Posts from Splinter in thread „Currently reading“

I've just finished 3 Para by Patrick Bishop which follows soldiers from the Parachute Regiment during a tour of Afghanistan and their efforts to win over hearts and minds - an impossible job in that country. It got me wondering about how those soldiers must feel today knowing that Afghanistan is now in the hands of the very enemy they were shooting at not that long ago.

Patrick Bishop is a journalist and he pulls no punches in this book.

I'm now reading Tornado Down by Flt. Lieutenants John Peters and John Nichol who were shot down over Iraq in 1991, taken prisoner and tortured by the Iraqis. It's a tough read, but I'm pleased to see how both men were able to put their lives together after such a horrific ordeal.

Here is John Peters giving a brief account.

Quote from Bombonera

My daughter bought me Bill Bryson's "The Road to Little Dribbling" for my birthday. A follow-up book, if you like, to Notes From a Small Island. It's worth picking up if you enjoyed Notes From a Small Island.

I've just finished reading Rory Stewart's "The Places In Between" about a journey he made on foot from Herat to Kabul in Afghanistan. It was one of those rare books that I didn't want to end. Top level travel-writing in my opinion. For the non-Brits reading, Rory Stewart fought an election campaign a few years ago to become Conservative Prime Minister.

Many readers describe his new book as a grumpy old man on a rant.

I can't wait!

The Road to Little Dribbling

The hilarious and loving sequel to a hilarious and loving classic of travel writing: Notes from a Small Island, Bill Bryson’s valentine t...

www.goodreads.com

Quote from bebopalula

My bathroom book is "One Summer" in which Bryson pieces together the events of 1927 - the Lindbergh year. Very absorbing (perhaps I shouldn't say that about a bathroom book!) but I can't yet tell you how it ends because it's in the wrong bathroom and I won't be back there again for months!

I must see if I can find that!

There are very few books that make me laugh out loud, snigger at every page and actually re-read certain pages because they are so funny. But Bill Bryson's Notes From A Small Island is that book.

This must be my third or fourth read of his observations as an American living and travelling around Britain and he absolutely nails it, describing our mannerisms and attitudes in such a descriptive and colourful manner, that I bow down to his writing skills, not to mention his ruthless take on architectural sins that many local councils committed on my beautiful country.

This book is so full of little gems that are so true to form, which is why I often point to some of his observations and say, "Yes, we are like that!"

Example: Being offered a tempting treat or a second helping of something delicious, one might say, "Oh no, I shouldn't really..."

He often brings up the differences between Americans and Brits, but doesn't ram it down our throats, since most of it is obvious, but when he does touch on it, he usually does it with a light touch, but sometimes with a hammer when needed.

I very much Admire Bill Bryson as a writer and if ever I wanted a mentor in that respect, it would be him.

Just in case.

Quote from Rice

The Right Stuff?

Yes, The Right Stuff. Good film too!

I'd like to read this if I can get hold of it.

Remembering Tom Wolfe and

Tom Wolfe, the author of The Right Stuff (1979), one of the most iconic literary books about spaceflight, died this week.

www.smithsonianmag.com

This docudrama from the BBC on George Orwell's life is quite remarkable and beautifully presented, yet it's so odd that no film or audio exists of him, in spite of the fact that he once worked for the BBC.

Quote from GlasgowJohn

A little known fact - George Orwell wrote 1984 in Scotland on the Island of Jura , in the southern tip of the Western Hebrides.

---

https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Jura,_Scotland

It's remarkable that Barnhill has remained practically untouched since the late 40s.

This is hilarious:

It’s hard to imagine what a stir “Lady Chatterley’s Lover” caused in the late 1920s when Lawrence had it privately published and began mailing copies abroad. Governments around the world immediately banned the novel. Some booksellers caught selling it were jailed. In 1930, when the U.S. Senate considered loosening import restrictions on books, Sen. Reed Smoot (R-Utah) strenuously objected. Just days after Lawrence died in France, Smoot declared that “Lady Chatterley’s Lover” was “written by a man with a diseased mind and a soul so black that he would even obscure the darkness of hell.” He expressed concern that reading it could corrupt even the morals of U.S. senators, which is possibly the funniest thing anyone has ever said in Washington.

I'm currently reading Orwell's 1984 again for the...I don't know how many times I've read it, yet there's a different message in the book for every stage of my life.

This guardian article sums it up very well.

Quote

During a speech in July 2018, Trump said: “What you’re seeing and what you’re reading is not what’s happening.” A line from Nineteen Eighty-Four went viral: “The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”

Nothing but the truth: the legacy of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four

A new book about the novel examines its relevance in the age of fake news and Trump

www.theguardian.com

That's very helpful bebopalula !

Quote from bebopalula

I read it about twenty years ago after, I think, about my second visit to Argentina and you just won't believe what stuck in my mind then and still refuses to let go? The washing up.

There's a scene that takes place while an Argentine is washing the dishes. But in the book they are doing it the "British" way with plates and suds in the bowl though I have never seen an Argentine who doesn't load the sponge with detergent and clean the dishes under a running tap. I'm not saying it doesn't happen/couldn't happen, just that I've lost count of the number of times I've got myself into trouble with my other half - and others - when I've tried to plunge all the plates into a bowl of soapy water the way I would do it in the UK. Whatever I may have thought of the rest of the book I just couldn't believe that scene.

Although I've now left the book for something more exciting and uplifting, I'll probably go back to it in a few weeks. I find it so depressingly familiar, that's why.

By the way, has anyone tried The Book Depository website? Apparently there are no import taxes for shipping books here.

Book Depository: Free delivery worldwide on over 20 million books

Those of us who know Argentina will recognise most of what Miranda France relates in this book. Not easy reading - a bit like looking in the mirror really.

Bad Times in Buenos Aires

A funny and poignant account of life in Buenos Aires, by a young prize-winning writer.

www.goodreads.com

Way lesser is simply bad grammar, ffs!

Way less, surely?

It's definitely a little old fashioned to use whilst and I think I picked it up from my grandfather. I have been picked up on it before and this article explains the differences.

While can be used as a noun or even a verb, whereas whilst can only be used as a conjunction or adverb. Perhaps I'm old fashioned.

While vs. Whilst

Quote from bebopalula

I specifically use https://bing.com when searching for films and videos because I find I can make Bing work better for me at video than other search engines. Searching for "On The Beach (2000)" gets a bit obscured because the Leonardo DeCaprio movie "The Beach" was also released in the year 2000. In my version of Bing video search "On The Beach" comes right at the top with a four-part video available on Dailymotion.com. The first section is here:

. The film can be found complete via Bing - but you might have to dust off your Russian or Polish language skills to fully appreciate it!

Incidentally, I find Dailymotion a good place to start for TV programmes, mini series and the like that are difficult to find elsewhere. If you are a copyright holder then Dailymotion are bad news because they tend to respond to take-down notices with a Gallic shrug and a typical French "bof." But if you must see the latest "Doctor Who" or "Call The Midwife" then you can expect it to turn up on Dailymotion within hours of first transmission.

That's an excellent find and beats twenty, ten minute segments on YouTube for sure. I have used Dailymotion before but not for a long while.

Having finished On The Beach which is one of the few books that left me thinking and thinking days after finishing it, I've just started A Planet For The President for the third time. I needed some satire, shall we say.

A Planet for the President

Things are not going well for the President of the United States. He wants Americans to be adored by freedom-loving people everywhere. In...

www.goodreads.com

The 2000 TV film with Rachel Ward and Brian Brown, both Australians, is split into numerous 10 min parts on YouTube since it's impossible to find anywhere else.

Quote from Rice

I’m putting On The Beach on my list. Thanks!

We're now watching the 1959 film with Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner. Anthony Perkins and Fred Astaire. Shame they chose so many American actors to play Australians and the 2000 remake fixes that. Ava Gardner struggle with the accent as do Perkins and Astaire. Peck is Peck throughout, but the director is a very liberal with his interpretation of the book and author Nevil Shute apparently wanted little to do with the film after a while.

Some more notes for reference:

Nevil Shute Foundation—Title

The continuing relevance of "On the Beach" - Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

The enduring impact of a movie about the aftermath of nuclear war

thebulletin.org

I've now finished two more Ken Follet books - Lie Down With Lions and Hornet Flight, the latter telling of the Danish resistance in WW2. The first being a rather silly story of a feminist and a CIA agent in Afghanistan.

I'm currently reading On The Beach by Nevil Shute about the aftermath of a global nuclear war with Melbourne being the last city with live inhabitants, but knowing they only have months to live.

Beautifully written in 1957 as the Cold War was gathering pace, it shows us the fragility of life, how people react so differently, how we may handle the inevitability of a certain death and what we may choose to do in out last days.

I can barely put the book down and if there is one character I would like to have met, it would be Moira Davidson.

On the Beach

After a nuclear World War III has destroyed most of the globe, the few remaining survivors in southern Australia await the radioactive cl...

www.goodreads.com