John C Summitt
Stephen Ambrose (or whoever wrote the material he used) relates the history of Easy Company 506 PIR from Camp Toccoa where they were trained to Berchtesgaden at the war's end and how they remained close after the war despite the geographical separation.
Though no great stylist, Ambrose (or whoever) moves the story along easily and clearly. That's the good news.
The bad news is that, 1) He plays fast and loose with the facts. For example he says that Fritz Niland was not immediately pulled off the line when it was thought that his three brothers were killed within three weeks of each other. One of his brothers ultimately survived the war. And his mother did not receive three telegrams the same day. This apparently served, however as the seed for the grossly overrated Saving Private Ryan. Facts maybe stupid things, as Ronald Reagan once said, but that doesn't work for Oprah (see James Frey). 2) He annoyingly sprinkles insider jargon throughout the book as if he was one of the boys. It made me cringe when my father said groovy in an effort to fit in and it made me cringe in this book. 3) He perpetuates the hagiography of WWII as the good war, the victors as the greatest generation, and of America as inherently morally superior. At one point he refers to Easy company's successes as a triumph of democracy over all others. At the same time he contradicts himself throughout the book by emphasizing the fact that Captain Sobel, the hated martinet who was anything but fair and democratic was the key factor in what made Easy, Easy.
None of this is meant to denigrate or diminish the achievements, courage and integrity of the men of Easy Company. They would, however, be better served if those accomplishments were set in more historically accurate and truthful context. How do their reasons for fighting differ from the more complex geopolitical reasons of the military and political leaders? We'll get no answers here.
Isherwood Williams gets bitten by a snake while camping and after he recovers and returns to civilization he discovers that a mysterious disease has killed off most of the population. As a result civilization collapses. It is a quiet book, a steady accumulation of observations of the breakdown of civilization, the encroachment of the natural world into that void and, after gathering some survivors around him to form a community, the challenge of how to preserve the spark of civilization for future generations. It is essentially a treatise on earth science, anthropology, sociology, etc., disguised as a novel, but artfully done by the author. The ruminations of Isherwood Williams in the course of the book would relevant topics of discussion today (if we can switch the channel from American Idol for a moment) in light of the current economic collapse, resource depletion, and environmental instability. But then , Soylent Green taste like chicken, or so I'm told.
From the creator of Bubba Ho Tep–the tale of Hap and Leonard, the former a disillusioned 60's activist and the latter a gay, black Viet Nam vet who have formed a friendship in the aftermath of their respective experiences. Hap's ex, Trudy, shows up at his doorstep and, utilizing her feminine wiles, entices Hap and Leonard to help her obtain some easy money. Mayhem ensues. The strength of the novel is the charactes of Hap and Lenard and their interactions. It is very natural and real and often quite funny. The plot is not horrible, just ordinary. After all you don't put Elvis in a Subaru. Worth a read for the humor and the hope that the series gets better.
A riveting story of screw-ups screwing up in the later part of the Viet Nam war. Journalist John Converse decides to get into the heroin trade and gets caught up with psychotic DEA agents and rogue CIA agents who have been tipped off to his enterprise and want the dope for themselves. There is a thread of insanity running through the book that perfectly reflects the times.
A remarkable story of obsession and redemption by way of the surfing world. An aging surfing legend who is half Brian Wilson (in Dennis' body) and half Captain Ahab recruits and leads an unlikely group of characters in the search for the holy grail of waves. His obsession disturbs the natural balance of the world they traverse with consequences. Kem Nunn is a master artist at creating memorable, believable characters and weaving them seamlessly into original, gripping plots. The young hotshot surfer dude with a unique body piercing is not to be missed. So turn off Dancing With The Stars, back away from the remote control and start reading this book. Now.
Being mistrustful of bestsellers and apprehensive of trying to keep track of all those similar sounding Scandinavian names, I put off reading this book for quite awhile. Eventually my curiosity got the better of me and, after picking up the first one, read straight through all three books. Initially I thought my worst fears were confirmed when the author embarked on a lengthy expository interlude to provide background on a newly introduced character but as the characters become established in the reader's mind the pace picks up. It is the ability of the author to deftly create and handle believable characters, particularly Lisbeth Salander, that really propels the story forward. The only criticism I have, and it's a minor one, is the author's penchant for the flights of exposition, but in this case it doesn't bog down the story. One could do a whole lot worse than read these books.
Not for the faint of heart, this book is about the violence that men do because it is their nature to do it. They act with animal savagery but in the purposelessness of their actions cannot even aspire to that of animals, whose purpose is to eat. The apocalyptic figure of the Judge, who moves through the story relatively unscathed, does so because he alone openly embraces the nature of humans. The biblical tone of his prose underscores very effectively the complete lack of moral purpose of the characters in the book. Cormac McCarthy is not humanity's greatest cheerleader and he doesn't disappoint in this book.
In “ A Terrible Glory,” James Donovan has produced a fascinating and well-written history of the battle of the Little Bighorn, the events that led up to it, and the aftermath. Most interesting is Donovan's view that Custer was somewhat less rash and a better military leader than his current reputation would indicate, that he was more sympathetic to the plight of the Indians than Generals Sherman and Sheridan, the latter having uttered the infamous quote, “The only good Indian is a dead Indian,” and that the demise of Custer and the 7th Cavalry was the culmination of his following General Terry's orders to engage hostiles if contact is made. After the battle the cover up began and the blame was laid at Custer's feet. This book may or may not be the last word on Custer but it is a worthy place to start the exploration.
Michael Ruppert's strength is not writing–he is much better when he speaks–but he is not interested in creating a literary work, he is interested in sounding a warning of the coming catastrope that will result from oil depletion and humanity's lack of action in dealing with it. It's message is stark; the optimal response will still result in hardship because we do not have sufficient lead time in making a seamless transition to an alternative way of life. Worse, we are stuck in the paradigm of trying to recover a way of life that will never be again (see economy, current). He catalogues the alternative sources of energy and illustrates how for a variety of reasons they are not panaceas to the evolving crisis. Finally he provides a list of recommendation which, as he says, should provide a starting point for discussion on the problem of peak oil. I would highly recommend reading Richard Heinberg's The Party's Over before reading this book as it provides a foundation for understanding oil depletion and it's implications.