By: Bill Mauldin Publisher: HENRY HOLT Average Rating: Binding: Hardcover Format: Unabridged Label: HENRY HOLT Number of Pages: 228 Publication Date: 1944
Your library is not complete without it. I can only second the sentiments of reviewer Rushton. I might not think of Bill Mauldin as a "liberal" in today's diluted, meaningless terms but he did have a maturity and wisdom to realize that there were issues beyond oneself and much of the book's words relate the soldier's selflessness. I bought this book when I was ten years old for 10 cents. That was 45 years ago. I still have it and it is still going strong. I was reading it last night. Nobody can review this book anymore. It is simply too much of a classic for that. All the cartoons are there and they are now icons. Mauldin's sentiments and insights will probably stand for a long time. Where ever his spirit is now, I want to thank him for this book.
This book is a gem
He was the ultimate liberal cartoonist, a now extinct breed who knew how to afflict the comfortable, comfort the afflicted and always needle the pomposity of the smug Eastablishment.
Strangely enough by today's standards of spiteful politics and bitter cartoonists, he was always kind.
Mauldin was the best cartoonist of the past century. For years, as editor of a small newspaper, I used his editorial page cartoons which continued to poke fun at the inevitable congruities of life. He was a complete contrast to modern cartoonists who have forgotten the touch of kindness, humility, empathy and sympathy. Mauldin was on the front lines of the bitterest war of the past century; yet, even in his early twenties he realized vast numbers of people on all sides were more victims than perpetrators of evil.
As a product of the Great Depression, Mauldin realized life is a struggle against the fates, whether they be rules, bosses, officers and enemy shells. In recent years, an attitude has developed that our modern unearned luxury is a personal right and anyone or anything that interferes deserves bitter hatred, vilification and attack. From Rush Limbaugh to Ann Coulter, political comment is now based on hate instead of intelligence. Mauldin faced dangers and threats greater than they can ever imagine, and never lost his sense of kindly comment on the incongruities of even the toughest challenges.
He's an example of how World War II produced "the greatest generation". These were men and women who could at least smile -- and Mauldin often provided a laugh -- at the hardships they faced. When faced with great danger, brave people find a reason to laugh. Mauldin expressed this courage better than any other cartoonist of World War II. When faced with minor annoyances, spoiled brats find a reason to whine as you can see in the drawings of modern cartoonists.
America has turned from a land that bravely endures hardship into a society that whines, pouts and throws childish temper tantrums over ticky-tocky-tacky trivia.
"Up Front" is a magnificent tribute now, as in 1944, to everyone who endured incredible hardships to preserve freedom. Read the reviews of the reprint edition; they pay just tribute to Mauldin's genius to the relevance to the real maning of war and life in the military. Then, read the book. It will show up the modern whining wimps of war as privileged two-faced twits who don't know how to handle toy soldiers on a bedspread let alone true soldiers in a real war.
This book is a gem. Count yourself lucky there are still 1944 editions available.
Anything Goes Trivia
Trevor
Megaton Man
