Matterhorn – Karl Marantes (2010)

Watching the series Tour of Duty as a kid gave me the feeling to ‘see and feel’ the Vietnam War. This novel does an even better job. The battle for Matterhorn, one of the many hills in the dense Vietnam forest, tells the whole story: the horror of war, the friendships that keep the young soldiers together, racial tensions, competing ambitions, totally meaningless fights, and the struggle not to go crazy. Left me speechless and in great admiration of Karl Marantes, who worked for more than three decades on the book.