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A Rumor of War cover art

A Rumor of War

By: Philip Caputo
Narrated by: L. J. Ganser
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Summary

When it first appeared, A Rumor of War brought home to American readers, with terrifying vividness and honesty, the devastating effects of the Vietnam War on the soldiers who fought there. And while it is a memoir of one young man's experiences and therefore deeply personal, it is also a book that speaks powerfully to today's students about the larger themes of human conscience, good and evil, and the desperate extremes men are forced to confront in any war.

A platoon commander in the first combat unit sent to fight in Vietnam, Lieutenant Caputo landed at Danang on March 8, 1965, convinced that American forces would win a quick and decisive victory over the Communists. Sixteen months later, and without ceremony, Caputo left Vietnam a shell-shocked veteran whose youthful idealism and faith in the rightness of the war had been utterly shattered. A Rumor of War tells the story of that trajectory and allows us to see and feel the reality of the conflict as the author himself experienced it, from the weeks of tedium hacking through scorching jungles, to the sudden violence of ambushes and firefights, to the unbreakable bonds of friendship forged between soldiers, and finally to a sense of the war as having no purpose other than the fight for survival.

Most troubling, Caputo gives us an unflinching view not only of remarkable bravery and heroism but also of the atrocities committed in Vietnam by ordinary men so numbed by fear and desperate to survive that their moral distinctions had collapsed.

More than a statement against war, Caputo's memoir offers readers today a profoundly visceral sense of what war is and, as the author says, of "the things men do in war and the things war does to men".

©1996 Philip Caputo (P)2009 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about A Rumor of War

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Vietnam war classic, a must read for the genre

What did you like most about A Rumor of War?

The different perspectives of soldier and combat correspondent bring a different dynamic to this Vietnam war book

What did you like best about this story?

First person narrative, the detail of each encounter was just so real

What does L. J. Ganser bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

Everything, he completely makes the book come alive, the best narration of a book I've heard in a very long time, very apt casting, very believable

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, after a slower start, I didn't want to stop

Any additional comments?

A must for anyone interested in the Vietnam war, I would put this up there with Tim O'Briens "If I Die in a Combat Zone" which sadly isn't available on Audible yet, nor is the other must read from this Genre - Michael Herr's "Dispatches" , please Audible add these two literary classics to the library !!!

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Must read

I've read many books on Vietnam War. My favourite being 13 th Valley. However Rumour of War is easy a close second. Fields of Fire comes next. Recently I have been listening to audible books and highly recommend this book either audible or to read.

Normally WW1 and 2 have been my obsession these days. Yet In pleased I decided to try Rumour of War. So go for it you won't be disappointed.

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4 people found this helpful

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Just great.

I first read this book as a teenager many years ago and seeing it on audible I decided to listen to a story I once knew but had forgotten. And how glad I was. The story is brilliantly brought to life by the narration of LJ Ganser. As we all know an audible book stands or falls on it's narration and Mr Ganser nails this most stirring war memoir perfectly bringing to life Lt Caputo's time as a marine in Vietnam. I'm glad I chose this book. It stands as one of the best in my collection.

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2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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The best military book I've ever read!

To call Philip Caputo a wordsmith would not do the man justice. What a book!

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2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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rumour of war (Vietnam through the eyes of a vet )

bought this book years ago but never got round to reading it. great read. entertaining.

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2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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A Marine's experiences on War in Vietnam

Always been fasinated by the Vietnam conflict, in how a superior force is beaten back by unseen "Yellow Men" beaten by the environment, politics and the fogness of war, This has become my second favourite book of the conflict. Chicken Hawk by Robert Mason being the what I think the best written encounter of the War.

I'm not a fan of American Narrators in audible books but L.J Ganser does a fantastic job of putting you there, in fact couldnt imagine another accent or person to do this, At first I thought it was the Author narrating.

I highly recommed this book.

I feel I was born 20 years to late and 3000 miles away.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Puts you in the jungle

I've read quite a few memoirs from the Vietnam War and I have to say this is among the finest. From the optimism and bravado of training and the early months in-country, through to the horror and tragedy as the body count rises and Caputo and his Marines realise this is a war that cannot be won - this book packs an emotional punch. I always feel audio books lend themselves to the first person narrative and the narrator does a good job here. Moments of laughter, despair, terror, confusion, frustration and gallows humour are brought to life. At times you feel like you're in the fox hole with them. Recommended.

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    1 out of 5 stars
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Deskjockey turned whining war criminal

"A Rumor of War" by Caputo, written by a former desk jockey turned war criminal, presents a disjointed narrative of the Vietnam War, riddled with hearsay and third-person anecdotes. The author's reliance on secondhand accounts and distant perspectives detracts from the authenticity and immediacy of the storytelling, resulting in a narrative that feels detached and unreliable. Caputo's penchant for weaving tales from afar further undermines the reader's ability to connect with the harrowing realities of war, leaving them stranded amidst a sea of hearsay and conjecture.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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Vietnam War - yet another political failure

It was a thought provoking book but I believe the Vietnam War was even uglier than PC portrayals - especially from a Vietnamese perspective.

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  • Overall
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what war does to men

one of the first units into Vietnam, this junior officer come author writes very well. it's the best narrator I've ever heard for war material.

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