Daren

This is a collection of Hemingway's short stories - selected by Dennis Pepper. It isn't clear what links these short stories - to be honest none of them were particularly impressive. Many were published in magazines first, but come from his story story collections - In Our Time and Men Without Women providing the most. Most were written in the period 1923-27, with a couple at the end from 1938.

There were a number of ‘Nick Adams' stories - although despite all featuring Nick Adams they were not very interconnected and didn't appear to be in order - jumping about a bit from stories about his youth to stories at adulthood. (All the Nick Evans stories here (more than those here) are available in a posthumously released collection from 1972.)

Other than these, there were one-off stories set in Italy related to the war, bullfighting (presumably in Spain), a horse-racing story, a boxing story (presumably the USA), a skiing story, etc, so a real mixture.

Also interesting to me were the various appendices which occupied the last 40 or so pages. These included a five page biography timeline of Hemingway's life which tied into when he wrote various stories (those selected here and others) and where the influences and inspirations may have come from.
For example a lot of the Nick Adams stories are set in the place Hemingway's parents holidayed regularly -Walloon Lake in upper Michigan - where they had a cottage.

There were also some reviews of Hemingway's work - paired as one in praise and one critical, then a selection of what Hemingway said about his writing (parts of interviews, or bits of his writing about his writing. There were then some ‘suggested questions' the reader should ask themselves about each story in this book, and info about where these stories were first published.

Overall, this was readable and interesting enough, but it would have been better if I had read the explanatory parts at the back with each story rather than at the end, as I had lost most of the detail from memory by then. I would think a format with the explanatory notes after each story would have been better.

2.5 stars, rounded up.

The author is British, but has spent extensive time in Japan and Korea, as well as his travels in the Philippines, and much of this book is spent comparing places, people or their culture to these other places. Published in 1968, Kirkup advises in the Author's Note at the start of the book that the book was written at intervals during the six years prior to publication, and records his seven long trips to the Philippines.

For a book which uses so many Tagalog (Filipino) words, it is ironic that most of the ones which confused me were in English. It must just be the authors style to show off with complicated or underused words. On P10/11 I came across coprolalia, synteresis, rutilant and disoppilating (three of which have reassuring red lines under thanks to my spellcheck). Thankfully this use of weird words calmed down after the first 20-25 pages.

There is a lot in this slim book - only 176 pages, but there are 22 chapters covering myriad topics. I found the reading slow and hard - I think primarily because I didn't find it very stimulating. There were just so many dull sections interspersed by the odd interesting nugget. To keep me interested it needs to be the other way around - I can put up with the occasional dull bit, but the rest has to make up for it.

The author says it is the only travel book published about the Philippines since World War II - it may well be, I have not read a lot about the Philippines (which is why I bought this one when I saw it!). I have visited there only once, for 4 weeks, although 3 of those weeks was spent in one place - a children's home where my partner and I volunteered. I helped buy materials for, then constructed an oven and helped build a building to become a bakery with which they cook bread and sell to maintain an income stream. We also helped plant mahogany seedlings in a plantation which they grow and then harvest to sell for milling as construction timber. In the other week we travelled in nearby islands and in Manilla. But I digress. The point I think I was going to make before I got distracted was, other than Manilla, I didn't visit any of the places the author covered, so perhaps that might have made a difference.

A tiring 2.5 stars, which I don't feel I should round up.
What a terrible cover image - whoever thought that was flattering needs to take another look.

What better day to commence reading this book than Anzac Day, 25 April, and a public holiday in New Zealand and Australia. Adam-Smith's book is not well known - a paltry 77 ratings and 11 reviews here on GR currently. To my mind that makes is seriously under-rated.
This should be recommended reading for Australians - perhaps for New Zealanders, but it is (fairly) written from a very Australian perspective, and the Kiwis only get a mention in context and where they interrupt the narrative. It is an Australian book about Australian Anzacs.

Published in 1978, you can draw the conclusion that this was the authors last chance to interview those men who were at Gallipoli, and those other theatres of war, as they would then be in their late seventies, and early eighties (at youngest). Adam-Smith explains she read thousands of letters and diaries, interviewed many old soldiers and their wives and children to gain their perspectives. It covers the soldiers in the Australian army, navy and fledgling air force, and also those Australians in the RAF.

Divided into two main parts, then an appendix, it covers first Gallipoli, the ‘After Gallipoli' which is about the war in Europe - Belgium and France - primarily the Battle of the Somme, the attack at Fromelles, the Battle of Pozières, the Battle of Bullecourt and the Battle of Passchendaele (Ypres). Woven through these was the time in Egypt and Palestine, and around the Suez Canal.

I found the Gallipoli section read well, was fairly linear and focussed. By default the ‘After Gallipoli' section was a lot harder - there were repetitions and fragmentations, and it was generally a more complicated read - this of course is because on the Western Front there were multiple things happening concurrently so it is harder to keep in order.

The book is literally filled with quotations from these sources, and it can become an overwhelming read. We are introduced to hundreds of soldiers and nurses only for a great many to die shortly after their introduction. However in the case of one particular person - sister Alice Kitchen a nurse we get to know well, we follow her through the entire duration of the war.

As I reached the 300 page mark I began to feel it had missed a tighter edit, to slim it down a bit and deal with the duplications, but I later changed my mind, having wondered whose story didn't deserve to be there. Of course the answer is that none of the stories in this book deserved to be left out. They were all equally compelling stories of the sacrifices that young men and women made in serving Australia and the British Empire, especially considering that each and every Australian participant in World War I was a volunteer, as there was no conscription. (From New Zealand there were approximately 92,000 volunteers and 32,000 conscripted soldiers.)

This book preserves the stories of all those the author was able to include.
5 stars

This is Twain's short story about his first ‘literary' publication - although because he didn't hand write his name neatly it was attributed to ‘Mike Swain' or some such.

The publication was his explanation of the sinking of the Hornet, and subsequent experiences of the three small boats used to evacuate the crew and passengers, only some of whom reached the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii). Twain happened to be there and spent the night interviewing the survivors, and managed to get his story onto a ship leaving early the next day, thereby securing the scoop ahead of the other reporters on the island.

This short story does not appear to be the actual article, but it is about the article and it includes three diaries (the captain and two passengers) reproduced in full and Twain's narrative bringing the three together and adding details from his interviews.

The fire that sunk the Hornet was caused when a crew member broke the rules and entered a hatch with a naked flame in the process of getting some varnish - obviously the two don't mix well and the fire took a quick hold. Some food and navigation equipment was collected and the three small boats were launched, although two were damaged in the course of this, but not so significantly that they were not able to cope. There were 31 men aboard.

I won't spoil all the details - this is available for free online:
americanliterature.com/author/mark-twain/short-story/my-debut-as-a-literary-person

3 stars

A collection of short stories from Western Australia's premier fiction writer, Tim Winton. Often held up as an example for aspiring writers and high school children (in Australia), I have previously read two of his novels and enjoyed them a lot.

This collection of short stories, however, was strangely unsatisfying. Around half of the stories feature recurring characters of Jerra and Rachel, although oddly they are not in chronological order - they may be in reverse order, I am not too sure. The other half of the stories feature other, unrelated characters.

Most of the stories seem to examine pride, loneliness, longing and losing. To me the best description is still unsatisfying. None of the stories seemed to have enough in them to have set up a situation, then resolved that situation - completion of a story.

This book, published in 1987 is near the start of Winton's career as a writer (three novels and another short story collection before this one),so perhaps he was still finding his way.

Three stars

A short popular science book that examines the invention of the chronometer, or ships clock. Not just a clock, but one that remains uneffected by the humidity, heat and cold, atmospheric pressure and of course the passage in a ship on the high seas, being thrown about. Of course, it must keep time accurately enough to be relied on for navigation, as a clock that accurately keeps time in all conditions is the key to determining longitude. The actual key was knowing the time at a known location (home port or the like) and the current location simultaneously, allowing longitude to be calculated accurately.

And so, it is more than the story of a chronometer. This book describes the circumstances in which the clock finally won out as the recognised way to accurately determine longitude. It was a close thing, with astronomers seemingly unable to allow a mechanic to be recognised where astronomy and mathematics should (in their eyes) have been the way of navigation. The lunar distance method - with sextant, tables of figures and hours of calculations and then adjustments to be made was being put forward by the astronomers as the only reliable way. There were others of course, the mystical powder of sympathy being the most quacky of them (in essence, a powder of secret origin that can heal a wound at a distance, but causes some pain in doing so - the theory proposed an injured dog would be taken aboard a ship and at predetermined times the powder would be administered to the bandages in the home port; on the ship the dog would howl, and the local time could be compared to the home port time, and calculations made to measure the longitude. (This method didn't proceed to testing)).

Overseeing the longitude problem, and able to payout the prize money of twenty thousand pounds, was the (British) Board of Longitude, made up of scientists (astronomers and mathematicians featuring heavily), naval officers and government officials. They continued to adjust the rules and the burden of proof to make it ever harder to claim the prize.

So this is the story of John Harrison, self taught clock maker and his life long development of his chronometers, that became known as the Harrison 1 (H-1 for short) in 1737, the H-2 in 1741, the H-3 in 1759, the H-4 in 1760 and the H-5 in 1770.

A good short book, sadly lacking any photographs other than the one inside the cover. I see from other reviews that a newer edition does provide the photographs, which would be a great addition. Great effort to make the very complex relatively simple.

4 stars

Wow, I really struggled with this one. Of the other 14 ratings on GR, ten of them are for Four stars! Maybe I missed something, or perhaps the oppressively small print in my cerise Penguin edition got the better of me.

It is largely a work of anthropology, examining the people of West Africa (French West Africa at the time), Senegal and Mali now, but the author wraps in some constant companions and turns it into a journey as well. It was first published in 1935, this edition contains a foreword from the author when it was reprinted 10 years after.

In his foreword, the author called it a ‘... chastening, and in some ways, humiliating experience tore-read a book one has written ten years before.' But he did not re-edit or alter it as far as I can tell. The foreword is perhaps the most interesting part of the book.

I struggled to connect with the narrative, reading long passages only to find I had no idea what was just outlined. Maybe it was that small print...

The book included some black and white photography, ok, but mostly poor quality and difficult to get more than a vague idea what was happening in each.

Think I will leave it there in analysis!
Can't go beyond 2 stars.

A small but interesting book about experiences in the Sub-Antarctic Islands (New Zealand and Australian) and around Scott Base in Antarctica by a New Zealander who was a guide on tourist expedition boats in these areas, Matt Vance.

For me it was a great book, probably due to being topical for me - having visited some of the Sub-Antarctic islands and had Matt as one of the guides on my trip.

The book manages to blend tales from history with more recent tales and Matt's experiences, in a cohesive and ordered way. Many of the stories I had hear or read of before, but enough was new to keep me interested.

Presented in three sections titled Islands, Ocean and Ice, these (obviously) tell of the islands the Southern Ocean and Antarctica. The Islands are the Bounty Islands, Campbell Island, the Auckland Islands and Macquarie (this being the one administered by Australia, and permanently occupied by the Australian Base). The New Zealand Islands are uninhabited, and require permits to land, such is the value of these from a flora and fauna perspective. Some of the stories include the Coast-Watchers, who sat up a mountain on shifts to keep a check for German navy ships. There was one on Campbell Island and two in the Auckland Islands; the world's most lonely tree, on Campbell Island - the single tree most distant from any other tree in the world; and the king penguins of Macquarie Island.

The Ocean section touches on solo yachtsmen in the Southern Ocean, icebergs, and life on an icebreaker ship for crew (and a doctor).

The Ice section includes historical polar explorers and their tales; the magnetic pole; stories of Antarctic huts; and geological drilling.

The only real criticism is that it is such a slender book - 185 pages, but with a generous number of photos (black and white productions unfortunately), and it could have been much longer, as I am sure Matt would have plenty more to tell.

4 stars, would be 5 if longer!

The foreword of this book outlines Clune's appointment to the ACF (Australian Comfort Fund) which was re-established in 1940 to help with World War II. They were an umbrella organisation who managed various charities and volunteer organisations who raised money and goods to assist Australian soldiers. Clune proposed travel from Libya, through Egypt, Mandated Palestine, Syria and Turkey, side by side with the Australian military stationed there and tell their stories in a book, the proceeds of which all go to the ACF. His journey took 146 days, and he travelled 28000 miles, and took place from January to May of 1942.

The first three chapters briefly chart the journey from Australia to Libya by short legs in planes and flying boats taking in Indonesia, the Andaman Islands, Burma (Myanmar), India, Pakistan & Iran to arrive in Palestine. The next two chapters cover a stay in Palestine, then in Egypt, with Clune finally arriving in Libya just before page 100!

The narrative in the first 100 pages feels rushed as Clune tried to name drop every person he comes into contact with, describe their recent life history and any other context that comes to mind as well as document his travel, his meals and everything he saw. Too frantic.

Once arrived in Libya, and the theoretical start point of his journey - Tobruk, it doesn't really slow down any - if anything we get more detail about his day to day activity and his interactions with those he meets. There is a historical overlay, and a strong military explanation - a lot of which went over my head. As he progresses from Libya to Egypt over old ground in parts (Cairo in particular) he again spends time in Mandated Palestine, this time giving a biblical background (in far more detail than I am interested in) before finally moving on into Turkey. If it is sounding a bit of a laboured read, you are picking up on how it felt!

Clune runs the gambit on topics flitting from what he has for breakfast or WWI events to a current day interview with someone he crosses paths with. This is probably more pronounced in this book than others I have read, but is not uncommon to this author. The saving grace of this is that he doesn't stay on a minor topic for long, and has soon skipped on to something different.

There are some more personal events covered in this book with Clune having been involved in the Gallipoli landing in 1915, being wounded and evacuated, so he ties the events of his past into the locations he visits, including putting pressure on the Turkish government to allow him to visit Gallipoli - which was out of bounds for all at that time. Interestingly Clune is quite pro-Turkey and its reforms under Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, which is interesting as he commonly holds a grudge and niggles annoyingly at a topic in other books. His complementary nature doesn't extent however to the bread rationing, which he rattles on about every time a meal where he is not supplied with any occurs! To be fair there is a coupon type arrangement in force and for whatever reason he is not provided with any, and relies on the good nature of those around him to share - an unfair expectation when others are making do with their own rationing.

His journey back to Australia takes in the Red Sea by ship and a stop in Mombasa in Kenya.

I don't think this book is helped with visiting some places three times in route - there is too much duplication and while it would have been disingenuous to write it as a combination of his visits in a single narrative journey, it might have read better.

Still, this is far from one of Clune's worst publications, and there was enough in it to keep me interested, most of the time.

4 stars

John Buchan's #3 Richard Hannay book - longer and more complex again than Greenmantle, but based on recurring characters (good and evil!) from both The Thirty-Nine Steps and Greenmantle.

First published in 1919 it is an impressive undertaking, weaving the story through the active front of the Great War but was perhaps the geography of the story was much more readily understood than today (it begins and end in France, but takes in Britain, Italy and Switzerland. Those reading it when published would have been familiar with the happenings at the front. General Hannay is withdrawn from the front by British Intelligence to undertake a secret mission - although he knows little detail of it in advance, purposely as is suits him poorly - among conscientious objectors, pacifists and anti-war folks. A wild chase up through Scotland allows for some typically Buchan high pace combined with fortuitous coincidences and feats of physical endurance.

The storyline also gave Buchan the opportunity to write for pages on the topics of national character and the anti-war movement. There was 50% too much of this for me to bear and some skimming came into play. Then of course, there was the German angle, where again Buchan could frame the Boche and their underhand methods (like the anthrax packages, planted German agents in Britain, etc). So there really was a soapbox opportunity.

The big change from the first two books was the introduction of the love interest - handled rather clumsily to be honest. Mary Lamington (I know, right?) is half Hannay's age and weirdly described as boyish, and clean and it is noted that she ‘can't soil'.

Was this perhaps once of the earliest books in which the evil villain of the story tells the captive hero of his plans, then leaves him in a situation he is unlikely to escape from, only for the hero to escape and foil those plans? So James Bond villain, and so well mocked in Austin Powers in modern time!

If you have reached the end of my review and are still wondering about the title of the book - I did too, until I realised that Mr Standfast is a character from Pilgrims Progress, the book used by Hannay and the network as a cypher. There may have been more subtleties I missed, having not read that book.

In spite of its faults, this is still a very entertaining book, and given how early a publication this is, was formative of the genre.

4 stars

This was going to be a five star book all along. Before I even opened the cover, I could have awarded those stars. In 2018 when I bought it, intending to read it the following year (I had already read one Pinney book that year), I wouldn't have anticipated I could save it this long. This is his first book, and one of the last I have been able to obtain - which is ironic, considering it was his most popular and likely re-printed the most. I will now re-read them in the order of his travels, and enjoy them as much as the first time no doubt, as I believe him to be my favourite author - which is a big call.

To the story - we join Peter Pinney in Greece, low on funds, without luggage, making friends and enjoying the freedom of travel - not an unfamiliar situation for anyone who had read his books before. No change of clothes, no personal belongings that don't fit in his pockets (a razor, a pipe, a notebook and pencil, that's about it). Greece is in the midst of a civil war, rebels fighting the army, and they block his way to Turkey, but it would take more than a war to turn him aside.

In Turkey, Erdine, en-route to Istanbul to be exact, we meet briefly Robert Marchand, the Dutch traveller who continually crosses paths to travel with Pinney in this book. Marchand is a good match for Pinney, although perhaps a little more prepared to cross certain moral lines than Peter, for he makes a point not to take money from the proceeds of crime - often. And so the two travel together briefly until one or other wanders off without warning, although they meet again in unlikely locations.

He carries on to travel through Syria, Lebanon (part of Syria at this time), Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India (and Assam) and Burma (Myanmar). I won't spoil all the excitement of the book, but there is much to take in on this journey.

An objection to bureaucracy, a dislike for the corruption of power (low and high ranking police, military and border guards typically fall into this category) or for people who are simply unpleasant all rub Pinney up the wrong way. He is forthright, yet seems to attract the best luck and lucky circumstances that ever graced a traveller without the necessary funds, or inherent rights to be going the places he goes. To be fair he always tries to obtain visa's where able, but often the bureaucracy and lack of logic makes this impossible.

There are a number of black and white photographs - generally very good. While the timing of these doesn't align with the narrative too well, they are a great addition, but as I have found with his other books, he never talks bout carrying a camera, so I am a little perplexed about how he obtains these. There is a map on the inside of the cover which is great, but is small scale, although it is marked with all the main places featured in the narrative.

As forewarned above - 5 stars.

Two short stories in this 158 page book from Mickey Spillane.

The titular Killer Mine is the story of cop Lieutenant Joe Scanlon who is sent back to the neighbourhood of his childhood where his old school friends are turning up dead. Scanlon is your classic Spillane tough guy ‘cop who doesn't always play by the rules, but gets the job done' character. It wouldn't be Spillane without a beautiful woman involved who becomes interwoven in the story.
I found this one of his poorer efforts, where the twist was pretty obvious from quite early on, and I just don't think it was as well executed as normal.

The second story Man Alone features cop Pat Regan who has been acquitted of murder and taking a payoff, but everyone still thinks he is guilty, including most of his former police comrades. As there still has a police conduct process to go through, he is still suspended, and he sets about clearing his name. Reconnecting with an old friend (who happens to be a beautiful woman, see above) helps him progress on solving the case.
This one was a better story better executed, although it meandered for a while in the middle and wrapped up pretty quickly as the last pieces fell into place. There wasn't a lot of mystery about who the guilty party was from the midpoint though.

Probably the least satisfying of the fifteen Spillane books I have read.
2.5 stars, rounded up (which ironically leaves it as 3 stars, where most of Spillane's work lands with me).

At the age of eighteen, the author joined the Voluntary Service Overseas Organisation, and was posted to Eastern New Guinea to work with an Anglican Mission, despite not being particularly religiously minded. Eighteen is a young age to be setting off to the far side of the world, and Michael does a lot of growing up over the year he spends in Papua New Guinea.

The big drawcard for New Guinea was working with the pygmy people, although there is very little of an anthropological nature contained in this book - other than some very basic explanations of pygmy life. As expected the mission was more concerned with changing their lives than recording their culture.

The start of the book described in detail his journey to Madang, the largest town near the village he was to be based. Madang is on north coast on the Bismark Sea around midway along the coastline of Papua; the village is inland and at a higher altitude in the Bismark range of mountains. His journey to get there depended on travel in a small plane and then some rigorous hiking.

For the most part Michael spent a lot of time working on logisitics and carryout out treks from Simbai to the outlying mission setups. Most missions had either a European or native teachers running things, and there were many other mission statements like Simbai that held leadership roles. Michael became responsible for stores and food, but was constantly bemoaning the fact he had limited responsibilities, always looking to take on more. The fact he was eighteen, and had limited capacity to keep his temper in check were obvious factors against this.

At one point he mentions in a letter to his old school, describing what he was doing, and made vague mention of the heavy lifting involved in transporting of good around the highlands and how a mule would have been helpful. Some weeks later a letter arrives advising that a great sum of money had been raised to facilitate this mule. So Michael had a purpose, and now the leverage of the donated funds to allow his whim.

Mules, of course, were not present in Papua New Guinea, but the Australian military had a number of donkeys that were available for purchase. The second half of the book charts the process of purchasing five of these and the logistics and dramas involved in getting these from a place called Erap, all the way back to Simbai. The journey to Erap was complex enough and involved planes, boats, trucks and hiking, with the two pygmy helpers (who were to be the donkey-men) having to travel separately for the first leg due to the limitation on space in the first plane.

Donkeys being donkeys, the trip back was fraught with excitement and there was much to be learned for Michael and his two helpers.

An amusing enough 190 pages, but middling at 3 stars. 30/3

The author is British, but was born in Turkey, which explains his middle name. In 1998 he joined a NGO/Charity called Operation Mercy in Khiva (Uzbekistan) with the goal of writing a guidebook.
Known as Aslan in Uzbekistan, purely because it was easier to pronounce than Chris, he soon became interested in silk and carpets. Aware that that traditional weaving and traditional dyeing were becoming lost arts he then set about to establish a workshop employing local people to learn the trades and produce the dyes and weave carpets.

The designs were key, not mimicking the modern designs but returning to the 15th century Timurid designs (ie from the time of Timur, also known as Tamerlane, whose empire ruled over modern-day Afghanistan, Iran, and Central Asia) which were resurrected from miniatures that depicted the carpets as a part of the artwork. During the initial time in the workshop there was a lot of experimenting and working out of processes, but eventually carpets were produced and able to be sold. For the most part the workshop was able to avoid the corruption that requires bribes to be paid,including to guides who expected a 10% fee for bringing tourists to them. The workshop operated by paying the workers a fair wage (ie more than teachers or doctors, who need to supplement their salary with bribes) and making only a modest return, they operated a fixed price system.

As a part of his work, Aslan was welcomed into the community. Learning the language, respecting the customs and living with a local family, mixing in the bazaar, engaging with the local community while employing young people to apprentice in the workshop were all a part of this acceptance. 9/11 occurred during his time, although it became a propaganda tool for the government to seek out followers of ‘militant Islam'.

As those in the workshop became more and more skilled Aslan turned his thoughts to a second workshop, this time making suzani or embroideries. These could be made into smaller items such as cushion covers or table runners, therefore able to be produced and purchased cheaper, as not all visitors were able to afford to purchase a carpet.

Included in the book are explanations of the authors side trips to Afghanistan to purchase raw materials for dyes and briefly his holidays in nearby countries, but more importantly are his explanations of everyday life in Khiva. Governmental control and human rights are a key factor to this, and as he explains in his Prologue, life becomes unravelled for him when he is refused re-entry to Uzbekistan after seven years of life there. This comes out of the blue, having left on a short holiday in Azerbaijan. This was not a personal affront, but the government was refusing to renew any NGO or charity worker visa's due to international pressure on civil rights, freedom of religion and corruption issues, but clearly had a huge effect on the author and his life.

In 2016 President Karimov died, and this apparently brought about reform, so hopefully this has brought with it improvements from the situations described in the book where literally any activity required bribes.

Enjoyable and interesting.
4.5 stars, rounded up.

The Dead Heart of this book's title refers to the Simpson Desert in Central Australia. The Simpson Desert occupies parts of the Northern Territory, Queensland and South Australia, although the smallest part sits in Queensland. Until 1939, when Madigan's expedition makes its attempt to cross this desert, no white man nor any Aboriginal (probably) had achieved this crossing. Madigan gives an explanation of those who had tried and failed in an early chapter, which includes such well known figures as Sturt and Burke & Wills, as well as many, many others I don't recognise, a good number of which are surveyors. Most were turned back by conditions or lack of preparation, some died in the attempt. The book states simply that no white men knew of any black men who had crossed the desert. The Aboriginals asked did not acknowledge any crossings either - I won't take this as fact.

Many had passed long the fringes of the Simpson Desert; Madigan himself had flown over in 1929. It was Madigan's plan to traverse the desert from Andado Station (From Adelaide they travelled by train and car to this station) to Birdsville by camel train, and then on south to Marree. Madigan was an explorer and geologist, and it was he who named the Simpson Desert after A.A. Simpson, former president of the South Australian branch of the Royal Geographical Society of Australasia (1925 to 1930), who was conveniently also the patron of this expedition.

As well as simply completing the crossing, the goal was to carry out a full botanic and biological survey. In practice this is collecting a sample of each plant and each insect, lizard, bird and mammal sighted. In practice this means lots of containers of spirits (one baggage camel was dedicated to this).

Joining Madigan (geologist) on the expedition are RL Crocker (surveyor & botanist), RA Simpson (son of the patron and radio operator), HO Fletcher (paleontologist who acted as biologist), David Marshall (photographer), Albert Hubbard (cook) rounded out the scientific team. Afghan Jack Bejah, the camel guide, was also engaged. He arranged the camels and was responsible for their care on the journey. Joining the camel team was a young Afghan called Nurie. They also wanted to take a young Aboriginal with desert skills to assist in collecting lizards and small mammals; Andy was his name. All of these men were volunteers, the money raised for the expedition was spent solely on food, equipment and transportation there and back.

So with their riding camels and pack camels carrying water and equipment they set off. The description of the journey is detailed, and does become slightly repetitive as Madigan reports the statistics of travel each day. While water was anticipated to be the biggest problem, if fact it turned out that there was more rain than normal. While the waterways were running it was the mud which posed the bigger problem - camels don't do well in mud. The journey was completed (to Marree) in fifty days; to Birdsville it was 24 days.

I found this book interesting, perhaps more than the average reader, because there was a time I spent in the desert near here assisting in the biennial (I think?) biological survey. I was a volunteer and did a lot of the donkey work like digging pit-traps to catch small rodents and insects, setting up the nets to catch bats, bagging up the botanical samples and marking the numbers on them (ie nothing very technical). I had a fantastic time; I think it was about three weeks we spent out there. I tried to find an old diary to track down exactly where I was, but I am not sure where it is now. I know we went partially down the O0dndatta track and through William Creek, and Oodnadatta. After teh work was done I left them when we hit the main road and commenced my hitch-hiking to Coober Pedy then Alice Springs on my way to Western Australia while they returned to Adelaide.

This book was first published in 1946, some 7 years after the journey. The war of course is the reason for this. In fact the scientific work was delayed as well as the writing, and at the end of the book where you might expect to read about some of the scientific discoveries, there is this explanation, and confirmation of the fact that work was in progress. Various new species of spider and lizard were discovered, among other insects and a number of plants. These were mentioned in the text through rather than in a summary table.

To rate this book without the personal experiences it might be a 3 or 3.5 star read. I enjoyed it (and wish we had gone on camels and not Toyota Land Cruisers) a little more, so will happily give it 4 stars.

I picked up a tattered copy of this at a books sale - these multi author anthologies work quite well for me when I leave them in the car and read 15 minutes here and 30 minutes there.
This is a collection of articles published previously in British weekly magazine The Spectator between 1950 and 1988 (it was published in 1999). I am not familiar with The Spectator, but if these articles are reflective it seems fairly high-brow, and this was not as enjoyable as I had hoped.

The book is formatted into eight sections, and these appealed in different amounts, and as such I enjoyed them in different amounts. There were some very well respected authors featured throughout, most with multiple articles in multiple sections of the book. To mention a few of the good ones - Freya Stark, Peter Fleming, Shiva Naipaul, Evelyn Waugh, Patrick Marnham, Patrick Leigh Fermor and one each from VS Naipaul, Graham Greene and Colin Thubron (as well as the introduction). There was the odd good story by authors unknown to me, but a lot of stories from several authors who I didn't enjoy at all.

Travel and Travellers was a poor start - it was largely writing about people writing about travelling. Many of the articles came across as snobbish and patronising, and I almost packed this book in based on these. To be fair there were some good parts, but they were vastly outnumbered by awful articles. Included here were some profiles of travel authors (Freya Stark, Patrick Leigh Fermor & Eric Newby) that were good but unattributed to an author. This section I would rate 2/5.

Western Europe came next. This is not really the centre of my geographical interest, and it is a shame that it came hard on the heels of the poor introductory section. While the articles were more focussed on travel itself, for me it was pretty dry, with only a few articles standing out as excellent. 2/5.

Eastern Europe was a step up, mostly in my interest and perhaps because it was a shorted section and more punchy. Some interesting articles on Russia here. This section I rated 3/5.

Africa was the first section which really went well. Evelyn Waugh writes well in this section, and Shiva Naipaul features heavily. 4/5

The Middle East this too was an interesting section at 4/5

The Far East and Australia OK at 3/5, but Australia didn't get much press - interesting around Indonesia and South East Asia.

North America I found this section dull, but again, this is not the centre of my geographical interest. Many of the articles were city focussed and seemed to be built around people and not places. 2/5

Central and South America wraps up the final section, and was spent mostly in the Caribbean and Central America, with only a few stories from South American countries. This didn't finish the book off with any gusto. 3/5

There are notes on contributors and an index.

Overall, I found this book underwhelming and it was only because I was reading a story or two at a time that I finished it. It was very dated around the writing style, and I suspect The Spectator wouldn't be something I would read back in the day.

Later this week I will add the destination shelves to this review, but that is a lot of admin I can't dedicate right now!

Adding up those scores comes to 2.8 stars out of five. Three seems over generous, but it is what it is!

I chose this book because I was looking specifically for something I could finish before I had to head away for a few days for work - typically I will start a new book when away to ensure I don't run out!
This is a slim book or 150 pages, but for me it didn't read quickly at all. In fact it could have been 250 or 280 pages the way I slogged through it, and didn't finish it until after I returned from being away! But I have gotten ahead of myself.

The two middle-aged ladies of the title, are the author Penelope Chetwode, and The Marquesa, a twelve year old mare borrowed for their journey, as alluded to, in Andalusia, Spain in 1961. Although I have never been to Andalusia (or even Spain) it has always appealed to me; in fact upon leaving New Zealand for the first time some decades ago, Spain and Morocco were the two places I had intended to visit - and never have I visited either! And, I have sidetracked myself from this review again... and the reason is probably because I struggle to pinpoint exactly why I didn't enjoy this book as much as I had hoped.

It is perhaps a charming read. Ms Chetwode is an amusing and interesting traveller, albeit far more religiously focussed that my normal travel companions (real or literary!). She does spend a lot of her narrative finding out the starting time of mass in each village she stays, then attends, explaining to her readers the topic of the service. Ms Chetwode would often attend the same mass twice, as this was one of her primary ways of familiarising herself with the Spanish language, although I am not sure quite what use some of the topics were to her in everyday communication. She did also have a dictionary!

She also focussed quite heavily on the stabling conditions for The Marquesa and indeed her own stabling conditions and what she ate in each meal. This held far greater focus in the writing than I was interested in, and while the scenery was described, and the conditions of travel were covered, they often played second or perhaps third fiddle to this more practical diary-type information. Second fiddle, then, was taken up by the people she met on the road or in the villages and people she stayed with. There were also various high society people she met from time to time - governors and the like.

For me anyway, this lacked interest, and I had to work harder than I like at staying interest. I see from other reviews, that other readers felt otherwise.

For me this was not more than 3 stars.

Published as a part of Penguin Books Great Ideas series, this book is a collection of essays from George Orwell. They vary in topic and enjoyment (for me), and i have made a few notes about each before rating.

Books V. Cigarettes - As the name suggests, here Orwell considers the amount of money he spends on books against the amount spent of cigarettes (and alcohol). It is an interesting concept - one which wouldn't yield much of a result for me - I suppose I spend plenty of books (not much but volume, but I do buy quite a number) but I don't spend a great deal on alcohol now days and never spent money on cigarettes. Previously published in Tribune, 1943. **/5Bookshop Memories - Orwell discusses his time working in a bookshop - explaining it is not as romantic as it sounds, dealing with annoying customers, making books less interesting to a person who must deal in them all day. Previously published in Fortnightly, 1936. **/5

Confessions of a Book Reviewer - Orwell describes a professional book reviewer - with absolutely no glamour and no acclaim. Deadlines that mean the reviewer can never read the book, only pick up on vague concepts and roll out cliches. Previously published in Tribune, 1946. **/5The Prevention of Literature - More philosophical, more intellectual, less interesting to me this on. Previously published in Polemic, 1946. **.5/5My Country Left or Right - We move off the topic of books now, this one being political, and too highbrow for a simple fellow like me. Previously published in Folios of New Writing, 1940. **.5/5How the Poor Die - Orwell shares his experience the horrors of a few weeks in hospital in Paris. This one was very good. At the end it even comes back to the theme of books. Previously published in Now, 1946. **/5Such, Such Were the Joys - This is a longer story, taking up half the book, and recounts Orwell's school days as St Cyprian's prep school in Eastbourne. He speaks of bed wetting, discipline, unjust treatment, bullying and the learning itself focused on the pupils gaining scholarships to the benefit of the school. Previously published in Partisan Review, 1952. ****/5

So by my mathematics that equates to just under 4 stars. Well worth seeking out this little collection.

A book of two parts - the first being Patrick Leigh Fermor's telling of the abduction of (the German) General Kreipe on Crete in 1944 by Paddy and his SOE (Special Operations Executive) companions and Cretan guerillas or resistant rebels.

By way of background Crete was under Axis control - Germany with some Italian forces until their surrender, with most eligible Cretans in the Greek forces, leaving older men and younger men, along with women, to oppose the Germans. The British SOE were few in numbers, and were tasked with reconnaissance, encouraging resistance, carrying out sabotage and generally just to irritate the German forces.

Fermor's ability to speak fluent Greek, his ability to blend in, disguised as a shepherd or villager made him an ideal SOE operative, and as a Major he was leader on Crete at the time.

So the first part of the book explains in Fermor's style the capturing of General Kreipe, of moving him all around the mountains of Crete from hideout to hideout and eventual rendezvous with a British ship to take him to British command in Egypt. The whole process is well described, with Fermor lavishing praise of the Cretan's who are assisting them, constantly reinforcing the fact they are volunteers who generally refuse all form of payment, and take huge risk to their families and homes to actively resist the occupying forces.

The second part of the book is a copy of the nine reports he wrote for the SOE. They are edited to reduce by about two thirds, omitting what is described as ‘long lists of German dispositions, together with complex accounts of local politics and guerilla machinations'. What remains describe various things such as morale (Enemy and Cretan), propaganda, working plans and updates of progress. In spite of using pseudonyms for the people involved (there is a glossary, and the first time they are mentioned they are defined) they are readable and interesting. The reports differ in detail depending on whether they were written at rest or in a rush for a rendezvous, and show the progress of the SOE but also the Germans on Crete for the period June 1942 to December 1944.

Rounding out this book is a 10 page Guide to the Abduction Route by Chris and Peter White, which as can be expected from the title describes the route taken by car and then foot with the General in hand. This is somewhat gimmicky as unless you intend to visit Crete and reenact the journey is means little to the reader. Mostly it is described by GPS coordinates, as the majority of the action takes place out of the villages etc.

Nevertheless, a reasonably quick and enjoyable read.
3.5 stars, rounded up.

This is prolific author Freya Stark's first published book, dating from 1932 - although this edition is from 1937 and contains eight additional chapters written some six years later than the original essays.

Contained in this book are a series of what she calls ‘sketches', but are more accurate vignettes or essays as they were mostly intended articles for the Baghdad Times, in approximately 1931. Each provides a curated glimpse at her life, living cheaply in Baghdad, and experiencing the Iraqi and Bedouin cultures around her. Travel to and from Syria and time in Kuwait are all included - a significant number of the later chapters feature Kuwait.

The writing shows a willingness of Stark to learn and be taught about different cultures, she turns nobody aside without engaging to try and gain some insight; she shows she is willing to share he knowledge also. With a grounding like this is easy to see why she became such a popular author.

I enjoyed the earlier essays more, I think because they were simpler and more focussed. Some of the final essays became complex, and although nicely composed, I found myself re-reading paragraphs to pick out the point being made, or what the link with the following paragraph was, as I had missed it.

A number of photographs (black & white), which are good for the time - especially the portraits, and a series of ink sketches (attributed to EN Prescott) are scattered through the book, which definitely add to the picture painted by the words.

4 stars

Fraser's #5 Flashman, the one in which he finds out he is the star of a new novel titled ‘Tom Brown's School Days' which is reaching popularity back home as he finally makes his way there from his latest escapades in India.

This time it is the Indian Mutiny of 1857 (or Indian Rebellion, depending on your viewpoint) that Flashman gets himself wrapped up in. But first a coincidental meeting with old ‘acquaintance' Russian Count Ignatieff in England itself, where he is a guest on a hunt. Igntieff is also suspected of having been in India stirring up trouble for the British, possibly plotting insurrection. Jhansi, a former independent Princely state was a centre of concern, with its Maharani resisting British overtures to reach a settlement.

And so, Flashman get roped into a dual role, a diplomatic role to negotiate terms with the Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi and a secret role to seek out Ignatieff should he turn up in India again, then take him out of the picture, as well as to report of any signs of the Sepoy insurrection.

As such, Flashman engages with the Rani, (once he finds out she isn't the ‘old woman' described to him) in a full charm offensive, looking to bed her while making terms, and with a back plan to use his language skills and abilities of disguise to disappear and lay low should Ignatieff make an appearance.

Flashman does carry out both his plans, although the agreeing of terms with the Rani doesn't conclude before he must make himself scarce - disguised as a native cavalry recruit he joins the native forces in the garrison town of Meerut. Amongst the Hindu and Muslim soldiers he becomes aware of the stories circulating about pig and beef fat being used to grease gun cartridges and ground bones mixed in the flour in a supposed British plot to remove their castes and limit their religion. Flashman sees this and other mistreatments of the native troops, and sees trouble brewing.

Meerut was the flashpoint (no pun intended) of the uprising and Flashman escapes from there, but as we come to expect with Flashman, one dicing with death is not sufficient, and events conspire such that he is caught up in various major events of the mutiny including Cawnpore, where he caught up in the siege, the slaughter at Suttee Ghat, Lucknow, and then breaking his way into Jhansi, and being in Gwalior and the Battle of the Betwa!

Fraser is as masterful as ever at shoehorning Flashman into real life events, having him rub shoulders with the British officers in strict accordance with history and impeccably timing his story. I found this book more in depth with the setting - perhaps because so much is known of the events in question, and Fraser came across as having a deep knowledge of the politics of the mutiny, giving plenty of voice to the Indian side of the argument with their (often legitimate) grievances. There was a depth of violence and cruelty which came across as accurate and realistic, perpetuated by both sides, and while Flashman showed some sympathy the reader knew which side he was on, Fraser left the door open for the readers own view.

I thought this book stronger than some f the others I have read for these reasons.
5 stars

Idriess calls it in his Author's Note, where he states in his first sentence that “This boy's book is for your dad as well as you...” and “so I thought I'd write of my adventures with my old mate, Dick.”
In my (admittedly extensive) experience with Ion Idriess's books they fall into three categories - Biographies which cover one or a group of people with something in common, often pioneers, explorers or Aboriginal heroes; Instructional or scientific books about mining and minerals; and my most favourite of his genres - autobiographical stories. What a life this man lived, and in such varied adventures he had.

In this story, from his youth, he and mate Dick Welch a native of Cook Town, North Queenstown sees the boys set out from Cook Town as junior crew on a the Nancy Bell, a schooner owned and captained by Cross-Eyed Joe, the Filipino. Their intent - to harvest trochus shell - worth eighty pounds a ton at the time they left (and more when they returned).

So they joined the crew of Joe, two Malay divers and two Aboriginal divers, as well as Dick's protege, Little Paddy, the son of one of the Aboriginal divers, Big Paddy. As the story plays out they find an excellent patch of trochus, and harvest like mad, thrilled with their success. Other ships, keen to pull alongside and share in the patch were a risk, as were sharks, and tactics need to be carefully considered to protect a good patch. Trochus must also be boiled to remove the shellfish before they become flyblown, which effects the welcome a boat has at port - and the price obtained, so after little more than a day of harvesting the crew needed to set up a shore base, and Lizard Island proved ideal.

Lizard Island is the location of the infamous murder of a pioneering family by Aboriginals, a ruined hut still being evident while they are there, so Idriess is able to weave the local history into his story. At shore they deal with the boiling of the trochus and packing of the shell for storing on shore - the small boat can hold only around 50 ton, and their intent is to harvest more than double that from the patch, all going well.

They continue to work, with Dick and Idriess (Jack as he was known most of his life) generally remaining on the island to process the catch and to maintain a lookout for other ships from the top of the hill, at which time they could signal the Nancy Bell to warn them to pull out of the patch and make a tactical withdrawal. There are various adventures, including a nasty shark attack and some nautical surgery, before a suspicious black schooner arrives at the island with a Japanese crew.

Idriess makes Jack the hero of this story, making him the cleverer of the two, the one who figures things out first, and has the best ideas. It is hard to know if this was the case, or if this was a nod to his friendship; but either way Jack becomes suspicious of Cross-Eyed Joe and the black schooner, and it turns out that Joe has bigger ambitions than just trochus shell, as made obvious by the book title.

I wouldn't have thought that opium smuggling was a big thing in Australia, but I guess with the opportunity to make big money fast, there will be people prepared to take the risk. The way the story weaves is simple enough, but Idriess reveals it well, as alluded to above, with Dick putting things together well before Jack has it explained to him! It is too good to ruin with a spoiler, but suffice to say there is plenty of excitement as the two boys and Little Paddy are left alone on the island for a longer period than expected as the two boats disappear to play cat and mouse with the opium drop.

Turns out though, that the three boys are not alone on the island and they have their own cat and mouse encounter with a Japanese sailor.

This was a quick read, and without doubt falls into the category of old skool boys adventure, but there is more than enough in it for adult readers (I am not a reader of YA, yet this was a great nostalgia read), and above all it still contains Idriess's skillful story telling.

4.5 stars, rounded up.

Ejnar Mikkelsen was a Danish arctic explorer and writer who lived from 1880 to 1971. This book covers his (frankly amazing) expedition to East Greenland from 1909 to 1912.

It took me some time to warm to Mikkelsen, his attitude and his writing were brusk (I had to check my definition of this seldom used word: Abrupt and curt in manner or speech; discourteously blunt) and he had an air of cruelty in dealing with his sledge dogs which put me off side. I understand the realities that dogs are generally making a one way voyage when an expedition involves them, but it seemed an unnecessarily uncaring way to present various situations.

Nevertheless, as the reader I worked this out with Mikkelsen and came to understand he was a driven and focussed man, who was as rough around the edges, and wasted little time with the sugar coating of a statement.

In short, his expedition was established in order than he could recover the diaries of members of a previous expedition who had perished - thus his expedition needed to succeed where the previous had failed and the explorers had died - presumably from lack of food and exposure. It became an immediate reality and realistically a likely outcome for Mikkelsen and his companion, and really this story is an ‘against the odds' survival story.

As a companion, Mikkelsen has to find, in the middle of nowhere a replacement for his planned companion, Jorgensen, who succumbs to terrible frostbite and the amputation of toes on the initial sledging attempt to locate the dead men and lay in stores for the return journey of their larger expedition. Iver Iversen, mechanic on the ship ask if he might join this initial expedition and then becomes Mikkelsen's number two for the primary expedition. Both men are aware of this risks involved in this remote place.

P50

“Elsewhere in the world of man a sprain was an easy thing to cure, but here it was a mortal hurt, not only for the one who suffered it, but also for his companion who would have to wait till the other had recovered and could put his weight on that foot before he could continue. There was nothing he could do, if one of us met with the least accident; there was no help to be had, however badly we needed it, not refuge to be found: either we both got through, or we both died and became as still and frozen as everything around us.”

Two separate novella in this publication from Mickey Spillane.

Return of the Hood is a story featuring Irish Ryan, a self styled hood who ends up assisting the law when he all at once ends up hunted by all parties (police, feds, and hoods alike). Of course there is a girl who ends up at the centre of things, who Ryan has to rescue. This is the follow up from Ryan's first adventure in the novella Me, Hood!. Solid, but with the usual level of far-fetched survival against the odds we come to anticipate with Mickey Spillane (not that I dislike it). 3/5

The Bastard Bannerman is a short story featuring Cat Cay Bannerman, the titular bastard (literally) who returns to his home town to pay a surprise visit to his cousin Anita (remembering he is a bastard, but still a cousin!) Visiting her means visiting his uncle and two cousins, now grown from the teenagers they were when they tormenting him as a youngster. We get the bones of the backstory (bastard not treated well by well-to-do family once his father passes away; leaves town to make his own way in the world; returns with the skills of a hood!). The family are being blackmailed by a mob of gangsters, and Cat is torn between tormenting them and helping them.
It was pretty easy to see how this was going to roll out, but there were enough little details to fold into the story to keep the reader interested. I am pretty convinced that there is an incorrect name in the text at the very conclusion, where Cat refers to Carl, where I think it should be Carlson, but it was fine after I re-read it twice! Enjoyable at a solid 3/5, which is my typical rating for most of Spillane's books.

Overall 3 stars.

I consider my expectations might have been set too high, having enjoyed All the Pretty Horses when I read it last year.

All the Pretty Horses, while descriptive and slow in its own way, felt like a racehorse compared to this Clydesdale. Over 400 pages, it read like 500 pages (despite me reading it in three days - circumstances allowed this). It certainly had its moments, and the primary narrative - Billy Parham's story was on par with John Grady Cole (from ...Pretty Horses); and yes the Spanish conversations stunted my reading (there was so much more than in book 1, and I had to bend to use Google Translate with camera for translation); but really for me it was the long, detailed side stories which I couldn't find relevance with that made this less enjoyable - if you have read it you will know them - the priest, the blind man, Gypsies & carnies etc. For me, they broke the narrative, and seemed unrealistic that these strangers would spill their life story to Billy Parham the way they did (although the Gypsies and carnies less so, as they dove-tailed in a bit better). The theological aspects, of course, are wasted on me. I thought overall it lost focus after the wolf narrative ended.

McCarthy is all about bleak, about flawed, naive characters with morals that extend beyond their capacity to back them up. The sparse nature of the conversations, lack of punctuation and ability to sustain the suspense for long passages are characteristic.

For me, this was less successful than book 1, but was still well worth the experience of reading. I look forward to the two primary characters from book one and two coming together in book three, and seeing whether McCarthy can wrap it all up.
4 stars