2006 books
56) Anthony Swofford, Jarhead, 2003
I have a default preference for books on war that are told from the perspective of those who had it done to them rather than those who did it, but Jarhead falls emphatically into the latter category. Swofford, a Marines Lance Corporal sniper in the Gulf War, opens with the observation that even anti-war movies are, almost by definition, pornography for the military. There is obviously some overlap here, as the average jarhead's secondary obsession - casual sex - seems to get almost as much of an airing as the conduct of war. There's a suppressed masculine aggression throughout that I found both fascinating and repelling, but it's interesting that the book ends in a noticeably repentant, almost pacifist, minor key. Swofford also has an unsentimental and unflinching economy in his writing that makes this book impressive and memorable, but for entirely uncomfortable reasons.