex-South Vietnamese soldier eking a precarious living in Saigon to a Communist colonel and his family, we see well drawn people, moving to their own beliefs and constrained by their own circumstances. Far indeed from a Rambo-type novel, that has come to characterise so much of American writings on Vietnam after 1975.The book is fascinating for its descriptions of Saigon after the war. Its descriptions of the sheer poverty and harassment endured by the ex-South Vietnamese soldiers, and the entire society of postwar Vietnam were vivid. Perhaps it is the presumed accuracy of these outlines that gives some explanation of why many (over a million) fled Vietnam after 1975, risking their lives in leaky, overcrowded boats to reach anyplace else. Certainly, at that time, the Western media said the refugees were fleeing persecution. But there was little elaboration on this. But this work of fiction gives flesh to what was happened. Yes, this is a work of fiction. So too was "Uncle Tom's Cabin", and that galvanised the antislavery movement in the US before the Civil War. This novel is set in today's time, circa 2001-2. More the pity that an equivalently well-written novel was not done soon after 1975, to perhaps, like Harriet Beecher Stowe's book, explain what the losers suffered. Though I suspect that a war weary American public may never have made such a book a bestseller. On a lighter note, the book describes Western Australia as a more backward part of Australia. I'm from WA, and I found that hilarious! Like we're a bunch of bare-arsed Abos living in humpies.
Rating: 
Summary: Not up to Webb's standard.
Review: A disjointed begining, coupled with constant use of unexplained Vietnamese words really hurt an otherwise good book. The word "cyclo" was used to excess and was always in italics. I don't have a clue as to why Mr. Webb did that. After reading, and loving, his other books, this one was a disappointment.
Rating:
Summary: Not up to Webb's standard.
Review: A disjointed begining, coupled with constant use of unexplained Vietnamese words really hurt an otherwise good book. The word "cyclo" was used to excess and was always in italics. I don't have a clue as to why Mr. Webb did that. After reading, and loving, his other books, this one was a disappointment.
Rating:
Summary: Did webb really write this?
Review: A very disappointing read. After reading "Fields of Fire" I had great expectations. There is no story, no characters, and no plot here. Don't waste your time.
Rating:
Summary: Totally Disappointing
Review: As a fan of James Webb, I was surely surprised at this slow reading novel. Lost Soldiers is only a history/geography lesson of Viet Nam, Thailand, Hawaii, Russia and Australia that concludes with a predictable and disappointing climax. Let's hope that his fuure work is better than this one.
Rating:
Summary: A Vietnamese American perspective -- Remarkable Book
Review: As a Vietnamese-American woman who has spent time back inside Vietnam, I had expected Mr. Webb's book to be one of those usual "thrillers" about the POW/MIA issue, with cardboard Vietnamese characters, or as is more often the case, with nondescript, stereotypical Asian characters running around and shouting slogans. Instead, I found a book that is nothing short of remarkable in its understanding of my culture and also of today's Vietnam. Mr. Webb's military and government credentials are pushed hard by his publisher. But I have yet to read a book that understands the Vietnamese people like this one. Mr. Webb's portrayal of the character Dzung, from whose eyes we actually see much of the story, is to me one of the great accomplishments in American literature. Amazing!
Rating:
Summary: Are you sure THE James Webb wrote this hack novel??
Review: As with other readers who have read some of Webb's earlier novels, especially the excellent Fields of Fire, I looked forward to an in-depth look at postwar Vietnam and Saigon as seen through the eyes of an author who had intimate knowledge of the area. I was assigned to the American Embassy in Saigon in 1973-74, so was very familiar with the city and anxious to see how it had changed in the last 25 years. How sadly disappointed I was, then, with this meager work. In spite of glowing acclaim from such lumanaries as Senator John McCain, and Senator Robert Kerry, who should have known better, Webb has produced a novel with a pain-in-the-neck leading character (Brandon Condley), an inane story line, a weak plot, cartoon-like secondary characters, and no insight at all into what the end-result of the Vietnam war was all about. It reads in fact,like it was written especially for the next Bruce Willis movie. Hardly a recommendation. For me it's back to the next Wilbur Smith and a good read.
Rating: 
Summary: AS SAID BEFORE, GOOD, BUT NOT WEBB'S BEST....
Review: BUT!!!...the thing about James Webb's Lost Soldiers is that, even if it doesn't pack the same punch as his other novels, it's still better than all of Tom Clancy's banal books combined. Essentially, the story revolves around past events coming back to haunt Marine Viet Nam veteran Brandon Condley in the revelation that American deserters who killed Marines under his command in Vietnam 30 years ago are still alive. Lost Soldiers has all of Webb's usual rich texture in both the book's characters and the settings through which they move, as well as an unpredictability in the sequence of events. And while the plot may have been mislaid somewehere along the way, and the book itself is more Webb's affectionate articulation of his past memories and present experiences in Vientnam than a focused attempt to tell a story, it's still a great read. And although the complaints of many reviews of this book are valid and this is, probably, not his best effort (at least for most other readers) Webb is that rare bird, the one who not only experienced the reality about which he writes, but also, one that can express it in a prose that brings the reader's immagination to life. His characters have a depth and soul that few fictional chacaters do, and their thoughts and feelings emminate off the page like heat from a fire. So, whatever complaints you have about it, for rich texture and a gritty sense of reality, Lost Soldiers is still better than most fiction on the shelves of your local bookstores.
Rating:
Summary: Worth Buying and Reading
Review: I enjoyed the characters and the story too. I also found some of the descriptions of Vietnamese family and daily life to be very interesting. From seeing the plight of the peasants in both Saigon and throughout most of the rest of what was South Vietnam when I was there, the book broadened my perspective about the lives of our allies, enemies, and the ordinary people in the South. I especially enjoyed being able to refer to the map at the front and back of the hardcover version. Although I was in Saigon only a few times back in '67-8, I still remember a lot of the streets and sections of the city (e.g., the Cholon district, the US Embassy, and Tan Son Nhut). The map and the characters' movements through the city with the descriptions of the traffic, landmarks, sounds, and smells brought the city to life for me. There were a couple of places where the pace of the story slowed, but the pace of the rest of the book outweighed those. I think the book could me made into a decent movie too.
Rating:
Summary: This may be the best book of a generation
Review: I first read Graham Greene's 1954 book, "The Quiet American", 35 years ago and have reread it several times. I'd thought that it would stand as the most insightful book about Viet Nam. Now, I'm not so sure. James Webb's "Lost Soldiers" is equal to Greene's book in many ways. Both books have a remarkable depth of perception about character and historical events. Where Greene's book is prospective and pessimistic, Webb's book is reflective and grandly humane in it cautious optimism. We have needed this book for many years. I hope someday to thank Mr. Webb personally for having written it.
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