Nick Cassavetes' Going After Cacciato

TheCentralScrutinizer · 21 Mar 07 :: 23:57

I read another 12 pages or so last night at the vet waiting for them to get done with Lacey. I just need to say that so far, I am really enjoying this book. And I really like the main character, Paul Berlin. Chris would be so perfect to play this guy. And it is turning into a bit of a romance too, which is just great. Drives me nuts that we probably won't know anything more about this movie for several months.

Deb

TeeJay · 22 Mar 07 :: 00:11

Well, Deb, make sure to quiz Chris about what role Nick had in mind for him when you talk to him next.

-TeeJay

domesticelefant · 22 Mar 07 :: 00:14

TeeJay wrote:

Well, Deb, make sure to quiz Chris about what role Nick had in mind for him when you talk to him next.

This should be interesting.

TheCentralScrutinizer · 13 May 07 :: 07:25

Having just finished the book recently and still being unable to get it out of my head, I was reading some reviews on Amazon. This guy describes it fairly well, though he does not mention the love story....

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
War like you've never (or always) seen it, March 31, 2006
Reviewer: Dylan Wilbur "the dillpickle" (Mound, MN USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
The Vietnam war continues to bring back painful memories to millions of Americans. Few artists have captured the essence of the war as accurately as Tim O'Brien. In his book, Going After Cacciato, O'Brien tells the tale of Spec Four Paul Berlin and his squad's pursuit of an AWOL soldier named Cacciato. Cacciato decided to leave the war and head for Paris...conveniently located 8,000 miles away. As the squad chases after Cacciato, O'Brien dives into Berlin's first experiences with the war, exposing the fear, courage and attitudes of everyday soldiers. While appearing humorous in nature, which it is at some points, Going After Cacciato is much more than a lighthearted adventure. It takes on the heavy subject of war and its effects on every day soldiers with an intelligent zeal and brutal truthfulness.
O'Brien structures his book in an odd manner, jumping between the chase after Cacciato and flashbacks to various "war stories" involving Berlin and his squad. While at first somewhat jarring, as he usually jumps right when some major action is occurring, eventually it makes for a more interesting and exciting read. The war stories and the Cacciato plot work well together, mixing action sequences and thoughts on war and warfare, so that every chapter (or every other chapter) is fresh material. The inclusion of the war stories also accomplishes two things: 1) It includes Vietnam in the novel, as the majority of the Cacciato sections of the book occur outside of Vietnam; and 2) It gives O'Brien a chance to explore the lessons of war, an opportunity which he takes at every turn.
The majority of the lessons learned in the "war stories" involve the death of a squad member. It's no secret that they died, in fact many of the deaths are alluded to from very early on in the book. Their significance comes not from their death, but from the circumstances surrounding it. From simple lessons such as, " `don' never get shot' " to brutal truths about squad assimilation, and the disturbing yet-sadly-ironic "ultimate war story", O'Brien covers the full threshold of emotions and experiences a soldier can go through during war time. O'Brien's major themes become apparent through these stories as well. His comment on loyalty, procedure, and the value of human life, for example, is brought up repeatedly through story of how "Lieutenant Corson came to replace Lieutenant Sidney Martin." In addition to bringing up his desired themes through the war stories, O'Brien also utilizes the character of Paul Berlin to illustrate the books numerous broader subjects.
Paul Berlin will often question the war and life in general through a stream of consciousness at different points in the novel. These pages take the readers inside the mind of a soldier where they experience his thoughts, fears, hopes, and dreams. Here Berlin considers the disturbing events he and the others witness, "They did not know how to feel. Whether, when seeing a dead Vietnamese, to be happy or sad or relieved...They did not know how to feel when they saw villages burning. Revenge? Loss?...They did not know good from evil". Here he questions the issue of "courage. How to behave. Weather to flee or fight". These pages are often the most intellectually stimulating, and the most haunting. The conclusions that Berlin reaches reveal only a small portion of what it was like to be in Vietnam, but they become some of the most memorable pages within the book.
One of the most appealing aspects of the book is how is it is to read. O'Brien's style is quickly digested and helps to create vivid images within one's head. His ability to paint a picture of war and warfare puts the reader right there with the squad. In one particularly invigorating part of the book, the squad is dropped in a "hot zone". O'Brien repeatedly describes the aircraft gunners firing over and over, "The gunners fired and fired. They fired at everything....and the gunner kept firing...the gunners kept firing", vividly creating the effect of machine guns blazing as the men enter the combat zone. O'Brien's humor also comes out in his descriptions. One of the characters describes the rain-and-human-filled bomb craters a war zone as the "Worlds Greatest Lake Country" (eventually Cacciato attempts to go fishing in such a crater), providing a perfect sarcastic description of the soggy, bombed out fields that comprised the Vietnam battle zones.
For all that Going After Cacciato accomplishes, it has only one fault: It attempts to tackle too many ideas at once. The lists of themes and ideas that O'Brien explores in the novel number in the 20's, and that's a conservative estimate. His attempt to comment on so much in only 300+ pages leaves the reader a bit confused and overwhelmed. If O'Brien were to scale back on a few of his ideas, he could more thoroughly develop each one, thus making the book more effective as a whole. That aside, Going After Caccito is absolutely marvelous. An intelligent blend of humor, drama, memorable characters, situations, and a thorough discussion on the effects of war, Cacciato is more than deserving of it's praise.

Deb

TheCentralScrutinizer · 13 May 07 :: 07:36

This is s good one too...

Apocalypse Then, February 1, 2003
Reviewer: M. Auerbach (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews
"Ignore the bad stuff, look for the good." Paul Berlin, our mostly reliable narrator of an unreliable and surreal war, remembers these words from his father when the two of them camped out along the Des Moines river one summer, when the chief threat was probably no more than a mosquito bite. He recalls these words on a night march not long after watching one compatriot die from fright and another couple shot to pieces in a forced tunnel search by their implacable lieutenant. As much as Paul Berlin wants to wake up from the war, the reader is drawn to the vividly sketched details of this dreamscape. There is a surreal quality to Tim O'Brien's writing (rather than wait for Godot, the soldiers chase the ghost of an enigmatic private) that mixes brisk humor with desultory maiming and death. It's as immediate and unembellished as the ground these soldiers walk, crouch, crawl, recline, and fall on; a Vietnam "Catch 22".
O'Brien pretty much dispenses with plot in order to communicate (in penetrating detail) the haze of war. The soldiers straggle through a boobytrapped landscape on their way to Paris, ostensibly to bring back their defected comrade (rendered by O'Brien as a cipher, a Pillsbury Doughboy who should have boarded the bus for summer camp, but instead was shipped to Vietnam), but realize after awhile that Cacciato, in his naive way, is fulfilling their own fantasy of escaping from this unwinnable war - a goading from Cacciato to follow in his footsteps.
This long day's journey into night is lightened by O'Brien's quirkily drawn characters (like trigger-happy Stink Harris and tough, sometimes sly, Oscar Johnson) and the fracturing of time. Rather than one long descent into hell, the reader is kept on his toes as O'Brien jump cuts between different time frames, delivering alternating moods and foreshadowed action parceled out with the patience of a surgeon who knows how deep to cut and when to remove the bandages. You trust him not to lop off your leg....and then you hit a mine in the text. The best fiction lets you stand in; here you get a ringside seat and the certain knowlege that all bets are off for these characters.

TheCentralScrutinizer · 13 May 07 :: 08:34

2 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
When I first read this book..., September 21, 2000
Reviewer: Allan (Taupo, New Zealand.) - See all my reviews
I wept with the sudden glory of it.
When I first read this book, I wept for the total despair of it.
When I first read this book, I wept for the hope it gives.
When I first read this book, I wept.

OhGnarly · 13 May 07 :: 12:38

Since I'm off school for the summer, I'm finally getting a chance to read for pleasure. I'll try and pick this book up the next time I'm at a bookstore. Sounds great.

TheCentralScrutinizer · 13 May 07 :: 19:27

You might not have an easy time finding it it in a bookstore. But you can buy a paperback copy off Amazon for as little as a buck. It's totally worth it. Especially if you use this as a bookmark like I did:

Imagine Chris as Paul Berlin and Shawn Hatosy as Stink Harris and the book is a blast!

Deb

domesticelefant · 13 May 07 :: 20:52

Wow, you can even buy it on amazon Germany! I think I am going to do that. Although I might have some difficulties with it. But since I want to improve my English I'll take it as a challenge.

OhGnarly · 14 May 07 :: 00:04

Cool, thanks for the heads up Deb.

TheCentralScrutinizer · 07 Sep 08 :: 05:21

This means nothing, of course, but I just noticed that there's a listing on Hollywood.com for GAC under Nick Cassavetes' credits:

http://www.hollywood.com/movie/Going_Af … ato/370252

TeeJay · 07 Sep 08 :: 09:56

Well, that could have been there for years. Remember how we found that project for Chris that he said they once talked about a long time ago but that it never went anywhere? But of course I still hope it gets made--and with Chris in it.

-TeeJay

cherrykiss808 · 08 Sep 08 :: 05:29

OKay...Tim O'Brien is one of my all time very favorite authors. I am so excited to see that Chris may play a huge role in this movie. And i actually have always wanted to read this book from him so i must pick it up soon.

TheCentralScrutinizer · 08 Sep 08 :: 05:31

It's a terrific book. If you read it, imagine Chris as the main character Paul Berlin and it's a really fun read.

cherrykiss808 · 08 Sep 08 :: 05:40

Omg im so excited deb......you have no idea haha. But you know what book you should also read by Mr. O'Brien.......Tomcat In Love. It's an amazing book.

TheCentralScrutinizer · 08 Sep 08 :: 06:21

Cool, I'll see if I can find it. Let me know what you think of Cacciato when you read it. I loved it. TeeJay borrowed my copy and she enjoyed it too.

TeeJay · 08 Sep 08 :: 09:33

Don't get too excited about the movie, though, Cherry. Nick Cassavetes has been trying to get it made for years. For a little while it looked like there might be some movement, but that's now over a year ago and we haven't heard anything about it since. Nick was talking about wanting Chris for the movie, but we don't know for what role, as Deb explained in the very first post of this thread. We're hoping Paul Berlin, but that's just our wishful thinking at this point. Would be awesome if it came true, though.

-TeeJay

cherrykiss808 · 08 Sep 08 :: 18:21

oh yea i know. It sucks that there hasn't really been any activity but I'm just saying it would be wonderful <3.

TheCentralScrutinizer · 08 Sep 08 :: 18:41

Yeah, and reading the book is still a lot of fun. Even if we never get to see the movie, or even if someone else gets cast in the lead, Chris will always be Paul Berlin to me. He's literally perfect for the part.

TheCentralScrutinizer · 08 Sep 08 :: 18:44

PS: I lave a little laminated version of this pic that I used as a bookmark while I was reading it. Really helped with the visualization...

BiggestChrisMarquetteFan · 09 Sep 08 :: 04:27

That book sounds good. I'm going to read it sometime and I'm definitelty going to picture Chris as the main character.

TheCentralScrutinizer · 09 Sep 08 :: 04:33

It's really cool, Mel. Written very conversationally. Once you get into it, you can't put it down. Especially when the love story aspect kicks in.

cherrykiss808 · 09 Sep 08 :: 05:24

Thats the way that Tim O'Brien has always been with his writting and i love that about his stories...they are always conversative.

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