Rating: 
Summary: Great Literature, But Not a Good Story Well Told
Review: A novel of intricate characterizations of a huge number of participants in a bureaucracy, Guard of Honor would probably appeal more to lovers of Great Literature than to lovers of a Good Story Well Told. It is a very long and detailed book. What plot there is involves attempts of some of the lead characters to avoid doing the morally-correct action. Few characters are likeable; few have much integrity. The author likes very long sentences; many paragraphs are absolutely incomprehensible. The ending was quite unsatisfactory to me. However, all those characters are distinctive and memorable - not a small achievement. And, the author certainly understands the dynamics of a bureaucracy. The book is enjoying a small revival due to a rave review in the American Scholar magazine.
Rating: 
Summary: Strong black coffee, not a soy latte
Review: Cozzens' masterful social novels, of which "Guard of Honor" is the towering apex, have been erased from the history of American literature by its guardian - the academic establishment - because of his thorny conservatism and unadorned steel-and-rivets prose style. It's our loss. If you compare the ambition and artistic discipline of this wise and sober novel to, say, the latest annual installment of navel-gazing from Philip Roth (to name a writer who enjoys a comparable level of esteem today), you can only shake your head at the profound dumbing-down of our culture.Inasmuch as only a fraction of any armed force directly participates in combat, this stunningly broad study of a Florida air force base in the latter stage of World War II is actually more relevant to the history of our participation in that struggle than a book like "The Naked and the Dead". And its look at an early chapter in the unfinished story of race integration in America is arguably more germane than ever, although its conclusions do not sit comfortably. (No televised talking head could hope to express them and still keep his job.) If you're interested in a truly adult novel, in the best sense of the word, you can't do much better than this one.
Rating:
Summary: Strong black coffee, not a soy latte
Review: Cozzens' masterful social novels, of which "Guard of Honor" is the towering apex, have been erased from the history of American literature by its guardian - the academic establishment - because of his thorny conservatism and unadorned steel-and-rivets prose style. It's our loss. If you compare the ambition and artistic discipline of this wise and sober novel to, say, the latest annual installment of navel-gazing from Philip Roth (to name a writer who enjoys a comparable level of esteem today), you can only shake your head at the profound dumbing-down of our culture. Inasmuch as only a fraction of any armed force directly participates in combat, this stunningly broad study of a Florida air force base in the latter stage of World War II is actually more relevant to the history of our participation in that struggle than a book like "The Naked and the Dead". And its look at an early chapter in the unfinished story of race integration in America is arguably more germane than ever, although its conclusions do not sit comfortably. (No televised talking head could hope to express them and still keep his job.) If you're interested in a truly adult novel, in the best sense of the word, you can't do much better than this one.
Rating: 
Summary: Sub par WWII novel
Review: I really looked forward to reading this book thinking it was on the same level as "The Caine Mutiny" or "The Naked and the Dead" but I was sorely disappointed. It's simply boring even while there's supposedly a world war going on. What's worse is there's no discernible plot. Another reviewer suggested sticking to Herman Wouk and I agree. His three books: "The Caine Mutiny", "The Winds of War" and "War and Remembrance" are about the best WWII novels that I know of.
Rating:
Summary: A viable candidate for the "Great American Novel"
Review: If a contemporary reader is looking for one novel that captures with unerring precision the nature of the military and society in World War II, look no further than "Guard of Honor." The setting is authentic, and the characters are drawn with abundant sympathy and an utter lack of remorse. The issues, the personalities, the key incident -- all reflect Cozzens' skill deep insight into human nature and the nature of military bureaucracies, the latter resulting from his service on the Air Corps staff during the war. I cannot recommend this novel highly enough.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointed
Review: Much as I would have loved to love this book, I'm afraid I didn't. Virtually nothing happens for one thing. There's an interesting incident at the start of the book but it doesn't lead to anything else interesting for the entire rest of the book (i.e., hundreds of pages). I kept waiting for some great courtroom drama to ensue but it never happened. For my money "The Caine Mutiny" is still the best novel about WWII that I've read.
Rating:
Summary: Too much...WAY too much
Review: One reviewer called "Guard of Honor" a "Dickens of a novel", and it's easy to see what he was getting at: a big book, bustling with characters and situations, covering a time and place from many angles to make a detailed portrait...that's what Charles Dickens did best, and that's what Cozzens certainly INTENDS to do, but it simply does not come off. There is just too much fat here, too many long, long scenes that go nowhere and provide no particular insight, too many long, long conversations that all too obviously serve only to mouth the author's philosophy, too much anticipation for too little payoff. Buried far underneath all this is a good story, a great writing style, and a few good characters. Critic Noel Perrin's singular enthusiasm for this novel is touching, but this is NOT the great novel of World War 2. Leave that to Mr. Jones or Mr. Wouk.
Rating:
Summary: Too much...WAY too much
Review: One reviewer called "Guard of Honor" a "Dickens of a novel", and it's easy to see what he was getting at: a big book, bustling with characters and situations, covering a time and place from many angles to make a detailed portrait...that's what Charles Dickens did best, and that's what Cozzens certainly INTENDS to do, but it simply does not come off. There is just too much fat here, too many long, long scenes that go nowhere and provide no particular insight, too many long, long conversations that all too obviously serve only to mouth the author's philosophy, too much anticipation for too little payoff. Buried far underneath all this is a good story, a great writing style, and a few good characters. Critic Noel Perrin's singular enthusiasm for this novel is touching, but this is NOT the great novel of World War 2. Leave that to Mr. Jones or Mr. Wouk.
Rating:
Summary: One of the great novels of the 20th century
Review: This book exemplifies the "quiet craftsmanship" for which Cozzens has been praised (in Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia, I believe). His style is clean and understated; his plotting is as always complex yet tight; his observations of people are dead-on. But what, in my opinion, really puts this novel above Cozzens's other works is its portrayal of the "life" of a modern complex organization (in this case, the U.S. Army during WWII). American society's transformation from an individualistic focus to an organizational one, which reached completion during FDR's presidency, is one of the most significant developments during the past century and a quarter. Yet almost no novelist has attempted to deal with this transformation artistically, and certainly none has done it as well as Cozzens does here. This book's straightforward style conceals its immense importance.
Rating:
Summary: Not the Best Book About WW2
Review: This book left me with too many unanswered questions. The biggest question was in regards to the racial incident. How did the black soldiers feel? Cozzens makes no attempt to answer this question with a character portrait of one of the black soldiers; all the portraits were of white officers. There are a lot of loose ends that needed to be tied up. There are so many characters, it's hard to keep track of who's who. Cozzens also has a very dry style of writing that left me cold emotionally. Still, since the story was only limited to 3 days, it was intersting that he did leave so many loose ends. How many of our life stories and problems are tied up in such a brief period of time? How many members of a large organization affect the days events? This book was a kind of "literature verite" merely documenting 3 days in the life of an army base. The confusion of the officers is apparent in the fact that no single person knew all the facts. Obviously we do. These aspects gave this book the extra star. All the same I cannot thoroughly recommend this book.
|
