Review: The Naked and the Dead

The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I picked this one up at the used book stands at Plaza Italia in Buenos Aires. It caught my attention because I heard Anthony Kiedis once speak about Norman Mailer, back in high school. Near the time I had heard the term canon, and was told he belonged to the U.S. canon of literature.

Quickly I was immersed into the testosterone driven novel. War, women, cigs, liquor, and brutal violence. But Mailer captures those baby vulnerable moments as well. Enough to where they were flotation devices amidst the gore, tactical jargon, and misogynist nature of the novel. But I understand that the tender moments must be juxtaposed with the latter, creating a sustaining thread for this extensively long novel. But I keep repeating to myself, how much can you read about WWII men at war? Apparently seven hundred some pages. And apparently they are VERY necessary. Perhaps. But I stopped at page 267 and was enchanted and satisfied by the marginal character, Lieutenant Wakara.

'A thinker, a poet," and Japanese. An identity limbo much ado to the Caucasian Harvard graduate author. Mailer's writing can only present a brief appearance of such a character. But for me it was the tipping point in the novel and ended too, soon. Honestly, for this fact, I should of put the book down at page 249.

"And he was alone, a wise man without a skin."



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