# Suggested anti-war novels? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 13, 2003, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggested-anti-war-novels/148263 "2003-01-13T07:11:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggested-anti-war-novels/148263/21 "2003-01-13T19:06:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kilt-wearin’ man \* > **if you’re interested in the favorite “truthful” war books of a guy who’d be considered something of a conservative “hawk” (any book that gives a feeling of what war is like, or a truthful, detailed historical account of it, drives home the human cost of warfare and the fact that war, even a necessary one, is always a bad thing)** Oh, you’d probably like **Company K** , then, too. The author was a U.S. Marine during WWI, and the book was extremely popular with soldiers during (and after) WWII, in pocketbook editions. Ever read James Jones’ **From Here to Eternity**? I loved that novel, and thought it dealt with the military with respect and real empathy. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggested-anti-war-novels/148263/22 "2003-01-13T22:54:22Z")
I like what Vonnegut said in his preface to SLAUGHTERHOUSE 5: THE CHILDREN’S CRUSADE. When he told a friend/army buddie his plans to write an anti-war novel, the friend suggested he write an anti-iceberg novel instead. “There are fewer of them and you’ll stop just as many icebergs as you will wars.” The recent miniseries of Ambrose’s BAND OF BROTHERS was fantastic and gave probably a much more accurate portrayal of what soldiers have gone through in war than most 2 hour movies. ---
**Author:** ![red\_dragon60](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ce73a5/32.png) [@red\_dragon60](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/red_dragon60)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggested-anti-war-novels/148263/23 "2003-01-13T23:25:14Z")
**The Things They Carried** is about Vietnam. **The Short-Timers** is the book that Full Metal Jacket is based on too, as an aside. ---
**Author:** ![sleeping](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@sleeping](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleeping)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2003, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggested-anti-war-novels/148263/24 "2003-01-17T01:37:07Z")
> [@](#): > > _The Things They Carried_ is about Vietnam. I con-quer.🙂 Yeah, that was definitely a great book. Also by O’Brien, _Northern Lights_. (Many of his books are about the Vietnam War.) ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2003, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggested-anti-war-novels/148263/25 "2003-01-17T02:47:38Z")
I’ve never seen _Catch-22_ as so much anti-war but as sorta pointing out the absurdity of life, higher command, or whatever using a wartime setting. You could make the same thing using a business setting and wind up with _Dilbert_ (well, to some degree, anyway). ---
**Author:** ![Glassy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ea666f/32.png) [@Glassy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glassy)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2003, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggested-anti-war-novels/148263/26 "2003-01-17T04:19:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Peutl \* > \*\*_The Forever War_ by Joe Haldeman \*\* Seconded. What a great book. ---
**Author:** ![moonchilde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3e96dc/32.png) [@moonchilde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moonchilde)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2003, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggested-anti-war-novels/148263/27 "2003-01-17T04:30:46Z")
Thirds for “The Forever War”. And to add to the library… “A Separate Peace”, “Alas, Babylon” (tho it is more about survival in the aftermath), and “On the Beach”. enjoy your readings mc ---
**Author:** ![Blackeyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f6c823/32.png) [@Blackeyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackeyes)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggested-anti-war-novels/148263/28 "2003-01-18T04:55:42Z")
_A Separate Peace_ is on my list of books I had to read in high school but actually liked. There’s this one book about the fire bombing of Dresden and one man’s attempt to uncover the truth, IIRC. It was _Dresden_ or something like that. ---
**Author:** ![SandyHook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dec6dc/32.png) [@SandyHook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SandyHook)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggested-anti-war-novels/148263/29 "2003-01-18T05:24:18Z")
“Johnny Got His Gun” by Dalton Trumbo (I think that’s his name). It’s brutal, though, as I remember, none of it takes place in a war setting. “All Quiet on the Western Front” is, without a doubt, the finest war novel ever written. The original, 1930’s, movie is the best war movie. Not exactly an anti-war novel but, “The Thin Red Line” is an excellent read. ---
**Author:** ![Firebat023](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a4c791/32.png) [@Firebat023](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Firebat023)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggested-anti-war-novels/148263/30 "2003-01-18T05:48:14Z")
Dang it, SandyHook, you stole my answer. “Johnny Got His Gun” is probably the epitome of anti-war books–while touching in most places and surprisingly funny in a few parts. But in short, it’s a real bummer of a story, so be careful when you read it. ---
**Author:** ![Keith\_Berry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/22d042/32.png) [@Keith\_Berry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keith_Berry)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggested-anti-war-novels/148263/31 "2003-01-18T09:02:46Z")
\*\*Johnny Got His Gun \*\* was one hell of a downer. I think the part that got me was when he was remembering holding his girlfriend in his arms and then realizing he didn’t have arms anymore. \*\*Catch 22 \*\*is a classic. Sometimes I just randomly think of the character “Major Major Major Major” and just laugh my ass off. ---
**Author:** ![Objector](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/c68b51/32.png) [@Objector](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Objector)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggested-anti-war-novels/148263/32 "2003-01-18T18:16:34Z")
I think I’d have to agree with everyone who mentioned Johnny Got His Gun By Trumbo. It was an intensly bitter story about the price of war with a perspective that I completely agree with, touching on the impact war has on the middle and lower classes and how everyone is enthusiastic about war and bloodshed until they are faced with the reality of a horrific casualty. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggested-anti-war-novels/148263/33 "2003-01-18T18:25:18Z")
A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway Pat Barker’s Regeneration Trilogy (Regeneration, The Eye in the Door, The Ghost Road) All are WWI novels - brutal, horrific and compelling. ---
**Author:** ![JonScribe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3be4f8/32.png) [@JonScribe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JonScribe)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggested-anti-war-novels/148263/34 "2003-01-18T21:52:22Z")
“And No Birds Sang,” by Farley Mowat, which tells of Canadian writer Mowat’s (“Never Cry Wolf”) story about fighting in Italy during WWII. ---
**Author:** ![JonScribe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3be4f8/32.png) [@JonScribe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JonScribe)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggested-anti-war-novels/148263/35 "2003-01-18T22:03:15Z")
Almost forget; Mark Twain’s “War Prayer,” which is actually a short story and can be read here. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggested-anti-war-novels/148263/36 "2003-01-18T23:30:42Z")
I read **Johnny Got His Gun** last year when my daughter had to read it for school. I must agree, it was one of the awfulest stories I had ever heard. I picked it up and literally read all night. I read it straight through, I could not put it down. However, to the OP: I read some books years ago about Hiroshima and Nagasaki. While I was searching for those titles, I came across[this site](http://www.nuclearfiles.org/docs/bombing-hiroshima.html) which also had some multi-media things about the dropping of the atom bomb, as well as a list of books on the subject. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2003, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggested-anti-war-novels/148263/37 "2003-01-19T03:32:26Z")
Not necessarily anti-war, but poking fun at war ( at least that’s how I remember it) but \*\*Sunshine Soldiers \*\* by Something Tauber, was great when I was 13. YMMV. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggested-anti-war-novels/148263.md?page=1)