The naked and the dead

by
No cover

Norman Mailer: The naked and the dead (1948, Grosset & Dunlap)

721 pages

English language

Published Dec. 30, 1948 by Grosset & Dunlap.

OCLC Number:
7405373

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4 stars (1 review)

Based on Mailer’s own experience of military service in the Philippines during World War Two, The Naked and the Dead is a graphically truthful and shattering portrayal of ordinary men in battle. First published in 1949, as America was still basking in the glories of the Allied victory, it altered forever the popular perception of warfare.

Focusing on the experiences of a fourteen-man platoon stationed on a Japanese-held island in the South Pacific during World War II, and written in a journalistic style, it tells the moving story of the soldiers' struggle to retain a sense of dignity amidst the horror of warfare, and to find a source of meaning in their lives amidst the sounds and fury of battle.

15 editions

reviewed The naked and the dead by Norman Mailer

Review of 'The naked and the dead' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

This World War II classic novel spent 62 weeks on the best seller list. With half a platoon of fully fleshed out characters, this book is a tribute to miscommunication, giving several viewpoints of each action in the main story - the capture of a fictional island in the Pacific Theater of Operation.

I am glad I read it, and somewhat appropriately finished it on a rainy Memorial Day. Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes is a better war novel, though it covers Vietnam instead.

Subjects

  • World War, 1939-1945 -- Fiction