Sunday Morning Book Thread - 12-08-2024 ["Perfessor" Squirrel]

(HT: TRex)

Welcome to the prestigious, internationally acclaimed, stately, and illustrious Sunday Morning Book Thread! The place where all readers are welcome, regardless of whatever guilty pleasure we feel like reading (whale song not included). Here is where we can discuss, argue, bicker, quibble, consider, debate, confabulate, converse, and jaw about our latest fancy in reading material. As always, pants are required, unless you are wearing these pants...(now with more whale song!)

So relax, find yourself a warm kitty (or warm puppy--I won't judge) to curl up in your lap, splash a shot of Fireball into your eggnog, and dive into a new book. What are YOU reading this fine morning?

PIC NOTE

Today's picture comes to me by way of TRex, who sent me a link to this article: "Here I Gather All the Friends" - Machiavelli and the Emergence of a Private Study. It's an interesting examination of the role the study has played in life.

JUMPSTARTING INSPIRATION

Jerry Jengkins is back with some tips on how to keep your inspiration going when you seem to be in a writing slump. He talks about "writer's block" but reframes it as "writer's fear" instead, pointing out that our insecurities in our own writing ability can inhibit our process. I've noticed this among the students I teach. I invariably have at least one student that will reveal at some point that they don't have confidence in their own writing ability, so they struggle in my class. By the end of the semester, some of them have made progress in overcoming that limitation, which is always nice to see.

His tips all make perfect sense, which is no surprise, since he's been a writer for over 50 years and has written well over 100 novels. He's seen and done it all in his day, when it comes to writing, and he perseveres despite all obstacles because he always finds his passion again. And that, I think, may be the greatest key--maintaining one's desire to write, regardless of what anyone thinks and just because you feel you have something to say. In today's world of interconnected social media, you can almost certainly find an audience.

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(And Huggy Squirrel was never seen again...HT: Pete Zah)

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NO BOOKS FOR MEN?

It's pretty well established that the traditional publishing world has been taken over by women. That is one industry where women totally dominate, determining WHO and WHAT gets published through traditional publishing channels. That being said, there is still room for male authors, I think, though they may have to go independent or find smaller publishers that are willing to still take a chance on male authors. As CriminOlly points out in his video above, in the genres he likes to read (crime and horror), he does not see the gender disparity that readers of fantasy & science fiction are seeing these days.

CriminOlly also says that there are differences in the reasons WHY men and women read: women are more likely to read for pleasure, and men are more likely to read with a purpose in mind. This affects the marketplace in which books are published. The romantasy genre is HUGE right now, but non-fiction books are also still being published at a rapid pace in all sorts of fields. We see that here at AoSHQ with the books that you recommend every week. I can't even begin to categorize all of the books that are recommended because there is such a huge variety of tastes and interests.

Are women now over-represented in publishing? Maybe in some genres. Goodreads sent me their list of "best books of 2024" after the votes had been counted and sure enough, nearly all of the finalists were written by women (about 75% among the categories). Not sure if this means anything in the long run, though, as there are still plenty of books by men, for men, in circulation that have been around for decades. So us guys will always be able to find something to read.

A QUESTION FROM THE HORDE

The following question popped up last week and I didn't see a response, so I thought I'd try to answer it:

So, as a question for the day, since the ultimate minority is the individual, is Harry Harrison's The Stainless Steel Rat a cyberpunk genre book?
Posted by: Kindltot at December 01, 2024 10:46 AM (D7oie)

I enjoyed reading the The Stainless Steel Rat series as a teenager. They really appealed to my inner non-conformist. They are NOT cyberpunk novels in any way, shape or form. They take place in a bog-standard science fiction setting (faster-than-light spaceships, advanced computers, robots, etc.), but the characters are unique and colorful, so they series has its own distinctive style.

They are told from the first-person viewpoint of James "Slippery Jim" DiGriz, a criminal mastermind who is recruited by the Galactic Special Corps to track down and apprehend the *real* criminals in the galaxy--dictators, mass-murderers, alien warlords, psychopaths bent on warping the fabric of time and space, and so forth. Accompanied by his beautiful wife Angelina and his equally felonious sons James and Bolivar, Jim DiGriz tackles a wild and weird array of evil threats to galactic civilization.

A strong theme running throughout the series is indeed the importance of the individual. Jim DiGriz considers himself to be a "stainless steel rat" in the chrome and concrete wainscotting of society, able to run around and cause mischief because he doesn't fit in with the rest of society. I identified pretty strongly with this ethic when I was a teenager, though I did outgrow some of my more larcenous ideals...

MORON RECOMMENDATIONS

Last week I read The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster with Jules Feiffer illustrations. It is a delight. The finest word play and thought puzzles since Lewis Carroll. Juster takes so much of the language and has fun with it. And Feiffer's illustrations remind me, happily, of Thurber's line drawings. So simple and so expressive. It's impossible to read the book without constant smiles.
Posted by: JTB at December 01, 2024 09:27 AM (yTvNw)

Comment: This is one of my childhood favorites. I need to revisit this book again. Recently, as I've surpassed the ripe old age of 29, I've felt compelled to re-read some of these classics. I should add this to my list, because I loved reading it when I was younger.<

+++++

Most people have a passing familiarity with conquistadors like Francisco Pizarro from western civilization class, but the full story of his long fought and bloody conquest of Peru is less known. Kim MacQuarrie spent five years in country and has compiled a complete account in The Last Days of the Incas.
Pizarro brought 167 men to conquer the millions of Incas. Once his ships landed, he burned the vessels to indicate to his men there was no turning back. Armed with horses, armor, and modern weapons, Pizarro and his men took the capital and captured their king. His ransom was a room full of gold, which was delivered, but Pizarro had him killed anyway. The king's brother escaped into the Amazon and began a 36 year guerrilla war, but ultimately failed to dislodge the Spanish.
MacQuarrie used both Spanish and native accounts to comprehensively document the Inca empire and their downfall at the hands of Pizarro and the Spanish.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at December 01, 2024 09:14 AM (atKHw)

Comment: I'm gonna go out on a limb and suggest that the Incans were not noble savages living in perfect harmony with nature. Of course, Pizarro doesn't exactly sound like a nice guy, either. Burning one's ships as a political statement is hardcore, especially when all you have is 167 men against millions of indigenous people, most of whom will be rather annoyed when you try to conquer them. The numbers game alone should have seen Pizarro slaughtered in short order.

More Moron-recommended reading material can be found HERE! (1000+ Moron-recommended books!)

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WHAT I'VE BEEN READING THIS PAST WEEK:

The Stormlight Archive Book 5 - Wind and Truth by Brandon Sanderson -- This is the conclusion of the first story arc of The Stormlight Archive. Assuming Sanderson isn't distracted too much by other projects, it will take another decade or so to read the remaining five books in this series. It's quite a doorstopper, at 1300+ pages for a single novel. I'm going to wait until Christmas Week to read it, as it will make a fine bookend to 2024, which began with an awesome epic story--Steven Erickson's Malazan Books of the Fallen.

WHAT I'VE BEEN READING THIS PAST WEEK:

After reviewing some of OregonMuse's old Book Threads, I thought I'd try something a bit different. Instead of just listing WHAT I'm reading, I'll include commentary as well. Unless otherwise specified, you can interpret this as an implied recommendation, though as always your mileage may vary.

All of the books below were scavenged from the library book sale I went to right before Thanksgiving Week. It's tough trying to plough through my TBR pile sometimes...

Tyrannosaur Canyon by Douglas Preston

Apparently, the world of of fossil hunting is as cutthroat as any semi-shady business. Fakes and forgeries abound, while the real deal can command tens of millions of dollars from the right collector. The king of fossils, appropriately enough, is a complete skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus Rex, as only a handful of them have ever been found. The newest find carries within its mummified remains an ancient passenger that is just now waking up from a long, long hibernation. Meanwhile, various factions are attempting to track it down, each with their own agenda.

Deeply Odd by Dean Koontz

Odd Thomas is a certified Weirdness Magnet. In Deeply Odd he finds out that he attracts other weirdness magnets, thanks in part to his own psychic gifts. He also discovers that parts of the world are thin in some way. He can crossover at those points into Elsewhere, a shadowy borderland adjacent to another realm that may or may not be Hell.

The Jesus Incident by Frank Herbert and Bill Ransom

An insane AI that controls a colony spaceship has dropped off its human cargo on the death world Pandora so that humanity can get a fresh start. It also insists humanity worship it as a god. The humans are just as crazy, with different factions engaged in mad power schemes, some of which will benefit Ship and others may lead to its destruction.

Most people have heard of Frank Herbert's Dune, but he also wrote an entirely different series of books that explores the same themes of religion and power in the hands of those who are not worthy to wield either. It would not surprise me to find out this series is set in the same timeline as Dune, but perhaps in the distant past, before the Butlerian Jihad wiped out all thinking machines...

Saint Odd by Dean Koontz

This is the last entry in the Odd Thomas series. Odd Thomas returns to his hometown of Pico Mundo only to stop the mad cultists intent on wreaking even more carnage than they did in the first book. Odd has stopped them more than once in recent books and now they want vengeance in the worst possible way. It will take all of Odd's wits, courage, and ruthlessness to stop them from murdering tens of thousands of innocent people. Like the first novel, the ending is bittersweet, but Odd does earn his reward and the promise he was given back at the beginning has been kept.

This Is Not A Game by Walter Jon Williams

There are eerie similarities between the plot of this book and Neal Stephenson's REAMDE. A young woman who works for a rich game developer is trapped in Jakarta, Indonesia when the government collapses, leaving her stranded. Now she's using online resources to try and find an escape route by tapping into crowd-sourcing in a discussion forum. Her job is to create realistic game scenarios, so the online forum is half-convinced that this is all part of some game simulation instead of the real deal. It's interesting reading the commentors' feedback because half of them sound like you guys. It's a weird feeling.

PREVIOUS SUNDAY MORNING BOOK THREAD - 12-01-2024 (NOTE: Do NOT comment on old threads!)

Tips, suggestions, recommendations, etc., can all be directed to perfessor -dot- squirrel -at- gmail -dot- com.

Disclaimer: No Morons were physically harmed in the making of this Sunday Morning Book Thread. The Sunday Morning Book Thread is an essential part of a balanced breakfast.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 09:00 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 1

Posted by: rhennigantx at December 08, 2024 08:59 AM (gbOdA)

2 Tolle Lege

Posted by: Skip at December 08, 2024 08:59 AM (fwDg9)

3 st?

Posted by: SPinRH_F-16 at December 08, 2024 09:00 AM (NezMn)

4 Nice work rhennigantx and Skip.

Posted by: SPinRH_F-16 at December 08, 2024 09:01 AM (NezMn)

5 I'm down to one more week plugging through _American Intergovernmental Relations_, _Exploring Federalism_, and _Crossing Boundaries for Intergovernmental Management_ and I can cross that class off the list.

Posted by: SPinRH_F-16 at December 08, 2024 09:02 AM (NezMn)

6 I thoughf chris pratts starlird was mucb like bolivar de gris

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at December 08, 2024 09:03 AM (pGTZo)

7 Thanks Perf. Now for the content.

Posted by: 13times at December 08, 2024 09:03 AM (m97zU)

8 Starlord maybe glen powell who is reprising arnolds running man

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at December 08, 2024 09:04 AM (pGTZo)

9
There was a plane on our radar screens which vanished over here?

Did anyone here hear a crashing sound?

Posted by: Your Ever Vigilant and Duper Diligent FAA AIR Traffic Controllers at December 08, 2024 09:04 AM (xG4kz)

10 My Zoom book club is finishing Frederick Pohls Gateway.

We've read close to 40 Sci Fi books in the last 4 years. It's been like a doctoral study in the genre. We have mostly used "Hugo award winner" as a filter but not entirely.

Posted by: blaster at December 08, 2024 09:05 AM (QfvaV)

11 There was a plane on our radar screens which vanished over here?

Did anyone here hear a crashing sound?
Posted by: Your Ever Vigilant and Duper Diligent FAA AIR Traffic Controllers at December 08, 2024 09:04 AM (xG4kz)
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Please keep comments about books and reading. CBD will be along in a few hours with a political thread.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at December 08, 2024 09:06 AM (BpYfr)

12
That was a regular typo-phoon on so many levels ...

Posted by: Your Ever Vigilant and Super Diligent FAA Air Traffic Controllers at December 08, 2024 09:06 AM (xG4kz)

13 What has struck me is that many books are clearly anchored in the time they are written more so than the future they are trying to depict. Gateway is very much a product of the 70s.

Posted by: blaster at December 08, 2024 09:07 AM (QfvaV)

14 As I do my annual reading of LOTR, I’m following along with “The Atlas of Middle Earth” by Karen Wynn Fonstad. The maps and her commentary add a nice mental picture to the story.
Having seen the movies a number of times, I try not to think of their scenes as I’m reading. I want my own imagination to take over and her atlas helps.

Posted by: RetSgtRN at December 08, 2024 09:07 AM (Hkaik)

15 Good morning Horde (or good day for those in Europe). Thanks Perfessor!

Posted by: TRex at December 08, 2024 09:07 AM (IQ6Gq)

16 Halfway through, "The Weed Agency" -- I keep writing "The Maze Agency" -- takes quite a twist, shifting from the agency's continued successes against threatened cuts to following an IT whiz who has quit government employment to join a tech startup in Silicon Valley.

I don't know why the author, Jim Geraghty, did this. Perhaps he realized that repetition of budget battles could get dull.

Or maybe the techie's story will wind back toward the agency. There are indications that this startup is a Chinese front ...

Posted by: Weak Geek at December 08, 2024 09:08 AM (p/isN)

17
Sorry, "Perfesser", but we need your credentials ...

Posted by: The Buffalo Bills at December 08, 2024 09:08 AM (xG4kz)

18 Can anyone recommend a good book about muslim dictators getting overthrown, escaping in a plane, and living happily ever after?

It's a stretch but you guys can do it!

Posted by: The mad mullahs in tehran at December 08, 2024 09:08 AM (89Sog)

19 What has struck me is that many books are clearly anchored in the time they are written more so than the future they are trying to depict. Gateway is very much a product of the 70s.
Posted by: blaster at December 08, 2024 09:07 AM (QfvaV)
---
I noticed that with Harrison's Stainless Steel Rat series as well.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at December 08, 2024 09:09 AM (BpYfr)

20 Very little going forward on a very good book about Winston Churchill, but will get going sometime

Posted by: Skip at December 08, 2024 09:10 AM (fwDg9)

21 Sorry, "Perfesser", but we need your credentials ...
Posted by: The Buffalo Bills at December 08, 2024 09:08 AM (xG4kz)

"perfesser"

Use to be the go to insult for ChemJeff.

Posted by: Despite it all, he is a good person at December 08, 2024 09:10 AM (89Sog)

22 *checks out Guilty Pleasure*

Didn't know you were into Trek slashfic, Perf.

Not judging!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Agent of Chaos at December 08, 2024 09:10 AM (kpS4V)

23 Yay book thread!

Still inching forward with Churchill, who just had a traffic accident (a perfect alt history setting is he died from it) and we're setting the stage for his long, laborious comeback.

Somewhat germane to modern eyes was his turn in the Colonial Office and his response to riots in the Levant over Jewish settlers buying up land.

Churchill stuck to his guns (of course) and refused to budge, saying that the Balfour Declaration would be honored and sent the troops in, defying colleagues who lamented the expense and disorder.

Also he tried to throw sand in the gears regarding Indian Dominion status on the (again defensible) grounds that India was too factionalized and had not yet developed any kind of cohesion as a unitary entity. We'll see how that pans out.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 08, 2024 09:11 AM (ZOv7s)

24 *checks out Guilty Pleasure*

Didn't know you were into Trek slashfic, Perf.

Not judging!
Posted by: All Hail Eris, Agent of Chaos at December 08, 2024 09:10 AM (kpS4V)
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LOL!

I knew I could count on the Horde to re-interpret it...

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at December 08, 2024 09:11 AM (BpYfr)

25 "Typo-phoon" -- I'm stealing that.

Posted by: Weak Geek at December 08, 2024 09:11 AM (p/isN)

26 Every historian of the Conquest going back to Prescott seems to agree that Cortes was a good leader and (as far as was possible under the circumstances) humane in his dealings with the Aztecs, and that Pizarro, by contrast, was kind of a dick who got what he deserved.

Posted by: Dr. T at December 08, 2024 09:13 AM (lHPJf)

27 No one has caught up to ghani or karzai yet

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at December 08, 2024 09:13 AM (pGTZo)

28 The science fantasy comics series Dreadstar had characters getting computer printouts.

Posted by: Weak Geek at December 08, 2024 09:15 AM (p/isN)

29 many books are clearly anchored in the time they are written

Dumb ol' Shakespeare anyway -- though it's the footnotes that drag.

I first read Starship Troopers when it was still pretty new, and found it such an allegory of WWII it was almost heavy-handed. On Heinlein's behalf I'll note that most things written then were heavy-handed allegories of WWII, and I liked them a lot.

Posted by: Way,Way Downriver at December 08, 2024 09:15 AM (zdLoL)

30 Bin ali went to saudi is memory served mubarak stayed

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at December 08, 2024 09:15 AM (pGTZo)

31 This Is Not A Game by Walter Jon Williams

-

Now that is a clever new theme for a book.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at December 08, 2024 09:15 AM (gMjTi)

32 It was in heinleins most rece.t rxperience

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at December 08, 2024 09:16 AM (pGTZo)

33 I will say that those who try to downplay Churchill's depressive episodes have some tough work to do. While he was pugnacious and physically fearless, the frustration and strain of watching England decline, Germany rearm and being locked out of office by his own colleagues would have been tough for anyone to take.

This is why he would increasingly take refuge in Chartwell, which he renovated and partially built himself, and painted in the south of France or Spain as events turned against him.

it's a good life lesson about taking a break from things you can't control, resting, finding enjoyment and then returning to the fray.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 08, 2024 09:16 AM (ZOv7s)

34 Recent

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at December 08, 2024 09:16 AM (pGTZo)

35 Muslims overthrow each other often only to have some other Muslim as a tyrant

Posted by: Skip at December 08, 2024 09:17 AM (fwDg9)

36 Tolle Lege
Posted by: Skip at December 08, 2024 08:59 AM (fwDg9)
-

Phantom Tolle Lege!

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at December 08, 2024 09:17 AM (CflQn)

37 Morning, Book Folken!

According to Barbara Tuchman's The March of Folly, Pizarro got lucky in that the Inca leader did everything wrong -- he pursued a course of action clearly opposed to his own interest. That is Barbara's yardstick to measure folly: The path pursued must be not only contrary to the nation's or group's interest, but it also must have been recognized as folly at the time by cooler heads no one listened to.

Some of the Trojans warned against bringing the gigantic Greek horse into the city, but King Priam didn't listen. We know the outcome.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 08, 2024 09:18 AM (omVj0)

38 Kind of a lazy reading week.

Reread Kate Hope Day's "In the Quick", about an attempt to rescue a lost exploratory space ship. It's an SF retelling of "Jane Eyre", which I only realized after the fact.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Agent of Chaos at December 08, 2024 09:18 AM (kpS4V)

39 Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 08, 2024 09:11 AM (ZOv7s)

Which biography of Churchill are you reading?

Posted by: dantesed at December 08, 2024 09:19 AM (Oy/m2)

40 Douglas Preston may have been more successful but Richard Preston wins the family award for oddest hobby, climbing giant redwoods and camping out at the tops of the trees. At age 70 or so now, I wonder if he still does that?

Posted by: Huck Follywood at December 08, 2024 09:19 AM (XM6on)

41 This Is Not A Game by Walter Jon Williams
-
Now that is a clever new theme for a book.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at December 08, 2024 09:15 AM (gMjTi)
----
It is an interesting examination of the blurred lines of reality between people who spend a lot of time online versus the actions that happen in the real world.

An online discussion forum about "alternate reality games" takes on a new purpose when they are asked to solve a REAL crime in the REAL world using their crowd-sourced abilities.

It's not unlike the Moron Horde when someone asks for help, and Morons step up to provide assistance, even though we may never meet in real space.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at December 08, 2024 09:19 AM (BpYfr)

42
AaaaaaaaaOOOOOOOOOOooooEeEeEEEgggggGG

woooWoooWOOOOOGZGZGZGEEEEEEEEEEEE

OOOO OOO! OOOOOOOOO OOO! EEEE! eeeeeeee

....

Posted by: naturalfake Reads "A Confederacy of Dunces" in Whale Song For Your Listening Pleasure at December 08, 2024 09:20 AM (iJfKG)

43 I went to a Lichternacht Christmas celebration in town earlier this weekend. Nice big Christmas market, lots of singing (and Irish dancers, for some reason), and lots of Gluhwein to get silly on.

I wonder if there's any books out there on German contributions to Christmas in America. Would probably be a festive read.

Posted by: Dr. T at December 08, 2024 09:20 AM (lHPJf)

44 They usually do stupid things now do name of the aztec leader escapes me

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at December 08, 2024 09:20 AM (pGTZo)

45 I first read Starship Troopers when it was still pretty new, and found it such an allegory of WWII it was almost heavy-handed. On Heinlein's behalf I'll note that most things written then were heavy-handed allegories of WWII, and I liked them a lot.
Posted by: Way,Way Downriver at December 08, 2024

***
Troopers was written in '58 and published in '59, I think -- only 13-14 years after the war. And we're still focusing on it (not always in the same way as in the '50s) in films and books and TV shows today.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 08, 2024 09:20 AM (omVj0)

46 I'm inching closer to writing again. I opened my project spreadsheet and began looking over unfinished writings and even opened a few and read through them to see if there was something worth picking back up.

I often recycle or rework earlier projects, and this is how the Man of Destiny series and Vampires of Michigan came out.

I think that sometimes a project falters because the time isn't right. My vision just isn't clear or I haven't gained enough perspective on something to write about it yet.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 08, 2024 09:22 AM (ZOv7s)

47
I have resumed reading "Benjamin Franklin" by Carl Van Doren.

Ben is in London, it is 1774 - 1775, and Ben had just been subjected to public humiliation before the Privy Council for (pick one) the release of private letters that detailed people's positions concerning how to deal with the rebellious American colonials or British outrage over the dumping of British East India Company tea into Boston Harbor.

Van Doren asserted that this event was the pivotal moment that turned Franklin from being a devotee of British imperialism to become a fervent advocate for independence for the colonials. He'll shortly thereafter return to Pennsylvania, learn that his wife Deborah has passed away while he was in England, and soon take part in the Second Continental Congress.

Posted by: The Buffalo Bills at December 08, 2024 09:22 AM (xG4kz)

48 It is an interesting examination of the blurred lines of reality between people who spend a lot of time online versus the actions that happen in the real world.

An online discussion forum about "alternate reality games" takes on a new purpose when they are asked to solve a REAL crime in the REAL world using their crowd-sourced abilities.

It's not unlike the Moron Horde when someone asks for help, and Morons step up to provide assistance, even though we may never meet in real space.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at December 08, 2024 09:19 AM (BpYfr)

M. Night Shyamalan sorta tapped into this idea with his latest movie "Trap".

Posted by: naturalfake at December 08, 2024 09:22 AM (iJfKG)

49 I first read Starship Troopers when it was still pretty new, and found it such an allegory of WWII it was almost heavy-handed. On Heinlein's behalf I'll note that most things written then were heavy-handed allegories of WWII, and I liked them a lot.
Posted by: Way,Way Downriver at December 08, 2024

***
Troopers was written in '58 and published in '59, I think -- only 13-14 years after the war. And we're still focusing on it (not always in the same way as in the '50s) in films and books and TV shows today.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 08, 2024 09:20 AM (omVj0)
---
Every generation seems to have a war they can point back to as a source of inspiration. In my case, the Vietnam War spawned a ton of books, movies, television shows when I was growing up.

Nowadays, there are quite a few books drawing upon Gulf Wars I and II for inspiration.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at December 08, 2024 09:23 AM (BpYfr)

50 I'm not sure I've read much Harry Harrison outside the Deathworld trilogy, and his sendup of space opera, Star Smashers of the Galaxy Rangers. Rat, I'm pretty sure, I have not read.

I seem to recall he had some interesting stories about matter transmitters being used to explore the galaxy.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 08, 2024 09:24 AM (omVj0)

51 I wonder if there's any books out there on German contributions to Christmas in America. Would probably be a festive read.
Posted by: Dr. T at December 08, 2024 09:20 AM (lHPJf)
---
I did a blog post on how Germanized American culture last week. Link in my name.

TL

R - yes, we're very German, not very English.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 08, 2024 09:26 AM (ZOv7s)

52 How does one protect a man from a master criminal who is willing to kill in order to maintain his hidden identity? Albert Campion is faced with this conundrum in Mystery Mile, the second Campion novel by Margery Allingham.

Judge Lobbett is an American jurist who thinks he has a line on the boss of the international criminal Simister Gang. He left New York when it got too hot, and is now in England after a narrow escape from death on the voyage over. Campion whisks him to a remote seaside village while they try to track down the gang's mysterious leader. Even that idyllic location is not safe, however, and the judge disappears. Can Campion rescue the judge and stop the gang?

Allingham is a master of the intuitive mystery, and captures the idiosyncratic nature of the English people found across the various regions. Each character in the story brings their unique dialect and point of view. The clues are cleverly placed, and the reader discovers them as Campion has flashes of insight. This is another entertaining mystery by Allingham.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at December 08, 2024 09:26 AM (gMjTi)

53 I started James Cook's "Absolute Zero"(Surviving the Dead 10). Not sure what to think yet. I do really like this series and the way it started but there are some things that are questionable but then again, the world is full of sick, sadistic people and if society collapsed they would take full advantage of it.

Posted by: lin-duh at December 08, 2024 09:27 AM (VCgbV)

54
Ya can talk, ya can talk, ya can bicker ya can talk,
Ya can bicker, bicker bicker ya can talk all ya want
But it's different than it was.

No it ain't, no it ain't, but ya gotta know the territory.

Posted by: Traveling Salesmen on the Rock Island Line at December 08, 2024 09:27 AM (xG4kz)

55 Anyway: I've been reading some of Gene Wolfe, the SF/fantasy author whom so many people acclaim as having done stuff close to literature. My current book is Castle of Days, which brings together some short stories and a bunch of essays on writing, writers, books, and *knife throwing*, among other things.

So far I find him quite readable. Im not sure I'm ready to tackle his Book of the New Sun trilogy, though I do have the first in the series here from the ibrary.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 08, 2024 09:27 AM (omVj0)

56 I think in the second book he goes back in time and meets napoleon who is a traveller from a future time

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at December 08, 2024 09:27 AM (pGTZo)

57 John Eldredge writes books for men. And how.

Wild At Heart dot com.

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at December 08, 2024 09:28 AM (dg+HA)

58 Continuing to binge on mountaineering books. (If you like that sort of thing, check out Michael Tracy's You Tube channel, where he points out the lies in "Into Thin Air")

Mountain Madness by Robert Birkey is about Scott Fischer, written by his friend. Scott had an interesting life and was loved by his friends. It's good to read about the man and not just about his death on Everest.

Ascent into Hell by Fergus White is about a successful Everest climb. It's well done and you get a feel for the training and the actual climb. Not sure what year he did the climb but the book is from 2017. Very enjoyable.

No Way Down by Graham Bowley is about the 2008 climbing disaster on K2.I have no idea why people climb this one. It's truly brutal. People die from not being clipped in and just slide right off the mountain. Well written and he's sympathetic to their loss. I read a book by a survivor, Wilco Van Rooijen, but he doesn't come off well in some of the discussions on this climb.

Working on a book by Ed Viesturs and have Michael Groom's book on the way.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at December 08, 2024 09:29 AM (NQtI0)

59 I think in the second book he goes back in time and meets napoleon who is a traveller from a future time
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at December 08, 2024 09:27 AM (pGTZo)
---
Something like that, yes. And then it gets *weird*.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at December 08, 2024 09:31 AM (BpYfr)

60
Returning to sender ...

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at December 08, 2024 09:31 AM (xG4kz)

61 Down to just a 100 or so pages of Washington Irvings's Sketches and Tales. I'm growing fond of the old codger. His descriptions of an English country house Christmas were excellent and providentially fit with the season. Also started Polonaise by Piers Paul Read. Set in pre-WWII Poland, all the main characters are commies. A revolting development, but more than once it has veered toward "A Darkness at Noon" territory in exposing the evil behind the supposed ideals.

Posted by: who knew at December 08, 2024 09:31 AM (+ViXu)

62 “Sometimes the biggest disasters aren’t noticed at all – no one’s around to write horror stories.”

Posted by: 13times at December 08, 2024 09:31 AM (Ps8bn)

63 Morning, Perfessor. Howdy, Horder.

Poked through a couple of Dana Gioia's essays, and looked at a sample of his new book Weep, Shudder, Die: On Poetry and Opera, even though I've never had any impulse to get into opera at all. My knowledge of opera consists of knowing a few titles and composers, and who-knows-how-many viewings of "What's Opera, Doc?" But how can you pass up sampling a book with an opening chapter called "The Librettist as Idiot"? May buy that one yet. I kinda like Gioia.

Did a reread of Robert Bloch's Night of the Ripper, which is still fun.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at December 08, 2024 09:34 AM (q3u5l)

64 Something I have not yet done is write a sequel. This demonstrates that I am not a full-time author reliant on writing for my income, because they do this all the time. Solid money-maker.

A big part of the reason that I don't is that it's more work than just starting something new because you have to back and make sure continuity is there, etc. It's kind of like research, except that if you do a non-fiction book, (in my experience) you make a lot more money.

Of course non-fiction is actual work, and quite stressful. Fiction is just fun, and part of my fun is hopping around from genre to genre. So maybe I should write a sequel, just to see what it's like.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 08, 2024 09:34 AM (ZOv7s)

65 Good Sunday morning, horde!

I read The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, which is one of those books that's been on my TBR list since, oh, the 1980s. I started listening on audio, but I was missing a bit with the accent and sound variation, so switched to ebook to read it myself.

In a nutshell: Never trust a teacher who needs to be friends with students. There is always an ulterior motive.

So topical, even now.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at December 08, 2024 09:34 AM (OX9vb)

66
Allingham is a master of the intuitive mystery, and captures the idiosyncratic nature of the English people found across the various regions. Each character in the story brings their unique dialect and point of view. The clues are cleverly placed, and the reader discovers them as Campion has flashes of insight. This is another entertaining mystery by Allingham.

***
I liked a couple of her later ones, Dancers in Mourning, Flowers for the Judge, and The Fashion in Shrouds. Not dazzling Ellery Queen or John Dickson Carr puzzles, no, but good mysteries and excellent characterization -- much like Josephine Tey's work.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 08, 2024 09:34 AM (omVj0)

67 “ Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me.The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.””

John 14:21

Posted by: Marcus T at December 08, 2024 09:39 AM (blmVn)

68 I liked a couple of her later ones, Dancers in Mourning, Flowers for the Judge, and The Fashion in Shrouds. Not dazzling Ellery Queen or John Dickson Carr puzzles, no, but good mysteries and excellent characterization -- much like Josephine Tey's work.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius

Yes, they aren't the kind if stories where the reader is challenged to find the hidden clues and beat the detective to the punch, as much as watching them solve the mystery

Posted by: Thomas Paine at December 08, 2024 09:39 AM (gMjTi)

69 There are a couple of Ellery Queen stories set at Christmas: the middle-period impossible-crime short story "The Dauphin's Doll," and the late-period novel The Finishing Stroke, which is set mostly during the Christmas-to-Jan. 6 period of 1929-1930. The young Ellery, just having published his first novel, is a guest at a house party. Odd gifts keep appearing, one each night. Part of the puzzle is, What is the pattern the gifts are forming? And why?

You can find "Dauphin's Doll" in the Calendar of Crime collection, which has two or three gems besides the DD story.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 08, 2024 09:39 AM (omVj0)

70 In a nutshell: Never trust a teacher who needs to be friends with students. There is always an ulterior motive.

So topical, even now.
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at December 08, 2024 09:34 AM (OX9vb)
---
I recall that lesson actually be taught in schools and on TV. I actually recall a movie where a teacher tries to help a girl with her blouse and everyone in the class groaned because he was such a creeper.

After school specials had that as well. Weird how all that warning went away.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 08, 2024 09:40 AM (ZOv7s)

71 Perfessor's comment in the post about women dominating publishing ties in with my thoughts about the recent translations of The Iliad and The Odyssey by Emily Wilson. I liked the preface sections which are extensive. But I found the actual translations felt choppy and lacked flow even when read aloud. A number of the reviews described it as lean and fast paced and uses easily understood modern idioms. Several reviews mentioned how Wilson is the FIRST woman to translate both of Homer's epics (about which I don't give a hoot). Most of the rave blurbs were by women. (Where's Michael Dirda when you need him?) That I didn't care for the translations doesn't make them bad or inaccurate, just not to my taste. And there is a sense of because it's new, it must be better than those fusty versions of the last fifty years.

If I want a female interpretation of Homer, I'll watch the Elizabeth Vandiver lectures from The Great Courses. She did a superb job.

Posted by: JTB at December 08, 2024 09:40 AM (yTvNw)

72 I've got The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie on the Amazing Colossal To-Be-Read Pile now. Put it there after seeing the movie (finally) after it was recommended on the movie thread recently. Terrific picture. I'm almost afraid to read the book, though, because if I like it a lot Muriel Spark wrote a whole bunch of other novels too... Some day, I'll be found buried under my collapsed TBR pile.

Re: my greeting at #63 -- pretty sure I typed Horde and not Horder. Freakin' auto-cucumber.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at December 08, 2024 09:41 AM (q3u5l)

73 Last week I finished reading (after a long mid-book pause) the "Master of Kung Fu Omnibus 1," containing issues 17-37 of the comic book series of the same name. Immediately afterwards I re-read the first half of Omnibus 2 (issues 38-51) to complete the main story arc of the series. The book (written in the 70's) follows Shang-Chi, the newly created son of pulp-era arch-fiend Dr. Fu Manchu, who turns on his father and fights for good.

The beginning of the story is....not very good. It is comic-booky in the worst connotations of the term. Its contrived, cheesy, episodic...In short, it feels artificial. And random. They just throw random baddies at our hero to see how he reacts. It gets better after a new writer takes over (Doug Moench, who would write the book for 100 issues) but it still wasn't perfect. Its biggest sin was that it was never an actual 'kung fu' story. We never (well, rarely) got two martial arts masters squaring off in prolonged, well-choreographed fight scenes. Shang-Chi was usually just treated as a really good brawler, with a detached personality...

(continued)

Posted by: Castle Guy at December 08, 2024 09:42 AM (Lhaco)

74 Ace-endorsed Author; I hadn't been to your blog recently, I see their are a couple of things I want to read, but first will be "more German than English". That's definitely true on this side of the Lake where Milwaukee was once the second or third largest German speaking city in the world. All four of my maternal great-grandparents were German immigrants and there is German on the paternal side as well.

Posted by: who knew at December 08, 2024 09:42 AM (+ViXu)

75 Thanks for another dandy Book Thread, Perfessor! My weekend is not complete without the lively discussions and lessons you offer.

Posted by: Legally Sufficient at December 08, 2024 09:43 AM (rxCpr)

76 Some of the Trojans warned against bringing the gigantic Greek horse into the city, but King Priam didn't listen. We know the outcome.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 08, 2024 09:18 AM (omVj0)

"Bitch, bitch, bitch, Cassandra, is that all you can do? I have the fate of an empire on my hands, and you sit there complaining I am doing it wrong! You and that old woman Laocoon can get out now, take a walk"

--Priam in an off moment

Posted by: Kindltot at December 08, 2024 09:45 AM (D7oie)

77 No it ain't, no it ain't, but ya gotta know the territory.
Posted by: Traveling Salesmen on the Rock Island Line at December 08, 2024 09:27 AM (xG4kz)
-------------
A d tou gotta keep the youth of America from hanging out in pool halls!

Posted by: Huck Follywood at December 08, 2024 09:46 AM (nYwem)

78 There is a ton of polka music in Texas, especially at construction sites. Texas is very German.

Posted by: lin-duh at December 08, 2024 09:46 AM (VCgbV)

79 Where's Mr. Squirrel's jaunty purple hat, you ask?

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Posted by: Big Penguin at December 08, 2024 09:46 AM (a3Q+t)

80 I've just started Hillbilly Elegy by J. D. Vance. So far, it's not what I would have expected.

Posted by: Bombadil at December 08, 2024 09:47 AM (MX0bI)

81 I've just started Hillbilly Elegy by J. D. Vance. So far, it's not what I would have expected.
Posted by: Bombadil
---
In what way?

Posted by: lin-duh at December 08, 2024 09:48 AM (VCgbV)

82 Better than the shang chi film they should have adapted that.

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at December 08, 2024 09:48 AM (pGTZo)

83 Some of the Trojans warned against bringing the gigantic Greek horse into the city, but King Priam didn't listen. We know the outcome.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 08, 2024
*
"Bitch, bitch, bitch, Cassandra, is that all you can do? I have the fate of an empire on my hands, and you sit there complaining I am doing it wrong! You and that old woman Laocoon can get out now, take a walk"

--Priam in an off moment
Posted by: Kindltot at December 08, 2024

***
Brilliant -- a kind of Laugh-In blackout sketch moment.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 08, 2024 09:49 AM (omVj0)

84 Also re: Miss Jean Brodie. After watching the movie, I wondered what ever happened to Pamela Franklin, who was dynamite in that flick and in The Legend of Hell House among others (she was enough to make the movie of Food of the Gods worth a look). She married a fellow actor, left acting, and her husband Harvey Jason left acting and started a high-end book shop called Mystery Pier Books. Poked around its web site -- a lot of terrific stuff but way out of my price range; it's almost literally a case of if you have to look at the price, you can't afford it. If you want to torment yourself, check it out.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at December 08, 2024 09:49 AM (q3u5l)

85 This Is Not A Game by Walter Jon Williams
-
Now that is a clever new theme for a book.

It is clever. Hermann Hesse would like a word about "new."

Posted by: Way,Way Downriver at December 08, 2024 09:49 AM (zdLoL)

86 In Re This is Not A Game: During Thanksgiving I was talking with a game developer who was blue-skying about a project he had for a game that would have players searching NASA images of the moon looking for lava tunnels and related features as a way to both have a game and find possible base sites.

Posted by: Kindltot at December 08, 2024 09:49 AM (D7oie)

87 Ace-endorsed Author; I hadn't been to your blog recently, I see their are a couple of things I want to read, but first will be "more German than English". That's definitely true on this side of the Lake where Milwaukee was once the second or third largest German speaking city in the world. All four of my maternal great-grandparents were German immigrants and there is German on the paternal side as well.
Posted by: who knew at December 08, 2024 09:42 AM (+ViXu)
---
The funny thing about it is that I kind of ran out of steam, because there's so much stuff to put in there - one of the more obvious being that we drive on the same side of the road as the Germans, not the English.

Michigan has lots of Germans as well, and both branches of my family carry British surnames, but are filled up with German DNA. Grandfather Lloyd once mentioned that both his parents spoke fluent German, but after WW I, refused to pass it on, which he said was unfortunate because it would have been really useful in WW II.

I mentioned this to my father and he puzzled how Welshmen would speak German, but apparently they'd been marrying German girls pretty much as soon as they got here.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 08, 2024 09:49 AM (ZOv7s)

88 >>> Several reviews mentioned how Wilson is the FIRST woman to translate both of Homer's epics

Pearl Buck was the first woman to translate the Water Margin, an epic Chinese novel set in 12th century of the Ming dynasty.

Posted by: 13times at December 08, 2024 09:50 AM (jBfho)

89 Man, someone should write a book...

Maybe not.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 08, 2024 09:50 AM (ZOv7s)

90 There is a ton of polka music in Texas, especially at construction sites. Texas is very German.
Posted by: lin-duh

Much of south Texas 'Tex-Mex' is an amalgam of German and Mexican culture. Interestingly, the hill country region, dominated by Germans, was a hotspot of anti-confederacy during the civil war. There were actual skirmishes in the area known as Loyal Valley.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at December 08, 2024 09:51 AM (gMjTi)

91 @78 --

Took a family trip to San Antonio and was surprised by the German influence. Thought it would be all Spanish.

Posted by: Weak Geek, fifth-generation German descendant at December 08, 2024 09:53 AM (p/isN)

92 Much of south Texas 'Tex-Mex' is an amalgam of German and Mexican culture. Interestingly, the hill country region, dominated by Germans, was a hotspot of anti-confederacy during the civil war. There were actual skirmishes in the area known as Loyal Valley.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at December 08, 2024 09:51 AM (gMjTi)
---
Germans were very anti-slavery. In Missouri the pro-Union government drew a lot of its strength from Germans (who were denounced as "Hessians").

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 08, 2024 09:53 AM (ZOv7s)

93 (continued ramblings about "Master of Kung Fu)

While the book never really achieved greatness as a kung-fu comic, it did eventually find its footing as a counter-espionage story. Our hero eventually joined MI-6 and along with a motley crew of other agents (including an aged Neyland Smith, who was Fu Manchu's arch-enemy during the 30's-era pulp-stories by Sax Romer) to foil the schemes of assorted megalomaniacs. It became an ensemble version of a James Bond story, albeit a bit more outlandish, and with a kung fu guy as the point-of-view character.

The story was still very of-its-time (a comic book from the 70's) but I found the spy-era stories (issues 29-51) genuinely enjoyable. And if the recent Shang-Chi movie had had any connection to these comics, I may have actually watched the movie...

Posted by: Castle Guy at December 08, 2024 09:54 AM (Lhaco)

94 An absolute delight is "Winter Fire: Christmas With GK Chesterton" by Ryan Whitaker Smith. Smith takes excerpts from Chesterton's many essays about Christmas and puts them in the form of a devotional to be read over Advent then adds Scripture and how he finds that Chesterton's century old observations are more relevant to today than they were when written, both for the event and Christian values generally.

BTW, the title comes from a Chesterton quote: "Christ is not merely a summer sun for the prosperous but a winter fire for the unfortunate".

The second half of the book is a collection of his poems and essays as well as games, recipes, and carols relevant to Chesterton and his times. I especially enjoyed learning about the meaning of the lyrics to "Here We Go A'wasailing" which goes way back. (Don't hear that one so much anymore.)

I expect this to become a December tradition for me. It brings new interest to Advent, Christmas, and the Twelve Days.

Posted by: JTB at December 08, 2024 09:54 AM (yTvNw)

95
Back in the mid-1800s, Saint Louis had a sizable German population. One of my two German 3rd great grandparental lines came to this country through New Orleans and by1850, 3rd great grandfather Pfeilsticker appeared in the census as a resident of Saint Louis.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at December 08, 2024 09:54 AM (xG4kz)

96 Have finished the Slough House series and am what the hell to read next....

The books are written in the style of a multi-threaded TV show, with abrupt changes from one plot thread to another, so the written narrative is sometimes confusing, but the characters are compelling and the plot lines make more sense as the threads are gathered together. Plus, Herron is a better writer as the series progresses so the series doesn't lose steam as you get towards the eighth snd final (as if now) book.

Posted by: Huck Follywood at December 08, 2024 09:55 AM (OjVuP)

97 Texas is very German.

Under the Kaiser, there was a German government agency devoted to relocating Germans to Texas. There were open rumors that it was a secret colonization takeover plan, and of course all that surfaced with the Zimmerman Affair. Ought to be a book about it somewhere...

German-Germans have their own version of western frontier literature ("Shatterhand") and will be the first to tell you that Lewis and Clark's expedition was really Humboldt's idea (they are almost certainly wrong about this, but hey Germans).

Posted by: Way,Way Downriver at December 08, 2024 09:55 AM (zdLoL)

98 Slow book thread...

Okay, so I meant to review this book next or so when I've finished reading it-

"Harpoon" by C W Nicol

It concerns two Japanese characters, Sadayori, a Samurai, and Jinsuke, a Harpooner of whales and is set in the time of the arrival of the "Black Ships"
to Japan.

The book opens with a great and very well described whale hunt. I suspect that if you like the hunt sequence along with the switching of viewpoints as characters are introduced, you probably like this novel as well. I'm enjoying reading it buuuuuut, haven't gotten far enough into it to see exactly how things are going. One big plus is that Nicols seems to have a very good grasp of Japanese society/culture.

"Harpoon" was recommended to me by one of the kiddos as an excellent read that was passed around to various friends, who all found it an excellent read.

For some reason, while you can find "Harpoon" in paperback and hardback. for the Kindle the title has been changed by the author to- "Isana" meaning "bold fish" in Japanese, their name for the right whale. Same novel, different name.

I think I can safely recommend it already, but I'll have more to say in a week or so.

Posted by: naturalfake at December 08, 2024 09:56 AM (iJfKG)

99 Wild At Heart dot com.
Posted by: Quarter Twenty at December 08, 2024 09:28 AM (dg+HA)

Without clicking over, I have a feeling about this...

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at December 08, 2024 09:56 AM (OX9vb)

100 Sadly they didnt they went with dragons and ghouls

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at December 08, 2024 09:57 AM (pGTZo)

101 I'm not as up on the Western Theater, but I believe the Army of the Potomac's XI Corps was basically German-speakers, consolidated for convenience.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 08, 2024 09:57 AM (ZOv7s)

102 New Braunfels, TX has a full blown Oktoberfest every year. I actually know men who own and wear lederhosen and a regular basis. They also travel to Germany for Oktoberfest.

Posted by: lin-duh at December 08, 2024 09:57 AM (VCgbV)

103 Also reading parts of Undaunted Courage to my snow/bound parents (over the phone). They seem to love it.

Posted by: Huck Follywood at December 08, 2024 09:58 AM (OjVuP)

104 81 I've just started Hillbilly Elegy by J. D. Vance. So far, it's not what I would have expected.
Posted by: Bombadil

It moves pretty slowly at first, moving from one dysfunctional story to the next. I listened to the audio book version during a long drive and remember wondering if we were ever going to get out of seventh grade.

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at December 08, 2024 09:58 AM (dg+HA)

105 good morning Perfessor, Horde

Posted by: callsign claymore at December 08, 2024 09:59 AM (JcnCJ)

106 Regarding some of the comments brought up in the main post, I used to read a lot of novels, sci-fi and fantasy, though I leaned towards fantasy. Nowadays, however, I read more comic books than novels. And the prose I do read tends to be self-published, or to have been published before I was born. I kinda wonder if I drifted this way naturally, or if I was driven this way by the attitudes of the major publishing houses...

Posted by: Castle Guy at December 08, 2024 09:59 AM (Lhaco)

107 99 Wild At Heart dot com.
Posted by: Quarter Twenty at December 08, 2024 09:28 AM (dg+HA)

Without clicking over, I have a feeling about this...
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs!

Changed my life.

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at December 08, 2024 10:00 AM (dg+HA)

108 New Braunfels, TX has a full blown Oktoberfest every year. I actually know men who own and wear lederhosen and a regular basis. They also travel to Germany for Oktoberfest.
Posted by: lin-duh at December 08, 2024 09:57 AM (VCgbV)
---
Frankenmuth, Michigan, made a decision after WW II to reinvent itself as a Teutonic tourist trap, and all the buildings downtown are required to look Bavarian. Oktoberfest is a big thing there as well.

Great cheese shops. The fried chicken is overrated.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 08, 2024 10:00 AM (ZOv7s)

109 The Mexican omp-pah-pah polka music can still be heard on local north valley FM radio stations.

Posted by: 13times at December 08, 2024 10:00 AM (bv2/x)

110 Saw an interesting interview with David Wengrow, a British archeologist who with his late partner David Graeber posited that civilization was not a straight line from primitive tribalism to agriculture and the flowering of cities and civilization, but that there were civilizations flourishing that were mobile and non-hierarchical.

https://tinyurl.com/yc2s43n

He's big into "equality" and environmentalism and considers himself an activist, so I'll take what he says with a big bag of salt, but I do feel we really don't know much about early humanity so I'm curious what he has to say in "The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity".

You will note in the discussion that he pooh-poohs "Netflix historians" (Hancock, I assume). Nothing like professional bitchiness.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Agent of Chaos at December 08, 2024 10:01 AM (kpS4V)

111 There is a ton of polka music in Texas, especially at construction sites. Texas is very German.
=====

Polka and Mariachi bands sound very similar to me. (Northern Illinois resident.)

Posted by: mustbequantum at December 08, 2024 10:01 AM (oX4qW)

112 The past few months I've been coming across more and more references to GK Chesterton. I've read a fair amount of his work but have only scratched the surface. The more I've read, the more I am enjoying his writing. He fits in so well with the complex web I'm weaving in my mind with George MacDonald, CS Lewis and Tolkien. Even Chesterton's lighter essays, like in "Tremendous Trifles" is a delight.

I'm going to need more shelf space in the book cases.

Posted by: JTB at December 08, 2024 10:02 AM (yTvNw)

113 For a REAL mind-blower, it's worth noting how much of Louisiana "French Creole" culture came from Germans. For years the two main bakers of "Creole" style bread were Leidenheimer and Reising (though now Dong Phuong has taken pride of place). "Creole" mustard is plain old German coarse brown mustard. And "Creole" cream cheese looks suspiciously like schmeirkaase.

Posted by: Trimegistus at December 08, 2024 10:02 AM (78a2H)

114 Regarding some of the comments brought up in the main post, I used to read a lot of novels, sci-fi and fantasy, though I leaned towards fantasy. Nowadays, however, I read more comic books than novels. And the prose I do read tends to be self-published, or to have been published before I was born. I kinda wonder if I drifted this way naturally, or if I was driven this way by the attitudes of the major publishing houses...
Posted by: Castle Guy at December 08, 2024

***
I haven't bought and read a lot of self-published books, as so many of them strongly needed an editor before they escaped out into the world. But I too read a lot of things published before 1990, not a few of them before I was born.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 08, 2024 10:03 AM (omVj0)

115 I also got Wind and Truth on Friday. Finishing up The Lost Metal - book 4 of the Mistborn: Wax and Wayne series which I've enjoyed.

Posted by: cheztrainor at December 08, 2024 10:03 AM (y1P/6)

116 Some of Tex-Mex culture is not so much German as Austrian, because Maximilian you see. Mexicans learned brewing from Austrians, and got pretty good at it; if you listen to the bass lines of Mexican music, they could be played on a tuba if you had the wind.

"Germany" dates from the 1870's; most "German" families who came here before that thought of themselves as Brandenburgers, Bavarians, Rheinlanders, what have you. German nationalism is not as old as American nationalism. Europe copies us.

Posted by: Way,Way Downriver at December 08, 2024 10:03 AM (zdLoL)

117 In the 1830s-1840s, the German states began to take a heavy hand in the Lutheran church. This caused a huge migration to the US, the land of religious freedom. Many of those leaving went to Texas and to Missouri.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at December 08, 2024 10:03 AM (gMjTi)

118 I was recently in the small town of Hermann, Missouri.
It's all German all the time.

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at December 08, 2024 10:03 AM (dg+HA)

119 Tulsa has a huge Oktoberfest celebration. I don't care for beer, but I love the food and music.

Unfortunately, it's always the same weekend as the TxMoMe.

Posted by: Weak Geek, fifth-generation German descendant at December 08, 2024 10:03 AM (p/isN)

120 German-Germans have their own version of western frontier literature ("Shatterhand") and will be the first to tell you that Lewis and Clark's expedition was really Humboldt's idea (they are almost certainly wrong about this, but hey Germans).
Posted by: Way,Way Downriver at December 08, 2024 09:55 AM (zdLoL)

You are talking about Karl May, who wrote a lot of western and a few Levant adventure books. He also had a large collection of fake Indian regalia that he may or may not have thought were real. I don't know if Karl May ever got west of the Mississippi, but he is The Western Author for German.

Posted by: Kindltot at December 08, 2024 10:03 AM (D7oie)

121 I've just started Hillbilly Elegy by J. D. Vance. So far, it's not what I would have expected.
Posted by: Bombadil
---
In what way?

Posted by: lin-duh

Well, I just finished The Ruling Class by Angelo Codevilla, and I guess what I was expecting from Vance was an indictment of the ruling class from a working-class white point of view. Jobs shipped overseas, family farms put out of business by soulless agri-conglomerates, that kind of thing.

Instead, Vance is harshly critical of a violent, dysfunctional white society descended from violent, dysfunctional Scots-Irish immigrants. It partakes of much of the same language as criticism of "black culture". Vance makes it clear that he cares about these people, but much of what he has to say about them isn't nice.

It's...weird...that anyone would call Vance a white supremacist when he talks like this.

Anyway, it's early times. I'm only a few pages in.

Posted by: Bombadil at December 08, 2024 10:04 AM (MX0bI)

122 A while back I went to a Polish/Ukrainian festival in Massachusetts with a polka band performing. The band's flyers mentioned that they also perform at German fests, Mexican fests, and Klezmer events. The only thing that changes is the hats.

Posted by: Trimegistus at December 08, 2024 10:04 AM (78a2H)

123 Beer is my favorite drink and sausage is my favorite cut of meat, so the German influence must be strong.

Posted by: who knew at December 08, 2024 10:05 AM (+ViXu)

124 Unfortunately, it's always the same weekend as the TxMoMe.
Posted by: Weak Geek
--
At least your priorities are straight!!!😁

Posted by: lin-duh at December 08, 2024 10:05 AM (VCgbV)

125 In the Christmas vein, Rex Stout had one novelette about Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin called "Christmas Party," published I think in the And Four to Go novelette collection. Not one of his very best mysteries, but it's memorable for many scenes, including the start. Archie presents Wolfe with a marriage license containing his, Archie's, name and that of a young woman, and tells Wolfe he's going to get married (!).

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 08, 2024 10:06 AM (omVj0)

126 Regarding writer's block: in my experience that happens when you know -- but have not yet admitted to yourself -- that there is a plot hole coming up that means you will have to go back and rewrite some stuff to fix.

Posted by: Trimegistus at December 08, 2024 10:06 AM (78a2H)

127 According to Barbara Tuchman's The March of Folly, Pizarro got lucky in that the Inca leader did everything wrong -- he pursued a course of action clearly opposed to his own interest. That is Barbara's yardstick to measure folly: The path pursued must be not only contrary to the nation's or group's interest, but it also must have been recognized as folly at the time by cooler heads no one listened to.

Some of the Trojans warned against bringing the gigantic Greek horse into the city, but King Priam didn't listen. We know the outcome.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 08, 2024 09:18 AM (omVj0)

And here we are in 2024, where another sorta stable regime has been toppled by the same people we thought were bad guys 21 years ago.

So far I haven't seen/heard anything about CIA being involved, but this looks like their m.o.

At least this time, they didn't let the savages put bayonets up Assad's rectum, but just crashed his plane.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 08, 2024 10:07 AM (lH8E4)

128 he past few months I've been coming across more and more references to GK Chesterton. I've read a fair amount of his work but have only scratched the surface. The more I've read, the more I am enjoying his writing. He fits in so well with the complex web I'm weaving in my mind with George MacDonald, CS Lewis and Tolkien. Even Chesterton's lighter essays, like in "Tremendous Trifles" is a delight.

I'm going to need more shelf space in the book cases.
Posted by: JTB at December 08, 2024 10:02 AM (yTvNw)
---
Chesterton is seeing a welcome revival, as is Belloc. Tolkien, once derided as an unserious hippie-adjacent author, now has an open cause for canonization in the Church.

Fun fact, Tolkien was one of the few Brits to side with Franco during the Spanish Civil War. Even Lewis was a bit of a squish.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 08, 2024 10:08 AM (ZOv7s)

129 It's pretty well established that the traditional publishing world has been taken over by women. That is one industry where women totally dominate, determining WHO and WHAT gets published through traditional publishing channels. That being said, there is still room for male authors, I think, though they may have to go independent or find smaller publishers that are willing to still take a chance on male authors.

--------

So, IOW... The situation that persisted for female authors until the early 19th century.

Progress means stepping back two centuries, I guess. Maybe in another fifty years our lovely ladies of the West can bring back coverture and stuff.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at December 08, 2024 10:08 AM (BI5O2)

130 if you listen to the bass lines of Mexican music, they could be played on a tuba if you had the wind.

Posted by: Way,Way Downriver

That is where the sausage comes in.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at December 08, 2024 10:08 AM (gMjTi)

131
I'm in the queue at the library for Wind but they haven't received their copies yet. 1300 pages will be the longest one yet. I am a very fast reader and the books are fantastic but I almost had to stick to a schedule every night. Sanderson, unlike the odious RR Martin, finishes up a story line in each book and then produces the next book.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at December 08, 2024 10:09 AM (t/2Uw)

132 Lousy-ana even has a section of the state along the Miss. River called the German Coast, and there is a town actually called "Des Allemands," literally "The Germans."

My father's people were immigrants from Germany: stair builders and carpenters for the most part.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 08, 2024 10:09 AM (omVj0)

133 FYI, I cleaned up my German post a little bit, adding a few things mentioned here. Reads a bit better now.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 08, 2024 10:10 AM (ZOv7s)

134 *but it also must have been recognized as folly at the time by cooler heads no one listened to.*

Now do Prohibition, Women In Combat, and Obamacare.

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at December 08, 2024 10:10 AM (dg+HA)

135 This week, I also read The Dentist, by Tim Sullivan. It's an English detective story, and there is such a bounty of such tales that it's a wonder I don't get bored with them.

Yet, my interest persists, especially when there is something unique about the main characters. DS Cross has Asperger's, which is a reliable source of conflict. His need to be correct drives him to solve cases in ways that may not be politically expedient. Other staff are annoyed with his manner, and uncertain about how to interact with him. This aspect adds texture to the detective-solving-cases story.

In this, a homeless man is found murdered after fighting with another. Department thinks it's an open and shut case, naturally, but DS Cross has questions and doubts. He digs at the facts, offends nearly everyone, and gets his guy in the end.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at December 08, 2024 10:11 AM (OX9vb)

136 Sunday Funnies
https://tinyurl.com/mt9acerr

Posted by: San Franpsycho at December 08, 2024 10:12 AM (RIvkX)

137 Lousy-ana even has a section of the state along the Miss. River called the German Coast, and there is a town actually called "Des Allemands," literally "The Germans."

My father's people were immigrants from Germany: stair builders and carpenters for the most part.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 08, 2024 10:09 AM (omVj0)
---
The pre-Civil War migration was fallout from 1848, and growing Prussian power. Post-1871, you have the Kulturkampf, and the drive by Bismarck to force everyone into the Prussian Luthern Church. Catholics outside of Bavaria (which was still a kingdom with some autonomy) were pressured to conform or leave.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 08, 2024 10:12 AM (ZOv7s)

138 122 A while back I went to a Polish/Ukrainian festival in Massachusetts with a polka band performing. The band's flyers mentioned that they also perform at German fests, Mexican fests, and Klezmer events. The only thing that changes is the hats.
Posted by: Trimegistus at December 08, 2024 10:04 AM (78a2H
Lotta good swing/jazz artists have Klezmer backgrounds.

Posted by: Eromero at December 08, 2024 10:13 AM (DXbAa)

139 I'm reading "Making Sense of the Troubles," by McKittrick and McVea at the moment. I'm only about 50 pages in, but it's pretty good so far. They seem to be pretty evenhanded, critical of both sides, without demonizing either - so far. I'll see if that persists. I also haven't reached the point of the terrorism yet. Still talking about the early Free State and N. ireland at this point.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at December 08, 2024 10:13 AM (BI5O2)

140 I read Winter's Tale by Mark Halprin. This fantasy begins when Peter Lake, a master mechanic and burglar, robs a New York City mansion he thinks is empty, but the dying daughter of the house is still at home. This begins a love affair that is so powerful that Peter will be driven to stop time and bring back the dead. I found the story odd, but Halprin sure has mastery of the English language and paints word-pictures one after the other.

Posted by: Zoltan at December 08, 2024 10:13 AM (OAKaM)

141 One of the books I bought for a Christmas gift this year is "The Viking Heart: How Scandinavians Conquered the World". I'm hoping my son reads it quick so I can get hold of it. The author is Arthur Herman, which sounds not Scandinavian to me. Who knows.

Posted by: grammie winger - cheesehead at December 08, 2024 10:14 AM (SfhV1)

142 No one actually reads GK Chesterton.
They just quote him.

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at December 08, 2024 10:14 AM (dg+HA)

143 I haven't bought and read a lot of self-published books, as so many of them strongly needed an editor before they escaped out into the world. But I too read a lot of things published before 1990, not a few of them before I was born.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 08, 2024 10:03 AM (omVj0)

Of course there are self-published books, and then there are small publishers who publish books that would never escape the censorship of the big houses.

Obviously I'm talking more about non-fiction. In this world, I think it's more or less a waste of my time to try to read fiction. Opinions may vary on that point, but there's too much going on right now, and I don't need to read for entertainment. I need to read for understanding.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 08, 2024 10:14 AM (lH8E4)

144 Regarding writer's block: in my experience that happens when you know -- but have not yet admitted to yourself -- that there is a plot hole coming up that means you will have to go back and rewrite some stuff to fix.
Posted by: Trimegistus at December 08, 2024

***
On the macro level, yes. On the micro level, it may simply mean that you are trying to be too complex -- either in plot mechanics or sentence structure. If you step back and simplify either or both, it may go easier. Cut out a subplot you really don't need, or quit trying to write like someone else.

My own writing improved enormously when I realized you don't have to be poetic in every sentence. "Just tell what happened."

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 08, 2024 10:15 AM (omVj0)

145 No one actually reads GK Chesterton.
They just quote him.
Posted by: Quarter Twenty at December 08, 2024 10:14 AM (dg+HA)
---
It is hard to read some of his stuff and not reach for a pencil or highlighter, because he has so many fun turns of phrase.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 08, 2024 10:15 AM (ZOv7s)

146 Don't be surprised if ghat " polka " music with tuba isn't Mexica mariachi music

Posted by: Skip at December 08, 2024 10:15 AM (fwDg9)

147 I don't know if Karl May ever got west of the Mississippi -- Kindltot

Yes! We probably can't hold that against him, in the western lit tradition. Reference Holly Martins, the Joseph Cotten character in The Third Man? Zane Grey went west at 46. The American west "belongs to everyone," and a century of Germans felt very much at home in its myth.

Posted by: Way,Way Downriver at December 08, 2024 10:16 AM (zdLoL)

148 I can't stand most of the dreak that passes for modern fiction by woman. When searching for something to read I usually automatically eliminate anything by a woman or having initials. I know there is probably some fantastic stuff by women but I've been disappointed too many times to try something blindly.

Posted by: lin-duh at December 08, 2024 10:16 AM (VCgbV)

149 The Republic of Texas encouraged German immigration, as they were considered good fighters and excellent farmers. Thus, the German colonies in Central Texas which retain their heritage even now.

There were a few POW camps set up in these areas of Texas, and the German-speaking locals were recruited as guards so that they could listen in on the gossip of the prisoners, and possibly gain intelligence. Many of the prisoners came to love Texas, and simply stayed after the war was over.

If you're driving on I-35 north of Austin, look for the tiny town of Walburg. In this town, there is a magnificent German Restaurant where I have often stopped to get a fix of Soul Food...

Posted by: Brewingfrog at December 08, 2024 10:16 AM (xf7vq)

150 Anyway, it's early times. I'm only a few pages in.
Posted by: Bombadil

I can't wait to see what you have to say when you finish. I came away with such great admiration for Vance and couldn't wait for the election. This is not the kind of book that politicians write when they run for office. This is the true story of how Vance became the man that he became. How he emerged from an upbringing of total chaos a marine, a lawyer, a successful business man and now VP of the US.
The left is just pissed he's not a Democrat.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at December 08, 2024 10:17 AM (t/2Uw)

151 I'm looking forward to that essay about having a private study. I suspect it is going to fit in with my growing desire to have a setting suitable to writing and other creative efforts. A place filled with books and the means to express our thoughts is sadly lacking in current culture. Too many distractions as we bind ourselves ever more to electronic stuff and drown in the constant flood of unimportant, ephemeral, and unneeded information and opinions from self-proclaimed experts and other self-absorbed sources.

Give me a place of books, some comfortable furniture, a writing desk and a small area for drawing. I may not produce world-shaking results but at least I can enjoy things that matter.

Posted by: JTB at December 08, 2024 10:17 AM (yTvNw)

152 *but it also must have been recognized as folly at the time by cooler heads no one listened to.*
*
Now do Prohibition, Women In Combat, and Obamacare.
Posted by: Quarter Twenty at December 08, 2024

***
Oh, folly in human history sure didn't end with America losing Vietnam (the last segment of Tuchman's book).

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 08, 2024 10:17 AM (omVj0)

153 Changed my life.
Posted by: Quarter Twenty at December 08, 2024 10:00 AM (dg+HA)

Ah, you see, you being a Moron and all, I expected a site full of Brokeback Mountain-type stories, and you were being funny.

Curiosity naturally got the best of me, but I found that wildatheart.com is a florist website. Perhaps you meant

wildatheart.org

This looks to be an inspirational and motivational site, which I can see could change lives. I'll check it out.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at December 08, 2024 10:17 AM (OX9vb)

154 When searching for something to read I usually automatically eliminate anything by a woman or having initials. I know there is probably some fantastic stuff by women but I've been disappointed too many times to try something blindly.

P.D. James is a good one if you like literary-ish mysteries.

Posted by: grammie winger - cheesehead at December 08, 2024 10:17 AM (SfhV1)

155 Picked up a copy of Flashpoint by Suzanne Brockmann at the local Hooterville Library's sale shelf. It appeared to be a thriller or mystery novel, so I was willing to give it a whirl even though I had never heard of the author. The story line is indeed an action thriller and kept me on the edge of my seat. The main characters are former military-turned-operators for a private company whose client is an unnamed government agency. The mission is to go to Kazbekistan under cover of earthquake relief workers, gather information and extract a laptop left behind by a now-dead terrorist. The laptop may have information that could help the U.S. prevent a future attack. Good story line, lots of twists and turns, and the character development is good. The best way to describe this book is that it appears to have been co-written by Vince Flynn and Nora Roberts. Lots of romance sprinkled in with the thrilling story.

Posted by: Legally Sufficient at December 08, 2024 10:18 AM (rxCpr)

156 One caution about G.K. Chesterton: don't read a bunch of his short stories in a single sitting. His personal stylistic quirks, favorite dodges, and blind spots become very noticeable. Read them singly and they're delightful.

Same is true of O. Henry, by the way.

Posted by: Trimegistus at December 08, 2024 10:19 AM (78a2H)

157 Because no one wants to eat fajitas while listening to polka music.

Posted by: But you already knew that at December 08, 2024 10:19 AM (dg+HA)

158 @141 The author is Arthur Herman, which sounds not Scandinavian to me.

Some Normans just called in. I'm a "Prussian," Baltic shore, and I have a heartening percentage of Dane, Norwegian and Swedish genetics. Apparently "we Germans" got a lot of company there for a millennium or so. You have to think they weren't invited.

Posted by: Way,Way Downriver at December 08, 2024 10:20 AM (zdLoL)

159 For dinosaur nerds only. Most accurate T rex model.

https://is.gd/QiX6Qi

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Peppermint Mocha! at December 08, 2024 10:20 AM (L/fGl)

160 Slightly off topic, but I’m dang proud of Clemson.

Posted by: Eromero at December 08, 2024 10:20 AM (DXbAa)

161 I can't stand most of the dreak that passes for modern fiction by woman. When searching for something to read I usually automatically eliminate anything by a woman or having initials. I know there is probably some fantastic stuff by women but I've been disappointed too many times to try something blindly.
Posted by: lin-duh at December 08, 2024

***
The initials might mean it's a male author masquerading as female. That said, yes, I skip a lot of that stuff. The exceptions are few: Anne Tyler, Anne Rivers Siddons, Elizabeth Strout, and older authors like Josephine Tey, Agatha Christie, and Margery Allingham.

I'm coming to a new appreciation of Christie as a writer of character and human motives, even in her pure mysteries like the Poirots.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 08, 2024 10:21 AM (omVj0)

162 No one actually reads GK Chesterton.
They just quote him.

Posted by: Quarter Twenty

I read G. K. Chesterton once. I had no choice; I was on a plane.

Posted by: Bombadil at December 08, 2024 10:21 AM (MX0bI)

163
Perhaps you meant

wildatheart.org
---
Yes I did. Thanks for catching that.

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at December 08, 2024 10:23 AM (dg+HA)

164 I am re-reading again " The Complete Fenelon" or some title like that published by Paraclete Press. It has letters this French clergy person and spiritual advisor wrote to people, as well as reflections on church feasts and fasts. He was a very wise man.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at December 08, 2024 10:24 AM (7LqQZ)

165 121...Vance is harshly critical of a violent, dysfunctional white society descended from violent, dysfunctional Scots-Irish immigrants. It partakes of much of the same language as criticism of "black culture". Vance makes it clear that he cares about these people, but much of what he has to say about them isn't nice.

Posted by: Bombadil at December 08, 2024 10:04 AM (MX0bI)

This is why the lefty social worker crowd had accolades for the book when it was published. I'm sure they were busy trying to claw back any public mention of it once Vance joined up with Trump.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at December 08, 2024 10:24 AM (OX9vb)

166 When searching for something to read I usually automatically eliminate anything ...having initials...

Posted by: lin-duh at December 08, 2024 10:16 AM (VCgbV)

Well...I hope all except for that H D Woodard fellow.

He's pretty awesome!

Posted by: naturalfake at December 08, 2024 10:24 AM (iJfKG)

167 156 -- re: Chesterton's quirks etc becoming noticeable if you read him in quantity.

If memory serves, Lawrence Block once mentioned in an essay that he started noticing that sort of thing in Flannery O'Connor when he read a lot of her stories one after another. Can't recall if he made a similar comment about John O'Hara somewhere.

I wonder if that isn't the case for most writers.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at December 08, 2024 10:24 AM (q3u5l)

168 166 When searching for something to read I usually automatically eliminate anything ...having initials...

Posted by: lin-duh at December 08, 2024 10:16 AM (VCgbV)

Well...I hope all except for that H D Woodard fellow.

He's pretty awesome!
Posted by: naturalfake at December 08, 2024 10:24 AM (iJfKG
JD Vance.

Posted by: Eromero at December 08, 2024 10:25 AM (DXbAa)

169 128 ..."Chesterton is seeing a welcome revival, as is Belloc"

Good morning AH,

I've noticed the last few trips to the used book store that there is nothing by Chesterton, Belloc, George MacDonald and similar on the shelves. The staff said they seldom see people trading in those authors and the few books that come in are bought up quickly. Also, there are a lot of recent books, many from the last five years, serious ones, about their writings, published by major houses. They must see a chance for profit so I assume the interest is there. If so, that is a hopeful sign.

Posted by: JTB at December 08, 2024 10:26 AM (yTvNw)

170 he pursued a course of action clearly opposed to his own interest. That is Barbara's yardstick to measure folly: The path pursued must be not only contrary to the nation's or group's interest, but it also must have been recognized as folly at the time by cooler heads no one listened to.

-
Like the US' pursuit of woke.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Peppermint Mocha! at December 08, 2024 10:27 AM (L/fGl)

171 One caution about G.K. Chesterton: don't read a bunch of his short stories in a single sitting. His personal stylistic quirks, favorite dodges, and blind spots become very noticeable. Read them singly and they're delightful.

Same is true of O. Henry, by the way.
Posted by: Trimegistus at December 08, 2024 10:19 AM (78a2H)

Same with GKC's novels.

He works best as a sort of sorbet between the regular dishes of your reading feast.

Posted by: naturalfake at December 08, 2024 10:27 AM (iJfKG)

172 I read G. K. Chesterton once. I had no choice; I was on a plane.
Posted by: Bombadil

Once nonstop flights exceeded ten hours, I found I needed full length novels instead of short story collections as travel books.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at December 08, 2024 10:28 AM (gMjTi)

173 The US government essentially banned religious services in German around WWI. Foreign language newspapers for American native populations had to present a certified translation to postal inspectors for review before they could mail at second-class rates. A lot of German-origin families changed their names (including the Windsors, of course). Prohibition was spearheaded by its anti-German beer faction.

It was illegal to be a protestant in France, so some of our mouthier crusaders ought to find their pew and be seated.

Posted by: Way,Way Downriver at December 08, 2024 10:29 AM (zdLoL)

174 I need a book recommendation from the Roman Catholics here. I met a young male nurse- early 20's in the emergency center of the hospital. His family who are originally from Vietnam are very faithful RC's He seems disaffected from his faith although not angrily so. He said he was baptized and confirmed. He was very kind to me and good at his job. I am going to send him Fenelon, but he also said he is interested in Biblical criticism Does anyone have a suggestion from a RC writer that does that who is not too heavy a read? . Also, any suggestions along that line who was originally from Vietnam. I think even if he doesn't appreciate the books his parents might. Thanks so much.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at December 08, 2024 10:30 AM (yo6o0)

175 No one actually reads GK Chesterton.
They just quote him.
Posted by: Quarter Twenty at December 08, 2024 10:14 AM (dg+HA)

I'll cop to this; over a decade ago I bought a copy of Chesterson's "The Man Who Was Thursday" but never finished reading it. It just became too contrived/silly. But, looking back, it may not have been contrived enough...From what I remember of the plot, a cop (or someone similar) goes undercover to infiltrate an anarchist group. Along the way, multiple people in the group get outed as under-cover operatives, but not our guy. I quit because I started suspect the big reveal would be that the entire anarchist plot was nothing but undercover agents being under cover, and that seemed dumb and ridiculous. But after the past few years...

Posted by: Castle Guy at December 08, 2024 10:31 AM (Lhaco)

176 I'll check later. Time to get ready for church.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at December 08, 2024 10:31 AM (yo6o0)

177 I did some Christmas shopping at the local big box B&N yesterday, and I came away . . . saddened.

Expect a big contraction in the publishing biz next year. My take is that the publishers have all gone way too far in publishing nothing put woke drek, and the readers are going to respond by not buying it.

I don't think it's just my local store, maybe their manager is just too enthusiastic about racial guilt-mongering and queerness, but then so is every other bookstore manager. Not to mention the publishers themselves.

I think Trump's win will give some readers psychological permission to not buy the latest woke crap -- and I think the publishers and booksellers are crazy if they think they can stay afloat by pandering to the Lefties buying Lefty shit out of loyalty. Those idiots don't read books and they don't have any money either.

Posted by: Trimegistus at December 08, 2024 10:31 AM (78a2H)

178
*He works best as a sort of sorbet between the regular dishes of your reading feast.*

This. I recall reading The Man Who Was Thursday by Chesterton. Consumed it via audiobook. Enjoyed it but definitely needed a break afterwards.

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at December 08, 2024 10:32 AM (dg+HA)

179 No one actually reads GK Chesterton.
They just quote him.
Posted by: Quarter Twenty

Read all of his Father Brown mysteries on Gutenberg. So hang?

Posted by: weft cut-loop at December 08, 2024 10:34 AM (IG4Id)

180 he pursued a course of action clearly opposed to his own interest. That is Barbara's yardstick to measure folly: The path pursued must be not only contrary to the nation's or group's interest, but it also must have been recognized as folly at the time by cooler heads no one listened to.
-
Like the US' pursuit of woke.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Peppermint Mocha! at December 08, 2024

***
Perhaps someday a serious historian will be able to follow Tuchman and document follies like this, Obamacare, and even the Sniffle Scare.

Another point in her analysis is that the policy, to be true folly, must have been that of a committee or group, not a single ruler. She makes an exception for the Israelite king, Rehoboam (Solomon's son), who ended up with a revolt that split Israel into two kingdoms.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 08, 2024 10:35 AM (omVj0)

181 * I quit because I started suspect the big reveal would be that the entire anarchist plot was nothing but undercover agents being under cover, and that seemed dumb and ridiculous.*

Oh, no. It's much more than that. You've only gotten into the outer layer of the turducken.

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at December 08, 2024 10:36 AM (dg+HA)

182 156 One caution about G.K. Chesterton: don't read a bunch of his short stories in a single sitting. His personal stylistic quirks, favorite dodges, and blind spots become very noticeable. Read them singly and they're delightful.

Same is true of O. Henry, by the way.
Posted by: Trimegistus at December 08, 2024 10:19 AM (78a2H)

I feel the same way about Conan the Barbarian stories. Although for that character, its mostly just repetitiveness of tropes that you need to worry about.

Posted by: Castle Guy at December 08, 2024 10:37 AM (Lhaco)

183 That serial killer's murder van would be horribly effective. At least for me. Oh dear!

Posted by: JTB at December 08, 2024 10:39 AM (yTvNw)

184 I did some Christmas shopping at the local big box B&N yesterday, and I came away . . . saddened.

Expect a big contraction in the publishing biz next year. My take is that the publishers have all gone way too far in publishing nothing put woke drek, and the readers are going to respond by not buying it.

Posted by: Trimegistus

B&N has begun to let their local managers have a free hand in what they stock, so it may just be your local store. I went in a few weeks ago to my local store and was pleasantly surprised.

To be sure, there is still plenty of dreck to be found, and their literature section rarely contains any but the most recent book by any author, but in my area they are trying to meet the demand.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at December 08, 2024 10:39 AM (gMjTi)

185 I've heard too many people endorse the Father Brown series by GKC. It's past time I queued it up.

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at December 08, 2024 10:40 AM (dg+HA)

186 Continuing "Blacklisted by History: The Untold Story of Senator Joe McCarthy and His Fight Against America's Enemies is a 2007 book by author M. Stanton Evans"

Terrific Moron-recommened book. Very well documented. The smear of McCarthy by the Left seems to have been by the same playbook being used against Trump...maybe worse.

Also continuing 'Hunter's Horn', Arnow. If you have any feel for Appalachia, and I do, this is a book for you.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 08, 2024 10:40 AM (XeU6L)

187 Perhaps someday a serious historian will be able to follow Tuchman and document follies like this, Obamacare, and even the Sniffle Scare.

Another point in her analysis is that the policy, to be true folly, must have been that of a committee or group, not a single ruler. She makes an exception for the Israelite king, Rehoboam (Solomon's son), who ended up with a revolt that split Israel into two kingdoms.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 08, 2024 10:35 AM (omVj0)

Or, as I've said, the perpetual slaughter of people across the globe, for no reason other than the neocons get off on killing people and overthrowing regimes.

Makes our domestic follies look like child's play.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 08, 2024 10:41 AM (lH8E4)

188 It is entirely true that I live in one of the "bluest" parts of the country, so perhaps there is hope.

Posted by: Trimegistus at December 08, 2024 10:44 AM (78a2H)

189 Thats how thr okrana did it so did the cheka with the trust some suspect the algerians were in part run by french operativrs

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at December 08, 2024 10:45 AM (pGTZo)

190 To the remarks about not reading too much Chesterton at a time, I agree. But that isn't a problem since he opens up too many rabbit holes to go down and by the time I emerge I'm ready for more. It's sort of self-correcting.

Posted by: JTB at December 08, 2024 10:45 AM (yTvNw)

191 Situation Map of Syria
https://tinyurl.com/jcb6m6nb

Posted by: San Franpsycho at December 08, 2024 10:48 AM (RIvkX)

192 I've been on a Hammett tear lately, re-reading a collection of Continental Op stories, The Dain Curse, The Thin Man and The Glass Key. Maltese Falcon next.

That reminded me how weird it was to read The Glass Key for the first time, some months ago, and realize "wait, this is Miller's Crossing. The character names are not the same. The events are not the same. But still, this is Miller's Crossing." Turned out that was known, but I sure didn't know it.

Hammett is one of the best creators of memorable characters ever. The characters stick with you.

Posted by: Splunge at December 08, 2024 10:49 AM (hmKaK)

193 I think Silas Marner is the only book I read written by a woman.

Reminds me of the Get Smart exchange.

Max giving the password phrase: Who wrote Little Women ?

Agent: The Book or the Screenplay?

Max: There was a book?

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth. at December 08, 2024 10:49 AM (tK3Zm)

194 Lin-duh, J.K. Rowling writes her detective books under a male pseudonym ,Galbraith. They are terrific books, very well written and completely different from the Harry Potter books. Highly recommended.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at December 08, 2024 10:49 AM (t/2Uw)

195 Perhaps someday a serious historian will be able to follow Tuchman and document follies like this, Obamacare, and even the Sniffle Scare
------

Henry Hereford, as quoted by Tuchman, "Look...at the dangerous situation of those in their charge, and tremble!"

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 08, 2024 10:50 AM (XeU6L)

196 Vance was literally saved by his grandmother, who told him in no uncertain terms where he was headed if he didn't shape up. So yes, he does put some of the blame on those that found it easier to hang out and get stoned.

As for the outsourcing, it's done so brilliantly in the movie. It shows his grandparents coming to Ohio when first married, with overlaid bits of the scene ofhis childhood. The bustling factory is closed. You see the main street full of shops, now shuttered. He recognizes that too. But the main issue is the destruction of the family and how family can be what saves you.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at December 08, 2024 10:50 AM (NQtI0)

197 Okay, about to leave for Mass. Thanks again, Perfesser!

Don't forget Belloc in your reading. The Great Heresies has never been more relevant.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at December 08, 2024 10:52 AM (ZOv7s)

198 14 ... "As I do my annual reading of LOTR, I’m following along with “The Atlas of Middle Earth” by Karen Wynn Fonstad. The maps and her commentary add a nice mental picture to the story.
Having seen the movies a number of times, I try not to think of their scenes as I’m reading. I want my own imagination to take over and her atlas helps."

I've followed the maps during my annual rereading and they add to the enjoyment. As much as I enjoyed the LOTR movies I didn't want those images to 'taint' my thoughts as I read. I was pleased that didn't happen. Perhaps because I had read the books so many times before the movies came out, my imagination stayed in control.

Posted by: JTB at December 08, 2024 10:53 AM (yTvNw)

199
Hammett is one of the best creators of memorable characters ever. The characters stick with you.
Posted by: Splunge at December 08, 2024

***
And certain elements of his phrasing. As the Op tells a woman criminal, "You think I'm a man and you're a woman. That's wrong. I'm a hunter and you're just something that's been running in front of me."

It took me three tries to get what DH was doing in Maltese Falcon. The Thin Man is okay, though after the Powell/Loy movies I expected more funny dialog, and Glass Key is . . . odd.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 08, 2024 10:55 AM (omVj0)

200 Vance's biography is at the same level as the Clarence Thomas biography. The phrase ' Only in America ' could be applied to both.

Of course it was Thomas's grandparents who saved him too. Thus the title 'My Grandfather's Son' .

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth. at December 08, 2024 10:55 AM (tK3Zm)

201 When you finish Hillbilly Elegy, please read "The Most They Ever Had" by Rick Bragg. It's about the cotton mill his brother worked at and the impact of its closure. Rick Bragg is another that managed to escape his environment and one of the best writers I know. All Over But the Shoutin' is his story of his mom and how school saved him.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at December 08, 2024 10:56 AM (NQtI0)

202 55 So far I find him quite readable. Im not sure I'm ready to tackle his Book of the New Sun trilogy, though I do have the first in the series here from the ibrary.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 08, 2024 09:27 AM (omVj0)

There are five books in Book of the New Sun, though the last one is slightly more sequel than a fifth book of the story.

That series is one of my all-time favorites. There's nothing quite like it. It's pretty easy to get into, as long as you accept that you will encounter lots of things that you won't completely understand until much later.

Posted by: Splunge at December 08, 2024 10:56 AM (hmKaK)

203 I stopped reading the Roma Sub Rosa series by Stephen Saylor because I thought other tales of Ancient Rome were better and more accurate particularly regarding slavery. However, I have recently read several of the later novels including A Mist of Prophecy and The Throne of Caesar and am currently reading The Judgment of Caesar and am enjoying them. He seems to have improved with age and experience. The hero, Gordianus, has an incredible ability to be at historic events. For example, he was present at both the execution of Pompey and the smuggling of Cleopatra into Caesar's presence hidden in a rug.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Peppermint Mocha! at December 08, 2024 10:57 AM (L/fGl)

204 Whined up some cheddar scones, bacon and eggs

Posted by: San Franpsycho at December 08, 2024 10:58 AM (RIvkX)

205 Morning book folks.
AH Lloyd's book Long Live Death has forced me to realize a gap in my knowlege of America.
1914 through 1939.
A lot happened during that time that was important.
Right now I reading The Fall of the Ottomans by Eugene Rogan.
Brutallity is the theme. The Young Turks are on their extermination mission across the empire and it sort of rhymes with what is happening right now.

Posted by: Reforger at December 08, 2024 11:00 AM (xcIvR)

206 Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Peppermint Mocha! at December 08, 2024 10:57 AM (L/fGl)

If you like that genre of historic fiction I think there is nobody better than Steven Pressfield though he concentrated mostly on the Greek States.

Tides of War, Virtues of War, Gates of Fire, The Afghan Campaign are excellent.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth. at December 08, 2024 11:00 AM (tK3Zm)

207 35
'Muslims overthrow each other often only to have some other Muslim as a tyrant'

They throw out their bad tyrant hoping for a good tyrant.

What they get is someone who is good at being a tyrant.

Posted by: Dr. Claw at December 08, 2024 11:01 AM (3wi/L)

208 33 ... "This is why he would increasingly take refuge in Chartwell, which he renovated and partially built himself, and painted in the south of France or Spain as events turned against him.

it's a good life lesson about taking a break from things you can't control, resting, finding enjoyment and then returning to the fray."

Churchill's book "Painting as a Pastime" is all about this. And it is a delightful read. His account of his first attempt to paint is hilarious. The insights into the need for hobbies is spot on. (Make sure the edition doesn't just have the text but includes his actual paintings.)

Posted by: JTB at December 08, 2024 11:03 AM (yTvNw)

209 The overthrow was McCain's and Hillary's focus so that will automatically make one second guess the wisdom of doing it.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth. at December 08, 2024 11:04 AM (tK3Zm)

210 46
'Vampires of Michigan'

History of the democrat party in Michigan?

Posted by: Dr. Claw at December 08, 2024 11:04 AM (3wi/L)

211 They throw out their bad tyrant hoping for a good tyrant.

What they get is someone who is good at being a tyrant.
Posted by: Dr. Claw at December 08, 2024 11:01 AM (3wi/L)

The U.S. of A. overthrows the "bad" tyrant, using terrorists, hoping to get a "good" tyrant, only to have said terrorists biting the hands that fed them, and then we act like we have to go kill more terrorists (and civilians who support them).

Lather, rinse, repeat.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 08, 2024 11:06 AM (lH8E4)

212 Posted by: JTB at December 08, 2024 11:03 AM (yTvNw)

He was fortunate to have a a connection to some of the top painters of his era to give him some input. He actually painted along side one whose name I can't recall right now.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth. at December 08, 2024 11:07 AM (tK3Zm)

213 On Facebook a number of my acquaintances have been voicing dark suspicions about why "Mossad and the CIA" arranged Assad's ousting.

I don't care if Klaus Schwab and George Soros did it personally. Assad was shit and the world is better with him out of power.

This is a bad habit conservatives have gotten into: interpreting everything through the lens of an omnipotent Globalist Conspiracy.

Posted by: Trimegistus at December 08, 2024 11:09 AM (78a2H)

214 Lin-duh, J.K. Rowling writes her detective books under a male pseudonym ,Galbraith. They are terrific books, very well written and completely different from the Harry Potter books. Highly recommended.
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice)

Completely agree. Have read them all.

Posted by: Tuna at December 08, 2024 11:09 AM (oaGWv)

215 Time to load mags. Finally a range day so last comment.
I read another Spenser book by Robert Parker, Small Vices. It was a terrific read, like watching a movie. It is one of the most dramatic in the series so far with the mostly Devil May care Spenser in some real trouble. It seems every book so far gets better and better.
Have a great day all.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at December 08, 2024 11:10 AM (t/2Uw)

216 Lin-duh, J.K. Rowling writes her detective books under a male pseudonym ,Galbraith. They are terrific books, very well written and completely different from the Harry Potter books. Highly recommended.
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice)

Completely agree. Have read them all.
Posted by: Tuna at December 08, 2024 11:09 AM (oaGWv)
-------------
Appreciate the recommendation and just borrowed the first one from my local library, kindle version.

Posted by: Huck Follywood at December 08, 2024 11:12 AM (Er4RC)

217 Finished reading Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage last night, probably on a recommendation from somebody here.

Thanks; awesome book.

Posted by: DavidD at December 08, 2024 11:13 AM (MSTeU)

218 On Facebook a number of my acquaintances have been voicing dark suspicions about why "Mossad and the CIA" arranged Assad's ousting.
=====

Whack-a-doodle.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at December 08, 2024 11:13 AM (RIvkX)

219 I've read Tides of War and quite liked it.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Peppermint Mocha! at December 08, 2024 11:14 AM (L/fGl)

220 Also of note I have traced down what I think is the first fighter aircraft with it's guns IN the wings.
The PZL 11. Polish plane.

Posted by: Reforger at December 08, 2024 11:14 AM (xcIvR)

221 *sigh* Late to the party, since we slept in today, after an exhausting Saturday at Christmas on the Square, in Goliad. (Where Santa arrives riding on a Texas long-horn...) There's been a book event I've been participating in for 15 years now. The big sellers for me yesterday, BTW were three volumes of short stories re-working the Lone Ranger; just racked back 40 years to the time of the Republic of Texas, and historically accurate. Old-fashioned traditional western stories, and have been a big hit with male readers on that account.
For myself, working through my own bookshelves - now on a mystery police-procedural series about a Ft. Worth detective sleuth, Deb Ralston, by Lee Martin.
Thanks to the Horde, I found a copy of the YA novel that my mother loved, and was lost in the fire that took out their retirement home in 2003. I couldn't remember the title or author - just bits of plot, and character names - but that was enough! The Singing Cave, by Margaret Leighton.

Posted by: Sgt. Mom at December 08, 2024 11:15 AM (Ew3fm)

222 J.K. Rowling writes her detective books under a male pseudonym ,Galbraith. They are terrific books, very well written and completely different from the Harry Potter books. Highly recommended.
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice)

I also like Tana French. Her Dublin Murder Squad books feature a different detective in each book. They don't have to be read in order, because they don't happen chronologically. I have re-read some of these, as they are interesting enough, and sometimes I'll read one and realize that character was a minor character in a previous book. So, then I go re-read that one.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at December 08, 2024 11:15 AM (OX9vb)

223 Thanks, Perfessor, for another interesting book thread.

Last week, I listened to a Dark Horse podcast discussion with Nathan Jones, a manufacturer of xyletol based products. Nathan's father, Lon Jones, is a physician who reports xyletol nasal spray reduced the number of ear infections in children. This type of thing interests me so I bought Dr. Jones book Common Sense Medicine: Making America Healthy Again for the Kindle, I found it to be rambling and more about politics than health care and regret wasting my time and $2.99.

On a happier note, I had started Brideshead Revisited over the summer and couldn't get into it. I picked it up again a few days ago and, though I'm not that far in, am liking it much better. We'll see...

Posted by: KatieFloyd at December 08, 2024 11:16 AM (/e162)

224 For forty years I've had Georges Simenon on my vague list, and now I'm into reading through his stuff. And it's great. If you like Chandler and Dash, Simenon is the place to go. It's far bleaker than either.

Posted by: John Skaife at December 08, 2024 11:16 AM (uTRIu)

225 >>Finished reading Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage last night, probably on a recommendation from somebody here.

Thanks; awesome book.
Posted by: DavidD at December 08, 2024 11:13 AM (MSTeU)
*******
I saw a brief discussion of that book posted here maybe yesterday. I now have it on my list of books to be ordered.

Posted by: Rufus T. Firefly at December 08, 2024 11:17 AM (1JHoW)

226 Pizarro had little problem finding local allies. It's rather difficult to build an empire without disgruntled a few of the neighbors.

Posted by: tankdemon at December 08, 2024 11:18 AM (u1pB2)

227 Pizarro did have the advantage of arriving just after a bloody civil war, though. Cortez had to start his own.

Posted by: Trimegistus at December 08, 2024 11:19 AM (78a2H)

228 This is a bad habit conservatives have gotten into: interpreting everything through the lens of an omnipotent Globalist Conspiracy.
Posted by: Trimegistus at December 08, 2024 11:09 AM (78a2H)

Meanwhile, when Trump ordered troops out of Syria, war criminal Mark Espar bragged about lying to Trump, and leaving them there.

The globalists do what they do, but the U.S. of A., and our neocon overlords create and sustain perpetual war. Whether that serves the interests of Klaus Schwab or not, I don't know, but it sure serves the interests of Barak Obama, George Bush, Dick Cheney, Torrie Nuland, and all their sycophantic spokesfags in the so-called conservative media.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 08, 2024 11:19 AM (lH8E4)

229 61 ... "Down to just a 100 or so pages of Washington Irvings's Sketches and Tales. I'm growing fond of the old codger."

This reminds me, there are several books that deserve to be reread for Christmas even if not every year. The Christmas stories from Washington Irving, certainly. Tolkien's The Father Christmas Letters, definitely. The Golden Christmas: A Tale of Lowcountry Life by William Gilmore Simms. (Any of Simms' books are worth reading.) Dickens, of course, although the book A Christmas Carol tends to get buried under all the movie versions.

I'm sure there are others but that's all that comes to mind at the moment.

Posted by: JTB at December 08, 2024 11:20 AM (yTvNw)

230 Posted by: Trimegistus at December 08, 2024 11:09 AM (78a2H)

The Shah was bad as was Bakr before the Ayatollah and Saddam took over.

I don't think anyone has any sympathy for Assad but just pointing out that that there is no guarantee that what comes next is going to be better. The Devil you know kind of thinking.

Admittedly I think it will be worse because they are Islamists but what we do know for sure is Assad was bad . You get rid of bad if you can and deal with the unknowns when they become known.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth. at December 08, 2024 11:20 AM (tK3Zm)

231 On Facebook a number of my acquaintances have been voicing dark suspicions about why "Mossad and the CIA" arranged Assad's ousting.
=====

Whack-a-doodle.
Posted by: San Franpsycho at December 08, 2024 11:13 AM (RIvkX)

The CIA overthrows governments?

That's crazy talk!

Posted by: BurtTC at December 08, 2024 11:20 AM (lH8E4)

232 On Facebook a number of my acquaintances have been voicing dark suspicions about why "Mossad and the CIA" arranged Assad's ousting.

I don't care if Klaus Schwab and George Soros did it personally. Assad was shit and the world is better with him out of power.

This is a bad habit conservatives have gotten into: interpreting everything through the lens of an omnipotent Globalist Conspiracy.
Posted by: Trimegistus .

Ahh, was I ever so young? I used to believe the Syrians, like everybody, yearned to breathe free but now I believe the Syrians want a brutal dictatorship although there is some disagreement over who should be top dog.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Peppermint Mocha! at December 08, 2024 11:21 AM (L/fGl)

233
I don't know if Karl May ever got west of the Mississippi, but he is The Western Author for German.
Posted by: Kindltot at December 08, 2024 10:03 AM (D7oie)

_______

I don't think Karl May ever got to America, let alone the West.

Know who was a big fan of his?

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at December 08, 2024 11:22 AM (dxSpM)

234 Admittedly I think it will be worse because they are Islamists but what we do know for sure is Assad was bad . You get rid of bad if you can and deal with the unknowns when they become known.
Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth. at December 08, 2024 11:20 AM (tK3Zm)

But the Islamists who were the main fighting force, who used to be called Al Queda, eventually changed their name, putting the word "democratic" in there, so they're the good guys now, you guys.

They love our democracy.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 08, 2024 11:22 AM (lH8E4)

235 I don't really care that much about the Syrians. Assad was a sonofabitch, and, worse, he wasn't OUR sonofabitch.

Posted by: Trimegistus at December 08, 2024 11:23 AM (78a2H)

236 Hillbilly Elegy was made into a movie as well, and despite me being nearly contemporary news viewing embargoed, it is my understanding this was directed by Ron Howard.

I have to wonder how he “feels” about that now? He’s a lefty in reasonably good standing, though maybe not now. Did he issue a Communique denouncing himself and all his works, or?

Posted by: Common Tater at December 08, 2024 11:23 AM (1meqy)

237 Ahh, was I ever so young? I used to believe the Syrians, like everybody, yearned to breathe free but now I believe the Syrians want a brutal dictatorship although there is some disagreement over who should be top dog.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Peppermint Mocha! at December 08, 2024 11:21 AM (L/fGl)

I used to think Canadians wanted to be free. I used to think the french did, the Brits did, the Aussies did...

Hell, damn near half the U.S. of A. don't seem to want freedom.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 08, 2024 11:25 AM (lH8E4)

238 worse, he wasn't OUR sonofabitch.
Posted by: Trimegistus at December 08, 2024 11:23 AM (78a2H)

That sums it up

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth. at December 08, 2024 11:25 AM (tK3Zm)

239 Simenon is terrific. I've still not psyched myself up to dive into the Maigrets (a 70-some book series, and I've been trying to avoid starting series these days, but I'll have to jump in soon anyway), but his stand-alones are wonderful. Monsieur Monde Vanishes, The Cat, The Man on the Bench in the Barn (aka The Hand), The Train... and on and on. The man was a marvel. And he was doing these books in a couple of weeks each.

There's a story about Hitchcock phoning Simenon and being told that Simenon was working on a novel and couldn't be disturbed. To which Hitchcock said, "I'll wait."

Posted by: Just Some Guy at December 08, 2024 11:25 AM (q3u5l)

240 I don't really care that much about the Syrians. Assad was a sonofabitch, and, worse, he wasn't OUR sonofabitch.
Posted by: Trimegistus at December 08, 2024 11:23 AM (78a2H)

You're right, he wasn't ours.

So let's kill hundreds of thousands of Syrians so we can stick it to Pootin.

Because we're the good guys.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 08, 2024 11:26 AM (lH8E4)

241 I don't know if Karl May ever got west of the Mississippi, but he is The Western Author for German.
Posted by: Kindltot

One of Big Adolph's favorite authors.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Now With Peppermint Mocha! at December 08, 2024 11:27 AM (L/fGl)

242 NO BOOKS FOR MEN?

It's obtuse to state that there isn't a significant difference in the publications of today as opposed to those of 30+ years ago in terms of focus. The publications have shifted significantly and any intimation otherwise is just willfully stupid.

Posted by: weft cut-loop at December 08, 2024 11:27 AM (IG4Id)

243 worse, he wasn't OUR sonofabitch.
Posted by: Trimegistus at December 08, 2024 11:23 AM (78a2H)

That sums it up
Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth. at December 08, 2024 11:25 AM (tK3Zm)

Imagine a world where the U.S. of A. just let people around the globe manage their affairs without our meddling.

What a world...

Posted by: BurtTC at December 08, 2024 11:28 AM (lH8E4)

244 Imagine a world where the U.S. of A. just let people around the globe manage their affairs without our meddling.

What a world...
Posted by: BurtTC at December 08, 2024 11:28 AM (lH8E4)
‘United’ Nations, my ass.

Posted by: Eromero at December 08, 2024 11:29 AM (DXbAa)

245 There's been a book event I've been participating in for 15 years now. The big sellers for me yesterday, BTW were three volumes of short stories re-working the Lone Ranger; just racked back 40 years to the time of the Republic of Texas, and historically accurate. Old-fashioned traditional western stories, and have been a big hit with male readers on that account. . . .

Posted by: Sgt. Mom at December 08, 2024

***
Sgt. Mom, these LR stories are yours? Can you post the titles?

***

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 08, 2024 11:30 AM (omVj0)

246 Burt: how many Syrians have you killed today? I haven't done any myself. They seem to be doing it well enough themselves.

That's what I mean: this is a Syrian civil war. They'd be shooting each other anyway. Why not get rid of the side that's a proxy for your enemies?

Posted by: Trimegistus at December 08, 2024 11:30 AM (78a2H)

247 The US government was actually paying penalty royalties to a German firearms manufacturer during or around World War I. Patent enforcement was still a thing, and everybody agreed somebody stole the Mauser bolt design.

After World War II the US and the Soviets stole everything that wasn’t nailed down, and quite a lot that was. This was considered “Intellectual Reparations” or something like that. Interesting evolution of thought. Definitely gave the US a big boost in a lot of technical fields. Trauma based conditioning brain washing, seems to be the lasting legacy.

Posted by: Common Tater at December 08, 2024 11:30 AM (1meqy)

248
The US government was actually paying penalty royalties to a German firearms manufacturer during or around World War I.

_______

Vickers paid Krupp a good amount after WWI for using their fuse design.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at December 08, 2024 11:33 AM (dxSpM)

249 Burt: how many Syrians have you killed today? I haven't done any myself. They seem to be doing it well enough themselves.

That's what I mean: this is a Syrian civil war. They'd be shooting each other anyway. Why not get rid of the side that's a proxy for your enemies?
Posted by: Trimegistus at December 08, 2024 11:30 AM (78a2H)

Bullshit. Either you're naive or you're lying.

Your tax dollars are funding this "civil war." Don't pretend it isn't. You are funding terrorists... these VERY same groups are on OUR terrorist watch lists.

You are funding it. Take some personal responsibility, or lie to yourself.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 08, 2024 11:33 AM (lH8E4)

250 I'm no isolationist and believe it's in our interest as a country to get involved at times but those times have become ubiquitous and without real national interest.

USA used to be Daniel Penny and now we're the over aggressive bar bouncer.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth. at December 08, 2024 11:33 AM (tK3Zm)

251 it is my understanding this was directed by Ron Howard.

I have to wonder how he “feels” about that now? He’s a lefty in reasonably good standing, though maybe not now. Did he issue a Communique denouncing himself and all his works, or?

Posted by: Common Tater at December 08, 2024 11:23 AM (1meqy)

He said he didn't know Vance's politics at the time. He just thought it was a good story.

Posted by: grammie winger - cheesehead at December 08, 2024 11:34 AM (SfhV1)

252 Hell, damn near half the U.S. of A. don't seem to want freedom.
Posted by: BurtTC at December 08, 2024 11:25 AM (lH8E4)

They don't want freedom, or they don't want your definition of freedom?

This is an important distinction.

Posted by: Kindltot at December 08, 2024 11:34 AM (D7oie)

253 Karl May was just about everybody’s favorite author most likely?

I wondered if Uncle Adolf drank Hefe Weissen. I figure he almost had to. I like it too, and have somehow managed to keep the stain of fascism and socialism away from my soul.

Mex Beer and the Krauts - Pacifico tastes more like Budweiser than Budweiser. At least they aren’t phoning it in.

Posted by: Common Tater at December 08, 2024 11:35 AM (1meqy)

254 90 ... "There is a ton of polka music in Texas, especially at construction sites. Texas is very German."

Sgt. Mom (Celia Hayes) did the Adelsverein trilogy about German immigrants in Texas in the 1800s. Definitely worth the read.

Posted by: JTB at December 08, 2024 11:35 AM (yTvNw)

255 Sweet Land is a good movie about a mail order German bride going to a Minnesota Scandinavian farming community .

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth. at December 08, 2024 11:38 AM (tK3Zm)

256 Well, I suppose it's time to go face reality or what passes for it these days.

Thanks for the thread, Perfessor. Always a pleasure.

Have a good one, gang.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at December 08, 2024 11:40 AM (q3u5l)

257 “Isolationist” is a specific coined term.

You might want to consider “Non-Interventionist”. The former is almost always used as a qualifier for automatically bad things, when America does not “provide leadership” and blah blah blah.

We have to get involved in pointless, financially ruinous stupid wars with no compelling interest nor articulable reason and no clear objectives or stated goals other than nebulous word salad boilerplate BS because “that’s not who we are” etc.

Posted by: Common Tater at December 08, 2024 11:41 AM (1meqy)

258 103 ... "Also reading parts of Undaunted Courage to my snow/bound parents (over the phone). They seem to love it."

Have they read the actual Lewis and Clark journals from their trek? Fascinating stuff for folks who enjoy contemporary accounts.

Posted by: JTB at December 08, 2024 11:45 AM (yTvNw)

259 I used to think Canadians wanted to be free. I used to think the french did, the Brits did, the Aussies did...

Hell, damn near half the U.S. of A. don't seem to want freedom.
Posted by: BurtTC at December 08, 2024 11:25 AM (lH8E4)

Agree. The pattern is there for all to see. It makes one wonder if it's perhaps a thousand-year cycle that goes through barbarism to free republics and then around again.

Posted by: Dr Pork Chops & Bacons at December 08, 2024 11:45 AM (g8Ew8)

260 "Hammett is one of the best creators of memorable characters ever. The characters stick with you."

Speaking of created characters, I now have a grand offspring named Dashiell.
He'll go through life being known as "Dash ."

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at December 08, 2024 11:47 AM (dg+HA)

261
Speaking of created characters, I now have a grand offspring named Dashiell.
He'll go through life being known as "Dash ."
Posted by: Quarter Twenty at December 08, 2024

***
"Dashiell" was one of the three pre-cogs in Minority Report, and one was "Agatha." Can't recall the third.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 08, 2024 11:49 AM (omVj0)

262 Morning Hordemates.
Jeez those ONTers were a tough bunch last night.

Posted by: Diogenes at December 08, 2024 11:50 AM (W/lyH)

263 "Dashiell" was one of the three pre-cogs in Minority Report, and one was "Agatha." Can't recall the third.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 08, 2024

***
The third was "Arthur."

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 08, 2024 11:51 AM (omVj0)

264 I've read that guilty pleasure. It wasn't bad.

Posted by: Diogenes at December 08, 2024 11:51 AM (W/lyH)

265 I have a big black Stirling cat on my lap, or part of it, and a little gray Dagny next to us on the couch. Hate to move them, but I have some chores to do, and that nap isn't going to take itself.

Thanks once again for a fine book thread, Perfessor, and all of you!

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at December 08, 2024 11:52 AM (omVj0)

266 Zoom book club recently read Snowcrash - it was my suggestion. I read it in the 90s when it first came out. I thought it was fantastic.

Rereading it it doesn't hold up. And there are bits of it that peg the book squarely in 1992 when it was being written.

Posted by: blaster at December 08, 2024 11:52 AM (QfvaV)

267 Machiavelli and the Emergence of a Private Study. It's an interesting examination of the role the study has played in life.

Huh.
Maybe that's what I've been doing wrong. I've been calling it my den. I'm gonna start calling it my study and see what happens.

Posted by: Diogenes at December 08, 2024 11:55 AM (W/lyH)

268 Posted by: Common Tater at December 08, 2024 11:41 AM (1meqy)

And then there are those that think nothing meets the definition of national interest, blah blah blah.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth. at December 08, 2024 11:55 AM (tK3Zm)

269 Zoom book club recently read Snowcrash - it was my suggestion. I read it in the 90s when it first came out. I thought it was fantastic.

Rereading it it doesn't hold up. And there are bits of it that peg the book squarely in 1992 when it was being written.
Posted by: blaster at December 08, 2024 11:52 AM (QfvaV)

It seems strange sometimes watching movies that pre-date the internet and cell phones.

Posted by: Dr Pork Chops & Bacons at December 08, 2024 11:56 AM (g8Ew8)

270 Morning Hordemates.
Jeez those ONTers were a tough bunch last night.
Posted by: Diogenes at December 08, 2024 11:50 AM (W/lyH)

Have you read the Legend of Bagger Vance ?

I thought of you as a golfer and military guy it could be one of your favorites.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth. at December 08, 2024 11:59 AM (tK3Zm)

271 WE HAZ A NOOD

Posted by: Skip at December 08, 2024 12:01 PM (fwDg9)

272 A great book for men is W. H. B. Smith's "Small Arms of the World", in particular the early 60s editions (still had nations broken down into current and WW2). Mom and Dad got me a copy about Christmas number 12 or 13. Kid still has it.

Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at December 08, 2024 12:03 PM (gm9Sb)

273 "Burning one's ships as a political statement is hardcore, especially when all you have is 167 men against millions of indigenous people, most of whom will be rather annoyed when you try to conquer them. The numbers game alone should have seen Pizarro slaughtered in short order."

John W. Campbell, Jr. was a pot-stirrer both by nature and as a way of getting Science Fiction writers to expand the genre. He would do this through his discussions with writers about their submissions to Astounding/Analog and through writing some very provocative articles and editorials for the magazine; it's principally those editorials and articles, BTW, that have resulted in his cancellation or near cancellation by todays woke sci-fi mafia.

Sometime in the later 60s or early 70s (60s I think), Campbell wrote an Analog editorial or article on supermen in history, with Pizarro as his illustration of an historical character who accomplished the near impossible through drive and strength of will. Anyway, most or all of his articles and editorials are available in issues of Astounding/Analog at the Internet Archive, and are worth a look for the curious.

Posted by: Pope John 20th at December 08, 2024 12:06 PM (uk4V/)

274 Morning Hordemates.
Jeez those ONTers were a tough bunch last night.
Posted by: Diogenes at December 08, 2024 11:50 AM (W/lyH)

Reckon I missed out. Gonna go downstairs to peruse.

Posted by: Pug Mahon, Pledge in a Beanie at December 08, 2024 12:07 PM (Ad8y9)

275 243 'Imagine a world where the U.S. of A. just let people around the globe manage their affairs without our meddling.'

I don't want the US to meddle because I think it will blow up and help the democrats (the vile Obama would have been impossible otherwise).
You seem to think the US is uniquely bad. I don't agree. I think we're the best among the group of powerful nations but the whole set of meddlers should cut it out.

Posted by: Dr. Claw at December 08, 2024 12:09 PM (3wi/L)

276
I thought that it was Cortez who burned his ships in Mexico, not Pizarro in Peru.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at December 08, 2024 12:09 PM (xG4kz)

277 Wulfus A. - the three Lone Star books are Lone Star Sons, Lone Star Glory, and Lone Star Blood. Each is five or six stories about Texas Ranger James Reade, and his Delaware Indian blood brother Toby Shaw; they are part of a kind of Republic of Texas secret service, solving mysteries and finding lost people or objects.
I wrote them for teen and tween boys, but it seems that readers who adore old-fashioned westerns love them, too.

Posted by: Sgt. Mom at December 08, 2024 12:40 PM (Ew3fm)

278 "I don't know if Karl May ever got west of the Mississippi, but he is The Western Author for German."

May visited America, but my understanding is that he never got further west than western New York State. There was a joke that the only Buffalo Karl May ever saw was Buffalo New York.

BTW, some May westerns were filmed starring Stewart Granger and Lex Barker.

Posted by: Pope John 20th at December 08, 2024 12:43 PM (uk4V/)

279 When you finish Hillbilly Elegy, please read "The Most They Ever Had" by Rick Bragg.

Posted by: Notsothoreau

Copy that.

Posted by: Bombadil at December 08, 2024 01:29 PM (MX0bI)

280 @193 --

I had that exchange with a Millennial, except the subject was James Bond.

You should have heard him blurt, "There were BOOKS?!"

Posted by: Weak Geek, fifth-generation German descendant at December 08, 2024 01:49 PM (p/isN)

281 158 @141 The author is Arthur Herman, which sounds not Scandinavian to me.

Some Normans just called in. I'm a "Prussian," Baltic shore, and I have a heartening percentage of Dane, Norwegian and Swedish genetics. Apparently "we Germans" got a lot of company there for a millennium or so. You have to think they weren't invited.
Posted by: Way,Way Downriver at December 08, 2024 10:20 AM (zdLoL)

Currently reading “The Vikings: A History” by Robert Ferguson. There were several different tribes of “Vikings” (excluding the NFL). The different tribes came from different areas of Scandinavia and invaded/conquered different areas of Northern Europe, Ireland, and the British Isles. This makes sense if you look at the sea lanes. The Vikings also used the rivers to pillage and trade with the interior of Europe. For example, Paris was under seize by Vikings for several decades.

Posted by: March Hare at December 08, 2024 02:13 PM (jfX+U)

282 Just in case nobody else has pointed it out, it looks like the professor only reads male authors! Hrumph!

Posted by: BonniebBue at December 08, 2024 02:14 PM (YJwcN)

283 *Paris was under siege” .

Posted by: March Hare at December 08, 2024 02:14 PM (jfX+U)

284 I probably read mostly female authors unless I'm reading nonfiction, which is mostly what I read. My favorite male authors for fiction were Orson Scott Card and Louis L'Amour, But that was years ago.

That said, my favorite female nonfiction writer is Andrea Wulf.

Posted by: BonniebBue at December 08, 2024 02:20 PM (YJwcN)

285 Essential companions to The Stainless Steel Rat are Wasp and Next of Kin by Eric Frank Russell!

(Apology if the wiki links don't work, this is my very first comment on Ace's blog, although I've lurked for a long time.

Posted by: Bruce of Newcastle at December 08, 2024 08:45 PM (qCYy4)

286 Bruce --

Allow me to say welcome!

Posted by: Weak Geek at December 08, 2024 09:45 PM (p/isN)

287 Wolfus 265
I have a big black Stirling cat on my lap, or part of it.....? Inquiring minds want to know the rest of this bon mot and the dark secrets lying behind it.

Posted by: Diana Pool at December 09, 2024 07:27 AM (kpW5X)

288 https://stanproperty.com/land/

Very nice blog post. I absolutely love this website. Thanks!

Posted by: durian land for sale at December 09, 2024 03:32 PM (8F/+s)

289 I every time used to study piece of writing in news papers but now as I am a user of web therefore from now I
am using net for posts, thanks to web.

Posted by: LIL.SO Premium Short URL at December 10, 2024 08:30 AM (R6i90)

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