Can anyone recommend some good fiction about WW II?

[joeybee12]

I've read (lots of times) The Naked and the Dead, and From Here to Eternity...wondering what else might be good. Thanks!

:hi:

[givemebackmycountry]

1. Did you read Catch-22?

It's a classic.

[joeybee12]

12. Yes, a very long time ago...

...I'll have to re-read it--thanks for the suggestion.

[Richardo]

23. It's my favorite novel of all time

I love that book. :thumbsup:

[Tesha]

41. "Catch-22": that would be my top recommendation. (NT)

[Cleita]

2. "Battle Cry", an all time favorite about marines in WWII.

I forgot who wrote it but he was a famous author. It has a lot of steamy sex too. I think there was a movie version too, but it didn't measure up to the book.

[shraby]

3. The Winds of War by Herman Wouk

but don't bother with the sequel..it was a disappointment to me. The first one was excellent though.
On edit, also anything by Leon Uris is worth the read.

[patrice]

6. Oh Yes! Leon Uris "Mila 18" nt

[shraby]

9. He's my favorite author

except for his "The Haj". The ending made me mad, seemed like he just wanted to end the book. (Won't give away how, but I was really angry with him)

[patrice]

10. I haven't read that one - wish I had time (need to stop hanging out

here so much). I loved Exodus, the book and the movie. I remember less of The Angry Hills (?). I appreciated learning about the ghettos in Mila 18. And didn't he also write The Robe or something like that? I'll have to go look that one up.

Thanks for the tip re The Haj, maybe I'll buy it for my husband for Christmas, so I have a chance to read it too.

[yellowdogintexas]

26. Third that one, wept over that book in high school. Should be required reading, IMHO nt

[joeybee12]

15. Thanks!

[11 Bravo]

4. Once an Eagle, by Anton Myrer.

It traces the career of a fictional Army officer from WWI to WWII culminating in SE Asia. It is a terrific book!

On edit: much of the book is devoted to the WWII portion of his career.

[joeybee12]

13. Thanks--I'll have to check it out. n/t

[CBHagman]

35. Don't forget "The Last Convertible" by the same author.

My father, a World War II vet, thoroughly enjoyed The Last Convertible, which follows the lives of five Harvard men from 1940 on through the postwar years. The novel is essentially a tale of love and friendship, and there's a fair amount about the romanticized aspects of '40s, such as the music of the big bands, but there's quite a bit on the war, including an emotionally wrenching sequence dealing with the Battle of the Bulge.

An added plus: it's a good book for Democrats, given the political leanings of its characters. That's all I'm going to say...

[patrice]

5. Herman Wouk "Winds of War" and, of course,

Joseph Heller's "Catch 22" and Kurt Vonnegut's "Slaughter House Five"

[joeybee12]

14. Thanks...never read The Winds of War...

...I'll have to check it out.

[Jim__]

18. There's also a sequel to "Winds of War", "War and Remembrance".

Although, IIRC, "Winds of War" is better by far.

[BearSquirrel2]

7. High school textbooks

Try any K-12 textbook. We don't teach history to kids. We teach propoganda.

[mrfrapp]

8. Slaughterhouse 5

Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut is an excellent read.

[joeybee12]

11. Yes, forgot about that one...

...it's been a while, so I'll have to re-read it!

[saltpoint]

16. joeybee12, there are some fine suggestions on this thread already, but may

I throw in the novel A MIDNIGHT CLEAR by William Wharton?

It is a masterwork.

Also consider the film by the late French director, Louis Malle, AU REVOIR, LES ENFANTS (GOODBYE, CHILDREN).

[joeybee12]

20. Thanks...heard of that but never read it...

...I'll have to...Au revoir is tough to watch...it's been a while since I've see it.

Thanks again.

[terryg11]

17. James Rollins' book "Black Order"

It's not a WWII book per se, but it does deal with a "what if" some Nazi research programs had been continued in secret well after the war is over. It's interesting and much of it's ideas stem directly from Nick Cook's book "The Hunt for Zero Point".

[joeybee12]

21. Both sound interesting...thanks!

[BOSSHOG]

19. Pride Runs Deep and Sink the Shigure

Former Navy Submarine Officer R. Cameron Crowe does a nice job with submarine warfare and submariners during WWII (fiction.) The two listed are back to back and follow the adventures and private life of the same Commanding Officer. Nice reading.

[joeybee12]

22. Thanks Boss...I'll assume the author...

...went to Arkansas or some other wonderful SEC school! Thanks!

[smoogatz]

24. From Here to Eternity.

Also Catch 22 and Slaughterhouse Five, already mentioned.

[MaineDem]

25. "Black Cross" by Greg Isles

I read it a while ago and remember it being a real page turner. It's about the use of poison gas by the Nazis. Not a pleasant topic but a decent book, I thought.

[joeybee12]

29. Thanks!

[pitohui]

27. gone to soldiers by marge piercy

i don't read a great many traditional war novels, but i really liked that one

my other favorite is of course slaughterhouse five, already mentioned

i like a bit more slipstream or science fictionish stuff most of the time, if you ever like that kind of approach, the man in the high castle by philip k dick is worth your time
(admittedly that's a very generous interpretation of "about ww2")

[joeybee12]

28. Thanks!

[Jade Fox]

42. Another vote for "Gone to Soldiers"

[krispos42]

30. "Clear the Bridge!"

subtitled "The War Patrols of the USS Tang", by her commanding officer, Rear Admiral Richard O'Kane.

If you want funny, see if you can find "Hanging On" by the same Dean Koontz that write the horror novels. It was one of his early works, and it's funny as hell! It's out of print, but...

[Captain Hilts]

37. Not fiction. Read "Goodbye to Some" about navy B-25 pilots in the Pacfic. nt

[Sequoia]

31. Not fiction, but "The Good War", by Studs Trekel is a classic.

[CJGillis]

32. The Good Shepherd, by Forester, C. S. (Cecil Scott), Little, Brown [1955]

One of the most moving WWII books that I've ever read is by C.
S. Forester, the same man who wrote the Horatio Hornblower
series. This book was set early in our participation in WWII,
when our merchant fleet losses were appalling, due to Admiral
Ernest J. King's unwillingness to organize early
British-American convoys. 

The Good Shepherd is about an American Destroyer captain
convoying a flock of merchantmen on the Murmansk run. This
captain is the senior commander of a combined fleet of small
Allied warships, before we were able to modernize our
destroyers, torpedoes, sonar, and radar. The captain is a man
compelled by a deep sense of duty, sustained by his faith, and
haunted by sorrow at a marriage and career that are not what
he would have hoped that they would be.

During every aching, bone-weary, frozen minute of this long,
violent voyage, German wolf-packs are on the hunt for his
slow, old "sheep", who are carrying
desperately-needed war supplies to the Russians sometime
around the Siege of Stalingrad.  

The book tells what it takes, in the interior strength and
self-control of this captain, to keep the spirits of himself,
his own officers and sailors, and those of his other ships
from panic, even though they know that they will not all live
to the end of the voyage. 

I found the book to be brilliant. It reminded me that great
courage, and a strong sense of selflessness and dedication to
duty were not the exclusive property of the British Navy
during the Napoleonic War, and that when it was needed, it was
found in our own American boys and men who grew to maturity
during the Great Depression.

[Captain Hilts]

38. I'll check it out. I loved The African Queen and the Hornblowers. nt

[joeybee12]

39. Thanks and welcome to DU!

[likesmountains 52]

33. A Very Long Engagement is good...but it's about WW1 if that matters

[japple]

34. Marge Piercy's book, Gone to Soldiers, is very good.

I also liked Exodus, Mila 18, and Battle Cry by Leon Uris and the Winds of War by Herman Wouk.

Edit to add: Sorry for the duplication. Should have read the entire discussion before I posted.

[WCGreen]

36. Atonement....

It's really a stunning book...

[ElizabethDC]

40. I just finished reading that and was going to recommend it myself

it's given me a thirst for more WWII-related stuff - it's really an amazing book!

[elehhhhna]

43. The English Patient

Michael Ondaatje