A Rumor Of War Book ReviewA Rumor Of War Book Review
Home Catcher In The Rye Harry Potter The Da Vinci Code The Hobbit The Tale Of Peter Rabbit


A Rumor Of War Book Review

Philip Caputo, the author who penned the book A Rumor of War, was inspired by the Vietnam War. The book is considered to be autobiographical in nature as it covers Caputo's service during the war in the US Marine Corps.

The book highlights Caputo's personal experiences during the war. He has penned down the atrocities he witnessed and expresses his grief over losing his idealism by the horrors of war. The single event that stands out in the book is when Caputo's platoon mercilessly killed an entire Vietnamese village without a least bit of provocation.

A Rumor of War is a huge book and that is why it is divided into three parts. The first part is entitled The Splendid Little War where Caputo gives his reasons for joining the Marines, his training and finally his arrival in Vietnam which was a shock to him and his fellow soldiers as they were under the impression that it was an insignificant war.

The next part of the book is entitled The Officer In-Charge of the Dead. Here he describes how he is reassigned and his main task was documenting the casualties of war. This task changes his perspective about the war, and his opinion is further changed when he realizes that senior officers were busy concentrating on small issues rather than the strategies of war.

The third and the last part of the book is entitled In Death's Grey Land where Caputo is once again reassigned, but this time to a rifle company. In this part, it all about Caputo discovering along with other soldiers how fierce the Vietnamese are as fighters. Also, his troops purposely shoot two suspected Viet Con men leaving Caputo to take the full responsibility for the act. Of course, there is a court martial, but Caputo is acquitted.

The book concludes with Caputo returning to Vietnam ten years after leaving the country as war correspondent.

A Rumor of War won the Pulitzer Prize, and it is really worth reading. It is written in a simple and concise manner using a very natural style of writing.

More Articles :

A Rumor Of War Book Review

Web Presentation

And Then There Were None By Agatha Christey

And-Then-There-Were-None-By-Agatha-Christey      And Then There Were None is written in 1939 by Agatha Christie, who is considered to be one of the most famous detective writers of all times. The book was a raring success which told the story of 10 people being invited mysteriously to an island. It is after the first meal, the people realize that they have actually been lured to their imminent deaths as one by one the guests start dying. More..