and a hard rain fell (20th Anniversary Edition) | Date: 30 April 2011, 09:22
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and a hard rain fell (20th Anniversary Edition)
By John Ketwig
* Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc.
* Number Of Pages: 400
* Publication Date: 2008-01-15
* ISBN-10 / ASIN: 1402210353
* ISBN-13 / EAN: 9781402210358
Product Description:
"A magnetic, bloody, moving, and worm's-eye view of soldiering in Vietnam, an account that is from the first page to last a wound that can never heal. A searing gift to his country."-Kirkus Reviews
The classic Vietnam war memoir, ...and a hard rain fell is the unforgettable story of a veteran's rage and the unflinching portrait of a young soldier's odyssey from the roads of upstate New York to the jungles of Vietnam. Updated for its 20th anniversary with a new afterword on the Iraq War and its parallels to Vietnam, John Ketwig's message is as relevant today as it was twenty years ago.
"Solidly effective. He describes with ingenuous energy and authentic language that time and place."-Library Journal
"Perhaps as evocative of that awful time in Vietnam as the great fictions...a wild surreal account, at its best as powerful as Celine's darkling writing of World War One."-Washington Post
Summary: ...and a soft whiner's tear fell
Rating: 1
I bought this book because I thought it was a first-hand account of what it was like to fight in the Vietnam war. But no, it's nothing more than the account of an army mechanic who wrote a book so others can feel as sorry for him as he did for himself for being inconvenienced by a war he disagreed with and (apparently) never understood.
Ketwig only breifly is ever in danger during his short stint in Vietnam. Unless, of course, one considers mud and spiders and bugs and rain a danger. Oh the horror!
He finds more "danger" when he falls in lust with a prostitute and asks her to come back to America with him, only to learn later that she was (surprise!) telling him what he wanted to hear. It's a lucky break though, as this event provides the author with yet another opportunity to feel sorry for himself and once again serenade the reader with his sad-sack rendition of "poor, poor pitiful me."
Was the Vietnam war unpopular? Yes. Did the bureaucrats in DC screw up our chance to win it? Definitely. But many brave soldiers fought and died for America in those swamps and jungles, and most did it without feeling sorry for themselves. Ketwig seems to believe it was all a grand conspiracy to interrupt and inconvenience him personally.
There are many good books about our brave men who fought in Vietnam. This is not one of them. Don't waste your time.
Summary: Terrible book!
Rating: 1
Served in RVN at the same time and this book is not how it was. Don't bother reading it.
Summary: A contrived bore
Rating: 1
Don't be misled by this book. It's not the story of a combat veteran reflecting on the horrors of war. Rather, it is the story of a narrowly-focused guy "in the rear with the gear" complaining, endlessly, about the manner in which the war inconvenienced him.
In addition, the book is very poorly written. What Ketwig did was tell the fairly boring and un-compelling story of his military service and supplement it with a witless history of the war and a number of stories that are most likely apocryphal (his basic training stories and Special Forces tales are undoubtably make-believe...I am sure that anyone with some initiative could discover that there was no basic-training "suicide" at the fort he trained at in the manner he described) in order to spice-up an exceedingly dull tale.
Furthermore, there is something obscene about reading a litany of complaints from a rear echelon soldier when one considers that, not far from his boring but relatively safe posting, men were facing mortal danger. This is especially true in the case of Ketwig, who is myopic in the extreme when it comes to what he "suffered."
I will give Ketwig some credit for his unintentionally comical sketch of his unrequited love for a prostitute. That kept me in stitches for a while.
In closing, this is not an attack on Ketwig's politics. Indeed, there are a number of excellent books by anti-war combat veterans (Tim O'Brien for instance). My complaint is that for one to read Ketwig's book to get a feel for the war is akin to learning about sex from a voyeur.
Summary: We can ignore reality - or read and learn from history...
Rating: 5
This book is well written, captivating, balanced, and fair. I highly recommend it to anyone of any age with a brain - and the ability to use that brain to think for themselves. You don't have to agree with Ketwig to learn from his experiences - but the lessons are there.
Ketwig has written an outstanding book that contains much more wisdom about life (way beyond just The Nam) than the simple memoir it purports to be. Those who want to feel better about the Vietnam war say disparaging things about Ketwig. But do they say his experiences are misrepresented? No - they just don't like the way he REACTED to those experiences.
I wonder why not? I wouldn't want to sleep with rats and scorpions. I wouldn't like to see US war supplies sold on the black market by opportunistic, self-dealing traitors within our own ranks. I wouldn't like to see children maimed by napalm. I don't understand how other reviewers (supposedly intelligent people) can write such things off as mere "inconveniences." Does patriotism and duty require us to turn off our brains and accept mutely everything that is thrown at us by every situation? We can love our country and the American people and still find ample fault with the irresponsible and myopic fools who run the place.
Ketwig tells us what he felt as a participant in a ridiculous, ill-conceived war. As an American he is entitled to his opinion. As an American who served, he is MORE THAN entitled to his opinion. If more people read "...and a hard rain fell," perhaps we wouldn't find our country repeating the same sad, unnecessary sins of the past -and permitting today's clueless "leaders" to send the poor and the disadvantaged to fight battles for the rich and pampered who populate Congress - and the oil companies and the defense contractors who own them.
I am proud to be a Marine. Yet I am also very comfortable exercising my hard won right to confront and discuss the ugly horrors and realities of war - and not rationalize or bury such things because other Marines and servicemen died. Ketwig does a great job describing the lunacy of military bureaucracy and the stomach-churning frustration it causes. Good for him! Can ANYONE who has EVER served in the armed forces deny that the US military is the epitome of inefficiency and bureaucracy at its very worst? Really, let's be honest - as Ketwig has been.
Reading this book can help prepare the next generation for the uncomfortable but real dichotomies that await them wherever they may go - whether it's the military, Corporate America, or the local union office. All organizations are run by people who generally say one thing to rally the troops and get elected/promoted - and then do the polar opposite to ensure that their personal ambitions are met and their pockets well-lined, whether such actions support their constituents or not. This is a timeless lesson that too many people learn way too late in life - if at all. Ketwig helps the reader shorten that learning curve.
My late father, a decorated veteran of Korea, told me he'd gladly fight in the next war - just as soon as the Congressmen who declared it (or their own children) took the lead and led him into battle. He died knowing that this silliness would NEVER happen. The staff sergeant who ran my platoon, a Medal of Honor winner, confided the same attitude to me. Was he a dope-smoking shirker like some accuse Ketwig of being? No - he was a freakin' bona fide war hero - but a war hero WITH A BRAIN. The dirty work of war, as he and my father clarified for me, is
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