Books by politicians are not often worth reading, but John McCain's Faith of My Fathers is an astonishing exception to the rule. The Republican senator from Arizona has a remarkable story to tell--better than just about any of his peers--and he tells it well, with crisp prose and an unexpected sense for narrative pacing. The first half of the book concerns his naval forbears: his grandfather commanded an aircraft carrier in the Second World War, while his father presided over all naval forces in the Pacific during the Vietnam War. They were the first father-son admirals in American history. Young John McCain knew he had enormous shoes to fill and rebelled against many of the expectations set for him. At the Naval Academy, he was nearly expelled, graduating fifth from the bottom of his class. He never became an admiral, but achieved fame another way: as a naval aviator in 1967, he was shot down over North Vietnam and spent several years in POW camps, where he was beaten, tortured, and nearly allowed to die. McCain describes the awful details of his imprisonment and tells how he stayed mentally strong during seemingly endless months of solitary confinement and how he communicated in code with fellow captives. Faith of My Fathers concludes with McCain's release and contains no information about his subsequent political career. It is, nonetheless, a complete and compelling memoir of individual heroism--one that will interest both political and military history buffs. --John J. Miller
First off, I really do not like John McCain in the first place, he uses the "show pity" for his campaigning, and that really does not fly with me. I am a sympathetic person, but he tells us nothing on how he could be good as our president. That would probably be one of the influences as to why I don't like this book; who you read about, especially in a biography you have to like.
Another reason I probably really didn't like this book was the fact that I did not like John McCain's writing style in any shape or form. Most of the time it was like reading a list and half of the time I could not keep up with where he was; one paragraph he'll be in 1968 on one ship and then the next paragraph he'll be on the Forestall talking about his bunkmates. It makes no sense half of the time.
Another reason as to why I did not like this book was the fact that he can write an entire chapter about what he did to occupy his time in solitary confinement. That entire chapter was torture; probably worse than what he was going through. I don't care that he was writing plays, he could have been singing and I probably wouldn't care. I just could not stand that I had to listen to him rave on about what he did in solitary.
I would recommend this book to someone who is fan of John McCain and his legacy. I did not like this book because I do not like him; but if you are a big fan, by all means this book is definitely not for you.
Amazing account of an American POW, John McCain and his father and grandfather. Once you finish this book and see what our GI's went through (many of them for years, many did not make it back alive) you will have a different perspective on life. A must read.
What an excellently written memoir by an American Hero. Mr. Mccain has a uniquely gritty humor which I personally enjoy, and the tales of his family's struggles, and more importantly his own- should be a required read for anyone entering military service.
