Has anyone read the book McCoy's Marines? I saw it on an Amazon.com list and looked in to it a little bit and I was wondering if it was worth purchasing? I open for any input.
Osotogary
05-31-05, 12:21 PM
Saw the book as well in the Barnes & Noble store. I read some good reviews about the book but I usually buy them when they get to paperback.
A REVIEW (PRO)
You might not know it, but you’ve definitely come across “McCoy’s Marines” before. They’re the guys who tore down that statue of Saddam Hussein. (Remember him?) This fast-paced book takes you into the heart of battle with the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment—led my Lt. Col. Bryan McCoy, a.k.a. “Darkside.”
McCoy’s the type of guy who starts his day with a cup of stale coffee and a cigar. His Sgt. Major was known as the unit’s “most feared, respected, loved and hated man.” These are the men that author John Koopman got to hang out with during the war. Good thing he’s an ex-Marine.
Koopman’s writing is fast-paced, detailed and full of excitement. This was his first taste of combat, and he was embedded with a great unit. You’re by his side as he rides around the chaotic battlefield in a Humvee, bullets flying every which way. When the unit crosses the border into Iraq, you can feel the excitement and fear in Koopman’s writing. This type of feeling soon pales as the realities or war quickly set in. McCoy’s Marines is so full of movement, colorful characters and action, that before you know it you’re halfway through it. 32 color photos. 288 pages.
A REVIEW (CON)
McCoy's Marines (Koopman)
This book, subtitled Darkside to Baghdad, purports to be the story of Lt Col Bryan McCoy, USMC, and his troops: 3rd Bn, 4th Marines. Unfortunately, most of the book is about the author. That's all right; he paints an engaging portrait of life as an embedded journalist with a Marine unit. However, there's not much insight into the ostensible focus of the book, LtCol McCoyas other books. Compared to other similar books, like Atkinson's In the Company of Soldiers, Koopman's book comes off much more like an extended series of newspaper columns. One highlight: the interspersed emails from readers of his column who mailed him to talk or ask about their friends and family members in 3/4. Overall, this wasn't a bad read, but it is essentially little more than a memoir; it lacks the depth of characterization found in Atkinson's book or in Wright's Generation Kill, and it's no replacement for The March Up as a chronicle of 3/4's campaign.
ridingcrops
06-05-05, 12:57 PM
Don't know about that but I've read the series by W.E.B. Griffin about Marines before and thru Korea.
If you want to read some good Marine lit this is something you should try.
Of course it's a little far fetched as most fiction but still a very good read. It starts with old China Marines and goes thru Korea following one family and a handful of Marines and their careers. Try it.