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Original Title:	Better Times Than These
ISBN:	0671522663 (ISBN13: 9780671522667)
Edition Language:	English

Better Times Than These

Winston Groom

Paperback | Pages: 464 pages

Rating: 3.85 | 328 Users | 23 Reviews

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Title	:	Better Times Than These
Author	:	Winston Groom
Book Format	:	Paperback
Book Edition	:	Special Edition
Pages	:	Pages: 464 pages
Published	:	December 1st 1994 by Pocket Books (first published 1978)
Categories	:	Fiction. War. Historical. Historical Fiction. Military Fiction

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This is the debut novel by Winston Groom, best known for writing Forrest Gump. Groom served a tour as an infantry officer in Vietnam, so presumably he knows whereof he speaks. The novel focuses mainly on the officers of a battalion of the Seventh Cavalry, following them from stateside to the Ia Drang valley, where things do not go well. (This is a fictionalized unit in a fictionalized Ia Drang campaign, not the real-life Ia Drang battle depicted in We Were Soldiers).
It's more character study than stirring military adventure, with nicely drawn portraits that avoid stereotypes. There's a WASP from a rich New York family whose college girlfriend ditches him for an anti-war professor; there's a Jewish striver from Georgia who finds himself commanding a rifle company as he begins to glimpse the appalling dimensions of the endeavor he has committed to. There's the usual obtuse brass (though again, well-delineated individuals rather than stereotypes), a thoroughly sinister rogue platoon commander, and of course an array of grunts, convincingly human. Beyond the wire are the Vietnamese, alien and ominous in their passivity. The novel depicts the creeping callousness and brutality among the Americans as the VC hiding among the populace start to take their toll with mines and ambushes. It all leads up to the inevitable atrocity.
Familiar stuff, maybe; reasonably well done though there's nothing especially distinguished about the prose. Perhaps not the greatest novel to come out of the Vietnam war, but a decent one.

Rating Containing Books Better Times Than These

Ratings: 3.85 From 328 Users | 23 Reviews

Assessment Containing Books Better Times Than These

Being a post-Vietnam-era Infantryman, and I mean just after Vietnam when there were more of them and fewer like me, I found it easy to relate to the characters in the book as they are so much like the veterans with whom I served and from whom I learned so much. That meant, also, that I could really relate to the pain and the emotions of that era. It is not necessarily a pleasant book, but I put it down with a feeling of empathy for the characters and for their real-life counterparts. That made

Great book. Probably not 100% realistic but of course most books aren't. The fact that the author Groom actually did serve in Vietnam make the book alot more believable though. Keep in mind also this book was only written some 10 years after the high point of the Vietnam war so for being an early work of fiction Id say its a damn good example of a the beginning of a great author. I recommend this books towards the end it gets to the point where you do not what to put it down. Enjoy

Plodded through this, for some reason. Authentic, probably. Gruesome at times, and sometimes just dull.

master winston grooms' first novela magicomic mirror of hell

The best book about the war in Vietnam that I have read. Groom does an excellent job depicting the life of a solider from the time he is transported to serving. Eye opening at times, sordid, wretched, and deeply profound. A must read for readers who desire to have their perception educated.

Winston Groom is an American novelist and non-fiction writer, best known for his book Forrest Gump, which was adapted into a film in 1994. Groom was born in Washington, D.C., but grew up in Mobile, Alabama where he attended University Military School (now known as UMS-Wright Preparatory School). He attended the University of Alabama, where he was a member of Delta Tau Delta and the Army ROTC, and

Good, sad story.