Herman Wouk, 'The Jackie Robinson Of Jewish-American Fiction,' Dies At 103

NPR ^ | 5/17/2019 | ROSE FRIEDMAN

[fieldmarshaldj]

One of the giants. RIP.

[Fido969]

I always thought The Caine Mutiny was a very good book. I don’t think I ever saw the movie.

[NFHale]

103 is a good run...

And he surely left his positive mark in the world.

RIP.

[libertylover]

The Winds of War and War and Remembrance,

These are great books IMHO. Kind of long-1200 pages or so each, but great. FYI "Winds of War" is the lead-up to war and more or less ends at Pearl Harbor. "War and Remembrance" is about the war itself and the Holocaust.

[lee martell]

I recall being in the Library passing by a few shelves full of his books. Most Herman Wouk books were physically HUGE! The book spines would measure 3.5 inches across on some.
Too much of a challenge for me to even begin.
I had a big enough battle plowing through War & Peace.

[ClearCase_guy]

'The Jackie Robinson Of Jewish-American Fiction,'

Somehow I'm thinking of the SNL Cowbell skit where Christopher Walken (aka Bruce Dickinson -- yes: the Bruce Dickinson) says, "You're all going to wearing solid gold diapers!"

And someone says, "What does that even mean??"

[rjsimmon]

I always thought The Caine Mutiny was a very good book. I don’t think I ever saw the movie.

The film was brilliant. Jose Ferrer did a stellar job, one of his best.

[Fair Paul]

He sure was. I read “The Winds of War” and “War and Remembrance” last year, they left such a mark on me. I watched the mini series of both afterward, War and Remembrance was actually filmed in Auschwitz. Read “The Caine Mutiny” in high school, the movie was very good as well.

[ruthles]

I had the great honor of hearing him a few years ago at the LA Times Festival of Books at UCLA. One of the few authors worth a damn that show up for that far left affair. I have rarely felt more honored than to be in the presence of someone. He was a GIANT, and amazing national treasure. Ive read many of his books and plan to read them all.

[IrishBrigade]

‘I don’t think I ever saw the movie.’

great movie, with the exception of Robert Francis as Ensign Keith; that said, the portrayal (by the great Fred McMurray)of the slimy Kiefer, oily and unctious and utterly despicable, was one for the ages...

[EinNYC]

Baruch Dayan Emes ("G-d is the True Judge"). Herman Wouk was a religious Jew. He belonged to the Kesher Israel synagogue in Georgetown. About 40 years ago, when I lived in that area, I went to that synagogue with some friends to recite some prayers preparatory for the High Holy holidays. The synagogue was short on copies of the book containing the prayers and I drew the short straw. I was sitting next to the aisle, toward the back of the ladies' section, minus the means to say the prayers. Suddenly, a man of mature years crouched down and offered to let me share his prayer book. He waited for me to finish the pages before he flipped to the next one. At the end of the service, I thanked him. It was Herman Wouk.

Herman Wouk wrote this guidebook to explain Judaism about 40 years ago:

[SMGFan]

And I. M. Pei at 102.

Difficult to last past 100.

[allendale]

Best line. “You respect the Captain because he is the Captain and you are not.” Respect means support and service to the best of your abilities despite difficult circumstances. The veterans who read Caine Mutiny inherently understood the concept and its value. Today narcissistic millennials and most Americans find such insights incomprehensible.

[IrishBrigade]

‘Jose Ferrer did a stellar job, one of his best.’

‘right now, you all stand a very good chance of being hanged...’

[Ancesthntr]

Rest in peace, Chaim ben Avraham. Thanks for your incredible books, and your attempts to keep this a moral nation. Sincere condolences to your family.

[cowboyusa]

War and Remembrance is the best min-series ever, and it has the toughest Holocaust scenes.

[Ancesthntr]

I am jealous that you got to meet him, but that incident is (from everything I’ve ever heard about him) very typical of Wouk. He was, above all else, a mensch.

[Oldexpat]

I’ve read all his books except the most recent. He and Michener are both great WWII writers. No more like that today.

[Bayan]

One of the great ones. I don’t know his equal among the current crop.