May 20, 2007
Holiday Reading
After a few weeks of crap at work (for both of us), our week in Hawaii is filled with inactivity: a lot of lying on the beach and reading. Some high (and low) lights of the reading list:
The Punic Wars- by Adrian Goldsworthy is a rare breed in history writing in that it's scholarly and yet written in a readable style. A lot of scholarly history is just too long and dry for my current mental state (as close to adult ADD as I've ever experienced), so presenting those info in readable form is a good thing. On the other hand, it's not "pop" history which tends to dumb down the material for layman. In any case, if you need just one book to get a reasonable understanding of the conflict (i.e. enough to get inspired so you can start your Punic War project in miniatures), this is it. (BTW Prof. Goldsworthy is a wargamer who had been sighted around the Ancient Military History Yahoo group.
Memory- by Lois McMaster Bujold, is part of the Vorkosigan Sci-fi saga. It's stories about the adventure of a young deformed royalty who want to make it in this universe on his own terms. It's time waster fluff, but very good time waster fluff. Two of the books in the series had won Hugo best Novel award is a testament to the writing. The stories tend to he light-hearted adventure so it's perfect for vacation. I read (heard) this one through a book on tape offering which is good, but not as great as the older Vorkosigan Saga which was narrated by both a man and a woman who did all the voices. Those are definitely worth tracking down. (all these are unabridged)
Achtung Schweinehund!- by Harry Pearson is a strange and delightful book. It's only avail from the UK (I got it from a online vendor for about $25US including shipping). It's a very personal account of a boy's facination/obsession with wargaming and toy soldiers. It's filled with auther's boyhood life in the UK, with frequent digression into the funnier aspects of the hobby. There are many delightful tales of eccentrics (I use the term loosely, some have definitely crossed over into the "weird"). The book will appeal to historical wargamers (he hates fantasy BTW) of a certain age (born in the 60's). There are also a lot of stories about aspects of wargaming that I know nothing about (e.g. the french wargaming/toy soldier scene) which are informative. Before I started in on it I suspect that though an interesting tale, the UK-ness might not resonate, buy was I wrong! It looks like growing up in the late 60's in Taiwan isn't that far from growing up English if one is a military history nerd. Airfix kit that comes in a plastic bag and hung on a peg in the hobby store? Check. Little booklet with Battle of Britain rub-on sticker so one can recreate his own 2d "diorama"? Check. With the exception of the availablity of metal none WW2 themed figures, our childhood are remarkably similar.
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February 23, 2005
Vacation Reading
Thanksgiving vacation is normally where I get to catch up on my pleasure reading. This year the reading bug persisted after the vacation (and that means I spent time reading when miniatures should get painted, code get written, and games get designed). So in no particular order all the books I made it through since last November:
Sci-Fi
Calculating God, by Robert Sawyer. Mr. Sawyer's writing is kind of like a smarter version of a John Grisham novel: Simple, to the point, have a straight forward premise, and written like a script that's Hollywood friendly. Normally I am against this kind of books but somehow his stuff grew on me.
Most of his books are based on present/near future, and usually involves some premise that has a religious or popular science compoent. Terminal Experiment posit what happens if we can proof the existence of the human soul? Calculating God's premise is: What if Intelligent Design really did happen? (God is an Alien of course). Nothing deep or convoluted here, but perfect for the beaches of Cancun.
The Peace War, by Vernor Vinge. I liked Vinge's previous work (A Fire Upon the Deep & A Deepness in the Sky), they are good space opera with some interesting premise (I especially liked the cosmology invented in that universe, where physical laws are different depending on how close one's solar system is to the core of the galaxy). This one however is a total dog: The worst genre writing (bad prose, meandering plot development, lack of dramatic tension). It's a reprint of something he's written back in the old days (and it shows). Nearly put me off sci-fi for good. Avoid at all cost.
The Neanderthal Parallax, by Robert Sawyer (again!) This is his Hugo winning entry. The premise is about a alternate earth where the Neanderthals triumphed over modern humans and developed a advanced civilization, and what happens when this alternate universe crossed with ours during a physics experiment. Another good light read for the beach. I enjoyed the first book of the trilogy well enough, but I think he's stretching it by making this into a full length trilogy. Can't find it in me to finish the 3rd book (now that's saying something). I can also safely say that Mr Sawyer should be taken in smaller doses, so I'll confine them to vacation that involves sand and water only from now on, and keep it away from home reading.
Fiction
Most of my fictional reading in the past has been confined to Sci-fi, but I find that I am finding that genre less and less fullfilling, so I started to experiment with "mainstream" fiction. Mike Siggins recommended William Boyd and I really enjoyed his Any Human Heart (see blog entry here). For Cancun I packed up his An Ice-Cream War My interest in small war in Africa is well knowm, so this historical novel on WWI in East Africa is a natural pick. The book consists of several different narrative threads that eventually intertwine (resulting in some violent and unexpected confrontation). Mr Boyd's writing is full of rich and intimate details, and his prose is rich and fullfilling. It's not really an "Action/War" novel but his description of the Battle of Tonga is spot on (his no slouch when it comes to writing about doomed romance either). Many on Amazon complained about the disjointed nature of the narrative, but I thought that's a good fit for the pointless war depicted in the story(s). Highly recommended.
Being a lover of rock n roll history, I couldn't resist the description of Never Mind the Pollack, by Neal Pollack. It's a Flashman-esque romp of a rock critic who seems to be present at every important moment of rock history. The book is a series of vignette of encounters with famous rockers, be it Elvis (who crashed his car into his house), Dylan (who competed with Neal for the hand of Joan Baez), all the way through Kurt Cobain (Neal setup Kurt's marriage with "the Widow"). Ultimately a literary gimmick for some rock obsessed amature writer. I got a good chuckle out of it, but I can't seriously recommend it unless you are a music fanatic like me.
Besides reading "real" books, I also check out audio books on CD that I can listen to when drive. The last thing I read/heard is The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon. It is another "gimmick" book where the book is written from the first person who's autistic. It's mildly interesting in the mold of Flowers of Algernon. But it's still a gimmick book. I'm glad I checked this out of the library.
Currently making my way through Michael Chabon's The Final Solution. A mystery novella (it's only 131 pages). I realized half way into the second chapter that this is a Sherlock Holms story. Am enjoying the story so far and will hopefully finish it tonight.
History
I try to sync up topics of my non-fiction reading to other aspects of my interets, either to travel or historically themed games I am about to play. Reading about the upcoming Unhappy King Charles game about the English Civil War prompted me to pick up The Civil War, by Trevor Royle. It's a one volume history of the English Civil War (including the often separate struggle in Ireland and Scotland). It's a narrative history that's got just enough detail to satisfy and not overwhelm. I am at the point where forces are gathering for Marston Moor. Recommended if you know nothing of the period and want to get a good grip in less than 1,000 pages...
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October 19, 2004
Any Human Heart
On Mike Siggin's suggestion, and my previous positive experience with William Boyd's Brazzaville Beach, I started on his latest: Any Human Heart on a business trip to the East Coast. I probably had a record reading speed on this trip since I finished the whole 480 pages in two days. This is a page turner.
The book is setup as a journal kept by the protagonist, as he progresses through life (from a privileged English school boy in the gay 20's, up to Spanish Civil War, WW2, post war years, all the way up to the end of his life). The journal posted by Logan Mountstuart is a joy to read. He's not a hero, in fact he is quite a flawed human being (not quite as bad as Flashman of course), one can't help but to keep reading as to find out what his next (mis)adventure is going to be.
I don't normally read mainstream fiction, and I am glad I made the exception this time. A perfect read on the airplane (though I might have second thought for this book as a vacation read, since it gets depressing at times...)
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October 07, 2004
Path to Victory
I don't normally review a book before I am finished with it, but in the case of The Path to Victory- The Mediterranean Theater in World War II, by Douglas Porch, I'll be glad to make an exception. This is history writing at its best.
Back when I was trying to keep up all colonial/Victorian period publications, there weren't much material in Engish on the French. Mr. Porch's Conquest of Morocca, Conquest of Sahara, and his History of the French Foreign Legion are must read if you have any interest in the French colonial campaings. Conquest of Morocco was the first of Mr. Porch's book that I read (In fact, one of the first "hard history" book I've ever read). It's a bit disjointed, very much like the Campaign itself, but Porch has shown that he can write in a lively style that makes dry material (Morocco, dry, get it?) easy on eye.
His narrative style have improved by leaps and bounds since then. The Path to Victory is his latest, and he's attempting to look at the entire Mediterranean theater as a coherent whole. It's also not one of those dry narrative history that just talked about what happened (i.e. Brigade X moved from point A to point B on date Q), but is full of analysis and reason why things happened? (i.e. Why did Churchill call off Compass and sent troops to Greece instead?)
Often an academic writes in dry proses that bores the reader to death, but Porch can write, and the book is a page turner (He is now Professor of National Security Affairs at the Naval Postgraduate School). It's good to see solid analysis married to good prose.
I am not an expert in this period/theater, so there's also a sense of suspense as I read them. Right now I just finished the invasion of Crete, and even I knows that Operation Compass is the highlight of Allied fortune until '44. Herr Rommel hasn't made his appearance yet. I'll report back to see how the book turned out...
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