Book report: Fields of Fire
It is said that experience is the best knowledge which can be shared with others. James Henry Webb a former representative from Virginia in the United States’ Congress and a combat veteran of the War in Vietnam expressed personal experience in his book ‘Fields of War’ which came out in 1978 describing the events of the year 1969 during the Vietnam War.
Having served as a Commander of a Platoon for four years, he retired in the rank of the first lieutenant with exceptional awards such as the Silver Star, two Purple Hearts and a Navy Cross, being the second decoration in the Marine Corps according to their importance. All in all, an immense experience and profound knowledge of the inside of the war, gave him a right to touch upon the subject.
‘Fields of Fire’ fall into the category of historical fiction. Having become a starting point for Webb’s recognition as a writer, it firmly positioned itself among the literature on the war theme. The story illustrates three main characters represented by three navy officers, who serve in the same platoon during the Vietnam War. It is told from the point of view of these people: Robert Lee Hodges, the second lieutenant; a man with the nickname ‘Snake’ one of the leaders in the platoon and Will Goodrich, the ‘Senator’ – a volunteer student from the Harvard university. They all had their reasons to become military men and now with illusions broken they stride shoulder to shoulder through the battles. Three Marines found themselves in the realm of atrocity, fighting in the Hoa Basin during the second year of the Vietnam War. They end up in the South Asian tropical jungles, battling with an enemy in a senseless war. The reader is made fully aware about an ambiguous situation the soldiers have found themselves in. They are the pawns in somebody else’s cruel game, trapped in circumstances which they cannot control. And the worst is that they are completely unaware what the future holds. Through the story such themes as leadership, loyalty and destructing effects of the war are brought out. The author carefully opens up the essence of the main characters with both explicit and implicit means. The novel is overwhelmed with detailed descriptions of battles, scenes of violence and struggles to cope with unbearable conditions. Webb’s main objective is to show the horrors of war people have to experience without even possessing the reason to face the gruesome necessity to kill. The fields of fire bring up new identity and world outlook, tying the former strangers forever. If to summarize the main idea of the novel, one can claim that war is shown as rather an ambiguous thing when destructive in every sense it is contrasted to something understood as a struggle to survive.
‘Fields of Fire’ show the undisguised reality during the Vietnam War, and therefore this novel is included into the reading list of recommended literature for the U.S. Navy. The book by James Webb was positively appreciated by both critics and the audience. Moreover, the first ones compared it to such masterpieces of classical literature as ‘the Naked and the Dead’ by Norman Wailer and ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ by Erich Remarque for giving an authentic and detailed description of true rage and agony of the war.
Works cited
James H.Webb. ‘Fields of Fire’. Naval Institute Press, 1978. Print
