"jarhead"

[Jazz]

Hey

I just wondered what you guys think of the book "Jarhead" (by Anthony Swofford).. I intend on reading it, but i've heard a lot bad stuff about its reliability. So can anyone here come with an opinion?

[jryanjack]

To me, this is actually a pretty complicated question. On one had I think that Swofford is a ****bird and if he had served in any of the units I was in he would have been gone! On the other hand, it is a work of fiction, so you have to take it with a grain of salt. I think that the cameraderie that Swofford describes is fairly accurate and is one of the things that I remember most about the Corps. Overall, I'd say that its a good read, you just have to factor out the BS.

[Tallboot]

On some posts i read, its about bootcamp and how he served --- some of its about how the military screwed him over (??), not even sure if it came from a Marine

[Jazz]

That's what i was worried about.. When i read non-fiction, i expect it to be reliable, and if this guy (who might not even be a Marine) has just written some bullsh*t, then i'm not really interested... I do remember that several reviews on amazon.com were very unsatisfied with his discription of life in the corps...

[Windle]

The biggest thing was that it portrayed Marines as having been a lot less disciplined than I have always seen. I mean, it's a good read, but like anything, read it for what it is. Swafford is trying to entertain, not truly document life in the Corps.