Intense, powerful, and compelling, Matterhorn is an epic war novel in the tradition of Norman Mailer's The Naked and the Dead and James Jones's The Thin Red Line. It is the timeless story of a young Marine lieutenant, Waino Mellas, and his comrades in Bravo Company, who are dropped into the mountain jungle of Vietnam as boys and forced to fight their way into manhood. Standing in their way are not merely the North Vietnamese but also monsoon rain and mud, leeches and tigers, disease and malnutrition. Almost as daunting, it ...
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Intense, powerful, and compelling, Matterhorn is an epic war novel in the tradition of Norman Mailer's The Naked and the Dead and James Jones's The Thin Red Line. It is the timeless story of a young Marine lieutenant, Waino Mellas, and his comrades in Bravo Company, who are dropped into the mountain jungle of Vietnam as boys and forced to fight their way into manhood. Standing in their way are not merely the North Vietnamese but also monsoon rain and mud, leeches and tigers, disease and malnutrition. Almost as daunting, it turns out, are the obstacles they discover between each other: racial tension, competing ambitions, and duplicitous superior officers. But when the company finds itself surrounded and outnumbered by a massive enemy regiment, the Marines are thrust into the raw and all-consuming terror of combat. The experience will change them forever. Written by a highly decorated Marine veteran over the course of thirty years, Matterhorn is a spellbinding and unforgettable novel that brings to life an entire world-both its horrors and its thrills-and seems destined to become a classic of combat literature.
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Add this copy of Matterhorn: a Novel of the Vietnam War to cart. $0.99, fair condition, Sold by ZBK Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Woodland Park, NJ, UNITED STATES, published 2010 by Atlantic Monthly Press.
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Fair. Used book-May contain writing notes highlighting bends or folds. Text is readable book is clean and pages and cover mostly intact. May show normal wear and tear. Item may be missing CD. May include library marks. Fast Shipping.
Add this copy of Matterhorn: a Novel of the Vietnam War to cart. $1.03, good condition, Sold by ZBK Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Woodland Park, NJ, UNITED STATES, published 2010 by Atlantic Monthly Press.
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Used book in good and clean conditions. Pages and cover are intact. Limited notes marks and highlighting may be present. May show signs of normal shelf wear and bends on edges. Item may be missing CDs or access codes. May include library marks. Fast Shipping.
Add this copy of Matterhorn: a Novel of the Vietnam War to cart. $1.04, fair condition, Sold by ZBK Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Woodland Park, NJ, UNITED STATES, published 2010 by Atlantic Monthly Press.
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Fair. Used book-May contain writing notes highlighting bends or folds. Text is readable book is clean and pages and cover mostly intact. May show normal wear and tear. Item may be missing CD. May include library marks. Fast Shipping.
Add this copy of Matterhorn: a Novel of the Vietnam War to cart. $1.06, good condition, Sold by ZBK Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Woodland Park, NJ, UNITED STATES, published 2010 by Atlantic Monthly Press.
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Used book in good and clean conditions. Pages and cover are intact. Limited notes marks and highlighting may be present. May show signs of normal shelf wear and bends on edges. Item may be missing CDs or access codes. May include library marks. Fast Shipping.
Add this copy of Matterhorn: a Novel of the Vietnam War to cart. $1.32, fair condition, Sold by ZBK Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Woodland Park, NJ, UNITED STATES, published 2010 by Atlantic Monthly Press.
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Fair. Used book-May contain writing notes highlighting bends or folds. Text is readable book is clean and pages and cover mostly intact. May show normal wear and tear. Item may be missing CD. May include library marks. Fast Shipping.
Add this copy of Matterhorn: a Novel of the Vietnam War to cart. $1.33, good condition, Sold by ZBK Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Woodland Park, NJ, UNITED STATES, published 2010 by Atlantic Monthly Press.
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Used book in good and clean conditions. Pages and cover are intact. Limited notes marks and highlighting may be present. May show signs of normal shelf wear and bends on edges. Item may be missing CDs or access codes. May include library marks. Fast Shipping.
Add this copy of Matterhorn: a Novel of the Vietnam War to cart. $1.54, good condition, Sold by Zoom Books Company rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Lynden, WA, UNITED STATES, published 2010 by Atlantic Monthly Press.
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Add this copy of Matterhorn: a Novel of the Vietnam War to cart. $2.17, good condition, Sold by Seattle Goodwill rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Seattle, WA, UNITED STATES, published 2010 by Atlantic Monthly Press.
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Add this copy of Matterhorn: a Novel of the Vietnam War to cart. $2.19, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Atlanta rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Austell, GA, UNITED STATES, published 2010 by Atlantic Monthly Press.
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Gritty Vietnam novel that slowly drags you into the jungle with Bravo company. I gave in completely. You care what happens to these guys. It's also an excellent look at 1960s cultural tensions and attitudes.
SeldomSeen
Dec 29, 2010
A Forgotten War Remembered
Matterhorn by Karl Malantes is a masterpiece of a war novel. Set in any era it would be an important examination of the young men we send to fight and die for us?but set in Vietnam, that most controversial and misunderstood wars, it is the novel of that conflict. Told from the point of view of a green marine infantry lieutenant deep in the jungle, and written by a decorated combat veteran, Matterhorn is authoritative, vivid and savagely truthful.
Most war stores either glorify the heroism and patriotism of its heroes or, as more often told in the past few decades, deconstruct war into a series of postmodern absurdities and folly. Matterhorn is neither of these. And both of them. The war is foolish and unwinnable--even the lowest grunts realize this early in the story. Their commanders are vain and foolish. There?s no false sense of patriotism. In the bush it?s pure survival and the men exhibit an intensity of emotion and a wavering of conviction as only men who are risking their lives can exhibit. The protagonist and the young men under his command are by turns scared, cowardly, selfish, heroic and ambitious?often in the same battle.
Originally finished in the 70s, it took Mr. Malantes over 30 years to find a publisher for this book. Personally, I find it unbelievable that a decorated combat veteran with an Ivy League education could not get this work read or agented. Either the novel greatly benefited from 30 years of revision and polishing or, perhaps, we are only now ready to read about Vietnam with any objectivity
DowninginReading
Nov 26, 2010
Currey, Anderson, Marlantes
Joining a distinguished list of writers who lived through then wrote about Vietnam, Karl Marlantes took about 40 years to finally deliver his epic. Certainly semi-autobiographical, reeking with authenticity, and given the balance of perspective, this story engages, informs, entertains and educates. Among the writers in this genre are Kent Anderson, who writes with more raw passion and violence, and Richard Currey, who waited about 20 years to write his novelistic remembrance, which is being celebrated by a 20th anniversary edition. "Matterhorn" follows these and other Vietnam chronicles (One to Count Cadence, e.g.) with its own special insights and greatly entertaining writing. Highly recommended.
