Armies of the Night

Armies of the Night - Norman Mailer - Five Stars ☆☆☆☆☆*

Wait. What? Five stars?

I have read Armies of the Night at least three times and will probably read it again. By my rating system that makes it a five star book. There is an asterisk up there though. 

I have only read the "History as a Novel" section once. Now, after my initial reading, when I pick up the book, I go to the "The Novel as History" section. I enjoy it a lot. What Mailer was trying to do as a writer in providing two distinct views of the Pentagon March is interesting. I just don't equally enjoy both views. Does that make it a two-and-a-half-star book? Maybe. But then again, when I reread Moby Dick I now skip over the "Is a whale a fish?" discussions and stay with the meat of the story. Does that lessen Moby Dick? I don't think so.

George W. Parker