Mister Roberts

by Thomas Heggen

An instant hit upon its original publication in 1946, it was quickly adapted for stage & screen. Beginning as a collection of short stories, Heggen based his novel on his experiences aboard the USS Virgo in the South Pacific during WWII . Irreverent, hilarious, the book shows readers what a real leader is in the guise of Mr. Roberts!

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, War, World War II, Humor, Military Fiction, Comedy

221 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1946

About the author

Thomas Orlo Heggen (December 23, 1918 – May 19, 1949) was an American author best known for his 1946 novel Mister Roberts and its adaptations to stage and screen. Heggen became an Oklahoman in 1935, when in the depths of the Depression his father's business failed and his family moved from Iowa to Oklahoma City for work. He was Wallace Stegner's cousin.

After attending Oklahoma City University, Oklahoma State University, and graduating from the University of Minnesota, where he was classmate of Max Shulman, Thomas R. St. George and Norman Katkov, with a degree in journalism, Heggen moved to New York City and became an editor for Reader's Digest. He joined the U.S. Navy immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor and was commissioned as a lieutenant in August 1942. For the duration of the War, he served on supply vessels in the North Atlantic, the Caribbean and the Pacific, the latter as assistant communications officer on the cargo ship USS Virgo and also the USS Rotanin.

During his 14 months aboard the Virgo, Heggen wrote a collection of vignettes about daily life on the ship, which he described as sailing "from Tedium to Apathy and back again, with an occasional side trip to Monotony". Like his fictional alter ego Doug Roberts, he felt "left out" of the War and butted heads with his commander, a coarse martinet who repeatedly denied his requests for transfer to a destroyer. The fictional "Captain Morton" of the movie and dramatizations was Naval Reserve Lieutenant Commander Herbert Ezra Randall, a Merchant Marine officer. According to Naval History magazine, Randall "had disdain for the ways of the Navy. Like his fictional “Old Stupid” counterpart, Captain Randall did own two palm trees, and like the characters Doug Roberts and Ensign Pulver, Heggen threw them over the side."

Following his discharge in December 1945, he returned to New York and reworked the material into a loosely structured novel, adding an introductory chapter. His original title, The Iron-Bound Bucket, was changed to Mister Roberts by the publisher.

Despite mixed reviews, it sold over one million copies and made Heggen the toast of the New York literary scene, followed by a lucrative offer to adapt the book for the Broadway stage. For this, he enlisted the aid of humorist Max Shulman but the collaboration did not work out. He then turned to producer-director Joshua Logan, who emphasized the work's farcical elements while retaining its serious undertones. With Henry Fonda in the title role, the 1948 stage version of Mister Roberts was a smash. Heggen and Logan shared the first Tony Award presented for Best Play.

Bewildered by the fame he had longed for, and under pressure to turn out another bestseller, he found himself with a crippling case of writer's block. "I don't know how I wrote Mister Roberts," he admitted to a friend. "It was spirit writing". He became an insomniac and tried to cure it with increasing amounts of alcohol and prescription drugs. On May 19, 1949, Heggen drowned in his bathtub at age 30 after an overdose of sleeping pills. His death was widely reported a probable suicide, though he left no note and those close to him insisted it was an accident. The Chief Medical Examiner reported on June 8, 1949 that Heggen died by drowning though chemical analysis had revealed a "considerable amount of barbiturates".

Reviews

[Eric_W · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably all of us have seen the classic Mister Roberts play or movie. The book is better. It captures the mind-numbing tedium much better, and the humor is scorched with irony and paradoxical pain. The hero, Mr. Roberts, spends his time on board trying to leave the safety of his cargo transport's milk-runs, filing one transfer request after another, seeking the action of a war-ship.

The author, Thomas Heggens, was discovered drowned in his bathroom in 1949, an apparent suicide, despite, or perhaps because of, the huge financial success of the book and play.

The Reluctant was a cargo ship engaged to carry trucks and toothpaste on a regular run "from Tedium to Apathy and back; about five days each way. It makes an occasional trip to Monotony, and once it made a run all the way to Ennui, a distance of about two thousand miles from Tedium." It's staffed with wonderful characters. Ensign Keith, the Boston bluenose, believes the Navy commandments he learned in boot camp about officers being gentlemen, and he sing1ehandedly tries to remake the crew into something resembling a regulation Navy vessel- until the famous jungle juice incident. Lieutenant Roberts is a born leader, able to move easily among the enlisted men as well as the officers; competent, he wants nothing more than to get out of this phantom Navy and into the real war. He is hated by the captain for his ability. He is the instigator of many of the famous practical jokes played on the captain. The doctor is simultaneously a great medico and a loony quack, which would depend on the quantity of grain alcohol he had imbibed the night before. He might or might not prescribe aspirin for athlete's foot.

The book has several humorous moments: the discovery by one of the visiting nurses that she and her colleagues have been surreptitiously spied on by men on the Reluctant using the powerful range finder telescopes; the accidental firing of a live shell that nearly took the mast off a friendly ship after a party that somehow got a little out of hand; and the question whether throwing the captain's palm tree s over the side would result in their replacements being squared or doubled (figure that one out).

But war is overwhelmingly tragic and Roberts gets his wish. He is transferred to a destroyer. His former shipmates learn of his death during a Kamikaze attack just before the announcement of the end of the war. It wipes the smile right off your face.

[Robert Poor · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Mister Roberts" by Thomas Heggen is a terrific example of Classic Naval Literature. There are numerous published versions of this novel; I recommend one published by the Naval Institute Press, a great organization and a wonderful protector of Naval tradition.

I had a Naval Postgraduate School Professor who once told me that progressing through a Naval career was like sliding down a long pipe. At the beginning, each of us has our own unique edges and shapes and quirks, but by the time we progress through the end of the pipe, each of those edges and burrs and individual anomalies are smoothed off by the friction and constraints of the pipe. Perhaps it is for that reason, the Navy that I've always loved isn't that of the steely-eyed warrior standing nobly at the conn while making calm decisions in the midst of chaos - that's certainly great stuff and requires personnel made of, in the words of Tom Wolfe, the Right Stuff. But the Navy I prefer is the skeevier one, the Navy where the best part of the day is experiencing the lunacy and randomness that results in a doozy of a sea-story told later, preferably in an overseas bar, slightly exaggerated, to an appreciative, raucous, rabid, responsive crowd of shipmates, friends, neer-do-wells, and just-met hangers on.

The two cruises I completed while at the Naval Academy were perfect examples of the awesomeness of the backwater navy. My Youngster cruise occurred aboard an Ammunition Ship in 1982, just back from Thailand and not yet quite on board with the then-CNO's policy of Zero Tolerance. I realized then that supply ships have better chow than combatants, and so for my First Class cruise I chose an AFS where we ate like kings while cruising from Norfolk to Guantanamo Bay. I learned to play cards and throw dice, and realized that the real Navy was a lot funkier than the Naval Academy.

Tom Heggen's novel "Mister Roberts," first published to instant acclaim in 1946 as the country caught its collective breath after World War II, is a charming collection of vignettes based on his experiences aboard USS Virgo (AKA-20) transiting around the beautiful, sleepy, steamy harbors of the South Pacific Islands during the war. Before the war he had been an editor for "Readers Digest," returning there after his hitch in the Navy. Later, his novel became a wildly successful Broadway Play and later still a classic Hollywood picture.

Mr. Heggen gets the details of the tedium of being at sea exactly right. It's stunning to see how similar his experiences from nearly seventy years ago match up to mine, or certainly to those of any dewy-eyed ensign just out of Office Candidate School and suddenly finding himself a couple thousand miles away from mom and hundred miles away from the nearest bit of land, perhaps somewhere in the Marianas or Society Islands. A sample:

'The [USS] Reluctant, as was said, is a naval auxiliary. It operates in the back areas of the Pacific. In its holds it carries food and trucks and dungarees and toothpaste and toilet paper. For the most part it stays on its regular run, from Tedium to Apathy and back; about five days each way. It makes an occasional trip to Monotony, and once it made a run all the way to Ennui, a distance of two thousand nautical miles from Tedium. It performs its dreary and unthanked job, and performs it, if not inspiredly, then at least adequately.'

From Tedium to Apathy ... Perfect!

After the war, Thomas Heggen returned to work at Reader's Digest, while helping craft his novel (1946), then play (1948) into worldwide smashes. One would have thought that the world was his oyster. However, by 1949 Heggen took his own life before he turned thirty. USS Virgo, the ship he immortalized as the Reluctant, outlived him in fiction and fact. After the war, as noted in the afterward of the version I read, USS Virgo 'made numerous trips between the West Coast and American Pacific bases. When the Korean War broke out, she made three round trips to that theater, carrying mostly ammunition for ships bombarding the Korean coast, including the carrier Valley Forge (CV-45) and the cruisers Juneau (CA-119) and Saint Paul (CA-73). From 1954 through 1961, Virgo was a Pacific workhorse, based at Guam. Deactivated in 1961, she came back into service in 1965, but with a change she lost her attack cargo designation and became an ammunition ship, AE30. The Virgo went to Taiwan scrap yard in 1973. That's a place the USS Reluctant will never go.'

Reluctant will live on forever in the laughter in the rafters of smoky overseas dives wherever sailors gather to hoist a few cold ones, swap a few whoppers, and celebrate the rich tradition of esprit de corps.

Here's one to you, Mr. Heggen.

[Shawn Deal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the movie, loved the play and now I love this book, which everything else was based on. Obviously there is much more detail in here than in the other two sources. And it was those details that made this so incredible of a read.

[Jessica López-Barkl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Checked out a bunch of books in preparation for the show I’m in currently, and one of them is this book. I finished it late last night when I had insomnia, and I was so sad afterwards that I couldn’t sleep. I kept thinking about the book, and how it relates to the play I’m in…which is going into tech this week, and I guess I just had one of those “tech week insomnia nights.” Though, I have to say, not a good way to start a long week.

So…the book jacket probably has the best descriptions of the book…I’m not going to try and improve upon their 1946 publishers; they will always do a better job than I ever will…

(Back cover): “Thomas Heggen’s story Night Watch was an Atlantic Monthly “First” in April. This book continues the story of Mister Roberts, a man who found himself playing guardian angel, referee, and diplomat without portfolio to some hundred and eight odd men. As each new and more outrageous story was circulated, the legen grew up around him while his ship, the U.S.S. Reluctant, crossed and recrossed the tedious breadth of the Pacific.”

(Inside front flap): “The U.S.S. Reluctant is a Naval Auxiliary – a cargo ship. She has none of the glamour of an Aircraft Carrier or a destroyer. She has never seen action. But her agonizingly uneventful months in the back-washes of the Pacific form the background for one of the most authentic, most moving, and at the same time, most humorous of novels…Lieutenant Roberts is Cargo Officer and First Lieutenant. he is typical of the idealistic reservist who expected to fight for his country, but found himself far behind the front lines. Respected and liked by everyone but the captain, he is the one individual who keep the ship together…The other officers and men are an embittered but likeable group who spend their time waging an incessant guerrilla warfare against the captain. Perhaps this situation was caused by the pigheaded captain himself, or perhaps it was born of the need for an obsessional pastime. In any case, it led to a long series of hilarious events that helped break up the monotony…Throughout all this MISTER ROBERTS does his quiet job, welcomed in every officer’s stateroom, worshipped by the crew. His fight is none the less real because it is waged against those nebulous adversaries: apathy, tedium, boredom. ‘He has geared himself to the tempo of his ship…with gallantry, courage, and fortitude. Perhaps he is a kind of a hero.’ No one who reads his story will doubt that heroism.”

Anyway, this is a great book. I really loved its humor, its insight, and its message. I was pleasantly surprised by how frank it was, i.e. the peeping sailors on the nurse ship and the great story about the dimwitted sailor from Rapid City, SD, who got the clap and the ship’s Doctor’s advice that he keep it because it would make him famous.

Lastly, I’ll leave this review with a long quote from the end of the book that I really think sums up Heggen’s writing and the wonderfulness of this book:

“Roberts saw all these things in separate scenes, as though they were the changing slides of a stereoscope. And now, suddenly, the series of the tumultuous cities clicked out and in its place came a very different scene. It was a scene Roberts recognized from its origin as a picture in Life magazine. (My knowledge of the war comes straight from Life, he thought ironically.) There was a field in France, and a farmer was harrowing this field, walking behind the harrow. The furrowed rows were very straight, except in the middle of the field, where they broke and gave way for the mounded grave of a British Tommy. It looked like lovely country, green with trees, with the soft haze of distant hills in the background. The rows of the harrow detoured for just the area of the grave and then they ran on straight and unswerving. It was that way the war, too, had moved off and left the Tommy. The grave looked lonely in the bright sunshine.
The dead, Roberts mused, what could you say for the dead of this war? What could you really say? Well, there were a lot of things you could say automatically and without thought, but they were all the wrong things; and just this once, just this one war, anyhow, let us try to say true things about the dead. Begin by cancelling the phrase, ‘our honored dead’: for that is not true – we forget them, we do not honor them but in rhetoric – and the phrase is the badge of those who want something of the dead. If the dead of this war must have a mutual encomium, then let it be ‘poor dead bastards.’ There is at least a little humanity in that. And let us not say of them, this time, ‘they gave their lives’ for something or other; for certainly there was nothing voluntary in their dying. And neither is it fair to speak of ‘dead heroes,’ for not at all necessarily does the fact of death include the fact of heroism. Some of these dead were shining youth scornful of the sanctity of their own lives, who lived daily with terror rarefied by inevitability and died with a flawless gesture of self-immolation: and other died as the result of injuries sustained in falling through a privy. But, thought Roberts, if they did not live equally, they are every one equally dead; and you could say this affirmative thing of all: that in a war of terrifying consequence and overwhelming agony, they participated one hundred per cent. That was the only true thing you could say for all, but it was enough. The war demanded the shortening of how many – two million, five hundred and sixty thousand, two hundred and fourteen? – lives, and these men were chosen. So pile them high at Austerlitz and Waterloo and Ypres and Verdun, and add a few new places, Aachen and Dunkerque and Anzio; only do not talk lies about the dead. They are chosen.” (165-166)

[Kristi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was written by my father's first cousin, so I have always had an attachment to the story and the film The author's wry sense of humor is still amusing in many instances.

The book consists of a series of loosely connected short stories. The title character only appears in a few of them, which I found disappointing. Despite this the book is a pleasant read.

The setting is a navy cargo ship stationed in the Pacific Ocean during World War II. The crew has to deal with the constantly oppressive tropical heat, boredom, and the knowledge that most of them are stuck on this ship until the end of the war. To make matters worse the Captain is arrogant, vicious and incompetent. The book depicts how the crew members are able to keep their sanity and what life is like aboard a non-combat ship in the backwaters of the Pacific. All the crew members love and admire Mister Roberts because he is the only officer who is not afraid of the Captain and treats everyone fairly. Kristi & Abby Tabby

[Bob Koelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everybody's seen this movie, right? Well, everyone in my family has. Before it was a movie starring Henry Fonda, it was a Broadway hit starring Henry Fonda, and before that it was this novel, published in 1946. And that makes it remarkable.

It's a book about comic moments on a dreary cargo vessel in the Pacific in WWII, not told comically, but manner-of-factly. The author's post-war bitterness and cynicism seep out from time to time in some remarkable passages. Try to imagine anyone writing an ode to the war dead like this today:

The dead, Mr Roberts mused. What could you say about the dead of this war? What could you really say? Well, there were a lot of things you could say automatically and without thought, but they were all the wrong things; and just this once, just this one war, anyhow, let us try to say true things about the dead. Begin by cancelling the phrase "our honored dead": for that is not true-we forgot them, we do not honor them but in rhetoric-and the phrase is the badge of those who want something of the dead. If the dead of this war must have a mutual emcomium, then let it be "poor dead bastards." There is at least a little humanity in that. And let us not say of them, this time, "they gave their lives" for something or other; for certainly there was nothing voluntary in their dying. And neither is it fair to speak of "dead heroes," for not at all necessarily does the fact of death include the fact of heroism. Some of these dead were shining youths scornful of the sanctity of their own lives, who lived daily with terror rarefied by inevitability and died with a flawless gesture of self-immolation: and others died as the result of injuries sustained in falling through a privy. But, thought Roberts, if they did not live equally, they are evey one equally dead; and you could say this affirmative thing of all; that in a war of terrifying consequence and overwhelming agony, they participated one hundred per cent. That was the only true thing you could say for all, but it was enough. The was demanded the shortening of how many-two million, five hundred and sixty thousand twho hundred and fourteen?-lives, and these men were chosen. So pile them high at Austerlitz and Waterloo and Ypres and Verdun, and and add a few more places, Aachen and Dunkerque and Anzio; only do not talk lies about the dead.

This passage astonished me, as we live today in a world of military hero-worship. Will anyone have the guts to write something like this about today's wars, and in turn have it be so popularly embraced as this book was?

[Brian E Reynolds · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the original novel version of the successful play and movie versions of this story. The story went from novel to play to movie. It is the story of the crew aboard the USS Reluctant, a naval supply ship in 1945 WWII Pacific, during the period the European war ended and the Pacific conflict was in its last days.
I was happy that the overall plot and characters are the same in the book and movie. The central character is Ensign Pulver, but looming large is his superior officer, Mister Roberts. There are also various crew members, including the medical officer, Doc. Their personalities are similar to the movie versions, but certain aspects, such as Pulver’s shipboard cowardice, are much more understated here. I thought the movie’s portrayal made the characters a little more unreal, but much more vivid and humorous
Many of the book’s events are duplicated in the movie. However, in the book, these events come off as a series of separate vignettes woven together rather than one cohesive plot. Also, due to Heggen’s more matter-of-fact writing, the comments and events seem less humorous than on the screen, where the vivid characters add comic spark to many moments. The movie also adds one certain event that intensifies the crew’s admiration of Roberts. Lacking this event, the book’s portrayal of the crew and Pulver’s admiration of Roberts lacks some of the emotional power presented in the movie. As a result of all these factors the book, while still worthy, fall a bit short of the impact that the movie provides. Overall, I rate it as 3 stars

As an aside, I only just discovered this story started as a novel as I had presumed it started as the play. The movie is an important one in my family as my father served as a Lieutenant on the U.S. Thuban, a naval supply ship in the Pacific theater of WWII that performed similar duties as the USS Reluctant. I was very glad to be able to read this book which, like seeing this movie, helps me feel closer to him and get some insight into what his life was like during those years. I will read the book again someday and also try the play version.

[Diana Long · Rating 4 out of 5]

57-Mister Roberts by Thomas Heggen & Joshua Logan (Physical-Play) 4* This play takes place during WWII on a cargo ship in the Pacific Theater just prior to V-E day. The war by the time this play was written was over and so it's a some what light-hearted comedy to a war weary nation. Most of the play is staged on the deck of the ship with a few scenes in the cabin shared by Lt. AJG Roberts and Ensign Pulver. Mister Roberts is basically the serious naval officer who wants nothing more than to be transferred to a ship that's in the thick of the battle where the rest of the personal are bored but glad to be assigned where they are. Ensign Pulver is the main character that is full of shenanigans and he gives the play most of the fun and laughter. I enjoyed it up until the end of the play....seriously writers why not just dump my popcorn in my lap and pour soda over my head.

[Dwayne Roberts · Rating 3 out of 5]

Humorously written, Mister Roberts is a novel of the back-waters of the second world war. The boredom, the pettiness, the un-military nature of a ship with apparently little purpose.

The best-picture-nominated movie follows the book's story well, and in fact is superior. In the book, the captain plays a lesser role than the movie's powerful James Cagney. And the movie's 40ish Henry Fonda is double the age of the book's titular character.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book is a lot less light hearted than the movie adaptation. The story is rather dated and not terribly interesting. The captain isn't as over the top as Cagney portrayed him in the movie and in the book Doug Roberts is in his mid 20's, Hollywood wanted star power and cast Henry Fonda who was 50 at that time to portray Doug Roberts.

[Skjam! · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is early spring, 1945, and World War Two rages on…somewhere else. Here in the backwaters of the Pacific Ocean, the Reluctant, an auxiliary cargo vessel of the United States Navy, sails from miserable coral island to miserable jungle island, delivering loads of non-urgent supplies. This old tub has never seen action, and it’s probably never see action, something that’s a long-term frustration for First Officer Lieutenant Douglas Roberts.

Mister Roberts dropped out of medical school and enlisted after Pearl Harbor to fight the forces of fascism. He’d initially wanted to be a pilot, but a mild eyesight issue made him unsuitable, so he settled for the Navy, figuring he’d see combat on a warship. Instead, the Navy assigned him to supply ships well behind the front lines.

The Reluctant is a slow boat, so long hot days and sometimes weeks go by with no important duties to fulfill, only makework that might keep the hands busy, but does little to occupy the mind. Discipline aboard ship is…relaxed at best, despite the petty tyranny of incompetent Captain Morton.

Lieutenant Roberts is both competent and a decent fellow, and he’s the officer doing the most to keep the crew functioning, despite the fact that he’d rather be elsewhere. He puts in a transfer request every month, and every month Captain Morton forwards it to Headquarters with the notation “transfer not recommended.” (Captain Morton also routinely refuses compassionate leave and day pass requests.)

This 1946 novel was loosely based on the author’s own experiences in World War Two, and several of the characters are directly based on real people, though not ones who all served on the same ship. It started as a number of short stories, and shows this in its structure, but Mr. Heggen did a good job of removing redundant material.

While Mister Roberts is the primary character, individual chapters focus on different crew members and their small incidents. Sick call, a quarrel springing up out of nowhere, an outbreak of voyeurism, pranks played on the captain; anything to relieve the tedium of the seemingly pointless voyages.

Most of the novel is comic in tone, but the ending is bittersweet. Mister Roberts’ transfer at last comes in and the ship must continue to function without him, and there is one last message.

The book was very successful, becoming a Broadway play, a movie with Henry Fonda, and even a television series.

The writing is good, and the situations seem plausible. Over the course of the book, Mister Roberts’ personality has depth, but we don’t spend too much time with him brooding. Unfortunately, Mr. Heggen died in 1949, before he could overcome writer’s block for a second book.

Content note: The sailors and officers of the Reluctant unsurprisingly use rather salty language. One chapter has the crew spying on naked women, which is depicted as harmless fun–until it isn’t. Prostitution happens a couple of times. Rape comes up a couple of times: once as an accusation (not proven) and once in speculation of female-on-male rape. There’s a touch of relatively mild animal abuse, and a transphobic slur.

This book was written in the first half of the 1940s, from the viewpoint of a frustrated military man, and some of the attitudes depicted have not aged well. But it struck a chord with readers at the time, many of whom had served in the war or personally knew someone who had. Recommended for readers who want to know more about life on Navy ships outside of combat.

[Louis Barbier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mister Roberts was an interesting book about a study of leaders and their style of leadership during WWII in the wide Pacific. The author Thomas Heggen a young naval officer served on various ships and one of them was a ship like the USS Reluctant as described in the book. I felt a kinship since I too served in the US Navy but after WWII and my ships were destroyers or as they are referred to in this book tin cans. Mr. Thomas Heggen description of the routine on a ship I am very familiar with even after having been retired now more years than I can remember. One tradition that is constant after a ship is commission is the coming to life of a ship as the crew goes aboard. From that moment on until the ship is decommissioned the watch is set. There are all kinds of watches and stations of every evolution of a ship while hazy gray and underway or while in port. Another constant is that the ship requires replenishment of fuel, munitions, ordinances, supplies, food, etc. All of these require working parties to lay to. Of course, there are also request for emergency leave, request for transfers, and such but all are in accordance of the US Navy and most important the needs of the US Navy. A chit is used to request any action by a crew member. That chit goes up the chain of command and the last person to sign it approved or disapprove is the Captain of the ship. After it is forward on to the Bureau for their action. This book shows without a doubt that poor leaders make lousy decisions; this in affect has not changed. In my day the best Navy tradition is liberty. Now there are so many other Navy traditions that makes you feel proud to put on your (Cracker Jacks); this is your Dress Uniform and strut your stuff down the pier. Oh yeah; this book covers quite a few but then again it only touches the tip of the iceberg. Also, many passages for those who have been there and done that will bring a smile of the time you served with your Uncle Sam and visited countless places around this blue planet that as a youngster only dreamed of while study geography in elementary school. Always thinking that someday you will do it; but if you for whatever reason missed this opportunity I recommend reading this book. Then for a few hours you can live what the sailors on the United States Ship USS Reluctant during WWII as told to you by the author Thomas Heggen; who served in the US Navy during that period of World History.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm sure anyone reading this has most likely seen the the classic movie starring Henry Fonda(Mister Roberts), James Cagney(the Reluctants's Captain) and Jack Lemmon (Ensign Pulver). Many of the more numerous war or military stories focus on battles and heroism but this story is centered on the boredom and tedium of military life behind the front lines. This can be common in all military branches but on a ship in the middle of the Pacific you're kind of limited where you can go or escape for even a short while.

Many of he chapters are not just about Mister Roberts but seem to be attempts by the sailors to break the monotony like a wild "liberty adventure" that is the stuff of Navy lore which includes a goat. How they spied on he local nurses showering on a nearby island and and the legendary tossing of the Captain's beloved palm trees after consuming too much "jungle juice".

Mister Roberts feels trapped on ship. He had joined the Navy to be part of the war effort and feels the war will be over before he was involved in it. It's what he had wanted to do for so long. The captain keeps him there partly envious of the respect Roberts enjoys from the crew and knows he'd lose a competent officer to boot. In the end he gets his wish and is transferred off the ship. After some shore leave is assigned to a destroyer close to the action. He is killed after only short while onboard by a kamikaze attack. Ensign Pulver is most moved by this news, as Robert's was someone he respected and admired, as tosses the Captain's palm trees overboard in perhaps a tribute to Robert's and a sign that he'll take up Mr. Robert's place in the ship's unwritten hierarchy.

It's a very enjoyable story. Some details differ between the movie and book but I think this may be the rare case where the movies is just as good if not arguable better in some cases though it'd be a close call in my opinion. It's still a great book.

P.S. If one is interested in this genre I'd also recommend "The Caine Mutiny" by Hermann Wouk which has some similar elements but is a heavier story. That too has an excellent movie adaption. I couldn't help but think of this story while I was enjoying this one.

[Michael Helm · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book came my way via a Little Library a few days after a friend suggested the movie and we watched it. The book and the movie are fairly well aligned, but Mr Roberts is not really on the stage nearly as much as he is in the movie - he starts the book, he ends it, and he appears in an episode or two in the middle; he is also the invisible glue that holds the ship community together.

I didn't realize it at the time but Henry Fonda, in the movie, is way too old even in his fifties for the Lt job - he was probably older than the oldest salt or lifer on this boat by 20 years or more. Most of the men including Mr Roberts are in their 20's. Some barely if it all.

This book is not a novel so much as it is a set of stories about the last year about of a Navy freight and supply ship as WW II comes to an end in the Pacific. The movie feels more connected. The boat is also smaller in the movie - there are 170+ people on it in this book!

The book has a different, darker tone and is definitely a fish out of water in our time. It is a lot rawer and rougher, and definitely not politically correct. It also reminds me (a little) of the contemporaneous Caine Mutiny and (a lot) Michener's Tales of the South Pacific - a much better book wildly different from the movie musical.

[Sully Augustine · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars out of 5. I read a hardback from the library over the past couple of evenings. It's basically The Caine Mutiny, written by a much less capable author determined to inject a Reader's Digest new word for the day into his output each and every day. The first couple of stories almost lost me because they simply didn't ring true and the writing was very clumsy; but several stories were excellent, and the last part of the book is very good. I can see why it became the basis of a situation comedy.

[Lee Riggs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining episodic stories on a South Seas US Naval supply ship during World War II. Very much an artifact of its time, as far as views on women and minorities and politics, but if you try to understand and forgive that aspect, it is a fun short read that looks at life at sea, comradery, male bonding, war and peace. I was interested in this because I saw a filmed version of the play many moons ago, and enjoyed that, and wanted to read the original source material. The book was published in 1946, and I believe many of the individual chapters had been serialized in a magazine before that.

[Y.L. Saldana · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was such a heartwarming read. The book will make you like the whole crew and it's recurring characters which are: Roberts, Doc, Pulver, Dowdy, and the Captain. I've read the book then watched the film and what I can say is that the film had some things change but it still followed the same path of the book. Both of them are amazing and I teared up in the end. Bought this book on a second hand store and it was such a good find.

[Ashley Morrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book. I liked how the entire crew treated each other as best friends or even brothers since they seem to have been close together. I found it funny how Mister Roberts was the one who tossed the small palm tree aside the ship and caused the noise and the ruckus. I also found it funny that his crew mates also tossed the palm trees too out of spite for their captain, who they described as a shit head.

[Blaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lol,,,I seem to be re-reading many of the books from my younger years. This was one of my favourite books. The characters are fantastic. Lt Doug Roberts, his detractor in the Captain and the wannabe Dougs. It will take you through a wide variety of emotions but it will put a smile on your face when you think about the relationships between the characters.

[Doug Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book didn’t do a lot for me, but late in the book there was a passage that made it worth the read. The section referred to how we refer to those who die in wars. The author dealt with cliches and rhetoric. How they are not all heroes and they will not all be remembered. That their sacrifice was not voluntary.
Other than this section the book was a description of personalities.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set onboard ship in the Pacific Ocean. 221 pp. Read online at https://archive.org/details/misterrob.... Really enjoyed this. The film stayed quite close to the book.

Mister Roberts by Thomas Heggen

R - CLN: Roberts
T - AFN: Thomas
O - CLN: Olson
S - CLN: Stefanowski

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was recommended to me because I was reading the Bounty trilogy. Not sure exactly why, I suppose keywords ship and Pacific would be common to it.
Still a fairly good read showing the boredom of life on a naval supply ship away from any action in WWII.

[Don · Rating 5 out of 5]

The novel became a play. The play became a movie. I’ve seen the movie about a dozen times and each time I laugh harder than I did the previous time I saw it. The story and the humor are timeless. Do yourself a favor. Read the book then see the movie.

[Mike Harnish · Rating 4 out of 5]

D

[Adelbert · Rating 4 out of 5]

A classic! In the same vein as The Caine Mutiny and The Cruel Sea.
Well told story of life aboard a ship in WWII. Of how each person deals with what cards life deals them.

[Jeff Dow · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a case where the movie (and play)was better than the book (Jaws, To Kill a Mockingbird). The play and movie were much more focused while the novel was more a collection of short stories. S

[Sean McGowan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sideways Stories From Wayside School but for History Channel dads. Honestly pretty good! Incredibly satisfying final line, hits like a button on a wonderful sketch

[Ed · Rating 3 out of 5]

The movie was mych better. Fleshed out characters more believably

[Louis Barbier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mister Roberts was an interesting book about a study of leaders and their style of leadership during WWII in the wide Pacific. The author Thomas Heggen a young naval officer served on various ships and one of them was a ship like the USS Reluctant as described in the book. I felt a kinship since I too served in the US Navy but after WWII and my ships were destroyers or as they are referred to in this book tin cans. Mr. Thomas Heggen description of the routine on a ship I am very familiar with even after having been retired now more years than I can remember. One tradition that is constant after a ship is commission is the coming to life of a ship as the crew goes aboard. From that moment on until the ship is decommissioned the watch is set. There are all kinds of watches and stations of every evolution of a ship while hazy gray and underway or while in port. Another constant is that the ship requires replenishment of fuel, munitions, ordinances, supplies, food, etc. All of these require working parties to lay to. Of course, there are also request for emergency leave, request for transfers, and such but all are in accordance of the US Navy and most important the needs of the US Navy. A chit is used to request any action by a crew member. That chit goes up the chain of command and the last person to sign it approved or disapprove is the Captain of the ship. After it is forward on to the Bureau for their action. This book shows without a doubt that poor leaders make lousy decisions; this in affect has not changed. In my day the best Navy tradition is liberty. Now there are so many other Navy traditions that makes you feel proud to put on your (Cracker Jacks); this is your Dress Uniform and strut your stuff down the pier. Oh yeah; this book covers quite a few but then again it only touches the tip of the iceberg. Also, many passages for those who have been there and done that will bring a smile of the time you served with your Uncle Sam and visited countless places around this blue planet that as a youngster only dreamed of while study geography in elementary school. Always thinking that someday you will do it; but if you for whatever reason missed this opportunity I recommend reading this book. Then for a few hours you can live what the sailors on the United States Ship USS Reluctant during WWII as told to you by the author Thomas Heggen; who served in the US Navy during that period of World History.

[Mary Burks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. Gives an over view of being on a ship in the Navy during WW II. And shows some of the ship mates and officers and the state of their mental health and challenges while on board.