Stats for nerds
1recommend
3mentions
2people
2014–2020years
33% recommend67% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- From a literary perspective, Tolstoy's War and Peace has volumes of text dedicated to examining Napoleon and the impact of "great men" on history. He also doesn't create a very flattering portrayal, it's a great read. Of course there's more to that book than just war. Dumas, who named a chapter "The Corsican Ogre" after Napoleon in The Count of Monte Cristo is also not very kind to his legacy. Napoleon's lasting impact beyond just the destruction and desecration of monarchies across Europe probably includes the Napoleonic Code[1] which has probably influenced laws everywhere.
Another great read is Rifleman Dodd, also known as Death to the French, the story of a single British rifleman causing havoc to french forces in Spain[2]. It gives you an interesting perspective how much the french were hated outside of France.
- Nearly every time the USMC list goes up on HN, the reaction is the same: Why the heck is Ready Player One on the list?
Thanks for diving a bit deeper into the selection.
To add a bit more context, the USMCRL has this in addition to the categorization:
"2044. Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes this depressing reality by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia where you can be anything you want to be, where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets..."
As the selection is in the 'Primary Level - Enlisted' alongside Ender's Game and Rifleman Dodd, I think it is there to showcase initiative and intelligence for young enlisted marines.
Still, I'll admit, it is a strange choice.
- USMC Commandant's 2020 Reading List.
This year I am finishing up the Harvard Classics and am looking for a new view point. https://www.myharvardclassics.com/categories/20120612_1
Unfortunately, the military only publish on New Years Day (traditionally as a sort of holiday gift to those under command), so the 2020 list is not out yet. Every title is free via either the base library or the Navy Digital Library. Most have free audio book narration. There are discussion guides also provided for free. The website is very easy to use and poke around in, I'd suggest looking at it from a Dev standpoint alone. That said, the 2019 list is here: https://grc-usmcu.libguides.com/usmc-reading-list
There are a LOT of titles so here are the Poolee through PFC levels:
Poolee:
BATTLE CRY by Leon Uris
CORPS VALUES by Zell Miller
GATES OF FIRE: AN EPIC NOVEL OF THE BATTLE OF THERMOPYLAE by Steven Pressfield
GRIT: THE POWER OF PASSION AND PERSEVERANCE by Angela Duckworth
STARSHIP TROOPERS by Robert A. Heinlein
PFC through Lance Corporal:
CHESTY by Jon T. Hoffman
ENDER'S GAME by Orson Scott Card
THE LAST STAND OF FOX COMPANY: A TRUE STORY OF U.S. MARINES IN COMBAT by Bob Drury
THE MARINES OF MONTFORD POINT: AMERICA'S FIRST BLACK MARINES by Melton Alonza McLaurin
ON CALL IN HELL by Richard Jadick; Thomas Hayden
READY PLAYER ONE by Ernest Cline
RIFLEMAN DODD: A NOVEL OF THE PENINSULAR CAMPAIGN by C. S. Forester
THE WARRIOR ETHOS by Steven Pressfield
The 2020 list should have some froth in it (Greitens likely won't stay, but who knows, judge the art not the artist). I think it'll be a good look into a Corps that has been punched for a long time in Afghanistan. Still, some great titles in there.
