---
product_id: 4109160
title: "In Pharaoh's Army: Memories of the Lost War"
brand: "tobias wolff"
price: "€ 39.60"
currency: EUR
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 9
url: https://www.desertcart.hr/products/4109160-in-pharaohs-army-memories-of-the-lost-war
store_origin: HR
region: Croatia
---

# In Pharaoh's Army: Memories of the Lost War

**Brand:** tobias wolff
**Price:** € 39.60
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** In Pharaoh's Army: Memories of the Lost War by tobias wolff
- **How much does it cost?** € 39.60 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.hr](https://www.desertcart.hr/products/4109160-in-pharaohs-army-memories-of-the-lost-war)

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## Description

In Pharaoh's Army: Memories of the Lost War

## Images

![In Pharaoh's Army: Memories of the Lost War - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51eDmW8+VhL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    Speedy delivery
  

*by R***. on Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 2, 2023*

Book condition was as stated. Looking forward to reading the book.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    In Pharaoh's Army Review By Carter Raith
  

*by M***H on Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 17, 2013*

I enjoyed reading In Pharaoh’s Army by Tobias Wolff. The reason why I picked it was because I wanted to see how his life progressed and how he matured. Also, the plot was very intriguing, as I love learning about the Vietnam War. One of the things that I really liked about the book was the fact that he jumps around from scene to scene, instead of going chronologically. There are many examples of this, but, as I mentioned in my quick talk, the passage I chose takes place when he is getting ready to go to Vietnam, and earlier in the book he has a chapter about close calls when he almost died in the war. Jumping around and not going chronologically causes the reader to focus more on the overarching themes and his reflection on events, which I really liked. It was also really interesting to see some of the main themes from This Boy’s Life continued in this book. Wolff’s feeling of abandonment is something I noticed in both books. Another thing I loved about this book was the fact that Tobias Wolff makes the book very interesting by using writing techniques like final images, short syntax, and descriptive language to make the book more enjoyable to the reader. Wolff uses these techniques throughout the book, as evident on page 107. “He smiled and shook his finger at me and moved down the aisle, trailed by a fussing retinue or Vietnamese doctors and nurses. He was in his glory”(107). In just a few lines Wolff is able to use very descriptive language in a long sentence followed by a short punchy sentence which leaves a distinct final image. All of these things combined create a very interesting and entertaining passage for the reader. This book was littered with writing techniques like the ones I listed above, which made it a great read. I noticed multiple good memoir techniques used in In Pharaoh’s Army. I know I mentioned it already, but one of the techniques I really liked was how Tobias Wolff jumped around from scene to scene instead of just going chronologically. He does this throughout the book, and it is a great technique to use in this kind of book because it forces the readers to look at the underlying message and themes. The plot is obviously important, but by jumping from scene to scene the reader focuses more on the development of Tobias Wolff, which is great because memoirs are supposed to be more about the development of characters. This technique worked perfectly in this memoir because it allowed us to see Tobias Wolff progress as a character. Imagery is something that can be powerful in all types of writing, especially in memoirs. Tobias Wolff does a great job using imagery to show and not tell, which makes the book a lot more interesting and enjoyable to read. This book is littered with imagery, but I selected one passage that shows the imagery. “I had fed him, now he fed me, and fed me. I have to say, right tastily. There was only one way left to do him justice. I bent to my plate and polished him off” (189). This is a scene where Tobias Wolff is being fed a dog stew which was made from the dog that he had saved and had been taking care of. When I am reading this I feel like I am actually there because of the great imagery provided. He is able to create great imagery by using very specific details, which is evident in this passage. Organization of the plot and imagery are two of the many great memoir techniques utilized by Tobias Wolff in this book. I am really excited to write my memoir because I feel like this book gave me great insight into how to write an intriguing memoir.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    Tobias Wolff: In Pharaoh's Army
  

*by E***N on Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 1, 2012*

From the 1980s to the present, dozens of Vietnam War veterans have written memoirs about their experiences. From the point of view of composition, these fall into three groups. (1) Some of them were composed with the aid of ghost-writers or heavy-handed editors; usually they suffer from the professional touch of a third-party author who assimilates the terrors of the Vietnam War to an adventure-novel. What could have been an authentic witness to war is turned into inauthentic fiction.(2) Some were composed by inexperienced authors who struggled on their own. These books are more authentic than adventure-memoirs, but at times they are difficult to read because they are driven by chronology, and present as a string of episodes ungoverned by thematic purpose. (3) In a third group, some memoirs have both the authenticity of veteran, and the professional touch of an experienced writer. Tobias Wolff's "In Pharaoh's Army" is one of these. Another, much earlier, is Tim O'Brien's "If I Die in a Combat Zone, Box Me Up and Send Me Home."  Wolff's memoir follows chronology, but events are grouped in chapters that develop provocative themes.For me, two features of "In Pharaoh's Army" distinguish it from other Vietnam War memoirs. First, it presents as a argument that "free will" is an illusion, as he and others get caught up on the machinery of the state and the juggernaut of war, beginning with the influence of draft boards and public opinion, and ending with the let-down that almost every returning veteran experiences, once the ordeal is over. This theme--no free will--is implied in most war memoirs, for example in the protagonist's thoughts about migration to Canada, which almost never is a real possibility. A young man who enlisted or let himself get drafted, instead of going to Canada, was not practicing free will, but "Canada" is a sign of free will as an illusion. The conclusion to be drawn is that young men who fought in Vietnam cannot be held responsible for whatever happened when they got there, because they were swept up in a course of events that did not include "free will" choices on their part. If you don't like the result, don't send your sons to war. "In Pharaoh's Army" offers more explicit demonstrations of "no free will," although the theme is implied in many other memoirs.A second unique feature of "In Pharaoh's Army" is Wolff's use of "parrhesia" as a rhetorical device that governs the narrative. I mean "parrhesia" not in the classical Greek sense of "artless speaking," "bold speaking," or "speaking truth to power," but in the more specialized sense developed by Michel Foucault, as "disarming public confession of some weakness or fault or transgression." In most Vietnam War memoirs, a military disaster or a friendly-fire episode is someone else's fault. Wolff confesses his own role at times when things went wrong. This is parrhesia. For Foucault, parrhesia is essential to "the care of the self." This is its role when Wolff relates his progress from one tomfoolery blunder to another-- a sequence of semi-comical negatives that add up to a positive: the care of the self.

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*Product available on Desertcart Croatia*
*Store origin: HR*
*Last updated: 2026-02-08*