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| |  | 2010s | Home » » » Goodbye, Darkness: A Memoir of the Pacific War | | | | | | | Description: | | For the first time in trade paperback, the book in which one of the most celebrated biographer/historians of our time looks back at his own early life and gives us a remarkable account of World War II in the Pacific, of what it looked like, sounded like, smelled like, and, most of all, what it felt like to one who underwent all but the ultimate of its experiences. Back Bay takes pride in making William Manchester's intense, stirring, and impassioned memoir available to a new generation of readers. | | | Features: | |
• ISBN13: 9780316501118
• Condition: New
• Notes: BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed
| | | Product Details: | | | Author:
| William Manchester | | Paperback:
| 416 pages | | Publisher:
| Back Bay Books | | Publication Date:
| April 12, 2002 | | Language:
| English | | ISBN:
| 0316501115 | | Package Length:
| 8.26 inches | | Package Width:
| 5.54 inches | | Package Height:
| 1.09 inches | | Package Weight:
| 0.89 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 92 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
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0 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 Very disappointing, I couldn't finish the book, boring...Jul 15, 2010
I read the other reviewers who gave it 1 star and I agree with all of them. I was expecting to read a book about the Pacific War battles, but instead I am reading about the authors description of what the Islands now look like. WTF!?! If I wanted to read about the tourist sites on Guadacanal, I would have bought "Conde Naste, Traveler Magazine." I was hoping to read about the authors personal experiences in battle, but he mostly talks about the natives and the unfriendliness of the jungle. I was very put-off when he talked about failed attempts in losing his virginity..Huh?? what does that have to do with the PTO?? The most annoying part is when he starts quoting sentences in french or some other language, but doesn't tell those who do not speak the language the meaning of what he just said! I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THIS BOOK!!! Complete disappointment!! NOT ABOUT THE PTO!! More like boring tourist book..
 Moving memoirJun 25, 2010
Manchester's reflections on the war, and it's effect on himself and history are poignant, moving and a sad refutal of the call to arms
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
First-Person-Insight, Dr. Kilroy was ThereMay 23, 2010
The descriptions of the author's personal firefights are excellent, and beyond that they are embedded in selected deep insight from his academic background. Actually he was Sergeant of an Intelligence Platoon where they tossed the brainy types, and by his account they got the job done. At 395 pages I call this book concise - every sentence makes a point, no padding.
The End of Suburbia: Oil Depletion and the Collapse of the American Dream would be a good sequel after reading this. My teenage years were in the 1960's - I often try to connect the deep sacrifice of WW2 and even Korea to "Present Day", Iraq, Iran, McMansions running in side-by-side theaters. This video seems very insightful into how the postwar-euphoria became permanently derailed - once upon a time there were certain moral values, which Madison Avenue transformed into the Car and the House - it is difficult to believe how present-day-government can get by with further subsidizing Cars and Houses as though hair-of-the-dog might be a way out of The Hole.
Summary - for Manchester's generation - mission accomplished. For my generation, oh well...
 Not up to my expectationsMay 20, 2010
I read a review of this book prior to purchasing it from Amazon and the reviewer stated it was one of the top 2 books covering WW2. After reading it, I do not think it is in the same league with Eugene Sledge's books on WW2. I felt too much emphasis was placed on the author's trip back to his previous battle grounds rather than on the details of the men involved and actual combat. Amazon as always provided the book at an excellent price and in a very timely manner.
Weird but Great!Apr 21, 2010
Frankly, I'm not sure what to think of this book. I first read it as a teenager in high school and remember being absolutely enthralled with it. But I'm pretty sure I didn't read the ending bits of the book, the bits where Manchester reveals that his entire combat experience was two months on Okinawa in 1945. Essentially, all of his other descriptions of combat, on Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Saipan, and Peleliu were all incidents from Okinawa that he had transposed to those other islands because....well, I honestly don't know why he chose to do that.
The really weird part is that even now that I know about it, this bizarre literary device didn't really spoil the book for me. Manchester has written the most thoughtful, erudite, complex and, well, I guess the term is "literary", memoir of combat I've ever read, with the possible exception of Quartered Safe Out Here by George McDonald Fraser.
The book is equal parts travelogue and memoir, with Manchester going from Pearl Harbor to Okinawa, stopping at each of the islands mentioned above and describing the strategic situation that brought the fighting to this particular island, the actual fighting on the island (with his "transposed" Okinawa adventures seamlessly interspersed throughout) and a summary of the modern status and condition of the island. The result is a very moving book, that not only gives a brief sketch of the Pacific War, but also the reflections of one of its most literately gifted participants 30 years after wards.
If you can get past the weird transposition of experience, I recommend it highly.
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