There have been good novels written about the Vietnam War, but Matterhorn, by Karl Marlantes is the first great one__literally, this is a great book. It’s like being dropped into a steaming jungle and ordered to storm a hilltop fortification, not once, not twice, but three times. You won’t be able to stop turning the pages and you will be sorry when it ends. Your guide is a novice lieutenant named Mellas. Your mission is to take one of the countless nameless hills near the Laotian border. Matterhorn as its called. Your purpose none, just senseless fighting__ purposeless futility. Bravo Company is ordered to take Matterhorn with great sacrifice and builds bunkers at the top, then the company is ordered to abandon their hilltop fortifications only to be ordered to take it again with even greater sacrifice and finally they ordered to abandon it again. Marlantes presents this absurdity with a stark reality that stings the reader with a vicarious sense of futility. There is a lot of gut wrenching brutal combat in this book, but it shows you what it was like, especially for those of us too young to remember. But there is more to Marlantes book than combat. Every aspect of the war is covered from the politics and the bureaucracy of the military to the nobility of camaraderie and brotherhood. Every character trait is on display, loyalty, disloyalty, love, hate, bravery, cowardice, intelligence and stupidity. But what actually makes this such a good book? Authenticity. It’s what it was like. If you are interested this is the book to read. Coming away from it you will appreciate those who sacrificed their lives here.
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