Generation Kill

by Evan Wright (Goodreads author)

book data

944 ratings, 4.05 average rating, 217 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		30%
4		47%
3		18%
2		3%
1		0%

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published

July 1st 2008 (first published 2004) by Berkley Trade

binding

Paperback, 384 pages

literary awards

PEN-USA Award, J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize, L.A. Times Book Award

isbn

0425224740 (isbn13: 9780425224748)

description

Within hours of 9/11, America's war on terrorism fell to those like the 23 Marines of the First Recon Battalion, the first generation dispatched into ...more

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01/29/09

Visha rated it:

(review of isbn 042520040X)

Read in November, 2008

Disclaimer: This reviewer is a gentle and peaceful person. Truly.
Interestingly, although I posted this review almost a year ago, I haven't heard from a goodreads person ("community manager") until now about it. Possibly because Evan Wright has become a "goodreads author"? Maybe that has nothing to do with it, but possibly goodreads wants to become "Lifetime Books" or literally, "Good Reads" - they don't want critical reviews or anything negative wr...more Disclaimer: This reviewer is a gentle and peaceful person. Truly.
Interestingly, although I posted this review almost a year ago, I haven't heard from a goodreads person ("community manager") until now about it. Possibly because Evan Wright has become a "goodreads author"? Maybe that has nothing to do with it, but possibly goodreads wants to become "Lifetime Books" or literally, "Good Reads" - they don't want critical reviews or anything negative written about their "goodreads authors". In the spirit of placating folks, I am cheerfully revising my review. However, I won't be promoting their website to authors, readers and writers as I have in the past.

***

[I was able to get this book from the library, so I didn't feel as though I wasted money on it. The edition I read was a hardcover, and one of the first things that grabbed my attention was the mistake Wright made by noting Camp Lejeune was in South Carolina. For those who are without maps, the Internet, or other fact-checkers, Camp Lejeune is in Jacksonville, North Carolina.:]

I would have had far more respect for this book if it were fiction. The characters that appear are well-described (Doc Bryan is my favorite), the situations are wonderfully tense, the complexities of a bureaucratic system (the military) are woven fairly well. Having lavished such praise, I must now confess that I found certain aspects of the book disappointing. Overall, I doubt Wright could come up with such material; thankfully, the people, places, and times he writes about are fascinating enough on their own: this story could write itself.

Wright gets his feet wet but disappears just before the dawn of this large-scale war. His book was written as a series of articles for Rolling Stone, then packed together with cardboard on either end to make a book. However, Wright seems to think he's as badass as the "cowboy" Marines (those reservists who screw up over and over again and drive the Recon Marines crazy) just because he spent a couple of weeks in a sand-grave, baby-sat by real trained killers who had to risk their lives just a little bit more because this candy-ass was with them.

This is the MTV-news of Iraq-War writing. Wright is clearly beside himself to be near the "men's men" of the military - Marine Recon units, who are the last all-male combat frontier. Wright salivates over his assignment, positing himself as one of the guys, despite the fact that he's as much of a Marine as I am. He reveals the motley crew as surprisingly sensitive, intelligent, and mostly level-headed, not so much through his own writing, but by comparison - in his own mind, he encompasses the bravado, machismo that a Rolling Stone reporter can only do. I couldn't help but think what this series - and book - would have been if written by a better reporter, even one from Rolling Stone - PJ O'Rourke, perhaps?

Wright does make an interesting choice: while thoroughly identifying the enlisted Marines, he choses to give code-names to certain officers who "show their asses" as the operation unfolds - Encino Man, Casey Kasem, and Captain America (an offensively inept individual who should have been identified so the public could scream for his dischargement). Of course, Wright couldn't come up with such clever names - he borrows the ones designed by the Marines. But his choice to use the code-names rather than the real names of these officers smacks of cowardice. Was he afraid of legal action against himself? Was Rolling Stone?

Perhaps because Wright was one of the early writers of the war, this book got a ton of press, won magazine awards (I have to insert this joke here: "Awards are like hemorrhoids; sooner or later, every asshole gets some."), and HBO bought the rights to make "the movie" - somewhat like "The Hills" in Iraq. Thankfully, better books have since been written, and if you want to spend your time and money wisely, invest in Dexter Filkins' The Forever War, a far superior book in every way.(less)

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12/15/08

Hayley rated it:

(review of isbn 042520040X)

Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in January, 2009

recommends it for: Readers curious about Iraq invasion or Marines, Readers who like dark humor and grit

I knew virtually nothing about the Iraq invasion--especially the conditions on the ground. This book made much of the military strategy (and some of the most shocking, sad, and funny moments) quite real to me. It did so without losing me in military terminology, or seeming patronizing by dumbing it down *too* much. The author's tone was appropriately masculine and efficient.

My greatest commendation goes to the author's contrast between the inexperienced young men going in and their...more

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04/11/09

Daniel rated it:

(review of isbn 042520040X)

Read in April, 2009

There is something that Evan Wright was able to do in writing this book that the other authors, even the award winners like Dexter Filkins and Steve Fainaru, were not able to do and that is extricate himself from the story and allow it to be solely about the men. Wright is so invisible in the mix that you forget he is riding along in the humvee with the rest of the recon marines. He is able to so skillfully express who these men were and what they are all about, that the entire work reads like f...more

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11/07/08

Kathy rated it:

(review of isbn 042520040X)

I am still digesting this book and will for awhile, I suspect. The author was an embedded reporter in First Recon Marine battalion in the early days of the Iraq war. First Recon Marines do just that---go in first, before anybody else, and open up the way. The descriptions are brutal, graphic and sometimes unbearable. As a woman and a mother, I was devastated at the sights and sounds and experiences of these young men. Iraq is hell for everyone--soldiers and Iraqi citizens alike. For the Am...more

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09/10/08

Xon rated it:

(review of isbn 0399151931)

bookshelves: war

recommended to Xon by: Marines

A couple of Marines who were in Iraq told me to read this book because it accurately described a bunch of young kids invading Iraq. So I guess the fact that I thought the book was just OK would be more of how I feel about Iraq than how the well the book is written. These marines go into Iraq and meet very little resistance. There are no major battles, no overcoming of impossible odds, and no stories of heroism. I have become accustomed to being overwhelmed with bravery and heroic acts when I...more

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08/05/07

Joe rated it:

(review of isbn 042520040X)

Read in October, 2006

Upon finishing the last page, I immediately turned back to the first page and began reading the book from the beginning. This is an astonishing first person account of the first week of the Iraq invasion from the perspective of a writer embedded with the army rangers. If the U.S. advancing forces were a spear, the rangers preceded the spear's tip. Apolitical, Generation Kill puts you amidst the chaos, sorrow, and weirdness of the Iraq War's first week. The writer does nothing to cri...more

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02/11/09

Speedtribes rated it:

(review of isbn 042520040X)

bookshelves: military, nonfiction

Read in January, 2009

I saw the HBO miniseries first, and then rushed out to find the book as soon as I could. The book gives a broader view of events than the series, as the writer goes out for extra interviews/research/reporting to get more information. He explains a lot of the 'whys?' I ended up with while watching the story play out on tv. The book turns out as readable as the series is watchable, coming across as a not-so family friendly road trip set in the backdrop of a war.

I loved this book. So. M...more I saw the HBO miniseries first, and then rushed out to find the book as soon as I could. The book gives a broader view of events than the series, as the writer goes out for extra interviews/research/reporting to get more information. He explains a lot of the 'whys?' I ended up with while watching the story play out on tv. The book turns out as readable as the series is watchable, coming across as a not-so family friendly road trip set in the backdrop of a war.

I loved this book. So. Much. The soldiers are so crude, unhesitating and all too willing to fling the foulest, rudest, nastiest insults at each other - and yet it's still clear that, even if they were all the sorts of people who'd hate each other if they were civilians, as marines they loved and would die for each other at the drop of a hat. It felt strangely inspiring, reading their experiences, even as the socially polite part of my brain winced.

It helped, also, that because the reporter was placed in the first car, we were able to get a focal point to constantly return to in a sea of unfamiliar names and places.

The book is peppered with explanations for all the unfamiliar technical terms and lingo, but they're presented in such a manner that they didn't feel dumbed down. I didn't notice much of a leftist or conservative slant. I felt like the writer was doing his best to simply write what he saw and felt as it happened - the good, the bad, the hilarious. He could have left it at that - with the myopic, claustrophobic filter of being trapped in a humvee with no space and no information and terrible communication - but he did go back for additional information to clarify why certain maneuvers had been ordered, even as he makes the point that at the time, no one at their level had been told any of this. The additional information was much appreciated and really put everything into perspective.

I liked that he was not above mocking his own weakness in comparison to these other, far more fit and capable men, and included several humiliating episodes where he clearly showed his weak civilian ways.

I am told that an earlier addition of Gen Kill doesn't have the afterwards where he talks about where the soldiers are now? If that's the case, I'd recommend making sure you're buying a newer edition. (less)

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04/19/09

Razorwitt rated it:

Read in April, 2009

Wright, an embedded journalist working exclusively with the First Recon Marines invading Iraq, does a fine job here. While the book cover seems to describe the subject matter as a look into the kinds of soldiers currently serving in the American military, the truth is more like Wright takes an up close look at a small group of Marines and how haphazard their mission is. He admires these young men greatly, showing both their zeal for their job and the quiet moments of regret many of them feel, ...more

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06/16/09

Foster rated it:

(review of isbn 042520040X)

bookshelves: history, policy

Read in June, 2009

This was recommended by a guy sitting next to me on the bus who noticed I was reading Black Hawk Down. It was a good recommendation. Wright does a great job of reporting. He sticks to the facts as he sees them, and holds back from making too many editorial comments about what he experiences. He is brutally honest, and at times graphic, but I respect that he doesn't try to skew the narrative one way or the other.
The result of this is that you see how complex the war actually was. At on...more

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02/25/09

Thomas rated it:

(review of isbn 042520040X)

Read in February, 2009

Even if it IS written by a damn journo. . . . lol. . .

Seriously though, it's well written, and perhaps as objective as it can be. Barring a few inaccuracies that aren't really of paramount significance to the story, Evan Wright manages to capture much of the essence of the initial push of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Even though his civilian perspective is vastly and importantly different from my own experiences and interpretation thereof using the rose colored glasses issued by the M...more

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11/14/08

Villate rated it:

(review of isbn 042520040X)

This was a fascinating and eye-opening look at how soldiers live during modern American warfare. The author, a journalist embedded with a Marine unit in the first weeks of the invasion of Iraq, does an admirable job of keeping politics and bias out and letting the men speak for themselves while describing the horrific and gruesome conditions in which they live, work, and kill. The Marines are alternately hilarious, offensive, appalling, heroic, and brutal as they go about their daily routine of ...more

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01/12/09

Diane rated it:

(review of isbn 042520040X)

Read in May, 2008

I read this book when I heard the author on NPR. It is about a small point in time, the early wave of invasion of Iraq by US forces, this group is special forces. I was working on a project interviewing Army people who were deployed and wanted another view of the subject. Also interested because Jen was still enlisted at the time and because a co-worker was sent there for a two year tour while I was working on the Army deployment study. This book gives a birds eye view of the mental, emotional, ...more

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01/11/09

Paul rated it:

(review of isbn 042520040X)

Read in January, 2009

I don't think anyone really knew what happened during Iraqi Freedom. I feel like the news reports I remember conveyed maybe 10% of what really happened. The author, Evan Wright, was permitted to travel with a marine recon unit through the entire invasion, under fire, under the same conditions as the tested marines, and managed to put together a story that is so detailed and elaborate with research done before, during and after the conflict. This story is so incredible that it changed how I lo...more

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04/27/09

Mickey rated it:

(review of isbn 042520040X)

Read in April, 2009

The book's title hints at exploring differences between this generation and previous generations as to how they approach and perform in war. The author explored this theme just a little bit early in the book, but then sets it aside in favor of a traditional war correspondent's diary. I didn't really hear a compelling argument as to how these young men were fundamentally different than their American counterparts in other wars. Apart from the weapons technology, I might just as easily have been l...more

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01/17/09

Meg rated it:

(review of isbn 042520040X)

Read in September, 2008

Excellent. And I say that completely disagreeing with Wright's main assertion that soldiers today are somehow more prepared/eager to kill than those of wars past. He claims in the introduction that a WWII soldier wouldn't recognize or relate to those fighting in Iraq. This smacks of a reporter who has very little experience with the military. The music and movie idols have changed, but put WWII, Vietnam and Iraq War vets in a room together and they'll be talking in secret code and laughing like ...more

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09/14/08

Kerry rated it:

(review of isbn 042520040X)

Read in January, 2009

Dear Penthouse,
I never thought I'd actually read (or like) a book by one of your former writers. However, I found Generation Kill to be both alarming and humorous at the same time...

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01/03/09

Jeff rated it:

(review of isbn 042520040X)

Yet another Iraq War/Military book. Another good one as well. The current literary trend of presenting our soldiers and humans, warts and all, serves us all well. They are people and they are no different than you or I. Imagining that there are no Dilbert-esque characters in the Marine Corps is silly - there are all the Pointy-Haired Bosses in the officer corps and all the Asoks, Wallys and Alices as well. The results are often grim, occasionally funny and generally enlightening. Heroes in...more

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02/09/09

Frank Roberts rated it:

(review of isbn 042520040X)

As a former Marine, I have to say this book rings true, both in the way the individual Marines are portrayed, and in the way the military fuckups are described. It gives insight into the "forward at any cost" mentality during the Iraq invasion, even if it meant compromising unit integrity and missions, and put people in harm's way by not securing the rear. It shows that our servicemen are courageous and smart but trapped in a system that doesn't always use their knowledge, especially...more

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01/19/09

Writerlibrarian rated it:

(review of isbn 0399151931)

bookshelves: february-pile, non-fiction, read2009

Read in February, 2009

This is an up-close and personal account of the first days of the Iraq invasion in 2003. Wright, a journalist at Rolling Stone Magazine, gets a spot aka "embedded" with the First Recon Marine Battalion. He bargains his satellite phone and ends up with Bravo Company Second Platoon instead of the supply platoon. We get a slice of what the lives of these Marines was like. Used as bait and diversion, these highly trained, elite platoon mostly composed by late teenagers and mid twenty young...more

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12/13/08

Mike rated it:

I've read several books since finishing Generation Kill, but it still holds strong. Evan Wright does such a great job of bringing the Marines he accompanied in Iraq to life. He not only helps readers understand what American soldiers in Iraq go through but what the Iraqi people endure as well. Wright's ability to bring his experiences to life is what makes this book so captivating. I have not seen the miniseries yet and I am looking forward to seeing it on DVD, but I will be very surprised i...more

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Vote for a May Book! The Category is Veterans/War, since Veteran's Day is in May. I decided to focus on books that seemed to be about being a soldier. Thank you for voting!

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

9 votes, 37.5%

A Long Way Gone Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah

3 votes, 12.5%

Generation Kill by Evan Wright

3 votes, 12.5%

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1 vote, 4.2%

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