Platoon

by Dale A. Dye

A novel by Dale A Dye based on a screenplay by Oliver Stone and now turned into an explosive new film. Platoon tells the story of the war in Vietnam, where the first casualty is always innocence.

Genres: Fiction, War, Military Fiction, Historical Fiction, Film

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

Dale Adam Dye is an American author, actor, and businessman. He served for many years in the U.S. Marine Corps, rising in rank from Private to Captain during the course of his career, which included service as a Marine Combat Correspondent during the war in Viet Nam. He retired from the USMC in 1984, and has since worked primarily in film and television in addition to writing several books.

Reviews

[Supratim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had come across this book while book hunting in a second hand book shop. I knew that there is a movie called "Platoon" based on the Vietnam War and decided to give the novel a try.

The novel has been written by Dale A. Dye, a Vietnem veteran himself, and is based on the screenplay by Oliver Stone.

The protagonist is a young idealist and patriot called Chris Taylor. He had some glamorized and romanticized notions of war and even fantasized about glorious last stands. Chris comes form an educated family and he dropped out of college and against the advice from his parents volunteered for the infantry.

Needless to say, the only thing Chris faces in Vietnam is disullusionment when he comes face to face with the harsh reality of war and the men who are fighting it.

The average soldier is no Rambo - if there are a few decent men then there are also the opportunists, liars, racists, psychopaths, men seeking solace in drugs and religion.

The novel does not glamorize war in any way but demonstrates how it can dehumanize even the most decent of men, Chris included. The sight of the mutilated bodies of their comrade-in-arms can drive people to inflict horrible atrocities on the defenceless villagers. Chris joined in it, but the decency in him made him realize that this is wrong and even protects someone from his colleagues.


The best thing about the book is that there is no overt sermonizing. It is actually gripping and suspenceful. I liked the way the characters had been created. Soldiers are not a homogenous mass and each soldier has his own individual traits. It is a pretty small book and can be read in a matter of a few hours.

I did a Google search of the movie and found that it has won/nominated for many awards. I do not think the book would be easily available but if you like this sort of war movies then you might want to watch the movie. Personally, I am looking forward to watching it.

[George K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Platoon", εκδόσεις Καρρέ.

Το βιβλίο βασίζεται στην ομότιτλη αριστουργηματική ταινία του Όλιβερ Στόουν και η πλοκή του ακολουθεί επακριβώς την πλοκή της ταινίας. Την ταινία την έχω δει μόλις μια φορά στην ζωή μου -και αυτήν πριν κάμποσα χρόνια, όταν πήγαινα ακόμα Γυμνάσιο νομίζω-, αλλά μπορώ να πω ότι είναι μια από τις αγαπημένες μου ταινίες για τον πόλεμο στο Βιετνάμ (εδώ που τα λέμε, γενικά για οποιονδήποτε πόλεμο).

Ο συγγραφέας πολέμησε και αυτός στο Βιετνάμ, πήρε κάμποσα μετάλλια για τις υπηρεσίες του, και εδώ και πολλά χρόνια παίζει σε ταινίες ενώ βοηθάει σαν ειδικός σύμβουλος σε αρκετές πολεμικές περιπέτειες. Και έχει γράψει και λίγα βιβλία που λίγο έως πολύ έχουν να κάνουν με τον Αμερικάνικο στρατό και τον πόλεμο. Λοιπόν, το βιβλίο είναι πολύ καλό. Ίσως όχι τόσο καλό όσο η τρομερή ταινία, αλλά σίγουρα θα αφήσει ικανοποιημένους τους λάτρεις των πολεμικών ιστοριών.

Είναι αρκούντως καλογραμμένο και ευκολοδιάβαστο, με τις περιγραφές των σκηνών δράσης να είναι όσο πρέπει σκληρές, δυναμικές και ρεαλιστικές και τους διαλόγους έτσι όπως θα περίμενε κανείς από ένα βιβλίο όπου πρωταγωνιστούν κάτι τρελαμένοι μαλάκες που πολεμάνε στις ζούγκλες του Βιετνάμ. Στα θετικά του βιβλίου συγκαταλέγονται και οι διάφορες σκέψεις εδώ και κει που έχει ο βασικός χαρακτήρας, σκέψεις που σχετίζονται με όλα όσα βλέπει και αντιλαμβάνεται τριγύρω του, στα πολεμικά πεδία του Βιετνάμ.

Τα περισσότερα βιβλία που βασίζονται σε σενάρια γνωστών και πετυχημένων ταινιών είναι συνήθως απλοϊκά και χωρίς βάθος σε χαρακτήρες και πλοκή και απλώς γράφτηκαν για να βγάλουν κάποιοι έξτρα χρήμα και ίσως να ικανοποιηθούν ορισμένοι αναγνώστες που θα ήθελαν να δουν σε γραπτή μορφή την αγαπημένη τους ταινία, αλλά το συγκεκριμένο στέκεται μια χαρά και από μόνο του.

Υ.Γ. Λίαν συντόμως θα ξαναδώ την ταινία!

[Neil · Rating 4 out of 5]

very good much like the film

[Sean Chick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a well thought of novelization so I decided to give it a try. Fans of the movie will appreciate the multiple perspectives (even Warren and Morehouse get a few pages), background on the characters, and even different sides to each of them. For instance, Elias is a bit of an asshole when he first appears. The prose varies a lot, but Dye is best in describing combat. The last two chapters in particular were strong. Still, its a kind of movie cash in you rarely see today, and this is not a great piece of literature. In terms of movie novelzations, its not as good as Alien and Jaws 2, but it stacks up better than most.

[Buddy Burton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really didn't know what to expect when I started this book because the motion picture it was based on was the source material. I've seen Platoon many years ago so I went into the book fairly uncertain of what was on the next page because my recollection of the movie was very poor. I put a couple of movie star's faces to some of the characters and that was about it.
Truth be told the book is page turner and I would recommend it to anyone.

[Jaelynne Inglis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: (6.8/10)
TL,DR: good, but i dont like admitting it so


TW // SA

I dont know if i particularly liked this novel, but i found myself hooked enough to read to the end. As i write this now, i dont feel like i have much bad to say, but i dont feel like “wow i enjoyed that!” Either. Extremely conflicted.
First and foremost: i have not seen the corresponding film (though i do recall willem defoes iconic death) so everything was completely new to me. I also thought it was the novelization for FMJ for the first couple chapters. This novel is pretty easy for me to breakdown into good and bad, personally.

Good: the action was definitely constant and kept you wanting to read more. Not neccesarily because it was well written (see below bad points) but because of the scenarios themselves over the words, and the pace of the scenarios. I actually found it very easy to feel the same doom and despair that plagued the members of the platoon, and how things constantly spiraled into worse and worse. I think the growth of Chris Taylor as a character from start to finish was fun to observe, and it did have an underdog feel to it: the person who at first couldnt pull the trigger on the enemy ended up being a brain dead killer bent on vengeance and survival. This is crucial to the enjoyment and experience of the novel, but i feel withdrawn from giving it too many good points since its based on the movie, and i feel as though im trying to critique the writing more than what its based off. This reason also makes critiquing non fiction books, like Seven Hours to Zero, a tricky task: how can i critique a recount of events based on something else? The author does however do a good job of writing SOME of the characters distinctly, so much so that you can imagine how they would interact in real life (ex. Bunny, Barnes) but not at all characters are done well. Overall the good comes from my enjoyment of action and military themed writing, and not so much the writing abilities itself.

The bad: the amount of the characters, wasnt a fan of that, especially as the black characters were all written to sound the same, and the choice of english for them came off as more racist vs accurate to the movie (that i havent seen). Not much more i have to say on that, besides it being uncomfortable to read it. It felt like what a racist white author would think a black person speaks like if you were to transfer that racist stereotype to paper. I also think that the author sometimes struggled to accurately explain or paint the picture of the action scenes. Some parts felt like the author wanted you to fill in the blanks on death, but it instead became confusing to try and read. (Ex barnes shooting elias, and juniors stabbing.) This had me rereading some parts, confused, trying to figure out what had happened. Im all for painting the picture myself, and foreshadowing and implication can work, but this felt like a stupid guessing game at times. The novel was also graphic, i cant tell if senselessly so. Certain scenes were written because they were in the movie (rape) but still didnt feel good to read it, but maybe thats my own uncomfy levels. The gore descriptions were fine, nothing stomach churning (which i oddly find disappointing).

Overall, i think i feel gross after this novel, but that might be what the author/film were after, so im kind of conflicted in my critique that way. I guess i want to not like this novel, but i cant think of why besides what i did complain about. I think it feels like a dated novel/film adaptation (which it is) but for all the wrong reasons, that i cant pinpoint…. Im kinda just puzzled. Oh well. Cant give it a 7, that feels wrong.

[Richard McCann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Platoon is a story of a beleaguered Army platoon of soldiers that received "fresh meat" for the jungle grinder and is told through the eyes of one of the replacements. This story takes a lot of what happened over there with our young men fighting a war that, it seemed, nobody wanted. A lot of the issues with this platoon was in my opinion a conglomeration of the stories that have come out of "Nam," be the details were widespread throughout the soldiers or not the author took the liberty to ensure that these men provided a channeling of the stories through them. Good read and worth the time devoted to see how it was during that conflict, maybe not all at once as told in the story.

[Mike Wigal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Basically the movie in print.

[Morgan Foster · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. Great movie.

[Haris Sladic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bas onako kako bi jedna ratna knjiga trebala izgledati. Bez imalo uljepsavnja, cista surovost, bez Rambo likova itd. Uzivao sam citajuci knjigu i ni na jedan momenat mi nije bila dosadna.

[Adam Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Only thing that can kill Barnes is Barnes

[Terrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Riveting and oowerful

[Chet Rodin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this at Literary Leftovers. It was very depressing but well written.

[DeeJay Trump · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tremendous!
**** 4 Stars.

[Trisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Platoon vertelt het verbijsterende verhaal van de gewone soldaat in de Vietnam-oorlog. De mannen van de Bravo Compagnie kunnen nauwelijks de verschrikkingen in de Vietnamese jungle aan. Nooit weet men wanneer de vijand toeslaat en als ze toe slaan lijden de Amerikanen ontzettende verliezen door de ongenadige aanvallen.
De angst is altijd aanwezig en de inspanning die deze Vietnamoorlog van de mannen vraagt is enorm. Ze zijn op alle fronten uitgeput. Om toch er doorheen te komen zoekt ieder op zijn eigen manier zijn uitvlucht. Met alle gevlogen.

Waardering:
Het boek was ongelofelijk. Ik heb het in een paar dagen uitgelezen. Ik was hiervan onder de indruk en ondanks dat ik de film eerder heb gezien, vond ik het boek beter. De vier sterren komen voort uit het verhaal die zo realistisch is dat je

Over de auteur:
Dale A Dye werd geboren in 1944 in Cape Girardeau te Missouri. Hij werd kadet op de militaire academie, maar omdat er geen geld was kon hij de opleiding niet voltooien. In januari 1964 besloot hij zich in te schrijven als marinier en in 1965 en 1967 heeft hij in Vietnam gediend. Dertien jaar lang heeft hij als marinier gediend en is verschillende keren onderscheiden waaronder drie keer met een Purple heart, een onderscheiding voor soldaten die tijdens hun diensttijd gewond raken of gedood zijn. Dye weet op te klimmen tot sergeant en wordt op diverse missies uitgezonden over de wereld. Waaronder naar Beiroet met een internationale vredeskorps. Ondanks zijn missies weet hij toch nog in Engels af te studeren aan de universiteit van Maryland.
Dye heeft militairen getraind in Midden Amerika in Guerrilla technieken, totdat hij besluit om naar Hollywood te gaan met als doel de oorlogsfilms te veranderen en realistischer te maken. Zijn ervaring komt hem zo goed van pas dat hij uiteindelijk wordt gevraagd om een rol te spelen in een film. Meer rollen volgen en Dye is te zien in Platoon (Captain Harris) en in Band of Brothers (Colonel Robert F Sink).
Meer weten over Dale A. Dye? Bekijk zijn website:
http://daledye.com/

Overige boekinformatie:
Uitgeverij: De Boekerij
ISBN: 90.225.0751.3
192 pagina's; paperback

Het boek is verfilmd door Oliver Stone in 1986. Met in de hoofdrol Tom Berenger als Sgt. Bob Barnes, Willem Dafoe als Sgt. Elias Grodin en Charlie Sheen als Pvt. Chris Taylor. Daarnaast speelde ook Johnnie Depp een kleine rol in deze film.
In 1987 kreeg de film acht Academy Award-nominaties, waarvan hij er vier won: Beste Regisseur, Beste Film Editing, Beste Film en Beste Geluid. Er werden daarnaast nog zeventien andere prijzen gewonnen, waaronder twee BAFTA Awards en drie Golden Globes.

Door de hele film heen klinkt het Adagio for Strings, van de Amerikaanse componist Samuel Barber. Dit muziekstuk heeft heel wat hitlijsten veroverd in de tijd van deze film. Verder is er een aantal hits uit de tijd waarin de film speelt: White Rabbit van Jefferson Airplane, Okie from Muskogie van Merle Haggard en The Tracks of My Tears van Smokey Robinson and the Miracles. Hello, I Love You van The Doors werd bij de trailer gebruikt.

[Casey · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a good book, i would recommend this book to someone who likes the Vietnam war, and like the cruelty of it, its mostly for someone older who can understand the graphicness of the book. The book has harsh language, and extreme cruel deaths, but this book really shows truly how rough war can get. The book is about a boy named Chris Taylor, the newest member of Bravo Company,they must battle not only the Viet Cong, but also his own fears and doubts, the Vietnam jungles, and his demoralized buddies, in the story of a boy's confrontation with the horrors of war. This book can relate to me because my father grew up during the vietnam war, and his father fought in the war.

[Miki · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the book. It followed pretty closely to the movie version of the story. One think I didn't like was the usage of military slang & abbreviations that I didn't know & he didn't take the time to explain. For example, I didn't figure out what an "e-tool" is until near the end of the book when Barnes kills with one of them.

[Dorothy Bush · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story, like a continuation of the movie. I think this is the first book of fanfiction I have ever read, and not a particular genre I enjoy. It read like watching the movie.. the plus is you can visualize the characters (if you watched the movie).

[Gregg Seeley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having been a soldier, it pulls at the heartstrings.

[CAMERON · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fine read, far superior to the film.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok this book is way better than the movie. I read it non-stop cover to cover, I couldn't put it down. Makes you think a lot.