About this title: Told in four parts, the book describes the American takeover from Japan of an island in the South Pacific during World War II. Many military details, combined with intermittent narrative about the characters, offer a microcosm of United States political and social history. These various characters must work together in order for their mission to succeed. The novel explores social cohesion, the military mind, class conflicts, and political ideology.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Grafton
Date published: 1969
ISBN-13:9780586007099ISBN:0586007091
Description: Good. EXCELLENT value for money and ready for dispatch. Delivery usually within 3/5 days. Our reputation is built on our Speedy Delivery Service and our Customer Service Team. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Grafton
Date published: 1969
ISBN-13:9780586007099ISBN:0586007091
Description: Acceptable. **SHIPPED FROM UK** We believe you will be completely satisfied with our quick and reliable service. All orders are dispatched as swiftly as possible! Buy with confidence! read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Andre Deutsch Ltd
Date published: 1960
ISBN-13:9780233955032ISBN:0233955038
Description: Good. The dust cover of this book is slightly damage. However, book is in a good condition **SHIPPED FROM UK** We believe you will be completely satisfied with our quick and reliable service. All orders are dispatched as swiftly as possible! Buy with confidence! read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Andre Deutsch Ltd
Date published: 1960
ISBN-13:9780233955032ISBN:0233955038
Description: Acceptable. Page colour-Slightly discoloured in accordance with book age. **SHIPPED FROM UK** We believe you will be completely satisfied with our quick and reliable service. All orders are dispatched as swiftly as possible! Buy with confidence! read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: HarperPerennial
Date published: 2006
ISBN-13:9780007204953ISBN:0007204957
Description: Good. Our aim is to create an overall satisfying buying experience for our customers through the provision of affordable books and a personalized approach to customer service. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Grafton
Date published: 1969
ISBN-13:9780586007099ISBN:0586007091
Description: Good. Our aim is to create an overall satisfying buying experience for our customers through the provision of affordable books and a personalized approach to customer service. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Flamingo
Date published: 1999
ISBN-13:9780586091159ISBN:0586091157
Description: Good. Our aim is to create an overall satisfying buying experience for our customers through the provision of affordable books and a personalized approach to customer service. read more
Edition: First Separate
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Flamingo Modern Classics
Date published: 1999
ISBN-13:9780586091159ISBN:0586091157
Description: Collectible; Very Good. VG-1999 FLAMINGO CLASSIC PB WITH STRIKING COVER DESIGN AND 50TH ANNIVERSARY INTRO BY THE LATE MAILER. VERY LIGHT READING CREASES TO SPINE ONLY, VG UNMARKED COPY OTHERWISE. Worldwide Shipping IMMEDIATE 1ST CLASS/AIRMAIL DISPATCH. read more
Edition: NEW ED
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: HARPERCOLLINS PUBLISHERS Country = UNITED KINGDOM
Date published: 2006
ISBN-13:9780007204953ISBN:0007204957
Description: BRAND NEW PAPERBACK. 720 pages. (720 pages) based on the author's own experience of military service in the philippines during world war two, this novel is a portrayal of ordinary men in battle. it is useful to students of american literature. edition new ed (Paperback) read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Andre Deutsch Ltd
Date published: 1960
ISBN-13:9780233955032ISBN:0233955038
Description: Good. Our aim is to create an overall satisfying buying experience for our customers through the provision of affordable books and a personalized approach to customer service. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Allen Wingate
Date published: 1949
Description: Good. A dark tan to the book edge. Minor Shelfware/rubbing to cover. Name to the end page. No Dust Jacket. Otherwise Fine. Official Supporter of the British Heart Foundation. Most items will be dispatched the same or the next working day. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Allan Wingate
Date published: 1949
Description: Good. A tan to the book edge. Foxing to the book edge. Minor Shelfware. No Dust Jacket. Otherwise Fine. Official Supporter of the British Heart Foundation. Most items will be dispatched the same or the next working day. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Rinehart
Date published: 1948
Description: Good. Leisure circle press. Available for immediate dispatch. Edge wear to covers. Contents clean and tightly bound. Staining to page edges. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Allan Wingate
Date published: 1956
Description: Good. A dark tan to the book edge. Minor Shelfware. No Dust Jacket. The free end page has been removed. Official Supporter of the British Heart Foundation. Most items will be dispatched the same or the next working day. read more
"Norman Mailer writes the instant microthoughts everyone has during seemingly mundane converstaions. So every characters' surface interactions were hidden glimpses into their conscious and subconcious history. It was also refreshing to read a war novel without the smell of gunpowder and bullets wizzing by used as bread and butter. Not that Richard Marcinko busting heads and blowing things up while cussing every page is a fault, but reading this was a stylistic change that worked. Faulty scared humans with selfish motives and an eye for mundane logistics win this battle, not superhuman swagger and laser gadgetry. An excellent psychological character study with historical accuracy."
"It took me a very, very long time to finish this book. Yes, it's 700 plus pages long, but more importantly, it captures a little too well the drudgery and boredom of war. Set in the Pacific theater during World War II, "The Naked and the Dead" has moments of brilliance sprinkled throughout its bleak depiction of the "Good War," although no war is in fact "good," a point which Mailer drives home with a heavy hand. Each character is expertly drawn, and the "Time Machine" back stories are exquisite vignettes that compel you to plow through another 50 or so pages of grim jungle nihilism to get to another one. All in all, though, if you're looking for a WWII novel that makes its point with a bit more dexterity and grace, I'd take "Catch 22" or "Slaughterhouse Five" any day."
"I wonder if there is such a thing as a pro-war novel? I don't know. It seems like, before hailing The Naked and the Dead as the great anti-war epic that planted seeds of counterculture in a fertile postwar angst, I should know that. Flowery praises aside, Mailer has something here. And although war is kind of a huge subject, Mailer succeeds in personalizing and bringing the realities of combat. No one's death, in all 700-something pages, can be directly ascribed to the Japanese. That, in and of itself, is not particularly groundbreaking. I guess with any death you could sniff out a scapegoat of your choice. But Mailer seems to take special pains to directly implicate anyone but the Japanese in the platoon's casualties. In the interest of not spoiling anything, I won't go into details, but I will never climb a mountain again. At least, not if I have to jump over any kind of abyss. Especially not after I've been race-baited. Enough said. Read this book, at least once in your life. And then burn your draft card or flick off a general or something."
"Norman Mailer served as a cook in the Pacific War, but that still afforded him the opportunity to acquire more than enough material to write some thrilling and visceral prose about combat.
The novel charts the invasion of a Pacific island largely through the eyes of a single platoon and its members. Most of the book is concerned with the soldiers relationships to one another, by turns affectionate through to bullying and sadistic. The characters he draws are complex and he doesn't pull any punches with the flaws on show, ranging from anti-semitism, through misogyny right along to the outright psychotic. Mailer also employs an effective flashback device whereby the main narrative is intercut with chapters detailing episodes from individual characters's lives in pre-war America.
The book's main strength comes from the highly convincing characterisation. That the author wrote it in his early twenties is extremely impressive."
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