The Winds of War by Herman Wouk Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Winds of War
Book Review: Someone should smack Pug Henry
Summary: 3 Stars
He's a most utterly unappealing protagonist. Wouk wants us to think of Pug as a career-driven, very rigidly moral sort of person. Instead, he came across to me as cold, humorless, stodgy, somewhat hypocritical, and very, VERY boring. The few things Wouk has him do to make him less of a plaster saint (drinks a bit, smokes, lusts in his heart after a young English woman) didn't humanize Pug for me. By the end of the novel, I found him about as likeable as Wouk's other famous character, Captain Queeg.
That said, the plot of the novel was engrossing and most of the other characters (Including Hitler and Stalin!)were more interesting and entertaining than Pug.
The definite highlight of the book is Wouk writing as the German General van Roon. It's very convincingly done and it is in these sections of the book where what little (sly) humor Wouk offers is to be found.
Book Review: Stupendous
Summary: 5 Stars
What an unbelievable work of art. This book not only grabs you and pulls you in, with wonderful characters and writing, but you find yourself lost in the time and place. I am currently about a fourth of the way through War and Remembrance....it is equally splendid. I first read Marjorie Morningstar and fell in love with Herman Wouk's style and mastery of the storyline and character development. At times when reading these books I am incredibly sad, other times uplifted, and yet other times amazed. Absolutely one of the best authors I've ever read...and I have read alot of books.Book Review: THE GREAT AMERICAN WORLD WAR 2 NOVEL(S)
Summary: 5 Stars
There are 4 components a writer needs to write: Style, Theme, Character Development, and Storytelling Ability. All writers have these traits in varying degrees, but no writer has ever been called truly GREAT without having an abundance of Storytelling Ability. This is paramount; if you can't hook the reader it doesn't matter how jazzy you write or how noble is your theme. You must be able to tell a good story. Our greatest, and most popular writers, have always understood this: Hemingway, Miller, Wolfe (both), Bellow, Stephen King. Great storytellers. Seated in the front row of this class is Herman Wouk, an enormously popular writer who, despite his Pulitzer Prize for "The Caine Mutiny", has never been considered great, in the sense that these others have.That's a true shame. Wouk can tell a story---and I mean a WHOPPER, an EPIC in the true sense of the word---like nobody else from his generation. "The Winds of War" is part one of his absolute masterpiece, a tsunami tale of adventure, tragedy, romance, death, birth...you name it, it's in there. The story of the Henry family, headed by Victor "Pug" Henry, a Captain in the U.S. Navy, as it spreads across the globe during World War Two.
This is a virtuoso performance. Wouk knits the personal stories of the Henry clan together with factual history, using letters, quotes from speeches & books, anything he can think of to put you THERE, smack dab in the middle of the action. And you are there: you follow Pug to meetings with Roosevelt, Hitler, Churchill, Stalin, and on and on. Putting fictional characters in the room with real people is a huge risk, it almost never works, but Wouk pulls it off with charm to spare. You're in Warsaw when the Nazis invade, you're at Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attack, you're in Rome when Mussolini declares war. Wouk sucks you into the narrative so completely you forget that Pug's travels are pretty damn impossible. Who cares? He's a HERO, it's his job to be in impossible situations, and Pug does his job like a champion. All of his characters are absolutely fleshed out, the dialogue is nearly ear-perfect, the historical events build momentum like no book you'll ever read...forget all the pretenders to the throne, from Mailer to Jones and all the little men in between. THIS IS THE GREAT NOVEL OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR. This is good old-fashioned storytelling genius, the kind of book nobody writes anymore because Style has taken center stage in the last 50 years, sadly. (I blame Joyce) If more people would read this book, and its sequel "War And Remembrance", maybe we could get back to what writing---in fact language itself---was created for in the first place: TO TELL A STORY.
Check out Herman Wouk, one of the greats.
Book Review: The World's Greatest Drama
Summary: 5 Stars
The events leading to the Second World War are as fascinating as the events of the War itself, and infinitely more complex and consequential than any work of fiction. Wouk (and his researchers) have provided us with a marvelous gift in this book, which presents a cleverly developed fictitious tale set among ALL of the major events and players of this real life drama.
I am writing this review in March of 2008. The US is experiencing multiple financial crises in the housing, credit, and energy markets. We are at war with seemingly unobtainable goals. We are witnessing a baffling and discouraging presidential contest. Terrorism seems to rule nearly every aspect of our lives (and even so, we are one of the safest nations on Earth - in other words, it is much worse in other places . . . .). All of that stated, March of 2008 looks like a cakewalk compared to nearly any place in the world in the late 1930's and early 1940's, when fascist (and socialist, and imperialist) politics, rapidly developing war technologies, the last vestiges of old world European colonialism, and the overwhelming power of racism (anti-Semitism, among others), combined to change the maps of nearly every major power and realign the world for the time not yet ended. This masterful work of fiction sheds a fascinating light on the rise of this war, while also providing a great story.
About the fiction of this work, Wouk invented an interesting family whose characters, all taken together, are present for active roles in just about every major event of the coming war. As such, this is like a modern Shakespearian classic - we are treated to the very human actions and emotions of legends (good and bad) through the eyes of Pug Henry and his family. What a hell of a book. At some regrettable points, the book borders on sappy, and some (and I stress, only a few) scenes are just not believable (like Warren Henry being shot down over Pearl Harbor, and dropping in at his house to see the wife before snagging another plane and getting back in the fight). These missteps are few and forgivable. The characters are universally flawed, which is a refreshing departure from the typical pop fiction approach - sometimes I would find myself angry with some of these characters and their actions - what a great reaction to pull out of your reader!
This is a recommended book for war and history buffs, but I think it can be enjoyed by anyone who appreciates readable fiction - particularly fiction set in the mid-20th century. The ultimate compliment: when I finished this I did not hesitate to pick up Wouk's sequel, War and Remembrance. Awesome!
Book Review: The definitive novel of World War II
Summary: 5 Stars
This great novel is the best description of World War II that the average person will ever find. You could read Churchill's Memoirs, as I have, or Max Hastings non-fiction "Overlord." You would have to read at least a dozen non-fiction books to get the story. I have probably read 50 books on World War II. I have also read Winds of War a dozen times. Pug Henry is the observer and minor participant that has been used by many other historical novelists. WEB Griffin is an enormously popular writer of novels on World War II. I have read them all. He is excellent at characterization. Wouk is better. There are many excellent novels about World War II that have been forgotten. Leon Uris wrote several of them and they are excellent. Wouk is better. If you want the story of World War II in one story, read this novel and the sequel War and Remembrance. I have read each of them many times. There is no better way to get the whole story. I have amused myself with looking up the stories of the real characters he includes. They are all real and he does them justice.
There is no better way to start the study of World War II.