Doyle offers another lucid, inspiring chronicle of female empowerment and the rewards of self-awareness and renewal. The film begins with voice-over narration on a black screen, as Anthony Swofford (Jake Gyllenhaal), waxes philosophically about a soldier whose hands forever remember the grip of a rifle, whatever else they do in life. felt cheated, in the end, because instead of the death, danger, and glory they were promised, the Gulf War didn't end up being an infantry war at all — it was an air-and-armor turkey-shoot, and ended in far less time than it took to prepare for. Emilio reviews 2005's "Jarhead" by Sam Mendes. One of a growing number of Gulf War memoirs, Anthony Swofford’s Jarhead earned considerable critical attention when it was first published. Swofford is then shown in a U.S. Marine Corps boot camp, being brutalized by a drill instructor in a scene reminiscent of Full Metal Jacket. by Nathaniel Fick, another author who is a Marine, gave the film a mixed review (and panned the book on which it is based) in Slate. ISBN:0-7432-3535-5. Become a member to write your own review. And maybe just a little fun, once some of the shock has worn off. "Jarhead" by Anthony Swofford In this self-lacerating memoir, an ex-Marine sniper who fought in the Gulf yearns to escape from the myths of warfare and the sadism of military life. Audience Reviews for Jarhead. Anthony Swofford's memoir of being a Marine grunt/sniper in the Gulf War is a tedious read. BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR | Anthony Swofford’s Jardhead is one of a growing number of memoirs centered around the events of the Gulf War. ‧ 7/16/20 - another quarantine reread. So here we are, defending a country none of us gives a shit about, eating its neighbors’ shit, and burying ours in the sand.” Another hazard, we learn, is the presence of battle-deranged fellow squad members, one of whom takes to systematically disfiguring a fallen Iraqi fighter: “He says the look on the dead man’s face, his mocking gesture, is insulting, and that the man deserved to die, and now that he’s dead the man’s corpse deserves to be fucked with.” Still another hazard, quite apart from dangerous food and dangerous psychopaths, is the endless politicking of the brass, one of whom keeps Swofford, a sniper, from assassinating an Iraqi officer and perhaps inducing that officer’s charges to surrender rather than fight on. Although it's possible that the Marine Corps is "different" now, and of course I know that this book does not represent the experience of. Retrieve credentials. Anthony Swofford's memoir of being a Marine grunt/sniper in the Gulf War is a tedious read. Go to 2003 Book Review List . Throughout the book, Doyle remains open and candid, whether she’s admitting to rigging a high school homecoming court election or denouncing the doting perfectionism of “cream cheese parenting,” which is about “giving your children the best of everything.” The author’s fears and concerns are often mirrored by real-world issues: gender roles and bias, white privilege, racism, and religion-fueled homophobia and hypocrisy. Extraordinary: full of insight into the minds and rucksacks of our latter-day warriors. Each law, however, gets its own chapter: “Conceal Your Intentions,” “Always Say Less Than Necessary,” “Pose as a Friend, Work as a Spy,” and so on. by Categories: This invo… Rating: • • (Mildly Recommended) Click on title or picture to buy from amazon.com From director Sam Mendes comes the compelling war drama Jarhead. Jarhead (the self-imposed moniker of the Marines) follows "Swoff," a third-generation enlistee, from a sobering stint in boot camp to active duty, sporting a sniper's rifle and a hundred-pound ruck on his back through Middle East deserts with no cover from intolerable heat or from Iraqi soldiers, always potentially just over the next horizon. PHILOSOPHY & RELIGION | As a result, I was looking forward to reading it. Quotations in the margins amplify the lesson being taught. Jarhead Books Seller rating: (35) 91% * Seller since September 2014 Seller Info. The only real carnage Swofford sees first-hand comes from friendly fire. The reviews for Anthony Swofford's book Jarhead, a memoir about his service in the Marine Corps in the first Gulf War, have been almost universally positive; in fact, I haven't read a single negative one. 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. Ships From; Downingtown, PA; Shipping Method; Standard, Expedited, Second Day; Seller Statistics. With Jake Gyllenhaal, Jamie Foxx, Lucas Black, Scott MacDonald. Recommends it for: anyone who passed an opinion on that war, Recommends it for: anyone in love with a Marine, or planning to marry one, Published November 11th 2005 by Scribner (first published February 2003. But the book, contrary to expectations, left me largely disappointed. Aug 10, 2020 "Every war is different. I want to read the book now. We are told, for instance, to “be conspicuous at all cost,” then told to “behave like others.” More seriously, Greene never really defines “power,” and he merely asserts, rather than offers evidence for, the Hobbesian world of all against all in which he insists we live. 260. RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1998. Pp. This they do by killing time. Swofford and his fellow marines (did I almost write "machin. By Total Film 13 January 2006. In her third book, Doyle (Love Warrior, 2016, etc.) RELEASE DATE: March 10, 2020. Anthony Swofford's Jarhead is the first Gulf War memoir by a frontline infantry marine, and it is a searing, unforgettable narrative. A quick foreword: "I saw the trailer for it, but to be honest, it didn't look good. To ask why this is so would be a far more useful project. After finishing boot, "Swoff" is dispatched to Camp Pendleton in 1989, where he is subjected to a cruel joke played on him by the senior Marines. SELF-HELP. ‧ BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR | This book was completely intriguing, it kept your attention. 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. ... We rewind and review famous scenes, such as Robert Duvall and his helicopter gunships during Apocalypse Now, … Jarhead: A Marine’s Chronicle of the Gulf War and Other Battles, by Anthony Swofford. ‧ After leaving military service, the author went on to college and earned a double master's degree in Fine Arts at the University of Iowa. Plot 'Jarhead' By Anthony Swofford. Jarhead review. After a downward spiral into “drinking, drugging, and purging,” Doyle found sobriety and the authentic self she’d been suppressing. One of the defining formative books of my early life. Spring is Mother Nature’s way of saying, “Oof–let’s try this again.” The last 12 months have been, well, challenging is the polite term.... A US marine's account of his experiences in the first Gulf War of 1991. 91 % 91 % Jarhead Books Ratings & Buyer Feedback. Anthony Swofford joined the US Marine Corps at … The depiction of the Gulf War feels correct: an over-hyped, oil-driven war that turned out to be completely anti-climactic. There seems to be a really good story trying to get out of the main character. Glennon Doyle A very effective, intimate story of war as told from the point of view of a grunt. 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. I still find it pretty stunning. The only downside to this book is all the foul language used, but if you don't have a problem with foul language, and enjoy the military life, read Jarhead: A Marine's Chronicle of the Gulf War and Other Battles.