Book Review: “Lone Survivor”

Review by Matt Dworak

I just finished reading the book “Lone Survivor” by Marcus Luttrel and felt compelled to share.   My brother Drew had recommended the book.   Drew’s not a big reader and when he said he finished the book in two days that caught my attention.  

I should also mention that after finishing the book I had my wife read it, for women’s perspective.   She enjoyed the book but did make the comment along the lines that it was “seeping testosterone”.   She also mentioned that he was fairly anti-liberal, however I though he did a great job illustrating how those who write the rules of engagement will never be in a position where they will have to follow them.

The story is about the Navy SEALs who were killed in “Operation Redwing” in the mountains of Afghanistan.   The author was the sole survivor of a four man SEAL team that made it out alive.  

I think most everybody knows of the SEALs, the navy’s elite special operations force and has some idea about the intensity of their training.   But until reading the book I really had no idea how brutal their training really is.   The first half of the book tells about the training they go through, which blew me away.   I truly cannot imagine enduring what they go through, both physically and mentally.   It will definitely make you feel like a loser for skipping that last health club workout.    

The second half describes “Operation Redwing”,  where Luttrell and his four-man SEAL team were assigned to capture the Taliban leader Ahmad Shah.   The SEALs were inserted deep behind enemy lines when they were discovered. Hugely outnumbered they had no choice but to fight their way out.   The account of the ensuing firefight and Luttrell’s escape from enemy hands is very graphic, reader be warned, but I don’t think the story could be told any other way.

I’m no book critic but when I read something that changes my perspective on the world I’m living in, I have to encourage others to do the same.   Hopefully I think twice, the next time I complain about anything for whatever reason.  I really don’t have anything in my life worth complaining about.

My hat’s off to all those who have served our great county.

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Matt Dworak is an avid outdoorsman and  Colorado native who resides in Fort Collins with his wife and their two young sons. You can read about his  numerous  adventures at http://dworakma.wordpress.com/.”

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