Four-Four-Two
By: Dean Hughes / Narrated By: Kirby Heyborne
Length: 6 hrs and 50 mins
The 442nd as delivered in Action and in Emotion
Four-Four-Two is categorized as for Teens, but really, anybody interested in war stories will like it. I sure did. This was the second time I’ve listened to it, and this time I paired it with the Nonfiction Honor Before Glory. This as a novel, however, puts a few (fictional) faces onto the men of the Regiment, so the listener really cares about the men who lived, fought, and died in WWII.
Yuki Nakahara is just a kid, really, but he dreams of showing his patriotism to America by enlisting in the military. This despite the fact that his family has lost everything and is living in an internment camp. He talks his best friend into enlisting also, saying the two have promised each other never to be divided. I mean, he REALLY has to talk him into it.
So that just makes it all the more tragic when we come to the battle scenes and are shown how ill-prepared both are for the reality, the horror of war. The desperate terror, the utter desolation of losing close friends. And then too there’s what it feels like to kill another human being. It’s kill-or-be-killed, but does that make it okay to take the life of someone who is also really just a boy? Does that mean the nightmares of seeing that young boy curled as though sleeping but with part of his brains blown out will stop at some point?
Dean Hughes crafts the action scenes well; the fast-paced story doesn’t get all scattered or hard to follow as we go along with Yuki and Shig. And Kirby Heyborne? Okay, so he sounds completely American, but Yuki is about as Americanized as it gets, so I guess I can’t ding the Publishers too roundly for that decision. But be warned: When Yuki and Shig are in heated battles, we the listeners are there also. There’s plenty of screaming and shouting, so if you’re, say, unloading the dishwasher reeeeeeeally quietly at 2 o’clock in the morning, trying not to wake anybody up, you’re plum outta luck on this audiobook!
Also, just to let you know. Four-Four-Two is about the coming together of the Regiment and all its battles; it only touches on the rescue of The Lost Battalion for the final heated battle, so don’t expect much on that. If you’re wondering, that is.
I liked the way the book ended, which is always a concern as that’s the last “flavor” you’ll have when all is said and done. The entire thing was a swift ride, and it was touching as well. I really felt I got the idea of how a mind devolves after living through endless horror shows, how emotions can become deadened.
Good the first time around and great the second time, especially when paired with a well-researched Nonfiction account such as Honor Before Glory!
“Go For Broke!!!”
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