It is the timeless story of a young marine lieutenant, waino mellas, and his comrades in bravo company, who are dropped into the mountain jungle of vietnam as boys and forced to fight their way into manhood. Buy matterhorn by karl marlantes from amazons fiction books store. Karl mariantes has hit the nail on the head about the feel and sense of any war. It is an unforgettable novel that transforms the tragedy of vietnam into a powerful and universal story of courage, camaraderie, and sacrifice. A fantastic, unrealistic literary adventure which will have you turning pages fast enough to fan the person next to you. It revolves around a mountain named matterhorn, a 5,000 plus foot peak so steep in some areas that ropes are required to scale it. Described as an epic war novel as was james webbs fields of fire 1978 and john del vecchios the th valley 1982, matterhorn 2009 is unique in that it was. Books mom will love 2020 chance to win 7 great books ends may 11. While writing the book was its own lonely struggle, getting it published was. Submissions must be postmarked between april 1, 2019, and august 31, 2019. Previous winners include m dresslers acclaimed novel the last to see me, the true story veterans day. A novel of the vietnam war is a novel by american author and decorated marine karl marlantes. Clearly, this was an ongoing getitoffmychest project. Matterhorn quotes showing of 32 it was all absurd, without reason or meaning.
Much of the terrain is carpeted with leechinfested. The idea behind the plot is ingenious and reilly keeps the pace of the tale zipping along to the conclusion. The 2020 leapfrog fiction contest will open january 15 may 1. Karl marlantes doesnt introduce you to vietnam in his brilliant war epiche unceremoniously drops you into the jungle, disoriented and dripping with leeches, with only the newbie lieutenant as your guide. Matterhorn draws from karl marlantes experience as. There is a helpful chain of command diagram in the front. He managed some miracles with the planning to make it possible for us to summit. Intense, powerful, and compelling, matterhorn is an epic war novel in the. Matterhorn, like leon uriss battle cry, or norman mailers the naked and the dead is destined to become a classic. Novellas, short stories and flash fiction at wundor we plan to champion interesting, unusual fiction in all of its forms. Fiction literature intense, powerful, and compelling, matterhorn is an epic war novel in the tradition of norman mailers the naked and the dead and james joness the thin red line. Final judges are aimee parkison for fiction, philip metres. The organization, zermatt hotel, and earlier climbs riffelhorn, dri hornli, weissmies were great. Aug, 2015 the competition is only open to neverbeforepublished works of romance, mystery, scifi, fantasy, action, contemporary fiction and historical fiction.
It lists all primary characters and is a helpful reference when names or rank become uncertain recollections. A beautiful, brutal vietnam war epic april 22, 2010 karl marlantes debut novel, 30 years in the making, follows waino mellas, a young. He shows due respect to the nva that were often demeaned in other books. Brevity can be one of read more wundor short fiction contest 2017. Now in contest, matthew reilly raises the bar once again in his most clever and remarkable novel yet. Matterhorn should be a great book and is a great book. C lick on the links above to read about our past winners.
At night it is so cold and wet that hypothermia is a problem. Matterhorn was amazons book of the month for march 2010, and debuted on the new york times bestseller list in april 2010. Julie lekstrom himes was our 2017 award recipient for her novel mikhail and. Fiction writing contests worth your time fall 2017 edition. Some of the books are available from zermatt tourism, others from zermatts book shops. The matterhorn is a technical alpine rock, snow, and ice. Matterhorn is a visceral and spellbinding novel about what it is like to be a young man at war. While the conflict is largely remembered as a contest between north and. The authoru draft to dream book publishing competition submission period begins january 1, 2017. Oct 03, 2017 matterhorn tells the story of the daytoday experience in a combat situation as well as any book i have read, and far better than most.
Pastyear memoir contest 2017 gotham writers workshop. The list is supplied as information for authors and selfpublishers interested in pursuing awards and citations as a means to their own publishing goals. Writing contests 2019 2020 fiction and nonfiction book. Luckycinda book contest 2017 second place winners fiction placement was based on a 100point criteria to include style, flow, plot structure, readability and storytelling. Buy this book thirty years in the making, marlantess epic debut is a dense, vivid narrative spanning. The prize is a literary award for the worlds best nonfiction book in english on foreign affairs that seeks to deepen public debate on significant international issues. While this is a work of fiction, marlantes himself served in vietnam. A vietnam novel of astonishing power and insight the definitive vietnam novel of our times marlantes steps alongside stephen crane. Submissions are now open to authors of at least one fulllength collection of poetry. There is a lot to know about zermatt and numerous facts, anecdotes and stories exist about the matterhorn. Karl marlantess first novel, matterhorn, is about a company of. Employees and nonemployee workers of kirkus media, llc and other companies associated with the promotion of the giveaway, and their respective parents, subsidiaries, affiliates as well as the immediate family spouse, parents, siblings, and children and household members of each such employee are not eligible to enter the giveaway.
A firstplace winner or two will be chosen soon from among the finalist manuscripts by the 2020 finalist judge, cris mazza. The story is set in the spring of 1969 in the northwest corner of the country then known as south vietnam. An ambitious first novel about the vietnam war, written over three decades by a marine veteran of the fight. Contest submissions are open december 1 to march 15. Matterhorn by karl marlantes a stark, brutal vietnam war epic karl marlantes debut novel, 30 years in the making, follows waino mellas, a. A regularly updated list of book and novel writing competitions, for published and. Matterhorn quotes goodreads meet your next favorite book. We invited you to look back at 2016 and write about it. All participants must register online by may 1, 2017, and all participants must mail in your manuscripts on or before april 26, 2017. The 2020 leapfrog fiction contest will be open through may 1.
Id advise authors to not just prepare their work, but to have a social media campaign ready to boost. People who didnt know each other were going to kill each other over a hill none of them cared about. Karl marlantes, the author of the book matterhorn, began work on the novel in 1970, but the book was not published until 2010. Karl marlantess 35year struggle to write a true novel of the vietnam war has finally paid off, says robert mccrum matterhorn is a bestseller.
It is the timeless story of a young marine lieutenant, waino mellas, and his comrades in bravo company, who are dropped into the mountain jungle of vietnam as boys. Nonfiction book awards, writing contests and literary prizes. Matterhorn tells the story of the daytoday experience in a combat situation as well as any book i have read, and far better than most. Grove press may 10, 2011 fiction 640 pages intense, powerful, and compelling, matterhorn is an epic war novel in the tradition of norman mailers the naked. Jul 30, 2010 matterhorn is a story of men without women. Matterhorn by karl marlantes book club discussion questions. Shep ethnic textiles book award given annually to a publication judged to be the best book in the field of ethnic textile studies, the award consists of a cash prize funded by an endowment established by r. I won the tunic prize for literature, which is a short story contest. Lush triumphant literary awards open to short fiction 3,000 words max, poetry 5 related poems, up to. Bookreporter word of mouth contest broken, one fatal flaw ends apr 17. Jul 10, 2010 karl marlantess 35year struggle to write a true novel of the vietnam war has finally paid off, says robert mccrum matterhorn is a bestseller. Draft to dream book publishing competition author u. The ultimate list of writing contests in 2020 reedsy.
A great read, whether you are preparing for a trip, reminiscing about a memorable stay, looking for entertainment or gathering knowledge. Intense, powerful, and compelling, matterhorn is an epic war novel in the tradition of norman mailers the naked and the dead and james joness the thin red line. I was immediately pulled in by this storys inventive structure and its confessional tone. New york times bestselling author matthew reillys thrillers have tantalized readers with their unique storylines and explosive suspense. Fresh fiction contests win a variety of books ongoing. Seaside native karl marlantes spent 30 years writing matterhorn, his bestselling novel about the vietnam war.
This annual award was created in 2006 to honor the best first novel of the year. When mellas thinks of the girl he left behind in virginia, marlantess prose becomes fluttery, as it does when mellas, suffering an eye injury, is cared. A novel of the vietnam war as a young man, returned from a tour of duty in vietnam, he began writing an epic novel about the war he experienced and the way that combat changes people. During the next four years his seven attempts on the matterhorn were unsuccessful and so, from the italian side, he crossed to zermatt joining forces with the young lord francis douglas and his guide old peter taugwalder. The dzanc books prize for fiction recognizes daring, original, and innovative writing. A novel of the vietnam war by karl marlantes in chm, djvu, fb2 download ebook. Prizes are donated by the good people who provide our author services as well as industry experts. As a young man, returned from a tour of duty in vietnam, he began writing an epic novel about the war he experienced and the way that combat changes people.
With little or no climbing experience made the first british ascent of the pelvoux in 1861. Launched in 2014, book pipeline connects writers worldwide with publishers, agents, and the film industry. All content included on our site, such as text, images, digital downloads and other, is the property of its content suppliers and protected by us and international laws. Matterhorn by karl marlantes a stark, brutal vietnam war epic karl marlantes debut novel, 30 years in the making, follows waino mellas, a young ivy league student sent to. Karl marlantes, 3 decades spent on debut novel about. May 06, 2010 karl marlantes, a veteran of the vietnam war, took 30 years to write the book, originally producing more than 1,600 manuscript pages. Book awards for selfpublished authors including them here should not be taken as an endorsement of the competition or its sponsors. The competition is always running, so theres no deadline. This book was fantastic and promises to be a brilliant series. October 15, 2020 postmarked or submitted online guest judge. Nam lit five landmark books about americas war in southeast. While written as a novel, it is obvious this book is based on reallife experiences by the author. We encourage caution and research when entering a contest. Here is a link to a large list of book contests in various genres.
Matterhorn is a marvela living, breathing book with lieutenant waino mellas and the men of bravo company at its raw and battered heart. Less melodramatic and more realistic than denis johnsons tree of smoke, with which it invites comparison, marlantess long but simply structured narrative recounts the unhappy lot of a marine lieutenant, usually called only mellas, and the platoon under his command. Apr 01, 2010 an ambitious first novel about the vietnam war, written over three decades by a marine veteran of the fight. Grove press may 10, 2011 fiction 640 pages intense, powerful, and compelling, matterhorn is an epic war novel in the tradition of norman mailers the naked and the dead and james joness the thin red line. Through two submissions platformsunpublished and adaptationthe company seeks both new and established authors and playwrights. A beautiful, brutal vietnam war epic april 22, 2010 karl marlantes debut novel, 30 years in the making, follows waino mellas, a young ivy league student sent to vietnam to lead.