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200th out of 807 books
—
778 voters
In Pharaoh's Army: Memories of the Lost War
Whether he is evoking the blind carnage of the Tet offensive, the theatrics of his fellow Americans, or the unraveling of his own illusions, Wolff brings to this work the same uncanny eye for detail, pitiless candor and mordant wit that made This Boy's Life a modern classic.
Paperback, 240 pages
Published
September 26th 1995
by Vintage
(first published October 1994)
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War stories are really my brother's forte, but I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It's a memoir of Vietnam, and because I read it for a Creative Non-Fiction class, I'm left wondering whether a few things actually happened. Is truth crazier than fiction?
I also really loved the interjections of writerly advice within the narrative, and wish Wolff would have given us more. A young man overseas, always with a novel in the back of his head. In many ways, I related. In many ways, I found truth within his...more
I also really loved the interjections of writerly advice within the narrative, and wish Wolff would have given us more. A young man overseas, always with a novel in the back of his head. In many ways, I related. In many ways, I found truth within his...more
Wolff lovers are in the odd position of being grateful for his cowardice, without which his memoirs could not have been written. In Pharao's Army is a good, fluid book, full of the heat and air of Vietnam, but strangely vacant. The author offers no climax, little action, and only the unredeeming (and unsurprising) exhortation to persist. As much as this book promises to be a book about Vietnam, it is really about Wolff's attempts to manage his image among those close to him, a series of dramatic...more
In Pharaoh’s Army is the follow-up to Tobias Wolff’s excellent memoir A Boy’s Life about growing up in Concrete, Washington in the 60s. Essentially, he conned himself into an elite boarding school as a teenager and then flunked out and joined the army in order to gain life experiences for the writing career he dreamed about. This well-written memoir is mostly about his experiences as an officer in Vietnam. The book is divided into several vignettes, rather than being written in a straightforward...more
I read it in a day. It has great flow and Wolff is remarkably assured in his lean and simple style. His writing, despite being occasionally bombastic, is really something to treasure. He has a great sense of craft, and understands the art of cutting away at a story, until it stands firm and without anything superfluous, all the while never losing it's lively, thoughtful momentum. There is this double-edged perspective, where the mature Wolff ponders and emphatically criticises, and the young Wol...more
I've only read 2 of Tobias Wolff's works -- both memoirs: This Boy's Life and now In Pharoah's Army. These two works have left me with an impression of him as a writer that strikes me as similar to my impression of writers like Jack London, John Steinbeck, and Ernest Hemingway. Similar, but not the same. In ways, he has that "man's man" thing about his writing that they have. In other ways, he is much more gut-wrenchingly honest and allows himself a vulnerability that I can't imagine someone lik...more
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I was very surprised that I liked “In Pharaoh’s Army” by Tobias Wolff. A memoir of sorts that if I didn’t know better, would believe it was a work of fiction. I’m not a big fan, or a fan at all, of reading about wars or battles, fiction or non. But Wolff does an excellent job of picking moments of his life, mainly from his time in Vietnam, and lets the readers see what he sees. The most “real” portion of the book was immediately following his discharge after four years of service and him not kno...more
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If I had to pick one word to describe this book, I think it would be “insightful.” Wolff’s prose is a great combination of snappy-smart and lovely and his pacing pulls us along comfortably. Rather than give us an entirely linear account, he does this thing that works well for him where he hands us a story, then talks about something else for a while, then comes back to that story from a different angle or telling a different part of it, and the seemingly unrelated stuff sandwiched in the middle...more
(This book counts as 2 books)
if you want to read a good war book, this is a book right up your alley. it talks about the battle aspect and the mind state of war. the before, during and the after.
the Vietnam war was a very, very, very bad war. the landscape and the minds. it was not a war fit for American troops. all the vet could think about was his traumatizing experiences from war. the noise of exploitations, landmines and claymores still ring in his mind and still scare him to the day. it t...more
if you want to read a good war book, this is a book right up your alley. it talks about the battle aspect and the mind state of war. the before, during and the after.
the Vietnam war was a very, very, very bad war. the landscape and the minds. it was not a war fit for American troops. all the vet could think about was his traumatizing experiences from war. the noise of exploitations, landmines and claymores still ring in his mind and still scare him to the day. it t...more
I loved This Boy's Life by Tobias Wolff so reading his memoir of his time in Vietnam was a no-brainer. It is well-written and tells of Vietnam in a succinct almost detached fashion that maximizes the available horror. In particular, Wolff's description of the impact of the Tet Offensive will haunt me to my grave in the way that Michael Herr's description of Hue has.
Wolff is less the soldier and more the writer throughout the book and you wonder how he got himself there. In many ways the book is...more
Wolff is less the soldier and more the writer throughout the book and you wonder how he got himself there. In many ways the book is...more
The Vietnam War memoir is kind of a tired category, and it was tired even in 1994, when In Pharaoh's Army was published. Which is one of the things that makes it amazing rather than just really good. Wolff does an excellent job of trying to tell the truth--not the truth as he wished it were, but as it was. He is rarely a hero in any of the anecdotes that make up this book. In fact, his project is all about being conscious of his self-consciousness, conscious of his motives, conscious of how he w...more
A Gentleman Goes To War.
THIS BOY'S LIFE by Tobias Wolff is a classic. In that book he does a brilliant job capturing the ugliness of class prejudice in America, and the twisted strategems people use to rise in class.
Unfortunately, this book is not so much about Vietnam as it is about Wolff's presence in Vietnam -- in other words, what's really on display is not his courage or patriotism but his, shall we say, genteel powers of detachment. He's always saying, "look, most of the grunts were low...more
THIS BOY'S LIFE by Tobias Wolff is a classic. In that book he does a brilliant job capturing the ugliness of class prejudice in America, and the twisted strategems people use to rise in class.
Unfortunately, this book is not so much about Vietnam as it is about Wolff's presence in Vietnam -- in other words, what's really on display is not his courage or patriotism but his, shall we say, genteel powers of detachment. He's always saying, "look, most of the grunts were low...more
Tobias Wolff, was a volunteer for the US Army at the time of the Vietnam War. He trained as a Special Forces Paratroop officer and was taught to speak Vietnamese. Realising that he was not going to make a competent Special Forces Officer, Wolff wasrelieved to be posted to a Vietnamese Army artillary battalion in a quiet area as their advisor. He did however have a number of "close calls" and survived the enemy's Tet Offensive.
This was a very engaging account of a young officer's time in Vietnam...more
This was a very engaging account of a young officer's time in Vietnam...more
I really like memoir, and this was no exception. Vietnam era stuff sometimes gets to me because of my dad's experience and the resulting psychological trauma, but this was really well done. Wolff is an honest storyteller who didn't shy away from painting himself in a less than stellar light. This isn't really a "front lines of battle" kind of war memoir, though clearly we get some of that. It's more about the situation he found himself in, constant struggle he felt throughout, his platoon, frien...more
In this extraordinary memoir of Wolff’s Vietnam experience, there is a haunting scene that reveals the major cultural differences between the American soldiers and Vietnamese culture. Wolff was a first lieutenant (he was a special forces member) assigned as an adviser to a South Vietnamese unit. He had spent a year at language school in the United States and was fluent in Vietnamese. He and some ARVN (Army of the Republic of Vietnam) soldiers are hanging out when two of the ARVN find a small pup...more
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The most succinct, and possibly the best, memoir I've read of Vietnam. Each chapter is a gem, directly to the point, not a word wasted. Wolff seems to be one of those rare memoir writers, at least one of those rare contemporary memoir writers, who has actually digested the experience he's writing about. A beautiful book.
Besides, you have to like an author who can write an insult like "Captain Kale owned records of people playing accordions, and could tell the difference between them."
Besides, you have to like an author who can write an insult like "Captain Kale owned records of people playing accordions, and could tell the difference between them."
When I describe Wolff's work to people, I say he's probably the most emulated short story writer in America. You have to read one of his stories and have read a lot of american creative writing work to know what I mean. And these are memoirs, which is pretty indicative of american fiction.
He has the clarity of a baldwin, the structures of carver, and seems to have lived a life like hemingway. I don't recognize his tone, which is often a little cruel, so I'll say it's distinctly Wolff.
This is p...more
He has the clarity of a baldwin, the structures of carver, and seems to have lived a life like hemingway. I don't recognize his tone, which is often a little cruel, so I'll say it's distinctly Wolff.
This is p...more
Like everything Wolff writes, this memoir is equisite. I breezed through the essays quickly and came away with a powerful sense of the confusion and frustration of his time in and around wartime Vietnam. The narratives are told with honestly and a complete lack of sentimentality or bravado, and in an unconventional order which seems to be a hallmark of his best work - an ability to reorder events for maximum engagement of the reader. Lovely and true and sad.
I read this book some time ago, but it sticks with me. I've retold the story of the farewell party the Vietnamese counterparts put on, with the delicious twist of revenge they achieve on a soldier who had been rude and oppressive. The picture Tobias Wolff paints of ineptitude and misbegotten interference in another country's fate is a sad one, but so well rendered, so ironic and dispassionate, I closed the book educated and inspired, not depressed.
Jul 09, 2012
Amir
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
biography-and-interview,
short-story
فصل اول و سوم و موخرهی معرکه. فصل دوم بسیار بسیار ملالآور. توبیاس وولف قلم بسیار بسیار شیوایی داره. کاملا میتونی احساس کنی داری اونچیزی رو میخونی که دقیقا میخواسته بگه. فقط یه ایراد کوچیک به ترجمه.اون هم توی وفاداری بسیار شدید به متن اصلی؛ حتی توی به کار بردن حروف اضافه. قطعا دلیل شاهکار بودن ترجمهی نجف دریابندری از وداع با اسلحه وفاداری به متن اصلیش نبوده
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معمولا نمیتونم هیچ کتابی رو درست و یه شبه و تو یه نشست قورت بدم. اما این کتاب رو در کمترین زمان ممکن خوندم. نتیجه: یه کتاب بسیار بسیا...more
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معمولا نمیتونم هیچ کتابی رو درست و یه شبه و تو یه نشست قورت بدم. اما این کتاب رو در کمترین زمان ممکن خوندم. نتیجه: یه کتاب بسیار بسیا...more
Mar 12, 2008
John Maberry
rated it
2 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
No one, except for contrast or comparison
Shelves:
vietnam-and-other-wars
This not among the best of the Vietnam books out there, in my opinion--despite what the critics say, who genuflect before Wolff. There is something about Wolff that puts me off. I couldn't empathize with him in reading This Boys Life. I could understand how critics would think well of it--it does READ well. But as a person, I didn't like him. He carries this unlikablity (not as bad as Dubya, mind you) into In Pharoah's Army. I didn't like how he managed to become an officer in the Army. Somehow...more
Wolff's memoir of his time in Vietnam as a Special Forces adviser to the South Vietnam army. Short on bloody combat scenes, as he didn't really see much. The book deals with what all vets experience in a combat zone: loneliness, boredom, terror, exasperation with the military and gov't system, and the realization that life doesn't stop at home even if you wish it would (read: cheating women etc).
I was too self-absorbed during the 70's to pay attention to Vietnam so I was glad that Tobias Wolff wrote his recollections of his time spent there. He's a truly lovely writer and his account gives you a great feel for the life of the common soldier. The overall details aren't as important as the effect on the individuals in this book. Written with humor, starkness and horror.
This book has one of the most incredible passages in it that I have ever read, and offers the smartest commentary on the Vietnam war that I have ever encountered (though, to be fair, I think this is the only memoir of the war that I have read). The passage takes place on a bus- I don't want to ruin it- you'll know it when you read it (and you should read it).
This is a fantastic book about the Vietnam War. This is a semi-memoir, but it is obviously changed a bit to create for a better novel. This is not a violent book so people who dont want to read about graphic things should not be afraid of this novel. Tobias Wolff was interesting to read about, because of his lack of motivation in the face of anything except chasing girls. It was such an interesting thing that these people would go through life like this it really is interesting. My favorite part...more
Wolff, man, this guy can flat-out write a memoir. "This Boy's Life" and "In Pharaoh's Army" belong on every serious writer and reader's book shelves.
Wolff weaves together vignettes and stories that stand on their own yet somehow flow down the same river thus driving you to the end.
Wolff is honest, funny, and sad; a true master of letters.
Wolff weaves together vignettes and stories that stand on their own yet somehow flow down the same river thus driving you to the end.
Wolff is honest, funny, and sad; a true master of letters.
An excellent memoir, told in stand-alone, story-like chapters, In Pharaoh's Army is reminiscent of The Things They Carried not only thematically but in terms of episodic structure and amused/bemused ironic voice, as well. I don't mean that as a criticism. I think most of the reading I've done about Vietnam has had this absurdist quality.
I studied this book for his use of time and the structure of his chapters. I could really see how he interspersed the top story with riffs of backstory and riffs of expansion - how he slowed down and sped up to give the story texture and rhythm as well as meaning. See my notes on "Thanksgiving Special," the first chapter.
Good book but not long enough to go as deeply as I would have liked. While chronicling a year's military tour in Vietnam, Wolff renders that hazardous and appalling situation in as clear a way as I have ever read, offering up with stark clarity the dehumanizing aspects of war, the terrible compromises that must be made, and the sacrifices of conscience that go along with being a soldier.
1 like · like · see review
If you liked Tim O'Brien's "The Things They Carried," you will like this collection of essays. This is creative nonfiction at its best, it is a continuation of his previous memoir "This Boy's Life." Tobias Wolff is a regular contributor to the New Yorker and his stories are rich and haunting.
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Tobias Jonathan Ansell Wolff is a writer of fiction and nonfiction.
He is best known for his short stories and his memoirs, although he has written two novels.
Wolff is the Ward W. and Priscilla B. Woods Professor in the School of Humanities and Sciences at Stanford University, where he has taught classes in English and creative writing since 1997. He also served as the director of the Creative Writ...more
More about Tobias Wolff...
He is best known for his short stories and his memoirs, although he has written two novels.
Wolff is the Ward W. and Priscilla B. Woods Professor in the School of Humanities and Sciences at Stanford University, where he has taught classes in English and creative writing since 1997. He also served as the director of the Creative Writ...more
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“In the very act of writing I felt pleased with what I did. There was the pleasure of having words come to me, and the pleasure of ordering them, re-ordering them, weighing one against another. Pleasure also in the imagination of the story, the feeling that it could mean something. Mostly I was glad to find out that I could write at all. In writing you work toward a result you won't see for years, and can't be sure you'll ever see. It takes stamina and self-mastery and faith. It demands those things of you, then gives them back with a little extra, a surprise to keep you coming. It toughens you and clears your head. I could feel it happening. I was saving my life with every word I wrote, and I knew it.”
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