American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History

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Suggestion to the CIA: next time you want to torture somebody, tie them up and make them listen to an audio version of this book continuously.

It takes a complex world at a chaotic time and reduces it to black and white so that he doesn't have to feel remorse or contemplate the root causes of violence and how it might have been avoided in the first place.

He explains his ammunition, equipment and guns like an expert which makes you feel almost like you are on the field of battle. I could never, ever do what he did and if it weren't for people like him I don't know what would happen. Then in a few pages he would talk about the pain he feels when one of his "brothers in arms" is hurt or killed and my heart would hurt for him. It is not uplifting, nor depressing; it is but an account of a series of battles by a particularly gung-ho soldier who happened to see quite a bit of action during his time at war, but is unwilling to consider the sum beyond the parts. came down to the conflict we’d always had—where were our priorities: God, family, country (my version), or God, country, family (Chris’s)?

There have been so many wildly differing opinions about Chris Kyle, his memoir, and movie Clint Eastwood made from it that I long ago decided that the only opinion I could trust is my own, so here goes.

I really know and trust this man and if he was telling me the book was great, I was going to give it a shot. That contradicted himself over and over and got to the point where when it was mentioned I cringed from it.

It was very familiar reading Chris's experience and understandings and recognizing myself when I join the Marine Corps both to fight for my country and to prove myself right before the first gulf war. Kyle's war time experiences is the story of Chris's evolution as a man, as a soldier, but most of all as a father and husband. The events he was involved in during the Iraq War are of course the main focus of the book and for me the most engrossing. What makes them evil is never satisfactorily explained; perhaps Mr Bush's "axis of evil" speech had something to do with it.Whether it's a voice you hate or don't agree with this book gives you insight into that gung-ho, patriotic and loving America culture that many ordinary Americans live and how that feeds into their military. I might not always connect with a man like Kyle or feel comfortable with what he does and why, but I'm darn glad that there are men like Kyle who are willing and able to do what most of us cannot.

This approach results in somewhat confronting passages at times, as he speaks from the heart on how he experienced the war zones and his role in them. I wanted to like it because I'm ex military and I live in Texas but about half way through I put the book away for good. For me, this was just a sad propaganda piece, there are far better books out there, couple comes to mind right away, My War: Killing Time in Iraq and The Good Soldiers that gives a far better and real picture of the current 'wars'. I don't feel like the author was grandstanding or bragging, as I've read some feel in other reviews I've read. I highly recommend this book for its outstanding storytelling and the profound insights it provides into the life of an American hero.You'll even learn that things like honor and patriotism aren't thought obsolete, naive or silly in all places.