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The Medic -
This hardbound volume is the gritty autobiography of Leo Litwak, a military medic during World War II.
- GenresWorld War II
Hardcover
First published January 1, 2001
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 9, 2015
I've never written a review but i feel this book deserves one if only because of the complete lack of information given on it by this site.
Leo is a college student excited at the thought of fighting for his country, but is shunted off to the medical corp with no experience and no weapon, expected to put himself in harms way to save lives, both allied and enemy.
His memoir is violent, humorous, insightful and brutally honest.
Leo Litwak paints himself in a refreshingly non-heroic light. The characters around him are divers and engaging, from a cunnilingus loving singer with a penchant for thievery to an inept young officer who falls for a German heiress.
"No one is simple." no heroes and villains just men and women doing their best to survive.
The Medic moves between straightforward, clipped, sentences presenting the harsh realities of war to introspective prose on it's effects.
There is no holding back in his writing, he tells of everything from the killing of prisoners to his fumbling attempts in bed with a prostitute to an improvised Passover seder at a women's concentration camp.
Though it may be a premise you've heard a hundred times, his position as a medic, and his withdrawn nature, gives him a unique perspective, almost that of an outsider.
His inaction can be frustrating at times but it leads one to question what their own actions would be.
Leo is a college student excited at the thought of fighting for his country, but is shunted off to the medical corp with no experience and no weapon, expected to put himself in harms way to save lives, both allied and enemy.
His memoir is violent, humorous, insightful and brutally honest.
Leo Litwak paints himself in a refreshingly non-heroic light. The characters around him are divers and engaging, from a cunnilingus loving singer with a penchant for thievery to an inept young officer who falls for a German heiress.
"No one is simple." no heroes and villains just men and women doing their best to survive.
The Medic moves between straightforward, clipped, sentences presenting the harsh realities of war to introspective prose on it's effects.
There is no holding back in his writing, he tells of everything from the killing of prisoners to his fumbling attempts in bed with a prostitute to an improvised Passover seder at a women's concentration camp.
Though it may be a premise you've heard a hundred times, his position as a medic, and his withdrawn nature, gives him a unique perspective, almost that of an outsider.
His inaction can be frustrating at times but it leads one to question what their own actions would be.
October 17, 2016
This is a memoir of a young medic who after training was assigned to serve in Europe toward the end of the war. It is not a heroic tract, it is about a young kid and what he experienced, from the stresses of basic and finding himself quite an outsider. To the men he served with and his interactions with civilians both Allied and German.
It is a story about men who would likely never speak or acknowledge each other in the civilian world form bonds that become very deep in war, how for some they last forever and for some they dissolve quickly. There is no moral to this tale, no grand victory or glory. War is something that changes everyone it touches, there are no winners and losers, just survivors.
I remember by sons, when they were so young, tall and lanky in their uniforms both in the Medical Corps, just 19 much like Leo, not quite men, but more mature than most of their counterparts pursuing civilian lives. I think of my Dad, just 20 serving at a hospital in the Philippines, getting transferred stateside in November 1941, how young these men were, mere kids who for sundry reasons stepped up and did their best and came home if they were lucky.
This was a very fast read and offered an insight to how war is experienced by different people
It is a story about men who would likely never speak or acknowledge each other in the civilian world form bonds that become very deep in war, how for some they last forever and for some they dissolve quickly. There is no moral to this tale, no grand victory or glory. War is something that changes everyone it touches, there are no winners and losers, just survivors.
I remember by sons, when they were so young, tall and lanky in their uniforms both in the Medical Corps, just 19 much like Leo, not quite men, but more mature than most of their counterparts pursuing civilian lives. I think of my Dad, just 20 serving at a hospital in the Philippines, getting transferred stateside in November 1941, how young these men were, mere kids who for sundry reasons stepped up and did their best and came home if they were lucky.
This was a very fast read and offered an insight to how war is experienced by different people
July 29, 2015
It pains me to see so few reviews and ratings for this gem. A friend recommended it to me and I've been unable to put it down. The book follows the story of a young man in WWII who trains before taking on the enemy at the front line. The book discusses way more than combat and is done through the eyes of a combat medic. It covers the topics of combat, displaced persons, what the American troops went through after camps were liberated, how the Americans felt and tried to relate to their Russian "comrades" and even how it felt to leave behind a town full of civilians and, more than likely, criminals who they'd come to know as friends.
My grandfather served in WWII and I suspect he felt much the way this medic did. These men came back changed and hollowed. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in WWII, especially what the US went through on the German front. It is a quick read and even entertaining and emotional. Some of the instances, especially with the woman, were sometimes a little too coincidental but otherwise made for a good story. I would even consider using this book when teaching topics of WWII, possibly for an introductory college course. Very well done.
My grandfather served in WWII and I suspect he felt much the way this medic did. These men came back changed and hollowed. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in WWII, especially what the US went through on the German front. It is a quick read and even entertaining and emotional. Some of the instances, especially with the woman, were sometimes a little too coincidental but otherwise made for a good story. I would even consider using this book when teaching topics of WWII, possibly for an introductory college course. Very well done.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews