Rating: 
Summary: Overdone
Review: The book has a broad range of plots, centering around the mutiny and the events preceding. Many other sub-plots, tiny ones, not easily noticed, help to provide a sense of reality to the book and fill in spaces between Queeg's explosions.
May Wynn's love affair is the main theme that opens and closes the book. In the middle, the most important things happen, although very little time is spent in those situations in comparison to the rest of the book. The two consider getting married, write letters back and forth, and break up in the small amount of time given to their affair. This is the largest and most prominent sub-plot in the book.
Although there are many other sub-plots in the book, one of the strongest parts in the book is its vivid detail of situations. The best points are not lengthy, but they capture the feel of the situation in the emotion of the character. The book is almost charismatic in the way it describes the rolling sea, and the raging wind. On page 324, the severity of the storm is emphasized by the words: "...it [the deck] was slanting steeply to starboard... so steeply that he could not stand on it... the deck was remaining slanted."
One point where the plot really was captivating was that things in Willie's life never seemed to go smoothly. He nearly was expelled from the officer school because of his demerits. Then, his late flight caused him to arrive in the port after the ship left. Where things could go wrong for Willie, they did.
Captain Queeg's outbursts led to filling over two hundred of the book's four hundred ninety-eight pages, which seemed to be the more interesting part of the book. The pace of the book increased once he relieved de Vriess. His manner of thinking and dealing with his officers took up most of the storyline from the time the crew left the west coast of the USA to the mutiny, and was possibly the most interesting part of the book.
In contrast to that, the plot seemed to lose momentum after the mutiny. The court-martial had very little action or plot advancement for over sixty pages. It is mostly a battle of words and definitions, and mostly the plot revolves around Greenwald's defense strategy. There was little suspense, little surprises, little plot. The court-martial is more of a review of the past chapters than new events.
Another point which left a bad taste in my mouth is the conclusion of Willie and May Wynn's life. By the end, May seems little more than a filler, something needed to take up space in the novel. Except for the fact that she is Willie's girlfriend she bears no weight or effect on the focus of the novel. After the mutiny, the whole love affair sputters and dies, leaving little interest in the whole mess. Although useful in the beginning of the book, May Wynn did little to help the plot advance after Willie boarded the Caine.
Overall, I feel that the book was worth reading until the court-martial. In the beginning, there are all sorts of challenges to overcome, puzzling situations, and brief yet vivid detail about the ship, the sea, and the emotions of the officers and men. The court-martial is mostly just questions asked and answers given, with little real action. The story afterwards really has little to do with the story before, like a doomed surgery patient with no chance of survival and no reason to go on, just living its pathetic life until the bittersweet end.
Rating: 
Summary: Great WW II Book
Review: I got around to reading this book recently after being familiar with the Bogart movie since childhood. The book is surprisingly good. I had low expectations. The movie has some bright moments but it is mostly a stale slow paced war story with a dull court room scene at the end and some inappropriate humor added for no apparent reason. The book is much better. I spent most of my free waking hours over three days reading this 500 page book straight through. The story revolves around Ensign Keith and his coming of age as a naval officer in the Pacific during World War II. At the outset he is an aimless recent Princeton graduate who volunteers for naval officer candidate school to avoid more dangerous service elsewhere. He is happy to ride out part of the war waiting for his OCS to begin. Keith then arranges a soft temporary assignment at Pear Harbor waiting for the Caine to return from a combat mission. The details of the story from there are very close to the movie's storyline. The sloppy but competent captain, DeVries, is replaced by the incompetent martinet, Queeg. The executive office Maryk relieves Queeg during a storm and Keith passively assists this mutiny. Wouk makes some interesting points which I had never seen expressed in writing before. During a discussion of the myriad pointless rules and regulations that must be followed on a navy ship, he puts forth an interesting and apt theory. These seemingly pointless rules are intentionally crafted this way by the handful of smart people who are in charge. The goal of these rules is to permit imbeciles to safely operate a ship by following these rules without any conscious thought. Anyone who is not an imbecile will have difficulty with this; the only solution for an intelligent person caught in a subodinate position is to wear a mask of stupidity in order to please superiors. Just like real life! Wouk was obviously an extremely bright man frustrated by the halfwits he served under. By the end of the book there is nearly complete reversal in Keith's opinion of the Navy. He is captain of the Caine for its last voyage to the scrapyard and his thoughts reveal great empathy with the DeVries and Queeg. Overall a great book giving a feel for what it was like to live and serve through the second world war.
Rating:
Summary: BRILLIANT NOVEL
Review: This book is . . . absolutely breathtaking. It is no less than a modern masterpiece. Rating it makes me think that all of those other books I have rated as "5" were not worthy of the score. _The Winds of War_ covers a broad range of areas (all around the world, covering the global war) keeping the reader wherever the action is happening, but without always staying on the actual battlefied. The story of the novel covers the Henry family as its members go about their ways during the war, bringing them to various locations and situations. Pug, the main protagonist, for instance, gets a chance to meet Roosevelt, Hitler, and many more- and that isn't even giving away anything as the book is so long. But long, in this case, is a wonderful thing, as it mean the story continues, so that the reader does not ever get the sense that there is not enough (though, still, I eagerly await reading the sequal, _War and Remembrance_). The book has a huge cast, but they are all such different characters that they never get mixed up, which is an amazing feat with so many influential people in the novel. Wouk is an expert at what he does. I have done nothing thus far but gush praise for the book, and most of it is just senseless ramblimgs, but I am unable to do anything else, as I did not identifiy any flaw with the perfect storytelling and am not competant to possibly give it justice and so am reduced to just lauding it without clear reason. But the sheer power of this book overwhelms me and twists my toungue (keyboard) in such a way that I cannot truly explain its wonder.
Rating:
Summary: a great-hearted tale of heroism and anti-heroism
Review: One of the most impressive things about a truly well-written novel is the number of characters that stand out to the reader long after putting the book down. Maryk, Keefer, Keith, and of course Queeg are unforgettable, Queeg in particular, for every one of us--Navy or not--who has suffered under a paranoid perfectionist will recognize Queeg's style in a heartbeat. The strawberry "crisis" is a case in point. As the novel progresses, young Willie Keith seems to come around to a more Navy-oriented point of view--namely: incompetent and eccentric officers are part of the hazards of war; one must simply make do. At the risk of mistaking Keith for Wouk, I found this a troubling conclusion, given the madness of poor Stilwell, the life-risking incidents aboard the Caine--and of course my own vivid encounters with Queeglike imbeciles too perfectionistically by-the-book to listen to reason or feel even an ounce of empathy for their victims. Chains of command of any kind attract just such personalities. But the consequences should not be passed off as business as usual. Like any good novelist, Wouk paints the reader vivid pictures of events, scenes, little dramas and big ones. At times you can smell burning oil and hear the curses of overworked sailors. It's pleasant to see Willie Keith grow up with all this as his chosen context.
Rating:
Summary: Still good reading after 40 years
Review: I read this book several times in my high school years and was captivated by it. I picked it up the other day and sat down to reread it never expecting to make it to the end. But I found myself reading it over a weekend and enjoying every page.
The novel is an amazing testament to Herman Wouk's writing skills in that even though it is now 50 years since it was written, and containing no foul language or any sex, it remains a page turner.
Classic historical fiction. Highly recommended for teens or adults.
Rating:
Summary: A story of war, about far more than just the mutiny
Review: This fine novel runs from the time before Pearl Harbor to about the end of 1945, and focuses on Willie Keith, who we meet as a spoiled brat and Princeton WASP, who is living off Daddy and earning a few bucks as a piano player. He joins the Navy for no good reason except to impress a girl, and misadventures his way through his officer training. Slowly, he learns that this is more than a game, and learns to face up to the consequences of his actions, as he turns down a cushy position at Pearl Harbor, staying on the appalling Caine. But the arrival of the slightly warped Queeg both in some ways matures Keith, so that he pushes himself for recognition from the odd captain, and retards his maturity in other ways, so that at the pivotal moment of the mutiny, he joins in for unworthy reasons. It is not until he is nearly killed (and, by the way, saves the horrific Caine) that he is finally willing to face up to himself and decide what is really worthy in his life. There are many unforgettable characters in this book, not so much Keith, but Queeg, of course, and Lieutenant Keefer, author and cad, who provokes the mutiny out of pique and then runs for cover, and Steve Maryk, the not-so-bright exec who is manipulated into the mutiny and pays by being court martialed and losing any chance of staying in the Navy after the war. And, unforgettably, the flyboy and lawyer, Lt. Barney Greenwald, who comes in to defend Maryk and sees everything for what it really is. Forced by professional duty to destroy Queeg to save his client, he is appalled by his own actions and responds with one of the great speeches in literary annals. A classic. Wouk's best.
Rating:
Summary: Caine Mutiny review
Review: Great book in great condition. Quick delivery and a great buy.
Rating:
Summary: An All Time American Classic
Review: A truly classic novel that tells the story of a young man's journey from a sheltered Ivy League life to a veteren U.S. Naval Officer. I first read this book when I was 15 years old and could not put it down because it was a grand adventure with exciting action. That was over 20 years ago and since then I have read it twice. Each time I read it I see a new dimension of irony and conflict. Its truly a classic story of organizational behavior, and military logic and illogic. Its a great story of loyalty and honesty. Its a sad story and an uplifting story. It has every element of great fiction with exciting and funny chapters mixed into the bigger picture of the slow crumbling of Captain Queeg. Queeg is one of the saddest characters in literature. He is however a perfect example of a person who has reached a stage in his/her career who is overmatched with his/her job, but too proud to admit it. Not even to himself. The story of Queeg should be taught in business schools training the future leaders of business. Read the book and study the characters. Keefer, Willie, Queeg, Maryk, Greenwald, and deVries are all wonderfully constructed and true to life in many respects. This is one of the finest books in American Literature. An all time classic. Read it and enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: The best part of this story got left out of the movie
Review: I had to replace my 30-year-old mass market edition--it was falling apart. At the end, I was having to stash it in a ziploc bag--I can't really say that about every book I've bought. Let's face it--most of us knew this story first on the screen. This was where we saw Humphrey Bogart as the insecure, embattled Captain Queeg--antihero of a standard sea yarn which was anything but my favorite of his films. Bogie of course played Queeg a lot more macho than he's portrayed here, but the main thing the movie did get right was the character Tom Keefer--a supercilious intellectual snob with a very low opinion of the military and those who serve it. But the main character in this story is young Willie Keith, a spoiled-rich kid who joins the Navy on a whim. The saving grace of this immature Ivy Leaguer, though, is that he lacks the level of arrogance usually expected from his demographic. This is how he manages to become a man, as well as a pretty decent officer--he's just plain willing to learn. This also stands him in good stead in his romance with a girl who's too mature for him but is willing to wait for him to grow up. I won't give away the irony in just what way Willie "comes of age", but Wouk later was to come up with a fairly similar character in "Winds Of War/ War and Remembrance's" Byron Henry, also set during World War II. So don't let having seen the film fool you into assuming this book is just another war story--it's a rite-of-passage tale very consistent with more than one other Wouk novel.
Rating:
Summary: A Book Like A Screenplay
Review: The Caine Mutiny was an excellent read (that goes by more quickly than its thickness would have you believe). It was exciting and adventuresome. However, parts of it read like it was written directly for the screen. The predictable crescendos and love story lacked the depth that one hopes for from an otherwise great piece of literature. It is definitely a book that commands attention, and perhaps served as an inspiration to the screenplay author of "A Few Good Men."
|
