The Big War | Anton Myrer | Retired high schoolecher.

The Big War | Anton Myrer | An amazing novel of war and it's horrors

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The Big War

	The Big War Anton Myrer, 2001 - 512 pages average customer review:based on 8 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

They were our husbands, our fathers, our lovers, our sons. They were Americans and Marines. And this is their story: The Big War, Anton Myrer's panoramic novel of Marines in the Pacific in World War II. This is the story of Alan Newcombe, the Boston society Harvard man; Danny Kantaylis, the natural-born leader; Jay O'Neill, the barroom scrapper. Myrer does not glorify war; he does not flinch from describing what the actual experience of warfare was like for a desperate group of Marines trapped in some of the worst fighting conditions of the war. We learn about their lives at home and their fates on the battlefield.

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Retired high schoolecher.

This is the first WWII book I've read that really puts you in the jungle warefare of the Pacific. Excellent read!!!

An amazing novel of war and it's horrors

In "the Big War" Anton Myrer has brought the truth about war into plain sight. This book should be required reading for those non-vets who are placed into positions from which they can send young people into the horrors of places like the Pacific islands in WWII and Iraq in our own time. War is criminal, and to think that our youngsters are being killed and maimed as we sit on our self-satisfied butts and watch tv is appalling. Myrer has written a clear-eyed view of what war really is, and deserves much more credit than he has received thus far.

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Vivid depiction by someone who lived it

In 1942 Anton Myrer went from being a Harvard college kid to a marine in the Pacific. He served for four years, was wounded on Guam, and occupied the Mariannas. Set in both the "home front" and the Pacific, "The Big War" vividly depicts the hopes, frustrations, and horror experienced by those who served. It does not glamorize war, but does show the valor of the every-day enlisted man, and the sacrifices that they (and their families) made. The writing is outstanding: In one scene, you will find yourself ready to put the book down, locate, and punch out a petty character who "has it in" for Danny Kantaylis. Myrer captures the feel of the United States at the time and concludes by attempting to express the emotions that motivated the veterans who returned. If you want a depiction of war by someone who lived it, then this is fiction that reaches beyond entertainment and gives us a window into the times. "Critical Reviews" (missing from the Amazon site) based on the original publication are inserted as a "comment" to this review for your further reference.

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If you think supporting the troops is enough, read The Big War

Anton Myrer is brilliant once again in this must read novel of World War II Marines fighting against a determined enemy. Sitting in a living room in the suburbs, one can smell the fetid jungle, hear the crunch of leaves in the pitch black, and feel the earth move as round after round of cannon fire land amid the Marines of Myrer's semi-autobiographical tome.
Unapologetically anti-war, the novel nonetheless shows self-sacrificing men acting not for God or country but for the love of each other.

reviews: page 1, 2

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