Read a good book lately?

[Maha]

This weeks TV Guide is crap, buy the following weeks issue, it may have better Mr TELLY stories.

[Swoop]

You should have a read of some of these titles then

"I flew for the Fuhrer" and Stringbag are very good reads!

[Akzle]

manhattan nocturne - colin harrison

fiction.
i found it a rather brilliant use of language, switches between voices rather effortlessly. story no great intrigue, but hefty characters that play off each other well. explicit and smattered with sex.
300 or so pages, not a huge commitment.

[Black Knight]

Power Of The Dog followed by The Cartel by Don Winslow-Fiction but spans 40 plus years of one guy trying to break the Mexican drug cartels,the author has done his homework,facinating reading,each book 500 plus pages and Winslow has a cool way of writing.

[pritch]

Inspired by a comment from motojourno Mat Oxley I recently re-read “Popski's Private Army”'.
In that book the author is effusive in his praise of the New Zealanders in the Long Range Desert Group during World War 2.

In discussion with a friend I mentioned this and he loaned me “Bearded Brigands”. The book is created from the diaries and photographs of Frank Jopling, edited by Brendan O'Carrol. The diaries only go to September 1942 when Jopling was taken prisoner.

The LRDG was comprised of four patrols, one Kiwi, one Rhodesian, one formed from Guards regiments, and one from Yoemanry units of the British army. The Kiwi and Rhodesian patrols seem to have been largely comprised of people with a farming background.

Jopling decribes the Libyan desert as being as big as India and largely unmapped. Their first tasks were mapping the desert and setting up supply dumps. Later observing and recording troop movements, and finally as far as Jopling is concerned, attacks on enemy aircraft and airfields.

Mostly the LRDG operated with considerable efficiency but there were lapses. Jopling is admirably restrained in his criticism of these lapses. On one occasion an LRDG officer and an RAF officer were escorting a German Afrika Corps prisoner. At an abandoned fort the two British officers decide they needed a wash so they put their clothes and weapons on the truck and set about getting cleaned up. Guess what? Yep. Their prisoner grabbed a revolver, held them up, took their truck and their clothes. Jopling comments, “It certainly was a bad show.” He wasn't kidding.

Fortunately their former prisoner was recaptured before he got back to his own lines and could get information about the LRDG movements to his friends.

Another passage of the book reminds me that some things never change.
“About a week ago it came out in Routine Orders that in future all navigators are to receive 1/- a day extra pay.” (That is one shilling, modern day equivalent 10c?)
“So Bing Morris went to see the NZ Administration Office and they told him the NZ Government wouldn't pay extra for navigators. The position at present is that Tommy navigators are getting 1/- per day while we don't get anything extra, which seems to be a very unsatisfactory state of affairs to me.”

These guys were sometimes operating in largely featureless desert 600Ks behind the German lines, and the guys navigating weren't worth a bob a day? And it isn't as if there were a lot of them, perhaps only a handful.

This particular book may be hard to come by, or a tad expensive, but there are other books about the LRDG available if you look around. I do note that one of the other books has exactly the same photograph on the cover but that isn't as surprising as it might be. During his time with the unit Joplin became the official unit photographer. He also did an Arab language course and he must have done it with considerable diligence because ultimately he knew enough that it saved his leg – and his life.

After the war and his return to civilian life, he was for some years a master on the Devonport ferry.

[Akzle]

the solace of leaving early, and, jessica.

reviews to follow

[pete376403]

Fire and Fury - if only half of it is true then it's an eye-opener. Actually seeing at serial litigator trump hasn't sued the arse off Wolffand anyone else involved in the book, possibly most of it is true.

[AllanB]

Revival - Stephen King.

I've not picked up one of his books for some years but really enjoyed this work over my break. Well written and it pulled me into the life of the lead all the while slowly building the sense of impending doom.

[Berries]

Have not read a proper book for years, but needs must over the holidays. Mick Herron, the Jackson Lamb series starting with Slow Horses and then take it from there, Real Tigers, Dead Lions and yet to read Spook Street but saving it for when I am sans kids.

[Black Knight]

Have not read a proper book for years, but needs must over the holidays. Mick Herron, the Jackson Lamb series starting with Slow Horses and then take it from there, Real Tigers, Dead Lions and yet to read Spook Street but saving it for when I am sans kids.

I agree with you there Berries,the series is a great read and very funny.Dont know if I would like Jackson as a boss though,but then again.

[Akzle]

the solace of leaving early, and, jessica.

reviews to follow

the solace of leaving early

in the voice of a quasi-intellectual, and people with what i can only assume are mental issues. Anchored in classic english literature, but set in Christian Town, USA.
is semi-autobiographical apparently. quite enjoyed, mostly for it's use of language.

Jessica

Bryce Courtenay. Who I rank as an author as he can turn his pen to pretty much any setting, age, language, and have it come over as authentic. I still find his work 50/50 - some great, some shit. The last one of his I read (set in an archaeological exploration, egypt) i found pretty tedious.
This one, not so. A condensed version of Four Fires (ish), set in old-timey strayaland, To say it was "The trials and tribulations of being a poor farmey folk lass called Jessica" would be selling it short as (this being one of his better ones) it encompasses a swag* of other lives, and all the characters are brilliantly presented. And while it's delivered through Jessica, you're still given that sense of a much larger world.


*e-points for straya pun!

[AllanB]

Power Of The Dog followed by The Cartel by Don Winslow-Fiction but spans 40 plus years of one guy trying to break the Mexican drug cartels,the author has done his homework,facinating reading,each book 500 plus pages and Winslow has a cool way of writing.

Yeah I'm a fan of Don Winslow - try The Winter of Frankie Machine.

[OddDuck]

+1 on The Winter Of Frankie Machine.

Also the Death And Life Of Bobby Z is worth a look - great pulp trash, never going to win awards but highly entertaining.

Am reading The Expanse series of novels at the moment, James S A Corey, SF set in the Solar System. Syfy did a TV miniseries which I've seen Season 1 of and they've done good work... once you get past Episode 2 (dire) and Episode 3 (ad break! Cliffhanger needed!!) it's actually pretty watchable.

[Black Knight]

Yeah I'm a fan of Don Winslow - try The Winter of Frankie Machine.

Have read this and all his others-Just waiting for The Force to arrive from Book Depository-In the meantime am reading James Ellory triology-American Tabloid-Cold 6 Thousand-Blood a Rover-Covers the Mob-FBI-CIA the Kennedy's-Hoover-Hoffa and uncle Tom Cobbly and all, from 1958 through May 1972-A big read at 1500 plus pages over the three books but absolutely fascinating.

[AllanB]

Have read this and all his others-Just waiting for The Force to arrive from Book Depository-In the meantime am reading James Ellory triology-American Tabloid-Cold 6 Thousand-Blood a Rover-Covers the Mob-FBI-CIA the Kennedy's-Hoover-Hoffa and uncle Tom Cobbly and all, from 1958 through May 1972-A big read at 1500 plus pages over the three books but absolutely fascinating.

Snap - I ordered The Force from Book Depository last night