The Young Lions [Import] [Paperback]

Irwin Shaw (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 816 pages
• Publisher: New English Library Ltd; New Ed edition (February 1, 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0450057410
• ISBN-13: 978-0450057410
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.4 x 2.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Forgotten Classic of World War II, July 14, 2001

By 

bibliomane01 - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Young Lions (Paperback)

It seems that Irwin Shaw is mainly remembered for light popular novels such as "Rich Man, Poor Man" and "Beggarman, Thief," and "Nightwork," but he was also a great writer of short stories (a former star for the New Yorker) and in "The Young Lions" he emphatically staked his claim to be numbered among the great American war novelists. In my opinion, Shaw's book belongs in the company of "The Red Badge of Courage," "A Farewell to Arms," "The Naked and the Dead," and "Catch-22." Hopefuly this new edition from Chicago will help to bring a forgotten classic of World War II before a new audience. Many war novels hover uneasily at the brink of sentimentality and melodrama, and many more simply fall in. But in this story about three young soldiers who are "The Young Lions" of the title, with their hopes, fears, loves and hatreds, Shaw's touch is deft and his clear, smooth prose leads the reader through an absorbing and tragic story that remains as fresh and moving today as it was when it first written over half a century ago.

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lots of shades of grey....., December 15, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Young Lions (Paperback)

I'm a 30 year old person that was born and raised in the Netherlands and for the last 4 years has been living and working in Germany. I've allways been interested in novels, films and documentaries about the second world war. Living in the Netherlands and Germany I have been able to notice the differences in the way both countries try to cope with the war. Generalizing one could say that in the Netherlands emphasis is more on having been victims, wheras in Germany, people try to face the fact that a lot of their fathers and/or grandfathers were war criminals. A simple and clear picture: they were "good" and the others were "bad" Reading "The Young Lions", you more and more see the similarities between soldiers in the opposing armies: they have the same background, the same fears, the same hopes, they are just puppets of different rulers. They are not just good or bad, they just want to survive and go home. Shaw's book shows how horrible war is to every soldier. In war there is no black and white, just many shades of grey.....

41 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great storyteller --and his greatest story, October 1, 2001

By 

Birdman (Minnetonka, MN USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Young Lions (Paperback)

There were dozens of novels based on World War II, but only three that captured American readers by storm. Mailer's THE NAKED AND THE DEAD, Jones's FROM HERE TO ETERNITY and Shaw's THE YOUNG LIONS. Of the three, the most compulsively readable and the least self-conscious is Irwin Shaw's absolutely beautiful novel of love and loss during World War II. If there is a better sculptor of character in 20th century American fiction, I'd like to know who it is. Shaw has a knack for creating palpable characters (including some you'd ordinarily hate -- such as an errant Nazi) who live and breathe. All of his characters -- from Christian and Michael to Hope -- are people we care about, and many of the great historic scenes of the war come alive for even the most casual reader. The subplots (and there are quite a few of them) are integrated seamlessly and the pace is relentless and exciting. One wonders why Shaw never tried to repeat this stunning performance, but perhaps novels as fine as this only occur once in a lifetime. If you want to sink into a richly detailed, compulsively readable saga of World War II, this is the genuine article. A pity there aren't six stars.