|
July 20
|
|
Smokey
gave
to:
Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae (Paperback)
by Steven Pressfield (Goodreads author!)
|
my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
|
| |
recommended to Smokey by:
Gift from a friend
recommended for: Service members and those who wish to understand them
read in July, 2008
Smokey said:
"Soldiers are philosophers by trade, as opposed to nature. Whether they are gifted logicians or readers or not, their profession demands a close association with death and life, fear and courage, love and hate, joy and sorrow. A soldier gets acquainte...more
Soldiers are philosophers by trade, as opposed to nature. Whether they are gifted logicians or readers or not, their profession demands a close association with death and life, fear and courage, love and hate, joy and sorrow. A soldier gets acquainted with these, not as abstract ideas, but as intimate realities which are a part of the day-to-day environment.
When faced with such larger-than-life concepts, though, words often fail, no matter how important or meaningful a place they hold in every day life. I've tried once or twice to put some of this/these into words myself, because I felt a need to share with people outside my line of work just what it is that goes through our heads. We service-folk aren't mythical or demonic, we aren't legendary or infamous, we are neither "The Greatest Generation," nor the worst. But having tried to communicate something of what I've seen and felt, I realize now just why so many who served so honorably chose to remain so silent as to their experiences.
This book, Gates of Fire, says all of those things I couldn't say.
As you may guess, the book centers upon the Battle of Thermopylae, the same subject as the movie 300. As you read through the book, you will see why that movie treated it the way it did. The heroism on display at that time in that place makes any comic book superhero look silly by comparison; it's only natural that Leonidas & Co. should have their own line of action figures. Seriously.
But the book goes further than just the names, dates, and places; it is not "history" in the strictest sense, though it strives for such accuracy as historical records can offer. More so Gates of Fire delves into the why and the wherefore: why did these men go, knowing they would die? how were they able to stand and fight knowing that eventually they would be butchered where they stood? what could possibly have motivated the greatest "Alamo" the world has ever known? The book excels in this effort, bringing the concepts of the heroic into terms that the average reader can immediately grasp, or at least imagine.
The book also shows quite graphically the scenes of warfare. As one seasoned veteran asks a shaken youngster "What did you expect? What sort of wounds did you suppose the sword and spear would cause?" But it also shows in painful detail the moments of poignancy: the moments spent at home with loved ones, carved indelibly into the soldiers' hearts; the moments after the battle when soldiers realize they have survived the carnage to live once again; the unbelievable courage of the families they leave behind.
I have never marched in a phalanx with spear and shield. I have never truly closed with the enemy, or grappled with him in anger. But if you want to know what a soldier thinks, lives, and feels, read this book. The times and technologies have changed, but the principles have really not. Thank you, Mr. Pressfield for writing this....less
"
|
|
Smokey
gave
to:
Catch-22 (Paperback)
by Joseph Heller
|
my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
|
| |
recommended for: Lit-English students, hopefully well-stocked with Zoloft, Prozac AND Diazepam, thanks
read in March, 2008
Smokey said:
"This book falls into two categories: 1)Books that had to be written, at some time, by someone, and 2)Books that everyone should read once, no matter how hard they are to get through.
The book is set in a US bomber squadron in WWII, but the book is...more
This book falls into two categories: 1)Books that had to be written, at some time, by someone, and 2)Books that everyone should read once, no matter how hard they are to get through.
The book is set in a US bomber squadron in WWII, but the book is written topically, not sequentially. The result is a jerky narrative that snaps back and forth between viewpoints and events, often ones that have been previously covered, and often WITHOUT any type of transition.
The story whips violently between hideously funny and dullingly boring, though seriously disturbed at all points. The lynch-pin of the story is a recurring "damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't" theme, expressed in many inventive ways through a cast of truly insane characters. Parts of it are truly worth five stars, the rest is barely worth one. That and the whole must-read thing = 3 stars and a sigh of relief that I can move on to something less psychotic. :)...less
"
|
|
Smokey
gave
to:
House Harkonnen (Dune: House Trilogy, Book 2)
by Brian Herbert
|
my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
|
| |
read in March, 2008
Smokey said:
"House Harkonnen is the middle volume of the prequel to Frank Hebert's legendary series as written by his son Brian Hebert and Kevin J. Anderson, and as anyone with a passing knowledge of the Dune universe could have told you without looking, t...more
House Harkonnen is the middle volume of the prequel to Frank Hebert's legendary series as written by his son Brian Hebert and Kevin J. Anderson, and as anyone with a passing knowledge of the Dune universe could have told you without looking, the very title of this book bodes badly for everyone.
The story lines begun in House Atreides continue briskly onward, and many of the characters that Dune fans are familiar with come into their recognizable selves in this volume, but that's where the good news ends. Even members of House Harkonnen suffer terrible setbacks and tragedy in this book, and all the reader can do is hold on, knowing that it has to get better eventually. Doesn't it? To draw quick comparison, House Harkonnen is to this trilogy as The Empire Strikes Back is to the original Star Wars trilogy. Except more tragic. (And no carbonite.)
The one serious flaw of the book is to be found in its construction. As a collaborative effort which follows several storylines on many worlds, it follows that the story should be written in segments, each writer drawing from Frank Hebert's notes and their own imagination for each scene. In practice, this works well most of the time; many of the events happen simultaneously, or in close succesion, and the sections are usually short and to the point allowing the story to progress along the several paths at once without the reader losing track of which characters are where.
The problem is that many of these segments include pieces of the backstory, previous happenings, or re-statements of the various characters' respective motivations and goals, and this results in a large amount of unecessary repetition of already-known information. A better job of editing would have shortened this book by nearly 100 of its 720+ pages, and this poor reader would have been able to get through the suffering of his favorite characters more quickly.
On to House Corrino!...less
"
|
|
Smokey
gave
to:
Dragonsong (Harper Hall Trilogy, Book 1)
by Anne McCaffrey
|
my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
|
| |
read in April, 2008
|
|
Smokey
gave
to:
Dragondrums (Harper Hall Trilogy, Book 3)
by Anne McCaffrey
|
my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
|
| |
recommended to Smokey by:
gift from a friend
recommended for: Fantasy-philes, and teens of age and heart
read in April, 2008
Smokey said:
"*review pending*
"
|
|
Smokey
gave
to:
Dragonsinger (Harper Hall Trilogy, Book 2)
by Anne McCaffrey
|
my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
|
| |
recommended to Smokey by:
gift from a friend
recommended for: Fantasy-philes, Teens of age and heart
read in April, 2008
Smokey said:
"*review pending*
"
|
|
April 16
|
|
New comment on Smokey's review of
Time Enough for Love
(see all 2 comments)
|
|
April 15
|
|
|
Smokey
gave
to:
Time Enough for Love (Paperback)
by Robert A. Heinlein
|
my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
|
| |
read in April, 2008
Smokey said:
"Presented primarily as the musings, ramblings, and experiences of one Woodrow Wilson Smith, aka. Lazarus Long, et. al., this book has enough proverbs, pithy sayings, thou-shalt-nots, and who-begat-whom's to qualify as a potential "Hedonists' Bib...more
Presented primarily as the musings, ramblings, and experiences of one Woodrow Wilson Smith, aka. Lazarus Long, et. al., this book has enough proverbs, pithy sayings, thou-shalt-nots, and who-begat-whom's to qualify as a potential "Hedonists' Bible." Unlike some of Heinlein's other works, the gratuitous sex is kept to something of a minimum (not ignored!), and he instead focuses on the attitudes and platitudes that have allegedly kept his main charater alive for 2500+ years in an exciting and dangerous universe.
Why "allegedly?" Because the "historians" who claim authorship of the volume (themselves characters in the story) sincerely doubt that Senior Long is telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Still, they admit, it's a pretty good yarn, and so leave in even the "obvious" lies so that the reader may come "to better understand" the oldest man who ever lived.
I read this book years ago, but just recently re-read it to refresh my memory, and had a blast doing it. This book is a must-read, not only for science-fiction fans, but also for anyone interested in philosophy, space/time, the nature of life, and the meaning of love. Of course, the unabashedly humanist ideals laid out tend to grate harshly against most other religions and philosophies, but the book is an excellent exercise in rational thought for the mature reader. (Sorry, yougsters - you just don't have a chance here.)
So leave your moral distaste at the door (you can always pick it back up later), put on your thinking cap, and enjoy one of the best tall tales ever told. It'll be well worth your while....less
"
|
|
Smokey
gave
to:
Dune: House Corrino (Paperback)
by Brian Herbert, Kevin J. Anderson, Frank Herbert
|
my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
|
| |
recommended for: <i>Dune</i> fans, sci-files
read in April, 2008
Smokey said:
"This book is the third and final entry in the prequel trilogy written by Brian Hebert and Kevin J. Anderson which tells of the events leading up to those described in Frank Hebert's classic Dune. The brisk narrative skips easily between the pl...more
This book is the third and final entry in the prequel trilogy written by Brian Hebert and Kevin J. Anderson which tells of the events leading up to those described in Frank Hebert's classic Dune. The brisk narrative skips easily between the plot lines introduced in the earlier books, and finally resolve into a triumphant Star Wars-style ending. (No surprise: Kevin J. Anderson has written many novels in the Star Wars universe, too.)
Unfortunately, as with House Harkonnen, the authors fall into the trap of attempting to inform any new readers as to the 'state of the universe'; they do so at the expense of telling the rest of us (i.e. everyone) things we already know (we were there, remember?) and thus interrupt the flow of the narrative.
House Corrino is a fine end to a fine series which provides a satisfying look into the past of Frank Hebert's immense, ground-breaking universe. Fans of the Dune series will enjoy finding out how a proud, honorable Atreides duke and his rebellious Bene Gesserit consort came to be the rising political stars of their day - and how their son came to be the focal point of human history....less
"
|
|
March 21
|
|
New comment on Smokey's review of
Crystal Singer (Crystal Singer, Book 1)
(see all 2 comments)
|
