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What It Is Like to Go to War Audiobook
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(4.09) - 22 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
From the author of the bestselling and award-winning Matterhorn comes a brilliant nonfiction book about war and the psychological and spiritual toll it takes on those who fight.
“I wrote this book primarily to come to terms with my own experience of combat. So far—reading, writing, thinking—that has taken over thirty years.”
In 1969, at the age of twenty-three, Karl Marlantes was dropped into the highland jungle of Vietnam, an inexperienced lieutenant in command of a platoon of forty marines who would live or die by his decisions. Marlantes survived, but like many of his brothers in arms, he has spent the last forty years dealing with his war experience. In his first work of nonfiction, Marlantes takes a deeply personal and candid look at what it is like to experience the ordeal of combat, critically examining how we might better prepare our soldiers for war.
Just as Matterhorn is already acclaimed a classic of war literature, What It Is Like to Go to War is set to become required reading for anyone—soldier or civilian—interested in this visceral and all too essential part of the human experience.
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"This felt like one of those important books we should all take the time to read. People might re-think how returning vets are/were treated. I'm more of a peacenik than a war monger, but conscripted & volunteer soldiers deserve our respect & support, regardless of the battle being fought. "
— Maureen (4 out of 5 stars)
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“Bronson Pinchot does an outstanding job of presenting Karl Marlantes’ memoir of war, trauma, and recovery…Pinchot deftly follows as Marlantes shifts from well-told battle stories to policy analysis, then to Jungian archetypes, and back again. His tone is sometime matter-of-fact and sometimes passionate (almost shouting) in marvelous synchrony with the author’s words.”
— AudioFile -
“Karl Marlantes has written a staggeringly beautiful book on combat—what it feels like, what the consequences are, and above all, what society must do to understand it. In my eyes he has become the preeminent literary voice on war of our generation…I’m sure he will literally save lives.”
— Sebastian Junger, New York Times bestselling author -
“Marlantes brings candor and wrenching self-analysis to bear on his combat experiences in Vietnam, in a memoir-based meditation whose intentions are three-fold: to help soldiers-to-be understand what they’re in for; to help veterans come to terms with what they’ve seen and done; and to help policymakers know what they’re asking of the men they send into combat.”
— New Yorker -
“Digging as deeply into his own life as he does into the larger sociological and moral issues, Marlantes presents a riveting, powerfully written account of how, after being taught to kill, he learned to deal with the aftermath.”
— Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Awards
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One of the 2011 Amazon Best Books of the Year
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A New York Times bestseller
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A Barnes & Noble Best Book: Top 100 Bestsellers of 2011
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A Indies Choice Book Award Finalist for the Indies Choice Book Award Book of the Year: Adult Nonfiction
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Selected for the October 2011 Indie Next List
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An AudioFile Editors’ Pick, August 2011
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A San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of 2011
What It Is Like to Go to War Listener Reviews
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" A surreal look at what it's like to go to war if you're a Yale/Oxford scholar, soldier and new age hippie. Brutally honest and engaging. "
— Malla, 11/8/2011 -
" A must read for anyone curious about the psyche and human aspects of Warriors and Warrior Culture that is often kept hidden or rarely discussed in open public. Marlantes interweaves colloquial, philosophical, and literary discourses within a memoir of a life lived and a life learned. "
— Nicky, 10/30/2011 -
" The psychological side to Grossman's On Combat. "
— Sam, 10/28/2011 -
" Compelling book. Hard to read in parts but an important book to read and understand. "
— Janel, 10/9/2011 -
" A good personal account of a being a warrior, and then trying to fit back into civilian world, the necessity for rituals and acceptance of the warlike. "
— Alan, 10/9/2011 -
" This is a very thought-provoking book. Marlantes tries to help us understand what it is like to prepare for and to fight in a war. He does not succeed, but it is a valiant effort. "
— Walter, 10/3/2011 -
" This was a really interesting first-hand perspective view of going to war and the effects. Marlantes was very introspective. Some parts were a little too philosphical. "
— Genevieve, 9/27/2011 -
" Recommended reading for anyone thinking of joining the marines. "
— Tom, 9/26/2011 -
" The non-fiction companion to "Matterhorn", it is an excellent description of the author's experiences and reflections on war and its effects on the participants. Sobering and insightful. "
— Susan, 9/22/2011 -
" Very interesting book... a good read for anyone who is serving or has served in the military. "
— Tony, 9/19/2011
About Karl Marlantes
Karl Marlantes, a cum-laude graduate of Yale University and Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, was a marine in Vietnam, where he was awarded the Navy Cross, the Bronze Star, two Navy Commendation Medals for valor, two Purple Hearts, and ten air medals. His novel Matterhorn and his nonfiction book What It Is Like to Go to War, both based on his combat experience, are also both New York Times bestsellers.
About Bronson Pinchot
Bronson Pinchot, Audible’s Narrator of the Year for 2010, has won Publishers Weekly Listen-Up Awards, AudioFile Earphones Awards, Audible’s Book of the Year Award, and Audie Awards for several audiobooks, including Matterhorn, Wise Blood, Occupied City, and The Learners. A magna cum laude graduate of Yale, he is an Emmy- and People’s Choice-nominated veteran of movies, television, and Broadway and West End shows. His performance of Malvolio in Twelfth Night was named the highlight of the entire two-year Kennedy Center Shakespeare Festival by the Washington Post. He attended the acting programs at Shakespeare & Company and Circle-in-the-Square, logged in well over 200 episodes of television, starred or costarred in a bouquet of films, plays, musicals, and Shakespeare on Broadway and in London, and developed a passion for Greek revival architecture.