Dispatches
by Michael Herr
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Read in July, 2008
recommended to Emily by:
Barbara Ganleyrecommends it for: Journalism majors
I didn't like this book, and no dislike of a book has been more disappointing. I was looking forward to LOVING this book. After all, I have a soft spot in my heart for war memoirs, and an even softer spot for well-written war memoirs by well-read men. And since I had been told that this was kind of the be-all and end-all of war memoirs, specifically among those that surfaced after the Vietnam War (like "The Things They Carried" which is, by far, one of my favorite books), I was expecti...more
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A very intense and descriptive account of the happenings in the Vietnam War from 1967 to 1968. From time off in Saigon and Hong Kong to his time spent in a bunker during the siege of Khe Sanh, Herr covers every aspect of the war. He shows how so many soldiers were so drastically affected by the war. He describes the strange, fearful moments when at night the jungle suddenly goes silent. Herr tells tales of Marines throwing themselves on top of him with incoming fire, people he has only just met ...more
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Read in January, 2008
Beautifully renderd account of tagging along as a journalist in Vietnam. The writing is fierce, hallocinogenic, searing, and very subjective. Herr is Emersons' transparent eyeball in this book, recording his impressions and imaginative reactions to the chaos and strange beauty surrounding him everywhere.
Some very interesting characters: Sean Flynn, son of Errol, who does war photography because he wants to truly see the world. Tim Page, who can't be summed up here let alone in the dozen...more
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It's shocking that Herr is so fixed on movies. The worst part being that I realize how fixed I am, and how much of what I see is perceived in that way. Dispatches is nasty and heartbreaking. In concise scenes Herr profiles a number of grunts, lurps, and reporters in Vietnam.
Here's a taste:
"They were bulldozing a junction into Route 22 near Tay Ninh and the old Iron Triangle when the plows ran into some kind of cemetery. The bones started flying up out of the ground and forming ...more
Here's a taste:
"They were bulldozing a junction into Route 22 near Tay Ninh and the old Iron Triangle when the plows ran into some kind of cemetery. The bones started flying up out of the ground and forming ...more
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Herr didn't waste ink mourning over the fact that Vietnam was a trying experience. Besides, Herr was a willing participate, who had he written a book about his bravery it probably wouldn't have garnered any respect from the soldiers. But it should not be concluded that Herr's actions were not admirable. It was made clear that he had to watch his back as well as his front in order to maintain his safety. The way in which Herr's courageous acts were conveyed didn't overshadow his reason for being ...more
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If you've ever watched Apocalypse Now or Full Metal Jacket, you've gotten a piece of Dispatches, as Herr's book was heavily influential (and Herr himself was a consultant and writer on Full Metal Jacket). Is it fiction? Non-fiction? Actual reporting? Hard to say, and likely a bit of all of it ... but it's amazing. If you've got a view of Vietnam that's through the prism of movies like the above two, then this book is the written form of that hallucination of a war ... it's dreamy and surrea...more
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Read in October, 2007
recommends it for:
people who love intense experiences and stream-of-consciousness narratives
Dispatches is an inside look at the combatant's experience in Vietnam through the eyes of a civilian journalist. The description is vivid, as there were no limits on journalists' activities during Vietnam, and the experiences with mostly Marine units are intense and varied. Herr's writing is not crisp, but incredibly comprehensive, with bursts of stark precision that leave you wondering about his frame of mind as he wrote the book. Some of his metaphors leave you startled, others confused, and t...more
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Read in November, 2007
5 stars for writing, minus two stars for incorporating fictional elements into what Herr allowed to be marketed as nonfiction and not fessing up to it until years later.
Really though, the so-called "best book ever written about Vietnam" is one THC-addled disjointed mess. But maybe that's more about yours truly, having been born in 1974 and growing up hearing the Boomers constantly work themselves into masturbatory apoplexy over the conflict in SE asia. World War II fascinates me....more
Really though, the so-called "best book ever written about Vietnam" is one THC-addled disjointed mess. But maybe that's more about yours truly, having been born in 1974 and growing up hearing the Boomers constantly work themselves into masturbatory apoplexy over the conflict in SE asia. World War II fascinates me....more
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Read in March, 2007
recommends it for:
Fans of war stories
A bit difficult to get through. 'Dispatches' is adapted from the collected war journals of journalist Michael Herr, and while his writing definitely makes the reader feel a part of the happenings of the Vietnam War in all its grotesque-ness, some of his language went over my head (e.g. he frequently uses military abbreviations without explanations that the average reader might not be aware of) and sometimes his descriptions were a bit too abstract. If you're a fan of war stories, however, this...more
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Read in August, 2007
An interesting memoir by a journalist who would go out to the field during the Vietnam war. Lots of jargon that maybe was well-known at the time it was written but isn't anymore, and thus it'd be useful to have a glossary of sorts at the end. It's sad how many lessons learned and stories told remind me of what's happening now to US forces and the people who believe they "get" what's going on at the front. Memorable portraits of individual lives and how they are shaped - or twisted -...more
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Read in January, 1978
recommends it for:
everyone
This book knocked the wind out of me when I read it, because it was the first time I felt that I had a way to understand the experiences of my friends who are Vietnam War veterans. Herr's writing style brought back the immediacy of the war-time situation, and how the slightest twist of fate decided who lived and who died. Other, later, books outline different facets of the Vietnam experience, but this one remains a favorite because it made the battlefront a part of my experience as well.
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I can't decide if I really like this book or if I detest it. Part of the problem is Herr wrote a bunch of scripts for big name Vietnam war movies, so the voice in the book is a bit cliched. The nice thing is Herr writes from a time when coverage of war wasn't mediated through layers of Pentagon PR flunkies. I guess the strength of this (and the reason why I read it) was it give a good view of everyday life. Tim O'Brien's "The Things They Carried" takes this to another level though.
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Not only is this the most engrossing piece of journalism, the most touching memoir, and the most illuminating book on war I've ever read; it's also written as if Herr was on fire and being chased by literature-eating wolves. I read it twice in a row and would do it again.
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One of the heaviest books I have ever read from the script write for Full Metal Jacket and Apocalypse Now. He manages to totally capture the feeling of being totally disgusted by war and warriors but still be drawn inexplicably towards it. The feeling you get when you're watching Black Hawk Down and it makes you sick to think that kids younger than you were getting killed for nothing, but feeling guilty for not being a part of it too.
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Read in January, 2006
One of my all-time favorites, widely regarded as the best account of the Vietnam War, and one of the best accounts of war, period. Reporting from the front lines, through his own lens as a journalist, Herr tells the stories of the grunts who must fight an insane war. If Hunter Thompson was a war correspondent, he might have written something like this. Herr went on to co-write the screenplays for Apocalypse Now and Full Metal Jacket.
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This book provides realistic insight into the lives of the soldiers and the journalists that rode along with them during the Vietnam War. It takes you on a road map through the horrors and courage of the men, even delving into the psychological ramifications of the war. It is a very "real" book and I do not recommend it to people who lived during that time and had friends in Vietnam or who were over there themselves.
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Before Michael Herr wrote the screenplays for two of the most important Vietnam War movies--Full Metal Jacket and Apocalypse Now--he published Dispatches, which gathered and expanded upon his war correspondency for Esquire. It's an amazing book in which the "new journalism" met a new kind of war and I recommend it to anyone interested in war writing or any tough story told well.
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recommends it for:
any red-blooded american, and to certain intentional canadians. also to anyone else.
I'm reading a 1980 Discus/Avon paperback that has a lot of great typos in it, such as "arcobat." Can't remember if Herr is credited in Full Metal Jacket, but at least one line, about how and why it's easy to shoot women and children, is lifted right outta here, like brass on a Chinook. Oh, haha. Wikipedia says Herr cowrote the screenplay. Lift away, brother! I just read a camera swiping scene, too.
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Read in January, 1994
without a single doubt one of the most profound and beautifully written books I have EVER read. It changed my way of thinking about writing, non-fiction, journalism, art, war.. quiet a perfect book.. so well done that apocalypse now, full metal jacket and platoon ( to name a few) use portions of the stories contained within (Heir was a writer/advisor on several movies)..
do not miss!
do not miss!
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Read in January, 1981
recommends it for:
Anyone
A sobering look at the Vietnam war through the eyes of many of the journalists covering it. Herr is direct, articulate, angry, and blunt, stripping away the layers of euphemism, lies, and wishful thinking that often twist official accounts so far from reality as to render them fictional. This kind of coverage is what led the military to institute tight censorship in later wars.
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book data (includes all editions)
avg rating (all editions): 4.26 (588 ratings) avg rating (this edition): 4.26 (571 ratings) number of reviews: 79popular shelves
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quote
""Take the glamour out of war! I mean, how the bloody hell can you do _that_? Go and take the glamour out of a Huey, go take the glamour out of a Sheridan...Can _you_ take the glamour out of a Cobra, or getting stoned at China Beach? It's like taking the glamour out of an M-79, taking the glamour out of Flynn." He pointed to a picture he'd taken, Flynn laughing maniacally ("We're winning," he'd said), triumphantly. "Nothing the matter with _that_ boy, is there? Would you let your daughter marry that man? Ohhhh, war is _good_ for you, you can't take the glamour out of that. It's like trying to take the glamour out of sex, trying to take the glamour out of the Rolling Stones." He was really speechless, working his hands up and down to emphasize the sheer insanity of it.
"I mean, you _know_ that it just _can't be done!_" We both shrugged and laughed, and Page looked very thoughtful for a moment. "The very _idea!_" he said. "Ohhh, what a laugh! Take the bloody _glamour_ out of bloody _war!_""
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