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/lit/ - Literature

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16278873 No.16278873 [Reply] [Original]

what are some books about war from the perspective of an ordinary soldier/low ranked officer? I would like to know more about how it would affect one's psyche before, during and after having experienced it. It doesn't really matter which war, but i prefer the more recent ones (like Iraq)

>> No.16278890

Fiction like All quiet on the Western front or nonfiction like Male Fantasies?

>> No.16278922

>>16278890
anything is good (even movies/documentaries even though this is not the right board for that)

>> No.16279035

My War - Colby Buzzell
Very normal guy who joined the army for the signing bonus, went to Iraq in the experimental Stryker brigade, sent to Mosul and started a blog documenting the war. Seen quite a bit of action.

>> No.16279042

>>16279035
https://youtu.be/aLiRdw3kdPY

Someone animated a chapter

>> No.16279057

>>16278873
I went to Iraq in 2017 and took a journal to document everything that happened. Was there for less than a month when one of our guys was killed. Stopped writing like a week after. Sort of regret it now.

>> No.16279206

>>16279057
if you want to you can post it here anon

>> No.16279243

>>16279206
It's buried somewhere in a wardrobe. Haven't read it in over 2 years. From what I remember I spoke about my first impressions of the country and the Iraqis, then the day after he was killed then a week after then just stopped writing.
I'm still in so if I go anywhere again I won't make the same mistake. Going over things again and again actually seems to help, I didn't feel it affecting me negatively until I got home and had free access to alcohol.

>> No.16279326
File: 274 KB, 563x440, götterdämmerung_feels.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
16279326

>>16278873
Charles Whiting's works under his pseudonym 'Leo Kessler'
https://charleswhiting.co.uk/portfolio/leo-kessler/

'Legacy of the Aldenata'/'Posleen War' and 'Voyage of the Space Bubble'/'Looking Glass' series by John Ringo

'Southern Victory', 'The Hot War' and 'Worldwar' series by Harry Turtledove

The Forever War by Joe Haldeman

Footfall by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle

>> No.16279447

The Things they Carried by Tim O'brien is a really good book. I think it was what got me interested in reading when I was 18 or something.

Almost like a collection of short stories about Vietnam, some making it seem like a lads holiday and then some bring reality crashing back down. I think I need to re-read it.

>> No.16279513

The Things They Carried - Tim O'Brien
Zinky Boys: Soviet Voices from the Afghanistan War - Svetlana Alexievich
Last Witnesses: An Oral History of the Children of World War II - Svetlana Alexievich
The Unwomanly Face of War: An Oral History of Women in World War II - Svetlana Alexievich
Survivors - Zalin Grant
The Centurions - Jean Lartéguy
The Praetorians - Jean Lartéguy
Capitaine en Algérie - Pierre Hovette
Pour l'honneur - Jean-Marc Lavie
Profession : j'aime pas la guerre - Jean-Pierre Hutin
Une gueule cassée en Algérie - Jean Forrestier
Semper Fi, Mac: Living Memories of the U.S. Marines in WWII - Henry Berry
The Andersen Platoon
The 317th Platoon
Dien Bien Phu (1992), hard to find a copy though
Restrepo
Korengal
Generation Kill (both the book and the miniseries)
Ken Burns' Vietnam documentary might interest you as well, a lot of is just soldiers talking about their experiences

If you're interested in a particular conflict it's not hard to find memoirs from it, just search a library catalogue or a book website because Google and Amazon won't find you shit. /lit/ doesn't really read memoirs or war fiction (or at all).

>> No.16279517

>>16278873
Mättërhörñ

>> No.16279534

>>16278890
Do you recommend All quiet on the western front? I've been curious for a while, but idk if it's worth it

>> No.16279537

>>16279534
i enjoyed it when i read it in high school.

>> No.16279849

>>16278873
>War Stories with Mark Felton
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCR3L1IGpxPDuHWQjqfz608g/videos
>Mark Felton Productions
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfCKvREB11-fxyotS1ONgww/videos

>> No.16280016

>>16279849
Its called /lit/ you youtube schill zoomer faggot

>> No.16280046

>>16280016
>>16278922

>> No.16280049

>>16280016
>anything is good (even movies/documentaries even though this is not the right board for that)

>> No.16280051
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16280051

>>16278873

>> No.16280057

>noone mentioned Ernst Jünger's Storm of Steel

>> No.16280100

>>16278873
The Centurions by Jean Larteguy is a great book on how modern warfare robs man of the metaphysical positives that people like Junger talk about.

>> No.16280128

Storm of Steel (Junger was a lieutenant so not so much a "low officer" but he was low enough)

>> No.16280131

>>16280128
He was directly involved in frontline combat, should be right up OPs alley

>> No.16280289

in that time - by a nam heli pilot

>> No.16280296

Storm of Steel much better perspective than All Quiet imo. Gives a more rounded perspective of war. It’s not just wahhhhhhh war sucks.

>> No.16280299

>>16279243
>I didn't feel it affecting me negatively until I got home and had free access to alcohol.

can you elaborate on this?

>> No.16280303

>>16280057
>>16280128
>>16280296
My niggers.

>> No.16280316

>>16278873
Fire Force

>> No.16280318

>>16280303
>Ihnen macht der Krieg eben Spaß.
Is one line that will stay with me forever.

>> No.16280321

Catch 22

>> No.16280377

>No -one has mentioned Once an Eagle yet
It's literally required reading at West Point

>> No.16280391

>>16280377
Ah yes, of course. How could all of us West Point graduates forget ?

>> No.16280429

"On Killing" from Lt. Col. Grossman is chock full of worthwhile interviews with combat veterans.

>> No.16280564

>>16279042
damn , underrated

>> No.16281607

>>16278873
Storm of Steel
The Forgotten Soldier
The conquest of New Spain (Bernal Diaz)
Rumours of War

>> No.16283015

bie

>> No.16283217

Storm of Steel.

>> No.16283361
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16283361

>>16278873
Voices From the Front by "Andy McNab"

>> No.16283952

Nothing Less Than Victory: The Oral History of D-Day by Russell Miller
many interviews with participants on both sides at all levels and in all kinds of roles
lots of anecdotes and little details
gives a vivid impression of what it would actually have been like

>> No.16284283

>>16280299
When I was in Iraq I was busy and doing a job. We were banned from drinking alcohol and I was doing stuff every day, moving location, focusing on teaching Iraqi troops stuff. Coming home I had a lot of time off that I'd built up for being away. My wife was away working all day so I was just sat in the house on my own and I had a lot of time to think over everything. I ended up drinking a lot to the point where on our honeymoon (got married just before I went away, honeymoon just after I got back) I was absolutely shitfaced every night. We came back and I kept drinking. I was trying to self medicate with it and it was making me way worse. It got to the point where it was all I was thinking about and small things reminded me of what happened. Ended up stopping drinking for a while and talking through stuff with people who were there. I'd say I'm fine now desu. Been a couple years since then.

>> No.16285351

>>16279534
It's a good book, but it's clearly from the perspective of someone who doesn't want to be there in the first place.