I read it on Kindle. As others have noted there are some typos in the Kindle version. I was having trouble understanding what one character meant when he saw an "expensive expression" on the face of another character. That phrase was repeated several times and was puzzling. I finally realized that Shaw had probably written "pensive" expression (the character in question was a bit moody at times). But the typos are just a nit to pick. I've seen worse every day in the New York Times, and the Los Angeles Times--and even occasionally in the Wall Street Journal which has the best editors and copyreaders in the business.
So let's get to the book--which is a good one. First it's one of the "big books" that came out immediately after WW II. It's in good company, and can certainly hold its head up among "The Thin Red Line", "The Naked and The Dead", "From Here To Eternity" and "The Caine Mutiny". There are and were other great books about WW II, but clearly "The Young Lions" merits inclusion in the first rank of those books. And it's a "big book" in another way. My Kindle reader shows page numbers, and I think there were more than 670 pages in this book. So it's big in that way.
Shaw is a good writer, and the narrative flows along and is both easy and enjoyable to read. Along the way Shaw creates dozens of entirely believable characters. While I say the narrative flows, Shaw writes in a slightly dated and somewhat florid style. I didn't mind that--I simply realized that it might take Shaw a few more pages to get to the point than the modern slam bang action or procedural novel author of today.
The novel covers a 7 year time period; and covers geography from Austria to Germany, to France, North Africa, New York City and its theatre and arts scene, Southern California and the Hollywood industry, basic training in Florida, and life in London. That's a lot to cover and Shaw does it well.
Shaw was a successful short story writer for The New Yorker in the mid 1930's and was very much a part of the theatre, publishing and arts scene in Manhattan at the time. His depiction of one of his characters and the milieu in which he travelled reminded me just how many well intentioned folks were members of the Communist Party or were Communist sympathizers at the time of the Spanish Civil War. So that's a valuable historical reminder. Shaw himself came under suspicion and decamped to Europe and Switzerland in 1951 where he continued to churn out successful novels and television screen plays until his death.
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Top reviews from other countries
Kris Theriault
Delivery is as promised and the item was as described.
Reviewed in Canada on March 9, 2020
crypto skript
excellent book about average people in not so average times
Reviewed in Germany on April 15, 2017Cliente Amazon
The young lions. ..I giovani leoni
Reviewed in Italy on December 3, 2016