The Boat

I have just been transported into a U Boat and have experienced war, claustrophobia, sex, fear, exhaltation, depression, sadness, joy, and bereavement -- all from this book. Buchheim's descriptions are total -- they grab you and PUT you into the places and the situations. I'm shocked at my reaction to this book. I think I'll read it a dozen more times in my life -- and I'm 72. This is not a recommendation to you to read this book: this is an ORDER to read it.

Das Boot is a must-read for anyone remotely interested in sub warfare, WWII, or--most importantly--the psychological impact of war on men. With meticulous detail and great pacing, Buchheim does a superb job transporting you to one of Dönitz's "iron coffins," where life was cramped, dirty, fearful, and usually very short. Be sure to check out the acclaimed film adaptation, too; it's one of the very best war movies.(Note: I read this book in the original German, so I can't comment on this particular translation.)

Das Boot is one amazing book. From the grudges, toils, and rough world of sailors, Herr Buchheim has produced a novel with gut wrentching action and detailed sorrow. From the pre-cast off bar room orgies of saliors, to the maddening world of depth charge bombing, Das Boot will send you on one heck of a ride. The novel is able to capture the emotions of its reader and fully allow them to expreience the druggering perform by the U-Boat men of WW2. This book is written in a personal memoir style and will not appeal to all people. However, if one is intersted about reading the battle of the atlantic by the saliors who fought in it, then this is your book. Undoubly one of the best written descriptions of warfare that I have ever read.

Lother-Guenther Buchheim has provided us with a unique insight into an aspect of the Second World War that has been highly misrepresented in the modern "Hollywood" film industry. Disasters such as U-571 have unfortunately reached our screens, and as such, cloud our perspective as to how the Battle of the Atlantic was truly fought by men on both sides. The Germans are *always* the brutal bunglers given nothing but bad press, well, read this book and that view goes out the window along with the rest of the trash! These are ordinary men, from various backgrounds, called upon by their nation to serve in a time of war. As sailors in arguably the most dangerous naval profession (of the 40,000 servicemen who entered the U-Boat Arm, 30,000 became casualties) they are more than worthy of such a deep, thought-provoking appraisal. One cannot avoid sympathising with the crew as they toil through hostile waters on a hazardous voyage. The book is technically a novel, but it is by no means a work of fiction. The author served as a naval war correspondant to the Kriegsmarine in the war, and this book is his recollection and interpretation of his own experiences. Although the characters are fictional, the experiences described are not. I would thoroughly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in military history, especially if you wish to experience the war as the "other side" saw it. In effect, no different to ourselves.

Quiet on the Western Front". A historical novel in the classic tradition of a great novel. A strongly anti-war novel functioning on many levels: anti-war, anti-authoritarian (against High Command in general and Hitler and Adm. Doenitz in paticular), instructional on the daily operation of a WWII U-boat in ALL activities, including huge hours fruitlessly patrolling (U-boats, unlike US Boats, didn't have radar until late in the war, nor specific " Ultra" code intercepts of enemy ship movements - though German codebreakers had some good successes until midway through the war); the obsolesence of the U-boats vs. experienced radar- equipped British destroyers and aircraft; the struggle of men in a tiny ship vs. the sea. This last topic receives much time, and the American translation of this originally German book is very detailed, raw, and poetic, particularly decribing the changing nature of the sea, the clouds, and the author's emotions as he tries to understand, often with great difficulty, exactly what is going on. you will find great controversy on this book, mostly centered on the drunkeness of shore leave, but also the anti- High Command sentiments that are probably exaggerated. I bought and read this book in 1976 when it came out in paperback and read it in the back seat of my dad's car on a cross-country family vaction roadtrip (I was 13) and I have read and enjoyed it several times since. A searing story of just incredible moments of combat and weeks of patrolling with no enemy contact -the norm for warships, and patrolling ships and aircraft, too - most convoys were never sighted, let alone attacked. The movie is very good, but this very good book beats it, as the really good books usually do. I tried the version from England (1974 hardcover) but found the tranlator's choice of words and phrasing to be very dry, uncolorful, and stiff- definetely get the American translation. Historically, the author crams 6 years of warfare into one superlong patrol, juxtapositioning some trends and common occurences a little too close together, but he does set his novel at what is now recognized as the turning point of the U-boat war- fall 1941. Although U-boats went on for another 15 months of havoc, especially of the Americas, Cape Town, and in the Indian Ocean, the British had in fact escaped serious war altering effects by the U-boats with the codebreaking, radar, signals location ("Huff Duff"), aircraft, and the Germans failure to build more boats earlier on, provide aircraft support, radar, and secure communications. The futility of the vastly outgunned, outnumbered and out-teched Germans has you rooting for them yet knowing that like in "Finding Private Ryan" or an old Western like "The Wild Bunch", these guys have all the odds against them.