read like an extended oral history (....JAPS this, JAPS that.....if Burgin had fought in the ETO, it'll be KRAUTS this, HEINNIES that). Bill Marvel's task, besides setting up and turning on the tape recorder...appear mainly to have had been to transcribe this epic oral re-telling of a 1st MAR DIV motarman's pacific war experience into print. Additionally I wonder if Marvel was culpable for the campy hokey title, ISLANDS OF THE DAMNED? which sounds very much like a feature article (MARCH OR DIE!, THE DAMNED DIE HARD! I WAS A TEENAGE GESTAPO SEX SLAVE!) in one of those pulpy circa 1960's hyper-masculine MEN's magazines like ARGOSY, SAGA, TRUE, MALE, REAL, SWANK, et al. Virtually lacking any introspective depth of thought/feeling/emotion it reduces what potentially could have been a great WW2 memoir into a non-reflective exercise of memory. double-spaced text, and with 90% of the photographs being generic National Archive images that have been previous published, re-published, re-re-published....they are commonly seen pics found in most works dealing with the WW2 PACIFIC Campaign subject, this effort strikes one as a belated attempt to ride on the successful coattails of the classic WITH THE OLD BREED memoir (written by his subordinate no less). do yourself a favor and stick with the classic WW2 USMC memoirs, i.e., WITH THE OLD BREED, W'm Manchester's GOODBYE DARKNESS, Dean Ladd's FAITHFUL WARRIORS, etc.Get more detail about Islands of the Damned: A Marine at War in the Pacific.
No comments:
Post a Comment