A Rumor of War
Memoir
By Philip Caputo
Reviewed by A. Tavelli
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Lieutenant Philip Caputo was just a young boy from Westchester, Illinois when he joined the marines. Philip was sick of the safe, suburban existence. He also joined the marines partly from the patriotic tide of the Kennedy era. Caputo joined the Marines in 1960. By the time he fulfilled his 3-year term, 24-year-old lieutenant Caputo was more prepared for death than for life. Philip was a experienced writer that went from Shakespeare to the Manual of Small Unit Tactics. By 1967, Philip knew how to face death, and how to cause it with anything from a knife to the 3.5-inch rocket launcher. He was able to field-strip and assemble an m-14 blindfolded. This helps explain parts of the story that may be confusing to the reader. He makes the story easy to understand to most all possible readers. He does curse a lot in his book witch limits the number of people that will But Philip didn’t know even the simplest engine repair.
A Rumor of War is a memoir of Lt. Philip Caputo’s experience in the Vietnam War. It’s a timeline from when he joined the Marines to when he came home. A Rumor of War is a book that can tell the stories off all Vietnam veterans that were never able to tell their experiences or felt like they were different from everyone else. Caputo’s story deals with a lot of loss, and individualism. Caputo uses such literary elements such as: flashback and setting. Caputo alternates from telling the story to pondering about points that he makes in his memoir. be able to read the book. I would recommend A Rumor of War to any one who likes to read about the Vietnam War, or anyone who likes a good drama.
