The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer

at the World War II memorial in Washington, DC

I had heard of him and this novel, but to be quite honest I had no idea what this story was about.  The book recounts the invasion and capturing of a fictional island in the Pacific during the Second World War.  It takes some time to get into this book, but it turns out to be quite compelling reading.  It is probably a great book but I couldn’t find a whole lot to cheer about in it.  It is made up of the stories of the men involved in an Army campaign, what their previous lives have been, and the day- to-day experiences of war.  There is no one among these characters who is particularly likeable or anyone you can root for, which is just as well since you know the end is coming for many of them before things are wrapped up.

This is a group of mostly enlisted men and they are from different places with different upbringings.  There are a few officers we get to know too.  Having never been in the army or combat I can’t say if things are accurate but the stories, actions and motivations of most of the characters ring very true.  I'm sorry this book isn't on Ernie's list as I'm sure he could have related to some it having served in the military.  Maybe he'll put it on his "after" list we are compiling of things we want to read after this reading project is over. 

For everyone who is into glorifying war and the “greatest generation” this should be required reading.  While the history of World War II recounts inspiring stories of great men making sacrifices and exhibiting noble behavior that I know to be honest and true there is another side to that coin.  Mailer tells some of that story here.  These men do what is commanded of them, but not one of them has pure motives or is very likeable.  They are for the most part uneducated, bigoted, misogynistic jackasses. 

After reading the book I looked into Norman Mailer’s life a little.  He did serve in the army during WW II but didn’t see a lot of combat.  Also, he was married something like six times.  And with his fond feelings for women that comes as no surprise.  I’m being sarcastic in case you can’t tell.  While I appreciate much of what he has written from the perspective of a man in the military during wartime I appreciated about 0.0% of what each and every character thinks about the women in their lives.  Most of them spend their time saying horrendous things about their women while simultaneously they are absolutely terrified those women are cheating on them.  I cannot reconcile the two feelings myself but this seems perfectly rational to Mailer.  

The officers we encounter are General Cummings and Major Hearn.  They are the closest thing in the book that we have to a real relationship, twisted though it is.  They have many cerebral conversations and actually say things to each other.  All the enlisted types run their yaps constantly but say very little of substance and while there is a “leave no man behind” mentality expressed they really all seem to despise each other to no end. 

Mailer gets in a “time machine” periodically to take us to life before the war for most of the characters.  In one story, Cummings is staring at his wife with “loathing and disgust.”  He then goes on to define hatred “n., strong aversion or detestation; settled ill will or malevolence.”  Cummings is sure this is “a thread in most marriages, growing dominant in Cummings’s.”  Can’t imagine why none of Mailer’s characters, or Mailer himself wasn't happily married.

Mailer gets his digs in at a variety of topics.  As a child in church, Cummings hears a sermon on how “We are all the children of Lord Jesus and God, instruments of His compassion, committed unto earth to enact the instruments of His goodness, to sow the seeds of brotherhood and good works.”  Upon inquiring to his father if the minister had been right his father replies “Certainly…only you got to take it with a grain of caution…in religion you act one way, and in business, which is a lesser thing, well, you go about things in another way.  It’s still Christian.”   Spoken like a true rationalizing hypocrite! 

Several of the enlisted men dare to dream of the day they will return home.  They aspire to get an education and make something of themselves despite the deck being stacked against them due to their religion or ethnicity.  Goldstein is particularly naïve in believing in the American dream.  “I really believe in being honest and sincere in business; all the really big men got where they are through decency.”  Actually I’m guessing that is a pretty short list.

As I have said, none of these guys is very likeable.  The only character I came close to liking was Red Vinson.  Red is a realist and isn’t always angling for something and pretty much what you see is what you get.  In a conversation with Toglio about an editorial his mother has sent him entitled “Did the GIs die in vain?”  Red “snorted.  Who didn’t know the answer?  Of course they died in vain…’Red, you’re too cynical,’ Toglio had told him. ‘Yeah, fighting a war to fix something works about as good as going to a whorehouse to get rid of a clap.’”  Red is cynical and I guess I sort of liked him because of and in spite of it.

The Naked and the Dead comes in at number 51 on the Modern Library list.  I would probably put it a little higher on my list.  It is well worth reading for a look into some of what truly goes on during war and seems as relevant today as when it was first published in 1948.