The Cat from Hue: A Vietnam War Story

This book is a bit daunting to start reading since it is 850 pages and much of it is an account of war on the ground in Vietnam. But I found as I read that it is a tour de force and much is of high drama, taking one into the grunt world that Laurence lived in as a TV journalist (CBS) where the viewpoint is quite different from that of a print journalist. While Meo, the cat the book is named for, occupies only about 50 pages of the book, those pages are a delight to read, even tho one figures Laurence is exaggerating a bit in describing the tough cat which he found in Hue and his behavior. This book is powerful and is rightly ranked with Dispatches, by Michael Herr, which I read with appreciation on July 6, 1999, as a great Vietnam book. However the best book still that I have read on the war in Vietnam is We Were Soldiers Once...And Young, by Harold G. Moore and Joe Galloway. But this book belongs on the same shelf of great books about Vietnam.

Having spent two years in Vietnam as a sailor aboard a warship, I often spent time watching the war at a distance. Occasionaly we had to fight but it was usually artillary duels up north and then lunch. I never understood the war or why we were there or why men fight wars at all. I was usually at odds with superiors over the ethics of war but did my job nonetheless. For years I have searched the book shelves for a kindred spirit who could bring the experience to life and hold it at arms length long enough to examine it . Finally this book appears from nowhere and captures the esscense of young men in horrible situations. The most delicious aspect of the book is how bazzar incidents become common place. ( I once watched ten men die while I safely ate a sandwich and I was the only witness and I also finished the sandwich). Mr. Laurence has written a classic. He honors us all with his painfull discriptions of that debacle. It is also the first book that I have read that weaves the story of the Vietnamese people's desperate situation with our own. His honesty about the war and his own motives and reactions are a crucial ingredient. Read it. It is a jewel.

When all is said and done, Jack Laurence will be recognized as certainly the best television reporter to cover the Viet Nam war, if not one of the best reporters, period. Yet I was prepared to be highly skeptical as I opened this book. As a CBS reporter who came to Viet Nam about a year after Jack Laurence left I had grave misgivings about how he and some of my colleagues had covered the war.Although I still disagree with some of Jack's views, I find this to be a simply superb book, one that should be read by all Americans who have an interest in that war, and especially by those who are curious about the TV networks covered it.This book is searingly honest and precise, so honest, in fact, that it will open up Jack to criticism from many who believe that "the press lost the war."As a personal memoir, it is as good or better than such books as Michael Herr's "Despatches," Phil Caputo's "Rumor of War," and Jon Swain's "River of Time."Because it has a much broader scope than those books, it may some day may be ranked among the very best books to come out of Vietnam.As a Jack Laurence tells you in his opening author's note he and his ultra-cool cameraman -- Keith Kay -- recorded either on sound tape or on film tracks much of the dialog you read in the book. Jack also reconstructs from his notes much other dialog that is simply riveting. As one who also worked with some of the same people, I can say their voices as you hear them in this book are exactly as they spoke.The voices of the Marines, soldiers, pilots, officers and grunts you hear in this book are absolutely authentic. The detail is astonishing. If you want to know who it REALLY was like in Viet Nam, read this book. It is better than even the rave review it got from the New York Times, and the encomiums it has received from some of the famous names on the flyleaf. Read it. You'll find it hard to put down.Peter CollinsReporter, Viet Nam20 June 1971 -- 29 April 1975

Remember John Laurence, the CBS reporter, who brought Vietnam into our living rooms? His vivid portrayal of the grunts and soldiers who lived and died for their country was seen on television on a nightly basis. The real war came home for the first time. "The Cat from Hue" continues this theme with more details and behind the scene stories told from his viewpoint and often from the words of the original speaker. There are many interviews with tht original soldiers, written in their voice. So well written I feel I am "In Country"- a book hard to put down- not much is left out -Vietnam in first person. I saw John Laurence on C-Span, being interviewed about his novel. And, he was just as remembered. He told us that the Vietnam War changed his life, as it did for all who were part of this War. He has made a mark in the field of journalism for his courgeous stories told in the field of fire. Highly recommended. prisrob

I served in the 101st Airborne Division, 3rd Brigade, 173rd Av Attack from 67-73. I served two tours of combat including the Cambodia campaign. I do agree with John on every account, I have no arguments, Yes there was a monster present, and situations got seriously out of hand. But this book is so much more than that, a comprehensive write that is right on the money. This book is the most factual record that I have witnessed on the public market, read this and you will be truly enlightened of this part of the war in Viet Nam. I'd like to mention a book that is relative to this, and speaks of more conflict to come, a must read, SB 1 or God by Maddox