Murphy was the most decorated American soldier in World War Two so anyhalf-decent memoir would be totally gripping - and this is better thanhalf-decent. Not a classic but very, very good. It's written in thatsub-Hemingway style which flowered in American literature in the 40s and 50s(among the practicioners was Robert Ruark, an admiring quote from who appears onthe back blurb).
It's full of memorable incidents and the action is evocatively drawn - Germans trying to protect their tanks by putting captured American troops on top of them only to have the Americans fire with little hesitation, Murphy taking on the 200 Germans, one of his mates being shot the day before he's to go home (something which has become a cliche in movies but here it actually happened), soldiers cracking up and crying, encounters with "women of the war" (shall we say"). As you would expect, it's a lot tougher and bitter than the film adaptation - a lot more of soldiers in the lower ranks snarling at their officers (they're not mutinous - Murphy often writes admiringly of his officers - just often snappy and insubordinate), a lot more depression.
It's full of memorable incidents and the action is evocatively drawn - Germans trying to protect their tanks by putting captured American troops on top of them only to have the Americans fire with little hesitation, Murphy taking on the 200 Germans, one of his mates being shot the day before he's to go home (something which has become a cliche in movies but here it actually happened), soldiers cracking up and crying, encounters with "women of the war" (shall we say"). As you would expect, it's a lot tougher and bitter than the film adaptation - a lot more of soldiers in the lower ranks snarling at their officers (they're not mutinous - Murphy often writes admiringly of his officers - just often snappy and insubordinate), a lot more depression.
Both book and film share a key problem, though - lack of individual characters. We keep meeting people, Murphy chats with them, and they get shot. It's hard to keep track of who is who. Even Murphy himself is a bit of a cipher - we get little self-analysis (which I guess I can understand = it wasn't part of the man),and little history (which I think we needed). But its such an amazing story, and it does give an insight into a ferocious fighter and also the mood of American soldiers who did really really heavily fighting in WW2. Reading this its no surprise Murphy as as messed up as he was.
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