What are you reading at the moment?

Discussion in 'Books, Films, TV, Radio' started by Gage, Mar 12, 2006.

  1. ltdan

    ltdan Nietenzähler

    I don't want to be a clever Dick now, but: In Hanover they speak the most accent-free High German ever ;)
    On the other hand, a Swabian motto is: "We can do everything, except high German"
    original swabian humor:
    Dr Ondrschied zwischa ´ra Hochzich ond ´ra Beerdigung? Uff dr Beerdigung isch emmer oi Bsoffener weniger!
    The difference between a wedding and a funeral? There's always one less drunk at a funeral!
    :lol::lol::lol:
     
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  2. Jim Klag

    Jim Klag Member

    Reading Clash Of The Carriers: The True Story Of The Marianas Turkey Shoot by Barrett Tillman. Just started it.
     
  3. Orwell1984

    Orwell1984 Senior Member

  4. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    Finally got around to reading Bugles and a Tiger, by John Masters. Well written account of a young officer's journey from Sandhurst to a commission in the Indian Army with the 4th Gurkha Rifles and the lead up to WW2.

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  5. Charley Fortnum

    Charley Fortnum Dreaming of Red Eagles

    That's most enjoyable.

    There's this popular and wholly misguided belief that anybody can put their experience down on paper, and if it's honest, accurate and true, somehow the reality of it will shine through.

    Reading someone like Masters puts that myth to bed; it takes a lot of skill to distill and communicate the essence of an event (let alone a life) to a reader, and the majority do so only partially effectively. And to those who complain of the inauthenticity of the near-novelisation good writers employ, I say that this is precisely what humans spend great slabs of their lives doing: shaping the sum of their experiences into intelligible forms via tropes, metaphors and archetypes, promoting this 'reading' of our actions over that, and generally telling good tales.

    Masters is very good at this.
     
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  6. stolpi

    stolpi Well-Known Member

    Found this one in a German bookshop which was quite a bargain ... maybe because of the French language; 653 pages full of 1st French Army History 1944/45 written by its commander. Among others: invasion of Elba, Op Anvil/Dragoon, battle for the Provence (Toulon & Marseille), Pursuit up the Rhone Valley, Belfort Gap & reaching the Rhine, battle for the Vosges, Strassbourg ('Op Nordwind'), Colmar Pocket, Rhine Crossing and Danube.

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    Last edited: Aug 23, 2020
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  7. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    I agree CF, he paints a picture. I believe Bernard Fergusson to be of the same ilk.
     
  8. canuck

    canuck Closed Account

  9. James S

    James S Very Senior Member

    Presently reading "the Longest campaign" by Brian Walter ( The battle of the Atlantic). I have to say it is well written, reads well and it is a good read. Also about to look at "The Storm Passed By" - Ireland and the Battle of the Atlantic, by Trevor Allen.
    Have just finished on this book on Bismarck. ( Published via "Lulu")
     

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  10. Little Friend

    Little Friend Senior Member

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    This book was given to me last weekend from the Chairman of my local club. At £20.00 what else could I do but buy him a pint ! He doesn't usually drink beer, but happily accepted a pint of locally-brewed bitter.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 29, 2020
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  11. High Wood

    High Wood Well-Known Member

    All quiet on the Irrawaddy, John 'Tim' Finnerty's account of the Japanese invasion of Burma in general, and the battle of Yenangyaung in particular, from the experiences of the 1st battalion, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers.

    It may be time to start compiling a list of the those men of the battalion who took part in the retreat from Burma.
     
    Last edited: Mar 28, 2021
  12. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    A very interesting book HW. I communicated by email with his daughter a number of years ago.
     
  13. 14/264

    14/264 Active Member

    I hope you'll go on to read The Road Past Mandalay, Masters' account of his Second World War service, including the Second Chindit Expidition, where, although a major, he commanded the greater part of a brigade. A remarkable man!
     
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  14. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    Thanks 14/264. Rather ironically I read Mandalay many years ago when I first began my Chindit research, so it has taken me a while to catch up with Masters first book about his Army career.
     
  15. Markyboy

    Markyboy Member

    Just finished Tom Gleave’s book which I commented on in another thread today. Only a short account taking in some night sorties, Battle of Britain combat and being shot down and sent to East Grinstead all in 100 pages. Well written and easy reading but I wouldn’t recommend forking out too much for it as Bill Simpsons ‘one of our pilots is safe’ is a better read and much more readily available.
     

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  16. 14/264

    14/264 Active Member

    Have you read the third volume of his autobiography, 'Pilgrim Son'? After the war he returned to England and served on the Directing Staff at the Staff College, Camberley, his last military posting before leaving for the USA and eventual literary success.
     
  17. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    No I have not read this, I will have to do so to complete the trilogy. Thanks for letting me know. :)
     
  18. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    I'm reading Queen of the Headhunters, by Sylvia Brooke. I wasn't sure about giving this title a go, but I'm glad I have. She was a pretty amazing woman, who led quite a unique existence.

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  19. stolpi

    stolpi Well-Known Member

    My latest Francophone asset: The French Expeditionary Corps in Italy (or C.E.F.)

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    Le Général Alphonse Juin, commandant en chef du Corps Expéditionnaire Francais (centre):
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    The French Army consisted to a large extent of French North-African troops (Algerians, Moroccans, Senegalese and even Tunisians). They played an important part in the operations for Italy and France, but their contribution has often been forgotten.

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    Last edited: Oct 1, 2020
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  20. Grasmere

    Grasmere Well-Known Member

    This was a worthwhile read and well written, as it gave a realistic account of life in the concentration camps. Some family members did not survive, but the main subjects of the book, the father and son, both lived to tell the tale. Recommended for anyone interested in the Holocaust.
     
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