The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer
I ended up reading two books on the 100 Best list about the first World War at the same time. It wasn’t intentional. I didn’t know The Naked and the Dead was even on the list. I’d just run across a copy of it at a used book store and recognized the name. And the other book, USA (reviewed separately) is only sometimes about the war. It just so happened I was at the spot where the war was going on at the same time I was reading this book.
I liked this one better. It had too many character so I never did completely figure out whose backstory belonged to whose current drama, but it was engaging from moment to moment and a sort of story arc began to prevail. It starts a little disjointed – so many people and no apparent plot – but the plot eventually shows itself. The characters go on a mission from which several will not return. It gets your attention.
As with many on the 100 Best list, it doesn’t seem head and shoulders above the rest to me but I found myself wrapped up in the characters and the story as it went on.