Intense, powerful, and compelling, Matterhorn is an epic war novel in the tradition of Norman Mailer's The Naked and the Dead and James Jones's The Thin Red Line. Set in Vietnam in 1969 over the course of three months, It is the timeless story of a young Marine lieutenant, Waino Mellas, and his comrades in Bravo Company, who are dropped into the mountain jungle of Vietnam as boys and forced to fight their way into manhood. Standing in their way are not merely the North Vietnamese but also monsoon rain and mud, leeches and tigers, disease and malnutrition. Almost as daunting, it turns out, are the obstacles they discover between each other: racial tension, competing ambitions, and duplicitous superior officers. But when the company finds itself surrounded and outnumbered by a massive enemy regiment, the Marines are thrust into the raw and all-consuming terror of combat. The experience will change them forever.
Written by a highly decorated Marine veteran over the course of thirty years, Matterhorn is a spellbinding and unforgettable novel that brings to life an entire world -- both its horrors and its thrills -- and seems destined to become a classic of combat literature.
atterhorn is a novel of great authority and humanity. It builds inexorably to a devastating and magnificent final movement.?harles Frazier, author of Cold Mountain
nforgettable . . . A beautifully crafted novel of unrivaled authenticity and power, filled with jungle heroism, crackerjack inventiveness, mud, blood, brotherhood, hatred, healing, terror, bureaucracy, politics, unfathomable waste, and unfathomable love.?hristina Robb, Pulitzer Prizeinning journalist and author of This Changes Everything
atterhorn is that rare modern novel destined to become a classic. Karl Marlantes has written a riveting and harrowing portrait of young men at war.?ince Flynn, author of Pursuit of Honor
atterhorn is one of the most powerful and moving novels about combat, the Vietnam War, and war in general that I have ever read.?an Rather
s warfare shapeshifts its way into a new century, the publication of Matterhorn is perfectly timed. Karl Marlantes tells a riveting, richly detailed personal tale of soldiers in Vietnam, and in doing so, he brilliantly illuminates the defining war of the last half of the twentieth century. Matterhorn reminds us, profoundly, of our flawed humanity, capable of individual grace and collective horror.?obert Olen Butler, author of A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain
ever have we seen the particular horrors and challenges of Vietnam so richly explored, and never have we felt the tactile experience of the war depicted with such mesmerizing force. We see the big picture, but as with all great novels, it the tiny detailshe mud, the leeches, the adrenaline-drenched dread of combat, and the tender joy of comradeshiphat linger with the reader long after the story is over.?ampton Sides, author of Ghost Soldiers and Hellhound on His Trail
hese are the words I wrote down while reading Matterhorn: authentic, funny, heartbreaking, infuriating, devastating. This great book crawled under my skin on the first page, and I suspect it will remain there for a very long time." avid Finkel, author of The Good Soldiers
atterhorn is a masterful and thrilling drama about an event of national importance that we have barely understood. Marlantes conjures grace out of suffering, honor from despair, sense out of nonsense. The men and women of this story have long deserved a homecoming, and we needed to hear their true story. Marlantes has delivered a heartbreaking achievement. He has written a timeless work of literary fiction.?oug Stanton, author of Horse Soldiers
Written by a highly decorated Marine veteran over the course of thirty years, Matterhorn is a spellbinding and unforgettable novel that brings to life an entire world -- both its horrors and its thrills -- and seems destined to become a classic of combat literature.
atterhorn is a novel of great authority and humanity. It builds inexorably to a devastating and magnificent final movement.?harles Frazier, author of Cold Mountain
nforgettable . . . A beautifully crafted novel of unrivaled authenticity and power, filled with jungle heroism, crackerjack inventiveness, mud, blood, brotherhood, hatred, healing, terror, bureaucracy, politics, unfathomable waste, and unfathomable love.?hristina Robb, Pulitzer Prizeinning journalist and author of This Changes Everything
atterhorn is that rare modern novel destined to become a classic. Karl Marlantes has written a riveting and harrowing portrait of young men at war.?ince Flynn, author of Pursuit of Honor
atterhorn is one of the most powerful and moving novels about combat, the Vietnam War, and war in general that I have ever read.?an Rather
s warfare shapeshifts its way into a new century, the publication of Matterhorn is perfectly timed. Karl Marlantes tells a riveting, richly detailed personal tale of soldiers in Vietnam, and in doing so, he brilliantly illuminates the defining war of the last half of the twentieth century. Matterhorn reminds us, profoundly, of our flawed humanity, capable of individual grace and collective horror.?obert Olen Butler, author of A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain
ever have we seen the particular horrors and challenges of Vietnam so richly explored, and never have we felt the tactile experience of the war depicted with such mesmerizing force. We see the big picture, but as with all great novels, it the tiny detailshe mud, the leeches, the adrenaline-drenched dread of combat, and the tender joy of comradeshiphat linger with the reader long after the story is over.?ampton Sides, author of Ghost Soldiers and Hellhound on His Trail
hese are the words I wrote down while reading Matterhorn: authentic, funny, heartbreaking, infuriating, devastating. This great book crawled under my skin on the first page, and I suspect it will remain there for a very long time." avid Finkel, author of The Good Soldiers
atterhorn is a masterful and thrilling drama about an event of national importance that we have barely understood. Marlantes conjures grace out of suffering, honor from despair, sense out of nonsense. The men and women of this story have long deserved a homecoming, and we needed to hear their true story. Marlantes has delivered a heartbreaking achievement. He has written a timeless work of literary fiction.?oug Stanton, author of Horse Soldiers