Tuesday, August 23, 2011

An Example of a Great Book

The book I chose was written by Marcus Luttrell with the help of Patrick Robinson. It is called Lone Survivor and tells the story of a lost Navy SEAL Team in nothern Afghanistan. Luttrell was part of the team, and the only one who survived.
p. 55
"General Douglas MacArthur once warned the cadets of West Point that if they should become the first to allow the Long Gray Line to fail, 'a million ghosts in olive drab, brown khaki, in blue and gray, would rise from their white crosses thundering those magic words, Duty, Honor, and Country.' No need for ghosts in the U.S. Navy SEALs. Those words are engraved upon our hearts,"

This passage is one of my favorite. It it is a great example of the book as a whole. First, I enjoy the imagination that is brought into the text. When I read it, I see MacArthur lecturing his students and  daring them to surrender. Further, the quote Lutrell gave is an excellent one, because it shows what the U.S. Military stands for. After reading the book one will have a completely new sense of what it means to be a SEAL, and Lutrell delivered this message in a good way. On the one side he explains how amazing the SEALs are in what they do, physically and mentally, and on the other side he brings in the elements  honor, camaraderie and duty. These are the reasons for why I really enjoyed the book and the passage is a great example to show this. Also, I am really interested in the subject, and the book was very informative.



1 comment:

  1. "Those words are engraved upon our hearts"--not only are their deeds remarkable, but the sense of tradition and ethics, the code that they all strive to live up to at all times, no wonder you enjoyed this passage and this story so much. Are you a fan of military stories in general?

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