Fields of Fire: A NovelThey each had their reasons for being a soldier. They each had their illusions. Goodrich came from Harvard. Snake got the tattoo — Death Before Dishonor — before he got the uniform. And Hodges was haunted by the ghosts of family heroes. They were three young men from different worlds plunged into a white-hot, murderous realm of jungle warfare as it was fought by one Marine platoon in the An Hoa Basin, 1969. They had no way of knowing what awaited them. Nothing could have prepared them for the madness to come. And in the heat and horror of battle they took on new identities, took on each other, and were each reborn in fields of fire.... Fields of Fire is James Webb’s classic, searing novel of the Vietnam War, a novel of poetic power, razor-sharp observation, and agonizing human truths seen through the prism of nonstop combat. Weaving together a cast of vivid characters, Fields of Fire captures the journey of unformed men through a man-made hell — until each man finds his fate. From the Paperback edition. |
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LibraryThing Review
User Review - mikedraper - LibraryThingRobert Lee Hodges, Jr. joins the marines in keeping with his family history of serving in the military. It was said that if there were no Vietnam, he'd have to invent it. We learn about Hodges doing ... Read full review
Excellent
User Review - Kevin82abn - BordersThis is probably the best work of fiction to come out of the Vietnam War. I read this as a child a number of times. I just completed it as an adult, recently. This book flows well, a well thought out ... Read full review
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Common terms and phrases
ain't ain’t artillery Austin Baby Cakes babysans Bagger bunker Burgie bush C-ration Cannonball cigarette Condley Cornbread crazy Da Nang damn dead dike dirt Duc Duc dude dust eyes face felt fighting hole Finally fire flak jacket Flaky front fuck Gilliland goddamn gonna Goodrich gooks grass grenade grinned hand helicopter hell hill Hodges hootch inside Kersey kill laughed Liberty Bridge Lieutenant looked mamasan Marines medevac Mitsuko mortar mound moved mused Nang never night nodded Number Ogre Okinawa paddy papasan patrol peered perimeter Phony Pismo Beach platoon poncho pulled Rabbit Rap Jones rifle river rounds Sadler Sarge sawgrass screamed Senator Sergeant shit shook his head shot shrugged smiled Snake spoke squad stared stood talk tell tent thing thought took trail treeline turned Vietnam Vietnamese village waiting walked watched Waterbull Wild Yeah you’re
Bibliographic information
| Title | Fields of Fire: A Novel |
| Author | James Webb |
| Publisher | Random House Publishing Group, 2008 |
| ISBN | 0307484777, 9780307484772 |
| Length | 496 pages |
| Subjects | › Fiction / Action & Adventure Fiction / Historical Fiction / War & Military |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |