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    Once There Was a War
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    Once There Was a War
    Unavailable
    Once There Was a War
    Audiobook7 hours

    Once There Was a War

    Written by John Steinbeck

    Narrated by Lloyd James

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    In 1943 John Steinbeck was on assignment for The New York Herald Tribune, writing from Italy and North Africa, and from England in the midst of the London blitz. In his dispatches he focuses on the human-scale effect of the war, portraying everyone from the guys in a bomber crew to Bob Hope on his USO tour and even fighting alongside soldiers behind enemy lines. Taken together, these writings create an indelible portrait of life in wartime.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateAug 28, 2014
    ISBN9780698154223
    Unavailable
    Once There Was a War
    Author

    John Steinbeck

    John Steinbeck (Salinas, 1902 - Nueva York, 1968). Narrador y dramaturgo estadounidense. Estudió en la Universidad de Stanford, pero desde muy joven tuvo que trabajar duramente como albañil, jornalero rural, agrimensor o empleado de tienda. En la década de 1930 describió la pobreza que acompañó a la Depresión económica y tuvo su primer reconocimiento crítico con la novela Tortilla Flat, en 1935. Sus novelas se sitúan dentro de la corriente naturalista o del realismo social americano. Su estilo, heredero del naturalismo y próximo al periodismo, se sustenta sin embargo en una gran carga de emotividad en los argumentos y en el simbolismo presente en las situaciones y personajes que crea, como ocurre en sus obras mayores: De ratones y hombres (1937), Las uvas de la ira (1939) y Al este del Edén (1952). Obtuvo el premio Nobel en 1962.

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    Reviews for Once There Was a War

    4/5

    116 ratings8 reviews

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    • 4/5
      This is a collection of columns Steinbeck sent to papers in the US during 1943 from, England, North Africa, Sicily and Italy. The columns were brief but caught what it was like to be a soldier preparing for war and then fighting the war. A column that I found very interesting was one he wrote about the song Lilli Marlene which gave its history as well as how it became a favourite on both sides of the conflict,Other contributions covered service on a PT Boat including attacks on a German convoy and landing a group of commandos on an island to capture it, life on a destroyer, approaching a Sicilian beach in a landing craft with all hell breaking loose around you and life on an American bomber base in England. Some of the others were about the beauty of England, US soldiers learning about the cultural and cuisine differences of the English and living through the Blitz.
    • 4/5
      This book is a compilation of John Steinbeck’s articles for the New York Herald Tribune, written in 1943. The majority of articles are direct observations of what happened with the troops in their daily lives as soldiers. The events take place in England, Northern Africa, and Italy.

      The articles vary in content and tone from light-hearted to poignant to heroic to tragic. Steinbeck is reporting on the soldiers’ reactions to the various challenges presented to them, sometimes waiting a long while for something to happen followed by a flurry of action. The dialogues are plentiful and realistic. There are some fabulous stories here – my favorite is the joint effort of troops with their officers to (unofficially) save the life of a pregnant woman in Italy. If you want to see what a skilled novelist can do in the field of journalism, this is a great one to pick up.
    • 4/5
      This was a great look at World War 2, not the usual battles and politicians and generals but a look at the war from the eye level of the troops by a superb writer. It was almost like slice of life stories, some of the most compelling for me was a scene in a movie theater during the blitz. I'd seen the movie that was playing comfortably at home and not under bombing, a section on Bob Hope was easily the most patriotic. A few funny pieces "Germans fight for world domination and the English for the defense of England, the Americans fight for souvenirs." and a version of Santa that delivers Scotch to a thirsty press corp.
    • 4/5
      Steinbeck reporting WWII, from bomber bases in the UK, to North Africa and an Allied landing in Sicily, where Steinbeck was wounded. Odd to see included a picture of Steinbeck, his son, and LBJ before the boy deployed to Vietnam.
    • 5/5
      The year 1942 would mark John Steinbeck’s 40th birthday as well as the failure of his marriage. One has to wonder how these events may have influenced his decision in 1943 to go off to war. Steinbeck went off to World War II as War Correspondent for The International Herald Tribune though his reports would appear in other newspapers as well. He would spend June through December of 1943 in North Africa, Sicily, and Italy as war correspondent. He would end that work in 1944 marked by shrapnel wounds and apparently by what we might now call post-traumatic stress.Steinbeck was not Ernie Pyle but as did Pyle and other of his colleagues, Steinbeck did relish spending his time with the troops rather than the brass and it showed in what he chose to write about. In 1958, several dozen of his war reports were collected and published as “Once There Was A War”. Presented chronologically, they allow the ready to follow the author from his arrival in England aboard a troopship and onward as he follows the war first to North Africa and then into Italy. His articles spoke of his encounters with GIs, aircrew, motor torpedo boats, paratroopers, commandos, Americans, British, French, Italians, and even other war correspondents. As published, the reports are generally two to three pages in length.John Steinbeck opens this collection with a new introduction which recounts his thoughts about what it was like to be a war correspondent. He also notes that after reviewing these articles for the first time since they were published and resolved to make no changes at all. They are presented here just as they were published 70 years ago and as approved by the wartime censors. Although he worked as a war correspondent for just 1943, John Steinbeck would later repeat the role in more controversial fashion traveling to South Vietnam in 1967 and reporting on the war there.This is a great collection which does not demand to be read in one fell swoop, it’s great for just picking up and putting down as you wish. I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in John Steinbeck the author, World War II (especially England, Africa, and Italian theatres in 1943), and war correspondents.
    • 5/5
      In 1943, John Steinbeck was a war correspondent for the New York Herald Tribune, and the dispatches that he filed from overseas captured the backstory to the war. He did not publish these stories in book form until 1958, and then he did not edit them:"The pieces in this volume were written under pressure and in tension. My first impulse on rereading them was to correct, to change, to smooth out ragged sentences and remove repetitions, but their very raggedness is, it seems to me, a parcel of their immediacy. They are as real as the wicked witch and the good fairy, as true and tested and edited as any other myth. There once was a war, long ago--once upon a time."These stories date from June 20,1943 through December 13,1943 and take place in England, Africa, and Italy; in fact, the book is divided into sections based on location, but the stories are in chronological order. The picture they present of WWII are the small forgotten moments that occur when troops are being transported or bomber crews are waiting for their next mission. Among the many ordinary service men and women, we meet Big Train Mulligan, the Army private who worked hard at not getting promoted, an alcoholic goat known as Wing Commander William Goat, DSO, who was buried with full military honors, and Bugs, a private first class who has acquired a souvenir that is not easy to transport - a mirror that is 6'2" by 4' and weighs about 75 pounds. Page by page, Steinbeck paints a picture of what the war was like when no one was looking.On an imaginary line the children stand and watch the cargo come out. They are not permitted to go beyond their line for fear they might be hurt. There are at least a hundred of them, a little shabby, as everyone in England is after four years of war. And not too clean, for they have been playing on ground that is largely coal dust. How they cluster about an American soldier who has come off the ship! They want gum. Much as the British may deplore the gum-chewing habit, their children find it delightful. There are semi-professional gum beggars among the children. "Penny, mister?" has given way to "Goom, mister?" When you have gum you have something permanent, something you can use day after day and even trade when you are tired of it. Candy is ephemeral. One moment you have candy, and the next moment you haven't. But gum is real property. The grubby little hands are held up to the soldier and the chorus swells. "Goom, mister?"
    • 4/5
      another good book from Steinbeck.....as with my recent reading of "The Moon is Down," this collection of vignettes treats the horror of war from a unique perspective.....hardly any blood and guts......just a study of the humanity of the American soldiers sent into duty and their efforts to remain human and sane in the face of all the unpleasantness....a memorable exercise that merely intensifies my strong support and appreciation for all those who have served and who currently serve our country.......kudos to Steinbeck.
    • 4/5
      a work of non-fiction describing some of the people that Steinbeck met during his war reporting with the US during WWII.