Who Would Like This Book:
Matterhorn is a gut-punch of a novel - deeply immersive, honest, and almost cinematic in its depiction of Marines in Vietnam. Karl Marlantes brings you into the jungle with Bravo Company, making you feel the mud, terror, boredom, camaraderie, and moral confusion right alongside the characters. The strength of the book is its realism: the visceral details, the psychological strain, and the portrayal of complex social issues like race and class in the middle of chaos. If you’re interested in historical fiction, military history, coming-of-age stories, or simply want an unfiltered look at the realities of war, this is one you won’t forget. Fans of The Things They Carried or All Quiet on the Western Front will find a lot to love here.
Who May Not Like This Book:
Some readers find Matterhorn to be grueling - emotionally draining, relentless in its grimness, and packed with graphic descriptions of war’s horrors, which can be hard to stomach. The book is long, dense with military jargon, and features a sprawling cast that can be tough to keep track of. If you’re hoping for an uplifting or heroic war story, or if you’d prefer not to be immersed in the mud, blood, and futility of combat, this might not be your cup of tea. Others have found the repetition of jungle slog and battle scenes overwhelming, or felt that the novel strays too far into technical or procedural territory at times.
About:
"Matterhorn" by Karl Marlantes is a powerful novel set during the Vietnam War, following the experiences of Bravo Company and their struggles in the jungles of Vietnam. The story is narrated through the eyes of Lieutenant Mellas, a young platoon commander, as he navigates the harsh realities of combat, racial tensions, and the complexities of leadership. Marlantes skillfully portrays the brutal conditions of war, the camaraderie among soldiers, and the internal conflicts faced by the characters, providing a raw and immersive depiction of the Vietnam War.
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Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
Content warnings include graphic violence, depictions of war injuries, racial slurs, and the psychological trauma associated with combat.
From The Publisher:
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 over the course of thirty years by a highly decorated Vietnam veteran, Matterhorn is a visceral and spellbinding novel about what it is like to be a young man at war. It is an unforgettable novel that transforms the tragedy of Vietnam into a powerful and universal story of courage, camaraderie, and sacrifice: a parable not only of the war in Vietnam but of all war, and a testament to the redemptive power of literature.
A graduate of Yale University and a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, Karl Marlantes served as a Marine in Vietnam, where he was awarded the Navy Cross, the Bronze Star, two Navy Commendation Medals for valor, two Purple Hearts, and ten air medals. This is his first novel. He lives in rural Washington State.
Ratings (12)
Incredible (2) | |
Loved It (6) | |
Liked It (3) | |
It Was OK (1) |
Reader Stats (28):
Read It (13) | |
Want To Read (11) | |
Not Interested (4) |
What can you read after
Matterhorn?
About the Author:
Karl Marlantes graduated from Yale University and was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, before serving as a Marine in Vietnam, where he was awarded the Navy Cross, the Bronze Star, two Navy Commendation Medals for valor, two Purple Hearts, and ten air medals. He is the bestselling author of Matterhorn and What It Is Like to Go to War. He lives in rural Washington.
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