Fields of Fire
by James Webb
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They each had their reasons for being a soldier.They each had their illusions. Goodrich came from Harvard. Snake got the tattoo-Death Before Dishonor-before he got the uniform. And Hodges was haunted by the ghosts of family heroes.They were three young men from different worlds plunged into a white-hot, murderous realm of jungle warfare as it was fought by one Marine platoon in the An Hoa Basin, 1969. They had no way of knowing what awaited them. Nothing could have prepared them for the show more madness to come. And in the heat and horror of battle they took on new identities, took on each other, and were each reborn in fields of fire . . . Fields of Fire is James Webb's classic, searing novel of the Vietnam War, a novel of poetic power, razor-sharp observation, and agonizing human truths seen through the prism of nonstop combat. Weaving together a cast of vivid characters, Fields of Fire captures the journey of unformed men through a man-made hell-until each man finds his fate. show lessTags
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2.7 stars. I think if I’d read this when I first started studying Vietnam decades ago, I’d have a better impression of it. I want to give the author credit for doing first what books like Matterhorn or Sympathy with the Devil have done far better, and far less self consciously. As it is, I think it’s a completist’s read, not an essential one on this war.
if you are looking for a lot of "action" it is there in bursts but mostly it is a probably realistic but horribly depressing view of the Vietnam War in the 1960's.
You follow a bunch of guys as they live laugh and die fighting in Vietnam. You are huddling in a fire pit as bullets and mortars whizz by your head, you return fire at night at shadows by the treeline. You develop camaraderie that is unbreakable or hate for officers bent on risking your life for their gain... and you plot your revenge. You see buddies one minute then a broken men the next, random and senseless.
You follow their lives as a collective unit as well as individually which can be a problem for the reader as there is little continuity to the story.
It was a decent show more portrayal of the Vietnam war but as I went further and further into the novel I felt dragged down by the futility of it all. Not a fun read but I guess one that should be read. show less
You follow a bunch of guys as they live laugh and die fighting in Vietnam. You are huddling in a fire pit as bullets and mortars whizz by your head, you return fire at night at shadows by the treeline. You develop camaraderie that is unbreakable or hate for officers bent on risking your life for their gain... and you plot your revenge. You see buddies one minute then a broken men the next, random and senseless.
You follow their lives as a collective unit as well as individually which can be a problem for the reader as there is little continuity to the story.
It was a decent show more portrayal of the Vietnam war but as I went further and further into the novel I felt dragged down by the futility of it all. Not a fun read but I guess one that should be read. show less
3414. Fields of Fire A Novel, by James Webb (read Mar 5, 2001) Obviously this book was read due to my reading of The Nightingale's Song. The book's writing was discussed at some length therein, and was written before Webb became Secretary of the Navy. While it is fiction it is so based on Webb's experience in Vietnam that it conveys to me a high degree of authenticity. Some might think this a right wing tract, but it is more thought-provoking than such, and Webb is not your run-of-the-mill hawk by any means. I found this an extremely powerful and unforgettable book. In the area of Vietnam fiction, this book would appear to rank high.
Of all the books I’ve read about the Vietnam War, only two have been novels: this one and Red Flags by Juris Jurvevics. Fields of Fire is definitely a Naked and the Dead/Thin Red Line foxhole kind of story. The home front and love interest stories seem like necessary dramatic distractions. But James Webb is dead-on with his battlefield reports.
Robert Lee Hodges, Jr. joins the marines in keeping with his family history of serving in the military. It was said that if there were no Vietnam, he'd have to invent it.
We learn about Hodges doing well in Marine officer training and shipped to Vietnam. Once there he's stationed "in country" and we meet the rest of his unit.
James Webb does a nice job in describing the hell that was Vietnam and still give us a feel for the men who fought and died there.
Snake, named for his tattoo has a low level job. One day he sees the Marine motto, "Death Before Dishonor" and has it tattooed and then joins the Marines. His fearlessness and leadership of the unit in a main part of the story.
Will Goodrich was the college man. While many friends were show more running to Canada or going to grad school to escape the draft, Will leaves Harvard and joins up. It is from his point of view that we see many of the battle scenes and the death and injury that surrounds the unit and what it can do to a person.
These men and others are surrounded by enemies. Is the farmer in the nearby village, really a farmer or VC? It's impossible to tell.
Sgt Austin joins the unit and wants to bring it the spit and polish that works in the states but is rediculous in front line action.
During one battle, one of his men has had enough and flips a grenade near enough to injure the sgt. and remove him from the unit, but not kill him.
It is difficult to comprehend the death and inhumanity that surrounds these men who are really just out of high school in many cases. Webb does it well. The novel has been compared to "All Quiet on the Western Front" and like that novel, does well in telling the horrors of war. show less
We learn about Hodges doing well in Marine officer training and shipped to Vietnam. Once there he's stationed "in country" and we meet the rest of his unit.
James Webb does a nice job in describing the hell that was Vietnam and still give us a feel for the men who fought and died there.
Snake, named for his tattoo has a low level job. One day he sees the Marine motto, "Death Before Dishonor" and has it tattooed and then joins the Marines. His fearlessness and leadership of the unit in a main part of the story.
Will Goodrich was the college man. While many friends were show more running to Canada or going to grad school to escape the draft, Will leaves Harvard and joins up. It is from his point of view that we see many of the battle scenes and the death and injury that surrounds the unit and what it can do to a person.
These men and others are surrounded by enemies. Is the farmer in the nearby village, really a farmer or VC? It's impossible to tell.
Sgt Austin joins the unit and wants to bring it the spit and polish that works in the states but is rediculous in front line action.
During one battle, one of his men has had enough and flips a grenade near enough to injure the sgt. and remove him from the unit, but not kill him.
It is difficult to comprehend the death and inhumanity that surrounds these men who are really just out of high school in many cases. Webb does it well. The novel has been compared to "All Quiet on the Western Front" and like that novel, does well in telling the horrors of war. show less
PFC Goodrich struggles to win the respect of mean as hell Marines like Snake. Later Webb was Ronald Reagan's Secretary of the Navy so the world-view ain’t John Le Carre. A helluva novel, with no literary pretentions at all.
Very well written book. Interesting characters, and exciting action.
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- Canonical title
- Fields of Fire
- Original publication date
- 1978
- Epigraph
- "And who are the you men we are asking to go into action against such solid odds? You've met them. You know. They are the best we have. But they are not McNamara's son, or Bundy's. I doubt they're yours. And they now they're ... (show all)at the end of the pipeline. That no one cares. They know."
- an anonymous general to correspondent Arthur Hadley - Dedication
- For the 100,000 Marines who became casualties in Vietnam. And for the other who became casualties upon their return.
- First words
- Prologue. Hodges sat against a wet, grassy paddy dike and lazily stirred a can of Beef and Potatoes with a dirty plastic spoon.
February 1968. There he went again. - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Then he drove away.
- Blurbers
- Myrer, Anton; Macdonald, Charles B.
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- ISBNs
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