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Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War

4.3 of 5 stars 4.30 · rating details · 11,268 ratings · 1,808 reviews

Intense, powerful, and compelling, Matterhorn is an epic war novel in the tradition of Norman Mailer's The Naked and the Dead and James Jones's The Thin Red Line. It is the timeless story of a young Marine lieutenant, Waino Mellas, and his comrades in Bravo Company, who are dropped into the mountain jungle of Vietnam as boys and forced to fight their way into manhood. Stan

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Paperback, 690 pages

Published April 1st 2009 by El Leon Literary Arts (first published January 1st 2006)

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We Were Soldiers Once... and Young by Harold G. Moore

Best Literature About the Vietnam War

2nd out of 135 books — 210 voters

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New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2010

9th out of 100 books — 559 voters

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Jan 08, 2013 Steve aka Sckenda rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: military, war, fate, death, fictional-autobiography, courage, vietnam

So, this is how it ends. I will die on a jungle hill (“the Matterhorn”) in Vietnam, 1969. My death won’t be cinematic. Before this day is over, flies will prance across my eyeballs. I will return to the mud of this fecund earth, from which springs a riot of green vegetation. In the midst of my death, I am surrounded by life.

I command a rifle platoon, the 40 marines from Bravo Company-1st Battalion-- 24th Regiment-- 5th Marine Division. Because I lead, I am strong. I cannot let the men see my fe...more

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Jul 17, 2012 Jeffrey Keeten rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"Just below the grim tranquillity Mellas had learned to display, he cursed with boiling intensity the ambitious men who used him and his troops to further their careers. He cursed the air wing for not trying to get any choppers in through the clouds. He cursed the diplomats arguing about round and square tables. He cursed the South Vietnamese making money off the black market. He cursed the people back home gorging themselves in front of their televisions. Then he cursed God. Then there was no o...more

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Jan 19, 2011 Kemper rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: war, over-there, 2011, usa-usa

Today I’ll be reviewing Matterhorn, a novel about the Vietnam war. Play your favorite classic rock song of the era while reading. Buffalo Springfield’s For What’s It’s Worth is always a popular choice. You could use Credence Clearwater’s Fortunate Son. For myself, I’m going to go with The End from The Doors and then plan on going into a full-on Martin Sheen-Apocalypse Now-freak-out as I lay on a bed staring up at the ceiling fan in a pair of tidy whiteys until I drink enough to punch out a mirro...more

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Feb 22, 2013 Richard rated it 5 of 5 stars

The Book Report: Waino Mellas, newly minted Marine infantry lieutenant, arrives in the tender embrace of Bravo Company a scared, green, awkward, scared, stupid, scared kid and, after a huge amount of pain, loss, and hellish enraging waste of life and liberty, becomes a man.

No, really.

My Review: Marlantes was a Marine in Vietnam. He took thirty years...longer than most of this planet's people have been alive...to bring forth this horrifying, harrowing, agonizing artwork. I expect we will not see...more The Book Report: Waino Mellas, newly minted Marine infantry lieutenant, arrives in the tender embrace of Bravo Company a scared, green, awkward, scared, stupid, scared kid and, after a huge amount of pain, loss, and hellish enraging waste of life and liberty, becomes a man.

No, really.

My Review: Marlantes was a Marine in Vietnam. He took thirty years...longer than most of this planet's people have been alive...to bring forth this horrifying, harrowing, agonizing artwork. I expect we will not see another book from him, or if we do, it will be so radically different from this one as to be unrecognizable as created in the same brain.

The pain and the horror are obviously not going to let him go. He's exorcised them as best a man can in writing this book. But I don't feel a sense of relief at the end of this book. I don't finish up when he stops writing. I think that's because the experience of reading this book is so shattering. OBVIOUSLY! OBVIOUSLY!! it's no smallest patch on actually living this book, but it's a rare experience to read something so complete, so clearly delineated in its scope and its prupose, and that has power...ask a demolitions person about the power of an explosion contained in a box...but more than that, it has purpose. I don't know Marlantes. I don't know that I want to. I know enough about him after reading this book to hate the idea of sending kids across oceans to kill other human beings before I think they're even ready to *love* other human beings, because so many of them won't live to become the man he has.

I hate that fact so much that I hurt inside. I want to scream and cry and rage and mourn and weep with the mothers and fathers whose souls are now scarred and deformed by the pain of losing a child. It won't help, they're launched on a horrible personal journey, but GODDAM IT they're people whose lives changed forever because of some stupid slogan like "national interest."

Ahem. The book.

So, what has Marlantes wrought? A long, hard journey of a book that millions will read some of, and back away scared...be one of the few who go the distance, and you will never, ever forget the journey or the guide. Worth it.(less)

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Oct 11, 2011 Michelle, the Bookshelf Stalker rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

My husband is a history/military/war fanatic. The history and/or military channel is on all the time. I’ve fallen asleep with the military channel on and had some very naughty dreams of Dan Snow and little red and blue soldiers (see 20th Century Battlefields if you are wondering what the heck I’m talking about).

So, imagine my surprise when I wanted to read Matterhorn. I mean, come on, don’t I get enough “war” on tv? I guess not.

Imagine my delight when Matterhorn turned out to be much more than...more

24 likes · like · see review

Apr 24, 2011 Michelle rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: powell-s-indiespensables

This is the best book I've read so far in 2010. I will say that again: This is the best book I've read so far in 2010.

I received Matterhorn from Powell's (Indiespensable #17, a wedding present, I decided) and avoided it for a while, busy with other books, and honestly, looking at it with trepidation because of its considerable size and content. I don't think I've ever read a book about the Vietnam War--would I understand it, I wondered, would it hold my interest? And I didn't understand and it...more

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Nov 29, 2012 Julie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: best-of-2012, read-2012, south-asia-theme-setting, war-conflict

“First of all, you can’t fall into hating the people you are killing. Because you’ll carry that hate with you longer than you will the actual killing itself. It is only by the grace of God that you are on one side and your enemy is on the other side. I often think, ‘I could have been born in North Vietnam.’”

Matterhorn author Karl Marlantes, August 20, 2010 The Times (London).

Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War launched onto the bestseller lists in 2010, when United States was entrenched in t...more

“First of all, you can’t fall into hating the people you are killing. Because you’ll carry that hate with you longer than you will the actual killing itself. It is only by the grace of God that you are on one side and your enemy is on the other side. I often think, ‘I could have been born in North Vietnam.’”

Matterhorn author Karl Marlantes, August 20, 2010 The Times (London).

Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War launched onto the bestseller lists in 2010, when United States was entrenched in two unpopular wars in ill-understood and seemingly hopeless places: Iraq and Afghanistan. Neither of these wars is comparable to Vietnam in terms of tactical warfare, terrain, volume of casualties and mis-treatment of vets by their fellow citizens, but the cultural divisions at home, the politicizing of the conflicts and the anger and sorrow over the loss of soldiers and civilians remain the same.

Matterhorn tells the Odyssey of Second Lieutenant Waino Mellas as he leads Bravo Company through the jungle near Vietnam’s border with Laos, just beyond the DMZ. The company’s mission is to secure a remote hilltop base: the fictional Matterhorn. This novel is a living thing. It breathes and pulses, it horrifies and heartens. It is a brilliantly written tribute to combat veterans and a searing examination of the fog of war.

Bravo Company becomes a collective Sisyphus, at the mercy of the gods of the Fifth Marine Division. It spins in circles in the jungle, following the quixotic orders of base commanders more concerned with their careers than the lives of the young men in their charge. The soldiers of Bravo Company endure the unbearable: jungle rot, immersion (or trench) foot, man-eating tigers, near-starvation and dehydration, and of course, the horrific results of combat: bullets, grenades, mines and shrapnel cut down the company throughout their journey.

The narrative has many themes: the adventure of battle and the camaraderie of soldiers; the value of a well-trained militia in sharp contrast with inherent unjustifiable nature of war; the racial tension between black soldiers and white that brings the conflicts of home to the battlefields of Vietnam; and the truth of military politics - the power struggles between reserve and regular officers and “lifers” on the ground and with their commanding officers, who adjust casualty numbers and keep up a pretense of victory to look good to their superiors and to the press at home.

Marlantes writes with clarity and authenticity, in a style that is raw, vivid and surprisingly readable. Matterhorn flows with fully-realized characters whom you come to love or revile with ferocity, your heart breaking with each loss. He provides breathtaking detail; the combat scenes are rendered in a minute-by-minute reel and you experience the fear, adrenalin and pain alongside the soldiers.

It took Karl Marlantes, a decorated Vietnam veteran and accomplished civilian (Lieutenant, USMC; Rhodes Scholar, Oxford) thirty years to write, rewrite and find a publisher for Matterhorn. Although I would not wish such an arduous journey to publication on any writer, I believe that telling this story now, in a new century, to a generation for which the Vietnam War is an anecdote or a chapter in an American History textbook, benefits the book's readers and its subject.

Among the most precious and devastating aspects of any war are the soldiers’ stories. No one who has not served in combat can understand what a soldier suffers physically and emotionally. For Vietnam veterans, who returned home only to face insults and shunning, the stories remained locked inside. Writers who record their stories speak for the millions who cannot. In 1977, journalist Michael Herr published Dispatches, an account of his experiences in Vietnam in 1967-68 embedded with platoons; Vietnam veteran Tim O’Brien offered the beautiful and compelling The Things They Carried in 1990. Twenty years later - and thirty-five years after the end of the war in Vietnam - Karl Marlantes reminds us that the stories of young soldiers in the jungles of Southeast Asia are as devastating and relevant now as they were to a generation once removed - our fathers, brothers, uncles and grandfathers - who still live with these experiences tormenting their hearts.
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Apr 19, 2012 Judy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, viet-nam, 2012-reads, audiobook-e-book

Surprise! This book receives 4.5 stars from me. Yes, from me who reluctantly reads war novels and winces at the mention of the Vietnam War and its politicalness.

Marlantes somehow pulls off placing the reader smack dab in the middle of the fighting without grossing the reader out. What's more, it isn't by distracting the reader from the characters either. I rooted for everyone in Bravo Company except the Colonel and Number 3. Hey, I felt part of the company.

How Marlantes whisked me through the w...more

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Feb 08, 2011 A.J. Howard rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: finished-in-2011, bookshelf-fiction

I've had several unsatisfying false starts on reviews of this one since I finished it, but I think it deserves some cursory recommendation, so here it goes. Matterhorn is one of the most emotionally affecting novels I've ever read, and by far the best war narrative I've ever read. The novel isn't a completely unique experience. Several aspects of the Vietnam narrative framework, jungle miseries, racial tension, malignant aloofness by superiors, etc. are present here. You have to resist the urge...more

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Sep 16, 2012 Katie rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction, loooooonnnnng, tried-very-hard-but-couldn-t-finish, yucky-books, nother-book-group-book

From the cover: "...so authentic, so moving and so intense, and so relentlessly dramatic, that there were times I wasn't sure I could stand to turn the page..." (Mark Bowden)

My book group chose this, not me. And I can't wait to start it, along with the IRS ConstantAudit iPhone app and Fons and Porter's Love of Gastroenteritis.

9/16/12: Nine months after I started. I could have finished it by now. I could have had a baby. Looks like I decided to give that a miss, too. The process would have taken...more From the cover: "...so authentic, so moving and so intense, and so relentlessly dramatic, that there were times I wasn't sure I could stand to turn the page..." (Mark Bowden)

My book group chose this, not me. And I can't wait to start it, along with the IRS ConstantAudit iPhone app and Fons and Porter's Love of Gastroenteritis.

9/16/12: Nine months after I started. I could have finished it by now. I could have had a baby. Looks like I decided to give that a miss, too. The process would have taken about as long, and been approximately as tedious.

An English professor in the book group really liked Matterhorn and said it was an allegory, really Parsifal in disguise, or something. If it is, that’s its saving grace. It’s about 60% stilted dialogue and 40% Newsweek-style prose, and it moves about as fast as a constipated Brontosaurus. Well, maybe that’s the point: to portray the awesome tedium of the front lines. Not to criticize, but my admittedly second-hand impression of actual combat has always been that it’s rather lively. I think if I were writing about war, I would try to revise until the six pages my characters spend fighting were distinctly more exciting than the five they spent getting ready to go on patrol.

I’d have liked this thing better if I could have told any of the characters apart. Each one had his very own name, and that helped. The black soldiers and the southern soldiers sometimes talked funny (though not in any known dialect). But how are you supposed to get interested in people who have no personalities? Each of them was a foil, a flat photograph from a page of Newsweek.

It also would have been better without the endless, minute descriptions of weapons and other gear. (Are those in Parsifal?) Yes, point taken—these men are carrying brutally heavy loads in heat and mud and miserable, enemy-infested jungle. But what is the point of telling me, rivet by rivet, how every ounce of it works? And while we’re on the subject of mud, the author mentions that the men have jungle rot about eight times in the first three chapters, but never goes into details. Come on! Enough with the weapons, set the scene for me! Especially when after that he spends a chapter and a half on the leech episode.

I’d have quit reading sooner but I had to see how the leech thing turned out.

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Jul 14, 2010 Readnponder rated it 5 of 5 stars

I listened to the audio version of this book. It was intense and deeply moving. I will not look at Vietnam or any war the same way. My husband was the radioman in a platoon humping in the jungle of Vietnam about a year after this book was set. Heretofore, he has not talked much about it. Matterhorn helped me understand what that period of his life was like. The book has also opened up conversation with my husband. There will be an event that happens to the characters in the book and I will ask m...more

3 likes · like · see review

Nov 02, 2012 Sydney Young rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012-favorites, american-fiction, historical, must-read-in-your-lifetime, my-favorites, pop-cult-or-modern-fiction, read-because-i-thought-i-should, war

So glad I finally took time to read this; so glad I didn't pass it by; so glad this book finally came to be published. I didn't realize this was fiction before I started reading, or I probably would have read sooner. The voices, the vernacular, the setting, the themes, the politics, the turmoil, the battle scenes, everything just felt so accurate to me. I also really loved the sense of time warp in which we got a glimpse into the character's thoughts while battle was raging around them, and the...more

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Sep 09, 2010 Steve rated it 5 of 5 stars

"People who didn't even know each other were going to kill each other over a hill none of them cared about."

This sentence, from Karl Marlantes' superb novel "Matterhorn", pretty much encapsulates the war in Vietnam for many people, including some who served there. The war as a whole (its origins and machinations) was more complex, as all wars are, but mostly only to the politicians who started and sustained it. Marlantes, who served as a Marine Lieutenant in Vietnam and earned various combat med...more "People who didn't even know each other were going to kill each other over a hill none of them cared about."

This sentence, from Karl Marlantes' superb novel "Matterhorn", pretty much encapsulates the war in Vietnam for many people, including some who served there. The war as a whole (its origins and machinations) was more complex, as all wars are, but mostly only to the politicians who started and sustained it. Marlantes, who served as a Marine Lieutenant in Vietnam and earned various combat medals, basically ignores the political aspect and concentrates on the experience of the grunt on the ground. There are no discussions about Communism vs. Imperialism or whether Johnson should have reacted as he did to the Gulf of Tonkin incident; there is only the drudgery of endless patrols, jungle rot, leeches, C-rations, etc. occasionally interrupted by a rather intense confrontation with the North Vietnamese Army.

Marlantes, who spent over thirty years writing this book (and could probably cover his house with all the rejection letters from various publishers), centers his story on Lieutenant Mellas, a new platoon commander who has to earn the respect of his men and rally them through the backbreaking work of building new bunkers for Matterhorn, their fire support base that stands just a few miles from North Vetnam. He then has to lead them out after their commander, Colonel Simpson, orders them to abandon it. The company has to trudge through the jungle to relieve another group of Marines who stumble onto them, more dead than alive.

In the climax, Mellas leads his marines through a seemingly hopeless assault to take Matterhorn back from the enemy, again on the orders of Col. Simpson. This is a theme that runs through the novel: the idea that a superior officer you've never met can put your life in severe danger mostly, apparently, for the benefit of his own career. Mellas, a college boy, certainly has an interest in his own career, but that gradually takes a back seat to survival as he sees his marines being shot and blown apart with no clear objective. At one point, he admits to his friend, Lt. Hawke, his desire to bring a medal home that will look good on his resume. Hawke replies: "Look. Everyone wants a medal...It's just that after you've been out here long enough to see what they cost, they don't seem so f**king shiny."

"Matterhorn" runs nearly 600 pages long, and it's well worth the investment of time. It's a stunning epic of a war story, definitely on a par with "Fields Of Fire" by James Webb (another Vietnam vet) and Tim O'Brien's "The Things They Carried". Its moral, as with most great war stories, is simple, best put by the late journalist Michael Kelly: "In war there are winners and losers, and then there are the truly screwed."
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Jul 20, 2010 Larry Bassett rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: war, fiction

Matterhorn is yet another book about the war in Vietnam. Did we need another one? But, we are told, this is the one that is realistic, that really captures all the emotions of war. OK. So the book proves that war is hell in all its gore and glory and camaraderie. And did I mention the villainous generals and the endless drinking? The book is set in Vietnam in 1969 near Laos and the DMZ. It covers about three months of war focusing on a couple of dozen people.

I found myself unable to believe what...more

5 likes · like · see review

Larry Bassett The following paragraphs are excerpted from the book. I could only claim this to be short by comparing it to the 600 page book. It is important to rem...more
Jul 20, 2010 11:24am

Keith exactly - five day with no food. Really? Walking all day carrying masses of equipment. Personally I doubt it but I'd be keen to stand corrected if thi...more
May 25, 2011 10:51pm

Mike As a former Marine rifleman, I can tell you that yes, straight pins (how the come in the box)will come out of the grenades. Thumb-clips are infamous f...more
Jun 14, 2012 04:27pm

Nov 26, 2012 Chrissie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audio, hf, vietnam

On completion:
I have written my thoughts as I progressed through this audiobook, so this will be just a short summary. As is evident from the comments below, when I began this book it caused me lots of trouble. I had trouble understanding the military jargon and acronyms. I had trouble keeping track of the numerous characters, their rank and personality traits. My confusion and the many characters made it difficult for me to empathize with any of them. I had trouble understanding what exactly wa...more

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Jun 15, 2012 Katie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Reading this book was a bit of a leap of faith for me. I'm generally not attracted to war novels at all, but I couldn't ignore all the praise lavished on this book in 2011. I decided to take the plunge after reading positive Goodreads reviews by folks with similar proclivities to me.

It was a good decision. This was an excellent book that was more about people and a time period than against an impossible enemy that pervades the book. I feel like the most valuable thing I gained from reading Matte...more

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Aug 23, 2011 Kelanth, numquam risit ubi dracones vivunt rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: guerra

La lettura di questo libro è stata meravigliosa. Forse un termine che non bene si accosta alle atrocità qui descritte, di una guerra ormai lontana nel tempo, quella che fu una delle più grandi disfatte nella storia degli Stati Uniti. La guerra non è mai meravigliosa, ma i libri che ne raccontano gli spaventevoli episodi in un certo qual modo possono esserlo, per quello che hanno da insegnarci.
E' stata meravigliosa perchè coinvolgente, malinconica, nostalgica, appassionata, avventurosa, burrascos...more La lettura di questo libro è stata meravigliosa. Forse un termine che non bene si accosta alle atrocità qui descritte, di una guerra ormai lontana nel tempo, quella che fu una delle più grandi disfatte nella storia degli Stati Uniti. La guerra non è mai meravigliosa, ma i libri che ne raccontano gli spaventevoli episodi in un certo qual modo possono esserlo, per quello che hanno da insegnarci.
E' stata meravigliosa perchè coinvolgente, malinconica, nostalgica, appassionata, avventurosa, burrascosa, sentimentalmente forte come un abbraccio improvviso.
Libro in parte autobiografico, cominciato a scrivere nel 1975, dopo che il giovane autore tornò a casa con una sindrome da stress post-traumatica e finito solo nel 2010 ma subito in vetta a tutte le classifiche statunitensi per settimane (si sa che gli americani non hanno mai digerito il Vietnam) queste pagine si leggono tutte d'un fiato, malgrado gli orrori e le brutture, storie di giovani strappati dalle loro case e buttati in mezzo alla giungla per una guerra crudele e inutile, storie di amicizie indissolubili, di tragedie incommensurabili, storie di giovani ragazzi appena diciottenni alle prese con cose molto più grandi di loro e spaventose.
Storia di una guerra che non ci appartiene, ma alla fine forse le guerre non sono tutte uguali nella loro cieca stupidità?
E' un peccato solo che libri come questo, che tanto hanno da insegnare, siano relegati nelle librerie in spazi angusti, quando meriterebbero ben altra pubblicità a discapito di tante porcherie che vengono stampate per poi finire nel dimenticatoio dopo qualche settimana.
Per fortuna esistono posti come Goodreads, dove la gente può usare il passaparola per diffondere e far pubblicità a libri meno "pompati" come questo, che hanno così tanto da raccontare e farci comprendere.
Consiglio questa lettura a tutti.
"E si rese conto che siamo tutti soltanto ombre: chi canta, i vivi, i morti... Nient'altro che ombre in movimento, su questo paesaggio di monti e vallate; ombre che muovendosi cambiano l'ordine delle cose lasciandole in realtà immutate. Solo le ombre possono cambiare."

http://kelanthsblog.blogspot.com/(less)

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Mar 27, 2012 Sharon rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, war-military

Wow, wow, wow. I want to say a special, heartfelt thanks to every Vietnam veteran. This is a book I'll never forget. As many who served in this jungle have said better than I can, this is a powerful story of so many aspects of war, particularly this war. Everything was so nebulous, I don't see how anyone either managed to fight or came out alive. This is a story of the people of that war up and down the ranks. If you never fought in such a war (I didn't) and want to know what war is like, read t...more

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Jul 16, 2012 Marialyce rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-group-reads, february-2012

This was quite a marvelous, informative read that even though was fiction read like a non fiction of the brave Marines who fought in the bush in Vietnam. The situations, the background in America, the leadership all were presented with much thought provoking situations that often times broke your heart.

Marlantes was well equipped to write of this topic having been in Vietnam as a marine himself. His realistic portrayal of the men, the leaders, the trials of the jungle, as well as the death and...more

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Mar 26, 2011 Lea Ann rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I simply can't say enough good things about Matterhorn. It's an intricate story with a lot of characters to keep track of, but it's worth it. I found myself so invested in the book 100 pages in that I had to put it down several times just to calm down before I could go on reading.

The book mainly follows 2d Lt. Waino Mellas, a Princeton grad who after signing up for the Marine reserves before going to college gets shipped off to Vietnam after graduation. 600 pages later, you have only been in the...more

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Sep 21, 2010 Laurel rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-on-my-kindle, books-read-2010

“The day was spent in weary stupefaction, hauling dead American teenagers to a stack beside the landing zone and dead Vietnamese teenagers to the garbage pit down the side of the north face.” (Matterhorn)

I wasn’t in Vietnam; I’ve never spoken to anyone about Vietnam who fought in the war yet I feel in my gut that this book by Marlantes speaks to the experience of many. Filled with images of oozing immersion foot, young faces smeared with purple Kool Aid, clinging leeches, young soldiers crawling...more

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Jul 11, 2011 LemonLinda rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is a must read for anyone who is curious about the Vietnam War experience and how that differs from any other war in America's history. The language did distract me somewhat. Even though it adds authenticity to the reactions coming from Marines in combat mode, it may have been overdone, however, the heart and soul of the book brings that combat up close and personal. You follow a young, inexperienced Princeton educated Marine officer from his initial days in the battalion through as he and...more

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Oct 09, 2012 Sarah Null rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: hot-lit, kindle, owned

I read this book because it was on all the "best of" lists when it came out, and because the setting in Vietnam fit in nicely with my Around the World in 80 Books challenge. I didn't expect to like it half as much as I did. I found the story absolutely riveting. It's war, so it's violent, brutal, and gruesome, but the raw humanity of it all is breathtaking. What I really liked about it was that Marlantes, a highly decorated war veteran himself, doesn't make any judgments about the rightness or w...more

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May 04, 2013 Stephen rated it 4 of 5 stars

A brutal, compelling and believable (for all its unbelievable horrors and hardships) portrayal of the Vietnam war, through the eyes of a young Marine Lieutenant (closely based on the author).

In the early stages, it gives a convincing depiction of the banality and boredom of war. Then things start to get truly awful.

It is not without flaws - some of the characters were not tremendously convincing (one character never comes across as charismatic as we're told he is), and many more lacked distincti...more

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Apr 28, 2013 Jürgen Zeller rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Es ist ruhig geworden im und rund um das Genre der Kriegsromane. Jahrzehntelang gab es zahlreiche Neuveröffentlichungen von denen ein paar auch im Rampenlicht standen aber das allgemeine Leserinteresse scheint in den letzten Jahren stark abgenommen zu haben und Bücher zu diesem Thema sind zum Nischenprodukt für eine Handvoll interessierte Leser geworden. Haben die Leute genug über dieses Thema gelesen? Will man sich heute nicht mehr damit befassen? Ist der Markt gesättigt? Ich selbst mag mich ja...more Es ist ruhig geworden im und rund um das Genre der Kriegsromane. Jahrzehntelang gab es zahlreiche Neuveröffentlichungen von denen ein paar auch im Rampenlicht standen aber das allgemeine Leserinteresse scheint in den letzten Jahren stark abgenommen zu haben und Bücher zu diesem Thema sind zum Nischenprodukt für eine Handvoll interessierte Leser geworden. Haben die Leute genug über dieses Thema gelesen? Will man sich heute nicht mehr damit befassen? Ist der Markt gesättigt? Ich selbst mag mich ja in lesetechnischer Hinsicht auch nicht wirklich mit diesem Thema beschäftigen, zu düster und brutal sind mir die Szenen von denen man weiss das sie keine Fiktion sondern harte Realität sind/waren. Als Schweizer fällt einem der Titel "Matterhorn" aber schon ins Auge und ich habe mich über diesen Roman informiert und dieses Buch bewusst gekauft um mehr zum Vietnamkrieg zu erfahren.

Die Geschichte handelt vom jungen Zugführer Waino Mellas und "seinen" Soldaten die sich im Dschungel von Vietnam tagtäglich, teilweise Stunde für Stunde im Kampf gegen den Feind, gegen die Natur in Form Wetter, Vegetation und Tieren, gegen sich selbst und gegen die teils unverständlichen Entscheidungen eigener Befehlshaber befinden. Die Hügel- oder Bergkuppen in Vietnam werden mit eigenen Namen versehen und da stehen unter anderem Schweizer Berge mit Namen Pate und so kommen die grünlich-schwarzen Erhebungen die aus dem Dunst und Nebel ragen zu den eigentümlichen Namen wie Eiger oder eben Matterhorn oder es werden Neuschöpfungen wie Helicopter Hill kreiert.

Es sind keine Heldengeschichten von denen Autor Karla Marlantes schreibt. Diese Erzählung schildert den Alltag der Truppen im Einsatzgebiet und schon bald hat man selbst als Leser/-in die Schnauze gestrichen voll von dem Morast, den unhygienischen Verhältnissen und dem monotonen Einerlei aus Malaria, Durchfall, Fussbrand, infizierten Blutegeln, Dschungelfäule und schmerzenden Beinen, Füssen und Köpfen. Man sieht, hört, spürt was es bedeutet im Dschungel zu sein, jeden Tag und jede Nacht. Es ist halt irgendwie doch eine Geschichte von Helden, von jungen Menschen die all die qualvollen Strapazen auf sich nehmen und bewältigen ohne trübsinnig oder verrückt zu werden. Keine auf Hochglanz polierten Helden, keine hollywoodesken Rambo-Verschnitte sondern ganz normale junge Männer die in Amerika zu jung sind um Bier zu kaufen aber alt genug um für das Vaterland in den Krieg zu ziehen von dem sie nicht wissen weshalb er überhaupt geführt wird.

"Ich habe es satt. Ich habe es satt, benutzt zu werden. Für Geld und Politik zu töten ist Prostitution genug, aber es auf diese Weise zu tun macht mich krank. Es macht meine Seele krank oder das, was davon noch übrig ist." Zitat aus diesem Buch

Der Schriftsteller Karl Marlantes ist ein Veteran des Vietnamkrieges und mit zahlreichen Auszeichnungen und Medaillen dekoriert. Er hat im US Marine Korps. gedient und hat nach eigenen Angaben 30 Jahre an diesem Buch geschrieben. Wie viel autobiografisches in der Figur Waino Mellas steckt kann ausser ihm wohl niemand sagen. Der Roman ist gut geschrieben, er liest sich flüssig, einzig der Inhalt ist nicht immer leicht verdaulich. Er enthält keine Schönfärberei und verzichtet auf billige Effekthascherei. Es gilt Hunger und Durst zu leiden und Verletzungen tapfer zu ertragen. Es wird gestorben in diesem Buch und je höher der Dienstgrad und weiter entfernt von Vietnam desto mehr scheint man sich an der Leichenzählerei zu ergötzen. Berichte werden geschönt, weniger eigene Verluste dafür mehr beim Feind. So kriegen irgendwelche hohen Offiziere Belobigungen und man nimmt den Kriegsgegnern den Wind aus den Segeln. Das amerikanische Volk will schliesslich keine schlechten Nachrichten von der Kriegsfront hören.

Wäre der Roman um rund hundert Seiten kürzer ausgefallen könnte ich fünf Sterne vergeben. Hie und da ist es mir etwas zu ausführlich erzählt und es braucht etwas Durchhaltevermögen. Man sollte sich aber vor Augen halten das das kleine bisschen Willen das den Leser/-innen im gemütlichen Lesesessel abverlangt wird nichts ist im Vergleich zu dem der Soldaten im Dschungel. Eine klare Leseempfehlung von mir.(less)

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Mar 13, 2013 Kruip Ruimte rated it 5 of 5 stars

Okay, het conflict in Vietnam is in volle gang. De Truman doctrine is vervangen door die van John Foster Dulles, ook bekend als "containment-doctrine". Klinkt best beschaafd, maar betekend in feite dat alle communistische pogingen tot gebiedsuitbreiding dienen te worden ingeperkt. Let wel, alle pogingen!
Vanaf dat moment voert de VS een veel-fronten oorlog. Met inzet van adviseurs, CIA, en zoals in Vietnam, Cambodja, Lao met behulp van de inzet van haar dienstplichtig leger.
Mede als gevolg van d...more Okay, het conflict in Vietnam is in volle gang. De Truman doctrine is vervangen door die van John Foster Dulles, ook bekend als "containment-doctrine". Klinkt best beschaafd, maar betekend in feite dat alle communistische pogingen tot gebiedsuitbreiding dienen te worden ingeperkt. Let wel, alle pogingen!
Vanaf dat moment voert de VS een veel-fronten oorlog. Met inzet van adviseurs, CIA, en zoals in Vietnam, Cambodja, Lao met behulp van de inzet van haar dienstplichtig leger.
Mede als gevolg van de ondoordringbaarheid van het aanwezige oerwoud wordt door de generale staf een strategie uitgedacht die niet uitgaat van een vaste frontlijn, maar van een flexibele. In feite voortbordurend op de strategie die de Amerikanen tijdens W.O.II uitgedacht hadden in de bestrijding van de Japanners, samen met oom Ho. Jawel oom Ho vocht samen met Amerikanen tegen het leger van Hiro-Hito. En daarin waren ze vrij succesvol, als wel gebruikten ze beiden reeds de strategieën die later in de Vietnam-oorlog zijn vervolmaakt. Allebei gebaseerd op het principe om met een vrij kleine legermacht de tegenstander met speldenprikken te irriteren, uit de tent te lokken, en in de val te laten lopen. Guerrilla in optima forma. Dat is wat ik altijd verbazingwekkend heb gevonden aan het conflict in Vietnam. In feite is Ho-Chi-Minh, voor de Amerikanen, wat Tito was voor de Russen. Alleen zijn die nooit in het voormalige Joegoslavië geweest.
Genoeg uitgewijd, het boek van Malantes geeft voortreffelijk weer hoe schizofreen de ontwikkelde strategie is. Hoe belachelijk de bevel-structuur van het Amerikaanse leger is, of van ieder leger dat niet luistert naar zijn voetvolk. De eenheid van Malantes krijgt de opdracht een bepaalde heuvel zeker te stellen. Moeilijkheid; de heuvels eromheen zijn niet zeker gesteld, sommige zijn voorzien van versterkingen, maar niet continu bemand. Daartoe gaat deze eenheid het gebied in.
In tegenstelling tot de meeste Vietnam films gaat de eenheid gewoon over land richting het betreffende gebied. Pas de laatste sprong geschiedt per heli. Maar al het zware materieel moet over land worden aangevoerd. Evenals de benodigde proviand. Bevoorrading vanuit de lucht geschiedt eerst in uiterste noodzaak.
De zekerstelling geschiedt voorspoedig, te voorspoedig. Dus op bevel van hoger hand wordt de kazemat verlaten om het omliggende gebied te zuiveren, te verkennen en om assistentie te bieden bij een naburige inzet, die minder succesvol verloopt.
Met name de laatste actie eindigt desastreus. Door "friendly-fire" laten diverse kameraden van Malantes het leven. Oorzaak, de diverse frequenties waarop de onderdelen communiceren zijn niet op elkaar afgesteld, noch afgestemd.
Dat de actie toch nog redelijk succesvol afloopt is te danken aan de insubordinatie van de lagere officieren, onderofficieren, en soldaten van beide onderdelen. De hogere echelons zouden deze insubordinatie het liefst nog bestraft zien. Echter dit wordt voorkomen. Het onderdeel van Malantes mag echter wel de heuvel nu gaan terugveroveren op de Viet-Minh. De heuvel waarvan ze zelf de versterkingen verder hebben uitgebreid. De uitkomst is eenvoudig te raden. Het onderdeel wordt gedecimeerd.
Verantwoordelijke hogere officieren worden hierop niet aangesproken. Laat staan bestraft. De waanzin kan gewoon verder gaan, binnen een tijdsbestek van een lichting dezelfde heuvel verschillende malen heroveren, hoe zuur wil je de druiven eten. Waartoe dient deze strategie? Louter en alleen ter uitputting van de reserves van de Viet-Minh. De zogenaamde body-count is een regelrechte aanfluiting, op geen enkele wijze wordt het opgegeven aantal gedode vijanden gestaaft, het zijn louter schattingen. Het doel wordt dus nooit bereikt.(less)

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Mar 07, 2013 Tanner Manion rated it 4 of 5 stars

In Matterhorn By Karl Marlantes the vietnam war is seen through the eyes of a young marine who is part of the infamous Bravo regimine a notorious group of young Marines who were stationed in vietnam in the middle staages of the war. In this book The story is focused on one young marine who has just arrived to a war not ment for him and an era not ment for the war. One thing the book does well is describe what the homefront was facing even during this period of war. Racial Isuues and Anti-War pro...more

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Feb 18, 2013 Jc rated it 5 of 5 stars

I can't say I loved Matterhorn. Any sort of positive emotion just seems the wrong reaction where this book is concerned – it was too real, gritty, and desperate for that. But, wow – what a read! Definitely the "All Quiet on the Western Front" (or for WWII, "The Naked and the Dead" or "The Thin Red Line") of the Vietnam era. Made one really feel like they were with these men as they struggled to do their job/duty, as well as survive, in the DMZ region of Vietnam. Matterhorn is both emotionally ha...more

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Jan 19, 2013 Angela rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011

Lieutenant Mellas is an ivy-league educated Marine who is dropped into the Vietnam War and given command of a platoon. At first, he is dealing with the simple tasks of creating a fire support base on the mountain the Marines have named Matterhorn, but soon he and his platoon are ordered into combat missions. This novel explores not only the soldiers’ experiences but also the political and social issues happening at the time. Black soldiers, who came to Vietnam from the turmoil of the civil right...more

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Dec 20, 2012 Richard rated it 5 of 5 stars

I am halfway through this novel and find that none of the reviews I have read summarize my own experience. My thought is, don't read this novel expecting to draw a lofty moral. Read it to be drawn into the gut-wrenching agony of soldiering. Marlantes wrote another book called "What it is like to go to war". He needn't have bothered. This book tells you. I was a soldier between wars years ago. I was very much afraid that something would happen and I would have to risk my life in battle. I was afr...more

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About Karl Marlantes

A graduate of Yale University and a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, Karl Marlantes served as a Marine in Vietnam, where he was awarded the Navy Cross, the Bronze Star, two Navy Commendation medals for valor, two Purple Hearts, and ten air medals. He is the author of Matterhorn, which won the William E. Colby Award given by the Pritzker Military Library, the Center For Fiction's Flaherty-Dunna...more

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“It was all absurd, without reason or meaning. People who didn't know each other were going to kill each other over a hill none of them cared about” — 17 people liked it

“He ran as he'd never run before, with neither hope nor despair. He ran because the world was divided into opposites and his side had already been chosen for him, his only choice being whether or not to play his part with heart and courage. He ran because fate had placed him in a position of responsibility and he had accepted the burden. He ran because his self-respect required it. He ran because he loved his friends and this was the only thing he could do to end the madness that was killing and maiming them.” — 16 people liked it

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