Official Review: The Marine The Man My Dad by Teresa Moore

[NadineTimes10]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Marine The Man My Dad" by Teresa Moore.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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In The Marine, the Man, My Dad, author Teresa Moore gives a true account about her late father, Charles B. Darnall. Charles, who the author fondly refers to as “Charlie,” volunteered to serve his country during the crisis of World War II. The day after he turned nineteen, Charles enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, and he eventually fought in the South Pacific against the Japanese military. While Charles’s time in combat was short in comparison to the number of years he lived, his career as a marine in wartime impacted the rest of his life.

Throughout this memoir, Moore is open and expressive about her admiration and appreciation for her father and for others who served in the war. The author strikes a fitting balance between her father’s experiences and the broader history surrounding the battles in the South Pacific. Moore describes some of the triumphs, the small joys, and the bitter and gruesome hardships that men like her father faced in combat. The author also includes stories about her family after the war and bits of postwar Americana, giving a personal, nostalgic touch to the memoir.

Now, the book’s front matter is somewhat confusing, where the author has a section called “Acknowledgments.” The acknowledgments are usually where an author thanks individuals who provided the author with support or assistance during the writing or publishing process. However, Moore’s acknowledgments open with bibliographic information about her sources, followed by pages of introductory details about her father and his military career. Moore also introduces some of her personal history in this section. For the sake of clarity, the author should have called the section of introductory information an “Introduction,” and the list of her sources could have gone in a bibliography in the back of the book.

Moreover, some technical weaknesses affect the memoir’s readability. There are syntax issues and areas of awkward wording. Not all of the sentences properly identify a subject or use correct prepositions. There are some errors in subject-verb agreement, where the subject and the verb in a sentence should both be singular or they should both be plural. The book also has some verb tense confusion, comma splices, and letter case errors. While the amount of these issues does not detract from the book’s quality too much, the editing could have been more thorough.

Overall, this is a heartfelt, enlightening, inspiring memoir, but its technical issues are a minor distraction. Therefore, I give The Marine, the Man, My Dad a rating of 3 out of 4 stars. I’d recommend it to memoir readers with an interest in military themes and war history. Readers should be prepared for brief instances of graphic war violence in the memoir.

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The Marine The Man My Dad
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[kdstrack]

I admire this beautiful tribute from a daughter about her father and his career. The "Acknowledgment" section would be confusing, as you have described it. I liked your recommendations. Thanks.

[OuKoyoo]

What an insightful review! I need to read the book because I am one of those memoir readers with an interest in military themes and war history. Thank you for the beautiful review.

[NadineTimes10]

I admire this beautiful tribute from a daughter about her father and his career. The "Acknowledgment" section would be confusing, as you have described it. I liked your recommendations. Thanks.

Yes, it's such an awesome way to remember her father's legacy!

[NadineTimes10]

What an insightful review! I need to read the book because I am one of those memoir readers with an interest in military themes and war history. Thank you for the beautiful review.

I hope you enjoy the book! WWI and II may be the wars I've read the most about, but I still learned a few new-to-me facts in this memoir.