Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes: Book Review

Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I haven’t been through many books about the Vietnam War. It’s tough sledding to relive it because it tore our nation apart. Upon finishing the book this morning I’m feeling so sad and moved by it it’s difficult for me to write a review worthy of its greatness and it was a great book. It took almost 2 weeks to get through it and I’m left feeling sort of numb and drained by the experience. 

I liked Karl Marlantes’s “What it’s like to go to War” so much I had to put this one on the book shelf whether it was difficult to or not. It's a fictional account of the War but Marlantes brings his experiences as a veteran of the Vietnam War to life in this book.

There are the terrible battle stories, the horrors of seeing fellow Marines get put through a meat grinder but it’s much more than that. Marlantes gives a lot of time to the mundane, the sublime, the politics, the racism and the emotional bonding that takes place between groups of men that experience the ultimate in horrors.

The story of the men who administered the war makes you think they were all a bunch of insane idiots trying to advance their military careers no matter what price the grunts had to pay for it. And the grunts do pay for it in a big way, in this story you learn they do more than once for the same piece of ground no less.

In hindsight after finishing the book it’s hard to judge any of the leadership of the military involved in the war because they didn’t get the kind of support from the government or the citizens at home. So it lead to confused sporadic bloody battles in impossible fighting conditions in the jungle were they killed many NVA troops and won some individual battles but in the end lost the war because of the media and meddling politicians in DC that didn’t support nor understand what was going on in Vietnam.

Still the story of the men in this book will move you, infuriate you, disgust you, amaze you, shock you and leave you with that awful feeling of how so many young men lost their lives in one of the worst Wars and causes in American history. Still the bravery, the nobility, the humility, the pride and the humanity of the men of this war must never be forgotten because they like all veterans of foreign wars deserve respect. Some would argue they deserve more respect. Take the journey it's worth it but be warned it’s not for the faint of heart.

Bronson Pinchot narrated this audiobook and he did an outstanding job of it just like he did with Marlantes’ other book. He’s one of the best in the business, he held me with a death grip throughout.

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Murder In Brentwood by Mark Fuhram: Book Review

Murder In Brentwood by Mark Fuhrman

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I was 35 in 1995 and followed the OJ trail throughout. It was obvious from the beginning of the trail that Johnny Cochran knew OJ was guilty before the trail began so the only way to get his client off was by making the case about race, wild conspiracy theories, Cops planting evidence, lies and innuendo. He also used the LAPD’s mishandling of evidence as way to convince jurors that the crime scenes were contaminated and as such cast reasonable doubt. Sadly it worked. The end result was Mark Fuhrman became a scapegoat and he was the one convicted of a crime and his life forever altered after the trail.

The mountain of physical evidence, circumstantial evidence and even eye witness testimony (which wasn’t used in the trail) was more than enough to convict OJ. It overwhelming proved beyond a reasonable doubt that he alone committed the 2 homicides.

I read the racist comments the Defense used against Fuhrman in the trail. They were horrible and offensive but if people knew what context they were made in they’d come away with a completely different view of him. I thought so then and I’m more completely convinced now that Fuhrman was one of the best Detectives the LAPD ever had. Was he arrogant? Yes. Was it possible he was a racist? Maybe but the fact is his views on race were completely irrelevant to the guilt or innocence of OJ. The LA DA made a motion to deny the racist comments on the Fuhrman tapes as inadmissible and irrelevant because under the law they actually were but Judge Lance Ito allowed it. I’m not going to write any spoilers here but after you read this book you’ll have a completely different view of Ito and his reasons for allowing the tapes in as evidence.

In hindsight Marsha Clark, the LAPD, the Crime Scene investigators all made mistakes in the prosecution of the OJ case. One must remember that not long before the OJ murders the Rodney King episode was still fresh on the minds of everyone in LA. The DA's office knew the world would be watching their every move in court and the King verdict was like a noose around their collective necks. The trail should never have been televised. Everyone involved on both sides became instant media celebrities and the DA’s office lost control of the trail as a result. The procedural tactics and the outcome of the trail most certainly altered the verdict by televising it.

The OJ trail is old news but I really enjoyed hearing Fuhrman’s side of the story. He’s not blameless in the outcome but his role was small by comparison and after you read what he has to say you’ll agree.

A few years ago I read his book entitled “Murder in Greenwich” which involved the murder case of Martha Moxley. I’ve been following this particular case for years and Fuhrman in his small way helped finally bring some justice to the Moxley family. The case had similarities to the OJ trail; it took 27 years to finally uncovered the truth about what happened to Moxley. Moxley finally received justice but unfortunately for Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman it never came.

Fuhrman was and still is a flawed individual but the biggest mistake he ever made was getting involved in the OJ case to begin with. I highly recommend both books. If you’re a true crime buff like me they’re MUST reads.  

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