specialk136's review against another edition
3.0
"Son, we live in a world that has walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with guns. Who's gonna do it? You? ...You don't want the truth because deep down in places you don't talk about at parties, you want me on that wall, you need me on that wall."
-Jack Nicholson, A Few Good Men
No Easy Day is not a great book - but it is a heck of a story. Owens is (or was) a SEAL, not a writer, so it's to be expected that the writing is inelegant and clunky at times. Owens is also not one for introspection. He tells a straight-forward account that doesn't waste time on analysis and sticks to the story. What that does is create a fast-moving account of his SEAL days and the ultimate payoff: the account of the killing of Osama Bin Laden. And that story is fascinating.*
*Fair warning: That story doesn't begin until page 149, which is the first mention of Bin Laden's name.
I was interested in the first half of the book, Owens' account of his SEAL training. It's a world I knew very little about. But it really picks up at that halfway point.
So why did it leave me a bit unsettled at the end? Maybe for a few reasons. Well, Owens himself isn't all that likable by the end. The opinions he expresses about warfare are very black and white - and they would have to be, to do what he does. My opinions skew more in the gray area. Reading about the realities of warfare is a bit unsettling in and of itself.
I'm also unsure I can trust Owen's stated motives for writing the book. You can sense his dissatisfaction with the system towards the end of his writing. Did he really just want to "set the record straight," as he said, or was there another motive? What about all the other SEALs who didn't violate their non-disclosure agreements? I'm curious what they think of the book. Without knowing his true motives, there's a little uncertainty lingering for me.
That said, we owe the SEALS and other soldiers a great deal of gratitude. I'm glad to have read the book.
More like 3.5 stars, I think.
Note: Lots of F-bombs. This is the Navy, after all.
-Jack Nicholson, A Few Good Men
No Easy Day is not a great book - but it is a heck of a story. Owens is (or was) a SEAL, not a writer, so it's to be expected that the writing is inelegant and clunky at times. Owens is also not one for introspection. He tells a straight-forward account that doesn't waste time on analysis and sticks to the story. What that does is create a fast-moving account of his SEAL days and the ultimate payoff: the account of the killing of Osama Bin Laden. And that story is fascinating.*
*Fair warning: That story doesn't begin until page 149, which is the first mention of Bin Laden's name.
I was interested in the first half of the book, Owens' account of his SEAL training. It's a world I knew very little about. But it really picks up at that halfway point.
So why did it leave me a bit unsettled at the end? Maybe for a few reasons. Well, Owens himself isn't all that likable by the end. The opinions he expresses about warfare are very black and white - and they would have to be, to do what he does. My opinions skew more in the gray area. Reading about the realities of warfare is a bit unsettling in and of itself.
I'm also unsure I can trust Owen's stated motives for writing the book. You can sense his dissatisfaction with the system towards the end of his writing. Did he really just want to "set the record straight," as he said, or was there another motive? What about all the other SEALs who didn't violate their non-disclosure agreements? I'm curious what they think of the book. Without knowing his true motives, there's a little uncertainty lingering for me.
That said, we owe the SEALS and other soldiers a great deal of gratitude. I'm glad to have read the book.
More like 3.5 stars, I think.
Note: Lots of F-bombs. This is the Navy, after all.
ladydoubtless's review against another edition
2.0
Yes, seals are admirable and this book does give details into the bin laden raid, but it feels somewhat mechanical in its prose.
cdbaker's review against another edition
3.0
I read this mainly because I think that it might be the one book about Afghanistan/Pakistan/Bin Laden that some of my students may have read. It was definitely interesting -- I read the whole thing in under a day. I found the parts about Navy SEAL training to be v. interesting. And I also liked learning about how raids are conducted and intelligence is gathered during them.
btodd12's review against another edition
challenging
dark
medium-paced
4.0
Interesting first-hand account of the planning and execution of the Seals Team that raided Osama Bin Laden’s compound.
pghreader's review against another edition
5.0
This book probably is not for everyone. But, I really enjoyed it. Mark Owen does a great job at "setting the record straight." The epilogue offers a complete explanation for why he decided to write this book after leaving the Navy. I frequently share his opinion that mass media and sometimes the government, distort the story based on a lack of information and the American need for sensationalism.
The book is very well written and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants an insider's view as to what REALLY happened on May 1, 2011.
The book is very well written and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants an insider's view as to what REALLY happened on May 1, 2011.
clintonchanges's review against another edition
3.0
It was fascinating to get the details of this account from an eyewitness, but there was nothing outstanding or special about the way it was told. It felt perfunctory. Hard to believe this particular story could ever be described as boring, but certain stretches were just that. Read the New Yorker summary instead for a more concise, harrowing version.
abrswf's review against another edition
3.0
I found this book very, very interesting for many reasons, not least of which is that it provides a detailed and baldly factual account of the mission that took out OBL. I admit to still feeling huge satisfaction that OBL is dead, so I am sure that is part of the reason I liked the book. Also, I listened to it, and it is well narrated. And I learned a lot about SEAL equipment and training. But . . . I really have to take off stars for our fearless author, who is in reality Matt Bissonnette. I appreciate his bravery, his service to our country, and his loyalty to his fellow SEALs, But he's not a thoughtful or reflective man. He has a bizarre lack of respect for our country's tradition of civilian oversight of the military. The book radiates disrespect for and dislike of and respect for President Obama and Vice President Biden even as it recounts extremely careful planning, excellent intelligence, and full resource support for the SEAL mission -- who does he think arranged all that?