Monday, January 29, 2007

Suddenly We Didn't Want To Die by Elton Mackin

Memoirs of a World War I Marine.

There is a thrill in hunting men. It's a greater sport than hunting rabbits anytime -- rabbits can't shoot back at you or call your bet.... War is just a high-class type of poker. That's why some fellows learn to like the game. 'Kill or be killed' just means you play for keeps.

+ Interesting It's a pretty sweet story. I mean, it sucks because it's depressing. It's a war and all. But it's really interesting. And the "chapters" are just little tales of specific memories, only 1-5 pages long. Good for my ADD.

- Narrative Mackin refers to himself in the third person as "Slim." He tells a lot of personal stories that way. However, he sometimes switches to "I" or "we." It's confusing. Also, I don't really understand "humility."

+ Woohoo It's cool that he mentions the legendary 38th Battalion "Rock of the Marne" because my brother was in that division in Iraq. I even have a 38th Infantry t-shirt.

Overall B Considering I had to read this for class, it was pretty good.

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