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Sunday Morning Book Thread - 8-9-2026 ["Perfessor" Squirrel]
Welcome to the prestigious, internationally acclaimed, stately, and illustrious Sunday Morning Book Thread! The place where all readers are welcome, regardless of whatever guilty pleasure we feel like reading (party's over, pal!). Here is where we can discuss, argue, bicker, quibble, consider, debate, confabulate, converse, and jaw about our latest fancy in reading material. As always, pants are required, unless you are wearing these pants...
So relax, find yourself a warm kitty (or warm puppy--I won't judge) to curl up in your lap, and dive into a new book. What are YOU reading this fine morning?
VIDEO NOTE
The House of Commons of the British Parliament tends to grab most of the headlines, but it's worth remembering that the British Parliament is a bicameral system. The House of Lords is the "upper chamber" of Parliament, consisting of around 770 members. Like the House of Commons, it plays an important role in legislative affairs, even if that role is largely behind the scenes in government. Unsurprising for an organization that has been around for many centuries, its procedures and traditions are arcane to outsiders. The House of Lords has its own dedicated library in which they can look up previous laws and statutes that may be relevant to current legislation. I suppose they tend to serve more in an advisory role to the King and the House of Commons in that respect, rather than a hands-on legislative body that gets things done--that seems to be the role of the House of Commons.
FEATURED MORON REVIEW
Biden's Dog sent in the following review:
The Curtain Falls: Last Days of the Third Reich (1945) is a short firsthand memoir by Count Folke Bernadotte*, the well-known Swedish diplomat and vice-chairman of the Swedish Red Cross.
Bernadotte recounts his negotiations from mid-February to late April 1945 with the highest ranking Nazis in Germany, including Himmler. His initial humanitarian mission was to secure the release and transport of Scandinavian (mainly Danish and Norwegian) prisoners from Nazi concentration camps to neutral Sweden for internment until the war's end.
The book details his repeated missions and meetings amid the collapsing Third Reich. It vividly describes the chaotic, surreal atmosphere in the final weeks before Germany's surrender. What began as a rescue effort took on political weight when Himmler, acting without Hitler's knowledge, used Bernadotte to convey a late, desperate offer of partial surrender to the Allies.
The account is based on Bernadotte's own notes and reports. Such rescues ultimately saved thousands, including Scandinavians, Poles, and others. It was published shortly after the war and remains a notable primary source on this period.
The book is an easy read, small in size and 155 pages long. It is a straightforward wartime memoir rather than a broad history. The book is illustrated with 10 black and white photos of most of the characters involved.
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* On September 17, 1948, Count Bernadotte was assassinated in Jerusalem by Israel's LEHI (the Stern Gang) group. LEHI viewed Bernadotte as biased toward the Arabs and a threat due to his mediation proposals on Jerusalem and territorial limits for the Jews. At the time, future Israeli Prime Minister Yitzchak Shamir was one of the LEHI's leaders and approved of the assassination plan.
The Israeli provisional government, under David Ben-Gurion, strongly condemned the act as a "low, dastardly crime." So, too, did Menachem Begin, leader of the Irgun/ETZEL. Begin publicly called for those responsible to be found and brought to justice.
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READING ON PAPER REWIRES YOUR BRAIN
I thought the video above was an excellent overview of how reading paper-based materials affects our brains. Apparently we are hard-wired to show marked improvement in retention and comprehension by reading paper books rather than digital books. This makes a lot of sense. As a species we've been reading paper-based materials for millennia. We've only been reading digital materials for a few decades at most. No doubt our brains have evolved or been shaped by our environment to prioritize gathering information from paper-based materials.
I thought the "one book effect" was very interesting because it demonstrates the power that just ONE BOOK in a home can have on a child's education and upbringing. Most of you reading this blog no doubt grew up in a home filled with books. I know I sure did. So I can't even conceive of a home that doesn't have at least one book in it. It's an alien concept to me.
As someone who works in the education industry, I was also struck by the point that reading complex material in printed format was better for you than reading it in digital format. I know that whenever I'm tasked with reading an academic journal article, I prefer to print it out and THEN go through it with a fine-toothed comb to understand it. I do find that I retain the information better and can spend time wrestling with the complicated materials until I understand it more fully. It also helps me whenever I'm writing a paper because I can spread out journal articles around me and sort them into piles that are "relevant" and "irrelevant." It's easy to tell at a glance which articles are most important to supporting the thesis of my paper.
The "dimensionality" aspect of reading printed materials also seems to have a direct impact on how much we retain and comprehend. Again, the fact that I can pick up a weighty tome of knowledge and tell at a glance how much I have left to read is immensely helpful to me. Even when reading for pleasure (which is most of my reading), I absolutely LOVE to have the physical book over a digital version. I engage most of my senses -- sight, hearing (turning the pages), touch, and even smell -- to enjoy the story. I can go back and forth within the book, easily holding my place with a bookmark or finger, while I look up a term in the glossary or flip back to a map/illustration that's relevant to what I'm reading at the moment. I have a much harder time with that experience when reading digital versions. I've noticed that digital books do attempt to replicate the physical book reading experience with digital pages that simulate physical paper, "page turning" animations that simulates a real book, and even adding a "page turning" noise.
I know a lot of you folks enjoy reading on a digital device, which does have a lot of advantages, especially for older folks who may struggle to read physical books these days. Audiobooks are also a very common alternative these days. Maybe someday the data will show a different story as future generations adapt to reading/comprehending in digital media. Of course, there's also the problem of long-term storage of digital media over time. Physical books can last for hundreds or even thousands of years. Will we still be able to read a digital copy of The Odyssey a thousand years from now?
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WHAT I'VE BEEN READING RECENTLY
I'm continuing my trek through the Dune Expanded Universe books written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. They're better than I'd been led to believe, but then some folks tend to be "purists" when it comes to canon. I can understand that. That might be a topic for future Sunday Morning Book Thread.
Legends of Dune: The Machine Crusade Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson
Humanity is finally striking back at the overmind Omnius, who has ruled over a significant portion of humanity for millennia. Unfortunately, they are unable to establish a decisive victory over their AI overlords. Vorian Atreides, the son of the cymek Agamemnon, has defected to the side of humanity and now fights for their freedom, using his knowledge of the Titans to undermine their authority.
Herbert and Anderson are clearly using this war as a backdrop to establish the various factions that play a key role in the original Dune series. We see the seeds of the Mentats, human computers who use their mental abilities to calculate probabilities of events. Norma Cenva immerses herself within "spice gas," which is essential for creating the Navigators that allow ships to travel safely through folded spacetime.
This series is a bit odd in that the "foldspace" drive is essential to the Dune universe, being the main faster-than-light travel mechanism. However, before the foldspace drive is perfected, humans clearly had some alternate form of faster-than-light travel because it only takes weeks or months to travel from planet to planet. Herbert and Anderson are deliberately vague about how this older FTL drive works, which I think undercuts the story a bit.
Legends of Dune: The Battle of Corrin by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson
Humanity has driven Omnius back to a single planet after humans have bombarded all of the overmind's other world with "atomics," turning them into radioactive cinders. But once again they are at a stalemate as humanity is unable to penetrate Corrin's planetary defenses. Omnius conspires with a human traitor to unleash a virulent plague on the human worlds, which threatens to wipe out humanity.
Once again we see the seeds of the future Dune universe being sown here. This time the women who will one day be known as the Bene Gesserit unlock the keys to the future, which will one day result in the Kwisatz Haderach that will save humanity from itself.
Sisterhood of Dune by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson
Sisterhood of Dune picks up about eighty years after the conclusion of The Battle of Corrin. The overmind Omnius has been defeated once and for all, but the universe is still turbulent. The Butlerian Jihad is still gathering strength and their leader Manford Torondo is determined to wipe out technology, even benign technology such as advences in medical science, because reliance on technology is what led humans to being dominated by artificial intelligence for millennia. Emperor Salvador Corrino is a weak ruler, under the thrall of Manford's Butlerian Jihad, and unable to stand up to the mobs who are tearing his Empire apart. The Sisterhood (which will one day become the Bene Gesserit) have discovered a terrible secret about the Corrino bloodline. But they are also being torn apart by the sisters who have fallen under the sway of the Butlerian Jihad.
This book was better than I thought it would be. Manford Torondo is a zealous fanatic that you love to hate because he's such an insufferable prick. I can't hardly wait to see how he finally gets his comeuppance in later books. This series is meant to show the divide between those who embrace technology and want to see civilization advance and those who prefer to tear it down because they believe that technology/science is the cause of all mankind's woes. It's explicitly mentioned that Manford's group may not be satisfied until they've outlawed fire of all things.
Tips, suggestions, recommendations, etc., can all be directed to perfessor -dot- squirrel -at- gmail -dot- com.
Disclaimer: The Earth is neither flat nor round. It's shaped like a burrito.
4
Skipped reading last week. Had other things to do: getting kid ready for school Now, once the heat goes away in about two months or so, I'll get more active. Maybe.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at August 09, 2026 09:00 AM (1Ff7Z)
Posted by: Nazdar at August 09, 2026 09:00 AM (NcvvS)
6
I was reading something about The Battle Of Marathon and this quote stuck out:
"A faction existed in Athens, as at Eretria, of men willing to purchase a party triumph over their fellow-citizens at the price of their country's ruin."
7
Should finish Janice Holt Giles' The Damned Engineers, a historical account of the 291st Engineers battalion in the battle of the Bulge in 1944.
Very good, hardly been able to put it down
Posted by: Skip at August 09, 2026 09:01 AM (Ia/+0)
8
"The Curtain Falls: Last Days of the Third Reich (1945)"
I like contemporary books that are unclouded by revisionism.
Finished listening /reading to The Unicorn Hunters by Katherine Arden. Beautiful prose, very evocative setting. Historical fantasy set in 15th c Brittany, the characters are not modern Americans, neither are they fully of the time but close.
I thought the last quarter of the book was thin, but overall I loved it.
Now reading her breakout book from 2017, the Bear and the Nightingale.
I am still with Dan Simmons's The Terror, about an 1840s Royal Navy expedition to find the Northwest Passage. The two ships, the Erebus and the Terror (which had voyaged to the Antarctic continent earlier), are stuck in the ice over several years . . . and there is Something gigantic and terrifying out there on the ice which is hunting them.
Apparently this is based on a real expedition. The blurb indicates that it's an explanation for the historical mystery surrounding the voyage. I have a horrible feeling that *nobody* is going to make it out of this situation, thus the mystery in real life. Still, I'm enjoying it.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 09, 2026 09:06 AM (wzUl9)
12
Good morning fellow Book Threadists. I hope everyone had a great week of reading.
Posted by: JTB at August 09, 2026 09:06 AM (yTvNw)
I do read a lot of digital books. But I like the paper ones best. I absolutely don't like non-fiction on digital, and it's probably for the reasons above. I just don't feel like I retain the information if it's digital.
There are very few things that turn me on more than a lady with an English accent.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at August 09, 2026 09:06 AM (qRla/)
15
Working through VDH's Second World War. It is a very dense, and very good work.
Posted by: Brewingfrog at August 09, 2026 09:06 AM (7eSPw)
16
I'm 60 pages into Vanity Fair. I don't know about this Becky Sharp chick.
Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at August 09, 2026 09:06 AM (XvL8K)
17
I've been meaning to address the discussion a few weeks ago that concerned Speilburg's movie Disclosure Day and how he incorporated the theme, "Ha Ha, stoopidz X-tianists, ET disproves Jesus Christ!!!"
A book written by Paul Thigpen, Extraterrestial Intelligence and the Catholic Faith makes a survey of various theologians and philosophers examining this issue. Published in 2002 by TAN Books, Thigpen shows that Christians have been thinking about life on other planets for millennia. The general consensus is that God is omnipotent and can create intellegent life on other planets if He so chooses.
This leaves three options for intelligent life on other planets:
1) Not Fallen and thus does not need a Redeemer
2) Fallen and Un-redeemable 3) Fallen, but Redeemable. Since Jesus Christ is the Word Made Flesh, the Word (i.e., 2nd Person of the Triune God) could be incarnate in non-human flesh.
Thigpen also makes a brief examination of UFO phenomena and comes to the conclusion that some could be demonic manifestations.
Interesting book. While it's over 400 pages, it's in Octavo-format with fairly large font: so pretty quick read. Rating = 4.25/5.
Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at August 09, 2026 09:07 AM (ksbjf)
18
Another concern when reading on a handheld device: Will the battery run low before I quit for the night?
Posted by: Weak Geek at August 09, 2026 09:08 AM (KbOQI)
19
Bella Fromm's diary is also a very good contemporaneous account, but from the other end of the Nazi reign.
Posted by: San Franpsycho at August 09, 2026 09:09 AM (JvZF+)
Posted by: Weak Geek at August 09, 2026 09:10 AM (KbOQI)
21
Paper vs. digital: After re-watching Wait Until Dark, the 1967 thriller with Audrey Hepburn and Alan Arkin that I've loved since I saw it first-run in the darkened theatre, I decided I need a copy of the actual playscript. Years ago I read it and found it fascinating, with detailed stage directions -- it's almost like reading a short story written in present tense. Well, there is a .pdf that can be downloaded for free, and it's exactly what I remember; I glanced over the digital version. But Dramatists Play Service, the publisher, has a hard copy edition for sale for $13.
My immediate reaction was, "Buy the book. You'll like it much better."
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 09, 2026 09:10 AM (wzUl9)
22
Digital format for books is inherently boring. There is no physicality to it.
That's why video rules social nedia.
Fiction on digital can be exciting enough to overcome that, but nonfiction requires too much forebrain already.
23
Because I have to get going to help peel potatoes for the lunch my church is making for the homeless shelter, I'll say only that Mark Twain's "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" is by turns funny, disturbing, philosophical, and savage.
Also educational. This book is adding to my vocabulary -- and not THAT way, ye heathens! Some of the nouns and adjectives I've come across could be turned into good passwords.
Posted by: Weak Geek at August 09, 2026 09:10 AM (KbOQI)
24 I'm 60 pages into Vanity Fair. I don't know about this Becky Sharp chick.
Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at August 09, 2026
***
Never have read it, but have read about it. From what I understand, the name "Becky Sharp" (the sound alone!) is perfect for the character.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 09, 2026 09:11 AM (wzUl9)
And nearly all my reading these days is on a Kindle. Looking up a term is no problem there, really. Highlight the word and you can get a definition. Jumping around for maps or footnotes is more of a pain in an ebook than it is in print, though. And though physical books are harder on the eyes and hands than they used to be, I still have a couple of bookcases here. Yeah, I've found nearly all those titles in digital form, but I'm keeping the hard copies anyway because I just like them, dammit.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 09, 2026 09:11 AM (q3u5l)
26
Apparently this is based on a real expedition. The blurb indicates that it's an explanation for the historical mystery surrounding the voyage. I have a horrible feeling that *nobody* is going to make it out of this situation, thus the mystery in real life. Still, I'm enjoying it.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius
Yes, the Erebus and Terror were real and were on an expedition looking for the Northwest passage, and both became fast in the ice. Some of the men trekked over land for miles, looking for men of the Hudson Bay Company to rescue them. This is based on finding bones and supplies on the beach and inland. Michael Palin wrote a book on the discovery of the wrecked vessels, which occurred perhaps ten years ago.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at August 09, 2026 09:12 AM (0U5gm)
27
Most of my reading lately has been about the 1920s and Hollywood, obviously. I just finished Scott Eyman's Twentieth Century-Fox, a short history of the two studios and Darryl Zanuck's role in creating 'the modern movie studio.' It's OK, but not up to Eyman's usual standard. It's a TCM book from 2021, so I wonder if he was commissioned to write a fairly short non-challenging tome.
I was at the used bookstore in Burlington last Thursday and picked up George Bruce's The Nazis (a general history, but one I don't have in my collection) and The Secret Life of Groceries by Benjamin Lorr.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at August 09, 2026 09:12 AM (qRla/)
28
Digital is easier on my eyes. Of course audio is easiest, but I still like to have a text to refer to.
Printed is easiest to skim ahead if needed.
That is crucial in nonfic
29
About 2/3 of the way through Dan Simmons'"Drood," a tale of Charles Dickens and his friend/rival Wilkie Collins, and also involving the malign influence of a demonic character named "Drood," who may or not actually exist. Lots of evil events in London's underground world, lots of talk about how novels get written. All in all, very interesting historical novel.
Next up will be Simmons' "The Terror." I'm on a mission to read all of Simmons' work, and am very much enjoying the experience.
Posted by: Sharkman at August 09, 2026 09:14 AM (/RHNq)
30
Good morning all. Time for church (I go to early service by preference).
31Michael Palin wrote a book on the discovery of the wrecked vessels, which occurred perhaps ten years ago.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at August 09, 2026 09:12 AM (0U5gm)
As did Paul Watson, whose Ice Ghosts: The Epic Hunt For the Lost Franklin Expedition is on my TBR pile.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at August 09, 2026 09:15 AM (qRla/)
32
I was fortunate to read two excellent books in a row. Last week it was All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker, and this week it was Theo of Golden by Allen Levi. Theo, a man in is eighties who was born in Portugal comes to Golden, Georgia, from New York City. The coffee shop in town has almost one hundred portraits which are for sale on its walls. Theo begins to buy them and then bestows them to the subject in the portrait. Each bestowal, by the central fountain in town, leads to a story of the subject's life. Theo is very adept at steering conversations away from questions about him and at getting people to tell him their stories. Soon he has many friends about town, but not much is really known about him. After his untimely death, the town finds out who he really was and why he picked Golden to come and spend a year. A beautiful story well told.
Posted by: Zoltan at August 09, 2026 09:15 AM (0/Ew+)
33
I get fb ads for a Catholic YA writer - Jennifer Kropf and her Winter Souls series.
Anyone read her books?
34
About the Northwest Passage: the Yankee posits that it's to his time what the Holy Grail was to Arthur's boys. Knights go off in quest of it, and a year later, another group goes hunting for said knights.
Posted by: Weak Geek at August 09, 2026 09:17 AM (KbOQI)
35
Never have read it, but have read about it. From what I understand, the name "Becky Sharp" (the sound alone!) is perfect for the character.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius
____
I'm expecting as much. It was originally subtitled A Novel Without a Hero.
Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at August 09, 2026 09:18 AM (XvL8K)
36
>>Disclaimer: The Earth is neither flat nor round. It's shaped like a burrito.
Nice Bloom County reference.
Posted by: Nazdar at August 09, 2026 09:19 AM (NcvvS)
37
I read a graphic novel adaptation of "The Last of the Mohicans." I rather enjoyed it. It had a few silly moments (I could have done without our hero disguising himself as a bear) and there were a few inexplicable actions (thanks to the odd honor codes of 18th Century Brits or Hurons) but overall it was a good story. Very much in line with the pulp-adventure stories that I usually read.
And to finish the review, f--- Magua. The book did a great job of making you hate him.
Posted by: Castle Guy at August 09, 2026 09:19 AM (3v7ra)
Posted by: Commissar of plenty and festive little hats at August 09, 2026 09:19 AM (y6jSU)
39
Read Vanity Fair in high school. It was assigned, and so of course I hated it. I remember just about zip, but do recall thinking that I kinda liked Becky Sharp.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 09, 2026 09:21 AM (q3u5l)
40
150 years ago this summer, one of the worst military disasters on US soil occurred just before our centennial celebration. In A Terrible Glory, James Donovan has compiled a detailed look at Gen. George Custer and his death on the Little Bighorn River.
From Custer's childhood, through his time at West Point, and his exploits in the Civil War, Donovan documents his transition from misguided youth to daring cavalry officer, and his rapid promotion to brevet general. Once the war was over, Custer became the most famous of the indian fighters, known as in the war as a man who led from the front.
The book then covers the Bighorn campaign, using as many details as are available from a multitude of sources. Donovan also addresses the hearings that followed, where Majors Reno and Benteen, as well as other survivors near Custer's hill were interviewed, looking to find blame. There was plenty of blame to go around, and the story is much more complicated than most people know. For the Sioux, it was their high point, but the slaughter turned American hearts against the indians, and within a few years, most of their chiefs were dead, and their tribes were confined to reservations.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at August 09, 2026 09:22 AM (0U5gm)
41 Read Vanity Fair in high school. It was assigned, and so of course I hated it. I remember just about zip, but do recall thinking that I kinda liked Becky Sharp.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 09, 2026
***
I suppose I'm mature enough now (whatever that might mean) to try it. Is it a volume of dense prose a la Dickens, or is it remarkably light for its time?
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 09, 2026 09:22 AM (wzUl9)
42
No reading for me this week. I was gifted a copy of "The Dog Stars" last month and need to read it before the movie is released. I also picked up a copy of Augustine's "Confessions," which I will be reading and discussing with a guy at my church over the next few weeks.
Posted by: PabloD at August 09, 2026 09:22 AM (Hn9/J)
Newspapers managed to combine ads and articles without the one obscuring the other. How did we fall to this?!
Posted by: Weak Geek at August 09, 2026 09:24 AM (KbOQI)
45
And I just realized that taking Wolfus' advice means another scene needs some serious revision. So I'm off to concentrate on that.
Hope you all have a lovely day.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at August 09, 2026 09:24 AM (qRla/)
46
"Will we still be able to read a digital copy of The Odyssey a thousand years from now?"
Given how fast the technology changes these days, I would worry about being able to read a digital copy of The Odyssey 30 years from now. How many of us have floppy disks in a closet that can't be used in any machine made in the last few decades? I have materials I wrote on machines that no longer exist and on software that hasn't been supported for 20 or more years. The lamented WriteNow word processor for early Macintosh, simple to use, minimal resource demands, and comprehensive enough for most writing needs, has no equivalent today.
Posted by: JTB at August 09, 2026 09:24 AM (yTvNw)
47
6 I was reading something about The Battle Of Marathon and this quote stuck out:
"A faction existed in Athens, as at Eretria, of men willing to purchase a party triumph over their fellow-citizens at the price of their country's ruin."
Posted by: fd
When Jerry Pournelle somehow got me interested in reading ancient sources, it was quickly apparent that evolution of human nature is a very long slow process. 2,500 years and can easily relate to those old books. Xenophon's book on family economics was startling understandable.
Posted by: InspiredHistoryMike at August 09, 2026 09:24 AM (KaHlS)
48
I'm on book 5 of the Echoes Saga by Phillip Quaintrell. I'm listening to it and it's been good bang for the buck. Think Lord of the Rings type epic without hobbits. And Eddie actually showed up for the book thread. He hasn't done that in a while. I found a knot under his chin I'll have to take care of latter.
Posted by: lin-duh at August 09, 2026 09:26 AM (VCgbV)
49
22 despite that, I have to restrain myself from buying printed books and just get the digital.
The romantasy trend of beautiful covers aand sprayed edges is a very ckever marketing idea.
50
That pop up is beyond annoying. On a laptop it is bad, but on a phone it is impossible. I have to continuously reload just to get it off of the screen.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at August 09, 2026 09:27 AM (0U5gm)
51
Regarding the paper-vs-digital differences, I find that it's harder go back and re-reference and earlier passage in paper than in digital. Ditto for flipping back and forth between passages. Maybe I just never fully internalized the user interface of my digital devices, but I always feel as if I may lose may place if I skip away from the page I'm currently reading.
That said, my e-readers get heavy use. But mostly for novels/pulp-short-stories. For comics, magazines, and reference/coffee-table books, I prefer the physical format. Non-fiction prose...I'll read in ebook form, (for the sake of either price or shelf-space) but the experience always feels a little off.
Posted by: Castle Guy at August 09, 2026 09:27 AM (3v7ra)
52
Wolfus, if memory serves (and at this late date it frequently falls down on the job) the prose was not as dense as Dickens but I still found it a slog.
Again -- I was in high school reading only sf for pleasure and the book was assigned so it went in with 2.98357 strikes against it already. YMMV.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 09, 2026 09:27 AM (q3u5l)
53
Given how fast the technology changes these days, I would worry about being able to read a digital copy of The Odyssey 30 years from now. How many of us have floppy disks in a closet that can't be used in any machine made in the last few decades? I have materials I wrote on machines that no longer exist and on software that hasn't been supported for 20 or more years. The lamented WriteNow word processor for early Macintosh, simple to use, minimal resource demands, and comprehensive enough for most writing needs, has no equivalent today.
Posted by: JTB
And yet I have books written and printed over 120 years ago on my shelves, and they still are accessible.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at August 09, 2026 09:28 AM (0U5gm)
54
"A faction existed in Athens, as at Eretria, of men willing to purchase a party triumph over their fellow-citizens at the price of their country's ruin."
Posted by: fd at August 09, 2026 09:01 AM (MWfyi)
55
I seem to have found two series that meet my request from last week, although one isn't traditional "cultivation", so you all are off the hook for providing me stories.
First is Unintended Cultivator by an Eric Dontigney and the second is Starbreaker by Luke Chmelinko. Early days of each series, but so far so good.
Been trading off those series with the Josephine Tey collection. Read three so far. They're engrossing, but I can't really decide out I actually enjoy them. The early ones are right on the line of the " fair play" concept.
Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at August 09, 2026 09:29 AM (lFFaq)
56
Brave on my iphone is blocking the pop ups well.
57
"A faction existed in Athens, as at Eretria, of men willing to purchase a party triumph over their fellow-citizens at the price of their country's ruin."
Posted by: fd at August 09, 2026 09:01 AM (MWfyi)
Same as it ever was, then.
*shakes head
Humans.
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at August 09, 2026 09:29 AM (h7ZuX)
---
Yeah, pretty much. Some facets of human nature seem to remain the same no matter the century.
58
Inherent Vice
Days Of Rage
Past Through Tomorrow
All three are getting the read a bit and put down a bit treatment. All three are a bit of a slog but I shall prevail.
Or just go onto the Johnny Rotten biography Anger Is An Energy.
Posted by: Buzzy Krumhunger at August 09, 2026 09:32 AM (pTTTW)
59
I've been reading Otto Eckhart's Ordeal: Hunting Himmler’s Holy Chalice by Niall Edworthy, a darkly comic novel based on a true event in which, like Indiana Jones, a young historian goes on a quest for the Holy Grail in 1937. He has some thoughts on reading history like his anti-Nazi father. "When have you ever closed a history book and thought ‘Ah, that’s better. Isn’t mankind just terrific?’" His more Nazi admiring mother has thoughts on him becoming a writer. "Name me one healthy writer and I’ll show you a dog laying a fire. You’ll become a drunkard or a consumptive, just like the rest."
I've only just started the book but it is amusing so far. The 29 year old, naive man child agrees to act for Himmler and Hitler in finding the Grail and if a little money were to fall into his pocket, so much the better.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Fear Me! at August 09, 2026 09:32 AM (ndZc7)
60
The problem with physical books is space for storage and to some extent longevity.
We should turn to micro-print on clay tablets if we want our libraries to last a really long time
61
A big YES!!! on physical books. I'm frustrated that so many college math courses use digital textbooks. The students often do not even know they have access to a digital format. They try to rely entirely on what the instructor says and the sample problems in their digital(!!!) homework. That, and ChatGPT. In those circumstances, it's much more difficult to perceive the structure of the information and the student is left with seemingly random, unconnected facts.
Posted by: Emmie, celebrating 250 years of God's grace at August 09, 2026 09:33 AM (OlzlW)
62
The problem with physical books is space for storage and to some extent longevity.
We should turn to micro-print on clay tablets if we want our libraries to last a really long time
Posted by: vmom deport deport stab deport at August 09, 2026 09:33 AM (Ydd86)
----
There are a number of books that have been laser-etched onto small discs of glass.
I suppose all you need to read them is a suitable magnifying device of some kind.
Posted by: Sid...who enjoys the sexual affections of his hamster at August 09, 2026 09:34 AM (AyISJ)
64
Will we still be able to read the Odyssey in digital form in a thousand years? Assuming we're still reading, yeah, we will. It just won't necessarily be in the same file formats we're using now.
When I read Michael Connelly's first Harry Bosch novels, it was on a Palm Pilot (handheld, 3-inch screen) on a long bus trip. Doubt you can read that format easily these days on anything, but you can still read the books in digital form.
The ones to worry about are the ones that the publishers and pirates don't regard as worth the trouble of converting to newer formats. Homer need not worry. Gerald Kersh? Hard to say.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 09, 2026 09:34 AM (q3u5l)
65
11 .... The two ships, the Erebus and the Terror (which had voyaged to the Antarctic continent earlier), are stuck in the ice over several years . . . and there is Something gigantic and terrifying out there on the ice which is hunting them.
Apparently this is based on a real expedition.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 09, 2026 09:06 AM (wzUl9)
What would drive someone to name their ship 'Terror'? Even as a warship, that seems like an ill omen for the crew. And 'Erebus'? I've come across that name twice in fiction, and each time it's been for a character that was a obviously-evil harbinger of doom.
Posted by: Castle Guy at August 09, 2026 09:35 AM (3v7ra)
66
The problem, it isn’t metely that there are blocks or popup eliminators, it’s the idea that advertising can hijack your device in the first place. Videos, splash screens, “X” buttons that are inop, comprised of a single pixel that dances around playing hide and seek, banners and headers that reduces one to about 1/4 of the usable screen, etc. The people responsible for all this should be beaten with a hammer.
Posted by: Common Tater at August 09, 2026 09:35 AM (FpODx)
67
There are a number of books that have been laser-etched onto small discs of glass.
I suppose all you need to read them is a suitable magnifying device of some kind.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel
Fascinating!
*adjusts monocle*
Might I trouble you for a link some time, dear Perfesser?
68Been trading off those series with the Josephine Tey collection. Read three so far. They're engrossing, but I can't really decide out I actually enjoy them. The early ones are right on the line of the " fair play" concept.
Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at August 09, 2026
***
Tey was not in the Ellery Queen "present all the clues for the reader has a chance" tradition. Her work is more about character and atmosphere, though not the "Had I But Known" or Gothic style of atmosphere. The mystery plots are solid, but fair play? Not really.
The same was true of a lot of Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe novels. Certain of the novelettes had clever tricks that a reader might see through, and there were fair clues in some of the novels. But often the solution comes from some fact that one of Wolfe's subcontract detectives, Saul or Fred or Orrie, brings to Wolfe and which Archie the narrator is not told about, so neither are we. Again, though, you read (and reread!) the Wolfe stories more for the narration and the humor, not always to figure out the killer before Wolfe announces it.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 09, 2026 09:36 AM (wzUl9)
Well-worth reading and as a lot of morons/ettes are approaching 29, you will probably get a lot more out of it than you did if you read it in high school.
Give it a try.
Posted by: naturalfake at August 09, 2026 09:36 AM (iJfKG)
70What would drive someone to name their ship 'Terror'? Even as a warship, that seems like an ill omen for the crew. And 'Erebus'? I've come across that name twice in fiction, and each time it's been for a character that was a obviously-evil harbinger of doom.
Posted by: Castle Guy at August 09, 2026
***
To terrify the French under Bonaparte?
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 09, 2026 09:36 AM (wzUl9)
74
I read "Death Comes for the Archbishop" by Willa Cather. Last Sunday, at Adult (religious) Ed, in an old video a Hillsdale College Prof recommended it saying it is "the Great American Novel."
99 cents for the Kindle download. I have read many books on the Kindle, so I think my brain has been rewired to enjoy them.
It's a great story. It's based on true stories. But the names are fictitious.
Posted by: no one of any consequence at August 09, 2026 09:38 AM (wVCl1)
75
I am re-reading "Lost in the Ruins..." by Walker Percy. Hilarious.
Posted by: no one of any consequence at August 09, 2026 09:39 AM (wVCl1)
76
At the library last week, I spotted an anthology of stories co-edited by Christopher Golden (more on him in a moment), stories set in the world of King's The Stand. It features tales of the superflu, and then stories about the world after. It's a big volume and I already had several books in my bag, so I'll go back for it later.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 09, 2026 09:40 AM (wzUl9)
77
I suppose I'm mature enough now (whatever that might mean) to try it. Is it a volume of dense prose a la Dickens, or is it remarkably light for its time?
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius
_________
It's lighter than Dickens. Thackeray, so far, does a lot of the fourth wall thing speaking directly to the reader.
Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at August 09, 2026 09:40 AM (XvL8K)
78
I'm officially over halfway through Mentats of Dune by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson.
I just have to finish the current book and plow through the next book before I start reading the Dune series proper by Frank Herbert.
79
My lefty relative rails against flat earthers on her facebook page. (I have always assumed the concept was mostly a joke or maybe an experiment in how good of an argument can be made in support of a ridiculous idea.) The relative thinks flat earthers are right wingers since the right is anti-science. Actually, she probably thinks right wingers are all flat earthers.
Posted by: Emmie, celebrating 250 years of God's grace at August 09, 2026 09:43 AM (OlzlW)
80
Lil Pooky is at a difficult stage to read to. Either he's super active and doesn't want to sit with me, or he does sit but grabs the book and flips through the pages, trying to read it himself. I'm pretty sure he's not going to spontaneously read with no direction from adults, but *giving* him that direction is hard right now.
Of course, according to Grandma, he'll sit and snuggle up to her when she reads to him. *eyeroll*
Posted by: pookysgirl has an active toddler at August 09, 2026 09:43 AM (KKhdZ)
81
For the Sioux, it was their high point, but the slaughter turned American hearts against the indians, and within a few years, most of their chiefs were dead, and their tribes were confined to reservations.
Posted by: Thomas Paine
I read some guy one time opine that one's greatest triumph is often the beginning of one's downfall. He cited Napoleon at Austerlitz. Once Napoleon defeated both the emperors of Russia and Austria, Europe knew it could not live under him.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Fear Me! at August 09, 2026 09:43 AM (ndZc7)
82
"The people responsible for all this should be beaten with a hammer."
I have much more elaborate ideas than that. But since many of us have just eaten or are eating breakfast, I'll refrain from listing them here.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 09, 2026 09:43 AM (q3u5l)
83
NASA has an “Oral History” archive where they interview many of the individuals involved in the early years of the NACA, the Langley group, and many of the key players who later went on to form NASA. There were many people involved who weren’t necessarily household names who have very interesting stories. I’m reading a few, Don Arabian, Ed Fendell, John Llewellyn that are very entertaining.
During an early Mercury launch or whatever, they decided to simulate one of the controllers having a heart attack, in order to gauge the suitability of his backup. Ed Fendell dutifully clutched his chest and collapsed at a key moment. “I think he’s dead” was the medical doctor’s opinion. The simulation within a real world mission worked, but Kranz and the boys forgot to inform Chris Kraft, who spent the better part of the day thinking this guy had died. Much hilarity ensued when he found out what really happened.
Posted by: Common Tater at August 09, 2026 09:44 AM (FpODx)
84
Or just go onto the Johnny Rotten biography Anger Is An Energy.
Posted by: Buzzy Krumhunger at August 09, 2026 09:32 AM (pTTTW)
85
so I'll go back for it later.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius
You can put a hold on it with a "not until date"
Books with holds are less likely to get weeded/tossed and modern anthologies rarely get enough checkouts to be deemed worthy of shelf space
86
I too enjoyed All the Colors of the Dark. I need to read the Correspondent by Virginia Evans for my book club.
Posted by: lin-duh at August 09, 2026 09:45 AM (VCgbV)
87
There are well known advantages to e-readers including changing fonts and sizes, small size and storage needs, even a search function. Sadly, it doesn't include better comprehension. I use a Paperwhite for casual fiction. I have a ten inch tablet for most of my e-books. It's handy for backups of paper books like LOTR, collections of paintings where the physical books are way too expensive, and 'complete works of [insert author's name]' which often sell for less than two bucks.
I've learned I don't enjoy poetry as much when using an e-reader. It doesn't encourage the slow appreciation that poetry requires. I can't imagine trying to read one of the Landmark history volumes with all the maps, diagrams, photos, and footnotes that are easy to follow in a hard copy. Same with a study Bible.
Posted by: JTB at August 09, 2026 09:45 AM (yTvNw)
88
"One can shelves approximately 5,000 printed books....".
Mentioning shelving of that magnitude might send ace into seizures.
Posted by: PabloD at August 09, 2026 09:46 AM (Hn9/J)
89
The relative thinks flat earthers are right wingers since the right is anti-science.
-
Old and busted: Dr. Science
New and cool: Dr. Silence
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Fear Me! at August 09, 2026 09:46 AM (ndZc7)
90
Edward Ellsberg was an American admiral in WW2 and one of his books is: 'Hell on Ice -
The Saga of the Jeannette'.
His other books are mostly about his salvage work during the war. I highly recommend all of his books which I listened to years ago. An interesting discovery when I checked on the narrator, it turned out that each of 5 books was by a different person. Ellsberg's 'voice' & writing were so strong I never realized the change.
Posted by: InspiredHistoryMike at August 09, 2026 09:47 AM (KaHlS)
Christopher Golden's supernatural thriller Red Hands.
Stephen Hunter's Basil's War, a WWII spy story; and his Front Sight, three novellas about his Swagger boys Charles (1930s), Earl (1950s), and Bob Lee ('60s to present day). I very much liked his The Third Bullet, in which Bob Lee investigates the Kennedy assassination and its aftermath.
Also Anthony Horowitz, one of his Daniel Hawthorne mysteries which feature Horowitz himself as the Watson, A Line to Kill. This one seems to involve murder at a literary festival on the isle of Alderney. One of the Channel Islands, I think? Continuing the tradition of isolating the murder scene to limit the number of suspects, I see.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 09, 2026 09:47 AM (wzUl9)
92
I love that House of Lords library. It's gorgeous. It wouldn't work for me since I no longer get along with ladders.
Posted by: JTB at August 09, 2026 09:48 AM (yTvNw)
93
On my to read pike
Red State Mars by Travis Corcoran
Its been getting good reviews among non woke hard sf readers
94
Wow! Tucker Carlson has really redeemed himself. He's become one hell of a patriot going after Drumpf the way he is. Uniting with Hunter Biden is genius.
=====
You had me believing it until that last sentence was too much.
Posted by: San Franpsycho at August 09, 2026 09:49 AM (JvZF+)
95
Also if you are a Dragon Award voter, you will gave rec'd a ballot recently.
Check your spam folder
96 I suppose I'm mature enough now (whatever that might mean) to try it. Is it a volume of dense prose a la Dickens, or is it remarkably light for its time?
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius
_________
It's lighter than Dickens. Thackeray, so far, does a lot of the fourth wall thing speaking directly to the reader.
Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at August 09, 2026
***
Authors did that a lot in those days. We knew we were reading a book written by someone.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 09, 2026 09:49 AM (wzUl9)
97 You can put a hold on it with a "not until date"
Books with holds are less likely to get weeded/tossed and modern anthologies rarely get enough checkouts to be deemed worthy of shelf space
Posted by: vmom deport deport stab deport at August 09, 2026
***
I'll look into that.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 09, 2026 09:50 AM (wzUl9)
98
Those 99 cent Kindle editions of public domain titles.
You want to check samples on these before buying. Quite a few of them are okay, but some of the people posting them do an awfully poor job of preparing the ebook files.
Best example I know of this (and it's 2.99, not 99 cents). Somebody put up a copy of John O'Hara's The Lockwood Concern. The book is not public domain as far as I know, and if you look at the sample, you'll find that the jerks who posted it didn't bother formatting it at all -- there's not a single paragraph break in the sample. Just one big block of text. Suppose we should be glad that they bothered to keep the quotation marks in the dialog.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 09, 2026 09:51 AM (q3u5l)
99
I visited Hannibal Missouri a few years ago and rushed to purchase paperback copies of Tom Sawyer and Uncle Remus tales, in the belief that they may be greatly altered/censored by the time my grandchildren can read at that level.
I argue with our local antique (and used) book dealer who laments that much of the book trade is going to electronic format. I want to bypass Big Brother altering the text of timeless books.
I warn my progeny about using racist language themselves under any circumstances. And don’t let the English teacher trick you into reciting the “N word” in class!
Posted by: Fenderbender at August 09, 2026 09:51 AM (1FEc1)
100
And 'Erebus'? I've come across that name twice in fiction, and each time it's been for a character that was a obviously-evil harbinger of doom.
Posted by: Castle Guy at August 09, 2026 09:35 AM (3v7ra)
My only experience with a character of that name is a Warhammer 40K inspired song What a Nob is Erebus. Sadly I don't recall the name of the pop tune used for the melody and I'm not finding it using my tablet.
Chorus includes:
What a nob is Erebus
Stans dark gods and very suss.
What
Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at August 09, 2026 09:52 AM (lFFaq)
101
83 NASA has an “Oral History”
the boys forgot to inform Chris Kraft,
Posted by: Common Tater
Thanks, great story I'll want to check out.
Like I don't have enough rabbit holes been lost in, early NASA history is endlessly fascinating.
Posted by: InspiredHistoryMike at August 09, 2026 09:52 AM (KaHlS)
102
The Royal Navy burned through ship names pretty rapidly back when they had hundreds of ships under sail. Terror's a good badass name for a warship. Erebus is a bit more questionable. It's part of the land of the dead for ancient Greeks, and people like Milton used it as a synonym for Hell. Not a good recruiting angle.
Note that the two ships were used for an antarctic mission before getting stuck in Canadian waters, so there are mountains named Erebus and Terror in Antarctica.
Posted by: Trimegistus at August 09, 2026 09:52 AM (78a2H)
103
16 I'm 60 pages into Vanity Fair. I don't know about this Becky Sharp chick.
Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at August 09, 2026 09:06 AM (XvL8K)
I was just thinking about that one yesterday! It's one of my favorite books. I've read it twice. It's filled with wonderful quotes that I'd write down on index cards and post on my bulletin board in college. "The world is a looking glass..." is one I recall most fondly.
As for the books vs. digital question, I do both. I'm currently reading "Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant" on Kindle and "Look Homeward Angel" in print. I find that it's easier for me to get on a roll reading print and I take digital reading more slowly. I've read 5 or 6 printed books in the last couple of weeks. Among them:
"Reliquary"- Preston and Child: it's the second novel in the Pendergast series and picks up where "Relic" left off.
"The Last One at the Wedding"- Jason Rekulak: a good mystery story about a father attending the wedding of his daughter to a scion of a tech mogul fortune. He finds out the hard way that he never really knew her at all. It's a really good story with twists I didn't see coming.
Next up: Whitaker Chambers' "Witness" in hardback.
Posted by: Moonbeam at August 09, 2026 09:53 AM (Lzhdy)
105 I decided to reread The Iliad next, so I looked to see which translation appealed most to me.
I chose the translation by Richmond Lattimore (generally acknowledged as one of the best), because-
His translation of the opening of The Iliad just sang to me:
Sing, goddess, the anger of Peleus' son Achilleus
and its devastation, which puts pains thousandfold upon the Achaians,
hurled in their multitudes to the house of Hades strong souls
of heroes, but gave their bodies to be the delicate feasting
of dogs, of all birds, and the will of Zeus was accomplished
since that time when first there stood in division of conflict
Atreus' son the lord of men and brilliant Achilleus.
All of that is well-written but what really caught my eye was the phrase "...but gave their bodies to be the delicate feasting of dogs, of all birds.."
The delicate feasting evokes a slaughter so great and terrible that the carrion dogs and birds can be afford to be casual and choosy in their preferences of whom and what part of them to feast upon.
Great stuff and if Homer didn't write it exactly that way...he should have!
Posted by: naturalfake at August 09, 2026 09:55 AM (iJfKG)
106
I read some guy one time opine that one's greatest triumph is often the beginning of one's downfall. He cited Napoleon at Austerlitz. Once Napoleon defeated both the emperors of Russia and Austria, Europe knew it could not live under him.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks
It makes sense. In America, there seemed to be empathy for the indians up until we ran into the Commanche in Texas and the Sioux in the West, and then it became battles where the fewer the survivors, the better.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at August 09, 2026 09:56 AM (0U5gm)
107
The book, "The Fifteen Decisive Battles Of The World", was written in 1850.
I never would have had access to that book without Gutenberg, so there's a plus for digital books.
Posted by: fd at August 09, 2026 09:38 AM (MWfyi)
For sure, digital gives us wide access to materials that would otherwise be lost. I need a better tablet if I'm ever going to read things on Gutenberg. My kindle does not play well on the internet, and I don't like reading on laptop. FWP.
108
Followup: one reason I suspect the Royal Navy leaned so heavily on Classical mythology for ship names is that they didn't seem to have much of a tradition of naming ships for people. There was always the one named after the King, and maybe a queen or the prince of wales, but that was about it. Later on they did start naming battleships after admirals. They never had the USN custom of naming ships for Medal of Honor or Navy Cross honorees.
Posted by: Trimegistus at August 09, 2026 09:57 AM (78a2H)
109
Thanks for your time and effort here, perfesser. It is much appreciated. I enjoyed the article on the value of reading things on paper. I sent it to my son who has always been a big reader of actual books. Now he is reading more digital things. I absolutely hate reading longer works online!
Posted by: FenelonSpoke at August 09, 2026 09:58 AM (JrHfD)
110
There's a 3rd party e reader someone rec'd to me but I forget the name
114
Thigpen also makes a brief examination of UFO phenomena and comes to the conclusion that some could be demonic manifestations.
Interesting book. While it's over 400 pages, it's in Octavo-format with fairly large font: so pretty quick read. Rating = 4.25/5.
Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer
I would like to read a science fiction tale of atheists traveling around the universe discovering that at each planet containing intelligent life, the natives have a Christ-figure who redeems them in the same way Jesus did us. If I was a decent writer, I might write it, but I'm not. Would be a good story.
Posted by: Sharkman at August 09, 2026 10:03 AM (/RHNq)
For those of you looking to genocide the creators of pop-up ads, I support your decision. In the meantime, you can take whig's advice like I did and install the Vivaldi browser. I've tried several different ones on my iPhone and while none are perfect, this one handles AoSHQ better than any of the rest, IMO - with no pop-ups.
Posted by: Matthew Kant Cipher at August 09, 2026 10:03 AM (kOluj)
-
I have decided that the Trinity is beyond the understanding of mortal man but I did see and interesting take on it. When Jesus is being baptized by John, the Holy Spirit appears in the form of a dove, God's voice announces that Jesus is his son with whom He is well pleased, and, of course, Jesus is there being baptized. At that moment, all three of the Persons of the Triune God were present.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Fear Me! at August 09, 2026 10:04 AM (ndZc7)
117
112 110 I think the e reader company might be Boox
Posted by: vmom deport deport stab deport at August 09, 2026 10:00 AM (Ydd86)
Thanks!
I don't want to spend the money on another device right now, but there will come a time when I will.
118
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Fear Me! at August 09, 2026 10:04 AM (ndZc7)
Not sure I've seen that pointed out before. Very powerful.
Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at August 09, 2026 10:07 AM (lFFaq)
119
32- ... Theo of Golden by Allen Levi.
Posted by: Zoltan at August 09, 2026 09:15 AM
That sounds lovely. It's available at my local library so I put it on my list. Thanks for the recommendation!
Posted by: Moonbeam at August 09, 2026 10:08 AM (Lzhdy)
120
Last night we watched the 1996 film of The Portrait of a Lady, based on the novel by Henry James. I found it dull and mostly incomprehensible despite the starring presence of a 29-year-old Nicole Kidman.
I've never read any Henry James. (M.R., yes, the English ghost story writer, but not Henry.) Someone once wrote that "he chewed more than he bit off," and so I've never ventured to read him. Anybody?
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 09, 2026 10:11 AM (wzUl9)
121
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi.
Posted by: Zoltan at August 09, 2026 09:15 AM
I had always just assumed that the town was Golden, Colorado. I wonder if there is a Golden, Georgia or if it is a creation for the story.
Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at August 09, 2026 10:11 AM (lFFaq)
122
>>You want to check samples on these before buying.
True for some physical books, too. Got a copy somewhere of a Twain piece that looks like it was photocopied from a different-sized source. Made reading it a real chore.
Posted by: Nazdar at August 09, 2026 10:11 AM (NcvvS)
123
he book, "The Fifteen Decisive Battles Of The World", was written in 1850.
I never would have had access to that book without Gutenberg, so there's a plus for digital books.
Posted by: fd at August 09, 2026 09:38 AM (MWfyi
I think I can name at least ten I assume the book includes.
Mostly arising out of Europe . The period between the Balkans War and Ukraine may be the longest without some war going on .
Posted by: polynikes at August 09, 2026 10:11 AM (KC5Lt)
124
Real men read Fagles, whose translations of both the Iliad and The Odyssey are better.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo
In my opinion, Eagles is most accessible for modern readers.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Fear Me! at August 09, 2026 10:12 AM (ndZc7)
125 I chose the translation by Richmond Lattimore (generally acknowledged as one of the best), because-
His translation of the opening of The Iliad just sang to me:
Posted by: naturalfake at August 09, 2026 09:55 AM (iJfKG)
"Generally acknowledged" by effete Texans who shake their Manhattans.
Real men read Fagles, whose translations of both the Iliad and The Odyssey are better.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at August 09, 2026 10:00 AM (l4RKn)
Still suffering from alcohol poisoning brought on by drinking inferior Stirred Manhattans, you Jersey tax-slave..
Anywho, Fagles is great. I've read him in the past and wanted a different take. Lattimore is supposed to be closer to how the Iliad was written in Greek and maintains a lot of the descriptions directly.
We'll see.
Posted by: naturalfake at August 09, 2026 10:13 AM (iJfKG)
126
What would drive someone to name their ship 'Terror'? Even as a warship, that seems like an ill omen for the crew. And 'Erebus'? I've come across that name twice in fiction, and each time it's been for a character that was a obviously-evil harbinger of doom.
Posted by: Castle Guy at August 09, 2026
------
USS Terror (CM-5) was a fleet minelayer commissioned in '42 and received four battle stars. My father served aboard it during his Navy career. There was a dog onboard that the crew named Error.
Posted by: Quarter Twenty at August 09, 2026 10:14 AM (2Ez/1)
127I would like to read a science fiction tale of atheists traveling around the universe discovering that at each planet containing intelligent life, the natives have a Christ-figure who redeems them in the same way Jesus did us. If I was a decent writer, I might write it, but I'm not. Would be a good story.
Posted by: Sharkman at August 09, 2026
***
There's A Case of Conscience by James Blish, in which a star-traveling priest finds that the intelligent bipeds who are achieving civilization on the planet where he's stationed have no concept of a Redeemer -- or sin for that matter; and he finds himself wondering if they are truly God's creatures. Now it's been years since I read it, and I may be way off on this recounting, so consider that.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 09, 2026 10:14 AM (wzUl9)
128
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Fear Me! at August 09, 2026 10:04 AM (ndZc7)
There are many verses which indicate they are 'separate and distinct' but I agree that is just a human understanding of those verses and it could be something beyond our understanding.
Posted by: polynikes at August 09, 2026 10:14 AM (KC5Lt)
129
81- I read some guy one time opine that one's greatest triumph is often the beginning of one's downfall. He cited Napoleon at Austerlitz. Once Napoleon defeated both the emperors of Russia and Austria, Europe knew it could not live under him.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Fear Me! at August 09, 2026 09:43 AM
Sounds like VDH!
Posted by: Moonbeam at August 09, 2026 10:17 AM (Lzhdy)
130
One of the many benefits of Malcolm Guite's Arthurian ballad is the way it sparks interest in the source documents for the legends and other materials about the time period. That has led me to Le Morte D'Arthur (both versions), medieval French Romances, Hildegarde von Bingen (one of the most remarkable women of any era), even modern versions like Roger Lancelyn Green.
The latest is a trip back to childhood. The Story of King Arthur and his Knights by Howard Pyle, written around 1900. These are the Arthur stories written for kids and well done. Pyle even uses some archaic words to keep the kids asking questions. The highlight for me are his illustrations. They are wonderfully detailed pen and ink drawings. Worth the price of the book. While the Kindle version of Pyle's works from Delphi is perfectly adequate and inexpensive, I got the B and N hardcover edition. Nicely bound and with the discount only about 13 dollars.
Pyle's writing style and illustrations seemed familiar. I found out he also wrote "The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood" which I had as a wee JTB. I loved that book and, along with Treasure Island, it made me want to read at a more advanced level.
Posted by: JTB at August 09, 2026 10:17 AM (yTvNw)
131
Interesting that the current microwave map of the universe indicates the possibility that Earth is at the center.
Posted by: polynikes at August 09, 2026 10:17 AM (KC5Lt)
132
I read on my iPad. I have a kindle but it's small and I don't like its functionality.
I read that article recently that talked about listening to books vs reading physical books. We were listening to stories long before there was a written language so we are hardwired to listen to stories. But when it comes to technical, non-fiction, or academic texts physical books are the way to go. I have 2 in college now and I hate that there are no books. My oldest is having to retake his science and math courses. I feel like much of this has to do with not having physical books. It is much easier to reference difficult material with a physical book than trying to do it on a laptop.
Posted by: lin-duh at August 09, 2026 10:18 AM (VCgbV)
133
Wiki on Blish's A Case of Conscience: "It is the story of a Jesuit who investigates an alien race that has no religion yet has a perfect, innate sense of morality, a situation which conflicts with Catholic teaching."
As I said, it's been a while since I read it and have no idea if this description is accurate or fair.
I always enjoy James Blish: You always learn something when you read his work, even the Trek adaptations.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 09, 2026 10:18 AM (wzUl9)
134
There have been a few attempts at "theological" science fiction. C.S. Lewis showed us un-Fallen rational beings on Mars and Venus in his "Space Trilogy." One interesting detail there is that ever since God had to incarnate in human form to redeem the inhabitants of Earth, all subsequent intelligent life formed in the image of God is roughly humanoid, whereas that wasn't as true before.
James Blish wrote a somewhat flawed attempt at theo-SF called _A Case of Conscience_ in which a world is discovered that seems to be un-Fallen, but may actually be a Satanic snare. The ending is ambiguous.
John C. Wright has tried his hand at theological cross-dimensional adventures, with a character visiting alternate worlds where specific Biblical events turned out differently. The main bad guys, if I recall correctly, are the (successful, in their timeline) builders of the Tower of Babel, who did reach Heaven and did usurp God.
There are probably others -- it's not a sector of science fiction I'm particularly fond of because it so often turns into a battleground between atheist triumphalists mocking Christianity, or (I regret to say) Christian writers without much experience doing SF badly.
Posted by: Trimegistus at August 09, 2026 10:20 AM (78a2H)
135
Apparently this is based on a real expedition. The blurb indicates that it's an explanation for the historical mystery surrounding the voyage. I have a horrible feeling that *nobody* is going to make it out of this situation, thus the mystery in real life. Still, I'm enjoying it.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 09, 2026 09:06 AM (wzUl9)
---
Don't eat the canned goods!
One of my favorite ship names is the dread HMS Tickler.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 09, 2026 10:21 AM (kpS4V)
Zemke's Stalag: The Final Days of World War II by Zemke, Hubert
Posted by: 13times at August 09, 2026 10:22 AM (fnZRl)
138
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 09, 2026 10:11 AM (wzUl9
I haven't seen the movie, but my guess is "Portrait of a Lady " is much better as a book than it would be as a movie. As far as some keen literary types I know or knew, I haven't read much Henry James aside from "Lady" ( which is one of my favorite books) as well as "Washington Square " , "Daisy Millet" and "The Turn of The screw" . I recommend "Turn of the Screw " as a first novel of James to read.
Posted by: FenelonSpoke at August 09, 2026 10:22 AM (W90Ou)
139
I very much liked his The Third Bullet, in which Bob Lee investigates the Kennedy assassination and its aftermath.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 09, 2026 09:47 AM (wzUl9)
Huh? The Third Bullet is a western by Max Brand!
Guess as titles aren't copyrightable, there's bound to be multiple books with the same title by different authors.
I think I'll title my next books as Lord of the Rings. Maybe make some money off of the confused reader.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at August 09, 2026 10:23 AM (1Ff7Z)
140
All points in the Universe are at the center. It's expanding (mostly) uniformly and the edge is the limit at which the expansion velocity is the speed of light so you can't see beyond. That's true for any place in the Universe, including (presumably) places beyond that limit from where we sit.
Posted by: Trimegistus at August 09, 2026 10:23 AM (78a2H)
141
Wiki on Blish's A Case of Conscience: "It is the story of a Jesuit who investigates an alien race that has no religion yet has a perfect, innate sense of morality, a situation which conflicts with Catholic teaching."
It also conflicts with logic. It is illogical to perform actions that aren't in one's self interest. I realize many atheists are moral and altruistic but it's not logical.
Posted by: polynikes at August 09, 2026 10:23 AM (KC5Lt)
142
I am also encouraging taking written notes instead of typing them only. I told middle spawn to type them while in class then wrote them out by hand and if he did that, he would retain the material much better. There are actually studies on this.
Posted by: lin-duh at August 09, 2026 10:24 AM (VCgbV)
143 I think I'll title my next books as Lord of the Rings. Maybe make some money off of the confused reader.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at August 09, 2026 10:23 AM (1Ff7Z)
Your Lord of the Rings can be about a disgraced English noble man exiled to America in the 1930s who becomes the first male phone operator.
Posted by: naturalfake at August 09, 2026 10:26 AM (iJfKG)
144
I've been cleaning out the basement and carved out a nice area in front of a big bookcase that holds spillovers, mostly cookbooks, paperback SF, and odds and ends. It's adjacent to my prepper pantry. Laid down a fancy carpet and put in a comfy chair, and now I'm ready for the apocalypse.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 09, 2026 10:26 AM (kpS4V)
145
Posted by: Trimegistus at August 09, 2026 10:23 AM (78a2H)
I can't explain exactly what the information the microwave map provides that indicates what I said as I can't recall how it was explained by an astrophysicist who was part of the mapping.
Posted by: polynikes at August 09, 2026 10:26 AM (KC5Lt)
146
137- Zemke's Stalag: The Final Days of World War II by Zemke, Hubert
Posted by: 13times at August 09, 2026 10:22 AM
I mentioned "Five Days That Shocked the World" by Nicholas Best. It recounts the last five days of WWII. It's fantastic.
Posted by: Moonbeam at August 09, 2026 10:28 AM (Lzhdy)
I've not been able to get through many of his novels, but if you want to try out his novels Washington Square is a good place to start, and not a bad read. Joseph Epstein, one of my favorite essayists, IIRC once said he put in a whole year of reading almost nothing but James and loved it.
For me HJ reads better in the shorter forms. There are a couple of paperbacks, one from Bantam and one from Signet, that include Turn of the Screw and other short novels. I think both include Daisy Miller, which I could never get into. But Turn of the Screw, The Beast in the Jungle, The Aspern Papers, and The Altar of the Dead are worth a try.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 09, 2026 10:29 AM (q3u5l)
BTW, Howard Pyle had NC Wyeth as a student. I wonder if his style influenced Hal Foster and his Prince Valiant comic strip.
Posted by: JTB at August 09, 2026 10:31 AM (yTvNw)
149
Zemke's Stalag: The Final Days of World War II by Zemke, Hubert
Posted by: 13times
He was my father's CO.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Fear Me! at August 09, 2026 10:31 AM (ndZc7)
150 I am also encouraging taking written notes instead of typing them only. I told middle spawn to type them while in class then wrote them out by hand and if he did that, he would retain the material much better. There are actually studies on this.
Posted by: lin-duh at August 09, 2026 10:24 AM (VCgbV)
It makes total sense given evolution that Our Apeier Ancestors and primitive selves used their hands for every single activity
Plus, if you look at the "homunculus" style brain mapping the hands and face by far are the most densely packed with sensory nerves. Lots of info transmitted every time you use them.
Posted by: naturalfake at August 09, 2026 10:31 AM (iJfKG)
151
Mattel introduced a Whitney Houston barbie doll. Paint an X on each eye and display it in a toy bathtub.
Posted by: Commissar of plenty and festive little hats at August 09, 2026 10:31 AM (oJbIm)
152
142 I am also encouraging taking written notes instead of typing them only. I told middle spawn to type them while in class then wrote them out by hand and if he did that, he would retain the material much better. There are actually studies on this.
Posted by: lin-duh
-----
It works for a lot of students. Repetition as boring as it is implants it into the brain better. Just typing transcription gives a shallow understanding because you are trying to catch the words of the prof, the deeper understanding comes when you take the time to then copy that in handwriting because like for some authors, longhand works better at actually pondering thoughts rather than simply clacking away on a typewriter.
Learning (and teaching to learners) is more like jazz than it is a formula. What works for one student may not for another but your note taking advise will work for most students especially in basic subjects.
Posted by: whig at August 09, 2026 10:32 AM (E4rtv)
153
You can put a hold on it with a "not until date"
Books with holds are less likely to get weeded/tossed and modern anthologies rarely get enough checkouts to be deemed worthy of shelf space
Posted by: vmom deport deport stab deport at August 09, 2026
***
I'll look into that.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 09, 2026 09:50 AM (wzUl9)
Or just go steal it! If it's an old book on the outs, no one will ever know!
Posted by: Dan Backslide at August 09, 2026 10:34 AM (1Ff7Z)
154
Never been a Henry James fan either. I suffered through "The Turn of the Screw" in high school and haven't been motivated to read anything else of his. Maybe I should give him a fair chance and try again.
I do recall reading an H.L. Mencken quote about James -- to the effect that he went the wrong way. Instead of crossing the Atlantic and becoming a slavish fanboy of the British upper classes, he should have gone west and learned about Americans.
Posted by: Trimegistus at August 09, 2026 10:34 AM (78a2H)
155
Another is often using instrumental or classical music without vocals as background when studying if you keep the sound at low levels. Ambient music can help block out other distractions (vocals can sometimes be a distraction to some people).
Posted by: whig at August 09, 2026 10:34 AM (E4rtv)
156
(Followup) I do wonder if that quote inspired the Howard Waldrop short story about Henry and William James going west to avenge the death of their brother Jesse.
Posted by: Trimegistus at August 09, 2026 10:34 AM (78a2H)
157
Ann Patchett's novel "Whistler" just might be one of my favorites this year. It's a modest family drama about a beloved stepfather who comes back into the life of the now middle aged daughter he left when she was nine. They got into a car accident one snowy night and the mother never forgave him (there were other issues). It's a very sweet novel and the relationships all feel very real.
My brain food this week is "Revolution: The Birth of the Greatest Nation in the History of the World" by the estimable Eric Metaxas. I loved his book on the Great Awakening.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 09, 2026 10:35 AM (kpS4V)
Haven't seen Portrait of a Lady yet, so can't say on that one, but William Wyler's The Heiress is adapted from Washington Square and as I recall was pretty faithful to the source. TJM listed it as his #1 Wyler in a recent look at Wyler's work.
Jack Clayton's The Innocents is a nice adaptation of Turn of the Screw.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 09, 2026 10:35 AM (q3u5l)
159
In Spanish class both in high school and college, I had to write out my translations of the current assignment; I didn't touch-type then. I'd have done much better translations if I could have gone back over my work (as with today's word processors) and rewritten them into more idiomatic English, of course. But I certainly learned the Spanish vocabulary and conjugations.
I also found that, as with English, some Spanish writers are better and clearer than others. Reading a collection of ghost and supernatural stories in college, I found some stories to be a breeze, others a slog to translate.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 09, 2026 10:36 AM (wzUl9)
160
It makes total sense given evolution that Our Apeier Ancestors and primitive selves used their hands for every single activity
--
Doing a thing jogs my memory
Example: washing dishes while the tv is on
A week or so later while washing the disges, the exact dialog will pop into my head
161156 (Followup) I do wonder if that quote inspired the Howard Waldrop short story about Henry and William James going west to avenge the death of their brother Jesse.
Posted by: Trimegistus at August 09, 2026
***
For years I thought Montague Rhodes James, the M.R. James of the English ghost story, was their third brother. That would have been remarkable, to have three brothers all make a mark in the world of letters -- in William's case, in psychology.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 09, 2026 10:39 AM (wzUl9)
162
He was my father's CO.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Fear Me! at August 09, 2026 10:31 AM (ndZc7)
It seems Zemke was highly respected by his men.
Posted by: 13times at August 09, 2026 10:41 AM (fnZRl)
Posted by: Commissar of plenty and festive little hats at August 09, 2026 10:42 AM (kDn72)
164
Real men read Fagles, whose translations of both the Iliad and The Odyssey are better.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at August 09, 2026 10:00 AM (l4RKn)
What? So you don't like mine? It's so accessible!
Posted by: W.H.D. QC MP MYOB BYOB ABCD Rouse at August 09, 2026 10:42 AM (1Ff7Z)
165
Posted by: lin-duh
======
Depends on subject matter I think and prior mastery of the basics in high school. Due to physical limitations from inflammatory arthritis, I can no longer physically hold books to read for long periods of time without pain from nerve compression. Nevertheless, I still read, just on Kindle instead. And I find reading even very old texts in my particular field is actually superior for understanding on a computer with a decent sized screen than from a book. Transcribing oral notes or writing them down while reading on screen is about the same with e text as it is paper (assuming you are not a heathen with margin notes in the book itself).
But for Stem and other visual+text classes, I think perhaps the flat 2d book transferred to computer texts is not the way to do it. It ignores the fact that you can do animations, use that pseudo third dimensional view to add perspective (useful in chemistry, geology, and physics), etc. The form of the instructional text literally has to change format.
Posted by: whig at August 09, 2026 10:43 AM (E4rtv)
166
I've been reading The Unmaking of a Mayor. At one point, Buckley describes people like me (quite critically) as viewing the Republican Party as being "somehow metaphysically useless."
Dismissive as he may have been, it's a good turn of phrase, and the shoe fits, so I'll wear it.
From now on, I'll refer to it as "the metaphysically useless Republican Party."
In context, it was a curious passage, and atypically for him, it was poorly explicated, muddled logic - this was early in his long career, and perhaps at some later point he explained himself better, or adjusted his thinking.
He was arguing that, while his 3rd-party challenge to John Lindsay was fine, nobody outside N should organize a 3rd-party challenge to the GOP, because only NY had a Leftist party challenging the Democrats, so it wouldn't be "justifiable" elsewhere.
This line of reasoning doesn't make a great deal of sense, and a lot of his other reasoning in the book runs counter to it.
I expect that, because his mayoral run had just made him a household name and he was still a young man, he saw his future as being a rightward pull on the national GOP, and didn't want to alienate a Party he was seeking to influence.
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at August 09, 2026 10:44 AM (BI5O2)
167
Being visual, I liked to use Tony Buzan's method of note taking called "mind maps" in which the core concept or topic is placed in the center of the page and associated ideas and info sprout off it willy nilly, which is how my brain stores info. I used lots of color and cartoons. It's more spherical than linear/hierarchical. I still made an outline, but when I needed to recall items for a test, I visualized the map.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 09, 2026 10:44 AM (kpS4V)
168 Now at 6500 of the 6900 journal references for my book I'm checking. I think by the time I'm done I'll have some 2000 PDFs of the 7600 total articles.
I've been writing to the principal investigators asking for reprints. Much to my surprise, the ones that have responded have not only been positive but even friendly and wishing me good luck in my endeavor.
No publisher and not even an outline yet. Sufficient unto the day are the evils thereof.
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at August 09, 2026 10:45 AM (O0L8i)
169
142 ... "I am also encouraging taking written notes instead of typing them only."
Taking handwritten notes in class was a big benefit for me. I learned what to emphasize and to be concise in a way that let me recall the whole lecture later. (Typing notes in class came LOOONG after my schooling.) This isn't new. I remember a passage in one of the Sherlock Holmes stories about Holmes spending the day in a library doing research and spending the evening transcribing his notes from the day.
Posted by: JTB at August 09, 2026 10:47 AM (yTvNw)
170
I just found out that Jason Pargin has a new book in his John Dies At The End series coming out in November called "There Are No Giant Crabs In This Novel":
"A massive, sticky pile of severed human limbs suddenly appears in the parking lot of a vacant department store in a desolate small town. A set of footprints is found trailing away in the snow, as if a single pair of bare feet had wandered off the pile. If this wasn’t puzzling enough, the cops soon find that no one seems to be missing the limbs. Some of the fingerprints on the severed arms belong to living people with all their appendages intact, others match no one on file, and the rest of the limbs somehow have no prints at all.
This sounds like a case for local weirdos John, David, and Amy, partly because the cops don’t want the headache and partly because David’s own arm is in the pile, despite an identical copy of it still being attached to his body."
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 09, 2026 10:47 AM (kpS4V)
171
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 09, 2026 10:35 AM (kpS4V
Except for his book on Bonhoeffer ( which I quite enjoyed) I haven't read any books by Metacas. I will have to look for his book on The Great Awakening. That is a period of history I am very interested in. So many great men of faith.
Posted by: FenelonSpoke at August 09, 2026 10:51 AM (xSAlF)
172
He was arguing that, while his 3rd-party challenge to John Lindsay was fine, nobody outside N should organize a 3rd-party challenge to the GOP, because only NY had a Leftist party challenging the Democrats, so it wouldn't be "justifiable" elsewhere.
This line of reasoning doesn't make a great deal of sense, and a lot of his other reasoning in the book runs counter to it.
I expect that, because his mayoral run had just made him a household name and he was still a young man, he saw his future as being a rightward pull on the national GOP, and didn't want to alienate a Party he was seeking to influence.
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice
New York has a unique third party ecosystem (now dying pretty much) where third parties could nominate the same candidate on another line like a GOP candidate getting the Conservative party line as endorser. Democrats had the Worker's Party, Greens, and others do to the same.
The endorser strategy actually works to the favor of minor parties as long as the parties are roughly competitive with each other as the third party can run its own candidate or endorse the major party candidate as it pleases.
Most state, third parties are spoilers only.
Posted by: whig at August 09, 2026 10:51 AM (E4rtv)
173
Your Lord of the Rings can be about a disgraced English noble man exiled to America in the 1930s who becomes the first male phone operator.
Posted by: naturalfake at August 09, 2026 10:26 AM (iJfKG)
Crap! That won't work. That's the plot of my Bell System comic novel, Boy, Did I Get A Wrong Number.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at August 09, 2026 10:51 AM (1Ff7Z)
Processing 0.03, elapsed 0.0361 seconds. 15 queries taking 0.0103 seconds, 182 records returned. Page size 141 kb. Powered by Minx 0.8 beta.
The Curtain Falls: Last Days of the Third Reich (1945) is a short firsthand memoir by Count Folke Bernadotte*, the well-known Swedish diplomat and vice-chairman of the Swedish Red Cross.
Bernadotte recounts his negotiations from mid-February to late April 1945 with the highest ranking Nazis in Germany, including Himmler. His initial humanitarian mission was to secure the release and transport of Scandinavian (mainly Danish and Norwegian) prisoners from Nazi concentration camps to neutral Sweden for internment until the war's end.
The book details his repeated missions and meetings amid the collapsing Third Reich. It vividly describes the chaotic, surreal atmosphere in the final weeks before Germany's surrender. What began as a rescue effort took on political weight when Himmler, acting without Hitler's knowledge, used Bernadotte to convey a late, desperate offer of partial surrender to the Allies.
The account is based on Bernadotte's own notes and reports. Such rescues ultimately saved thousands, including Scandinavians, Poles, and others. It was published shortly after the war and remains a notable primary source on this period.
The book is an easy read, small in size and 155 pages long. It is a straightforward wartime memoir rather than a broad history. The book is illustrated with 10 black and white photos of most of the characters involved.
