Customer Reviews

BETTER TIMES THAN THESE

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a very fine novel - one of the best about Vietnam. It has a good, authentic story line, interesting and well developed characters and solid writing. It's easy to read and hard to put down. I think anyone interested in the Vietnam war experience would find it well worth reading.

Winston Groom captures the essence of the Viet Nam war in this remarkable book. As you travel with these soldiers to Viet Nam and into battle, you feel all the emotions that made this war so controversial. Groom's writing is so vivid that it brings the war right to your doorstep where it can't be ignored or misunderstood. A powerful must-read. Once you start Better Times than These, you won't be able to put it down. And after you've read it, you won't be able to get it out of your mind.

This book has never gotten the respect due it and that is a shame. This is the best early war novel on the market. Things are new and we are learning the way things are going to be. This anti-war movement has not really started and fighting is the news. This is Groom's first book and I have a first edition that I would not part with.

Read this one first, "Sand in the Wind" next and the "13th Valley" last. These books are the war as it was lived and fought. They are some of the best war fiction ever written.

I had originally noticed Winston Groom, probably like millions of others worldwide, by the smash success of Forrest Gump. I picked up a few novels by Mr.Groom and I have to say that I enjoyed this far more than his famous book turned major motion picture. This book was extremely funny in parts, sad in parts and very dramatic. He paints such a picture with his writing and I have to say it is one of the most enjoyable books I have ever read. I cannot believe it was never turned into a movie, like most great books are. The only thing I was disappointed about when while reading was when it was over.

This is by far Groom's best book. A beautiful portrayal of the grusome war called Vietnam. It sucks you in and you can not put it down. Groom goes into depth of the charecters so well, you feel that you know them. I would recommend this book to any one with the interest in a great saga. I want to read this book again and again, it's so good.

Winston Groom's own personal experience as a soldier in Vietnam clearly shows through in "Better Times Than These," and lends the same degree of authenticity captured so vividly by Philip Caputo in "A Rumor of War." Groom intruduces his readers to a variety of characters that are all to familiar to every Vietnam Vet - from Spudhead Miter, the slow, backward southern farm boy, to the cold and callous, cigar smoking, Colonel Patch. "Better Times Than These" recounts all the passions of a nation, the personal tragedies of its families, and the brutal realities that are a part of every war. I highly recommend you read this book. And when you're finished, give your friends a wonderful gift by sharing it with them.

Winston Groom's own personal experience as a soldier in Vietnam clearly shows through in "Better Times Than These," and lends the same degree of authenticity captured so vividly by Philip Caputo in "A Rumor of War." Groom intruduces his readers to a variety of characters that are all to real and familiar to every Vietnam Vet - from Spudhead Miter, the slow, backward southern farm boy, to the cold and callous, cigar smoking Colonel Patch. "Better Times Than These" recounts all the passions of a nation, the personal tragedies of its families, and the brutal realities that are a part of every war. I highly recommend you read this book. And when you're finished, give your friends a wonderful gift by sharing it with them.

Winston Groom's (the man who wrote "Forrest Gump") first book. Set in the Summer of 1966, Billy Kahn is a college student who is enlisted into the Marines for the Vietnam war. The story begins with Billy getting on board a troop transport bound for Asia, following his rise up the ranks to becoming company commander. Just as Billy is reaching the pinnacle of his military career, he is dragged into a moral dilemma that leaves him at a major crossroad.

From family and friends protesting their actions at home, girlfriends abandoning them via letter, and the tragic deaths of their fellow soldiers the book does not pull punches with the hopes, passions and tragedies of the realities of soldiers fighting the Vietnam war.

Typical of early novels to come out of Vietnam, Better Times Than These deals more with shallow characters and stereotypes than real people. The author's later stuff is far more substantive.

For somone who did not grow up during the age of Vietnam, this book reveals the tragedy and hardship of those involved. I recomend this book to anyone intrested in that time period, or curious as to what war is really like.