Customer Reviews

Under the Sabers: The Unwritten Code of Army Wives

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I am an Army wife and was thrilled to see a modern look at the military wife. The book is extremely well written. The characters were brought out in a manner that humanized them rather than stereotyped. The book is about Army wives at Ft. Bragg during a short time period and does not truly show how happy a lot of us really are. I finished the book and felt really depressed about the deaths and suicides on Ft. Bragg. The 82nd is unique and many Army wives never set foot there. I am a former soldier as well as the spouse of an Army man with 24 years in and we still love it. We do not just help out during funerals. The fun is missing in this book. It is fun to be part of it all-- we are not duty bound to help each other. We do it because we want to do it. The book also keeps bringing up "clean houses" as if that were the most important thing we care about. She mentions funerals and what woman would want a crowd coming through her house without the chance to straighten up. One of the best Army wife moments I ever had was at West Point when another Army family stopped by at 11am on a Sunday morning and seeing the chaos that my house was in just after church she quickly smiled and said, "I live in my house too." That is what Army wives are really like. There are truly many awesome wives out there and more great marriages than bad. The book focuses on mostly bad marriages and tragedy. In this operational environment I was hoping for an inspirational book about Army wives. This book is a page-turner and I could not put it down. After re-reading the jacket I can say the book does advertise itself as being just what it is, but the publicity around the book suggests it gives insight into the world of all Army wives.

I nearly read this book in one sitting--it was that mesmerizing. As an Army wife for 18 years, I can tell you that Tanya Biank has accomplished what I've never seen: a book about Army life written with a journalist's eye for detail and the understanding, compassionate tone of someone who's been an Army brat and became an Army wife herself. Her research, candor, and writing talents are first-rate as she offers us a window into the lives, personalities, and backgrounds of 4 very different Army wives.

This isn't the definitive book on Army wives--no one can write that because it's a deeply personal and complex subject that defies description. I think the subtitle is unfortunate, "The Unwritten Code of Army Wives," as if it were a tell-all, but don't be put off.

UNDER THE SABERS is part slice-of-life, part cultural commentary, and part news reporting as Biank's portraits of these Army wives intersect with the sensational national headlines of the murders at Fort Bragg. In the process, she articulates the daily challenges we can all relate to, such as frequent moves, solo parenting, social pressures, and anxiety about our husband's safety. UNDER THE SABERS documents an important and unrecognized social history. It will always have a prominent place on my bookshelf, no matter where we live.

Marna Krajeski, author of HOUSEHOLD BAGGAGE: THE MOVING LIFE OF A SOLDIER'S WIFE.

This book was nothing more than a dreadful look into the lives of a small handful of women who had horrible experiences. Do not judge this book by its cover. Mine displayed a happy couple kissing as they walk out of the church after their wedding under an arch of sabers. What a happy picture. Enjoy it because it's the last happy thing you'll see in this book. The grand title creates the illusion that you will be getting an general, but inside, look at the lives of military wives. A true look at what Army wives face and how they cope.

What it provides is the utterly depressing story of a few women who faced murder, family deaths, illness, abuse, cheating, struggles, and unhappiness. It's not inspiring, and it will certainly not act as any sort of reference for what a new wife might face. As a matter of fact, if I had read this before I married my husband (enlisted infantryman on a career track in the Amry) I would have been terrified about the life ahead.

This title is so misleading that it's almost insulting to military wives who are happy. There are so many women who happily and joyfully approach their military marriages, myself included. We face deployments, moves, seperation, uncertainty, and hard times with faith in our marriages and a true love of our husbands and the Army. We are happy to do whatever necessary to support our husbands, but we also receive love and support in return. We have careers that do not make our husbands jealous, and some of us are even the primary bread winner. We would never think of cheating, and we faithfully provide unwaivering support during deployments. We are happy! And yes, there are families who face struggles, but the community really does come together to help out.

Please do not think that I take the stories in this book lightly. They represent a serious problem, and the women who made it out the other side have true strength that I can only imagine. Not one of thesen women "got what was coming to them", as some people indicated in the book. These stories are horrible and things like this do happen. My point is this: This is not a picture of "The Army". It is not the whole story and it is not the norm in military life. This is the story of a small group from a brief period of time in one town. To imply that the story of such a microscopic minority of Army wives is indicative of what all Army wives face is unfair, misleading, and small-minded. Not one happy person was interviewed, not one happy story was told. Call me and I will tell you how happy I have been with the military life, struggles and complaints included. I will tell you about the military couples that I know who love and support each other, no matter what. They face trials and struggles, but they are in it for the long haul. The one positive thing I can say about this story is that it has made me so aware of how good I have it and so thankful to my husband for being awesome. Other than that, it made me feel sick.

As an Army brat and scholar who has done research on the Army life from an anthropological perspective, I found this book very interesting and well-done. It's well-written and is truly in the "case study" style, rather than being a scientific survey of attitudes or events that permeate the lives of Army wives. If that's what you're looking for (as at least one of the disappointed reviewers seems to be) you won't find it here. But if you like to learn about a neglected subculture in the United States by means of closely examining the lives of four disparate Army wives, then this is for you. No, it doesn't include Army husbands, but then the title does say "Wives." Whatever changes are occurring in the Army as far as gender goes, and whether they are positive or negative, the plain fact is that the vast majority of senior officers and NCOs are men, and the vast majority of their spouses are women (don't ask, don't tell, after all). Someone else can write the book on Army husbands, and that could be an interesting read, too. I think the whole point of Ms. Biank's book is that it is the very nature of the military lifestyle that led to the murders at Fort Bragg; they COULD have happened anywhere. The more interesting question is "Why there, why then?" and while Biank doesn't do a stellar job in answering those questions, the fact is there is probably no one "right" answer. Could be coincidence; could be the nature of that particular Army post. While my father worked in Army intelligence, and we sometimes lived on post, it was never the combat-focus in those communities that it seems to be at Fort Bragg. In the Army I saw, there was much more than combat that got done and that was important to the nation's security. At Fort Bragg, life IS focused on combat and readiness for it. Perhaps that's the reason the violence that precipitated those murders was closer to the surface and/or more easily sparked. Again, this book doesn't give a definitive answer to that question, but it IS a fascinating, easy-reading description of the lives of four Army wives, and I was very pleased to make their acquaintance. Whether you're a stranger to the life or a veteran of it, you'll find the book interesting and entertaining, as well as thought-provoking. I recognized all those women -- I think I babysat for all of them or met them when they came to my parents' parties. It'd be a shame to miss their stories.

I wanted to read this book after discovering that it was the inspiration for Lifetime Televisions's new series, ARMY WIVES. I half expected the book to be just as laughable and absurd as the new TV show, but it wasn't. Ms. Biank is very detailed in her accounts of four Army families, and she does well in portraying their everyday lives, how the military life engulfs all aspects of their lives, and the sorrows and pain they endure. I often find that journalists make the best nonfiction writers sometimes, and the author's writing style was very descriptive.

However, I did find it odd that she mentions the fact that Officers' wives and their families seem to receive special treatment in the Army, and in comparison, Enlisted soldiers and their families just barely make enough to scrape by. I found that odd not because it might be true, but because Biank herself shows special treatment to an Officer's wife in her book, as one of her real-life characters does get more ink. It is the wife of a Lieutenant Colonel whose story is the longest of all the four women in the book.

Also, the title itself I found to be misleading. There is no "code" that she mentions in the book, as it seemed that her intentions were merely to tell the story of four soldiers and their wives. The only unknown code that I could gather from her book would be that the Army affects the lives of the spouses just as much as the lives of the soldiers themselves. Perhaps that is only "unknown" because many civilians may not realize it.

Regardless, I enjoyed reading this book and getting an insider's look into life on an Army installation that is home to more than one group of respected soldiers. I liked the little anecdotes Biank mentions here and there throughout her four stories. I recommend this book so long as the reader realizes there is no real "unwritten code" of the book.

I read Under the Sabers because it was reccomended to me as an Army wife making a move to Fort Bragg.

And while I did think the book was an interesting read, I would not reccomend it to just any Army wife. It was not at all uplifting, and I wasn't told any accurate descriptions of the book. It wasn't just about the Army Wife killings that took place at Bragg.

The book jumped around a lot, and it seemed so random at times. I felt like all it focused on was death and never the positive aspect of Army life. I only really related to one of the characters and that made it hard to get into the book.

After reading the book, I was very apprehensive about our PCS to Bragg, as it did not put Bragg in a positive light at all. The whole tone of the book was negative and it was a real downer to read.

This was a great book. Unlike most of the books I've found on military wives (and I'm saying this as navy wife), it doesn't glorify, whine, romanticize, or over-dramatize the life. Military life and marriage is what it is. I couldn't put this book down, and I hope it doesn't start getting a bad rap now that Lifetime has made it into a typical Lifetime drama (not that I don't watch it, because I do). One warning...this is a hard read. I cried through an entire chapter. It really hits home if you're a military wife, so read it with a box of tissues.

I had the honor of meeting the author while we served on the OWC Board in Virginia.
I wasn't aware that she was an author until my friend informed me, at which point I purchased a copy and read it.
I feel she gave a very candid view of military life that many people have no idea about. I applaud her for not sugar coating her story.
I hope this book finds its way into the hands of the military community as well as civilian.

I enjoyed this book very much. We were stationed at Fort Bragg during the time about which the author writes and I found her portrayal accurate to my experience, as well as finding her storytelling to be enjoyable.

I feel she dealt with her characters as the real people that they are, or were. I also found her storytelling to be very smooth and her writing concise as well as descriptive.

The book deals with people who are dealing with heavy personal issues and it is a thought-provoking book; but I did not feel like the author was preaching about the right or wrong around those issues--just that she was capturing a slice of time and life of a few particular people at a particular time and place.

This was a great read. The story kept me captivated and being married to the military, I personally understand that NOT EVER SINGLE military experience is as this book describes. I don't think this book would have kept me from marrying into the military, so reading the reviews about this being a deterrent for future military wives, was just plain odd. Now for those of you who are planning to purchase this copy via the kindle, please note that the hefty $10.99 price tag that the publisher so selfishly set, also comes with some hefty spelling, punctuation and grammatical errors. I don't know if this holds true for the hard copy of the books as well, but I was appalled to have just spent $10.99, which is MORE expensive than the actual book that takes paper, ink and fuel to get to it's destination. It's just a heads up that I'm dissatisfied with the "product" albeit electronic, but a product nonetheless.