Seoulscapade

Goodbye, Darkness: A Memoir of the Pacific War

William Manchester

I was really looking forward to this after reading some of the hype around it and knowing of the reputation of its author. However, ultimately I was disappointed. I was anticipating something like With the Old Breed, but it was far from that. This is about a guy journeying back to key locations of the Pacific campaign, many of which he was not even present at during the war. Interspersed with impressions of his modern day island hopping are war stories, many of which he was not involved in. But also thrown in are stories of his own experiences. So you can see how things get confusing quick. I lost track of where he had actually been and only had it sorted out towards the end. For an experienced writer, I really feel he “lost the plot” to some extent with this one. Having said that, the unfailingly honest accounts of his own experiences on Okinawa were worth the effort.