Lost in Shangri-La by Mitchell Zuckoff

This WWII survival story kept me at attention over the five page-turning days I read it (in case you aren't impressed, that's pretty fast for me). Lost in Shangri-La is the true story of how an army airplane crashed in New Guinea during World War II and the survivors encountered Stone Age cannabilistic tribes in their quest for survival. And besides surviving the plane crash and cannibals, there was the terrain, weather, injuries, gangrene, and the fact that Shangri-La was completely inaccessible to the outside world (unless your plane crashed over it). So even if they survived all of that, there was the question of how they would actually get out of Shangri-La.

Our story begins with a women's army group stationed in New Guinea during WWII. You get a background on women's role in the army during that time as well as the South Pacific perspective of the war. Zuckoff also focuses on the Philippines, where one of our principle rescuers (Earl Walter) grew up and whose father is there fighting against the Japanese. Leading a regiment of Filipino-Americans, Walter campaigns to join the fighting in the Philippines but finds himself immersed in what he later describes as the highlight of his life.

Not only do we have our survivors' tales, but we have Walter's search for a lasting contribution to the war, as well as the fascinating heritage of the people of New Guinea. If you think WWII was a long time ago, it's the space age compared to these tribes who have yet to discover the wheel. Zuchoff describes them beautifully in the following passage:

"They had tamed fire but hadn't discovered the wheel. They caked their bodies with clay when mourning but had never developed pottery. They spoke complex languages - the verb that means 'hit' or 'kill' could be inflected more than two thousand ways - but had a single word to describe both time and place...Their only numbers were one, two, and three; everything beyond three was 'many.' In a world awash for color, they had terms for only two...They ornamented themselves with necklaces and feathers but created no lasting works of art...They feared the ghosts of their ancestors but worshiped no gods. They were gentle with children but hacked off girls' fingers to honor dead relatives...They build thirty-foot-tall watchtowers, but their only furniture was a funeral chair for the dead. They grew strong tobacco but never distilled their crops into liquor...They valued cleverness but not curiosity. Loyalty had special significance. To greet close friends and relations, they said Hal-loak-nak, 'Let me eat your feces.' Its true meaning: 'I will do the unthinkable for you.'"

Can you imagine the shit-storm (and not in a friendly poo-eating way) that would be created by dropping a bunch of Americans into these people's lives? Read this book and imagine no more!

This book fits my bill for a five star read, I couldn't put it down, I learned a lot of new things, and it changed the way I thought about certain things. That final point came in the epilogue, in which Zuckoff describes the fate of the people of Shangri-La (currently called the Baliem Valley). It makes you wonder if people who are considered "Stone Age" could be better off with modern technology or not. It also was an eye opener in terms of how these people's legends changed to include the "spirit people" who visited them so long ago. Image meeting a tribal group and suddenly you are a part of their spoken history, legends, and even spiritual beliefs. It was surreal, if not a bit scary, to think about.

Zuckoff manages to write a historical war story with just the right blend of story-telling and history. He focuses on a few key individuals, giving their background so you know who they are, and he also gives a lot of information on the context of the war without dragging the pace of the book down. A definite recommend.

Zarqawi's Ice Cream by Andrew Goldsmith

I had a war kick a couple years ago where I read books written about an Army Ranger, a Navy Seal, and reconnaissance Marines. So it was a no brainer that I might be interested in hearing about Army infantry soldiers. Whether or not you agree with the US involvement in countries like Iraq and Afghanistan, you have to admit that those who have served overseas have some pretty knarly stories to tell.

Zarqawi's Ice Cream is a collection of stories, impressions, and memories of Goldsmith's time in the Army, and specifically, Iraq. This book is written differently from the others I had read. Although each book has a distinct voice and personality, Goldsmith's quasi stream of consciousness style definitely stands out. Although I'm not sure if I like it or not, it definitely gives his story telling an interesting style. Rather than a straight out narrative, "Hi, I'm Andrew and this is my story..." Goldsmith journals each chapter independently. There is a loose connection from chapter to chapter, but each really is its own story. He has an artful way of conveying his message, even if he IS talking about something gritty or even disturbing. The downfall, however, is that I didn't feel a real connection to Goldsmith or the other people he writes about. He seems detached from the narratives, and it made me feel a bit detached to the book as a whole.

So while I feel like the book is well-written, it's not my favorite military read.

Where Men Win Glory:The Odyssey of Pat Tillman by Jon Krakauer

Where Men Win Glory is the third of my "military kick" books. This is the story of Pat Tillman, a man who gave up an NFL contract to join the Army Rangers after September 11th. Krakauer gives a lot of background into Tillman's career in the NFL before he joined the Army as well as background about events leading up to the current political climate of the middle east. The heart of the story though, is about Tillman's time in Afghanistan as an Army Ranger and his untimely death, first said to be from enemy combatants but later revealed to be from friendly fire. Krakauer investigates how the story was covered up but later exposed.

Of the three military books I've read this year (including Generation Kill and Lone Survivor), this is my least favorite. But that's not to say I didn't enjoy it. It just had drier moments and a bit more of a reporting feel to it, versus a story-telling feel. But like the other books, it's an important tale from modern history and another way to try and understand why our military is in places like Afghanistan and Iraq.

While trying to find an image of the book, I found a really good review (much better than mine). So if you want to know more about this book, check out this reader's blog.

The Hubs' take: "It's a good story that told the truth." While he found it "inspirational," he said it makes you mad at the military.

Reviewed by Cathy

Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell

When I wrote about Generation Kill, I mentioned it started a military reading kick. Well, this is one of those books. Unlike Generation Kill, which is about Marines, Lone Survivor is about the Navy Seals.

Marcus Luttrell knew he wanted to be a Seal as a child. He even started training as a teenager and eventually became a sniper for the Seals. In 2005, Luttrell was deployed to Afghanistan on a mission to capture...or kill...Ahmad Shah, a taliban leader. Luttrell and his team, consisting of three other Seals, were ambushed by the Taliban and all, except Luttrell, eventually died. Not only was Luttrell's tale of survival amazing, but the tale of his teammate's deaths is equally memorable.

This book was quite a change from Generation Kill, not only because it was about a different branch of the military, but also because Luttrell's perspective is very different from Wright's (hmmm, Rolling Stone writer vs. hard core Texan...). But like Generation Kill, I found things tangential to the main story really riveting, like the SEAL training Luttrell went through at Coronado and the hell those guys are put through.

My impression overall, a great book. Again, not a big military buff but I'd recommend this book. And not just because it's got a great story. It really opened my eyes to what our military forces have been doing for us and gave me a better understanding of the situation in the middle east.

The Hubs' take: "I liked that story, it was well-written, humorous, very right-wing. Entertaining"

Reviewed by Cathy

Generation Kill by Evan Wright

Let me begin by explaining that I had no interest in military anything before I read this book. Not movies, not books, not men, nothing. The only reason I read it is because I saw the HBO miniseries Generation Kill and actually liked it. And the only reason I saw the miniseries is because my husband was watching it. And the only reason he was watching it is because he read the book and liked it. And he read the book because, well, he likes military stuff (let's keep that down to the movies and books categories though).

Anywho, back to the book. It is written by a Rolling Stones journalist (Evan Wright) who thought it would be fun to spend a couple of months with some reconnaissance Marines during the Iraq invasion in 2003. It sounds like, at least in theory, the recon Marines go ahead of the fighting units and, well, do reconnaissance. They aren't supposed to be seen or heard and shouldn't have any interactions with the locals, if all goes well. You can probably guess, however, that things didn't go as planned. In fact, the Marines of the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion ended up on the front lines of fighting a lot of the time.

There are a lot of things that amazed me about this book. First of all, my eyes were opened to the day to day life of these marines, and I was amazed at how wrong my pre-conceived notions of the military actually were. I found the smallest details interesting, like what they ate and wore, and where they slept. Second, I was dumbstruck by the danger Wright was actually in by riding along with this battalion. And not just Wright, but the Marines he was with. This unit, sometimes the first to enter hostile territory, had nothing more than humvees that sounded relatively lacking in the armor department. Then there were issues of there not being enough ammunition or other supplies that ensured their weapons worked properly. Of course, there's also the small fact that the book is based on actual events, many of which we've all heard about in the news (remember the whole Jessica Lynch thing? That's in there.). If all that isn't enough, the Marines Wright encounters and writes about are really interesting and entertaining to read about.

If all that hasn't convinced you, let me remind you that the book was so good, HBO made a mini-series about it. And there's the fact that reading it actually set me on a military kick - after I read this book, I went on to read two more true-life military books. But to be perfectly clear, let me just say plainly, I highly recommend this book. It was eye-opening, entertaining, current, and shocking. It's one of my tops books for 2010.

The Hubs' take: "It was good, entertaining."

Posted by: Cathy