The Long March

Although this isn't 'my thing' at all, I must say that it's a superbly written novella (88p).Set in a military base in Carolina, the two main protagonists, Culver and Mannix, are officers in the Marines. Having served in WW2, they remained reservists, never expecting to be wrenched away from the lives they've created with wives and jobs just 6 years later with the onset of the Korean War. Utterly resentful at being brought back to the military life, they despise the career soldiers, the stupid commands, the loss of life."You know", he said once, "I think I was really afraid just one time last war." The phrase 'last war' had had, itself, a numb resigned quality, in its lack of any particular inflection, like 'last weekend' or 'last movie I went to see."After a friendly fire accident - heart rendingly described - leaves eight young soldiers dead, the Colonel orders a 36 mile walk; pride and a determination to spite his superior leave Mannix determined that he and his men make it, no matter what... The fatigue, the unreality, the pain and struggle to keep on are convincingly portrayed.A book that would merit a second reading.

I'll say one thing for war: it has produced some fantastic books. The Long March is perhaps not among the very best I've read on the madness of military life. But it's a powerful, provocative story that stirred up the dying embers of rebellion in my contented middle-aged belly.

xcellent, unputable to put down,real life,gut wrenching!!!!I at times thought i was there, glad to say i was not, all heroes

This novella (only 88 small pages in largish type in my copy) is about the interactions between three marine officers during a training exercise prior to the Korean War. Two are reservists, Lieutenant Culver and his friend Captain Mannix, and have been recalled from civilian life; the third is the Battalion Commander, Colonel Templeton, popularly called `Old Rocky'. It starts with a horrific `friendly fire' incident when mortar bombs land short on soldiers waiting in line to be fed and eight young marines are killed. The shock of seeing their mutilated bodies, even though he has seen worst things while serving in the far east during the war, is the first sign to one of the reservists, Lieutenant Culver, that even at thirty, he is too old to `play' at being a soldier again. Captain Mannix is a bitter man who despises the regular officers as exemplified by Templeton, and this is confirmed by the Colonel's reaction to the deaths. The tension between Mannix and the Colonel is ratcheted up when the latter decides that some of the battalion have been `doping off', and so everyone will march back to base the following day rather than take trucks as usual. It is 36 miles and the march will take 13 hours.Things start badly for Mannix when he finds he has a nail in the heel of his boot, but despite the pain he decides to continue walking; this is a battle of wills between himself and `Old Rocky'. The march becomes a nightmare as more exhausted men drop out, but Mannix constantly berates his company to keep up. Culver tries unsuccessfully to get Mannix to calm down, but he still refuses his men leave to get on a truck. When the Colonel suggests to Mannix that he himself should drop out because of his foot, he also refuses. Things come to a head when Mannix mistakenly accuses the Colonel of having taken a ride in a jeep. In the ensuing row, Mannix is threatened with arrest and a court martial. Eventually, Mannix and Culver do arrive at the depot. The book ends with Culver musing on the Colonel, who had had his march, but whom he still cannot hate, and Mannix who had endured, but at what cost.This is a superb description of how intelligent humans beings can react when subject to the authority of someone who they despise, but about which they can do nothing, and how an irrational battle of wills can result. The writing is sometimes factual, even terse, but sometimes dreamlike, particularly during the long march. It is well worth reading.