What are you reading?
Hi guys. I"m still working my way through Killing Rommel by Steven Pressfield. Last night I was on p. 99 and enjoyed the following passage: (background --- the British commando team was fully briefed and ready to leave on a special mission to attack Rommel's command post somewhere in the desert near Tobruk. The main character is narrating.)
"By ten at night the trucks are loaded. A last-minute change in orders pulls Popski and his Arabs from the operation; rumour says they will kick off with Tinker, when he returns with T2 patrol, on a different mission. Wrapped and tarped, the vehicles glisten like Christmas packages. I have only helped a little but I feel proud and satisfied. A quick feed, a smoke with Collier and Oliphant, and I'm off for the bunk.
I can't sleep. Midnight comes and goes. I'm thinking about my shaving kit. Why have I packed a razor? There'll be no water to shave with. Hairbursh? Pistol? Saved weight would add a pint of petrol. Books. Those I will need. I lay out half a dozen, including Paradise Lost, The Sun Also Rises, and Stein's manuscript, which I carry for luck. At 02:45 I'm up and pacing. I shave one last time, dress and start on foot for the motor yard."
Note: the reason he is taking books is because they'll spend very long periods of time traveling through the endless desert, aboard tanks and trucks, and sometimes they stop for long periods of time for one reason or another.
"By ten at night the trucks are loaded. A last-minute change in orders pulls Popski and his Arabs from the operation; rumour says they will kick off with Tinker, when he returns with T2 patrol, on a different mission. Wrapped and tarped, the vehicles glisten like Christmas packages. I have only helped a little but I feel proud and satisfied. A quick feed, a smoke with Collier and Oliphant, and I'm off for the bunk.
I can't sleep. Midnight comes and goes. I'm thinking about my shaving kit. Why have I packed a razor? There'll be no water to shave with. Hairbursh? Pistol? Saved weight would add a pint of petrol. Books. Those I will need. I lay out half a dozen, including Paradise Lost, The Sun Also Rises, and Stein's manuscript, which I carry for luck. At 02:45 I'm up and pacing. I shave one last time, dress and start on foot for the motor yard."
Note: the reason he is taking books is because they'll spend very long periods of time traveling through the endless desert, aboard tanks and trucks, and sometimes they stop for long periods of time for one reason or another.
Gary
SOTD 99%: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, soaps & creams, synthetic / badger brushes, Colonial General razor, Kai & Schick blades, straight razors any time, Superior 70 aftershave splash + menthol + 444
SOTD 99%: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, soaps & creams, synthetic / badger brushes, Colonial General razor, Kai & Schick blades, straight razors any time, Superior 70 aftershave splash + menthol + 444
Add Kill or Capture: How a Special Operations Task Force Took Down a Notorious al Qaeda Terrorist, by Matthew Alexander
to the "finished" list. Excellent and informative book.
Just started:
How to Break a Terrorist: The U.S. Interrogators Who Used Brains, Not Brutality, to Take Down the Deadliest Man in Iraq, by Matthew Alexander and John Bruning
to the "finished" list. Excellent and informative book.
Just started:
How to Break a Terrorist: The U.S. Interrogators Who Used Brains, Not Brutality, to Take Down the Deadliest Man in Iraq, by Matthew Alexander and John Bruning
- fallingwickets
- Clive the Thumb
- Posts: 8813
- Joined: Mon Nov 06, 2006 11:59 am
- GA Russell
- Posts: 3070
- Joined: Fri Apr 11, 2008 10:15 pm
- Location: Raleigh, NC
Just finished Killing Rommel. Now getting ready to start reading Separation of Power by Vince Flynn.
Gary
SOTD 99%: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, soaps & creams, synthetic / badger brushes, Colonial General razor, Kai & Schick blades, straight razors any time, Superior 70 aftershave splash + menthol + 444
SOTD 99%: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, soaps & creams, synthetic / badger brushes, Colonial General razor, Kai & Schick blades, straight razors any time, Superior 70 aftershave splash + menthol + 444
A good read
Most recently finished The Civil War by Ken Burns. Fascinating, reveals many details not taught in school, definitely NOT a dry chronology of dates and places. Highlly recommended.
Currently reading The Federalist Papers -- again, not having read them since high school in the 60s.
With a little age behind me now, and a different perspective on life compared to a high school kid's point of view, I find them fascinating. Although originally written to support the passage of the US Constitution, they are very timely today in my view. Ponderous language, difficult to plow through, but worth the read for two reasons: (1) the content itself and (2) the fluent writing style which reveals wordsmithing not often found nowadays. Highly recommended. Free (or almost free) on the Amazon Kindle.
Currently reading The Federalist Papers -- again, not having read them since high school in the 60s.
With a little age behind me now, and a different perspective on life compared to a high school kid's point of view, I find them fascinating. Although originally written to support the passage of the US Constitution, they are very timely today in my view. Ponderous language, difficult to plow through, but worth the read for two reasons: (1) the content itself and (2) the fluent writing style which reveals wordsmithing not often found nowadays. Highly recommended. Free (or almost free) on the Amazon Kindle.
I read that a few years ago. Really interesting book, especially the Maori names used for the battle units as I recall them.brothers wrote:Hi guys. I"m still working my way through Killing Rommel by Steven Pressfield. Last night I was on p. 99 and enjoyed the following passage: (background --- the British commando team was fully briefed and ready to leave on a special mission to attack Rommel's command post somewhere in the desert near Tobruk. The main character is narrating.)
"By ten at night the trucks are loaded. A last-minute change in orders pulls Popski and his Arabs from the operation; rumour says they will kick off with Tinker, when he returns with T2 patrol, on a different mission. Wrapped and tarped, the vehicles glisten like Christmas packages. I have only helped a little but I feel proud and satisfied. A quick feed, a smoke with Collier and Oliphant, and I'm off for the bunk.
I can't sleep. Midnight comes and goes. I'm thinking about my shaving kit. Why have I packed a razor? There'll be no water to shave with. Hairbursh? Pistol? Saved weight would add a pint of petrol. Books. Those I will need. I lay out half a dozen, including Paradise Lost, The Sun Also Rises, and Stein's manuscript, which I carry for luck. At 02:45 I'm up and pacing. I shave one last time, dress and start on foot for the motor yard."
Note: the reason he is taking books is because they'll spend very long periods of time traveling through the endless desert, aboard tanks and trucks, and sometimes they stop for long periods of time for one reason or another.
I'm working through a number of things - I have a problem of wanting to read multiple books at once. John Tracy Ellis's American Catholicism, John Le Carre's A Small Town in Germany, Star Wars: Riptide, and The Greatest Game Ever Played all currently occupy my shelf.
Regards,
Mike
Mike
- fallingwickets
- Clive the Thumb
- Posts: 8813
- Joined: Mon Nov 06, 2006 11:59 am
http://i.imgur.com/Bz2KR.pngSlowed up my reading given my devotion to the NCAA men's basketball tournament.
de gustibus non est disputandum
Yes -- I often witness the intervention of Providence in many such situations. A thing of pure beauty.fallingwickets wrote:http://i.imgur.com/Bz2KR.pngSlowed up my reading given my devotion to the NCAA men's basketball tournament.
Providence? They didn't even make the tournament this year.jww wrote:Yes -- I often witness the intervention of Providence in many such situations. A thing of pure beauty.fallingwickets wrote:http://i.imgur.com/Bz2KR.pngSlowed up my reading given my devotion to the NCAA men's basketball tournament.
Jim