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The Junior Officers' Reading Club: Killing Time And Fighting Wars
Patrick Hennessey is a graduate in his 20s. He reads Graham Greene, listens to early-90s house on his iPod and watches Vietnam movies. He has also, as an officer in the Grenadier Guards, fought in some of the most violent combat the British army has seen in a generation. This is the story of how a modern soldier is made, from the testosterone-heavy breeding ground of Sandhurst to the nightmare of Iraq and Afghanistan. Showing war in all its terror, boredom and exhilaration, The Junior Officers’ Reading Club is already being hailed as a modern classic.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2009
124 people are currently reading
1007 people want to read
About the author
Patrick Hennessey
4 books15 followersPatrick Hennessey was born in 1982 and educated at Berkhamsted School and Balliol College, Oxford, where he read English. He joined the Army in January 2004, undertaking officer training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst where he was awarded the Queen's Medal and commissioned into The Grenadier Guards. He served as a Platoon Commander and later Company Operations Officer from the end of 2004 to early 2009 in the Balkans, Africa, South East Asia and the Falkland Islands and on operational tours to Iraq in 2006 and Afghanistan in 2007, where he became the youngest Captain in the Army and was commended for gallantry. Patrick is currently studying to become a barrister and hopes to specialize in conflict and international humanitarian law.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 207 reviews
May 6, 2015
Another book on men enjoying war and not justifying it politically or morally. Not in the same class as Junger's War, but the same sentiments: give a boy a gun and he and his friends will have fun until tea-time, give a man a gun and real live targets to shoot at and he's in heaven, or might be soon.
July 7, 2010
Very, very well wrought and very, very conscious of it's place as the first reflective book written by a soldier in his generation.
I read this because I took a class with the author this summer. He didn't talk about the book until after the class had ended and most everyone had left, only a few of us sitting around. He said that one thing he appreciated about America was the tradition of educated, well-written officers in the armed forces. So he wrote this to try to start that up in the UK. There were times he could have done with a little less obvious pop-culture metaphor, and there were times that re-telling the same story with his emails from those days was exactly right. It was a great read, and it left me wondering what the hell I've been doing since college, as this man who was born the same month as I is a 5 year veteran of Bosnia, Iraq, and Afghanistan, and is studying international humanitarian law and conflict law.
So he made me feel inadequate in all the right ways, and he made me supremely proud of him, even though I knew him for only a short time.
I read this because I took a class with the author this summer. He didn't talk about the book until after the class had ended and most everyone had left, only a few of us sitting around. He said that one thing he appreciated about America was the tradition of educated, well-written officers in the armed forces. So he wrote this to try to start that up in the UK. There were times he could have done with a little less obvious pop-culture metaphor, and there were times that re-telling the same story with his emails from those days was exactly right. It was a great read, and it left me wondering what the hell I've been doing since college, as this man who was born the same month as I is a 5 year veteran of Bosnia, Iraq, and Afghanistan, and is studying international humanitarian law and conflict law.
So he made me feel inadequate in all the right ways, and he made me supremely proud of him, even though I knew him for only a short time.
February 6, 2011
Patrick Hennessey’s reflections of life in the British army from Sandhurst Military Academy through Palace guard duty then military tours into Bosnia, Iraq and, finally, Afghanistan are not an easy read. His work is filled with British slang, personal references and military acronyms. And as one reviewer noted, his prose is “quirky, unconventional, at times stream of consciousness, at others obscure.” For most reviewers, even with those difficulties, there was great value in the book. I am not among those reviewers.
Hennessey’s story—the transformation from pretentious cadet to seasoned, reflective officer who finds violence both natural and addictive—was unique only in the sense that the warrior was British in the British army and not American in the American army. In the actual trajectory of Hennessey’s experience, I was reminded of Nathaniel Fick’s “One Bullet Away: The Making of a Marine Officer”. Here for me is the difference: Fick’s account was clear and readable; Hennessey’s prose offered unnecessarily frustrating obstacles. And to be truthful, I never came to really like Patrick Hennessey, remaining suspicious of the sincerity and depth of his transformation. He seemed, even in the end, quite taken with himself and his talents.
All that noted, there were moments in the memoir that succeeded. On the lighter side, his descriptions of his time at Sandhurst I found entertaining. And the final chapter (“Decompression”) was moving.
For Cassandra Jardine's 2009 review: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/bo...
Hennessey’s story—the transformation from pretentious cadet to seasoned, reflective officer who finds violence both natural and addictive—was unique only in the sense that the warrior was British in the British army and not American in the American army. In the actual trajectory of Hennessey’s experience, I was reminded of Nathaniel Fick’s “One Bullet Away: The Making of a Marine Officer”. Here for me is the difference: Fick’s account was clear and readable; Hennessey’s prose offered unnecessarily frustrating obstacles. And to be truthful, I never came to really like Patrick Hennessey, remaining suspicious of the sincerity and depth of his transformation. He seemed, even in the end, quite taken with himself and his talents.
All that noted, there were moments in the memoir that succeeded. On the lighter side, his descriptions of his time at Sandhurst I found entertaining. And the final chapter (“Decompression”) was moving.
For Cassandra Jardine's 2009 review: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/bo...
May 25, 2020
A gritty personal war story, not a lot of reading book club stuff, though guess probably more important crap like making war & not enough time for it, but truly it's a brutally honest approach to everything Patrick and the fellow soldiers what they came into contact with, it does have a lot swearing but that is how he and his mates rolled. I didn't know much but one of the things I learnt was how he depicts some the local native Afghans as some of the toughest meanest cleverest blokes you could ever have known. I learnt a lot and how different generations spoke about their wartime experiences completely differently from each other most old timers said zero of their time in the army but our modern soldiers have multiple media platforms and make known to all and sundry, I think there was not much difference at all, except times locations and enemies just now its more widely shown in popular media and our boastful self centeredness shines through where as old veterans kept it to themselves and old age finally let there stories out. So if you want to see about a few men and a close up view of war in Afghanistan here it is. Politically we have lost our way and militarily its a stalemate, and a such a waste of young lives.
May 16, 2020
You might have been able to tell by my updates, but I'm not entirely pleased with this book.
My feelings on this can be conveyed quite simply, and I have to admit that Hennessey nearly made me feel sympathetic towards him at the end (until he started gobbing off again about anyone who wasn't Blue Red Blue but I'll come to that).
It boils down to this - the content is alright, good even, but it's been poorly executed.
Let's start with the title: Junior Officers' Reading Club. In my edition (a revised 2010 edition of the original 2009 paperback), Hennessey sheepishly admits in the afterword that he realised he mentions DVDs more than books, and thus attaches a copy of his initial report for the Literary Review. Even if you had called it the Junior Officers' DVD Club, it still would've mislead the reader, I reckon. There's a lot more to this book than that, but also a lot less.
The book starts by plunging you into a contact in Afghanistan, then talks about arriving in the first place, then throws you back to his time at university before continuing chronologically from there. I wasn't a fan of this, and surely an editor (especially one for Penguin!) should've seen how this was going to confuse when people introduced in the early chapters are forgotten upon their return.
Also, there's a huge amount of characters (for lack of a better word) involved, and thus when one perishes or loses a limb later it's hard to recall if they were soldier, officer, ANA, Brit, best friend, a guy we've met once... A glossary, or better yet, something other than stream-of-consciousness narration would've helped.
This leads me onto one of my biggest gripes about the book - where the fuck did all the commas go?! There were too many sentences that I had to read more than once to count, because clauses had been inverted or lists made without a single comma. The stubborn use of lowercase 'i' in the e-mails, surely fighting against a word processing system of sorts, was pretentious and off-putting.
And that's not even mentioning the language - if I'd received e-mails like that I probably would've deleted them shortly after reading.
I had no idea half the time if I was coming or going. Critics lauded the "fast action" of the book, bt that's because you can't mentally take a breath when there's not a full stop for five lines. The whole book reads in an angry haze, which ultimately takes away from some of the moments that could've been potentially poignant and heart-stopping.
If you think I'm being particularly scathing, Hennessey would probably be quick to point out that it's because I'm a woman. Aside from his girlfriend, and a single medic who gives him some pain relief, every other woman in this book is referred to in a sexual manner. That's it. The first time it happened I laughed it off, because it's all about the boys, the banter, the camaraderie... and then it happened a second time, and a third. Women who didn't even have anything remotely to do with sexual situations were being crucified under the male gaze. I would've expected better from an educated man and an author, let alone an officer of the British Army.
Finally, the true nail in the coffin of my enjoyment of this book was the consistent, unrelenting you don't know man, you weren't there we get from Hennessey. It starts with RMAS - the thing most of us try to forget ever happened - and just continues from there. If you're not infantry you might as well not exist (of course, apart from the one moment where he recognises the value of the 'REMFs'). If you're not infantry, you must be fat and useless. I'm not taking this as a personal attack because I very much know my value, but it makes me wonder if Hennessey's self-esteem was based purely on his ability to take a life.
He pokes at the latter cautiously in his final remarks upon decompression and returning to London. That's what I would've liked to see more of, and what the editor should've prompted him into - those reflections and deeper thoughts, not the wishy-washy arthouse film we received where everything is described by taste, smell and sound, rather than actual plain old English.
Upon reflection I'm tempted to put it down to a 2, but I'll leave it at 3 purely because the RMAS section and final part were its saving grace.
Would I recommend it? Sure, if you want to read some poorly punctuated war-porn. You could probably save yourself some time and just watch Kajaki or Band of Brothers instead, because really, the kind of writing Hennessey tries to pull off simply doesn't sit well in book format.
My feelings on this can be conveyed quite simply, and I have to admit that Hennessey nearly made me feel sympathetic towards him at the end (until he started gobbing off again about anyone who wasn't Blue Red Blue but I'll come to that).
It boils down to this - the content is alright, good even, but it's been poorly executed.
Let's start with the title: Junior Officers' Reading Club. In my edition (a revised 2010 edition of the original 2009 paperback), Hennessey sheepishly admits in the afterword that he realised he mentions DVDs more than books, and thus attaches a copy of his initial report for the Literary Review. Even if you had called it the Junior Officers' DVD Club, it still would've mislead the reader, I reckon. There's a lot more to this book than that, but also a lot less.
The book starts by plunging you into a contact in Afghanistan, then talks about arriving in the first place, then throws you back to his time at university before continuing chronologically from there. I wasn't a fan of this, and surely an editor (especially one for Penguin!) should've seen how this was going to confuse when people introduced in the early chapters are forgotten upon their return.
Also, there's a huge amount of characters (for lack of a better word) involved, and thus when one perishes or loses a limb later it's hard to recall if they were soldier, officer, ANA, Brit, best friend, a guy we've met once... A glossary, or better yet, something other than stream-of-consciousness narration would've helped.
This leads me onto one of my biggest gripes about the book - where the fuck did all the commas go?! There were too many sentences that I had to read more than once to count, because clauses had been inverted or lists made without a single comma. The stubborn use of lowercase 'i' in the e-mails, surely fighting against a word processing system of sorts, was pretentious and off-putting.
And that's not even mentioning the language - if I'd received e-mails like that I probably would've deleted them shortly after reading.
I had no idea half the time if I was coming or going. Critics lauded the "fast action" of the book, bt that's because you can't mentally take a breath when there's not a full stop for five lines. The whole book reads in an angry haze, which ultimately takes away from some of the moments that could've been potentially poignant and heart-stopping.
If you think I'm being particularly scathing, Hennessey would probably be quick to point out that it's because I'm a woman. Aside from his girlfriend, and a single medic who gives him some pain relief, every other woman in this book is referred to in a sexual manner. That's it. The first time it happened I laughed it off, because it's all about the boys, the banter, the camaraderie... and then it happened a second time, and a third. Women who didn't even have anything remotely to do with sexual situations were being crucified under the male gaze. I would've expected better from an educated man and an author, let alone an officer of the British Army.
Finally, the true nail in the coffin of my enjoyment of this book was the consistent, unrelenting you don't know man, you weren't there we get from Hennessey. It starts with RMAS - the thing most of us try to forget ever happened - and just continues from there. If you're not infantry you might as well not exist (of course, apart from the one moment where he recognises the value of the 'REMFs'). If you're not infantry, you must be fat and useless. I'm not taking this as a personal attack because I very much know my value, but it makes me wonder if Hennessey's self-esteem was based purely on his ability to take a life.
He pokes at the latter cautiously in his final remarks upon decompression and returning to London. That's what I would've liked to see more of, and what the editor should've prompted him into - those reflections and deeper thoughts, not the wishy-washy arthouse film we received where everything is described by taste, smell and sound, rather than actual plain old English.
Upon reflection I'm tempted to put it down to a 2, but I'll leave it at 3 purely because the RMAS section and final part were its saving grace.
Would I recommend it? Sure, if you want to read some poorly punctuated war-porn. You could probably save yourself some time and just watch Kajaki or Band of Brothers instead, because really, the kind of writing Hennessey tries to pull off simply doesn't sit well in book format.
February 23, 2012
Even before the British army totally f**ked up its mission in Basra (aided by the predilection of the squaddies for torturing and murdering the locals) it was paying Patrick Hennessey £1,000 a year bursary towards his university tuition fees. In return he went to Sandhurst, and we should all be grateful. Hennessey’s is a voice unique in our age, reminiscent of an earlier one when privileged young men faced with mud, gas, dismemberment and trenches, brought home to an all-too-soon-to-forget world the folly summed up in Brooke’s quotation ‘dulce et decorum est pro patria mori’.
Hennessey passes Regular Commissions Board’s (RCB) ‘leadership potential’ week and is selected for Sandhurst. Even at this early stage he is not convinced by the process – ‘I’ve served with a number of men who struggled so severely to learn fundamental lessons that even to pass them out of Sandhurst was highly questionable and to select them over other, far better, men who never even get there is only to see how early in the process the army can get things strangely wrong.’
In one of those weird ironies, the day that Hennessey starts the RCB course is the day that American and British troops invade Afghanistan and begin a war which so far has lasted longer than WWII, and despite an unimaginably greater disparity between the two sides than existed in that war, they have shown no sign of winning. If Hennessey reminds you of a First World War writer, the war which he is to go to is from an earlier age than that. But God only knows what war the British army thinks it’s going to be fighting. I have my own reasons for doubting the judgement of the British army, doubts which are not lessened by the revelation that trainee officers are shown Hollywood war movies as part (no, honestly) of their training. ‘Band of Brothers’, the ridiculous ‘Gladiator’, ‘A Bridge Too Far’ and the totally ludicrous and nonsensical ‘Saving Private Ryan’. Is this embarrassing or what? They also watch the excellent ‘Full Metal Jacket’ – can’t imagine why – although clearly intelligent young men, none of them were quite bright enough to draw the obvious conclusion – you’re supposed to shoot that bastard of a sergeant. They might have been better off watching ‘Black Hawk Down’ but I guess the army would not be happy with the message that if third world tribesmen inflict enough casualties on a western army it goes away.
The army is never prepared for the war it fights. As Hennessey says ‘my problem was not with the theory of considering all eventualities; my problem was with basing everything we did on those eventualities while different realities were staring us in the face’. And so the navy ‘hungover from celebrating securing the most expensive ships the British will ever have built, and never mind that we can’t afford to man them or run them and have no planes to go on them’.
Frustratingly Hennessey and his colleagues at Sandhurst know that they are not being trained for the war they will actually fight. His generation was 85% graduates (only 20 years earlier it would have been 85% NON-graduates). Hennessey reads Norman Dixon’s excellent ‘On the Psychology of Military Incompetence’ and recognises that it is becoming more and more relevant to him. One feels that the army is just not clever enough to deal with these guys.
But to war they go, to Iraq, and finally to Afghanistan. Hennessey is an officer in the Grenadiers, with 2nd Lieutenant Folarin Kuku ‘in the front and centre of every photo shoot and interview – as if people were reading the Sun and going look how progressive they are when of course anyone with half a brain was choking on their Corn Flakes at the realization that it was 2007 and we’d only just got our first black officer.
There is none of the politicians’ obscene nonsense about defending the streets of Britain in the hills of Afghanistan in The Junior Officers’ Reading Club. Instead there is the frank admission that when it is not boring, war is fun, the ultimate game, better than sex ‘because it’s the ultimate affirmation of being alive’. That is if you are ‘the gloating fuckers who are alive, not the crumpled forms barely recognisable in the bomb crater’. And everyone gets to play the game if they want – like the gigantic men of the Czech army’s Special Operations Group with plaits and beads in their beards who ride quad bikes with rocket launchers on them. Even the French special forces guys captured and tortured to death in the desert presumably played for a while. (The Russians used to play, but went home, taking their ball with them.)
Hennessey knows now that it is a rough game – Lieutenant Kuku falls victim to an IED and his leg is saved back in Selly Oak. He is luckier than Sergeant Wilkinson, killed by a suicide bomber. When all the beds in the hospital are full, ‘non-essential’ patrolling is stopped in order to ‘minimize risk’
‘The company is now down to less than half of what it was two months ago’ he says.
Back from R&R in the UK where he feels alienated (has he never seen ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’?) he realises that he is in a war that can never be won. When an arse-covering exit strategy can, with a supreme effort of disingenuity, be claimed to be successful the western armies will go, and Afghanistan will continue to have war.
Not least of Hennessey’s achievements is his sympathetic portrayal of the Afghan soldiers. The irony of training guys who have killed Russians is not lost on him. Obviously they have to go home every year to make a new baby. His admiration for Afghan Army Major Qiam is not blind to the man’s faults. He understands that despite their suffering and their casualties the surviving guardsmen are going home. The soldiers of the Afghan National Army are home. Their lives, and those of their families, remain at risk.
This book is, and I use the word deliberately, awesome; for dedicated civilians like me, a revelation. A writer of Hennessey’s stature serving as a soldier is rarity. (It was rare in WWI, but the chances are higher of an army counted in millions containing good writers than of one counted in thousands.) If, like me, you are a civilian, please read this book before you ever again express an opinion on either the British army or the war in Afghanistan, because if you do not do so, you will lack an essential qualification.
Hennessey passes Regular Commissions Board’s (RCB) ‘leadership potential’ week and is selected for Sandhurst. Even at this early stage he is not convinced by the process – ‘I’ve served with a number of men who struggled so severely to learn fundamental lessons that even to pass them out of Sandhurst was highly questionable and to select them over other, far better, men who never even get there is only to see how early in the process the army can get things strangely wrong.’
In one of those weird ironies, the day that Hennessey starts the RCB course is the day that American and British troops invade Afghanistan and begin a war which so far has lasted longer than WWII, and despite an unimaginably greater disparity between the two sides than existed in that war, they have shown no sign of winning. If Hennessey reminds you of a First World War writer, the war which he is to go to is from an earlier age than that. But God only knows what war the British army thinks it’s going to be fighting. I have my own reasons for doubting the judgement of the British army, doubts which are not lessened by the revelation that trainee officers are shown Hollywood war movies as part (no, honestly) of their training. ‘Band of Brothers’, the ridiculous ‘Gladiator’, ‘A Bridge Too Far’ and the totally ludicrous and nonsensical ‘Saving Private Ryan’. Is this embarrassing or what? They also watch the excellent ‘Full Metal Jacket’ – can’t imagine why – although clearly intelligent young men, none of them were quite bright enough to draw the obvious conclusion – you’re supposed to shoot that bastard of a sergeant. They might have been better off watching ‘Black Hawk Down’ but I guess the army would not be happy with the message that if third world tribesmen inflict enough casualties on a western army it goes away.
The army is never prepared for the war it fights. As Hennessey says ‘my problem was not with the theory of considering all eventualities; my problem was with basing everything we did on those eventualities while different realities were staring us in the face’. And so the navy ‘hungover from celebrating securing the most expensive ships the British will ever have built, and never mind that we can’t afford to man them or run them and have no planes to go on them’.
Frustratingly Hennessey and his colleagues at Sandhurst know that they are not being trained for the war they will actually fight. His generation was 85% graduates (only 20 years earlier it would have been 85% NON-graduates). Hennessey reads Norman Dixon’s excellent ‘On the Psychology of Military Incompetence’ and recognises that it is becoming more and more relevant to him. One feels that the army is just not clever enough to deal with these guys.
But to war they go, to Iraq, and finally to Afghanistan. Hennessey is an officer in the Grenadiers, with 2nd Lieutenant Folarin Kuku ‘in the front and centre of every photo shoot and interview – as if people were reading the Sun and going look how progressive they are when of course anyone with half a brain was choking on their Corn Flakes at the realization that it was 2007 and we’d only just got our first black officer.
There is none of the politicians’ obscene nonsense about defending the streets of Britain in the hills of Afghanistan in The Junior Officers’ Reading Club. Instead there is the frank admission that when it is not boring, war is fun, the ultimate game, better than sex ‘because it’s the ultimate affirmation of being alive’. That is if you are ‘the gloating fuckers who are alive, not the crumpled forms barely recognisable in the bomb crater’. And everyone gets to play the game if they want – like the gigantic men of the Czech army’s Special Operations Group with plaits and beads in their beards who ride quad bikes with rocket launchers on them. Even the French special forces guys captured and tortured to death in the desert presumably played for a while. (The Russians used to play, but went home, taking their ball with them.)
Hennessey knows now that it is a rough game – Lieutenant Kuku falls victim to an IED and his leg is saved back in Selly Oak. He is luckier than Sergeant Wilkinson, killed by a suicide bomber. When all the beds in the hospital are full, ‘non-essential’ patrolling is stopped in order to ‘minimize risk’
‘The company is now down to less than half of what it was two months ago’ he says.
Back from R&R in the UK where he feels alienated (has he never seen ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’?) he realises that he is in a war that can never be won. When an arse-covering exit strategy can, with a supreme effort of disingenuity, be claimed to be successful the western armies will go, and Afghanistan will continue to have war.
Not least of Hennessey’s achievements is his sympathetic portrayal of the Afghan soldiers. The irony of training guys who have killed Russians is not lost on him. Obviously they have to go home every year to make a new baby. His admiration for Afghan Army Major Qiam is not blind to the man’s faults. He understands that despite their suffering and their casualties the surviving guardsmen are going home. The soldiers of the Afghan National Army are home. Their lives, and those of their families, remain at risk.
This book is, and I use the word deliberately, awesome; for dedicated civilians like me, a revelation. A writer of Hennessey’s stature serving as a soldier is rarity. (It was rare in WWI, but the chances are higher of an army counted in millions containing good writers than of one counted in thousands.) If, like me, you are a civilian, please read this book before you ever again express an opinion on either the British army or the war in Afghanistan, because if you do not do so, you will lack an essential qualification.
June 8, 2011
Seriously considering skipping to the end. I never used to to do that but life is busy and there are more books to read than I will ever possibly find the time to tackle.
Despite the back flap description this is in no way a book about books or reading let alone a reading club. I am more than halfway through and the stream of consciousness style prose, army slang, British slang and pop culture package is just driving me nuts. Oh, and the language - I am usually able to ignore most foul language but even knowing that various curses weigh in differently in different countries, cultures and settings (read: I was expecting swearing, this is the army we're talkin' about) I find myself weary of it. All this from a gal who grew up in a lumber town, had a British roommate once upon a time, who is the wife of a former air force officer and a woman who loves her Masterpiece Theater and usually follows the BBC with pleasure and ease. And I even enjoy reading books about the military and/or war now and then but I'm just feeling irritated.
To be fair Hennesey makes some terrific wry observations and I have found myself chuckling in a few places. His map of Sandhurst cracked me up. I appreciate the glossary in the back (those British military acronyms!) - saved some google time. And if I finish I believe I will truly appreciate his journey from a basically spoiled or perhaps just arrogant cadet to seasoned officer (man-child to man?) and the changes that battle requires of a man in this process but I'm still not sure I want to go the distance. Will his personal interpretation of these things, his personal reflection be different enough to be worth what has thus far, for me, been a slog through dirt in stiff boots with a loaded pack on a gray day? Not yet convinced.
My problems with this book revolve, thus far, around a couple of things. The writing style being number one, I'm having a hard time engaging and focusing. I can understanding why he chose this writing style and I think I get why the first part drags, just as his training and deployment dragged. Maybe i should put a question mark there?
The other biggie is that no matter how many times I have warned myself that expectations don't mean squat I yet again had expectations that there would be some connection to actual books, discussions of books, juxtaposition of books being read while on post, hauled around during battle, something bookish. I am pretty sure it was this expectation of books that put this on my book club's reading list.
Lastly, maybe I'm just getting old and cranky, I just got tired of googling things to refresh my memory - places, music and plots of books to see if they tied in in any way with what was going on (tut, tut, expectations, my dear, expectations). So, then I just kind of ignore the references and am left feeling like I just did not get something fully, irritating.
Okay, parsing this out in words convinced me it was time to just skip to the end. Glad I did. Glad I skimmed and skipped a chunk but also glad I read the final chapter. I will be interested to see what my book group ladies think but for now I am happier to go tackle the laundry, my least favorite chore, than spend the day reading every chapter.
My final ranking is probably something like a 2.5 - it was okay but I didn't really like it much either.
Despite the back flap description this is in no way a book about books or reading let alone a reading club. I am more than halfway through and the stream of consciousness style prose, army slang, British slang and pop culture package is just driving me nuts. Oh, and the language - I am usually able to ignore most foul language but even knowing that various curses weigh in differently in different countries, cultures and settings (read: I was expecting swearing, this is the army we're talkin' about) I find myself weary of it. All this from a gal who grew up in a lumber town, had a British roommate once upon a time, who is the wife of a former air force officer and a woman who loves her Masterpiece Theater and usually follows the BBC with pleasure and ease. And I even enjoy reading books about the military and/or war now and then but I'm just feeling irritated.
To be fair Hennesey makes some terrific wry observations and I have found myself chuckling in a few places. His map of Sandhurst cracked me up. I appreciate the glossary in the back (those British military acronyms!) - saved some google time. And if I finish I believe I will truly appreciate his journey from a basically spoiled or perhaps just arrogant cadet to seasoned officer (man-child to man?) and the changes that battle requires of a man in this process but I'm still not sure I want to go the distance. Will his personal interpretation of these things, his personal reflection be different enough to be worth what has thus far, for me, been a slog through dirt in stiff boots with a loaded pack on a gray day? Not yet convinced.
My problems with this book revolve, thus far, around a couple of things. The writing style being number one, I'm having a hard time engaging and focusing. I can understanding why he chose this writing style and I think I get why the first part drags, just as his training and deployment dragged. Maybe i should put a question mark there?
The other biggie is that no matter how many times I have warned myself that expectations don't mean squat I yet again had expectations that there would be some connection to actual books, discussions of books, juxtaposition of books being read while on post, hauled around during battle, something bookish. I am pretty sure it was this expectation of books that put this on my book club's reading list.
Lastly, maybe I'm just getting old and cranky, I just got tired of googling things to refresh my memory - places, music and plots of books to see if they tied in in any way with what was going on (tut, tut, expectations, my dear, expectations). So, then I just kind of ignore the references and am left feeling like I just did not get something fully, irritating.
Okay, parsing this out in words convinced me it was time to just skip to the end. Glad I did. Glad I skimmed and skipped a chunk but also glad I read the final chapter. I will be interested to see what my book group ladies think but for now I am happier to go tackle the laundry, my least favorite chore, than spend the day reading every chapter.
My final ranking is probably something like a 2.5 - it was okay but I didn't really like it much either.
April 10, 2011
I have a rule with books that I must read to the half way point before I allow myself to give up on a bad novel. Struggling for days through this monotonous bore of a book – both in style and in story content – I was desperately looking forward to abandoning Patrick Hennessey’s The Junior Officers' Reading Club. Hennessey writes in an endless stream of consciousness which doubled with his experiences of boredom at Sandhurst (an Officers’ training academy for the British Army) makes for an incredibly frustrating read.
But... a mere twenty-six pages before i reach my longed for midway point and something very strange happens. Hennessey is posted to Iraq and his gung ho, diary-style account of his time in the army achieves metamorphosis – like a caterpillar changing into a butterfly The Junior Officers’ Reading Club transforms into a hugely compelling, gripping, and breathtaking account of a soldier's life in today’s British Army. The second half of this book is highly exciting and changed my opinion of Hennessey both as a person and as an author.
In the same way that Hennessey was required to struggle through the boredom of Sandhurst to appreciate his time as an Officer we as readers must struggle through the first half of this book to appreciate the full value of the novel. Hennessey gives an honest and open account of his experiences at war and for that he must be admired.
Two stars for the first half of this book and four stars for the second half.
But... a mere twenty-six pages before i reach my longed for midway point and something very strange happens. Hennessey is posted to Iraq and his gung ho, diary-style account of his time in the army achieves metamorphosis – like a caterpillar changing into a butterfly The Junior Officers’ Reading Club transforms into a hugely compelling, gripping, and breathtaking account of a soldier's life in today’s British Army. The second half of this book is highly exciting and changed my opinion of Hennessey both as a person and as an author.
In the same way that Hennessey was required to struggle through the boredom of Sandhurst to appreciate his time as an Officer we as readers must struggle through the first half of this book to appreciate the full value of the novel. Hennessey gives an honest and open account of his experiences at war and for that he must be admired.
Two stars for the first half of this book and four stars for the second half.
June 22, 2012
Despite being a pacifist who doesn't really get why anyone would want to be a soldier, I am interested in war and books about war. I have read some great books on the subject (some that come to mind include `Despatches' by Michael Kerr, `Stalingrad' by Antony Beevor, even `Bravo Two Zero' is a rip-roaring read that gave me some helpful insights). I am sorry to report that - despite the gushing praise all over the cover of this book - that, in comparison this book is pretty dull.
In essence, a man - whose grandfathers were, on one side of the family a pacifist, and on the other a soldier - decides to join the army as a graduate trainee officer. After a very predictable description of his training that I've seen, and read about, many times before, he is finally rewarded with the chance to engage in some real fighting in Afghanistan. The book does pick up a bit at this point, but it is still pretty turgid. I was particularly frustrated by the army jargon that peppers every page (although there is a glossary for those that can be bothered).
Sadly, if very predictably, colleagues get injured and killed, although, despite this, the author repeatedly comes back to his love of skirmishes, action, fighting, call it what you will, and how this is what he loves about being a soldier. This seemed to be the heart of the book. Yet I came away not really sure what it was that appealed to such an apparently intelligent person. Is he just an adrenaline junkie who needs a regular fix of danger? He acknowledges the effect of his being a soldier on his family but doesn't go on to explore this. This is my main complaint - the lack of reflection on what he has experienced.
The book offered me some insights. For example, how the modern British soldier creates films of their war exploits and, after editing the footage, adds a suitable rock or rap soundtrack. The author acknowledges how current British soldiers are now part of the MTV generation. I was also interested in the way the anti-Taliban soldiers influenced their British allies through their more laissez-faire approach.
Ultimately though, this book is less a "War Is Hell" tome, and more "War Is Fun" that frequently bored me and offered me very few new insights. The book is partly redeemed by some of the sections on Afghanistan but I thought, overall, it was a missed opportunity.
In essence, a man - whose grandfathers were, on one side of the family a pacifist, and on the other a soldier - decides to join the army as a graduate trainee officer. After a very predictable description of his training that I've seen, and read about, many times before, he is finally rewarded with the chance to engage in some real fighting in Afghanistan. The book does pick up a bit at this point, but it is still pretty turgid. I was particularly frustrated by the army jargon that peppers every page (although there is a glossary for those that can be bothered).
Sadly, if very predictably, colleagues get injured and killed, although, despite this, the author repeatedly comes back to his love of skirmishes, action, fighting, call it what you will, and how this is what he loves about being a soldier. This seemed to be the heart of the book. Yet I came away not really sure what it was that appealed to such an apparently intelligent person. Is he just an adrenaline junkie who needs a regular fix of danger? He acknowledges the effect of his being a soldier on his family but doesn't go on to explore this. This is my main complaint - the lack of reflection on what he has experienced.
The book offered me some insights. For example, how the modern British soldier creates films of their war exploits and, after editing the footage, adds a suitable rock or rap soundtrack. The author acknowledges how current British soldiers are now part of the MTV generation. I was also interested in the way the anti-Taliban soldiers influenced their British allies through their more laissez-faire approach.
Ultimately though, this book is less a "War Is Hell" tome, and more "War Is Fun" that frequently bored me and offered me very few new insights. The book is partly redeemed by some of the sections on Afghanistan but I thought, overall, it was a missed opportunity.
August 21, 2011
This memoir is heartbreakingly good, and I don't understand how a person can achieve such wisdom so young; it shifts effortlessly between situations that are farcically ridiculous to ones that are brutal, confusing, and terrifying, telling both with equal skill. Any ideas the reader might have about the military being glamorous or like the movies will be quickly and rudely spoiled, but they'll be replaced by an appreciation for the intense connections and family-like bonds people form when they fight together in a good unit.
As a retired Marine officer myself, I can say without hesitation that Patrick Hennessey is a leader I'd have been honored to follow, or reassured to have my son or daughter follow.
I hope this is just the beginning of a long and productive writing career for him. He has as great a gift as a writer as he showed as a soldier, and he shone in that arena.
As a retired Marine officer myself, I can say without hesitation that Patrick Hennessey is a leader I'd have been honored to follow, or reassured to have my son or daughter follow.
I hope this is just the beginning of a long and productive writing career for him. He has as great a gift as a writer as he showed as a soldier, and he shone in that arena.
May 6, 2020
A well written book, in that it is easy to read and flows well. However this does not overcome the morally irresponsible manner in which he handles sensitive situations. Having met and counselled the widow and friends of one of those mentioned in his writing I was appalled at how poorly he treated the situation in the book.
The cavalier manner in which he writes about his time in the army may be amusing but it does not reflect well on the author or his friends. Maybe it’s a young officer thing, or even specific to his particular regiment, but ultimately he comes across as arrogant and showing little concern for those in his charge.
The cavalier manner in which he writes about his time in the army may be amusing but it does not reflect well on the author or his friends. Maybe it’s a young officer thing, or even specific to his particular regiment, but ultimately he comes across as arrogant and showing little concern for those in his charge.
August 4, 2025
Reading as a recommendation from the boyf and really didn’t disappoint. In my attempts to be a good army wag I went into it not knowing what to expect and came out with a new respect and understanding of a ‘soldiers mentality’ and coping mechanisms during some really horrific conflict. Not an easy read but an important one, and some amazing witty humour sprinkled in.
March 13, 2012
In the past several years I have read dozens of military memoirs from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, but all have been from an American standpoint. Hennessey's is the first I've read by a British army officer. The writing, not surprisingly, is excellent. Hennessey's reasons for entering the army after what appears to have been a very privilged life and university are somewhat vague, although it seems fairly certain that he mostly wanted to test himself in ways that only the military life and the crucible of combat could provide. He got what he bargained for and perhaps even more. His attitude throughout the book remains a kind of brash, cocksure arrogance that reflects a determination not to break down under the multiple stresses of war and command. He sees fellow officers, friends and men under his command crippled, mutilated and killed, and he also is very much aware of the insulated indifference of the civilian populace that makes no sacrifices on "the home front." At these times his attitude widens to include anger and a certain amount of confusion and wondering how he will ever be able to readjust to a civilian role. There is a kind of hard-earned youthful wisdom expressed in his attempts to articulate the idea that what is happening to him on these foreign battlefields will probably be the defining experience of his life -
"I suddenly know that I hate this and love it at the same time because I can already feel both how glad I will be when it is over and how much I will miss it. How difficult to convey to anyone that matters something which they will never understand, and how little anything else will ever matter."
Hennessey's narrative is also filled with cultural references of his time - films, music, television. And most of it was familiar even to me, despite an ocean and forty years of living that separates us. The foul language that permeates military life and which filled the book was not a bit off-putting to me. I've been there and have lived that high-spirited boundary-testing time that almost all soldiers go through when they are finally on their own and far from home for the first time. The obscenity and the often shocking dark humor expressed here are normal; they are checkpoints of the genuineness of the experience. The juxtaposition of being shelled by enemy fire daily and an addiction to a DVD set of the American hospital soap, "Grey's Anatomy," during the lulls in battle are handled well. Readers will quickly become accustomed to such things, which represent, in many ways, the madness of war.
If there was anything at all which disappointed me in THE JUNIOR OFFICERS' READING CLUB it was that very few books were actually given. I came to the book with pen and paper at hand, hoping to harvest a list of actual books these men were reading. I came away with nothing I wished to read. But perhaps that was a cultural or age-related disconnect on my part; I don't know. Another minor shortcoming, one mentioned by other reviewers, is that the book goes on perhaps a bit too long. The Afghanistan section of the book, the part which describes the fiercest combat - the patrols, the ambushes, the shelling - almost seems to drag on, as Hennessey continues to try to "tell it all." I have read that he is now studying for the legal profession. Perhaps he figures this will be his one and only book and he just wanted to "get it all in" before hanging up his writer's hat for good. Again, I don't know.
It might be intersting now to read some memoirs from other nationalities who have been there - other members of that much-mentioned "coalition of forces." In the meantime I will recommend this one - a very good book.
"I suddenly know that I hate this and love it at the same time because I can already feel both how glad I will be when it is over and how much I will miss it. How difficult to convey to anyone that matters something which they will never understand, and how little anything else will ever matter."
Hennessey's narrative is also filled with cultural references of his time - films, music, television. And most of it was familiar even to me, despite an ocean and forty years of living that separates us. The foul language that permeates military life and which filled the book was not a bit off-putting to me. I've been there and have lived that high-spirited boundary-testing time that almost all soldiers go through when they are finally on their own and far from home for the first time. The obscenity and the often shocking dark humor expressed here are normal; they are checkpoints of the genuineness of the experience. The juxtaposition of being shelled by enemy fire daily and an addiction to a DVD set of the American hospital soap, "Grey's Anatomy," during the lulls in battle are handled well. Readers will quickly become accustomed to such things, which represent, in many ways, the madness of war.
If there was anything at all which disappointed me in THE JUNIOR OFFICERS' READING CLUB it was that very few books were actually given. I came to the book with pen and paper at hand, hoping to harvest a list of actual books these men were reading. I came away with nothing I wished to read. But perhaps that was a cultural or age-related disconnect on my part; I don't know. Another minor shortcoming, one mentioned by other reviewers, is that the book goes on perhaps a bit too long. The Afghanistan section of the book, the part which describes the fiercest combat - the patrols, the ambushes, the shelling - almost seems to drag on, as Hennessey continues to try to "tell it all." I have read that he is now studying for the legal profession. Perhaps he figures this will be his one and only book and he just wanted to "get it all in" before hanging up his writer's hat for good. Again, I don't know.
It might be intersting now to read some memoirs from other nationalities who have been there - other members of that much-mentioned "coalition of forces." In the meantime I will recommend this one - a very good book.
February 5, 2017
I finish this book with great solemnity, trying to fight its conclusions: that surely Hennessey's conclusions are particular and that those who charge off to war, however reluctantly, may return unchanged. One hopes that these warriors may return from distant battlefields to find closure for those they leave behind and may nurse their moral wounds to where their scars fade and are forgotten under suits and stained t-shirts. One must believe that your initial distaste for killing and aversion to the blood-pumping moments of combat may weather the flirtations with death that nearly all deployed must experience. Perhaps above all else, one must hold dearly to the belief that when you open your front door and step back into the lives of your family and friends that you have not lost them--that they remain close to you, can understand you, and bring you to smile and laugh as you revisit old inside jokes and settle down to watch old shows that you once followed together.
If Hennessey is right, the costs of war should not be simplified to the statistics of who has died and who returns home without a leg. Hennessey reminds us that soldiers, airmen, sailors, and marines must shoulder the far greater costs of reentering a civilian world that has become so distant from the excitement, the horror, the humor, and the sadness that accompanies their service abroad. I do not think that Hennessey writes to dissuade young men and women from seeking military service nor does he regret his own service--still, we must continue to think deeply about what the profession of killing demands of its men and women and how we will never truly understand the cost of war unless we live it ourselves.
If Hennessey is right, the costs of war should not be simplified to the statistics of who has died and who returns home without a leg. Hennessey reminds us that soldiers, airmen, sailors, and marines must shoulder the far greater costs of reentering a civilian world that has become so distant from the excitement, the horror, the humor, and the sadness that accompanies their service abroad. I do not think that Hennessey writes to dissuade young men and women from seeking military service nor does he regret his own service--still, we must continue to think deeply about what the profession of killing demands of its men and women and how we will never truly understand the cost of war unless we live it ourselves.
December 27, 2015
It was in my sweet spot of adjustment between cultures, especially civilian and military. Throw in the author's literary inclinations, and I all but expected to be handing out five stars. It really didn't do much, though, to distinguish itself from other works of the young civilian going to war. The works he was reading were only touched on and seemed to do little to shape his perception or the reader's.
May 25, 2022
A British soldier recounts his time in military academy through a stint in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Hm. I have mixed feelings about this one. At first I really didn't like Hennessey - he seemed arrogant and filled with admiration for his own cleverness - but then I was briefly sucked into his account of soldiering (the details of how the British train their troops was interesting), but then again I became annoyed that the book doesn't do what it says on the tin; he occasionally and very briefly mentions a book he was reading at the time some event happened, but there's no talk of an actual book club at all or even what he thought of the books he read. I was in it for the dynamics of a bunch of soldiers holding a regular book club in a war zone and how that would play out, and I didn't get that at all. In the end it just felt like a dude bragging about how well read he was and also what a cool soldier he turned out to be and isn't that a paradox? I'm such a cool paradox! Blech. But points for the possibly inadvertently interesting bits. *shrug*
Hm. I have mixed feelings about this one. At first I really didn't like Hennessey - he seemed arrogant and filled with admiration for his own cleverness - but then I was briefly sucked into his account of soldiering (the details of how the British train their troops was interesting), but then again I became annoyed that the book doesn't do what it says on the tin; he occasionally and very briefly mentions a book he was reading at the time some event happened, but there's no talk of an actual book club at all or even what he thought of the books he read. I was in it for the dynamics of a bunch of soldiers holding a regular book club in a war zone and how that would play out, and I didn't get that at all. In the end it just felt like a dude bragging about how well read he was and also what a cool soldier he turned out to be and isn't that a paradox? I'm such a cool paradox! Blech. But points for the possibly inadvertently interesting bits. *shrug*
September 24, 2023
Wasn't as good as I'd heard, but enjoyable none the less.
August 5, 2023
RMAS Sui
September 1, 2023
In this book, Hennessy covers his time in the British Army, serving on several tours and riddled with personal interpretations varying from the description of combat and the emotions it entails to struggling to understand (at times) what certain things were for.
I particularly enjoyed the beginning and ending sections.
I particularly enjoyed the beginning and ending sections.
June 20, 2019
Having first read this some years ago, I’ve reread it a number of times since, but have recently returned to the book, when it was recommended reading prior to my Army Officer Selection Board, the first step on my own journey to Sandhurst. I can understand why it was recommended to us, young potential officers. In contrast to some of the other reviews, I found Hennessey’s style easy to read and engaging. It has at times had me in fits of laughter, as Hennessey expertly nails the forces gallows humour.
To me, his style comes across as authentic and was something I could almost relate to, but then this may be as we are seemingly both quite similar, both “over-privileged, over-educated, under-sexed students” wanting to do something different and avoid a desk job at all costs, or in his case being “bored with everything else”.
I will, however, concede that the language to a non-native brit could be troublesome, likewise, there is some military jargon but most of it is contained within a glossary at the back. When reading for the first couple of times I recall flicking back and forth between the page I was reading and the glossary. But now on my fourth or fifth read, I’m familiar enough with the jargon to read without referring to the glossary.
I am assured by my army recruiter that Hennessey’s description of Sandhurst is accurate despite it being over fifteen years old. I would state that I have yet to find a better literary description of the 44 weeks of Sandhurst than this. None appear to be as comprehensive in their description of the commissioning course (my main points of comparison here are We Were Warriors by Johnny Mercer and Under The Bearskin by Mark Evans both of which skirt over Sandhurst), nor do they quite manage to encapsulate the emotional ups and downs which I have been promised by my recruiters.
My sense is that if you are considering a career in the forces and want an overview of what a five/seven-year commission would be like; I think this is probably the book for you. Likewise, if you are interested in the experience of British soldiers who were members of an Operational Liaison and Mentoring Team (OMLT), then this and Hennessey's other book Kandak are the only ones that spring to mind.
If, however, you want an account of the conflict in Afghan from an Infantry officer’s perspective, I would point you to Company Commander by Russell Lewis MC, which I feel is a far better account of the war from a personal perspective. Dead Men Risen by Toby Harnden gives an excellent account of the war and the effects it had on a British battlegroup as a whole.
If you buy the book, I would purchase the Penguin paperback edition not the Allen Lane edition, this is because the Penguin edition contains the afterword which lists the books that Hennessey took to war.
To me, his style comes across as authentic and was something I could almost relate to, but then this may be as we are seemingly both quite similar, both “over-privileged, over-educated, under-sexed students” wanting to do something different and avoid a desk job at all costs, or in his case being “bored with everything else”.
I will, however, concede that the language to a non-native brit could be troublesome, likewise, there is some military jargon but most of it is contained within a glossary at the back. When reading for the first couple of times I recall flicking back and forth between the page I was reading and the glossary. But now on my fourth or fifth read, I’m familiar enough with the jargon to read without referring to the glossary.
I am assured by my army recruiter that Hennessey’s description of Sandhurst is accurate despite it being over fifteen years old. I would state that I have yet to find a better literary description of the 44 weeks of Sandhurst than this. None appear to be as comprehensive in their description of the commissioning course (my main points of comparison here are We Were Warriors by Johnny Mercer and Under The Bearskin by Mark Evans both of which skirt over Sandhurst), nor do they quite manage to encapsulate the emotional ups and downs which I have been promised by my recruiters.
My sense is that if you are considering a career in the forces and want an overview of what a five/seven-year commission would be like; I think this is probably the book for you. Likewise, if you are interested in the experience of British soldiers who were members of an Operational Liaison and Mentoring Team (OMLT), then this and Hennessey's other book Kandak are the only ones that spring to mind.
If, however, you want an account of the conflict in Afghan from an Infantry officer’s perspective, I would point you to Company Commander by Russell Lewis MC, which I feel is a far better account of the war from a personal perspective. Dead Men Risen by Toby Harnden gives an excellent account of the war and the effects it had on a British battlegroup as a whole.
If you buy the book, I would purchase the Penguin paperback edition not the Allen Lane edition, this is because the Penguin edition contains the afterword which lists the books that Hennessey took to war.
November 27, 2014
Patrick Hennessey's soldiering memoir is a surprisingly self-aware read. A former officer in the Grenadier Guards he has written a remarkably postmodern work of the same ilk as Swofford's Jarhead. A generation of smart, educated and well read young men, entirely aware of the horrors of war, but also quite keen to kill someone.
Hennessey's account is part impossibly posh public schoolboy romp: Sandhurst "Hogwarts with guns", the officers "tray" in Inkerman Company (a sort of giant tuck shop) and the bizarre rituals of being in Royal Palace Guards display regiment - chatting up American tourists between marching in spotless uniforms. Part infantry boredom: the Junior Officer's Reading Club of the title is a reference to the books, magazines, DVD box sets and music consumed on mass while sitting around bored waiting for front line warfare in Iraq's Green Zone. Part trial-by-combat tale: when he finally gets front line infantry warfare in Afghanistan in what sounds like a truly horrible six month tour up the Helmand valley with comrades losing limbs and lives around him, the surreal paradox of the situation isn't lost. Troops shoot "Terry" Taliban by day and catch up with episodes of the hospital soap Grey's Anatomy on the laptop at night. In one account he ponders with black humour why they are watching the characters of Band of Brothers under mortar attacks, in between bouts of actually being under mortar attack - at least escapism has a certain logic to it.
The slightly random diary style writing owes a lot to Michael Herr's Vietnam Dispatches, who Hennessey himself acknowledges as a book of the Reading Club. He also veers into British Army abbreviations and slang a little too often to make the reading easy going. The odd style means the writing quality varies greatly. He writes very well about the problems of re-entering civilian life on leave, and the PTSD and underlying selfishness that soldiering must require. He's not so good on geopolitics - at times acknowledging the uselessness, costs, idiotic bureaucracy and impossibilities of the conflicts he fighting in, while at the same time defending the men lost and the worthiness of the intent. Hennessey isn't as good a writer as Swofford because ultimately he lacks the ability to examine his own actions and ask if he's entitled to call himself one of the good guys any more. Nonetheless, compelling reading.
Hennessey's account is part impossibly posh public schoolboy romp: Sandhurst "Hogwarts with guns", the officers "tray" in Inkerman Company (a sort of giant tuck shop) and the bizarre rituals of being in Royal Palace Guards display regiment - chatting up American tourists between marching in spotless uniforms. Part infantry boredom: the Junior Officer's Reading Club of the title is a reference to the books, magazines, DVD box sets and music consumed on mass while sitting around bored waiting for front line warfare in Iraq's Green Zone. Part trial-by-combat tale: when he finally gets front line infantry warfare in Afghanistan in what sounds like a truly horrible six month tour up the Helmand valley with comrades losing limbs and lives around him, the surreal paradox of the situation isn't lost. Troops shoot "Terry" Taliban by day and catch up with episodes of the hospital soap Grey's Anatomy on the laptop at night. In one account he ponders with black humour why they are watching the characters of Band of Brothers under mortar attacks, in between bouts of actually being under mortar attack - at least escapism has a certain logic to it.
The slightly random diary style writing owes a lot to Michael Herr's Vietnam Dispatches, who Hennessey himself acknowledges as a book of the Reading Club. He also veers into British Army abbreviations and slang a little too often to make the reading easy going. The odd style means the writing quality varies greatly. He writes very well about the problems of re-entering civilian life on leave, and the PTSD and underlying selfishness that soldiering must require. He's not so good on geopolitics - at times acknowledging the uselessness, costs, idiotic bureaucracy and impossibilities of the conflicts he fighting in, while at the same time defending the men lost and the worthiness of the intent. Hennessey isn't as good a writer as Swofford because ultimately he lacks the ability to examine his own actions and ask if he's entitled to call himself one of the good guys any more. Nonetheless, compelling reading.
August 26, 2011
This book had parts which were really gripping and gave you a true sense of what it would be like fighting in Afghanistan and the strong bonds of friendship which form among the soldiers and officers. There are some descriptions which are really quite witty and I found myself trying to supress the giggles at times in order to try and keep up the pretence of me reading a "serious" book tackling a dramatic topic.
However, I found large parts of the book hard to follow. I think this had much to do with the language used. Not only is it riddled with military terms and abbreviations, but I don't think the language flows very easily. I had to re-read sentences a couple of times only to reach the conclusion that it really did not make a lot of sense.
It is still worth reading and a much needed dose of reality in the context of modern warfare. When it is good, it is very good. When it is bad, it is confusing. Not a modern Birdsong, but not a bad attempt overall.
However, I found large parts of the book hard to follow. I think this had much to do with the language used. Not only is it riddled with military terms and abbreviations, but I don't think the language flows very easily. I had to re-read sentences a couple of times only to reach the conclusion that it really did not make a lot of sense.
It is still worth reading and a much needed dose of reality in the context of modern warfare. When it is good, it is very good. When it is bad, it is confusing. Not a modern Birdsong, but not a bad attempt overall.
February 2, 2011
An irreverent, flippant, and visceral read of what goes through the mind of a warrior before, during, and after combat. The military jargon and the British idioms will no doubt lose many an intrepid soul but seize the day and persevere because this is a gem of a book. It tells it like it is. Reminded me a lot of Junger's book on Afghanistan and the film Restrepo. However, this book takes place in Iraq, Bosnia, and the UK as well. Infantry soldiers believe they have a monopoly on human suffering and this book reaffirms that belief and transforms it into a fact, not some perceived reality. At times this book seems to contradict Robert E. Lee's aphorism "it is well that war is so terrible — lest we should grow too fond of it." Hennessey is at times intoxicated by the adrenalin of war. When he takes his leave of the Army he's probably come around to Lee's sage advice.
September 1, 2021
I gave up on this but i put enough time in that I'm counting it as done. It was just really hard to follow his prose (military jargon sprinkled everywhere was the least of the issues). There are far more readable memoirs if you want to read about a young man going off to war. I highly recommend Vietnam-Perkasie:A Combat Marine's Memoir. That is a book that you will not be able to put down. I also feel a little bit cheated because the title is "Junior Officer's Reading Club" and I'm not sure what the heck that has to do with what I just read. I guess i thought i was going to get a lot of intellectual dialog between the author and his peers, some kind of introspection and philosophical debate about what they were doing there but there was very little of that.
January 29, 2019
The mind of the modern soldier - I was a lot more interested by the training and reflections than any action, and it was a voice I haven’t heard much before. Still can’t really get my head around people wanting to shoot other people, especially without wondering (at least on the page) what it was all for. But I do like the idea of everyone being hooked on Grey’s Anatomy.
April 13, 2012
Really interesting account of modern day soldiering with particular emphasis on Afghanistan. Great writing and required reading if you really want to know how it is on the front line.
October 16, 2014
Jumps around a bit but very entertaining. Interesting perspective at times worrying/refreshingly honest. You need a military thesaurus to get through it, luckily I live with one.
July 27, 2022
5 Stars /
95%
This is a book which I think will stay with me for a great deal of time. It didn't preach, it didn't yell, it calmly, yet quickly, took the reader through the author's experiences. Dumping them initially in the Afghan desert, and just as he is running into his first contact, freeze frame into "This is me, You're probably wondering how I got here" style of flashback. He describes how could anyone be so excited to kill someone, and how 2 years previously he would absolutely not have held the same opinion. At all. Much the same to the civilian reader, observing everything and being thrown into the fire.
Hennessey takes us first through his training at Sandhurst, up every gruelling hill and exercise to the extent we get a glimpse at the pain and seemingly pointlessness of this exercise. Almost as though he is muttering it to us in a ditch on Brecon. But this does something to the psyche of Hennessy (candidly telling us about how each stage is a process of brainwashing in order to make British Army officers, capable of killing and being able to order around a bunch of guys with extreme firepower). As such, we come along with him on that journey, and by the end of Sandhurst he is itching to get on tour, itching to get on a real patrol and get in a real "scrap". And no matter the reader's opinion 100 pages ago, right now you want to come with him and see what happens. We have fallen into the same mentality as Hennessy.
Without going into too much detail, this ability to share his thoughts, and to capture the reader's attention by telling it how it is, with no underlaying message, just his experiences, we really start to form an attachment to him, his unit and the soldiers under his command (including the eccentric-by-British-Army-standards, Afghan National Army (ANA)). He does an incredible job at sharing the details for you to make up your own opinion, to the extent when he is fired up wanted to be back in action after only a weekend of R&R, you can't help but sympathise.
For someone generally against warfare, this was an incredible, eye-opening experience. About how the modern western army is run, about how the modern (if not slightly outdated) ANA is run, and remarkably, not why everyone was there. The point of the book was not top justify anything, but instead just tell the reader what happened across a sliver of his experiences. I took from it a warning for the future, about how easy it is to lose all perspective and completely lose sight of a greater goal, and a warning about the running of modern armies.
This book, I do believe, will stay with me for a very long time.
95%
This is a book which I think will stay with me for a great deal of time. It didn't preach, it didn't yell, it calmly, yet quickly, took the reader through the author's experiences. Dumping them initially in the Afghan desert, and just as he is running into his first contact, freeze frame into "This is me, You're probably wondering how I got here" style of flashback. He describes how could anyone be so excited to kill someone, and how 2 years previously he would absolutely not have held the same opinion. At all. Much the same to the civilian reader, observing everything and being thrown into the fire.
Hennessey takes us first through his training at Sandhurst, up every gruelling hill and exercise to the extent we get a glimpse at the pain and seemingly pointlessness of this exercise. Almost as though he is muttering it to us in a ditch on Brecon. But this does something to the psyche of Hennessy (candidly telling us about how each stage is a process of brainwashing in order to make British Army officers, capable of killing and being able to order around a bunch of guys with extreme firepower). As such, we come along with him on that journey, and by the end of Sandhurst he is itching to get on tour, itching to get on a real patrol and get in a real "scrap". And no matter the reader's opinion 100 pages ago, right now you want to come with him and see what happens. We have fallen into the same mentality as Hennessy.
Without going into too much detail, this ability to share his thoughts, and to capture the reader's attention by telling it how it is, with no underlaying message, just his experiences, we really start to form an attachment to him, his unit and the soldiers under his command (including the eccentric-by-British-Army-standards, Afghan National Army (ANA)). He does an incredible job at sharing the details for you to make up your own opinion, to the extent when he is fired up wanted to be back in action after only a weekend of R&R, you can't help but sympathise.
For someone generally against warfare, this was an incredible, eye-opening experience. About how the modern western army is run, about how the modern (if not slightly outdated) ANA is run, and remarkably, not why everyone was there. The point of the book was not top justify anything, but instead just tell the reader what happened across a sliver of his experiences. I took from it a warning for the future, about how easy it is to lose all perspective and completely lose sight of a greater goal, and a warning about the running of modern armies.
This book, I do believe, will stay with me for a very long time.
October 30, 2025
The Junior Officer's Reading Club is a center-of-the-road War on Terror memoir, notable mostly for the fact that Hennessey was in the British Army, and its literary pretensions. War was a chance for Hennessey to test himself against the ultimate of combat. Given that he wasn't marinating in post-9/11 propaganda and seems a decent bloke, the chance of adventure is the best explanation for why this all happened.
His story moves through Sandhurst, and then the Grenadier Guards: standing around in bearskin hats in London, peacekeeping in Kosovo, counter-insurgency in Basra, and finally all out combat in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Hennessey writes in the easy banter of the lads, one soldier talking to another. A lot of what comes through is posturing. Sandhurst is all about appearing military tough in the classical 'stiff upper lip' tradition of the British Army. But the real deal is looking cool on operations, rolling out with the right soundtrack, getting the right clips to stitch together for the mates back home. And finally, playing the heroic man of action, braver and more masculine than any number of London bankers.
War itself, well, war is mostly boring, mostly waiting around in bad weather, or waiting around in decrepit buildings. And then there are flashes of action that make it all worthwhile, reconnaissance in force and storming compounds and calling in air strikes. Danger is all around: Hennessey's company suffered about 1/3rd casualties during its tour in Afghanistan. Their Afghan National Army partners took it worse, with less equipment, less training, and an "inshallah" attitude towards military discipline.
One thing that comes through is that while the Taliban might have been the adversary, the RAF is the enemy. Britain has a bad case of imperial hangover, maintaining a global-spanning interventionist battleforce on a national budget that really can't. At one point Hennessey notes that the US keeps more troops in Korea "just in case" than are in the British Army, period. And while the British Army has been continuously engaged in various post-colonial emergencies, North Ireland, and then the Balkans and the War on Terror, money goes towards ships and fighter planes.
Hennessey's open model for his book is Herr's immortal Vietnam War story Dispatches. That's a very high star to aim for, and the writing doesn't quite hit (he is perforce tied closer to his own story than Herr was), and this has the ironic post-modern weirdness of the 21st century; watching 24 while serving as wardens for an Iraqi prison, debating The OC on patrol, but in a few moments, it soars close.
His story moves through Sandhurst, and then the Grenadier Guards: standing around in bearskin hats in London, peacekeeping in Kosovo, counter-insurgency in Basra, and finally all out combat in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Hennessey writes in the easy banter of the lads, one soldier talking to another. A lot of what comes through is posturing. Sandhurst is all about appearing military tough in the classical 'stiff upper lip' tradition of the British Army. But the real deal is looking cool on operations, rolling out with the right soundtrack, getting the right clips to stitch together for the mates back home. And finally, playing the heroic man of action, braver and more masculine than any number of London bankers.
War itself, well, war is mostly boring, mostly waiting around in bad weather, or waiting around in decrepit buildings. And then there are flashes of action that make it all worthwhile, reconnaissance in force and storming compounds and calling in air strikes. Danger is all around: Hennessey's company suffered about 1/3rd casualties during its tour in Afghanistan. Their Afghan National Army partners took it worse, with less equipment, less training, and an "inshallah" attitude towards military discipline.
One thing that comes through is that while the Taliban might have been the adversary, the RAF is the enemy. Britain has a bad case of imperial hangover, maintaining a global-spanning interventionist battleforce on a national budget that really can't. At one point Hennessey notes that the US keeps more troops in Korea "just in case" than are in the British Army, period. And while the British Army has been continuously engaged in various post-colonial emergencies, North Ireland, and then the Balkans and the War on Terror, money goes towards ships and fighter planes.
Hennessey's open model for his book is Herr's immortal Vietnam War story Dispatches. That's a very high star to aim for, and the writing doesn't quite hit (he is perforce tied closer to his own story than Herr was), and this has the ironic post-modern weirdness of the 21st century; watching 24 while serving as wardens for an Iraqi prison, debating The OC on patrol, but in a few moments, it soars close.
June 30, 2025
The soldier's memoir is not a genre I typically read a ton of, maybe one or two a year as the mood hits. I picked this one up fifteen years ago because I thought the British perspective could be kind of interesting, and the cover had a bunch of books on it, so I thought there might be a throughline or framework around books (tldr: there isn't). What it turned out to be is a third-generation military man's fairly unvarnished account of graduating from university, entering officer school at Sandhurst and doing three years service from roughly 2004-2007, serving in Iraq and Afghanistan in the Grenadier Guards.
Whether in the training barracks or pinned down on an Afghan rooftop, the writing works hard at a rat-a-tat "you are there" barely controlled, choppy chaotic tone. The book was formed from diary entries and emails and retains that very loose feel throughout -- and I didn't love it. There is certainly introspection and reflection baked in (yes, the adrenaline rush is real and addictive and messes you up), but it might have benefited from a few more years' distance. Or maybe not -- readers who are looking for the immersion in the (now 20ish years ago) moments will get that. The book is chock-a-block with acronyms, military slang, references to old pop culture (the TV series Grey's Anatomy and 24 figure prominently). To be honest, I found it a bit more of a slog than I hoped for. It didn't help that only about half the terms made it to the glossary.
What really struck me and will stick with me though, is a reference at the very end. As we've followed Hennessey over three years, the reader is learning about a massive investment in knowledge, and a massive investment in war materiel and support. While there are weeks of unrelenting blood, sweat, and tears defending specific strong points or taking specific actions, there are countless other hours zoning out on DVDs at rear bases, eating chocolate cake and fried chicken, and any number of other Western luxuries catered at great expense. One starts to tally up the cost of all the vehicles, ordnance, helicopter fuel, shipping of Gatorade, and on and on.
And then he mentions that over the course of the 7-8 month deployment in Afghanistan, his company was "credited" with just under 200 Taliban killed. Of course war is more than ROI, but it's staggering to think about the energy and expense expended -- for what? Which is not a criticism of the author or the book at all -- but a stark thought at the end of it all.
Whether in the training barracks or pinned down on an Afghan rooftop, the writing works hard at a rat-a-tat "you are there" barely controlled, choppy chaotic tone. The book was formed from diary entries and emails and retains that very loose feel throughout -- and I didn't love it. There is certainly introspection and reflection baked in (yes, the adrenaline rush is real and addictive and messes you up), but it might have benefited from a few more years' distance. Or maybe not -- readers who are looking for the immersion in the (now 20ish years ago) moments will get that. The book is chock-a-block with acronyms, military slang, references to old pop culture (the TV series Grey's Anatomy and 24 figure prominently). To be honest, I found it a bit more of a slog than I hoped for. It didn't help that only about half the terms made it to the glossary.
What really struck me and will stick with me though, is a reference at the very end. As we've followed Hennessey over three years, the reader is learning about a massive investment in knowledge, and a massive investment in war materiel and support. While there are weeks of unrelenting blood, sweat, and tears defending specific strong points or taking specific actions, there are countless other hours zoning out on DVDs at rear bases, eating chocolate cake and fried chicken, and any number of other Western luxuries catered at great expense. One starts to tally up the cost of all the vehicles, ordnance, helicopter fuel, shipping of Gatorade, and on and on.
And then he mentions that over the course of the 7-8 month deployment in Afghanistan, his company was "credited" with just under 200 Taliban killed. Of course war is more than ROI, but it's staggering to think about the energy and expense expended -- for what? Which is not a criticism of the author or the book at all -- but a stark thought at the end of it all.
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