Sunday Morning Book Thread 05-22-2016: Rust Never Sleeps [OregonMuse]

Another Defunct Bookstore

This charming little place was Martha's Bookstore on Balboa Island, Newport Beach, CA, which is now closed. That's the bad news. The good news is that it is now the site of Island Tales Bookshop, a bookstore specializing in children's books.

Good morning to all of you morons and moronettes and bartenders everywhere and all the ships at sea. Welcome to AoSHQ's stately, prestigious, internationally acclaimed and high-class Sunday Morning Book Thread, where men are men, all the 'ettes are lovely, space isn't safe, and snowflakes will melt. The Sunday Morning Book Thread is the only AoSHQ thread that is so hoity-toity, pants are required. And if you self-identify as a carrot, it doesn't matter what the Obama DoJ says, you still can't go sneaking into the other bin and molest the celery.

It Never Stops

This one has been sitting in my "to do" list fo a couple of weeks, now. About time I got to it:

278 The left churned out another Hiss is innocent book called American Dreyfuss. The premise was that Hiss set him up. LOL

The author was 20 y/o, living with her 52 y/o fiance who also "dated" her mom, when Alger Hiss showed up for dinner. This was 1960 after he got out of the joint. I cant believe she wrote this crap. Joan Brady is her name. Im amazed she found a publisher. No doubt she will be invited to speak and appear at functions and maybe money can be made that way but who but a small group of people thing Alger is still innocent?

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at May 11, 2016 10:00 AM (iQIUe)

I think BWaW! perhaps meant that Nixon set him up. Because I couldn't find any book called "American Dreyfuss" on Amazon, but I did find Alger Hiss: Framed: A New Look at the Case That Made Nixon Famous by Joan Brady, so this is most likely the one BWaW! is referring to. The release date is January 2017, and there's no "Look Inside" link, so I don't have anything to go by other than the Amazon blurb.

Get a load of this:

In this riveting investigation, Joan Brady—winner of The Whitbread Book of the Year—reveals how Nixon manipulated a media and public in the thrall of post-war anti-communist hysteria to make a fabricated case against Hiss...Brady has pored over newly available KGB files and makes a powerful argument that previously presented KGB documents bearing Hiss's signature were forgeries. With this new revelation, the corruption of President Nixon and his legacy comes into greater relief. Alger Hiss is necessary and timely, telling soberly the tale of a nation in the grip of paranoid fear and the man who took most advantage of this fear.

Oh my. This is such a target-rich environment, I scarcely know where to begin. I guess I can start out by observing that progressive scholarship really isn't scholarship in the traditional sense of the word, by which I mean the production and subsequent increase of human knowledge and, indirectly, the distribution of its benefits. Instead, progressive scholarship is simply progressives fleshing out and expanding upon the various bullshit narratives they've invented. Now, one very strong, and at this point, venerable, bullshit narrative is the "evil Richard Nixon" theme wherein Nixon is basically a stand-in for Satan. Even atheists have to have a devil, and Nixon is theirs. Now, you young-uns wouldn't believe the depths of the spittle-flecked madness that Nixon drove the left into back in the day. You've all seen Palin Derangement Syndrome, Bush Derangement Syndrome, and some of you older morons remember Reagan Derangement Syndrome, but I'm telling you that these were mere candles in the wind compared to the roaring conflagration that was Nixon Derangement Syndrome. Every evil or misfortune that occurred in the world was attributed to something Dick Nixon did, or didn't do, or said, or didn't say. It was absolutely insane. Yet it became just another tool in the progressive toolbox. Another day, another Nixon perfidy.

Another bullshit narrative is the much-used "anti-communism is delusional" dead horse that progressives have been flogging for decades. The problem is, they don't usually attempt to set forth a positive case for progressive beliefs, i.e. write hagiographies of Mao ZeDong and the glories of his Five-Year Plans, but rather, it's all attack, attack, attack, and kill the messenger: when an actual scholar does actual work, such as Chinese author Jung Chang did with her biography Mao: The Unknown Story, which was not favorable towards him, then suddenly a bunch of Maoist nincompoops will come crawling up out of the drains like sewer rats, squealing and twitching their whiskers in righteous fury at the woman who dared cast aspersions on their god. Some of the 1-star reviews of Chang's book bear this out.

The novelty of Brady's new book on Hiss is that it looks like it takes the "evil Richard Nixon" bullshit narrative and combines it with the "anti-communism is delusional" bullshit narrative, mixes them together and the resulting brew is even more intoxicating, like whiskey to a thirsty Irishman. I predict that when this book is released, the reviews from left-wing media such as the Guardian, Salon, and the HuffPo will be snake-handling levels of ecstatic. The right has pretty much fought the left to a standstill on the Hiss case for a number of years now, since the publication of Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case, written by left-wing author Allen Weinstein, who investigated the Hiss case with the intent of finding the reasons why Hiss was innocent, reasons he knew had to be there, but instead discovering that he was guilty as charged. With that, conservatives have pretty much moved on, but the left never does, never moves on, never sleeps, and is corrosive as rust. Brady's new book will be potent balm to salve their wounded souls. With the combining of the two bullshit narratives, I can hear the Guardian reviewer cry out with joy, "Hallelujah! Finally, after all these years, it now all makes sense."

Nixon did it! Yeah!

And with that, their ignorance will be nigh impregnable.

Walking the Walk

When last we heard from J K Rowling, author of the Harry Potter novels, she was saying that Donald Trump was 'worse than Voldemort.' And this after it was pointed out to her that, unlike Voldemort, Trump has never actually, you know, *killed* anyone.

So yeah, she's a dumbass.

On the other hand, earlier this week, she gave a speech in New York where she made it clear that she strongly disagreed with the recent petition circulating in the U.K. seeking to have Trump banned from entering the country:

"Just a moment," a smiling Rowling said. "Now, I find almost everything that Mr. Trump says objectionable. I consider him offensive and bigoted. But he has my full support to come to my country and be offensive and bigoted there."

And then she followed it up with:

"His freedom to speak protects my freedom to call him a bigot," Rowling continued. "His freedom guarantees mine. Unless we take that absolute position, without caveats or apologies, we have set foot upon a road with only one destination. If you seek the removal of freedoms from an opponent simply on the grounds that they have offended you, you have crossed a line to stand alongside tyrants who imprison, torture and kill on exactly the same justification."

I called her a dumbass, but this full-throated defense of free speech puts her way ahead of any number of academic types and college presidents in this country. If she thinks Trump is a dumbass but she does not want to restrict his speech, and I think J K Rowling is a dumbass but I do not want to restrict her speech, then it all works out for everybody.

Not Quite A Recommendation

A lurking 'ette read Mutiny In Space, as the author, Rod Walker, is being touted as a successor to Robert Heinlein. After reading it on the recommendation of Instapundit, she decided she prefers Heinlein:

For one thing I didn't really like Nicolai, the protagonist. Heinlein's kids were all likeable...Rovio, Nick's uncle lays out real life truths for Nick, but unlike the many father characters written by Heinlein there is no real warmth in his character.

There's no banter, no wisecracks, and nary a character beat for the sake of character dimensionality. Would Nick or anyone else in 'Mutiny' read Three Men in a Boat, play cribbage, build a still, or make the thickest malts in town? Only if it had plot utility later.

Bottom line:

So three out of five stars. I didn't waste my money, but I'll reread Heinlein before buying another one.

Heinlein, despite all the pornographic crap he wrote later in his life, had this conservative streak in him that was up front and center in his early juvenile fiction. And he frequently used scenes of parents explaining things to their kids, or teachers explaining things to their students, to get his point across. And some of these didactic passages could be quite lengthy. I've always suspected Heinlein felt that the Crazy Years were just starting to under weigh and he was doing what he could to delay their onset.

But on the other hand, Stranger In A Strange Land was a hippie favorite, so maybe he had thrown in the towel by then.

Moron Recommendations

It is hard for me to imagine the gut-wrenching emotions that mothers must feel when they know their sons in the military are placed in harm's way. Here are words no mother wants to hear:

“We have four levels, ma’am, from Not Injured to Not Seriously Injured to Seriously Injured and then Very Seriously Injured, as your son is listed.”

I first heard about this from a new member in votermom's Goodreads group who joined up

...[p]artly because a friend has written [a book] about the "journey" with her son's recovery after being blown up in Iraq. The three psy-ops soldiers and the Iraqi interpreter with him were all killed. He has TBI and will never be the same. There has already been a movie, "The Corporals Diary" made about the event, now she has written a book from a mothers perspective about his recovery, battles with the VA to get him care, some of the amazing people involved with that care, and some of the Brass who moved mountains to get him what he needed.

The amazing story is that the soldier, Matthew Drake, has managed to achieve a certain amount of recovery to where he is functioning again. The book his mother wrote is not available on Amazon as far as I know, but it is available here: Just As He Is Right Now.

From the Book Summary page:

Heartbreaking and humorous, irreverent and inspiring, Just as He Is Right Now is a must-read for all those who love someone with a traumatic brain injury or anyone struggling to overcome a life-altering challenge. Readers will be uplifted by this story of an ordinary young man who wanted to be "one of the good guys" and rose from the ashes to become exactly that.

___________

I think this was mentioned in last week's book thread, but a moron e-mailed me to recommend Forgotten Skills of Cooking: The Time-Honored Ways are the Best - Over 700 Recipes Show You Why by Darina Allen. He says this cookbook

...encompasses a LOT more than just cooking. This would also be a good book for the 'survival enthusiasts. Lots of good recipes, lots of tips, how to use leftovers, produce gardens, raising chickens, canning, curing, etc.

This sounds like a good book to have on hand during the Burning Times.

___________

Another lurking moron highly recommends the books of Brandon Sanderson. I'll just copy and paste the e-mail, because, lazy:

Anyway, I wanted to recommend to my fellow morons the books of Brandon Sanderson. The Mistborn books are a good place to start. He calls much of his work "hard fantasy", which as far as I can tell means it has magic, but the magic has carefully defined rules, like hard s.f. In Mistborn, those born with the talent (allomancers) can consume and "burn" metals to produce various magical effects. The story concerns a low-born (skaa) thieving crew that sets out to overthrow the Lord Ruler, a supremely powerful allomancer who has ruled the world for a thousand years. It is fantastic. Oh, and some of the main villains are the Steel Inquisitors, men who walk around in black robes with shaved heads, facial tattoos . . . and oh yeah, freaking metal spikes going through their heads where their eyes should be!

They are fantastic books and a great introduction to an amazing author.

As I recall, Vic is a big fan of the Mistborn series and I very much enjoyed The Way of Kings, the first in the 'Stormlight' series. Haven't got around to the sequel Words of Radiance, yet, but it's on my list.

___________

High praise for the novel Mildred Pierce from one of my chess.com buds, moron lurker 'bonedaddi'. During one of our games, he told me:

I just re read Mildred Pierce and I think there is a case to be made that it is one of the greatest American novels ever written. Further, I think Veda is one of the greatest villains ever created - dare I say she is on par with Iago

They made this one into a movie with Joan Crawford, I believe, but she didn't play the villain.

Mildred Pierce was written by James M. Cain who has had some of his other novels made into well-known motion pictures, namely Double Indemnity, and The Postman Always Rings Twice.

Books By Morons

One of our lovely 'ettes emailed me this week to let me know her (lurking) husband has just published this book, Dying Horribly at Harding Hall (The Harding Hall Mysteries) (Volume 1). Murder and mayhem is afoot:

In Dying Horribly at Harding Hall, we meet a wealthy, aristocratic English family—generation after generation—of lecherous and greedy muttonheads.

Heh. It's the aristocrats!

Going back to the 1920s the heirs of Harding Hall have been dying bizarre and apparently accidental deaths. Our heroes, or more accurately antiheroes, brothers Lars and Loris Harding, have decided to call in a supposedly brilliant detective from India named Depak Chota. It’s not that they are that deeply concerned about the deaths of their mostly despicable relatives. Rather, their interest has become a bit more urgent now that they are next in line to inherit Harding Hall.

Also available on Kindle.

___________

Moronette 'votermom' is putting together a list of moron authors over on the Goodreads site which is intended to be acessible to non-members. Here is the list she has compiled so far. Let her know if there's an author she's missing.

http://www.bookhorde.org/p/aoshq-authors.html

___________

Don't forget the AoSHQ reading group on Goodreads. It's meant to support horde writers and to talk about the great books that come up on the book thread. It's called AoSHQ Moron Horde and the link to it is here: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/175335-aoshq-moron-horde.

___________

So that's all for this week. As always, book thread tips, suggestions, bribes, rumors, threats, and insults may be sent to OregonMuse, Proprietor, AoSHQ Book Thread, at the book thread e-mail address: aoshqbookthread, followed by the 'at' sign, and then 'G' mail, and then dot cee oh emm.

What have you all been reading this week? Hopefully something good, because, as you all know, life is too short to be reading lousy books.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 08:58 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 "Forsooth! By faith I fear that the Firth of Forth will be the fifth Firth to sally forth!" he frothed.

Posted by: Seamus Muldoon at May 22, 2016 08:54 AM (NeFrd)

2 Oh, and first!

Posted by: Seamus Muldoon at May 22, 2016 08:54 AM (NeFrd)

3 Good morning bookworms, still reading HMS Surprise, on the 8th chapter

Posted by: Skip at May 22, 2016 08:54 AM (3wHFl)

4 Good morning!

Today is Arthur Conan Doyle's birthday.
Short write up on his pre writing life in nic

Posted by: @votermom at May 22, 2016 08:56 AM (7lVbc)

5 Brought up David Horowitz's new book Progressive Racism this morning on the EMT.I might get it.

Posted by: Skip at May 22, 2016 09:00 AM (3wHFl)

6 Got my autographed copy of The Law of Self Defense this week.

Would love to start it, but am pounding away atYou Will Be Made To Care, which I ordered as well after last weeks book thread.

MY father has always been a deep studier of the scripture, and concerned about the watering down of biblically based positions by mainstream Churches.
So I ordered him a copy of this book as well.
I think he is beginning to see the implications clearer now.

So thanks for two book recommendations last week.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at May 22, 2016 09:01 AM (ptqRm)

7 Ah the local bookstore, a dying breed.

Still working on the Jack Ryan series. I am up to A Debt of Honor now. And I have the first three of those Mack Bolon Executioner series waiting in the wings when I finish this (thank you OM for that heads up this week) and a trip to the library to get the Master And Commander book. I was not too impressed with the movie but I hear the book is better. And Amazon has a nice gouging price for the book. It costs more for the Kindle book than it did for the DVD movie.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at May 22, 2016 09:02 AM (vvmPQ)

8 The Hiss book will be found on Progressive's bookshelves next to Howard Zinn's history book.

Soon, it will become accepted cant. "Hiss was framed! The lie about his Soviet involvement has been completely discredited!"

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at May 22, 2016 09:02 AM (9mTYi)

9 I can't believe stupid liberals are promoting Alger Hiss is "innocent BS". Even the Russians have admitted he was guilty as sin. I suppose these are the same people that claim the Rosenbergs were innocent too.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at May 22, 2016 09:05 AM (vvmPQ)

10 OM thanks as always for mentioning the group & the list.
PS gotta run chores to do bbl

Posted by: @votermom at May 22, 2016 09:05 AM (7lVbc)

11 When in Coronado, Ca. stop at Bay Books. Then on to the Del Coronado for drinkage, people watching & luxuriating.

Posted by: South of Pendleton at May 22, 2016 09:06 AM (gwG9s)

12 Once upon a time the Russians were really good at making stuff up. I'm not talking about the commies (although they did too), I mean the stories about Anastasia, and before her, Peter the Great's brother, Ivan.

Most of what people "know" about Catherine the Great is complete nonsense.

It's a Russian thing. So ironically, the attempts to rehabilitate Hiss, who really was a very minor figure in the commie infiltration of the government, is fitting.

And then of course we can talk about the commie whitewashing of history, of which the examples are too numerous to mention.

Posted by: BurtTC at May 22, 2016 09:06 AM (Dj0WE)

13 The left like hell is all about repetition.

Hiss *has* to be the innocent victim of a collusive plot by the KGB and FBI because otherwise you see the left would be part of a conspiracy to aid communists despite the fact the left says the communists were the misunderstood good guys of the cold war...

the bouncing ball is a gnat on crack.

Posted by: sven10077 at May 22, 2016 09:08 AM (g8Hfr)

14 I forgot, did Nixon or LBJ make Jenny's hippie boyfriend beat her up?

Posted by: Pete in Texas at May 22, 2016 09:08 AM (2RBkF)

15 Good morning! And thanks again for last week's link to the Second Luna City Chronicle! Sales have been pleasingly brisk all this last week - although, alas - the print version isn't yet showing up on Amazon/B&N. (But most of my book sales are for the Kindle versions anyway.) Can I beg for reviews of the Luna City books? If I rack up enough of them, Amazon will bestir themselves to give the books more exposure, or so I am told.

I'm reading "The Emperor's Colored Coat" - the second Otto Prohaska adventure by John Biggens, which I accidentally bought and downloaded while mashing the buttons on my Kindle to try and get back to the beginning of the first ... And I do not regret it, because it's as funny/heartbreakingly ironic as A Sailor of Austria.

I will definitely check out Dying Horribly at Harding Hall - sounds just like my cuppa tea ...

Posted by: Sgt. Mom at May 22, 2016 09:08 AM (xnmPy)

16 12 Posted by: BurtTC at May 22, 2016 09:06 AM (Dj0WE)

There's a good book yet to be written about the Zinoviev papers provency.

Posted by: sven10077 at May 22, 2016 09:10 AM (g8Hfr)

17 Oh - and if visiting San Diego, go to the Hotel Del for Sunday brunch; the place is absolutely awesome.

Posted by: Sgt. Mom at May 22, 2016 09:10 AM (xnmPy)

18 As an aside, as a young man I was invited to, and attended a tea with Helen Gahagan Douglas. A classic afternoon gathering of half a dozen people at a private residence.

The people there were not a Red cell, just devoted Democrats. In other words, useful idiots.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at May 22, 2016 09:10 AM (9mTYi)

19 Heinlein, despite all the pornographic crap he wrote later in his life,
had this conservative streak in him that was up front and center in his
early juvenile fiction.

What is amazing about Heinlein is that he started out as a liberal socialist and at some point in his life he had a "road to Damascus" revelation and completely switched around 180� to more of a libertarian (not to be confused with big L Libertarian drug Party.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at May 22, 2016 09:11 AM (vvmPQ)

20 14 Posted by: Pete in Texas at May 22, 2016 09:08 AM (2RBkF)

It was "that damn LBJ"...

Forrest Gump for all its faults put the blame for Vietnam right where it belonged.

Unlike Jungle John Kerry.

Posted by: sven10077 at May 22, 2016 09:11 AM (g8Hfr)

21 Hiss wasn't all that minor.Played a huge role at Yalta.Probably with the tun in relations the Russians have decided to start troll again"Newly available KGB files" indeed.

Posted by: steevy at May 22, 2016 09:11 AM (B48dK)

22 Speaking of Heinlein, I am reading "Podkanye of Mars."

Posted by: Grampa Jimbo at May 22, 2016 09:12 AM (1ijHg)

23 I can't believe stupid liberals are promoting Alger Hiss is "innocent BS". Even the Russians have admitted he was guilty as sin. I suppose these are the same people that claim the Rosenbergs were innocent too.
Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at May 22, 2016 09:05 AM (vvmPQ)

Yeah, the "Hiss was innocent" narrative has become, or maybe it always has been, a left-wing cottage industry. A few years back, I found a website ran by Alger's son Tony that was a clearing house of information proclaiming his father's purity, and provided reassurances to faithful progressives and reinforcements of their beliefs.

Posted by: OregonMuse at May 22, 2016 09:12 AM (IYUoZ)

24 18 Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at May 22, 2016 09:10 AM (9mTYi)

Those "simply misguided mules" are precisely the idiotic audience for these Alger Hiss haigographies.

Without their stupidity the Cold War would have been over by 1968 or so.

Posted by: sven10077 at May 22, 2016 09:12 AM (g8Hfr)

25 As I recall, Vic is a big fan of the Mistborn series and I very much enjoyed The Way of Kings, the first in the 'Stormlight' series. Haven't got around to the sequel Words of Radiance, yet, but it's on my list.

Yes I am. There are several new ones out I am waiting for the price to come down on.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at May 22, 2016 09:13 AM (vvmPQ)

26 Posted by: BurtTC at May 22, 2016 09:06 AM (Dj0WE)

There's a good book yet to be written about the Zinoviev papers provency.
Posted by: sven10077 at May 22, 2016 09:10 AM (g8Hfr)

And of course it WILL depend on who writes it.

Posted by: BurtTC at May 22, 2016 09:13 AM (Dj0WE)

27 21 Posted by: steevy at May 22, 2016 09:11 AM (B48dK)

Hiss was a peripheral part of FDR's "Scarlet Whiz Kidz."

Footloose Frank KNEW he had communards on the payroll and told people who told him "fuck off."

Teddy was by far the best of the Roosevelt Knickerbocker bloodline.

Posted by: sven10077 at May 22, 2016 09:14 AM (g8Hfr)

28 I highly recommend "Witness" by Whitaker Chambers. Once a Communist himself, Chambers understood the destructive force of people like Hiss. Superbly written firsthand account of history.

Posted by: Murph at May 22, 2016 09:15 AM (JX1Wq)

29 Still working on 'Russia's War', Overy. The first two chapters describing in some detail the rise of Stalin to power are a very interesting re-cap of just how nasty the Bolshies were. Of course, things got worse.

I rate the book an easy 4.5 stars. Well written, substantive, coherent, and easy to read.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at May 22, 2016 09:15 AM (9mTYi)

30 Don Imus is one of the "useful retards" who has declaimed Hiss' innocence for decades.

Alger Hiss is a quick cheat sheet litmus test on a new contact's politics and mental acuity.

Casually bring him up and a leftbat retard will *always* self-identify.

Posted by: sven10077 at May 22, 2016 09:16 AM (g8Hfr)

31 27 Yes but Hiss was not that peripheral,read Stalin's Secret Agents.

Posted by: steevy at May 22, 2016 09:16 AM (B48dK)

32 Don't go looking for the Hotel Del in San Diego.

It's in Coronado.

Posted by: Grampa Jimbo at May 22, 2016 09:16 AM (1ijHg)

33 Heinlein and "Stranger in a Strange Land":

RAH was married three times. His marriage to his second wife was an open marriage, and they were both "swingers" (and this was back in the late 30's, early 40's). RAH eventually became repulsed by it, and then met Virginia in the war years, who became the love of his life and sort of renounced all that.

Heinlein's "juveniles" which he wrote in the '50's were published by Scribners, and he frequently complained about his "censor", a prurient woman who would pick out picayune things in his novels to excised.
So "Stranger" was for his an exorcism of his old life, and the middle finger to Scribners (it was not published by them). It was actually supposed to be funny, and I think too many people read it as "how to" guide, rather than an adult ribald satire. He makes fun of religion and sexual mores (which he does in a lot of his books, but sometimes more subtley).
Heinlein was a somewhat Conservative Libertarian, which probably had no real political expression in those days.
He wrote "Starship Troopers" (his most famous and infamous novel) in six weeks in 1959, after he became infuriated with what he saw as Eisenhower's caving in to the Soviets over discussion of a nuclear test ban treaty (so he must have really loved Kennedy, ha!). He had already started to write "Stranger" then, and switched gears to write ST.

Posted by: Bossy Conservative...pondering the future at May 22, 2016 09:17 AM (+1T7c)

34 Hiss wasn't all that minor.Played a huge role at Yalta.Probably with the tun in relations the Russians have decided to start troll again"Newly available KGB files" indeed.
Posted by: steevy at May 22, 2016 09:11 AM (B48dK)

I haven't been following that line, and frankly I'm not sure how true it is. It wouldn't surprise me if that's a bit of re-writing of the history by people on "our" side.

Most of the higher level spies in the U.S., both American and Russian, are complete unknowns to the general public. They lived and died without ever really being held accountable. And the commie infiltrators who are famous for other deeds, there hasn't been any real accounting of who they are and what they did.

Posted by: BurtTC at May 22, 2016 09:18 AM (Dj0WE)

35 The full extent of Soviet influence over FDR is still little known by the general public.Well,to be fair,all history is generally unknown to them.Or what they know is BS.By design of course.

Posted by: steevy at May 22, 2016 09:18 AM (B48dK)

36 I've been hearing and reading about how good the Patrick O'Brian books are for a long time. For several reasons I decided it was time to give them a try. Now this comes under the heading of better to be lucky than good. I found 18 of the Aubrey books, all in very good condition, for less than twenty bucks at a used book store. I think the universe was sending me a message.

I splurged on a copy of 'A Sea of Words', a lexicon of sailing terms and references from the O'Brian books. Naval warfare in the Napoleonic Wars is a bit before my time so definitions and context should help appreciate the stories. Besides, it's a fun book just to thumb through.

I have 'Harbors and High Seas' coming. It has the charts and information about action in the O'Brian books. I like looking at charts so it should be fun.

Posted by: JTB at May 22, 2016 09:19 AM (V+03K)

37 I highly recommend "Witness" by Whitaker Chambers. Once a Communist himself, Chambers understood the destructive force of people like Hiss. Superbly written firsthand account of history.
Posted by: Murph
-----------

Someone once (to WFB) accused McCarthy of 'demagoguery'. Buckley famously replied "What demagoguery?"

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at May 22, 2016 09:19 AM (9mTYi)

38 34 Evans makes a pretty convincing case.

Posted by: steevy at May 22, 2016 09:20 AM (B48dK)

39 31 Posted by: steevy at May 22, 2016 09:16 AM (B48dK)

I have.

If you looked at it from a *purely* historical perspective and assumed that FDR's circle of power followed the usual DC flow chart Hiss looks like weak tea.

If you grasp how much FDR rejected the hierarchy you grasp Hiss punched far above his weight and was a voice at the table that was listened to.

Hiss' position never rose as far visibly as Hummer Wiener's current one is he was always "assistant to the assistant" but he wielded influence far outweighing his paper position at every step of his journey from third rate US Attorney to Yalta Sellout hack.

Posted by: sven10077 at May 22, 2016 09:21 AM (g8Hfr)

40 JTB you lucky dog

Posted by: Skip at May 22, 2016 09:22 AM (3wHFl)

41 @28 Murph

Totally agree on Chambers' "Witness." Great story enhanced by beautiful writing.

Posted by: Libra at May 22, 2016 09:22 AM (GblmV)

42 >>>Alger Hiss is necessary and timely, telling soberly the tale of a nation in the grip of paranoid fear and the man who took most advantage of this fear.

In this day where leftists are talking about jailing people for global warming denial and using the IRS and seizures to punish dissenters, I couldn't care less if some lefty way back when was convicted, even if wrongly so. This book is like hearing Ted Bundy whining about violence against men. The left has crossed the line where we can simply think of them as our fellow citizens with whom we have disagreements.

Posted by: angela urkel at May 22, 2016 09:24 AM (AjTgU)

43 39 Exactly.He was an "expert" relied on by superiors.

Posted by: steevy at May 22, 2016 09:24 AM (B48dK)

44 41 Posted by: Libra at May 22, 2016 09:22 AM (GblmV)

What's hilarious is reading any work by Hiss and Chambers is the immediate self-evidence of the competing intellects in play.

Hiss is the most overrated mind of the 1930s and 40s IMHO.

Posted by: sven10077 at May 22, 2016 09:25 AM (g8Hfr)

45 >>I've been hearing and reading about how good the Patrick O'Brian books are for a long time. For several reasons I decided it was time to give them a try. Now this comes under the heading of better to be lucky than good. I found 18 of the Aubrey books, all in very good condition, for less than twenty bucks at a used book store. I think the universe was sending me a message.

That is a bargain. You're going to love the series.

Posted by: JackStraw at May 22, 2016 09:27 AM (/tuJf)

46 I have.

If you looked at it from a *purely* historical perspective and assumed that FDR's circle of power followed the usual DC flow chart Hiss looks like weak tea.

If you grasp how much FDR rejected the hierarchy you grasp Hiss punched far above his weight and was a voice at the table that was listened to.

Hiss' position never rose as far visibly as Hummer Wiener's current one is he was always "assistant to the assistant" but he wielded influence far outweighing his paper position at every step of his journey from third rate US Attorney to Yalta Sellout hack.

Posted by: sven10077 at May 22, 2016 09:21 AM (g8Hfr)

I just read what appears to be a fairly reliable review of the book. The reviewer says much of their "evidence" of Hiss' influence is speculation.

Which kinda makes sense, both in that we don't have those primary documents, because as you say, FDR was just that kind of guy. He listened to the people he did, whether they had the title or not, and not much of it was ever written down.

So was Hiss a big influence? I don't know. Maybe.

It just seems all too convenient a connection to me. He's the famously caught spy, he was there, so let's conflate his role.

I would need hard evidence.

Posted by: BurtTC at May 22, 2016 09:27 AM (Dj0WE)

47 Monster Hunter: Grunge, written by John Ringo in Larry Correia's playground, dropped as an eARC (advance reader copy - not finish edited) this week. $15 at baen.com. Tore through it in one. single. day.

Highly recommended.

Posted by: Jeff Weimer at May 22, 2016 09:28 AM (OR5cC)

48 FenelonSpoke brought up the Brother Cadfael mysteries during a sidebar illuminating confusion regarding my nic's origins, and I've decided to give the series a whirl. To my delight, the Kindle edition of the first book is on KindleUnlimited, Amazon's free service. Huzzah!

Interestingly enough a search on Amazon also includes side volumes regarding the setting of the books and--as befits a character who's an expert herbalist of his time--Brother Cadfael's Garden: An Illustrated Companion to Medieval Plants and Their Uses, which I admit is also catching my interest...

Posted by: Brother Cavil at May 22, 2016 09:29 AM (D0J8L)

49 Hiss was guilty. Period. He should have been hung in public to send the right message to all commutards back in the day.

Hiss has the blood of the many millions who suffered under commie rule in Eastern Europe from 1946 until 1989 on his Godless soul.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at May 22, 2016 09:30 AM (ej1L0)

50 46 Posted by: BurtTC at May 22, 2016 09:27 AM (Dj0WE)

After he essentially went Don Quioxte on specie currency FDR used to set the price of silver based on lucky numbers in his pajamas in the morning.

There was a coordinated effort by the Soviets and their thralls to influence our crippled megalomaniacal asshole who stuck to Lady Liberty's shows like dogshit.

FDR knowingly or unknowingly colluded with that circle to keep the historical record from showing up.

A lot like Bronko Bama and Goggle frankly.

Posted by: sven10077 at May 22, 2016 09:30 AM (g8Hfr)

51 46 I would need hard evidence.

Posted by: BurtTC at May 22, 2016 09:27 AM (Dj0WE)

There is a reason he was convicted of perjury and not treason. The government would have had to divulge classified methods and means to get the evidence against him in court. But nevertheless, he was guilty as Hell.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at May 22, 2016 09:30 AM (vvmPQ)

52 I'm nearly finished with Lucifer's Hammer, the 1970s novel about an apocalyptic comet strike on Earth. It appears that William Forstchen borrowed heavily from this book when writing One Second After. Reviews of the sequel to One Second After have been mixed; don't know if I should spend the time and money.

Posted by: PabloD at May 22, 2016 09:30 AM (GP2ST)

53 Correction, KindleUnlimited does have a $9.99/month subscription fee, but once that's in play any book on it can be read for free. I suspect I'll just buy the Kindle editions to read at my leisure.

Posted by: Brother Cavil at May 22, 2016 09:31 AM (D0J8L)

54 Dear Lord, more dreck about Hiss and how the Commie menace was completely made up? Give me a break.

Posted by: JTB at May 22, 2016 09:31 AM (V+03K)

55 51 Burt is not contesting his guilt as a communist agent,just the degree of influence he wielded.

Posted by: steevy at May 22, 2016 09:32 AM (B48dK)

56 51 Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at May 22, 2016 09:30 AM (vvmPQ)

Venona is an example of how far the US military has fallen in its ability to stand up to entrenched civilian political power to do the right thing with regards to the American people and the US Constitution.

The Army his Venona from the Executive Branch...

which was EXACTLY the correct thing to do.

Posted by: sven10077 at May 22, 2016 09:32 AM (g8Hfr)

57 One Year After was not good. Sace your money and get it at the library.

Posted by: NCKate at May 22, 2016 09:32 AM (dFKXl)

58 52 Posted by: PabloD at May 22, 2016 09:30 AM (GP2ST)

One Year After is not as well written as One Second After, that said it is part of a trilogy and how much the weakness was setting up the thrilling conclusion is as yet unknown.

Posted by: sven10077 at May 22, 2016 09:34 AM (g8Hfr)

59 The Army *hid* Venona from the executive branch...

Posted by: sven10077 at May 22, 2016 09:34 AM (g8Hfr)

60 I would need hard evidence.

Posted by: BurtTC at May 22, 2016 09:27 AM (Dj0WE)

There is a reason he was convicted of perjury and not treason. The government would have had to divulge classified methods and means to get the evidence against him in court. But nevertheless, he was guilty as Hell.
Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at May 22, 2016 09:30 AM (vvmPQ)

I know. That's the official reason. It's also true that American anti-spy efforts were never anywhere near as good as Soviet spying. We were and are bad at it.

So with bits and pieces of "evidence," what our government was protecting, then and now, is less their super secret spy methods, and more the fact that they were monumentally bad at it.

Posted by: BurtTC at May 22, 2016 09:36 AM (Dj0WE)

61 52 I'm nearly finished with Lucifer's Hammer, the 1970s novel about an apocalyptic comet strike on Earth. It appears that William Forstchen borrowed heavily from this book when writing One Second After. Reviews of the sequel to One Second After have been mixed; don't know if I should spend the time and money.
Posted by: PabloD at May 22, 2016 09:30 AM (GP2ST)
----
I'd like to recommend "Fallen Angels" as a nice accompaniment to "Lucifer's Hammer".

As for the sequel to "One Second After", I think it is well worth a read. In this book the protagonist is battling politicians as much as roving vandals and the elements. Maybe not worth an investment of money, but definitely time. Check your library.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at May 22, 2016 09:37 AM (jR7Wy)

62 52
I'm nearly finished with Lucifer's Hammer, the 1970s novel about an
apocalyptic comet strike on Earth. It appears that William Forstchen
borrowed heavily from this book when writing One Second After. Reviews
of the sequel to One Second After have been mixed; don't know if I
should spend the time and money.

Posted by: PabloD at May 22, 2016 09:30 AM (GP2ST)

Loved that Lucifer's Hammer book. I do have that one on the Kindle version because it IS available at a reasonable price.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at May 22, 2016 09:38 AM (vvmPQ)

63 Read the first Flashman novel this weekend. Not sure what to make of it - fun to read and interesting history, but not really funny, as I had been led to expect, and when Flashman is juxtaposed against a genuiningly heroic character it is really hard to root for him.

This last week I picked up a bunch of books at the library booksale, including a copy of Kuhn's "Structure of Scientific Revolutions," Kit Carson's autobiography, a book on the Oseberg viking ship written in the 1950s, a book on birds, and an older book on whitetail hunting with some interesting hints and tips. Also got a bunch of CDs. All of these were a dollar a peice except the book on birds, which was two dollars.

Posted by: Grey Fox at May 22, 2016 09:38 AM (bZ7mE)

64 60 Posted by: BurtTC at May 22, 2016 09:36 AM (Dj0WE)

We're bad at HumInt and excel at ElInt...

oddly that has pretty much *always* been the case.

Posted by: sven10077 at May 22, 2016 09:38 AM (g8Hfr)

65 Venona is an example of how far the US military has fallen in its ability to stand up to entrenched civilian political power to do the right thing with regards to the American people and the US Constitution.

The Army his Venona from the Executive Branch...

which was EXACTLY the correct thing to do.
Posted by: sven10077 at May 22, 2016 09:32 AM (g8Hfr)

If I recall correctly, when the OSS was forming, it was already infiltrated by commie spies. When it morphed into the CIA, the military folks were of a "good riddance" attitude.

Posted by: BurtTC at May 22, 2016 09:39 AM (Dj0WE)

66 I read the three Richard Galbraith novels about Comoron Strike. Strike is a Vet who lost a leg in Afghanistan also the bastard son of a Rock Legend and a drug addicted groupie. I liked them. After I finished them I learned that Galbraith was a pen name for J.K. Rowling.

Posted by: Tmitsss at May 22, 2016 09:40 AM (sUvQQ)

67 @66 I quite liked the first two. I'll have to pick up #3 at the library.

Posted by: @votermom at May 22, 2016 09:42 AM (7lVbc)

68 "In this riveting investigation, Joan Brady - winner of The Whitbread Book of the Year"

Classic commie strategem: arrange "awards" for each other to give their agitprop a veneer of respectability. I had to read no further than this to know everything that followed would be a steaming pile of excrement.

Posted by: Jay Guevara at May 22, 2016 09:42 AM (oKE6c)

69 Ok, I feel like we hijacked the book thread with too much commie talk.

I mentioned earlier this week I started reading Walter Lippmann's The Public Philosophy. Somebody around these parts recommended it. I haven't gotten too far yet, but what I've read is a revelation.

The guy is pointing a finger at us, today. He warned us in 1953. And did we listen?

Spoiler alert: Of course we didn't, don't be silly.

Posted by: BurtTC at May 22, 2016 09:43 AM (Dj0WE)

70 65 Posted by: BurtTC at May 22, 2016 09:39 AM (Dj0WE)

This goes back to the over-reliance on the Ivy League which has now grown like a cancer into Academia as a whole.

Ivan decided the way to obliterate the west was to go after "the Big 5" in Higher Education in the UK, Fwance, and the US....

I don't see as how they failed given how much the elites in all three nations hate their own people.

Posted by: sven10077 at May 22, 2016 09:43 AM (g8Hfr)

71 As to James Cain and roman noir litchur . Many years ago I became involved in a little bit of snark with a brit who held Hammett and Spillane as the best the States could produce . As I recall my riposte was to the effect that any litchur that held Dickens and Trollope as High Art ought to leave well enough alone as in STFU . But it caused me to read , not reread , the above : not bad , not bad at all . " Clean clear prose " As to Cain , wiki-ed him to find out he made his bones on the 'old ' Baltimore Sun , that of Mencken . So that BTW , BTW, to those of us high brows who hold all journalism in low repute , given its current practitioners , time to pull down your Mencken and your Liebling and see what the real stuff was all about . And in passing a little Ernie Pyle will go down easily , as prose , and disturbingly , as content .

Posted by: jay hoenemeyer at May 22, 2016 09:45 AM (uvj0z)

72 I started 'Master and Commander', the first Aubrey/Maturin book. Not what I expected. I figured it would start in the midst of a ferocious sea battle where Aubrey would show his mettle. Instead, O'Brian opens with a chamber music concert and the difficulties of naval service before Aubrey receives his commission. It appears O'Brian is setting up the world of his stories, not just going from battle to battle. This should make for richer stories, I hope. To my delight, the first two chapters had parts that made me laugh out loud, again unexpected.

Does anyone know if O'Brian intended a series from the start? He certainly took the long view in his opening novel. So far, it is living up to the praises I've read. I do intend to read the books in order. Apparently that makes a difference.

Posted by: JTB at May 22, 2016 09:45 AM (V+03K)

73 Ann Coulter's TREASON led me to read WITNESS by Whittaker Chambers, which then led to VENONA: Decoding Soviet Spying, and MODERN TIMES by Paul Johnson. Witness outlines the 'car' that Alger Hiss donated to the CPUSA even as Chambers admonished Hiss to just "sell it" and Hiss perjured himself regarding that car and its donation. VENONA confirmed Hiss' involvement with passing secrets to the Soviets and Modern Times simply outlines how western civilization has fallen for the rationalization of formely dispicable behaviors and even embracing them as well as the fall of knowledge and morality. All inspired from Ann Coulter's TREASON.

Posted by: P. Aaron at May 22, 2016 09:47 AM (EL/9O)

74 52 Venona is an example of how far the US military has
fallen in its ability to stand up to entrenched civilian political power
to do the right thing with regards to the American people and the US
Constitution.

The Army his Venona from the Executive Branch...

which was EXACTLY the correct thing to do.

Posted by: sven10077 at May 22, 2016 09:32 AM (g8Hfr)

My understanding of why they did not want to reveal Venona is that it would have revealed the fact that we were reading their mail.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at May 22, 2016 09:47 AM (vvmPQ)

75 Just discovered Thomas Berger recently. Thoroughly enjoying his work. Little Big Man is what he is known for but his style and insights are refreshingly male in our neutered Obama society. What are the odds that a male author writes like a male these days and gets published?

Posted by: Puddin Head at May 22, 2016 09:48 AM (cMYt2)

76 On the literary front I have been rereading Dean Ing's The Rackham Files a collection of short stories coupled with his Pulling Through novel.

Not a collection at risk of Displacing War and Peace in literary greatness but full of good data on surviving Nuclear Mega-Oops.

Posted by: sven10077 at May 22, 2016 09:49 AM (g8Hfr)

77 Does anyone know if O'Brian intended a series from the start? He certainly took the long view in his opening novel. So far, it is living up to the praises I've read. I do intend to read the books in order. Apparently that makes a difference.

I don't believe he did. Two reasons, one of which I can't tell you because spoiler, and second I think O'Brien writes in the intro to the second book that he did not expect to be writing a sequel. Been a long time since I read anything but the first, though.

Posted by: Grey Fox at May 22, 2016 09:49 AM (bZ7mE)

78
Harkening back to the diversity thread in Twitchy, I do hope that this thread is upbuilding.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at May 22, 2016 09:50 AM (BK3ZS)

79 One Second after by William R. Forstchen

Lucifer's Hammer by Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle

Footfall by Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle

Lightening Fall by Bill Quick

The stories are similar, and I'm sensitive to price. You can sometimes get used paperback books very cheaply, even through Amazon. I would recommend them at $3, maybe Niven/Pournelle at $4.

Footfall has an army of elephants parachuting to earth to conquer us. If you can get past that, it's an interesting read.

In each story, the survivors band together. A lone wolf in the end of civilization as we know it won't survive the roving gangs of looters and cannibals.

Posted by: Skandia Recluse at May 22, 2016 09:51 AM (pI+Le)

80 28 I highly recommend "Witness" by Whitaker Chambers. Once a Communist himself, Chambers understood the destructive force of people like Hiss. Superbly written firsthand account of history.
Posted by: Murph at May 22, 2016 09:15 AM (JX1Wq)

In the same vein, read Bella Dodd's book "School of Darkness." Excellent, revealing, short, and available free here:

http://tinyurl.com/jllmy69

Posted by: Jay Guevara at May 22, 2016 09:51 AM (oKE6c)

81 Hiss was a viper nestling in America's bosom.

Posted by: Alger Bra at May 22, 2016 09:52 AM (AjTgU)

82 73 Ann Coulter's TREASON led me to read WITNESS by Whittaker Chambers, which then led to VENONA: Decoding Soviet Spying, and MODERN TIMES by Paul Johnson. Witness outlines the 'car' that Alger Hiss donated to the CPUSA even as Chambers admonished Hiss to just "sell it" and Hiss perjured himself regarding that car and its donation. VENONA confirmed Hiss' involvement with passing secrets to the Soviets and Modern Times simply outlines how western civilization has fallen for the rationalization of formely dispicable behaviors and even embracing them as well as the fall of knowledge and morality. All inspired from Ann Coulter's TREASON.
Posted by: P. Aaron at May 22, 2016 09:47 AM (EL/9O)

I also recommend Harvey Klehr's books on Communist infiltration and tactics.

Posted by: Jay Guevara at May 22, 2016 09:53 AM (oKE6c)

83 Just finished: War and Peace
Currently reading: Eugene Onegin
On deck: Dead Souls

After Dead Souls I think I'm done with Russian books for the time being.

Posted by: unclelancey at May 22, 2016 09:53 AM (cEoCF)

84 Posted by: @votermom at May 22, 2016 08:56 AM (7lVbc)

Have read his Holmes novels twice through, but haven't yet read any of his other works. On the to-do list.

Listened to Block's When The Sacred Ginmill Closes (Matthew Scudder #6), where Scudder investigates a bar hold-up he witnesses, a bar getting blackmailed for its stolen ledgers, and the murder of a bar-buddy's wife. He susses it all out in the end but the conclusions send him back diving back to the bottle. Excellent book in a great noir mystery series.

Read Kipling's The Complete Mowgli Stories, Duly Annotated edited by Wemyss, the Horde monthly read. Very entertaining and fills out for me what was missed by the Disney film. Like the hyperlink footnotes in the e-book.

Read Shakespeare's poem The Rape of Lucrece, where a member of the ruling family of Rome raped the wife of another prominent figure. She ponders the nature of Chance, Time, Night, the fall of Troy and after spurring her husband to avenge her she stabs herself to death. Not a comedy, but very well written.

Posted by: waelse1 at May 22, 2016 09:53 AM (rtnkh)

85 "I do intend to read the books in order. Apparently that makes a difference."

Many years ago, I was given the entire series as a gift by my namesake, The Village Idiot.

In my opinion, there is no other possible way to read them, except in order.

While each book stands somewhat alone, the richness which you allude to is only really reached by going in order.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at May 22, 2016 09:54 AM (ptqRm)

86 83 Just finished: War and Peace
Currently reading: Eugene Onegin
On deck: Dead Souls

After Dead Souls I think I'm done with Russian books for the time being.
------------------------
Have you read Solzhenitsyn and Shokolov?

Posted by: Puddin Head at May 22, 2016 09:55 AM (cMYt2)

87 >>Does anyone know if O'Brian intended a series from the start? He certainly took the long view in his opening novel. So far, it is living up to the praises I've read. I do intend to read the books in order. Apparently that makes a difference.

Given the lengths O'Brian went to develop the characters as you noted, it would seem he must have been planning a series. And yes, you should read them in order. The characters continue to be developed and you will certain references if you jump around.

Posted by: JackStraw at May 22, 2016 09:56 AM (/tuJf)

88 Went to the Great Satan ( Amazon ) to see if there was a Library of America for Pyle , there is not . However , there is one for WW2 reporting , edited by Samuel Hynes . Hynes is a "very interesting guy " but his two books , Growing Pains and Flights of Passage are really really good . I recommend them .

Posted by: jay hoenemeyer at May 22, 2016 09:57 AM (uvj0z)

89 The pet thread yesterday reminded me of a book I read a while back that I found most enjoyable and think most dog lovers would enjoy as well, "Merle's Door" by Ted Kerasote. In addition to being a interesting book about a dog and his human, there's some thought provoking topics addressed as well. I suspect that although Ted might not be a Moron, he'd get along fine here with most of us!

http://astore.amazon.com/aoshq-20/detail/0156034506

Posted by: Hrothgar at May 22, 2016 10:00 AM (wYnyS)

90 Didn't realize it was Conan Doyle's birthday. I should re-read 'The Red Headed League' in his honor.

Posted by: JTB at May 22, 2016 10:02 AM (V+03K)

91 So that BTW , BTW, to those of us high brows who
hold all journalism in low repute , given its current practitioners ,
time to pull down your Mencken and your Liebling and see what the real
stuff was all about . And in passing a little Ernie Pyle will go down
easily , as prose , and disturbingly , as content. Posted by: jay hoenemeyer at May 22, 2016 09:45 AM (uvj0z)
=====

The Front Page, anyone? I actually took down a Studs Terkel book to reread his essays this week (impaired attention span and can only manage short pieces right now) and had almost forgotten how vital the Chicago reporting scene was. Terkel, Royko, et al. might have been idiot leftists, but their dedication to exposing political corruption (D or R) was ferocious.

Posted by: mustbequantum at May 22, 2016 10:02 AM (MIKMs)

92 Over the last couple of weeks I read Dan Jones' "War of the Roses" and Alison Weir's book with the same title. The Jones book is not as detailed as Weir's but it covers more ground (all the way to Bosworth and HenryVII's victory) and is a bit more even handed. Weir ends her narrative with Tewkesbury and she is clearly a Yorkist ("usurping Lancaster dynasty" is apparently one word on her processor). I want to get her other book "The Princes in the Tower" to see how she handles Richard III.

Posted by: the guy that moves pianos for a living at May 22, 2016 10:04 AM (tEDMc)

93 Has anybody read the Goblin Emperor? it looks good but I am not sure.

Terms of Enlistment is good, about a Future Soldier and fighting Aliens, he comes from the under class where they get free food and all the tv they want to keep them satisfied. He doesn't want to live like that.

The Empire's Corps , a Capt gets exiled after putting down some terrorists ( which seem like Muslims but calls them something else) everything is corrupt and the politicians give out free shit to keep the underclass happy but they are running out of money and the Empire will soon collapse, it's not bad but he makes the Marines uncorruptable which I really find hard to believe if every thing else is.
So he gets exiled to a Planet on the ass end of the Galaxy where he has to deal with Currupt politicians and homegrown terrorists.

Posted by: Patrick From Ohio at May 22, 2016 10:05 AM (c4yY7)

94 86
Have you read Solzhenitsyn and Shokolov?

---------------------------------

I have not, though I have volume 1 of The Gulag Archipelago. What of theirs do you recommend?

Posted by: unclelancey at May 22, 2016 10:06 AM (cEoCF)

95 Still reading "Renaissance Lives" and have moved on to Sir Walter Raleigh, which the author spells "Ralegh" and I don't care if that's actually correct; it's annoying as all get out.

In the previous chapter on Catherine de Medici, the author quoted a letter in which Catherine expressed her feminine reluctance to do things that resulted in people getting killed. The author referred to it as using or invoking "her gender." No, you dumb PC jackwagon, that was femininity. I'm starting to think I shouldn't read any non-fiction written after 1975.

And I finished "Auntie Mame" wherein I grew greatly disgusted with Patrick for his affair with "Bubbles" for whom we were apparently supposed to feel great contempt. My contempt was reserved entirely for Patrick and I very nearly didn't finish the book. How dare he regard her so cheaply when he deliberately led her on. What an asshole.

So now I have just barely started "Hallow Mass" and I am very much looking forward to it.

Posted by: Tonestaple at May 22, 2016 10:09 AM (VsZJP)

96 I just finished Mutiny in Space this morning and have to politely disagree with the 'ette's views. It's very similar to Heinlein's juveniles and will cause me to buy more of Rod Walker's stories.

The lurker missed things I saw/assumed and saw/assumed things I obviously missed. Some people like burgers, other like tofu. Some like both. Best to read it for yourself and decide so it won't be my word against hers.

Posted by: setnaffa at May 22, 2016 10:09 AM (w1aKr)

97 So I have been trying to remember the name of a thriller from quite a few years ago.

Premise was the taking over of a missile silo, and the story was quite enjoyable.

Anyhow, only vaguely remembering the title contained the word "After", I think, I went to Amazon using just "After" in the search box under books.

The shear number of post apocalyptic thrillers that are shown is simply mind boggling.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at May 22, 2016 10:09 AM (ptqRm)

98
Oh, yeah, make fun of my typos, OM...

Remember, Hiss spied for the GRU - not the KGB. The GRU was Soviet military intelligence. More evidence that Hiss was a spy comes from Noel Field. Hiss tried to recruit Field, who unbeknownst to him, was already spying for the KGB. Since the KGB and the GRU were rivals and the fact that Field revealed that he was a spy to Hiss, created a brouhaha between the agencies.

I'm always offended when the left claims that it was hysteria. The USSR had gobbled up eastern Europe. I guess they believed those people were really free.

There is a guy you see at every forum by the name of Jeff Kisseloff. He wrote his own crappy book and also runs the AlgerHiss.com site.

There is also some female soviet historian, whose name escapes me, who is also a revisionist and runs another website.

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at May 22, 2016 10:12 AM (iQIUe)

99 Finished rereading Making Money by Terry Pratchett.

It's a comfort book featuring my second favorite Diskworld character. Moist von Lipwig.

My favorite Diskworld character is Lord Havelock Vetinari, Patrician of Ankh-Morpork.

Third is Commander Vimes.

And now I've recovered from WeirdDave's Diplomacy game. The knives in my back should be all gone the next time I go through a metal detector

Posted by: NaCly Dog at May 22, 2016 10:13 AM (u82oZ)

100 We're bad at HumInt and excel at ElInt...

oddly that has pretty much *always* been the case.

Posted by: sven10077 at May 22, 2016 09:38 AM (g8Hfr)

I tend to think the reason for that has a bit to do with what used to be national character (before it was dismantled by the Progressives).

HumInt requires at least some trusted operatives to be indistinguishable from a completely amoral individual willing to commit any heinous act to remain an insider in a "foreign" group. The Russians/communists (and the muz) have no such set of scruples when working against us.

ELINT is really almost a passive bloodless intellectual exercise aimed at unraveling useful operational intelligence from an observable sea of signals, and motivated clever patriotic people delight in such exercises.

Posted by: Hrothgar at May 22, 2016 10:14 AM (wYnyS)

101 I mentioned above that finding all those Patrick O'Brian books was a sign from the universe. That was reinforced because the same day I got them was the day we discontinued Directv. We have an OTA antenna, the equivalent of digital era rabbit ears, which gives us a few local channels and that may be mostly unused.

I thought the cut would be more dramatic with all sorts of withdrawal symptoms. Not so. There is so little on TV I care about, it has been easy. Most of the shows seem aimed at kids who think using Axe body products will get them laid. News coverage, including Fox, has become unreliable at best. Even the Food Network is repeats and a bunch of those stupid 'competition' shows that I never liked. I'll miss local coverage of the Nationals baseball games, the people do a great job, but radio coverage is fine. It reminds me of listening to games on AM radio when Ted Williams was still active. And I won't waste time yelling at the stupidity of shows and commercials that are sophomoric, insulting, and repetitious.

I've already been reading more and doing more with hobbies. Definitely a winning situation.

Posted by: JTB at May 22, 2016 10:17 AM (V+03K)

102 Posted by: Patrick From Ohio at May 22, 2016 10:05 AM (c4yY7)

Read The Goblin Emperor for the Hugos last year and enjoyed it a lot, not a lot of drama but comfort-food fantasy. Hope the author writes more in this vein.

Posted by: waelse1 at May 22, 2016 10:19 AM (rtnkh)

103 My favorite Diskworld character is Lord Havelock Vetinari, Patrician of Ankh-Morpork.

=====

#1 - Vetinari
#2 - Vimes
#3 - Death

Posted by: mustbequantum at May 22, 2016 10:20 AM (MIKMs)

104 The shear number of post apocalyptic thrillers that are shown is simply mind boggling.

Yep. Fruits of the Cold War and the meme that we were going to nuke ourselves back to the stone age. Factor in extra Terrestrials, comets, sun going nova, plague, global warming, yada, et cetera, and so forth.

Now we have economic collapse al la Zimbabwe, Venezuela, et al, and political corruption, the fall of Rome, Losing the Mandate of Heaven, invasion by migration.

Well, the times are getting interesting.

Posted by: Skandia Recluse at May 22, 2016 10:21 AM (pI+Le)

105 94 86
Have you read Solzhenitsyn and Shokolov?

---------------------------------

I have not, though I have volume 1 of The Gulag Archipelago. What of theirs do you recommend?
-------------------------
First, don't read Gulag A, read Cancer Ward - his masterpiece. Gulag is a mishmash book. Shokolov - All Quiet Flows the Don. Both are great writers from opposite poles concerning communism - but great writers. Solzhenitsyn is the 2oth Century Tolstoy. Amazing power and insight.

Posted by: Puddin Head at May 22, 2016 10:25 AM (cMYt2)

106
#1 - Vetinari
#2 - Vimes
#3 - Death

Posted by: mustbequantum at May 22, 2016 10:20 AM (MIKMs)

#4 - Gaspode

Posted by: Hrothgar at May 22, 2016 10:26 AM (wYnyS)

107 Also picked up a copy of 'Mr. Midshipman Hornblower' which I'll get to eventually. I read some of the Hornblower series when I was a kid but don't remember much. Might be interesting to compare the Forester and O'Brian series.

Posted by: JTB at May 22, 2016 10:27 AM (V+03K)

108
Another sacred cow of the left is I.F. Stone, who was also a KGB agent. The IFStonebots show up at forums and go nuts. Stone always demanded $$ compensation from the commies.

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at May 22, 2016 10:28 AM (iQIUe)

109 Off to drink wine and cavort in the woods.

O Dionysos, bearer of the vine, 'tis thine mad footsteps with mad Nymphai to beat, dancing through groves with lightly leaping feet!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at May 22, 2016 10:29 AM (jR7Wy)

110 I have not, though I have volume 1 of The Gulag Archipelago. What of theirs do you recommend?

Posted by: unclelancey at May 22, 2016 10:06 AM (cEoCF)

Mrs. Muse recommends The First Circle and Cancer Ward.

I read vol. 1 of Gulag years ago. While reading it, it became clear to me that it was my sacred duty to read vols. II and III. So I did. But the first volume is probably sufficient.

Posted by: OregonMuse at May 22, 2016 10:31 AM (IYUoZ)

111 Posted by: Puddin Head at May 22, 2016 10:25 AM (cMYt2)

Guess I need to read Cancer Ward, but this little paragraph seems prophetic, almost like he knew something...

"And how we burned in the camps later, thinking: What would things have been like if every security operative, when he went out at night to make an arrest, had been uncertain whether he would return alive and had to say goodbye to his family? Or if, during periods of mass arrests, as for example in Leningrad, when they arrested a quarter of the entire city, people had not simply sat there in their lairs, paling with terror at every bang of the downstairs door and at every step on the staircase, but had understood they had nothing left to lose and had boldly set up in the downstairs hall an ambush of half a dozen people with axes, hammers, pokers, or whatever else was at hand? After all, you knew ahead of time that those bluecaps were out at night for no good purpose. And you could be sure ahead of time that you'd be cracking the skull of a cutthroat."

~Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago 1918-1956

Posted by: Hrothgar at May 22, 2016 10:33 AM (wYnyS)

112 #1 - Vetinari
#2 - Vimes
#3 - Death
Posted by: mustbequantum at May 22, 2016 10:20 AM (MIKMs)

#4 Corporal Carrot.

Posted by: OregonMuse at May 22, 2016 10:34 AM (IYUoZ)

113 109 ... All Hail Eris, Love the image. But we've had so much rain the last few weeks, and more to come for a while, it would be easier to swim than frolic. Bummer. (At my size, I don't leap at all let alone lightly.)

Posted by: JTB at May 22, 2016 10:34 AM (V+03K)

114 Now, one very strong, and at this point, venerable, bullshit narrative
is the "evil Richard Nixon" theme wherein Nixon is basically a stand-in
for Satan. Even atheists have to have a devil, and Nixon is theirs.

What I find ironic about this is that Nixon is probably the most liberal Republican President since Teddy Roosevelt.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at May 22, 2016 10:34 AM (vvmPQ)

115
The statute of limitations had run on espionage. That is why they went for perjury. A lot of spies got a way with rank espionage.

They didnt even get this guy on perjury and he caused immense harm:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Weisband

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at May 22, 2016 10:35 AM (iQIUe)

116 Sholokhov not Shokolov. Correction.

Posted by: Puddin Head at May 22, 2016 10:35 AM (cMYt2)

117 111 Posted by: Puddin Head at May 22, 2016 10:25 AM (cMYt2)

Guess I need to read Cancer Ward, but this little paragraph seems prophetic, almost like he knew something...

"And how we burned in the camps later, thinking: What would things have been like if every security operative, when he went out at night to make an arrest, had been uncertain whether he would return alive and had to say goodbye to his family? Or if, during periods of mass arrests, as for example in Leningrad, when they arrested a quarter of the entire city, people had not simply sat there in their lairs, paling with terror at every bang of the downstairs door and at every step on the staircase, but had understood they had nothing left to lose and had boldly set up in the downstairs hall an ambush of half a dozen people with axes, hammers, pokers, or whatever else was at hand? After all, you knew ahead of time that those bluecaps were out at night for no good purpose. And you could be sure ahead of time that you'd be cracking the skull of a cutthroat."

~Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago 1918-1956
---------------------------
The Gulag is two volumes and you need to know a lot of history before tackling it. It is not an easy read and it doesn't reflect Solzhenitsyn's talent at its best. Don't know why the Nobel Committee awarded this book and not Cancer Ward. I suspect it was the hard left recognizing a great author by recommending his lesser work to the west in hopes of dampening any enthusiasm for his art.

Posted by: Puddin Head at May 22, 2016 10:40 AM (cMYt2)

118 63 Grey Fox: Don't give up on Flashman. The first one really isn't funny, but they get much funnier. I think that one is more about establishing the character as the swine that he is. As for the juxtaposition of Flashman with genuine heroes, that's kind of an ongoing motif of the books and, yeah, he doesn't come off well at all, nor is he supposed to, being a world-class coward. He's a hilarious coward though, and frankly it's fun to watch him suffer the consequences.

Posted by: Plum Duff (formerly lurker_above) at May 22, 2016 10:40 AM (CAc1y)

119 For Communist influence in the U.S. government, I strongly recommend Diana West's "American Betrayal". Her contention is that Soviet influence in the Roosevelt administration was so great that it influenced our strategy in World War II, i.e., that it was designed to help the Soviets as much as possible.

https://tinyurl.com/zwxydgj

The book was heavily criticized, and much of the criticism came from the Right, notably David Horowitz, Ronald Radosh, and Conrad Black. This prompted her to write another book rebutting their critiques, entitled, oddly enough, "The Rebuttal":

https://tinyurl.com/zpe4l2f

I have not read that one yet.

Gates of Vienna has an entire section of their archives devoted to the controversy surrounding her book:

http://gatesofvienna.net/topical/diana-west/

Interestingly, in the introduction to "American Betrayal", West said that she originally started out to write about Muslim influence in the U.S. government today, but got sidetracked. Sounds like that book still needs to be written.

Posted by: rickl at May 22, 2016 10:40 AM (sdi6R)

120 The shear number of post apocalyptic thrillers that are shown is simply mind boggling.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at May 22, 2016 10:09 AM (ptqRm)

...and the zombie novels.
...and the post-apocalyptic zombie novels.
...and the post-apocalyptic zombie romance novels
...and the vampire novels
...and the vampire romance novels
...and the fantasy romance novels
...and the shape-shifting bear men who love BBWs novels
...etc.

Since I've been doing the book thread, my mind has been boggled, like yours, by the discovery of what's being written and the popularity of all these genres and sub-genres. It's been quite an eye-opening experience, let me tell you.

Posted by: OregonMuse at May 22, 2016 10:41 AM (IYUoZ)

121 Footfall by Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle

Lightening Fall by Bill Quick

I loved the premise of Footfall, it soo different.

I will read Lightening Fall, looks good

Posted by: Patrick From Ohio at May 22, 2016 10:41 AM (c4yY7)

122 102 Posted by: Patrick From Ohio at May 22, 2016 10:05 AM (c4yY7)

Read The Goblin Emperor for the Hugos last year and enjoyed it a lot, not a lot of drama but comfort-food fantasy. Hope the author writes more in this vein.
Posted by: waelse1 at May 22, 2016 10:19 AM (rtnkh)

Thanks I will add it to my list of Audiobooks

Posted by: Patrick From Ohio at May 22, 2016 10:42 AM (c4yY7)

123 I read vol. 1 of Gulag years ago. While reading it, it became clear to me that it was my sacred duty to read vols. II and III. So I did. But the first volume is probably sufficient.
Posted by: OregonMuse at May 22, 2016 10:31 AM (IYUoZ)

I had the honor of meeting Ignat Solzhenitsyn earlier this year & had him sign vol. I of his father's greatest work. He was very gracious & appreciative of how much of an influence his father was to me.

Posted by: Josephistan at May 22, 2016 10:42 AM (7qAYi)

124 Another series like Forrester and O'Brien's is Dudley Pope' Lord Ramage. He writes as a sailor writes an adventure (not like a poet or a novelist writing an adventure.)

Where Forrester writes about a scene, say a covert landing at night on a beach, Forrester describes the inner workings of Hornblower in the situation, and O'Brien talks about the characters, Pope focuses on the mechanics of getting ashore as dry and quiet as possible.
So Forrester gives you Hornblower's anxiety, O'Brien gives you the relationship and interplay involved in getting ashore, and Pope lets you smell the salt air and listen for hoof-beats as the sailors run the boat up the beach and coil the ropes and what-not.

I like O'Brien's writing best, by the way.

Posted by: Kindltot at May 22, 2016 10:42 AM (ry34m)

125 The best of Flashman is "Flashman at the Charge" and "Flashman and the Great Game". Game picks up pretty much right where Charge leaves off and taken together they are Flashy's magnum opus.

Posted by: the guy that moves pianos for a living at May 22, 2016 10:44 AM (tEDMc)

126
Again, Engineering Communism by Steve Usdin is one of the best books on espionage. Rosenberg recruited numerous engineers. The amount of info he provided the kgb is breath taking.

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at May 22, 2016 10:44 AM (iQIUe)

127 Eris, I have cavorted in the woods a couple of times. Finding yellow-jacket nests was involved.

Posted by: Kindltot at May 22, 2016 10:45 AM (ry34m)

128 115

The statute of limitations had run on espionage. That is why they
went for perjury. A lot of spies got a way with rank espionage.

They didnt even get this guy on perjury and he caused immense harm:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Weisband

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at May 22, 2016 10:35 AM (iQIUe)

Legal experts generally agree that espionage can be prosecuted up to ten years after the event, which this was not. They simply did not want to reveal that we were reading the Russian's mail.

Although federal statute USC 3282 provides for a five-year statute of limitation for the vast majority of federal crimes,
this statute of limitations does not necessarily stand in the case of
espionage prosecution. It is generally agreed by legal scholars that
acts of espionage can be prosecuted for at least ten years after the
alleged act. Certain executive acts and extenuating factors may provide
for prosecution after an even longer period of time.

http://bit.ly/1WBbj18

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at May 22, 2016 10:46 AM (vvmPQ)

129
The left loves to slander Harry Gold who testified against the Rosenbergs. They portray him as a liar, as mentally ill, as pathetic, a liar, etc. He was anything but. The left broke into his attys office and stole statements he had given his atty. These were published in a French paper. That's how crazy the left was about protecting soviet spies.

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at May 22, 2016 10:46 AM (iQIUe)

130 The book was heavily criticized, and much of the criticism came from the Right, notably David Horowitz, Ronald Radosh, and Conrad Black. This prompted her to write another book rebutting their critiques, entitled, oddly enough, "The Rebuttal":

Red diaper babies Horowitz and Radosh may hate communism, but they certainly do luvs them some FDR.

We need to realize that Horowitz and Radosh aren't really conservatives, they're old-style New Deal Democrats with a JFK-style anti-communist stripe. They only appear to be conservative in comparison to the rest of today's loony left Democrats.

Posted by: OregonMuse at May 22, 2016 10:48 AM (IYUoZ)

131 Posted by: unclelancey at May 22, 2016 10:06 AM (cEoCF)

Start with "One Day in The Life of Ivan Denisovitch."

It should be required reading for every idiot in America who has entertained the thought of voting for Bernie Sanders.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at May 22, 2016 10:48 AM (Zu3d9)

132 Hell. Forester.

much different than Forrester.

Posted by: Kindltot at May 22, 2016 10:49 AM (ry34m)

133 DiscWorld books are so good, it's so sad to see what happened to such a witty funny mind.

Posted by: Patrick From Ohio at May 22, 2016 10:49 AM (c4yY7)

134 131 Posted by: unclelancey at May 22, 2016 10:06 AM (cEoCF)

Start with "One Day in The Life of Ivan Denisovitch."

It should be required reading for every idiot in America who has entertained the thought of voting for Bernie Sanders.
------------------------------
Yes. His first great breakthrough.

Posted by: Puddin Head at May 22, 2016 10:49 AM (cMYt2)

135 130 We need to realize that Horowitz and Radosh aren't
really conservatives, they're old-style New Deal Democrats with a
JFK-style anti-communist stripe. They only appear to be conservative in
comparison to the rest of today's loony left Democrats.

Posted by: OregonMuse at May 22, 2016 10:48 AM (IYUoZ)

I agree 100%

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at May 22, 2016 10:51 AM (vvmPQ)

136 Naomi Novik has a fantasy series about the Brit Navy/Air Force set in alternate Napoleonic Wars. Temeraire is the dragon.

Although it is not as literary as O'Brien and Forester, it is really good for YA readers. No way could I get youngsters to read O'Brien or Forester, but they enjoyed the fantasy Temeraire and then discussion about 'real' history.

Posted by: mustbequantum at May 22, 2016 10:51 AM (MIKMs)

137 Red diaper babies Horowitz and Radosh may hate communism, but they certainly do luvs them some FDR.

We need to realize that Horowitz and Radosh aren't really conservatives, they're old-style New Deal Democrats with a JFK-style anti-communist stripe. They only appear to be conservative in comparison to the rest of today's loony left Democrats.
Posted by: OregonMuse at May 22, 2016 10:48 AM (IYUoZ)
===============

I always wrote it off as professional jealously. For some reason they act like they own the subject matter.

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at May 22, 2016 10:51 AM (iQIUe)

138 This week I read Betrayal At Little Gibraltar by William Walker about General Robert E. Lee Bullard who, during the Meuse-Argonne offensive of WWI, parsed his orders in Clintonesque fashion in order to fail to support a fellow general and competitor for promotion leading to thousands of unnecessary US casualties as he launched an ultimately successful campaign to capture headlines and promotion. Betrayal may be a marginally too strong term since Bullard did not act for the purpose of benefiting the Germans but that's a pretty fine hair to split with the men whose lives were wasted by his glory seeking. The book begins depicting the shattered lives of survivors of the ordeal and moves on to a plethora of individual war stories of the battle before analyzing Bullard's actions and motives. This is a good, gritty war story.

This is reminiscent of General Mark Clark who sought the glory of conquering Rome in WWII rather than to accomplish his mission of preventing the retreat of German troops up the Italian peninsula. Clark's name is rarely mentioned among the great commanders of WWII. Ironically, Clark's glory seeking did him little good. Clark captured Rome on June 4, 1944. Two days later Ike landed in Normandy and nobody was talking about Clark taking Rome. Bullard's betrayal was more successful. He got the headlines he wanted and the promotion he wanted. But he and Clark are brothers in gloryseeking at the expense of other people's lives.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks at May 22, 2016 10:51 AM (Nwg0u)

139 just a note that a shakespeare first folio is coming up at christie's, london on wednesday. included in the sale are a second, third and fourth folio as well.

Posted by: musical jolly chimp at May 22, 2016 10:54 AM (WTSFk)

140 I oftentimes judge an author, in part, by his exposition. Expositions are necessary but difficult because they are often boring, forced, or not credible. This book has a great exposition. A train is viewed from afar as it chugs its way across an idyllic forested landscape but is then revealed to contain Jews, Gypsies, and other unworthy life on its way to the extermination camp at Birkenau. Once there, a routine gassing becomes extraordinary when one of the condemned survives the Zyklon B, kills a number of the killers in bursting out of the gas chamber, and reveals himself to be a werewolf, now angry and at large in the heart of the Reich. What follows is a desperate pursuit by various factions, each with its own purpose, through Nazi-occupied Poland.

This is an exciting and involving thriller unfortunately marred by a number of editorial errors. It is clear the author did much research in creating a credible (but for the werewolf) WWII Poland and the reader may even learn a thing or two amongst the carnage. Highly recommended.

The above is the review I posted on Amazon. I hope it encourages people to read this book.

Incidentally, one of my peculiarities is my obsession to find the right music to listen to while reading. The albums I found for this book are, first and foremost, Gypsy Caravan by Russki guitarist Andrei Krylov, and also Brahms' Hungarian Dances and Waltzes played by Idil Biret.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks at May 22, 2016 10:54 AM (Nwg0u)

141 DiscWorld books are so good, it's so sad to see what happened to such a witty funny mind.
Posted by: Patrick From Ohio at May 22, 2016 10:49 AM (c4yY7)

Pratchett wrote in one of his books that the gods found humor in making a towering musical genius deaf, not understanding that it would not keep him from hearing the music, but from hearing the distractions.

Posted by: Kindltot at May 22, 2016 10:54 AM (ry34m)

142 the left never does, never moves on, never sleeps, and is corrosive as rust.

Progressive! Like Cancer.

Posted by: Forward! at May 22, 2016 10:55 AM (jO7js)

143 I haven't read any of Cain's books but I've seen all three films and they were great, if a bit grim.

There's no banter, no wisecracks, and nary a character beat for the sake of character dimensionality. Would Nick or anyone else in 'Mutiny' read Three Men in a Boat, play cribbage, build a still, or make the thickest malts in town? Only if it had plot utility later.

There's a modern push authors are taught in writing groups, writing classes, and writing books which says pare everything down to the absolute minimum, make it read fast, and kill everyone.

This idea or writing pares everything down to bare bones and while it reads quickly and pleases most reviewers is very spare and cold. The plot is not the only purpose of writing, you've also got to develop the characters and set the scene. The current style and push for writing is to get things over with as quickly as possible, but that's just not a very pleasant reading experience in my opinion.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at May 22, 2016 10:56 AM (39g3+)

144 Currently reading Robert Spencer's 'Did Mohammed Exist?' This might seem like an odd question if you've only a casual familiarity with the history but it turns out to be quite valid. For a guy who was conquering a substantial territory held by literate peoples, there is remarkably nothing at all surviving today written by a witness to these events or even recounting what news he'd heard from far away. Further, Islam itself, and the Koran, don't appear to have been much known during Mohammed's supposed lifetime.

Nearly all of the really concrete stuff seems to appear out of thin air nearly a century after the events, with many stories having competing versions depending on the alignment of the teller. Other oddities abound, such as miracles being regarded as non-existent in the Koran but the Hadiths depicting Mohammed as doing miracles frequently. It really looks like much of the basis of Islam regarded as history is simply fiction created to maintain the hold on the lands the Arabs had conquered.

Posted by: Epobirs at May 22, 2016 10:57 AM (IdCqF)

145 I am reading "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari.
I picked it up to read on a cross country flight home, and am still whittling away at it. Quite a span of topics, I thought it would be mostly anthropology, but it delves in to philosophy, religion, economics, warfare, and all manner of topics human.
I wish I had an opinion on it to share, but I am only halfway thru it.

Posted by: navybrat at May 22, 2016 10:57 AM (w7KSn)

146 I had the Kindle Unlimited since I started, but have to figure out how to get rid of it now I'm buying books outright. It is a good deal as long as your reading them, and there are loads of material on it.

Posted by: Skip at May 22, 2016 10:57 AM (3wHFl)

147 Steve Sailer made a good point that Heinlein wrote three books that were extremely popular with three different groups. A Stranger in a Strange Land was the hippie, counter cultural, free love book. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress is your libertarian book. Starship Troopers is your conservative book. His 50's stuff is great. His 60's books are hit and miss. The 70's and beyond I don't care for at all.

Posted by: WOPR - Nationalist at May 22, 2016 10:58 AM (d75NC)

148
There's a modern push authors are taught in writing groups, writing
classes, and writing books which says pare everything down to the
absolute minimum, make it read fast, and kill everyone.
=====

StrunkWhite -- Omit unnecessary words. Taken to the ultimate illogical conclusion.

Posted by: mustbequantum at May 22, 2016 11:00 AM (MIKMs)

149
Another person the leftys loved to slander was Julius Rosenberg's cellie. He told the FBI that Julius bragged about having documents taken from a safe, brought to an apt in NYC, where about 6 of them worked non stop for 3 days over a holiday weekend photographing them before they were placed back. This was verified in Venona and by Usdin's interviews with one of the parties. Leftards argued that no way would Rosenberg confide in his cellmate. Well, Julius was an obnoxious braggart. He was not a slight man and would often physically threaten people. But of course, to this day he is depicted as this milquetoast.

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at May 22, 2016 11:00 AM (iQIUe)

150 Another series like Forester and O'Brien's is Dudley Pope' Lord Ramage.

They're okay, but he's not in the class of Forrester nor yet O'Brien as an author. I found Ramage's books were okay in small doses but not something you devour one after another.

Dan Parkinson, Julian Stockwin, Richard Woodman, Adam Hardy, S. Thomas Russell, and Alexander Kent.

Dewey Lambdin's books would be good, but he's just got wayyy too much, too graphic sex for my taste in his books. The first book starts out with an extended scene of the main character having sex with his sister and it just goes on from there. If an editor hacked all those scenes out to "fade to black" or just mentions, they'd be terrific books.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at May 22, 2016 11:01 AM (39g3+)

151 139 just a note that a shakespeare first folio is coming up at christie's, london on wednesday. included in the sale are a second, third and fourth folio as well.
Posted by: musical jolly chimp at May 22, 2016 10:54 AM (WTSFk)

*looks at balance in checking account*

Nope.

Posted by: rickl at May 22, 2016 11:02 AM (sdi6R)

152 Article: "Goodreads Is Finally Cashing in on Its Devoted Community"

http://goo.gl/GzcI7X

The more you read, and the more you track what you read, the more your choices begin to fill in the complex sketch of who you are. There's a reason why, when we visit people's homes, we almost always look at their shelves: the spines there are an intimate inventory of their experiences. Yet, before Goodreads, and apps like it, our reading habits were largely private; we put our books inside our purses and bags once we stepped off the subway, kept them close in cafes. For those of us with e-readers, our habits were even more anonymous; book covers are no longer billboards. (You're welcome, everyone who read Fifty Shades.) That privacy came with a price. Unless you were in a book club, you were likely deprived of discussing your latest read.

Posted by: doug at May 22, 2016 11:02 AM (iB7u1)

153 Naomi Novik has a fantasy series about the Brit Navy/Air Force set in alternate Napoleonic Wars. Temeraire is the dragon.

Posted by: mustbequantum at May 22, 2016 10:51 AM (MIKMs)

I take it the first book is MAJESTY'S DRAGON

Posted by: Patrick From Ohio at May 22, 2016 11:03 AM (c4yY7)

154 Start with "One Day in The Life of Ivan Denisovitch."

That is a good book, and its short, I recommend it. I even got a few dates out of it. A girlfriend of one of my room mates came in with her friends and one borrowed the book. I'm reasonably sure she never read it, just did it to see me again later. Where women learn all these tricks I can only speculate, like from magazines or something.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at May 22, 2016 11:05 AM (39g3+)

155 I take it the first book is MAJESTY'S DRAGON Posted by: Patrick From Ohio at May 22, 2016 11:03 AM (c4yY7)
=====

Yes. I recommend that series to parents of boys because my kids liked them and then we segued into 'alternate history' discussions.

Posted by: mustbequantum at May 22, 2016 11:06 AM (MIKMs)

156 124 ... Kindltot, Thanks for the descriptions of how O'Brian, Forester, and Pope approach their stories. I actually have the first Ramage book but never got around to reading it. Another reason to get rid of TV. I believe 99 percent of what is on softens the brain, or at least mine. Too many wonderful books to read, hobbies to pursue, and taking the time to exercise. I want retirement to be about fun and improvement, not letting my mind and body turn to bland pudding.

Posted by: JTB at May 22, 2016 11:08 AM (V+03K)

157 Well, Julius was an obnoxious braggart. He was not a slight man and would often physically threaten people. But of course, to this day he is depicted as this milquetoast.

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at May 22, 2016 11:00 AM (iQIUe)

I'm still waiting for the leftards to come out with a Hollywood biopic about the Rosenbergs and how they were unjustly persecuted. And for that matter, a movie that exonerates Hiss.

That's what they were doing last year when they released that biopic about the rat bastard commie screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, but I don't think it did too well at the box office.

Posted by: OregonMuse at May 22, 2016 11:09 AM (IYUoZ)

158 Does anyone know if O'Brian intended a series from the start?

O'Brien had written several historical sea novels in the past (worth reading) and was approached by his publisher to do a series like Hornblower. That was the gold standard at the time: you compared all sea novels to the Hornblower books - for good reason - and they wanted to tap into that interest. So yeah, it was always meant to be a series.

Later, O'Brien mentioned he wished he'd started them earlier, as younger men.

The thing people don't always see is that the Aubrey-Maturin books are not actually about sea battles or history, they're about two friends living in those times.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at May 22, 2016 11:11 AM (39g3+)

159
Now, this is setting up a scene:

There was a desert wind blowing that night. It was one of those hot dry Santa Anas that come down through the mountain passes and curl your hair and make your nerves jump and your skin itch. On nights like that every booze party ends in a fight. Meek little wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husbands' necks. Anything can happen. You can even get a full glass of beer at a cocktail lounge. ~~ Raymond Chandler, "Red Wind"

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at May 22, 2016 11:12 AM (iQIUe)

160
That's what they were doing last year when they released that biopic about the rat bastard commie screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, but I don't think it did too well at the box office.
Posted by: OregonMuse at May 22, 2016 11:09 AM (IYUoZ)

====================

They really slandered Edward G. Robinson in that film.

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at May 22, 2016 11:14 AM (iQIUe)

161 Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at May 22, 2016 11:12 AM (iQIUe)
***
The man had a gift for narration, no denying.

Posted by: Your Decidedly Devious Uncle Palpatine, Still Accepting Harem Applicants at May 22, 2016 11:16 AM (lutOX)

162 Ah, Chandler. One of my favorite writers, and underrated as an author. People love his books and the whole noir detective, but not many realize how good he was just as an author.

I'm currently reading Mary Poppins, which I'd never actually read as a kid. The movie was remarkably close to the book (except she's not as likable in the book, more a spinster and trickster).

Also re-reading World of Tiers by Phillip Jose Farmer. That's a book I read in high school and hadn't gotten back to. Its breezy pulpy stuff but fun and creative. Farmer spends more time than I remembered explaining everything as if he's in a room and people are bringing up objections, which is slightly tedious but not overly so.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at May 22, 2016 11:16 AM (39g3+)

163 They really slandered Edward G. Robinson in that film.

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at May 22, 2016 11:14 AM (iQIUe)

Groan. What did they say?

I've heard nothing but good things about Edward G; he was the nicest guy you'd ever want to meet.

Posted by: OregonMuse at May 22, 2016 11:16 AM (IYUoZ)

164 Finally finished "A Box of Sand" about the Italian-Ottoman War. Now looking for the next book to read. Should I continue my timeline order reading of the Star Wars novels, or another military history book about some obscure conflict?

Posted by: Josephistan at May 22, 2016 11:16 AM (7qAYi)

165 Speaking of dystopian apocalyptic novels this one came n from Bookbub today.

http://amzn.to/1TsqX8B

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at May 22, 2016 11:18 AM (vvmPQ)

166 I've been sitting on an Alger Hiss/Rosenberg post for my blog for a long time for the Common Knowledge series, but I haven't written anything because for crying out loud, they were so blatantly obvious as spies and the Soviets admitted they were. Maybe I should pull out the info and get to it some time.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at May 22, 2016 11:18 AM (39g3+)

167
StrunkWhite -- Omit unnecessary words. Taken to the ultimate illogical conclusion.
Posted by: mustbequantum at May 22, 2016 11:00 AM (MIKMs)

The key word there is "unnecessary". If he helps set the scene or define the character, then it probably isn't unnecessary.

Posted by: Colorado Alex at May 22, 2016 11:18 AM (fC9RO)

168 50
based on lucky numbers in his pajamas in the
morning

Inspected by 8?

Posted by: Anachronda at May 22, 2016 11:21 AM (Oi5b2)

169 I read PRINCE OF THORNS, it starts out with the main Character raping a farm girl, it was trying to be like Game of Thrones but with no redeeming qualities for any character. The Prince runs of with some mercenaries because his Mother and little brother are assassinated by his Father's enemies and the Father/King does nothing about it and supposedly the Prince is going after revenge. I just could not root for the main Character.

Now I did enjoy "the red knight by miles cameron" where a Hired Knight protects an Abby from Monsters.
The ony thing I didn't like was the Red Knight hated or is an Atheist, and it brought up again and again, yeah I get it. Anytime you have magic and not believe in God or gods is stupid in my opinion.

Posted by: Patrick From Ohio at May 22, 2016 11:22 AM (c4yY7)

170 Re bookstores, maybe emphasizing children's books is the way to go. They like to hold them in their hands (like I still do) and look at pictures and have story ladies read to them in the store.

I talked to the kid at the Barnes Noble cafe yesterday, and he says he hasn't heard anything about them closing. Which I like. They have good (Starbucks) espresso and real, fatty, sugary pastry! And I like roaming around finding interesting books. So for me it's a win-win.

Posted by: PJ at May 22, 2016 11:22 AM (cHuNI)

171 Groan. What did they say?

I've heard nothing but good things about Edward G; he was the nicest guy you'd ever want to meet.
Posted by: OregonMuse at May 22, 2016 11:16 AM (IYUoZ)

===============
Obviously, Robinson was a lefty and donated to lefty causes and to their defense. While the film includes this, they also portray him as a "traitor" for later cooperating with the committee.

As to Robinson's character - a friend who attended UCLA was approached by Robinson one night who asked for directions to the art museum. Since the directions were confusing and it was so dark, my friend walked him to the museum. Robinson made pleasant conversation asking him about school and his plans for his life. Before they parted he gave my friend $50 which was a lot of money back then and a big help.

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at May 22, 2016 11:23 AM (iQIUe)

172 it was trying to be like Game of Thrones but with no redeeming qualities for any character.

So, just Game of Thrones, then.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at May 22, 2016 11:24 AM (39g3+)

173 Posted by: Colorado Alex at May 22, 2016 11:18 AM (fC9RO)
***
Then, there's authors like Faulkner, whose work I simply worship.....

But part of reading him is giving yourself over to the flow of words, to surrendering to the narration of those 'baffled, querulous ghosts, stubbornly looking backward'....

Posted by: Your Decidedly Devious Uncle Palpatine, Still Accepting Harem Applicants at May 22, 2016 11:24 AM (lutOX)

174 I read Brad Meltzer's Book of Lies this week. It's a DaVinci Code-type thriller, except the Maguffin is even more far-fetched, but I was looking for some escape fiction and this fit the bill. At Meltzer's website he has music suggestions of what to listen to as you're reading the book, which I didn't do.

Now I'm reading Three Hands in the Fountain, a Marcus Didius Falco mystery. Someone else has mentioned this series before - Falco is an old-school private eye during the Roman Empire. It's a good series that I've been reading off-an-on for years.

Posted by: biancaneve at May 22, 2016 11:25 AM (sjq9T)

175 But part of reading him is giving yourself over to the flow of words, to surrendering to the narration of those 'baffled, querulous ghosts, stubbornly looking backward'....

Yes. The story itself is only part of the pleasure. The feel of the words matters as well. It's why Tolkien is still popular, IMHO. The stories were very well written.

Give me a plain story told well over any number of poorly-written attempts to be clever in world-building.

Posted by: Colorado Alex at May 22, 2016 11:28 AM (fC9RO)

176
The Rosenberg documentary from the 70s Zombie and I were laughing about, includes an interview with physicist Philip Morrison. Morrison had been a cp member but had quit. He worked on the Manhattan Project. He lectured on the dangers of he a-bomb and how what the Rosenbergs provided to the kgb did not help the ruskies. Years later, he told an author that he made sure that he never claimed that the Rosenergs were innocent and that the material provided to the ruskies did provide valuable information to them.

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at May 22, 2016 11:29 AM (iQIUe)

177 I posted a (long) review of Hallow Mass, so now I'm waiting for Amazon to see it through. I decided it was a satire (of academia) and gave it 4/5. Good Horde reading-material.

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at May 22, 2016 11:29 AM (6FqZa)

178 I'm part of several online writing groups and there are more than a few young fantasy authors that spend almost their entire time worldbuilding rather than writing. That's what took Tolkien so long to finish his books: he was busy building his world down to the last glottal stop in his languages.

You only need enough world to tell your story. You can make it up as you go along, as long as its consistent and does not offend your reader's suspension of disbelief.

Of course, my fantasy books are set in the gaming world I created in the 80s and have been running and building since then so I can't really criticize them too much. I just have been writing about it for gaming rather than fiction.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at May 22, 2016 11:31 AM (39g3+)

179 Why does anyone take "newly released KGB files" at face value?

Posted by: Monsieur Moo Moo at May 22, 2016 11:31 AM (0LHZx)

180 Now I'm reading Three Hands in the Fountain, a
Marcus Didius Falco mystery. Someone else has mentioned this series
before - Falco is an old-school private eye during the Roman Empire.
It's a good series that I've been reading off-an-on for years. Posted by: biancaneve at May 22, 2016 11:25 AM (sjq9T)
=====

Another 'Roman' detective series that is really good is Gordianus the Finder by Saylor.

Posted by: mustbequantum at May 22, 2016 11:31 AM (MIKMs)

181 edward g. robinson - a great and underrated actor. his humanity shines in every role, even the gangsters.

he was also a great art collector with a great eye. he put together one of the foremost collections of impressionist and post-impressionist art. his wife divorced him forcing him to sell. tragic.

Posted by: musical jolly chimp at May 22, 2016 11:31 AM (WTSFk)

182 It's amusing to me that Amazon doesn't get near the hate places like WalMart did, yet they really have destroyed mom and pop type retail (really all retail) far more than any other big box store.

Some companies just have that tribal affiliation that protects them.

Posted by: Yule at May 22, 2016 11:33 AM (ycC/D)

183 My sister and I were discussing the Vox article in the sidebar about the guy who can't visualize anything. What's the point of reading?

I know there are people who are better visualizers than I am because when I read I wouldn't say it's exactly like a movie in my head, but I definitely picture something. I rarely put faces on people, but I'm very good at visualizing their movements through space when the author includes that. I loved reading Ian Rankin's Inspector Rebus series because he is so good about describing where in Edinburgh Rebus is going, and even though I've only visited Edinburgh twice as a tourist, it's a city I can visualize very well. Same for Cara Black's Aimee Leduc series - when Aimee moves around the city, I know exactly where she's going. And I find myself going back and rereading passages when the author seems to have gotten it wrong - a character walks down the street and turns left when I intuitively feel that she should have turned right based on previous narrative and description. (And I'm convinced that sometimes the author just gets it wrong and the characters movements don't make sense.)

What do you see in your mind when you read a book?

Posted by: biancaneve at May 22, 2016 11:33 AM (sjq9T)

184 At Meltzer's website he has music suggestions of what to listen to as you're reading the book, which I didn't do.

I like that kind of thing. All of Ace Atkins' books are steeped in music - good music - and you can listen as you go along which does help. He listens to the music he mentions as he writes, so you can get into the same mood as him, to some degree.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at May 22, 2016 11:35 AM (39g3+)

185 It's amusing to me that Amazon doesn't get near the hate places like WalMart did, yet they really have destroyed mom and pop type retail (really all retail) far more than any other big box store.

_____

Oh the hate is there. See NY Times article on how eeeeevil their employee practices are. Get this, they make their employees work hard and exchange pay them a fuck ton of money. The bastards!!

But just reading the left's reaction to that article, you'd think Amazon was bringing back the slave trade.

Posted by: Monsieur Moo Moo at May 22, 2016 11:35 AM (0LHZx)

186 111
"And how we burned in the camps later, thinking: What would things have been like if every security operative, when he went out at night to make an arrest, had been uncertain whether he would return alive and had to say goodbye to his family? Or if, during periods of mass arrests, as for example in Leningrad, when they arrested a quarter of the entire city, people had not simply sat there in their lairs, paling with terror at every bang of the downstairs door and at every step on the staircase, but had understood they had nothing left to lose and had boldly set up in the downstairs hall an ambush of half a dozen people with axes, hammers, pokers, or whatever else was at hand? After all, you knew ahead of time that those bluecaps were out at night for no good purpose. And you could be sure ahead of time that you'd be cracking the skull of a cutthroat."

~Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago 1918-1956
Posted by: Hrothgar at May 22, 2016 10:33 AM (wYnyS)

I haven't read the book so I can't verify it, but in the version of that quote I have seen, the last sentence is "We purely and simply deserved everything that happened afterward".

We Americans need to take this entire passage to heart. The Russian people of the 1930s had no idea what was happening to them. Today, we have no such excuse. We have many examples of history before us. If we allow ourselves to be disarmed by the government, then we will purely and simply deserve everything that happens afterward.

Posted by: rickl at May 22, 2016 11:36 AM (sdi6R)

187 I am reading "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari.

-
I don't trust those bastards.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks at May 22, 2016 11:36 AM (Nwg0u)

188
179 Why does anyone take "newly released KGB files" at face value?
Posted by: Monsieur Moo Moo at May 22, 2016 11:31 AM (0LHZx)
===========
They dont. But when it confirms other info gathered from numerous sources, it is additional evidence.

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at May 22, 2016 11:36 AM (iQIUe)

189 52, Pablo D:
Concerning One Second After. Don't bother. Doesn't come close to Lucifer's Hammer in any way, shape or form.

Posted by: Bookaday at May 22, 2016 11:37 AM (xg1NR)

190 Oh the hate is there. See NY Times article on how eeeeevil their employee practices are. Get this, they make their employees work hard and exchange pay them a fuck ton of money. The bastards!!

But just reading the left's reaction to that article, you'd think Amazon was bringing back the slave trade.

Posted by: Monsieur Moo Moo

Still nowhere near the hate WalMart brings. I have yet to see an anti-Amazon bumper sticker. My batshit crazy relative had one for WalMart.

Also, when Amazon opens a distribution center, rose petals are thrown down at their feet by the local government.

When WalMart opens a store, in most parts of the country its an epic battle.

Posted by: Yule at May 22, 2016 11:38 AM (ycC/D)

191 We Americans need to take this entire passage to heart. The Russian people of the 1930s had no idea what was happening to them. Today, we have no such excuse. We have many examples of history before us. If we allow ourselves to be disarmed by the government, then we will purely and simply deserve everything that happens afterward.
Posted by: rickl at May 22, 2016 11:36 AM (sdi6R)

___

Not the hill to die on.

Posted by: Mitch McConnell at May 22, 2016 11:38 AM (0LHZx)

192 The most moving story I have heard about Edward G. Robinson was related by Charlton Heston about the movie they made together Soylent Green. He said that when they made the movie everyone knew that Robinson was dieing and he was having a hard time choking his lines out because Robinson was a good friend of his.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at May 22, 2016 11:38 AM (vvmPQ)

193 The guy in the dress walking into the bookstore could have at least worn a wig.

Geez.

Posted by: Meremortal, oh yeah at May 22, 2016 11:40 AM (3myMJ)

194 My sister and I were discussing the Vox article in the sidebar about the guy who can't visualize anything. What's the point of reading?

He's treating his lack of visualizing things as some kind of crippling malady, when its just a different way of looking at things. He doesn't see images of things he reads, so? I tend to conceptualize rather than visualize things. Someone says brown dog and I get an intellectual concept of a dog with brown fur, not a picture in my head. Either way has advantages, and drawbacks.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at May 22, 2016 11:41 AM (39g3+)

195
Any time I hear the phrase anti fascist I think commie.

The term "premature anti-fascist" is even a bigger hoot!

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at May 22, 2016 11:41 AM (iQIUe)

196 Still nowhere near the hate WalMart brings. I have yet to see an anti-Amazon bumper sticker. My batshit crazy relative had one for WalMart.

Also, when Amazon opens a distribution center, rose petals are thrown down at their feet by the local government.

When WalMart opens a store, in most parts of the country its an epic battle.

Posted by: Yule at May 22, 2016 11:38 AM (ycC/D)

_____

You're right. The level of hatred is definitely not the same. But it is there, even if not as loud. The new boogeyman for lefties is 1 hour delivery. Why? Cuz mother gaia suffers with all those trucks delivering things so fast.

Posted by: Monsieur Moo Moo at May 22, 2016 11:41 AM (0LHZx)

197 The Mary Poppins author was a Monster in real life, she adopted a boy, he was a twin that she was supposed to adopt both but she thought 2 boys was too much work. Told the boy his Father was dead and treated him like an accessory. One day his brother shows up who looks exactly like him. Also she hated Disney and put in her will that NO. AMERICAN could work on the plays

Posted by: Patrick From Ohio at May 22, 2016 11:42 AM (c4yY7)

198 I read Brad Meltzer's Book of Lies this week. It's a DaVinci Code-type thriller, except the Maguffin is even more far-fetched,

-
I read that some time ago and liked it. One word, I don't know if an ebook has the illustrations but you really need them to understand what is going on.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks at May 22, 2016 11:44 AM (Nwg0u)

199 197 The Mary Poppins author was a Monster in real life, she adopted a boy, he was a twin that she was supposed to adopt both but she thought 2 boys was too much work. Told the boy his Father was dead and treated him like an accessory. One day his brother shows up who looks exactly like him. Also she hated Disney and put in her will that NO. AMERICAN could work on the plays
Posted by: Patrick From Ohio at May 22, 2016 11:42 AM (c4yY7)

____

So basically one of us.

Posted by: Hollywood at May 22, 2016 11:44 AM (0LHZx)

200 Sorry, if anyone brought this up already, but this Hiss-lovin' Nixon-loathin' History-lyin' author Joan Brady has a twitter acct @JoanBradyAuthor where SHE premarkets the book as 'America's Dreyfus.' So there may be some lack of communication w/Amazon.

Oh, and don't let her avatar fool you, she's an old chick, not a dude.

I'm tempted to go troll her on twitter...Just a little bit...

Posted by: JewishOdysseus at May 22, 2016 11:45 AM (+O9YB)

201 172 it was trying to be like Game of Thrones but with no redeeming qualities for any character.

So, just Game of Thrones, then.
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at May 22, 2016 11:24 AM (39g3+)

I like the Midget and think he's the only good Character in the book.

Posted by: Patrick From Ohio at May 22, 2016 11:45 AM (c4yY7)

202 Posted by: JewishOdysseus at May 22, 2016 11:45 AM (+O9YB)

===============
There is also a youtube video on it that is absolutely content free.

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at May 22, 2016 11:47 AM (iQIUe)

203 This bears repeating and keeping in mind.

"And how we burned in the camps later, thinking: What would things have been like if every security operative, when he went out at night to make an arrest, had been uncertain whether he would return alive and had to say goodbye to his family? Or if, during periods of mass arrests, as for example in Leningrad, when they arrested a quarter of the entire city, people had not simply sat there in their lairs, paling with terror at every bang of the downstairs door and at every step on the staircase, but had understood they had nothing left to lose and had boldly set up in the downstairs hall an ambush of half a dozen people with axes, hammers, pokers, or whatever else was at hand? After all, you knew ahead of time that those bluecaps were out at night for no good purpose. And you could be sure ahead of time that you'd be cracking the skull of a cutthroat."

Do not go quietly. Do not go alone. Do not give in. Do not assume you're all alone. Do not sit by as it happens to others. Do realize that the public outnubmers law enforcement by like 100:1 or more.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at May 22, 2016 11:49 AM (39g3+)

204 guy who can't visualize anything. What's the point of reading?

-
There's an easy diagnostic test. Read this: Kate Upton on a trampoline. Now check your peter meter. If it's at attention, you're normal.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks at May 22, 2016 11:49 AM (Nwg0u)

205 I'm still waiting for the leftards to come out with a Hollywood biopic about the Rosenbergs and how they were unjustly persecuted. And for that matter, a movie that exonerates Hiss.

That's what they were doing last year when they released that biopic about the rat bastard commie screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, but I don't think it did too well at the box office.
Posted by: OregonMuse at May 22, 2016 11:09 AM (IYUoZ)

As much as the culture warriors like to believe they are on the cutting edge, really, they're rather cowardly. Every biopic we see from the commie era today has at least a hint of "but we wuz framed!" angle to it.

Where were those films 30 years ago, when the west was actually fighting this stuff? Nowhere, that's where. They waited until a generation would not know anything about this stuff, and would swallow the lies.

In our lifetimes, everything is going to be re-written. The left is going to re-write it all.

Posted by: BurtTC at May 22, 2016 11:49 AM (Dj0WE)

206 Man, I love the book thread.

Posted by: Kerry Lawson at May 22, 2016 11:49 AM (Pby3z)

207 Hahaa, checked JoanBrady's twitter feed, she has a great endorsement from a 'SECRETARY OF STATE' for her book!

Of course, this SoS ClareShort has nothing to do with the US Dept of State, but is a Brit pol/bureaucrat...Just a coincidence that the blurb had to cut THAT out...

Maybe the URL will work:

https://twitter.com/JoanBradyAuthor/status/654238997816967169/photo/1

Posted by: JewishOdysseus at May 22, 2016 11:52 AM (+O9YB)

208 I like the Midget and think he's the only good Character in the book.
Posted by: Patrick From Ohio at May 22, 2016 11:45 AM (c4yY7)

The tv show has gotten supremely silly, it's become a cartoon version of itself, but the Starks were supposed to be good. Stupid at times, but good. I think it was always supposed to be so. Now, the characters who are "yes, but..." there are fewer of them than there were.

I thought the tv show did Stannis wrong. He was more misguided than evil. Maybe a touch of evil, but then they had him do the most evil thing imaginable, which justified having him die the way he did. I didn't think that was fair. You can say he was wrong, but he didn't deserve that.

Nor did Mance Rayder deserve to go the way he did. In the book, he didn't, but it was easier for the tv show to get rid of him, I guess.

Posted by: BurtTC at May 22, 2016 11:53 AM (Dj0WE)

209 OM - shape-shifting bears romances

The one I read was HOCKEY-PLAYING shape-shifting bears. The love interest was a shape-shifting honey badger.

Laughed all the way through. Wonderful stuff.

Posted by: mustbequantum at May 22, 2016 11:54 AM (MIKMs)

210 Omit unnecessary words.

-
There was some good Simpsons snark in on episode. ~~The soul of~~ Wit is brevity.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks at May 22, 2016 11:56 AM (Nwg0u)

211 I like the Midget and think he's the only good Character in the book.
Posted by: Patrick From Ohio at May 22, 2016 11:45 AM (c4yY7)

I'm a dwarf, thank you very much.

Posted by: Tyrion Lannister at May 22, 2016 11:57 AM (7qAYi)

212 Kate Upton on a trampoline
--

Nope. Can't see it.

Posted by: Skandia Recluse at May 22, 2016 11:57 AM (xhSVj)

213 The Falco series is great and I love the books
I will give "Gordianus the Finder"

I also like PROMISE OF BLOOD, it a different take on the French Revolution set in a Fantasy world. The PowderMages who consume gunpowder to gain thier Magic They over throw The Currupt King good stuff

Posted by: Patrick From Ohio at May 22, 2016 11:58 AM (c4yY7)

214
Robert J. Lamphere, The FBI-KGB War (1986)

When Duggan's name was mentioned prominently in 1948, other FBI agents questioned him; ten days later he apparently committed suicide by jumping out of a Manhattan hotel window. This death, coupled with the death by heart attack of Harry Dexter White, who had been named before the HUAC by both Bentley and Chambers, and who had been grilled by the committee harshly, incensed many people. I, too, was disturbed by Larry Duggan's death, but wasn't losing any sleep over it because I knew from my work with Hede Massing that he'd been a Soviet spy. I guess that's why I could hardly believe my ears when Duggan's close friend, broadcaster Edward R. Murrow, charged over the airwaves that Duggan had been hounded to his death by the FBI. Murrow made the man seem like a martyr, and acted as if there had been no basis for the FBI's ever having investigated Duggan as a spy. Then I could hardly believe my eyes as I read in the pages of the New York Herald Tribune a poem by Archibald MacLeish that referred in passing to Hiss and Duggan by saying: "God help that country where informers thrive! / Where slander flourishes and lies contrive."

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at May 22, 2016 12:00 PM (iQIUe)

215 Where were those films 30 years ago, when the west was actually fighting this stuff? Nowhere, that's where. They waited until a generation would not know anything about this stuff, and would swallow the lies.

In our lifetimes, everything is going to be re-written. The left is going to re-write it all.
Posted by: BurtTC at May 22, 2016 11:49 AM (Dj0WE)

You just know that they'll make a sympathetic biopic about Johnny bin Walker soon enough.

Posted by: Josephistan at May 22, 2016 12:00 PM (7qAYi)

216
Learn something new every day. The Duggans and the Fields lived in the same building and knew each other. Small world...

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at May 22, 2016 12:01 PM (iQIUe)

217 Amazon has affected small retailers but not necessarily the way you might expect. Used bookstores in Los Angeles county have largely disappeared, reduced to perhaps 10% of their former numbers. I know a few of the proprietors at first heard grumbling about Amazon killing them but then later I'd hear they'd move out of the storefront and into a much less costly warehouse space, so they could sell on Amazon.

One of them told me he'd netted more in the last year from Amazon than they store had brought in for the previous decade.

Posted by: Epobirs at May 22, 2016 12:02 PM (IdCqF)

218 Second try. Brevity is ~~the soul of~~ wit.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks at May 22, 2016 12:02 PM (Nwg0u)

219
Any time I hear the phrase anti fascist I think commie.

Similar to the thugs who call themselves anti racist and go around beating up people.

Posted by: Bertram Cabot Jr. at May 22, 2016 12:04 PM (k4M/B)

220 I haven't read the book so I can't verify it, but in the version of that quote I have seen, the last sentence is "We purely and simply deserved everything that happened afterward".

Posted by: rickl at May 22, 2016 11:36 AM (sdi6R)

Right. That sentence comes at the end of the paragraph that follows. Here's the entire extended passage:

5. And how we burned in the camps later, thinking: What would things have been like if every Security operative, when he went out at night to make an arrest, had been uncertain whether he would return alive and had to say good-bye to his family? Or if, during periods of mass arrests, as for example in Leningrad, when they arrested a quarter of the entire city, people had not simply sat there in their lairs, paling with terror at every bang of the downstairs door and at every step on the staircase, but had understood they had nothing left to lose and had boldly set up in the downstairs hall an ambush of half a dozen people with axes, hammers, pokers, or whatever else was at hand? After all, you knew ahead of time that those bluecaps were out at night for no good purpose. And you could be sure ahead of time that you'd be cracking the skull of a cutthroat. Or what about the Black Maria sitting out there on the street with one lonely chauffeur - what if it had been driven off or its tires spiked? The Organs would very quickly have suffered a shortage of officers and transport and, notwithstanding all of Stalin's thirst, the cursed machine would have ground to a halt!

If... if... We didn't love freedom enough. And even more - we had no awareness of the real situation. We spent ourselves in one unrestrained outburst in 1917, and then we hurried to submit. We submitted with pleasure! (Arthur Ransome describes a workers' meeting in Yaroslavl in 1921. Delegates were sent to the workers from the Central Committee in Moscow to confer on the substance of the argument about trade unions. The representative of the opposition, Y. Larin, explained to the workers that their trade union must be their defense against the administration, that they possessed rights which they had won and upon which no one else had any right to infringe. The workers, however, were completely indifferent, simply not comprehending whom they still needed to be defended against and why they still needed any rights. When the spokesman for the Party line rebuked them for their laziness and for getting out of hand, and demanded sacrifices from them - overtime work without pay, reductions in food, military discipline in the factory administration - this aroused great elation and applause.) We purely and simply deserved everything that happened afterward.

Posted by: OregonMuse at May 22, 2016 12:05 PM (IYUoZ)

221 I read "Bitcoin for the Befuddled". I was impressed beyond my expectations. It's far from a lot of the material out there that endless promotes Bitcoin. If anything, for a book authored by two Bitcoin enthusisists it goes out of its way to acknowledge its shortcomings. Personally, I suspect it's a just another generation of the tulip craze, but the book was definitely still worth my time. Huge amounts of acessible explanations of public key encryption, worth understanding in its own right, as well as more of the formal mathematics than I've seen before, even in textbooks.

I recommend you pick this one up at a library, as it's published by a bunch of lefties from the Bay Area.

Posted by: Yuge at May 22, 2016 12:06 PM (AtJce)

222 You just know that they'll make a sympathetic biopic about Johnny bin Walker soon enough.
Posted by: Josephistan at May 22, 2016 12:00 PM (7qAYi)

===========
He will be getting out sooner than later. Didnt obama release one of Johnny Spahn's murderers early?

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at May 22, 2016 12:06 PM (iQIUe)

223 Edward G. Robinson's love of painting is evident in the excellent film noir "Scarlet Street." I highly recommend it.

Posted by: Josephistan at May 22, 2016 12:06 PM (7qAYi)

224 OT:

1. Favorite curse (ref sidebar): Dew neh loh moh, (Cantonese);

2. Heh: http://tinyurl.com/Red-Band-Sausage-Party-Trailer

3. Can haz midnight thread tonight, to discuss sidebar article on Broglie-Bohm v. Copenhagen theories of quantum physics?

Posted by: Sharkman at May 22, 2016 12:07 PM (CS7jF)

225 "We purely and simply deserved everything that happened afterward".

-
Uh oh. I was hoping we could avoid that.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks at May 22, 2016 12:07 PM (Nwg0u)

226 Amazon has affected small retailers but not necessarily the way you might expect. Used bookstores in Los Angeles county have largely disappeared, reduced to perhaps 10% of their former numbers. I know a few of the proprietors at first heard grumbling about Amazon killing them but then later I'd hear they'd move out of the storefront and into a much less costly warehouse space, so they could sell on Amazon.

One of them told me he'd netted more in the last year from Amazon than they store had brought in for the previous decade.
Posted by: Epobirs at May 22, 2016 12:02 PM (IdCqF)

Yeah, the mom and pop shop, while quaint and useful in its day, is not terribly relevant or efficient today, and the proprietors, while some may have suffered, do so the same way capitalism always causes winners and losers.

If you were once winning, and now you're not, it's time for YOU to change, not the market.

Posted by: BurtTC at May 22, 2016 12:08 PM (Dj0WE)

227 I grew up on the Hornblower series after having been read to bed as a child with Slocum. I have managed to cobble together the entire batch in 1st editions, some signed. It had me well primed to become a fan when O'brien began...it also landed at a time when I was sailing quite a bit. I ended up making arrangements with "The Armchair Sailor" in Sausalito to forward each new edition to me wherever I happened to be and was often the first in any anchorage to have one in hand. They were the most sought after commodity in the cruising world. I eventually started having 2 sent out so I would have one to loan while I was finishing the newest. I was invited to a lot of sundowners and dinners on some much finer vessels as soon as word spread that I had the books. Including that of a Scandinavian King. He got a copy to keep...

Posted by: birddog at May 22, 2016 12:09 PM (pYDR/)

228 "Podkanye of Mars."

Marvelous book.

Makes you want to pick your teeth at some people.

Heinlein was never pornographic in my opinion.

He had his characters mostly have sex offstage.
I think in 666 he had one coupling onstage in a hot tub. I didn't consider it prurient or even sexy.

The issue was taboo sex relations. Example. In Farnham's Freehold a daughter expressed a positive interest in having a child by her father.

A woman I know didn't like Stranger in a Strange Land because she though the women were marginalized as people.

Posted by: reader at May 22, 2016 12:11 PM (CRXed)

229 Anonosaurus Wrecks @ 140 - Title?

Posted by: Butch at May 22, 2016 12:13 PM (hXu8T)

230 Bitcoin reminds me of the South Seas fraud in England. Its nothings worth nothing promoted as valuable by people who "own" them, except there's nothing to own.

One of them told me he'd netted more in the last year from Amazon than they store had brought in for the previous decade.

Yeah, and its a lot cheaper to run an Amazon store than a brick and mortar storefront. Lots of used bookstores open in my town still though. The only bookstores that have closed are the big new book chains.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at May 22, 2016 12:13 PM (39g3+)

231
The issue was taboo sex relations. Example. In Farnham's Freehold a daughter expressed a positive interest in having a child by her father.

Now there's a book that caused a stir.

Posted by: Bertram Cabot Jr. at May 22, 2016 12:13 PM (k4M/B)

232 Still nowhere near the hate WalMart brings. I have yet to see an anti-Amazon bumper sticker. My batshit crazy relative had one for WalMart.

When WalMart opens a store, in most parts of the country its an epic battle.
Posted by: Yule at May 22, 2016 11:38 AM (ycC/D)

Wal-Mart is, or at least used to be, strongly and vocally anti-union. The owners are, or have a reputation for being, somewhat conservative. This is enough explain the difference between the two, I think.

Posted by: OregonMuse at May 22, 2016 12:15 PM (IYUoZ)

233
Incidentally, one of my peculiarities is my obsession to find the right music to listen to while reading. The albums I found for this book are, first and foremost, Gypsy Caravan by Russki guitarist Andrei Krylov, and also Brahms' Hungarian Dances and Waltzes played by Idil Biret.

Curiously, I write in silence because I find it helps me concentrate, but classical and folk music would fit the book quite well, I agree. And thank you so much for your review.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at May 22, 2016 12:17 PM (39g3+)

234 "We purely and simply deserved everything that happened afterward".

-
Uh oh. I was hoping we could avoid that.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks at May 22, 2016 12:07 PM (Nwg0u)

Since we're long quoting, he're Walter Lippmann, c. 1953:

"This revolution appeared to be a cession of power to the representative assemblies, and when it happened it was acclaimed as promising the end of the evils of secret diplomacy and the undemocratic conduct of unpopular wars. In fact, the powers which were ceded by the executive passed through the assemblies, which could not exercise them, to the mass of voters who, though unable also to exercise them, passed them on to the party bosses, the agents of pressure groups, and the magnates of the new media of mass communications. The consequences were disastrous and revolutionary. The democracies became incapacitated to wage war for rational ends and to make a peace which would be observed or could be enforced."

Boom.

Posted by: BurtTC at May 22, 2016 12:18 PM (Dj0WE)

235 Anonosaurus Wrecks @ 140 - Title?

-
Sorry. Our own Christopher Taylor's Life Unworthy.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks at May 22, 2016 12:19 PM (Nwg0u)

236 Oh...as to the mention about Lisa Shuster's book. I recommend it highly. I'm hyper critical because I read so much as well as write a bit, and was prepared to be polite but disappointed when she gave me a copy(I know the family). It was amazingly good. http://matthewdrakellc.com/product/just-as-he-is-right-now/

Posted by: birddog at May 22, 2016 12:19 PM (pYDR/)

237 Since we're long quoting, he're Walter Lippmann, c. 1953:

1953, or today?

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at May 22, 2016 12:21 PM (39g3+)

238 About Alger Hiss et al...

The Horde should read "Witness," by Whittaker Chambers - the man is a talented author, for one thing, for another, it talks about a piece of American history we're never taught (the 30's and the network of Soviet spies and sympathizers), and it's full of some amazing vignettes:

Like when he's talking to his Soviet handler, a ruthless old Bolshevik who tells him "If you ever have to be in a civil war, you want to be on an armored train. It's the only way to travel," and who is also capable, when a sudden eclipse of the sun makes the birds start singing, to turn to Whit and ask "The little creatures, I wonder what they make of it?"

Posted by: Your Decidedly Devious Uncle Palpatine, Still Accepting Harem Applicants at May 22, 2016 12:23 PM (lutOX)

239 Reader @ 228 - My yuck meter pegged in "Time Enough for Love" when the time traveling immortal protagonist blinked his own mom.

Posted by: Butch at May 22, 2016 12:23 PM (hXu8T)

240 In other news, the Rosenbergs are still guilty...and, uh, dead.

Posted by: furious at May 22, 2016 12:24 PM (8lw4l)

241 Or his recounting the fondness of the Soviets here in the states for shopping at the five-and-dime stores, amazed at the variety and the low prices of even the most trivial items....

Posted by: Your Decidedly Devious Uncle Palpatine, Still Accepting Harem Applicants at May 22, 2016 12:24 PM (lutOX)

242 Since we're long quoting, he're Walter Lippmann, c. 1953:

1953, or today?
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at May 22, 2016 12:21 PM (39g3+)

Excuse my typo. That was him writing in 1953. This is me saying, yep, that's us today.

Posted by: BurtTC at May 22, 2016 12:24 PM (Dj0WE)

243 What bothers me is how obvious some of these spies were, how blatant and sloppy they got, and still got away with it. Kim Philby practically ran around waving a huge Soviet Flag singing the anthem and was ignored because of his history, class status, and how deeply he was in with the old boys. Why burning him would make us all look bad, don't you know.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at May 22, 2016 12:24 PM (39g3+)

244 "If you ever have to be in a civil war, you want to be on an armored train. It's the only way to travel,"

His handler was Strelnikov?

Posted by: furious at May 22, 2016 12:25 PM (8lw4l)

245
"If you ever have to be in a civil war, you want to be on an armored train. It's the only way to travel"

High speed MONORAIL!

Posted by: Bertram Cabot Jr. at May 22, 2016 12:27 PM (k4M/B)

246 the Hiss book reminded me of something I read 20-30 years ago.

"I the Rosenbergs returned from heaven/hell and confessed their guilt, their supporters would still declare them to be innocent.

Posted by: Avi at May 22, 2016 12:27 PM (fijdj)

247 Posted by: Christopher Taylor at May 22, 2016 12:24 PM (39g3+)
**
Of course, ivan burned a lot of would-be agents. Old friend of mine was in the navy in the 80's and told about how some jackass had swiped a copy of some electronic warfare equipment's technical maintenance guide and other stuff and walked right up to the gate at the Soviet embassy in, San Fran, I think it was.

he told the guard why he was there and showed what he had. The guard asked the man to wait for a few minutes while he made some phone calls.

Dude called the FBI, naval intelligence, and the local PD.

Posted by: Your Decidedly Devious Uncle Palpatine, Still Accepting Harem Applicants at May 22, 2016 12:27 PM (lutOX)

248 Nixon you magnificent bastard! Who knew that a relatively junior Commie hating congress critter from California could surreptitiously slip phony documents bearing Alger Hiss's forged signature into the KGB files in Moscow--and still make it back home for dinner with Pat and the kids at night? And all this before the invention of the supersonic jet liner. Ol' Tricky Dickie really had something up his sleeve now didn't he?

As for Alger Hiss he is (A) still guilty; and (B) still striped pants tea sipping State Department scum.

Posted by: Comanche Voter at May 22, 2016 12:27 PM (Sda6L)

249 I clicked the link to the "Perjury" book and Amazon told me I purchased it 5 years ago. Hmmm. another book to look for in my accumulation.

Posted by: John Pomeroy at May 22, 2016 12:27 PM (fdzyE)

250 My yuck meter pegged in "Time Enough for Love" when the time traveling immortal protagonist blinked his own mom.

I think that theme - mom and son - was what made Back to the Future so compelling and effective. She was so hot, and yet... ewwwwwww!!!! It really toyed with the audience's feelings and reactions and was so effective. Plus, it gave Michael J Fox lots to work with and react to. Despite his politics, Fox really is a terrific comedic actors, its too bad he's pretty much out of the game.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at May 22, 2016 12:28 PM (39g3+)

251 His handler was Strelnikov?
Posted by: furious at May 22, 2016 12:25 PM (8lw4l)
***
ha!

I think that's good common sense advice all around, don't you?

Posted by: Your Decidedly Devious Uncle Palpatine, Still Accepting Harem Applicants at May 22, 2016 12:28 PM (lutOX)

252 His handler was Strelnikov?

Posted by: furious at May 22, 2016 12:25 PM (8lw4l)

Heh. Beat me to it.

Posted by: OregonMuse at May 22, 2016 12:29 PM (IYUoZ)

253 Didn't catch the recommendation for "Mildred Pierce" on the first reading of the post. It is a great book. I live in Glendale California where the action is set. I like to walk and I go through the neighborhoods of modest homes in Glendale where the action is set in the late 20s and 30's. The book is definitely worth a read. I've not yet seen the movie, but I suspect I can call it up on either Amazon or Netflix.

Posted by: Comanche Voter at May 22, 2016 12:31 PM (Sda6L)

254 241 Or his recounting the fondness of the Soviets here in the states for shopping at the five-and-dime stores, amazed at the variety and the low prices of even the most trivial items....
Posted by: Your Decidedly Devious Uncle Palpatine, Still Accepting Harem Applicants at May 22, 2016 12:24 PM (lutOX)

"You don't necessarily need a choice of 23 underarm spray deodorants or of 18 different pairs of sneakers when children are hungry in this country."

Posted by: Bernie Sanders at May 22, 2016 12:31 PM (7qAYi)

255 I clicked the link to the "Perjury" book and Amazon told me I purchased it 5 years ago. Hmmm. another book to look for in my accumulation.
Posted by: John Pomeroy at May 22, 2016 12:27 PM (fdzyE)

Heh. I hate it when that happens.

But yes, find it. Well worth the read.

Posted by: BurtTC at May 22, 2016 12:32 PM (Dj0WE)

256 My yuck meter pegged in "Time Enough for Love" when the time traveling immortal protagonist blinked his own mom.

Posted by: Butch

Well, his mom was a red head (ginger) and Lazarus Long was over 2000 years old at the time (when he traveled back to 1916).

It wasn't quite Oedipal; he knew it was his Mom, but she had no idea that it was her son. Lazarus Long had sex with about anything that moved, over the centuries. So I can see how the realism of the situation could turn your stomach (just kidding).

What's a fella to do, anyways, when you're stuck in Kansas City in 1916?

Posted by: Bossy Conservative...pondering the future at May 22, 2016 12:33 PM (RFeQD)

257 Dude called the FBI, naval intelligence, and the local PD.

Well, he's probably trained to do that because double agents and quid pro quo and all that. But, hilarious.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at May 22, 2016 12:34 PM (39g3+)

258 Alexandr Ulanovsky was his name.

"Bob," he used to say to me, "if there ever is a revolution in North America, get yourself an armored train. It is the only comfortable way to get through a revolution."

Posted by: Your Decidedly Devious Uncle Palpatine, Still Accepting Harem Applicants at May 22, 2016 12:35 PM (lutOX)

259 Like when he's talking to his Soviet handler, a ruthless old Bolshevik who tells him "If you ever have to be in a civil war, you want to be on an armored train. It's the only way to travel," and who is also capable, when a sudden eclipse of the sun makes the birds start singing, to turn to Whit and ask "The little creatures, I wonder what they make of it?"

Posted by: Your Decidedly Devious Uncle Palpatine, Still Accepting Harem Applicants at May 22, 2016 12:23 PM (lutOX)

================
About a year ago there was a side bar post about this YUGE armored train the reds had in their civil war.

So, did this handler get called back and get his bullet in the neck like almost all of them did?

Reading Chambers and Howard Fast's auto bio, I enjoyed what they wrote about life in NYC and LI.

Oddly, both Chambers and Hiss had a lot of family tragedy. I doubt Chambers shared his with Hiss since it would make him identifiable.

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at May 22, 2016 12:36 PM (iQIUe)

260 I still love the RedWall series

Posted by: Patrick From Ohio at May 22, 2016 12:37 PM (c4yY7)

261 Aleksandr Ulanovsky was his name.

"Bob," he used to say to me, "if there ever is a revolution in North America, get yourself an armored train. It is the only comfortable way to get through a revolution."

Posted by: Your Decidedly Devious Uncle Palpatine, Still Accepting Harem Applicants at May 22, 2016 12:37 PM (lutOX)

262 And, yeah, Ulanovsky didn't get purged, but they sent him to gulag, anyway.

Posted by: Your Decidedly Devious Uncle Palpatine, Still Accepting Harem Applicants at May 22, 2016 12:42 PM (lutOX)

263 #258, #261: the comment so nice, pixy posted it twice.

Posted by: OregonMuse at May 22, 2016 12:42 PM (IYUoZ)

264 Armored train? And I immediately think of the one in Doctor Zhivago.

Morning everyone.

Posted by: Anna Puma at May 22, 2016 12:43 PM (dWubf)

265 Armored trains are overrated. Trust me on this.

Posted by: Winston Churchill at May 22, 2016 12:44 PM (sIP08)

266 262 And, yeah, Ulanovsky didn't get purged, but they sent him to gulag, anyway.
Posted by: Your Decidedly Devious Uncle Palpatine, Still Accepting Harem Applicants at May 22, 2016 12:42 PM (lutOX)

============
Sounds like him and his wife were arrested bc they were Jewish.

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at May 22, 2016 12:44 PM (iQIUe)

267 Armored Trains? We call them long targets

Posted by: P51 Pilot at May 22, 2016 12:44 PM (39g3+)

268 Sounds like him and his wife were arrested bc they were Jewish.

Ridiculous! Jews were treated as heroes, nay gods by Communists! No Jew was ever mistreated by a Communist, it as only Nazis who ever did anything bad!

Posted by: American Leftist Jew at May 22, 2016 12:45 PM (39g3+)

269
There's a train museum in Berlin where they an armored train engine from WW2. It was awesome!

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at May 22, 2016 12:50 PM (iQIUe)

270
I'm not finding the article about the commie armored train they used in their civil war, but I did find photos of these babies. Again, awesome!

https://goo.gl/XRQ03o

We need some.

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at May 22, 2016 12:53 PM (iQIUe)

271 Yeah, I don't see the value in armored trains. Problem with trains is that they follow a predictable set route.

Posted by: Josephistan at May 22, 2016 12:54 PM (7qAYi)

272 73 Ann Coulter's TREASON led me to read WITNESS by Whittaker Chambers, which then led to VENONA: Decoding Soviet Spying, and MODERN TIMES by Paul Johnson. Witness outlines the 'car' that Alger Hiss donated to the CPUSA . . . . All inspired from Ann Coulter's TREASON.
-------------------------------------------------------------
That's one reason I hate books with a bibliography.
It's like a crack dealer who is saying, "Don't you feel good?" (or whatever crack users feel) "Think how much happier you'll be with this book and this book and that book and ....."

Posted by: John Pomeroy at May 22, 2016 12:54 PM (fdzyE)

273 But they do look cool!

Posted by: Josephistan at May 22, 2016 12:55 PM (7qAYi)

274 113 109 ... All Hail Eris, Love the image. But we've had so much rain the last few weeks, and more to come for a while, it would be easier to swim than frolic. Bummer. (At my size, I don't leap at all let alone lightly.)
Posted by: JTB at May 22, 2016 10:34 AM (V+03K)
----
Just got back from the wine fest, and it was very, very rainy. I was a dirty, muddy Maenad!

But all this talk of wine and woods has inspired me to dust off my battered Penguin copies of Michael Grant's classical mythology.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at May 22, 2016 12:56 PM (jR7Wy)

275 What do you see in your mind when you read a book?

woo woo

Posted by: JT at May 22, 2016 12:57 PM (neAmD)

276 All Hail Eris - The Wine Mudder

Posted by: Anna Puma at May 22, 2016 12:57 PM (dWubf)

277
273 But they do look cool!
Posted by: Josephistan at May 22, 2016 12:55 PM (7qAYi)

==============

I want one! I neeeeeeeeeeed one!

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at May 22, 2016 12:57 PM (iQIUe)

278 I don't know if anybody is still around but I'll post this just in case. ABE books is having a pretty good sale from certain sellers. This is a good way to get older books at a decent price.

http://bit.ly/1NFfENF

Posted by: random lurker at May 22, 2016 01:01 PM (WF5ei)

279 278 - thanks for that link!

Posted by: Josephistan at May 22, 2016 01:04 PM (7qAYi)

280
Here it is - they're called Zaamurets.

https://goo.gl/gL5t8f

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at May 22, 2016 01:05 PM (iQIUe)

281 Oops, Robert Graves, not Michael Grant.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at May 22, 2016 01:06 PM (jR7Wy)

282 This can belong in the cooking thread
Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil

It was recommended on here about the underworld of Olive oil.

Posted by: Patrick From Ohio at May 22, 2016 01:14 PM (c4yY7)

283 From Reagan's War by Peter Schweizer:

Reagan had his first taste of this a few months before the strike, when he was serving on the executive committee of the Hollywood Independent Citizens Committee of Arts, Sciences and Professions (HICCASP), which he had joined in 1944. The group boasted a membership roll including Frank Sinatra, Orson Welles and Katharine Hepburn. It was what they called a "brainy group," too, with Albert Einstein and Max Weber lending their name to the organization. It was the usual liberal/left Hollywood cultural group, concerned about atomic weapons, the resurgence of fascism and the burgeoning Cold War. But some were concerned by what they saw as its regular and consistent support for the Soviet position on international issues.

Historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr. declared in Life magazine that he believed it was a Communist front, an organization in which "its celebrities maintained their membership but not their vigilance."

Stung by this criticism, a small group within HICCASP, including RKO executive Dore Schary, actress Olivia de Havilland, and FDR's son James Roosevelt, decided to put their fellow members to the test. At the July 2, 1946, meeting, Roosevelt noted that HICCASP had many times issued statements denouncing fascism. Why not issue a statement repudiating communism? Surely that would demonstrate that the organization was not wholly communist.

Reagan rose quickly and offered his support for the resolution, and a furious verbal battle quickly erupted. Musician Artie Shaw stood up and declared that the Soviet Union was more democratic than the United States and offered to recite the Soviet constitution to prove it. Writer Dalton Trumbo stood up and denounced the resolution as wicked. When Reagan tried to respond, John Howard Lawson waved a menacing finger in his face and told him to watch it. Reagan and the others in his group resigned from the organization.

Sorrell gathered his resources for the fight. Along with financial support from the Communist Party, he also could count on help from Vincente Lombardo Toledano, head of Mexico's largest union and described in Soviet intelligence files as an agent. The slender, well-dressed and poised young lawyer was one of Moscow's most trusted agents in Mexico, regularly putting his resources behind Sorrell, providing money while pressuring Mexican film industry executives not to process any film from Hollywood as a show of solidarity. He also appeared at a rally in Hollywood to encourage the strikers.

Herb Sorrell had promised violence if he didn't get his way in the studio strike, and it didn't take him long to deliver. Led by his "sluggers," strikers smashed windshields on passing trains and threw rocks at the police. One studio employee went to the hospital after acid was thrown in his face. When the police tried to break up the melee, things got even worse. As actor Kirk Douglas remembered it, "Thousands of people fought in the middle of the street with knives, clubs, battery cables, brass knuckles and chains."

Posted by: The Gipper Lives at May 22, 2016 01:14 PM (Ndje9)

284 Even Hiss's name is snake-like.

Posted by: The Gipper Lives at May 22, 2016 01:18 PM (Ndje9)

285
Of course, Trumbo and Lawson were CP members and some of the nastiest commies around. Most of the Hollywood 10 were jerks.

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at May 22, 2016 01:21 PM (iQIUe)

286 That was the surprising thing to me when I dug into the McCarthy era: how many of the accused really were hardcore, Soviet-aiding, useful idiot, communists. Not just "I joined the party when I didn't know better" but "Yay Stalin!" types.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at May 22, 2016 01:24 PM (39g3+)

287 271
Yeah, I don't see the value in armored trains. Problem with trains is that they follow a predictable set route.

Wouldn't be a problem if you had an armored one of these:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MKcTbYDP7w

Posted by: Anachronda at May 22, 2016 01:25 PM (Oi5b2)

288 I actually read a book yesterday. Ok, it was a graphic novel: The Hedge Knight but GRRMartin. It was on sale at Amazon for 2.99, so I grabbed it. It was a fun read but the novel is probably better.

Also read votermom's excellent post on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and learned a few things.

Posted by: sinalco at May 22, 2016 01:29 PM (yODqO)

289
Wouldn't be a problem if you had an armored one of these:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MKcTbYDP7w

Posted by: Anachronda at May 22, 2016 01:25 PM (Oi5b2)

===========
I want one of those, too!

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at May 22, 2016 01:29 PM (iQIUe)

290 I'm not finding the article about the commie armored train they used in their civil war, but I did find photos of these babies. Again, awesome!

https://goo.gl/XRQ03o

We need some.

-
For that trip to Philly for the Donk convention.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks at May 22, 2016 01:57 PM (Nwg0u)

291 Brandon Sanderson also teaches a course on writing sf/f at Brigham Young, which he puts up on You Tube. Amazingly generous for someone with his stature in the field. Anna Puma was asking about writing courses at one time. Isn't that what she writes? I've posted about it for her before, but we seem to keep different hours, so I don't know if she saw. If someone would let her know?

Posted by: Wenda (sic) at May 22, 2016 02:02 PM (pZEKq)

292 Do not go quietly. Do not go alone. Do not give in. Do not assume you're all alone. Do not sit by as it happens to others. Do realize that the public outnumbers law enforcement by like 100:1 or more.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at May 22, 2016 11:49 AM (39g3+)

That's why I posted the quote, but you set forth the conclusion most eloquently!

Posted by: Hrothgar at May 22, 2016 02:08 PM (wYnyS)

293 Also picked up a copy of 'Mr. Midshipman Hornblower' which I'll get to eventually. I read some of the Hornblower series when I was a kid but don't remember much. Might be interesting to compare the Forester and O'Brian series.
Posted by: JTB
-----------

Have read the entire series, twice. You can't go wrong with any Forester book. I'll re-mention (as other Morons have) 'Rifleman Dodd'.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at May 22, 2016 02:19 PM (9mTYi)

294 Think Golden Eye James Bond movie had an armored train.

Posted by: reader at May 22, 2016 02:24 PM (CRXed)

295 Speaking of armor, Crack That Tank!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taHFUKKKmJM&feature=youtu.be

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks at May 22, 2016 02:25 PM (Nwg0u)

296 I actually have two vicarious ties to Hiss and that era. My aunt attended Arlington Hall, which was the facility that was grabbed off under the War Powers Act for use by the OSS.

Secondly, a key player in the breaking of Russian codes was Cecil Philips. Philips, age 19, was recruited, essentially off the street here in Asheville to work as a clerk in D.C.

We bought our house from the estate of a relative of his.

------------

"Cecil Phillips

Of all the Venona code breakers, Cecil Phillips may be the most fascinating. His story underlies the fact that there is no simple way in which talented code breakers can be identified. Phillips was from the mountains of North Carolina and very young when recruited, only 18 years old. He had exhibited no real motivation or ambition in life having dropped out of college. His mother presumably tired of having him underfoot ordered him to go back to school or get a job. It is thus that the serendipity of life struck home. Philips went to the U.S. Employment Office in Asheville the very same day that a U.S. Army lieutenant showed up with a quota of clerk positions to fill for Arlington Hall (June 1943). Philips was asked if he would like to go to Washington and be a cryptologist. He startled the lieutenant by replying that it sounded interesting. Apparently no one else knew what cryptologist meant. The only reason that Philips knew was that as a boy he had owned a Little Orphan Annie decoder ring. But beause of that a week later he was at Arlington Hall and given the job of date stamping intercepts and soon was assigned stappling tasks. His real entrance to code breaking was that his boss, Lt. Bill Fleischman who ha just completed a basic course in cryptology for some reason had a burning desire to teach. And it soon became clear that Phillips had real talent. [Budiansky, pp. 307-07.] He was subsequently chose to work on the Russian Problem (May 1944). By a fluke, there was some notable inconsistencies in a batch of Soviet intercepts given to Phillips to study and he noticed them. Cecil Phillips managed to develop a beginning understanding of NKVD messages. This was a more difficult undertaking because the NKVD more carefully protected their messages, using double encryption. As a result, it would take 2 years of work to actually read any of the NKVD messages. "

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at May 22, 2016 02:38 PM (9mTYi)

297 And I immediately think of the one in Doctor Zhivago.

Morning everyone.
Posted by: Anna Puma
----------

Ah. Video clip..., wait, is that allowed in the Book Thread? 53 sec video : http://tinyurl.com/hcr92ck

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at May 22, 2016 02:45 PM (9mTYi)

298 I'm reading "Why We Get Fat and What To Do About It," by Gary Taubes. It's a few years old, but nevertheless staggering in the documentation of the lies we've been told about exercise, fat and low-carb eating. As late as the 1970s, high-brow medical conferences focused on obesity didn't mention low-calorie diets because all the participants KNEW they didn't work.

All of the past few decades where we've grown exponentially fatter and more prone to the diabeetus is the product of arrogant scientific bias.

Posted by: RushBabe at May 22, 2016 02:53 PM (OuXal)

299
So, was Strelnikov suppose to be Trotsky? Because he schlepped around in a train and black leather during the civil war, too.

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at May 22, 2016 02:54 PM (iQIUe)

300 48 I have Brother Cadfael's Garden, and it's a very nice companion volume. It starts with a three chapter Introduction to the background of the books, ie Chapter 1 is the Monastic Garden. A nice part about each plant's entry is that each has the books listed where the plant is mentioned, along with at least one quote.

Posted by: Lirio100 at May 22, 2016 03:15 PM (WY8ka)

301 Armored trains on a predictable route protect that predictable route.

Posted by: Skip at May 22, 2016 05:47 PM (3wHFl)

302 Grr. Hiss was never a KGB asset. He worked for the GRU (Soviet Military Intelligence). So any attempt to "clear" Hiss based on information or lack of same in "the KGB archives" is simply a coverup.

There is a 6-hour HBO miniseries of Mildred Pierce that's much better, and much truer to the book. Kate Winslet in the title role.

Posted by: Shrieking Eel at May 22, 2016 06:08 PM (WoSlu)

303 The Middle of the Journey, by Lionel Trilling, concerns itself with the disillusionment of a member of the liberal intelligentsia Communist party. The author later revealed that one of the characters was based on Whittaker Chambers; however, this book is not heavy-handed and the subtleties give readers space to figure out the situation for themselves. I also want to mention the Old Book Shop in Berryville, Virginia (a near-by town) for which I and others am grateful.

Posted by: Linda Roberts at May 22, 2016 06:52 PM (tKcuX)

304 I'll hear no ill spoken of Heinlein's "Time Enough for Love," if that's what you meant by "pornographic crap".

Posted by: Knemon at May 22, 2016 07:04 PM (OSAJi)

305 I just finished reading Son of the Black Sword by Larry Correia. After giving up on epic fantasy some time in the early 90s I'm very happy to say that my faith has been restored. This is sophisticated and enthralling high fantasy. Very much recommended.

Posted by: Adam at May 22, 2016 07:31 PM (5LZ4p)

306 304 I'll hear no ill spoken of Heinlein's "Time Enough for Love," if that's what you meant by "pornographic crap".

Posted by: Knemon at May 22, 2016 07:04 PM (OSAJi)

Well, that, too, but the Heinlein book I chiefly had in mind was "I Will Fear No Evil."

Posted by: OregonMuse at May 22, 2016 07:40 PM (Iwna3)

307 Hiss was guilty. Full stop. The evidence is overwhelming. Anything else falls into the category of jello: looks solid but when you pick it up it falls to the floor. The problem with the right is that, as the good morons we are, we tend to let things fester instead of hitting back hard and often. Communism was a real threat and frankly, I think still is. The universities are full of leftist sympathizers that are marinating generation after generation into believing that America stinks. Today's book thread is really a call to arms - in case the DOJ is listening, no I don't mean blood in the streets - I mean that our freedom depends on our willingness to challenge the left whenever they pull their crap to ensure that they don't rewrite history and relegate us to their gulag.

Posted by: Bonedaddi at May 22, 2016 07:40 PM (dE9Jm)

308 Gipper Lives,

I'm going to pick up Reagan's War, thanks for that.

Posted by: Adam at May 22, 2016 07:47 PM (5LZ4p)

309 Was looking at the other place one can find me on the web, armored trains were used as besides guarding rail systems as artillery platforms both for ground and air.

Posted by: Skip at May 22, 2016 08:45 PM (3wHFl)

310 299

So, was Strelnikov suppose to be Trotsky? Because he schlepped around in a train and black leather during the civil war, too.
------------

I always took him for one of those Reds who went rogue/nationalist, closest to Makhno Petliura.

Posted by: JewishOdysseus at May 22, 2016 09:10 PM (+O9YB)

311 I am somewhat disappointed to see that no one has mentioned Moronette Sabrina Chase has a sequel to "The Scent of Metal" (which I admit was not my favorite of her books) called "One Blood" which I liked quite a bit more.

I may have to re-read "Scent of Metal" because I think I may have missed a bit, but I had a hard time visualizing the story (I'm one of those readers that see a movie in my head as I'm reading, and some of the wilder flights of fancy are hard to visualize).

At any rate, a good book and another plus in my library. I have several authors that I will read anything they write, Sabrina Chase is one of them.

Posted by: GGE Hades of the Moron Horde, NC Chapter at May 23, 2016 01:15 AM (vbvxt)

312 'American Dreyfus' is the title of the book's British edition published by Skyscraper Publications. I've already read a gob-smackingly uncritical review of it by David Lowenthal in the popular historical magazine 'History Today' (February issue, pp. 58f.)

Posted by: SteveGW at May 23, 2016 11:34 AM (pm6DO)

313 I'm just commenting on here to get added to the book club.

So, Hi!

I would comment and read more, but honestly, I don't have the time to read 300+ comments - married, 4 kids and a full time job doesn't leave me that much free time!

Tim

Posted by: SomeCallMeTim at May 23, 2016 12:33 PM (ZH+/b)

314 In all things E.G. Robinson dept: for all you film buffs out there, E.G.R. starred in Orson Welles' 'The Stranger'. A film made by Welles to prove 'he didn't glow in the dark.' It is quite a good picture. It's about a US government Nazi hunter, played by Robinson, tracking down a Megele type character played by Welles. Also appearing is Loretta Young, and Billy House. It was the only Welles movie that made any money

Posted by: Bonedaddi at May 23, 2016 01:39 PM (yQSsD)

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