A Country Such as This
Reader Reviews from amazon.com

tailhook_91@hotmail.com from Canada , May 4, 1998
A Brilliant Epic Saga of the Turbulent Years of Our Century

One of the most brilliant epic sagas ever to come out in recent years by someone who lived through these turbulent years. I must say that it neatly lays out some of the key events within the period 1951-76 using authentic characters that come alive with each crisp dialogue, paragraph and page. Mr. Webb certainly has a knack for keen observation of life both ordinary and extraordinary, thereby, making the novel more believable.
On the day of graduation from the Naval Academy in 1951, the three midshipmen-turned-officers vow to become blood brothers to meet back in twenty five years at the very womb that had nurtured them for four years.
Judsonia Smith the mountaineer hopes some day to be the Commandant of the Marine Corps. This was not to be, for despite his heroism as a Marine in Korea, he would find himself "floundering in the Pit." After his resignation from the Marine Corps, and a stint with the FBI, and a series of flirtation with Death, he becomes a pastor after accepting Jesus. As he discovers his new callings, he is finally reunited with the vain ex-wife he so dearly loves. A man of courage and integrity, he not only supports the war effort in Vietnam, but also does what he can to bring back his POW blood brother, Commander "Red" Lesczynski.

Red Lesczinski is the crème de la crème of his profession. He is one of the best pilots the Navy has ever produced, having flown with the Blue Angels. Aside from his brilliant flying career in the Fleet, he is a "closet intellectual" who finds himself entranced by the Japanese Bushido. Through his Japanese friend, he discovers that the Japanese draw their strength from remembering their fallen warriors. Unfortunately, his brilliance was never given a chance to fully blossom. Commander Lesczynski is captured by the North Vietnamese, and is forced to endure the agonies of the grueling captivity for seven years. He returns home embittered; Lesczynski cannot help but to notice a fundamental flaw in the country he so dearly loves. The crippled Navy commander takes his blood brothers to a cave in Saipan--once the site of a fierce battle between the US Marines and the Japanese--to show them the true meaning of strength; the power of remembering.
Joe Dingenfelder is the brainy type among the three central characters. While his classmates take commission in either the "goddamned" Navy or the Marine Corps, he takes his commission in the Air Force. He sat out the Korean War in the comfort zone of his graduate school, and falls in love with the feisty Dorothy Edelson. She is to prove a deadly trap for him, forcing him to quit his promising career as a missile engineer for the Air Force. He grows disillusioned by her activism full of contradiction and hypocrisy. He separates from his newly-elected Congresswoman wife, and chooses to start a new life in Saipan.

And so Mr. Webb introduces his once-innocent protagonists to point out what he believes to be the fundamental flaw of his beloved country: its shunning of the very warriors that have sacrificed everything for their country. He does this, at times, by juxtaposing the Japanese warrior culture to that of America's through the lens of Lesczynski's enlightenment .
Though at times, his assessment is a bit far-fetched as he had exaggerated the importance of Bushido, it is nonetheless powerful. He is vindictive of his generation for their cowardice, and delivers a remorseless judgment on them for their actions. I found this piece resonating with Mr. Webb's patriotism. This brilliant novel will turn your emotions upside-down. Great job, Mr. Webb!!

Bob Evers (bevers1@ibm.net) from Ft. Myers, Fl , April 1, 1998

If this is not the great American novel, there isn't one.

Mr. Webb is one of the most courageous leaders in America. Past or present. I am utterly sick that this novel is out of print. I am lucky enough to have a hardbound copy that I loan to people of special ilk who can fathom the incredible, poignant events this chronicle portrays for our country. It is Mr. Webb's brilliant achievement. It reaches tender places in the heart & soul where if you have just a little courage, you can stand up and let it fill you with resolve and astonishment. Or as Mr. Webb would put it, you may hear the echo of boon Dockers slapping on the pavement or a marine calling to the lines hauling a dead friend thru a hailstorm of grenade & AK rounds. There are scenes in this novel that will make you throw the book on the floor & weep uncontrollably. But you will stop the tears, toe the mark and watch your cajones grow. Perhaps even listen, for the first time, to the true beating of your heart.

A reader , June 22, 1997

Maybe more important now than when it was published

Jim Webb is not the most elegant writer fiction has seen, but he has captured the points of view of the relatively dispossessed Viet Nam veterans in the time frame of 1968 or 1971. After Desert Storm it is getting harder each year to remember that many Americans blamed those who fought in Viet Nam for that war at least as much as they did the politicians that created it. It is too bad that this book is now so hard to find (I located my copy in Half Price Books (a used book store) in Houston) because it brings back into focus the experiences Viet Nam veterans went through--alienation from their own generation, pure physical danger while accorded virtually no hero status by those back in the U.S., POWs, etc. etc. For many of us (I was a Viet Nam veteran--but in no way a hero who have felt a gnawing sense of "not being part of it" for over 20 years now based on the alienating experience of Viet Nam, Webb's point of view tells you that there is one guy who both knew the feeling and could capture it in print. Now that we have a professional military and no draft, regular citizens (and increasingly more of our politicians demonstrate an escalating level of bravado in putting our troops in harm's way. One could not help but notice that Colin Powell was criticized for not wanting to commit forces until he was certain he could win. From the perspective of those who got left hanging out to dry in Viet Nam (the ones who either could not or would not manipulate the system to avoid service), the importance of Jim Webb's message is almost impossible to overstate. It is a book Bill Clinton would do well to read. -