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In the Shadow of Suribachi
Through 7 fictional characters, Faulkner tells the story of the Battle of Iwo Jima. The characters, based loosely on stories told by her father and other veterans she has met, are each introduced to the reader before the war. They come from various backgrounds and geographic locations across the US. The young men come together on the shores of Iwo Jima and face a horrific fight in one of WWII's most famous battles. Faulkner successfully captures the chaos, terror, grief, pain and heart of the battlefield.
- GenresFiction
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2005
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11 people want to read
About the author
Joyce Faulkner
34 books33 followersJoyce Faulkner loves stories -- fiction or non-fiction. She also has a compulsive need to know why. To this end, her work focuses on how her characters react to their environment, to the people around them, to the events of their lives -- and to the various opportunities and disappointments impact their journeys.
She has studied the art of writing since the 1960s -- exploring not the right or wrong of a given approach, but the effectiveness of it on her declared audiences. She likes to manipulate her readers -- challenging them to navigate complex plots to get to the core question...why?
She has studied the art of writing since the 1960s -- exploring not the right or wrong of a given approach, but the effectiveness of it on her declared audiences. She likes to manipulate her readers -- challenging them to navigate complex plots to get to the core question...why?
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
March 31, 2010
Gold Medal Winner for historical fiction from Military Writer's Society of America, 2006 Book Awards, March 31, 2010
By Kathleen M. Rodgers "Author" (Colleyville, TX USA)
This review is from: In the Shadow of Suribachi (Paperback)
NOW I UNDERSTAND!
The characters in award-winning author Joyce Faulkner's novel "In the Shadow of Suribachi" have embedded themselves in my soul. Two days after reading this amazing story, I cannot get them out of my head. Or heart. These boys turned men -- in the blink-of-an-eye during the hellish days of battle on the beaches of Iwo Jima -- are now the ghosts that will haunt me the rest of my life.
Based on stories her father told her about his time in the Marines during WWII, Joyce Faulkner has created a story that sweeps the reader up and plants them smack down in the middle of hell. You can try to close the book and turn your back on these scared young men who are barely old enough to shave, but something keeps pulling you back. You keep turning the pages because suddenly YOU are the young Marine lying there sick to your stomach and heart in the black gritty sand on that Godforsaken beach. YOU are the young Marine crying for his mama, praying for God to either take you quickly or let you survive. YOU are the young Marine who digs into your foxhole and waits.
You are no longer a bystander waiting and watching for old veterans to come marching down Main Street during the annual Veteran's Day Parade. You are no longer the shopper rushing off to buy stuff on sale at the annual Memorial Day Sales Event. No, because YOU are still on that beach, waiting to die. Or waiting to live. After reading this book, I can no longer rush through the stories the newspapers trot out every military related holiday. You know the ones. The stories of old WWII Veterans with their medals, some even donned in old uniforms if they can still squeeze into them. Or seated in an armchair with a black and white photo framed nearby, showing young men smiling with their arms draped over each others' shoulders. Very much like the young men featured on the cover of this novel.
This novel is so achingly beautiful. One of my favorite characters is Bill Zimmer. I fell in love with him the moment I first saw him, peeking out of his mother's closet when he was a shy little boy. Get this book and read about the others. Along with Zim, there's Arty, Smitty, Kirby, Cordell, Doc. Kline and Kroner. And the next time I see an old Veteran, I will look beyond his wrinkles and into his deep haunted eyes. And I WILL UNDERSTAND.
Highly recommend this book. Yes, the author is a woman, and yes, she writes about war with the authority of someone who has been there. She put herself on the beaches of Iwo Jima long ago, when she sat at her daddy's knees, and LISTENED to his war stories with her HEART!
By Kathleen M. Rodgers "Author" (Colleyville, TX USA)
This review is from: In the Shadow of Suribachi (Paperback)
NOW I UNDERSTAND!
The characters in award-winning author Joyce Faulkner's novel "In the Shadow of Suribachi" have embedded themselves in my soul. Two days after reading this amazing story, I cannot get them out of my head. Or heart. These boys turned men -- in the blink-of-an-eye during the hellish days of battle on the beaches of Iwo Jima -- are now the ghosts that will haunt me the rest of my life.
Based on stories her father told her about his time in the Marines during WWII, Joyce Faulkner has created a story that sweeps the reader up and plants them smack down in the middle of hell. You can try to close the book and turn your back on these scared young men who are barely old enough to shave, but something keeps pulling you back. You keep turning the pages because suddenly YOU are the young Marine lying there sick to your stomach and heart in the black gritty sand on that Godforsaken beach. YOU are the young Marine crying for his mama, praying for God to either take you quickly or let you survive. YOU are the young Marine who digs into your foxhole and waits.
You are no longer a bystander waiting and watching for old veterans to come marching down Main Street during the annual Veteran's Day Parade. You are no longer the shopper rushing off to buy stuff on sale at the annual Memorial Day Sales Event. No, because YOU are still on that beach, waiting to die. Or waiting to live. After reading this book, I can no longer rush through the stories the newspapers trot out every military related holiday. You know the ones. The stories of old WWII Veterans with their medals, some even donned in old uniforms if they can still squeeze into them. Or seated in an armchair with a black and white photo framed nearby, showing young men smiling with their arms draped over each others' shoulders. Very much like the young men featured on the cover of this novel.
This novel is so achingly beautiful. One of my favorite characters is Bill Zimmer. I fell in love with him the moment I first saw him, peeking out of his mother's closet when he was a shy little boy. Get this book and read about the others. Along with Zim, there's Arty, Smitty, Kirby, Cordell, Doc. Kline and Kroner. And the next time I see an old Veteran, I will look beyond his wrinkles and into his deep haunted eyes. And I WILL UNDERSTAND.
Highly recommend this book. Yes, the author is a woman, and yes, she writes about war with the authority of someone who has been there. She put herself on the beaches of Iwo Jima long ago, when she sat at her daddy's knees, and LISTENED to his war stories with her HEART!
July 1, 2012
I've read the usual descriptions of battles in the South Pacific because my older brother served there during WWII, but I never was able to feel much of a connection between him and the history-book descriptions of what he did. This book changed that. When Joyce's characters headed for Iwo Jima, I was there beside them, almost hand-in-hand with my brother for the first time. Incredible insights.
March 7, 2012
The author brings the personalities of the men alive, along with their wishes and dreams. The horror of combat and the pain of loss is so well described and the emotional content is rich and deep.
August 29, 2019
Great book, well written. Very good read.
October 17, 2013
Here's my review system, for which I take no credit, having been pilfered off another reviewer. I simply take an average of the 4.
Character development: I'm a bit torn on this one. I think the book loses direction and seems confused. Is it a character book or a war story? The full 50% of the book were extended descriptions of the major characters during the years leading up to the war, the first one from 1935. They all seem to have been dealing with death in one form or another. Then we jumped directly into the war. There was no real character development with most of the characters at this point except for Bill and Arty. We never got to know them as soldiers.
There was one glaring bit of dialog that stood out. Just before they landed, they made a "pact" to stick together as brothers. As Marines, this bonding is done during Basic and further battle training. NOT just before landing. I thought is was pretty laughable. I also felt lost with the characters. So many were introduced early on as though it was a table of contents, that I had to go back and reference them to try and figure out who in the heck some of them were. There Marine character seemed so disassociated with their civilian character. There was no transition. 3 stars based more upon quantity than quality.
Plot: Again, I'm going to dock this because it was so fragmented. It would have been much more readable if the characters were developed throughout the book rather than in some fragmented manner. I thought the ending was rather flat and unnecessary. The story should have ended in 1945. The final chapters did little for me. Yeah, it was nice to know how some of them ended up, but the Kent State thing was kind of stupid.2 stars
Voice: Style was fine, but not more than average. 3 stars
Cliche Level The book was predictable, but since it's a war story, I was expecting as much. 3 stars
Technical: There were no obvious typo-s or mis-spellings. 5 stars
PS. At looking at some of the 5-star reviews, many of them give 5 stars to almost all of their reviews, so I have to wonder how valid they really are. How would you rate a really really great novel if all you are giving is 5 stars? I gave 5 stars to "Battle Cry." This book pales in comparison.
Character development: I'm a bit torn on this one. I think the book loses direction and seems confused. Is it a character book or a war story? The full 50% of the book were extended descriptions of the major characters during the years leading up to the war, the first one from 1935. They all seem to have been dealing with death in one form or another. Then we jumped directly into the war. There was no real character development with most of the characters at this point except for Bill and Arty. We never got to know them as soldiers.
There was one glaring bit of dialog that stood out. Just before they landed, they made a "pact" to stick together as brothers. As Marines, this bonding is done during Basic and further battle training. NOT just before landing. I thought is was pretty laughable. I also felt lost with the characters. So many were introduced early on as though it was a table of contents, that I had to go back and reference them to try and figure out who in the heck some of them were. There Marine character seemed so disassociated with their civilian character. There was no transition. 3 stars based more upon quantity than quality.
Plot: Again, I'm going to dock this because it was so fragmented. It would have been much more readable if the characters were developed throughout the book rather than in some fragmented manner. I thought the ending was rather flat and unnecessary. The story should have ended in 1945. The final chapters did little for me. Yeah, it was nice to know how some of them ended up, but the Kent State thing was kind of stupid.2 stars
Voice: Style was fine, but not more than average. 3 stars
Cliche Level The book was predictable, but since it's a war story, I was expecting as much. 3 stars
Technical: There were no obvious typo-s or mis-spellings. 5 stars
PS. At looking at some of the 5-star reviews, many of them give 5 stars to almost all of their reviews, so I have to wonder how valid they really are. How would you rate a really really great novel if all you are giving is 5 stars? I gave 5 stars to "Battle Cry." This book pales in comparison.
June 3, 2016
A very interesting and well-written collection of stories, better than I had expected. I'll read more from her.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews