Jarhead Review

Jar head. The perfect name for a bad-ass, war story. I chose this book because I have seen the movie a few times and thought that the book would be really good too. I was expecting them to be almost identical when it came down to the main character Swoff and his actions throughout the movie. However, he seemed different to me. The book really does a good job conveying the emotional stress he goes through. With all the flashbacks to his childhood, you can really get in touch with him and why he acts the way he does.   

            The book is about a young man named Anthony Swofford who is enlisted into the army and at first, does everything he can do to get out. He admits to drug use, stealing and other criminal charges. However this plan does not work and he remains where he is.  Things take a turn for the best, maybe not in his eyes though, when he is asked to be part of the marine snipers division. When he first enters this division he acts very un-marine like. He steals from members in his platoon and just has a very negative attitude towards everything. It seems as if everything isn’t going well for swoff, with all of the mental breakdowns and visions of his girlfriend at home being unfaithful, he sort of becomes insane. His actions always seem to get in trouble and he ends up getting demoted because of it. While going through these hardships, the emotional part just seems to be taking control of swoff. With not much combat action the boys finally make it home and see how things at home have changed and try to carry on with their old lives.

            While reading the book I could not help but notice foreshadowing much throughout the marines adventures. With their constant feelings and talking of their girlfriends being unfaithful at home, you can’t help but realize that there is a strong chance they will return home to no one. The overall them of frustration I felt was most apparent in the book. Swoff experiences everything he doesn’t want to. Symbolism of his girlfriend being unfaithful further more denotes his frustration. The calls he makes home to her and the constant talks with his platoon begin to really instill the idea into the reader. His constant negativity towards everything continues to add more to the frustration.

            If I had to critique the book the only thing I would change would have to be the flashbacks. A flashback is more proper for a movie and while reading through one I got confused as to what was happening in the story. I did see many similarities between the movie and the book, the plot and actions were constant in both the movie and the book. I would recommend the book to someone that is interested in a realistic view of how war can impact one emotionally. The book isn’t action packed and is meant to portray the surreal side of what marines really have to go through and the problems that a division might have to face together. To the contrary I would not recommend this book to someone who may be possibly entering the marine core soon. It kind of leaves a sour taste in your mouth about them after reading the book. I think it could deffanantly turn future members due to all of the emotional stress that swoff has to go through. Strengths of the book I would have to say are the very realistic conversations between the marines. I mean I can really see them talking about the things they do when they have spare time. The author does a good job of bringing the characters to life, and conveying the emotional side of how they are feeling.  Weaknesses I would have to say lay in the combat action. I know the story was not meant to be told with a whole lot of action, but everyone likes a little something now and then. I was very disappointed when they had an opportunity but were denied the shot by their officers. All in all I thought the book was very interesting. The actions of swoff made you want to read on and see what may happen to him due to his rash actions.