Ron KovicRecensioni

The first half of the book involves the authors raw journals from his time in country during the Vietnam War. The second half of the book take places after the authors involvement in the war. I found the war portion of the book to be much more engaging as the second half seems to be a revolving door of self pity and erotica.

I received this book for free in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This volume completes the trilogy of Kovic books. I had not read the intermediate book “Hurricane Street” but I don’t feel bad about that. “A Dangerous Country” is a radical reworking of “Born on the Fourth of July” which itself was a great book although marred by major flaws. Born on the Fourth of July is a book written soon after Kovic came back home from his combat tour and finished most of his recuperation. He details how he naively went to war and was horrifically maimed for life and the hard transition to civilian life that he had to undertake. “Born” has a pronounced divide when he changes his narrative voice and his persona. So pronounced is the change that it is almost unbelievable and feels like a fictional account. Many books reveal this change. This does not make them bad books to read. A recent book I can think of along this vein is “Peace Mom” by Cindy Sheehan. Many Vietnam War memoirs did not want to disparage the memory of their fallen brothers in arms. Being critical of the war command structure or the political leaders was one thing but to speak against the valor of the infantry or marine heroes was out of the question. “Born”’s second half had the unfortunate result that Kovic had adopted the antiwar sloganeering of the radicals, peaceniks or worse, communists. Since there was no description of his own evolution of thought or honest struggle with the big questions of the war and why he was there, the book ends on a negative note when it shouldn’t have. In “A Dangerous Country” we find out why that was. Kovic had been silently dealing with his own personal doubts that he had, possibly and accidentally, killed one of his own marine brothers as they were retreating under fire. He just assumes that he did. He uses his own feelings of guilt as a measure to test if his actions were culpable or not. This is never a good nor objective test of moral action. In “A Dangerous Country” Kovic uses his exact words in a diary he kept during his time at the Vietnamese DMZ. This was absent from the first book. This book does show Kovic’s heroism in the struggle to live with his actions and come to peace with his conscience. So Kovic was a catholic and was so attuned to prayer that after he finished his combat tour he was planning on becoming a Catholic Priest. His injuries changed all that, however. There are many things that I identified with reading this book. Beises struggling with his belief system, there was the urge to a priestly vocation, there was the fact that he wrote “Born” while living in Santa Monica, California. He also lived in Venice, California which is something I also have done. He also said that before he shipped out to Vietnam for his second tour of duty, he visited Disneyland. I’ve read many Vietnam memoirs. I find them all very meaningful since there was a time when I wanted to know what the US was doing there. And more importantly why did everyone have to be programmed to hate Vietnam vets when they came back home. I have a good idea now, but the US post-Vietnam era was not filled with the compassion I would have presumed to expect. We now know that the Soviet Union actually spent money on promoting anti-war propaganda. Usually the Soviet Union relied on American dupes to spread their anticapitalistic destabilization or espionage activities as was seen in the recent movie “Oppenheimer.” The Vietnam War era was the one time that Soviet money paid off. So, in “Born” I read one of the scenes that has stuck in my mind for years. Not all war memoirs do this, but Kovic did in one of his descriptions. He said that when he was injured during that fateful firefight he fell down and couldn’t move his legs. It sounded like he was about to describe his legs being blown off (his spine was severed by the rifle round probably an AK47 bullet). Instead, he remembers that a Marine coming toward him, an African American marine who he never identifies, picked him up with one hand and carried him back to a secure area. To me that felt like it was a perfect description of divine intervention, with God as a Black Man. God as US Marine. It is horrible what Kovic had to endure for decades afterwards but I am still glad he wrote those words on the page for me. That is a mysterious account that seems to have so many unanswered questions. Kovic does not revisit the part of the story again in “Country”. But the whole book is an in-depth revelation of his doubts and anger and mental illness symptoms and hopes for a better future for himself post injury. This book is meant to complement the other volumes in the trilogy but I still favor “Born” for the episode referred to above. “A Dangerous Country” is Kovic coming into his own as a writer and that is something to be commended. I really enjoyed this book while “Born” was something to be feared and astonished by, in my opinion. The was a movie about “Born” starring Tom Cruise and I am sure I saw it but I need to rewatch it. The injured soldier in a wheelchair that most people remember is LT Dan from Forrest Gump. I’m not saying Kovic has refashioned himself into LT Dan, because Forrest is a fiction, but Kovic has given we readers something even greater to be proud of. The book ends with Kovic over that Long Beach, California VA hospital. It is right next to California State, Long Beach University, which I used to attend. There were so many coincidences in this book to my own personal life that this book was almost a spiritual retreat for me to ponder over. Kovic had been trying to write The Great American Novel that all writers chase after but produced this memoir instead. I am glad he chose this work to stake his claim as a writer. “A Dangerous Country” is a book which straddles the Vietnam War and the aftereffects of the war upon one injured infantryman. Many Vietnam memoirs focus on the war and a few years afterward. Take advantage of the effort put into writing this to see that war memoirs are not the only thing we can learn from our many Vietnam veterans. Due to some descriptions, this book would not be appropriate for under 18 years of age. I often say a prayer for the unnamed Marine who picked up Kovic and brought him back to us.

civil-unrest, disabled-vet, LibraryThing, NamVets, PTSD, read, self-identity, self-worth-issues, short-stories, unputdownable, Vietnam-war*****

Like all those who fought in this war, he faced enemies there and hateful demonstrations from many at home. His goal in serving is to protect his nation from communism. As a two tour USMarine in Vietnam he suffers severe injuries which render him a paraplegic, but good old McCarthyism rears its ugly head and he winds up having his phone tapped and arrested for loudly voicing his beliefs. This about the time when Kovic starts to question the reality of God. The remainder of the book recounts his time since then.
I have known and worked with many returned vets, especially the uninjured who migrated into law enforcement or health care. Ron Kovic continues to serve as a voice for all of the NamVets.
I won a print copy from Akashic Books in a LibraryThing Giveaway. Thank you!
Available 02/13/2024 The earlier books are: Born on the Fourth of July and Hurricane Street.

A harrowing account of the brutality of war and the lifelong struggle to accept what it means to engage in war. Kovic describes in searingly honest detail his marine experience and the aftermath that followed. His subsequent paralyzation has caused him to rethink his commitment to war and focus on peace. He went from a gung ho marine trained to kill to a person protesting said war. A tough read, but a necessary one.
kudos to library thing for providing my copy!!

Ron Kovic was the all-American kid, born on July 4th,an athlete in school who always dreamed of being a hero for his country like he'd seen in the movies. Kovic joins the US Marines making the rank of Sergeant and is sent to Vietnam where serves two tours. During his second tour in Vietnam, Kovic suffers terrible injuries that leaves him paralyzed from the chest down.

On his return to the United States to a VA hospital Kovic finds himself thrown into a system that didn't seem to care all that much for the young men, who had sacrificed their minds and bodies, in service for their country. Kovic very graphically describes the indignities he suffered at the VA hospital, whether it was lazy aides who left him in a puddle of his own urine, or other staff who refused to respond to these broken men when they needed their medication or a change of bedding. Kovic turns from the all-American boy who loved God and country to an activist who found himself reviled and rejected by his fellow citizens for pointing out the terrible treatment injured veterans were receiving -- being spat on, called a "communist" and a traitor by people who didn't end up serving themselves. Kovic brought a lot of attention to VA hospitals and hopefully things are much improved.

Oliver Stone turned the book into a movie in 1989, with Tom Cruise playing Kovic. In the book Kovic covers all the aspects of his life, his childhood, his time as a raw recruit and in Vietnam, his time in recovery and as an activist all in an easy to read prose. But what seems to be really missing is what exactly triggered him into becoming an activist, he seems to go from patriot to anti-Government protester almost overnight with no real explanation as to why.

This is a book that I've wanted to read for quite a while and its a quick read, with Kovic using first, second and third person perspectives to tell his story. I found this interesting and I'm glad that I've read it but somehow it felt flat, lacking any real passion and it left me with as many questions as it did answers. I also feel that it was a product of its time and is showing its age.

While I didn't serve in country, I did serve from mid 1969 through the end of the Vietnam War and I remember the stark divisions and feelings that existed in the country at that time. I also remember Ron's story from Born on the Fourth of July, so I was happy to receive this book for review.

The first section of the book is Ron's diary from his second tour in country, up to the point of his injury. It's compelling reading and gives the reader a "real life" view of what it might have been like in his position and situation. It was especially interesting to go back, after the reveal of the incident where he killed a fellow soldier and re-read the pages that covered that period.

The rest of the book is an emotional recounting of the highs and extremely deep lows that have encased Ron's life since his return. It's a quick, yet compelling, read and I enjoyed it very much. I highly recommend this book, and I thank Ron for his service.

Wow, holy crap, what an intense, emotional and brutally honest look into Mr. Kovic’s life, including his never before released Vietnam journal. This book is actually my first foray into Mr. Kovic’s work but it definitely won’t be my last, I will one hundred percent be picking up Born On The Fourth of July and Hurricane Street. I just don’t even know what to say…wow!

A Dangerous Country is separated into three parts. Part One is a year-long diary written with a good friend in mind. The entries are short and this section moves along quickly. When Kovic first arrives for his second tour of duty, he is impatient for action; he has a strong desire to learn and has a few sweethearts he wishes would write more often. At goes goes on Kovic is so busy with patrols and scouting that he doesn't have time to record what the mail did (or did not) bring him. The entire time Kovic is in Vietnam he has a fervent wish to protect our country from the threat of communist slavery. The letter written by Father Harrington to his parents about his injuries ends Part One.
The second section of A Dangerous Country begins a little more than six months after Kovic suffers his paralyzing injuries on January 20th 1968. Part Two is the political awakening Kovic has once he returns to civilian duty as a disable veteran. When you speak out against war you expose yourself to threats of being seen as anti-American because war is our middle name. We are not afraid to join it if the price is right. Criticize at your own peril. Why else would Kovic's phone be tapped? Why else would he be arrested for speaking his mind? This is the section where Kovic starts to question the reality of God.
Part Three opens in San Francisco, California in 1982. Kovic struggles with finding his place in society. Art, writing, and theater occupy his search for self, both spiritually and sexually. As an aside, Kovic reclaiming his sexual identity was one of the most poignant parts of his story. With devastating guilt comes suicidal thoughts and all-time lows. This is the most painful part of the story. What is unclear is how much forgiveness Kovic has afforded himself by the end of A Dangerous Country. While he will never be completely free of the horrors of war (memory is a powerful weapon of self-destruction), Kovic has made great strides to live in peace. His inner strength and fighting spirit end A Dangerous Country with hope and acceptance.

I finished reading A Dangerous Country, by Ron Kovac. Do you remember the movie, Born On the Fourth of July? This is a continuation of his story starting with parts of his wartime diary.

He is honest and gives a raw telling of his story. He tells of his adjustment to being a paraplegic, his emotional turmoil over what happened in Vietnam, his religious crisis, the torment of his conscience, and how horrible war is.

You will need a strong stomach and will learn that war is the worst thing that a human being can go through.

Perhaps coming to Kovic's book so late in the game leaves it to suffer against others. He doesn't shy away from the horrors he suffered upon returning with a life-altering injury. There's nothing dressed up about his narrative - it reads and feels deeply personal, conflicted. Is it possible to have read too many of these stories, to become somewhat immune to the telling of them? And, then, doesn't that sound like a new betrayal all over again. I don't know - I just wasn't particularly moved by Kovic's book, whatever that means.

3 bones!!!

It's a bit hard for me to believe that I hadn't read this book already. There was a time in the 1980s that I devoured everything I could read about the Vietnam War. It was fascinating to me in its horror, grotesqueness and absurdity. I guess the fact that I turned 18 in 1973, thus missing the draft by only a single year, somehow added to that. (A draft lottery was held that year just in case the U.S. government/military changed their minds -- I got a high number, a good thing.) Anti-war activist or pro-war flag waver, I think one of the big dividing lines between American generations is whether or not you grew up with the Vietnam War draft hanging over your head (or the heads of one's children).

At any rate, I came upon my paperback copy of this book on my memoir shelf and realized that I'd never actually read the thing. It only took me three or four sittings to finish this. Kovic is a very effective writer. This work is extremely powerful. There's nothing dated about it now, and it's easy to see why it gained such attention then. The memoir begins with the moment Kovic is wounded during a firefight and immediately loses all feeling from the middle of his chest downward. The horrors of life in a VA hospital and the darkness that descends on Kovic as he grapples with the realization that his condition is permanent are graphically and powerfully rendered. Kovic also flashes back to his (in the telling) idyllic Long Island middle-class upbringing that led him to the patriotic "God and Country" perspective that drew him to the Marines and to enthusiasm for the war in the first place. He details his life for the first decade after his wound, including his evolution into a strong anti-Vietnam War activist, in often compelling fashion as well. As an anti-war statement and a chronicle of personal darkness and perseverance, this memoir stands up very well, indeed.

I picked up this book to see the transformation of a patriotic GI into a Vietnam Veteran Against the War. I wanted to learn how the movement enticed him, when he had his epiphany, and how he reacted to the rest of the anti-war movement. I wanted to read the author grappling with the decision to join the anti-war movement.

Unfortunately, the epiphany lasts only a couple of pages, and the conversion from skeptical injured veteran to strident anti-war activist is pretty sudden. Only one seven page chapter is devoted to his "conversion." Near as I can tell, only one sentence deals with him grappling with his dual life as a patriotic GI and as an anti-war veteran: "One part of me was upset that people were swimming naked in the national monument and the other part of me completely understood that now it was their pool, and what good is a pool if you can't swim in it." Hardly emotionally tugging or complicated prose.

Kovic's book is authentic, written by a real paralyzed veteran, and Kovic's anti-war barnstorming is interesting to me as an anti-war civilian. But everything good about this book can be gleaned from the book "Johnny Got His Gun." In fact, Born on the Fourth of July refers to "Johnny Got His Gun" directly: "It was as if the book was speaking about me, my wound and the hell it had been coming back and learning to live with it." Yes. It was.

The true story of young Marine Kovic, who's combat injury in Vietnam left him paralyzed from the chest down. The writing can be stilted sometimes but that doesn't stop the reader from feeling the impact of Kovic's story. The first two chapters are very difficult, as they take place in the battle when he was shot and surrounded by other wounded men, then the treatment he received in the VA hospital immediately afterwards, which was just as horrifying as the battleground. I actually put the book down for about a week and wondered if I'd keep going, but then figured that he lived it and all I had to do was read about it.
Kovic's story was published over 40 years ago, and it's probably more introspective than most, as he deals with isolation, loneliness, grief over the loss of sexual functioning, and his desire to be seen as a symbol of the war. 4 stars

I received this book from Early Reviewers. I made it to page 75. It was not my type of book. I could not see myself reading all of it and being disappointed like his other book. This time around, Ron continues to talk about the deplorable conditions at the VA hospitals and stages a hunger strike. I'm sorry but it just didn't pull me. Kudos to Ron for fighting for what he believes in.

This is the few times where the movie was better than the book. The book is about Ron's story how he grew up, went to Vietnam, got paralyzed and what happened after he came home. The simplistic writing was not what I expected for a book turned into a movie.

For the rest of the review, visit my blog at: http://angelofmine1974.livejournal.com/123850.html

In February of 1974, a disabled Vietnam veteran stages a hunger strike in a California senator's office to protest the conditions at VA hospitals around the country. He's a pretty uncompelling writer considering he lived the events.

I think I may have too many war/horror stories under my belt to find this one particularly novel. Volunteer marine goes back for a second tour during Vietnam and is paralyzed. Becomes disillusioned with the ongoing war following his poor treatment at the VA hospital and his generation losing their lives/limbs/minds over a cause the growing majority of the American public no longer supports. Begins speaking out/protesting while attempting to cope with the rest of his life imprisoned in a chair. Intrigued by his follow-up novel focused on improving the treatment of disabled veterans.

"No government will ever teach me to hate another human being."

When I review a memoir of any sort, I do my best to disconnect the writing quality from the person and his/her story. As I sit here contemplating my rating for this book. I'm finding that separation is an impossibility. The writing style is fine, though not overly compelling. But the story is compelling, as is the author. And I've realized that, with this book, the writing quality is secondary to the story told.

Ron Kovic lived through a tumultuous time in our history. He was at the forefront of the drive for change in a system so broken that winning the fight for any sort of change at all must have seemed a monumental challenge. Kovic and the men he teams up with are all war-damaged, still adjusting to their new bodies and the new limitations. Yet, they are not about to lie back and give up. They don't wallow; they fight. We see this all through Ron Kovic's eyes.

What must it be like for a paralyzed war veteran to be neglected and abused in the very hospital designed to nurture him? Ron Kovic will show you exactly what that was like. His treatment as a disabled war veteran, and the treatment so many of our veteran's still endure, is shameful.

Ron Kovic's strength of spirit is inspiring. I admire his resilience and persistence. His story is a part of our history that we all need to see through his eyes.

Some forty years after his first book, Born on the Fourth of July, Ron Kovic tells the story of his and his veteran friends' efforts to improve care and conditions at VA hospitals. It is an important story, and Kovic tells it well, but as I read I kept remembering how the same struggle for treatment continues for veterans wounded in our present day wars. That awareness cast a cloud over the book, which may be what Kovic intended.

The publisher's blurb makes it sound like Kovic's accomplishment was the result of well-laid plans. It was anything but. While Kovic knew he wanted to agitate for better conditions in VA hospitals, he admittedly had no idea what he was doing. When he came up with a vague idea to occupy Senator Cranston's office, he lied to his fellow veterans about his intention and why they were going to the office:

“I know that I have not been completely honest with them and have purposely withheld information regarding tomorrow’s meeting. I am hoping that if I can just get them down there, everything will fall into place. I’m also convinced that if I tell them the whole truth, few, if any of them, will want to go. This is the only way it can be done” (84).

The small group of veterans occupy the senator's office, but they're not getting results. Enthusiasm wanes. The idea of a hunger strike wasn't planned, but someone proposes it and this idea borne of desperation is what eventually gets the attention Kovic and his group were hoping for. Reforms are promised.

The group returns to Hurricane Street riding a wave of success. After a few days the guys are ready to go back to their lives. Kovic panics:

“Maybe they are right and it’s finally time we all go our separate ways, but the thought of breaking up the AVM and ending up alone on Hurricane Street again frightens me. As my dream of the AVM being the catalyst for a greater uprising begins to fade, I plead, “We’ve got to stay together, brothers. We can’t quit now!
Once again I know I have to do something fast if I’m going to keep everyone together, and I immediately suggest and even greater action. And just as I withheld some facts in order to get all the guys to come with me to Senator Cranston’s office and launch the sit-in, I begin doing the same thing all over again, refusing to tell them of my hidden agenda, knowing full well that few if any will join me if they know all I hope to achieve” (191).

This greater action is a march on Washington, which ends up being a bust. Kovic and his closest allies next attempt to take over of the Washington Monument and the White House, both of which are unsuccessful and end up making the AVM look a bit foolish. Shortly afterwards, Kovic is voted out as leader of the AVM, which is immediately disbanded.

And that's what success in real life looks like. Kovic got results even if it sometimes seemed like failure. Because of guys like Ron Kovic and the media attention they generated, veterans started to receive better care at VA hospitals. Fighting for better medical care is something each generation of American veterans has had to do.

The style of Kovic's writing is as simple and straightforward as the cover of the book. At times it seems graceful and at other times it seems as if you're reading the private journal of a ham-fisted teenaged grunt.

I wanted more details from Kovic in this book. Some sections seemed much too vague, such as when he was traveling around the country visiting veterans groups to gain support for the march. At least one detail was totally wrong--he mentions quietly opening a can of Diet Coke in 1974, a beverage that didn't exist until 1982. (Sorry, I was in high school when it came out and it was a big deal.) And I'd like to know if there was a government spy in the AVM who worked to shut it down. But these are small beans compared to the overall story Kovic tells. It's not a story most people will bother to read.

One detail that caught me off guard, which is one of the most poignant moments of the book, is when Kovic mentions running into Donald Johnson years after the hunger strike. Johnson was head of the VA in 1974. Back then Johnson had been the enemy, but over the years Kovic came to learn that Johnson had served honorably in WWII, that the man's father died in WWI and his own son was a disabled Vietnam-era veteran. Kovic writes about Johnson,

"Never during the strike did I or the others take this into consideration. How could we? We were angry . . . obsessed with our own priorities. Back then there was no middle ground. The truth is, I wish I had been able to tell him that day that I was sorry for the way we had treated him" (233).

But it was a battle he was fighting in 1974 and because of "powerless" men like Kovic, men in positions of power like Johnson were made to work harder to truly take care of America's veterans (or quit if they weren't the right man for the job).

Recommend to folks interested in U.S. veterans, veterans rights, Vietnam era. Not recommended for general audience.

Librarything Early Reviewer copy. Unfortunately I can't recommend this book. Unless you are specifically a disabled vet advocate, or Ron Kovic fan, this book won't appeal to you at all. It is not well written, repetitive, and not at all comparable to the magnificent Born on the 4th of July.

I received this as an Early Review Copy, along with Ron Kovic's other book Born on the Fourth of July. I'm surprised by how fast I went through both books! Hurricane Street takes off after Born on the Fourth of July, and follows more of Kovic's political activism. It was a really interesting book.

I like Kovic's writing style a lot. He's very to the point, but his writing isn't dry. You can really get a sense of the raw emotion he put into sharing his story. This is a book that'll stick with you a long time after finishing it.

Hurrican Street tells the story of disabled veteran Ron Kovic during his 1974 fight for all veterans rights for proper health care from the Veterans Affairs. The book chronicles how the veterans take over Senator Alan Cranston's office in Los Angeles in protest to speak to the head of the VA in Washington, D.C. Donald E. Jonhson. After a 17-day hunger strike, the veterans finally were given the chance to talk to Johnson and get some improvements. But after 40 years the VA still needs to put the returning veterans first in medical care. I recommend all Americans read this book so that as a nation we never forget that we are free because of the brave, and these veterans are entitled to the best healthcare possible after their ultimate sacrifice to our country.

I really cannot recommend this paperback book to anyone. I too am a Vietnam Veteran.
Yet this slim book just is not well composed. Much of its sentences are needlessly staccato.
And basically it just doesn't add much useful information beyond his previous book
"Born On The Fourth Of July"

Hurricane Street is a compelling, gripping and thought-provoking fictionalized memoir of the author's activism following his paralyzing injury in Vietnam. It is fiction to the extent that some names and other facts are changed, and that some characters are composites, but the story reads like a detailed memoir. It is yet another sad story of our nation's treatment of its veterans, and tragic in that the VA has still not changed. For those who lived through the Vietnam war, it is an agonizing reminder of the personal side of war.