I read this book mainly for the satisfaction of finishing a 700-page book.

I was also somewhat intrigued by the idea of branching out into different genres - in this case, a war book.

The Naked and the Dead is set during World War 2 on a Japanese island.

This book is reputed to be one of the greatest war stories ever, accurately portraying the men at war.

If that's true, then war lacks combat and excitement and is filled with endless routine.

If you're expecting a fast-paced, action-packed book following the lives of the bravest soldiers, don't pick up this book.

What this book is really about is how war affects the men in a particular platoon.

Norman Mailer writes in detail about the daily activities of these men.

He crafts each and every character with such care that it feels as if you're getting to know them personally.

Mailer also devotes some attention to the General, although not as much as to the platoon.

Once I accepted the fact that this book wasn't going to be action-packed, I began to appreciate how he chose to focus on a group of men.

However, the ending was disappointing as it didn't provide much closure to the lives of these men.

Instead, it focused on the General, who wasn't the most important character in the story.

Despite my gripes about this book, I'm still glad I persevered and read it all the way to the end.

War and Peace is magnificent, but for me, the best war-themed book is Grossman's Life and Fate. Its main theme is war, and it is a flawless book with a simple background story. Life and Fate is undoubtedly greatly influenced by Grossman's experience as a war correspondent. Again, I highly recommend reading Life and Fate.

Norman Mailer, after reading Grossman's Life and Fate, is deeply impressed. He decides to write The Naked and the Dead.

Firstly, in terms of the book's format, it is very good. The language is excellent. The narration, which is difficult in such long books, is extremely consistent from the first page to the last. Incidentally, Norman Mailer wrote such a book at the age of 23.

From Here to Eternity and The Thin Red Line are far superior to this book by the acclaimed Mailer.

I read this one first. As much as I enjoyed the banter between Hearn and Cummings, it was a bit too forced.

The way the mission got spooked about insects at the end just seemed to me that Mailer was not sure how to finish the story.

It left me with a sense of dissatisfaction. However, the Jones books restored my faith that there were some good war novels out there.

Their vivid descriptions and engaging storylines made me realize that war literature could be both powerful and moving.

Unlike this book by Mailer, which had its moments but ultimately fell short in several aspects.

Perhaps with more careful planning and a stronger conclusion, it could have been a better work. But as it stands, it pales in comparison to the masterpieces like From Here to Eternity and The Thin Red Line.

Setting: Island of Anopopei (fictional), South Pacific Ocean; World War Two.

In this remarkable war novel, the author vividly portrays the story of a platoon of American soldiers. They are part of the invasion force that lands on the fictional island of Anopopei, aiming to seize it from the occupying Japanese army. With astute observations, each soldier is distinctively identified and meticulously described, both in terms of physical features and character. Their interactions within the platoon and with their commanding officers are also brought to life. Told from each soldier's perspective, we gain insights into their individual beliefs, prejudices, and opinions. Additionally, in the captivating sections at the end of each chapter titled 'The Time Machine', the author takes us back to the upbringing and background of each member of the platoon and some of the key officers.

Based largely on the author's own experiences fighting in the Pacific during World War Two, the reader witnesses not only the intense battles against the Japanese forces but also the often monotonous and tiresome tasks that the soldiers had to undertake when not engaged in combat. Moreover, we get a glimpse into the decision-making process of the General and his officers regarding the strategies they plan to employ in the fight against the defending forces.

I had never read any of Norman Mailer's books before. Judging from the ratings, I probably started with his best work. However, I am now determined to seek out more from this author. Although the detailed descriptions, writing style, and the length of the book made it a relatively slow read for me, it was undoubtedly one of the classic war novels and completely engrossing. I would rate it 8.5/10.

This novel offers a profound and immersive exploration of the realities of war, making it a must-read for any fan of the genre.

This is a book about America. It's no secret that Tolstoy is Mailer's favorite author. Reading this book right after finishing War and Peace provided me with a great perspective on all that is defined within it.

It captures a uniquely American milieu of characters during a time when a distinct American sense of identity and patriotism was being forged. Through about a dozen main characters with learned empathy, it tells of the physical and intellectual challenges of various backgrounds. And in the end, and throughout, you get to glimpse all the indelible cruelty of reality, as one would expect from a foreboding title.

The book is also brashly written by a novice. Mailer himself will admit that his syntax tends to be simplistic, which gives the book a "page-turning," "thriller" characteristic that actually enhances the reading experience, perhaps to the chagrin of more established literary snobs. However, what does hurt the book is some occasionally awkward diction and character development for some of the book's figures. For example, the Hispanic sergeant, who is a capable if not confident soldier, for some reason has an inner monologue written in a fractured and childlike stream of consciousness, as if Mailer equated difficulty speaking English as a second language with stupidity. The crudeness of the soldier banter can also sometimes ring hollow, especially given the liberal use of stand-in euphemisms for censored swear words.

In the end, the book is of extremely high quality, readable, illuminating, passionate, and empathic. It is well-structured and mostly well-written, and in a couple of places, it is extremely influential. I'm tempted to give it five stars, but in the end, I think the book maybe wasn't as beautiful and influential as some of my favorite five-star reads.

Parting Shots:

Did anyone else think the writing of Japbait was somewhat oversimplistic?

Who else loved that last line of the book?

So the Lieutenant admitted he hated Thomas Mann's Magic Mountain, but his conversations with the General really reminded me of Catsorp's relationship with Leo Naphta in Mann's classic.

I finished reading this book again on December 15, 2019.

I first read it during the early 1970s. At that time, I had a certain impression of the book.

However, this time around, I found that the book is quite different from what I remembered. In fact, it is even better.

Previously, I thought it was just a fine book. But now, after re-reading it, I have come to the conclusion that it may be a great book.

The story, the characters, and the writing style all seem to have a new charm and depth that I didn't fully appreciate before.

It makes me wonder how much our perspectives can change over time and how a book can offer new insights and experiences with each reading.

I am truly glad that I decided to pick up this book again and rediscover its beauty.

**Brothers in Arms**

Beh, it has been quite a long time since then, since I finished reading it. But if I still remember them now, if sometimes, when I watch a film that also talks about war, that war, I find myself thinking about the story of Hearn, Red, Wilson, Roth, Brown, Gallagher, Croft and all the others; if after all these months I still remember their names and can't get the image of the mountain, the Pacific island of Anopopei immersed in fog, the sticky heat, the rain and the mud out of my eyes; if I still feel the weight of the stretcher carried on the shoulder and the breath of the Japanese enemy hidden behind every curve of the path and the jungle; if I still remember all this and together with all that united them from the day when the war brought together "the platoon", I also remember their stories, one by one, just as Mailer told them at only twenty-four years old, so that his novel was not just a novel that told about a war lived in first person, of battles and conquests, of life at the front and defeats, of power games and team games; but also, through the time machine - which opposes the direct of war, with what I defined during reading as "the inserts of life", with which, little by little, it makes us know, in a more profound way, the individual characters - the portrait of many cities, many states, many Americans, all different in social class, race and color, who faced that war full of hopes, disappointments, miseries, riches and desires for revenge.

If all this is true, and it is, and it is still so alive after all this time in which I have waited to write a comment on "The Naked and the Dead" because I wanted to let it "decant" to better understand what it was and what it meant to me; if then I forgot about it, and then, finally, I remembered it, and forgot it again, until today the day has come to write it, and now, finally, I can say that this book, this novel, this bestseller, is really a masterpiece.

And that no one should define it "a war book", because there is much more inside: it is war that becomes a "total institution", and a novel in which, while telling about war and death, one can feel the buzz of life.

The introduction written by Norman Mailer in May 1998, fifty years after the publication, is also splendid:

[...] And so, I still like The Naked and the Dead. It has its virtues and its defects, but it certainly has a healthy, perhaps even stimulating, touch of Tolstoyan compassion that allows me to cultivate hope for all of us the very rare times I look back and reread some pages. Let me then believe that it is possible to find a lot of hope if it is read in its entirety.

http://youtu.be/jhdFe3evXpk

This World War II novel delves into the experiences of a platoon of American soldiers engaged in the struggle for an island occupied by the Japanese. What sets it apart from typical war books is the absence of a distinct battle to be won or a specific mission to accomplish. Instead, it focuses more on the soldiers' words and thoughts. In fact, a significant portion of the book consists of dialogues, mainly internal ones. Regrettably, what they think to themselves isn't particularly captivating.

I discovered that I could categorize the characters into two groups - those I disliked and those I didn't have any strong feelings about. These weren't heroic figures. Just ordinary men with common dreams and desires, and their predominant wish was to return home. I suppose that serves as the overarching theme.

There were a few memorable scenes that alleviated the overall dullness and banality, but not enough to warrant a rating higher than "okay". The 50th Anniversary Edition features a forward by Mailer in which he shares his thoughts on the book after a recent rereading. He too didn't seem overly impressed.

Matt wrote an excellent review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

As a young woman, I made a firm vow that I would never touch or read anything written by that bastard Norman Mailer. I had once read "The Executioner's Song" and while I thought it was just okay, my loathing for Mailer ran deep, almost as if it stemmed from a personal feminist vendetta. In fact, that intense dislike still lingers within me to this day.

However, this particular book completely blew me away. It was like a force that shattered all my preconceived notions and prejudices. I found myself completely immersed in its pages, and before I knew it, I was head over heels in love with it.

It just goes to show that sometimes, our initial judgments and prejudices can blind us to the true beauty and value of something. We should always be open to new experiences and be willing to set aside our biases, because we never know when we might be pleasantly surprised. This book has taught me that lesson in the most profound way.

This is the absolute worst book I have ever had the misfortune to read.

H. P. Lovecraft, the horror writer from the early decades of the 20th century, was astute enough to know that his dialogue writing was subpar. So, he wisely minimized it in his stories and focused on what he did best - vivid descriptions and thrilling actions, resulting in some truly satisfying and creepy tales.

In stark contrast, Norman Mailer filled "The Naked and the Dead" with an abundance of dialogue, not because it was his strength, but seemingly because he lacked friends who would be honest enough to tell him the truth. If only he had a friend who could say, "Norm, this is utter garbage. You need to rewrite it." or even, "Really, man, this whole book is a stinking pile of excrement. Burn it and you'll feel much cleaner when the stench is gone."

Throughout my life, I have read a vast amount of literature. Admittedly, not all of it has been outstanding (case in point: Stephen King's "Desperation"). However, some has been truly amazing, bringing tears to my eyes or making me so angry that I wanted to run over a convent of nuns. But in all this reading, of countless different types of fiction, I have never, without a shadow of a doubt, come across anything as糟糕 as "The Naked and the Dead". I gave it a measly one star only because I couldn't figure out how to award it a negative number of stars.

The characterization in this book was simply abysmal. As I've already hinted, the dialogue was atrocious - stilted, pedantic, and incredibly condescending. Most of the characters were written in overly wrought colloquialism, making them all seem intellectually challenged. None of the characters had any redeeming qualities or anything that made them remotely interesting. Every emotion was clumsily portrayed, worse than what I've seen from high school sophomores. Everything the characters said and every thought they had (and Mailer made sure to share every single one of them with the reader throughout the entire book) was a non-stop bitch-fest: complaining about how bad their situation was, how much the army was "fugging" them, and how certain they were that their wives back home were sleeping with anything that could maintain an erection. Combine this with the fact that nobody, not a single soul, managed to accomplish a single thing they set out to do over the course of 721 pages. Whether it was leading a platoon on patrol, standing up to the crazy sergeant, carrying a body back to camp, or any of the numerous other things the characters "attempted" to do, everyone failed, and the only point of all their efforts seemed to be to give the reader the "pleasure" of listening to their incessant whining about it.

Absolutely nothing happens in the first 400 (yes, 400!) pages of the novel. Well, okay, there was some bitching. And there was this strange tension as the latently homosexual general played power games with his lieutenant aide. And one character's venereal disease wouldn't go away. But aside from that, there is a 400-page lull at the beginning that makes me question my own sanity for bothering to finish it (commitment, baby, commitment). So, after this "dry beginning" that is longer than most novels, the platoon finally goes on its big mission. But first: let's look at the pretty sunset. So they look at the sunset, go on their mission, and not a whole lot happens there either, and then the book just ends.

The San Francisco Chronicle calls "The Naked and the Dead" "...perhaps the best book to come out of any war." The San Francisco Chronicle is full of baloney.

I read this book because Norman Mailer is one of the most highly acclaimed authors in the American literary canon. I wanted to see what sort of achievement his breakthrough novel (written at the tender age of 24) might be. I expected something like "Saving Private Ryan". What I got was an insufferably boring novel. I might just burn it. I sure wish Norman Mailer had.

Your time would be much better spent reading Archie comic books.

What was that song saying?

WAR! What's it for? Absolutely nothing!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpWml...

Well, almost nothing: for example, it's very useful for writing great novels.

There's no point in beating around the bush, it's worked since the times of Homer: take a group of men, throw them into a war and if you know how to build settings, characters, dialogues and if you can contextualize the whole thing without being pedantic, you can come up with a great story.

Norman Mailer does exactly this: he takes a very diverse group of men, builds great stories about them (well described in small digressions that take us straight into America on the cusp between the two world wars, an America often still rough and wild) and characters, puts them in a context alien to them (a Pacific islet full of Japanese soldiers) and manages to keep you glued to several hundred pages.

But don't expect the glorification of militarism: Mailer takes us into the disgust of the trenches, makes us breathe the unhealthy air, the tension, the hatred, the boredom and the depression of war, right up to the last patrol of our characters, a nightmare worthy of "Apocalypse Now" where the madness of war reaches its peak.

There is no consolation in Mailer, and even the irony does not mitigate the desperation of the events.

As I read it, I became increasingly aware of how it has influenced not a few books and films that I have read, especially if they came out after Vietnam: I wouldn't be surprised if many authors and screenwriters, in order to find a way to talk about that war, had to go and rediscover this book...

In the end, I read "Soldiers' Pay", a book that I had been looking for since I was fourteen or fifteen years old and had never managed to get a printed copy of, and finally I read it on Kindle.

How did I feel when I was reading it? Every few minutes, I would put the Kindle aside and think to myself why this text is so powerful and unique when Norman Mailer was only 25 years old when he wrote it?

How did I feel when I finished it? In my opinion, "Soldiers' Pay" ranks among the top 5 novels of the 20th century, without any doubt or hesitation.

The story takes place at the end of World War II, when one of the American armies lands on a tropical island called Anopopei to fight against the Japanese. An island from hell that elevates the war to a level higher than the concept of hell.

The whole story is told from the perspective of the Americans, and we don't have a picture of the Japanese. But when I talk about the Americans, I mean from the army commander to the simplest soldier. Their lives on this hellish island, and all the things they had and left behind in America, and their work has come here. Mailer, with the cuts he makes in the narrative of the story under the title of time machine, returns to America to describe the stories of each of his heroes. Of course, the novel doesn't have a single hero, and about twenty officers and soldiers advance the narrative in parallel.

I don't remember in which Sartre play the general said to one of his subordinates that in order to win the war, our soldiers must be more afraid of me than of the enemy. This idea is also found again in "Soldiers' Pay", a description based on that army, which is formed based on the hatred of the soldiers for the officers and the officers for their comrades, and in the middle of this, the human being who does not want to submit to this hierarchy of hatred and its consequences.

"... 'Do soldiers die in vain?' I remembered a discussion that had taken place one day on a tattered magazine cover that one of the soldiers had received from his mother and had thrown into the gutter. 'Do soldiers die in vain?'

He snorted. Who didn't know the answer to this question? Of course they died in vain. Every soldier knew the answer to this question. For those who were in the trenches, the battlefield was like hell and that was it.

... 'Yes, war is for solving problems, like going to the hospital to treat a burn.'

Hours can be spent talking and writing about this novel. A novel that gives a precise and terrifying experience of war, fear, and inhumanity to man, and on the other hand, a detailed picture of America in those years. Of course, there are no women on the battlefield, and we get to know American women only based on the flashbacks of the story. (And this may be the only weakness of the novel, that we don't get a vivid and accurate picture of American women during that war.)

"Soldiers' Pay" was only printed once, in 1962 by Niloufar, and its printed copy is rare in a beautiful way. I used all the connections and acquaintances I had in the bookstore, and I could never find a printed copy of it, and this is a great shame for us book lovers. A novel with a great translation by Seyyed Ebrahim Bastani and a good print by Niloufar. You must read the book yourself to understand what I mean when I talk about a good translation that is in line with the mood and atmosphere of the book.

"... He had worked hard all his life without any reward or recognition; his grandfather, father, and he himself had struggled with that dark land and with endless poverty. What was the result of all that hard work? He remembered one of the verses of the Bible. 'What profit has a man from all his labor which he toils under the sun?' This part of the Bible always depressed him. Rizzi felt a deep and endless bitterness in his heart. It was cruel... God's joke. Rizzi was once freed from this joke. What kind of God was this that always dealt the last blow to man?"