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Jarhead
Jarhead: A Marine's Chronicle of the Gulf War and Other Battles | Anthony Swofford
13 posts | 10 read | 2 reading | 4 to read
Anthony Swofford's Jarhead is the first Gulf War memoir by a frontline infantry marine, and it is a searing, unforgettable narrative. When the marines -- or "jarheads," as they call themselves -- were sent in 1990 to Saudi Arabia to fight the Iraqis, Swofford was there, with a hundred-pound pack on his shoulders and a sniper's rifle in his hands. It was one misery upon another. He lived in sand for six months, his girlfriend back home betrayed him for a scrawny hotel clerk, he was punished by boredom and fear, he considered suicide, he pulled a gun on one of his fellow marines, and he was shot at by both Iraqis and Americans. At the end of the war, Swofford hiked for miles through a landscape of incinerated Iraqi soldiers and later was nearly killed in a booby-trapped Iraqi bunker. Swofford weaves this experience of war with vivid accounts of boot camp (which included physical abuse by his drill instructor), reflections on the mythos of the marines, and remembrances of battles with lovers and family. As engagement with the Iraqis draws closer, he is forced to consider what it is to be an American, a soldier, a son of a soldier, and a man. Unlike the real-time print and television coverage of the Gulf War, which was highly scripted by the Pentagon, Swofford's account subverts the conventional wisdom that U.S. military interventions are now merely surgical insertions of superior forces that result in few American casualties. Jarhead insists we remember the Americans who are in fact wounded or killed, the fields of smoking enemy corpses left behind, and the continuing difficulty that American soldiers have reentering civilian life. A harrowing yet inspiring portrait of a tormented consciousness struggling for inner peace, Jarhead will elbow for room on that short shelf of American war classics that includes Philip Caputo's A Rumor of War and Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried, and be admired not only for the raw beauty of its prose but also for the depth of its pained heart.
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TheSpineView
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Eggs Great choice 👍🏼 2y
62 likes1 stack add2 comments
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OrangeMooseReads
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Texreader Seabiscuit! 6y
Texreader Yes! 6y
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OrangeMooseReads @Texreader email me your address orangemoosereads @ Gmail . Com (edited) 6y
Texreader Done. Thank you! 6y
37 likes6 comments
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Cinfhen
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#NoFemmeber In honor of Veterans Day I‘m highlighting a solider‘s story who‘s life was #forever changed by going to war. Swofford weaves his experience of war with vivid accounts of boot camp, reflections on the mythos of the marines, and remembrances of battles with lovers and family. Jarhead insists we remember the Americans who are wounded & killed, the fields of smoking enemy corpses & traumas facing soldiers as they re-enter civilian life.

Cinfhen I did see the movie and I wasn‘t a fan but the book does sound like it has an important message to share. #Booked2019 #teaser this book would work for 2 prompts 🤗🤗🤗 6y
Megabooks That was a beautiful blurb, Cindy! I didn‘t not realize it was also a book. 👏🏻 6y
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Cinfhen I took the blurb from the publisher @Megabooks I had to omit the parenthesis because of number count 😜 6y
Cinfhen And I did have to change and omit some words too 🙊 6y
Billypar I also only knew of this as a movie! Great summary ☺️ I'm going to be posting a gushy review of the Karen Russell story collection I just finished, and it has a wonderful story about a masseuse who provides therapy treatments to a veteran from Iraq... Really excellent, grapples with a lot of important issues about veterans coping with trauma. 6y
Cinfhen I‘ll be looking for your review @Billypar I think we often overlook how much these men & women sacrifice for our freedom. 6y
Megabooks @Cinfhen You sly fox you! Sneaky sneaky 🦊🙊🙈🙉 6y
Cinfhen 😔🥺😘 @Megabooks (edited) 6y
BarbaraBB I read this book. It‘s mostly about boredom (fortunately)! It‘s a good read. Two prompts, wow...! 6y
Cinfhen Yup @BarbaraBB one for the summer season & one for Fall 😊 (edited) 6y
rockpools So many teasers! 😆 Do you have a 'release date' planned yet? 6y
Cinfhen Waiting for my co-hosts to give the ok signal @RachelO @BarbaraTheBibliophage @4thhouseontheleft But I know we‘re all excited to share our prompts with you😍 6y
rockpools We're excited too! 🙃 I shall wait and watch 👀 6y
Chrissyreadit I think I need to try #booked2019 6y
Cinfhen Yay!!! I‘ll keep u posted @RachelO @Chrissyreadit 🤗🤗🤗 6y
108 likes1 stack add16 comments
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JenlovesJT47
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Has anyone here ever made a book jar? I'm considering doing this to motivate me to read more of the books I've already bought. You know how it is, you buy a book(s), then you see some great deal on kindle so you buy more books, then you go to the library and get a huge stack of books, then all of the books you've requested on the digital library become available all at once! 😱I think I need several jars lol. #bookishproblems 📚🤓📚

CocoReads I need to do this as well! 7y
Reviewsbylola I love this idea! 7y
Smangela I did this and i failed at it miserably lol 7y
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PurpleyPumpkin I like the idea & may have to try it someday soon myself. I sometimes forget what I've bought, then find a book one day and think "why haven't I read this already???"? 7y
Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks I have an antique jewelry box that I use for this 📚💕 7y
JenlovesJT47 @PurpleyPumpkin yep, I'm with you! I'm thinking of doing separate jars, one for kindle books I've bought, one for physical books and one for my currently reading shelf on Goodreads 😳 - I think it is currently at 37! #somanybookssolittletime 7y
JenlovesJT47 I currently have over 5,000 books on my kindle (most of which I got for free on Amazon), so I really need to do this. Oh yes, I forgot about my NetGalley tbr books! 😱😱😱 7y
Bookzombie I have a book bowl, but my husband thinks it's silly because I don't always go with my first pick. I just keep picking until I'm happy. 😂 7y
JenlovesJT47 @Bookzombie lol 😂😂😂 sounds like something I would do!! 😂 7y
Sarah83 Yes indeed. I made one some time ago. It is a good help to read books I've might forgotten. 😉 7y
56 likes10 comments
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BarbaraBB
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Pickpick

This book is the account of an American marine sniper, situated in the Saudi Arabian desert for months. Months of boredom, cleaning weapons, working out and men talk. In fact they are glad the war finally starts. And then he doesn't use his weapon once.
Anthony Swofford thinks a lot about what's (not) happening and how this makes him feel. He shows us a very personal view on the life of a marine sniper. Interesting.

Blueberry Nonfiction? 7y
BarbaraBB Yes! 7y
8 likes1 stack add2 comments
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mauni
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DebinHawaii Welcome to Litsy! 🎉📚👍😀 7y
2 likes1 stack add1 comment
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Jennick2004
Mehso-so

This was not "my type" of book, but it was interesting to read a firsthand experience of a war I lived through. My husband is a former Marine so it was difficult at times to imagine these situations and think he could have been in them.

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Jennick2004
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Anybody else's cats like the tassels on their bookmark? Darn cat just pulled it out of my closed book!

LauraBrook Yep, I either have to take the ribbon/string/tassel off or use a plain bookmark. They don't leave it alone! 8y
Zelma Mine chew the books themselves so we have to put them up on high shelves or in drawers. Tassels stay safe due to protecting the whole package! 8y
Jennick2004 Oh my goodness @Zelma !!! 8y
Zelma @Jennick2004 it is completely ridiculous. I have to be really careful about what they can reach. We keep our office closed just so they won't chew on the bills. They're lucky they are so cute and loving! 😆 8y
Jennick2004 Lol!! Too bad chewing the bills doesn't pay them 😂 8y
17 likes5 comments
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Jennick2004
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Couldn't ask for a better reading/snuggle partner 😍

sprainedbrain 😍😍 8y
19 likes1 comment
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Jennick2004
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Can you find my camouflage reading buddy? 😁
#littenkitten #catsoflitsy

LauraBeth 😹😹😹 8y
Tanzy13 🐱 8y
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MaleficentBookDragon ❤️❤️❤️🐱🐱🐱 8y
Dolly Wow, those eyes look right through me!😬😻 8y
Megabooks 😻😻 8y
LauraBrook What a beauty! 😍 8y
25 likes9 comments
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Jennick2004

Ugh having trouble getting through this book lol...about a third of the way through...but I'm gonna do it!!

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Jennick2004
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Maybe I'm just crazy (I admit to having a bit of OCD) but I really prefer that the chapters are numbered!!

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Jennick2004
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Next up, in honor of my hubby, a former Marine 😁