“Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War” by Karl Marlantes – The Horrible Truth Novelized

Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War was written by Karl Marlantes over a period of more than thirty years. Marlantes himself is a veteran of the Vietnam War, and in this book he tells us the story of a young Marine Lieutenant, Waino Mellas, and his fellow comrades in Bravo Company.

The group of young boys, barely even adults, is forced through countless perils in the Vietnamese jungle, including malnutrition, wild animals, mud, monsoon rain, disease, and of course, enemy soldiers. As if that wasn’t enough, there are also some internal struggles in the form of racial tension, colliding ambitions and treachery. Soon, the boys are due to become men.

There surely isn’t a lack of authentic war novels out there, but the fact remains that there are still many stories left untold, and Matterhorn is one of them. With the author being a veteran of the war himself, there is no doubt as to the authenticity of the facts and events described. What I liked about the book is that despite being crammed with various facts, it still manages to be a compelling novel, complete with a nicely-developed plot and character development. 

It is especially fascinating to read about which tactics were employed in which situations and why because in this book, they are covered in much greater detail than in most other works. If you like reading war novels for their factuality and information, you definitely won’t be disappointed here.

If, on the other hand, you are in it more to experience the drama and emotions involved, you’ll also find plenty of that. Marlantes is far from being robotic when it comes to his characters and how they react to events; as a matter of fact, it seems that there is more of a human factor present here than anything else as the soldiers still aren’t battle-hardened and are living the horror for the first time. This is where badasses are made. 

The transformation the characters undergo is especially fascinating to watch, with some of them forgetting their past lives in favor of adapting to the circumstances, and others clinging to what memories of a peaceful life they had left. All in all, a thrilling and emotional read I would recommend to anyone interested in the subject of war in general.

---

Karl Marlantes Karl Marlantes is an American Marine veteran, businessman and author whose novels, as you can imagine, have for a large part focused on his experiences during his service, or at least inspired from them. His novel Matterhorn become a New York Times Bestseller and was heralded by many publications as being one of the most profound novels on the Vietnam War.