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A review by specialk136
No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama Bin Laden by Mark Owen
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.