Rating: 
Summary: Don't waste your time!!!
Review: I couldn't even finish this boring garbage (& I tried several times!). There was so much time wasted on his sexual problems which are both sick & out of place here. He doesn't spend enough time about his own battle experiences & at times the book seems like a freakin' brochure for tourists in the Pacific! That might seem fine to some, but I was expecting an interesting memoir, not this crap. ...
Rating: 
Summary: Pretty good, but not much of a memoir
Review: There's good & bad to Manchester's Goodbye Darkness. I've read dozens of WW2 memoirs, & this is not one of the best. His first-hand combat descriptions are vivid, but the book focuses far too much attention on the whole Pacific War rather than on Manchester's personal experiences. Because of this & the fact that he feels compelled to tell us all about his sick personal problems makes this a seriously flawed memoir at best. His battle descriptions are what make this slow-paced book readable. That, and the simple statement, "Goodbye Okinawa, and up yours" on page 384! Veterans would probably enjoy this book much more than the average reader.
Rating: 
Summary: Required Reading
Review: This memoir grabbed me by the stacking swivel harder than any other book I have ever read with the possible exception of Remarque's "All Quiet on the Western Front". But this is not fiction.This book deals with the aftermath of the author's two months of combat on Okinawa. Memories of that combat are safely walled up for some thirty years. Then the wall begins to crumble exposing the darkness at his core and the "Sergeant" and the "Old Man" begin to visit in the night. Confronting the darkness and nighttime visitors requires an odyssey to the Pacific battlefields. This is the story of that odyssey, what he finds there (in the mid 1970's), and the memories they release. There are really three stories intertwined in the narrative: a travelogue of his visits to the various invasion sites, the Okinawan memories resurrected by those visits, and the light shed by those memories which illuminates the darkness and provides the "Old Man" with an answer to the "Sergeant's" question. If you are looking for page after page of fire and maneuver or blood and gore you may want to look elsewhere. But, if, every now and then, you can still smell battle's stench, hear the bullet's crack, or feel incoming's utter helplessness, there's Guts'n'Glory aplenty. I don't know what it is about "thirty years". That's about what it took for the cracks to show up in my wall. Read this book. The man has been there. He knows whereof he speaks.
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Summary: I've read it again and again
Review: Few books moved me like this one. William Manchester has always been one of my favorite biographers writing such magnificent books as The Arms of Krupp, American Caesar, and The Last Lion. But Goodbye Darkness is an intensely personal look at his own life as a soldier fighting in the brutal battle of Okinawa during World War Two. As the title suggest, this book is an attempt by a aging man to come to grips with the brutality and the deeds of his youth. More than a personal biography, Manchester weaves the whole Pacific Campaign into his story, we learn of the terror of Guadalcanal, the bravery of the Marines at Tarawa, and the courage of ordinary men who were put in extraordinary circumstances. It is an intensely personal story as we get to know a young Manchester and his Raggedy Ass Marines. We see how friendships were man, mistakes were made and lives were lost. It is a magnificent book. Manchester comes to grips with the ferocity of his enemy, the Japanese solider. One can sense both a sense of admiration and enmity as Manchester talks about those he fought so long ago. Underlying this hate is the seed of racism as seen in the Japanese who took no prisoners to the Marines who mounted the severed heads of their enemy on their tanks. It was brutal. Both sides saw the other as inferior human beings; thus, it was killed or be killed with very few prisoners taken. Yet, the reader senses Manchester admiration of his enemy, the courage of the Japanese solider who fought with interior weapons, weakened by disease and who was often on the verge of starvation. In the end, however, the authors observes, We were better soldiers. I have read this book three, maybe four times over the years, and I am due to read it again. It is that good.
Rating:
Summary: Self serving claptrap
Review: This is a self serving account of WWII, starting with the tip off "Let me tell you about the first man I ever killed." Hogwash and sea stories. If you want to read an honest account of WWII in the Pacific by someone who is out to give a realistic account without building a myth around himself, read E. B. Sledge, With the Old Breed.
Rating:
Summary: A study in duty, honor, country
Review: Most Americans have been exposed to "Saving Private Ryan" and HBO's exceptional series "Band of Brothers," and many of us have read "Ghost Soldiers." All are excellent ways for us to learn of the sacrifices our fathers made on behalf of our own, personal freedoms during WWII. To say one enjoys those films and that book is somewhat of a mis-statement. It is difficult to enjoy recollections of personal suffering and sacrifice. We do, however, appreciate the personal courage of the men's experiences and stand in awe of them to the nth degree. As much as I appreciated the likes of "Saving Private Ryan" and "Band of Brothers" among other books and films on WWII, no book on the subject has touched my soul like William Manchester's "Goodbye Darkness." Through the book, Manchester returns to the Pacific and visits the islands that were the sites of the greatest carnage of WWII. He comments on what he sees during his visit in 1978 or so, but is continually drawn back in time to the events that occurred there that ultimately led to the defeat of the Japanese Empire. Noticeably, Manchester rarely uses the word "Japenese," rather he refers to "Japs" and "Nips." In today's politically correct environment, Manchester's references would be considered totally unacceptable. However, as you read his recollections of the engagements he and thousands of other Marines participated in, and you tally up the tremendous loss of human life in the process, you will excuse him for him political incorrectness. Manchester makes the most convincing case to justify the deployment of the atom bomb to bring an end to the conflict. Neutral on the topic prior to reading this book, I am now convinced that the use of nuclear arms to end the war with Japan was justified in a way that can only be appreciated after reading this book. "Goodbye Darkness" should be required reading for all high school students. I watched O'Reilley the other night and heard the segment on UNC making a book on the Quaran mandatory reading for incoming freshmen. Poppycock! Make them read "Goodbye Darkness" so that each can truly appreciate the sacrifices his forefathers made. This is a must read for every American today and in future generations.
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Summary: Stephen Ambrose - Eat your heart out.
Review: "Citizen Soldier" by a real citizen soldier, who also happens to write his own stuff, and even manage to keep his sources straight. A time capsule straight from the atolls of the Pacific. Mr. Manchester wrestles with how he managed to survive some of history's bloodiest conflicts, while many of his brothers in arms gave their full measure. Combat descriptions that rival "Once An Eagle" make this the most gripping memoir of war ever written.
Rating:
Summary: Good Battle Detail
Review: This book reminds me of the movie Full Metal Jacket somewhat - not that it was that dark, just that it gives the reader of view of what it was like in boot camp and then into the battle. The author does a very good job with this work. He is known for telling other peoples tails, but he does a great job with his own story. The battle information is top of the class and the details on a Marine beach assault, teaches the reader everything you need to know. This is more then an old solder telling you about the letters he received, it passes for a very good start to the pacific theater with background as to why a battle was taking place. He also does a great job of describing the battles from a solders point of view, in the class of Black Hawk Down. I would recommend this book before a larger comprehensive history, it will get you excited to take them on.
Rating:
Summary: My Favorite World War II Memoir
Review: I've read this book countless times. Sometimes just for the pure pleasure of reading Mr. Manchester's writing style. I tell people it's my favorite WWII memoir and it is, but I also recognize that the book has it's flaws, but not enough to reduce the rating I've given it. Manchester's combat was in Okinawa and you won't find any better description of the mud death and gore he found there (except for possibly Eugene Sledge's "With the Old Breed"). It's also a fine account of the war in the Pacific and a good primer for those who know nothing about it.
Rating:
Summary: A blend of personal memoir and history
Review: Manchester's "Goodbye Darkness" is a combination of personal memoir and history. It gives a very fascinating insights on the Pacific theater during World War II. A lot of books tend to focus on the European theater but as Manchester shown, it was just as important. It's very important to bear in mind (as the author said at the end of the book) that the book is not in a chronological order. I think for those who wants to learn about each Marines battle, either in Tarawa, Guadalcanal or Okinawa, this is a good book to read as it Manchester gives background information on the battles or the war itself. I especially like the part where he explained in details how an amphibious assault works. In addition to all the historical information that were provided, Manchester succesfully personalize the book by giving his readers insights into life at boot camps, and later at Quantico for Officer Candidate School, etc. He managed to show that the "human" side of Marines as opposed to mere numbers and how they fought for each other, not the country, not the ideology.
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