Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes, Atlantic Monthly Press, New York, 2010, may be the best novel about the Viet Nam War ever, certainly ever written by a former Marine. Like Oliver Stone's Platoon and Michael Herr's "Dispatches," it has the ring of authenticity on every page.
The fact that he worked on getting it published for almost 40 years says something terrible about the publishing business; this should have been grabbed up by the first person who read the manuscript. It is a stunning work. My only concern is that after 566 pages, he won't write another, which would be a shame.
And my only reservation about recommending this book is his portrayal of one Navy nurse as uncaring and detached: my experience as a physician and surgical patient flies in the face of his description; I've never seen more empathic, caring, self-sacrificing women in my life than the nurses serving in Viet Nam.
Comments