Falling asleep while reading it does seem to be the biggest impediment to my progress so far.Originally Posted by PaloAltoCougar
Falling asleep while reading it does seem to be the biggest impediment to my progress so far.
"I think it was King Benjamin who said 'you sorry ass shitbags who have no skills that the market values also have an obligation to have the attitude that if one day you do in fact win the PowerBall Lottery that you will then impart of your substance to those without.'"
- Goatnapper'96
I got an audiobook of his once. Listening to him read it pretty terrible, imo.
I like his narration. But someone else narrates this one.
"There is no creature more arrogant than a self-righteous libertarian on the web, am I right? Those folks are just intolerable."
"It's no secret that the great American pastime is no longer baseball. Now it's sanctimony." -- Guy Periwinkle, The Nix.
"Juilliardk N I ibuprofen Hyu I U unhurt u" - creekster
Shoot, shuck and other assorted comments. He was on BookTV a couple of weekends ago talking about it. It is definitely on my TBR list, now maybe it won't be so high
https://www.c-span.org/video/?460340...s-the-pioneers
I may be small, but I'm slow.
A veteran - whether active duty, retired, or national guard or reserve is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to, "The United States of America ", for an amount of "up to and including my life - it's an honor."
I've read the first two novels in the Myron Bolitar series by Harlan Coben. A brief description of the character makes it seem like a lame premise, but I gave them a try after seeing so many positive reviews. Basically, Bolitar is a former Duke All-American BB player who was drafted by the Celts, blew out his knee in the pre-season, then went to law school and became a sports agent. But then, because he's a stand up guy, he keeps getting involved in solving murders that are somehow related to his athlete clients. Again, sounds kinda dumb, but in practice I like it quite a lot. Along with Bolitar is his friend/business partner Winsor Horne Lockwood III, a super WASP from super old money who is just as stuffy as his name implies. Except that he's kind of a socio-path and he's also a double black belt (or something) in tae kwon do. Again, this sounds stupid even typing it out, but I love Win. He's hilarious and he's a badass.
If you like somewhat lighthearted mystery novels (for comparison, I read Michael Connelly, John Sandford, Don Winslow) then maybe give Myron a try.
Ain't it like most people, I'm no different. We love to talk on things we don't know about.
"The only one of us who is so significant that Jeff owes us something simply because he decided to grace us with his presence is falafel." -- All-American
GIVE 'EM HELL, BRIGHAM!
Speaking of DM, I read Truman last month. I knew very little about HST before and learned a lot. I gained a lot of respect for the man even though I don't agree with his politics (I recall several of Truman's speeches in the book where he argued simultaneously for the need to cap rents/living expenses and artificially increase wages. I got the sense that DM, while remaining mostly impartial about the subject's political leanings, agreed as he didn't point out the obvious inconsistency.)
After finishing Truman, I think he is unfairly maligned. He was a good and selfless public servant, even though he only had any success because of Pendergast. Maybe his biggest failing was providing crony positions, but he certainly didn't enrich himself during his many years of service.
He was kind, witty, and extremely diligent. He came from a humble background and never really left it. He's kind of the anti-Trump in many ways.
Reading it made me want to read a bio of another President from about the same era who also has a really negative perception, so I'm reading Hoover by Kenneth Whyte. Whyte is not as good a storyteller as DM but so far (a couple hundred pages in) I've enjoyed it.
"Seriously, is there a bigger high on the whole face of the earth than eating a salad?"--SeattleUte
"The only Ute to cause even half the nationwide hysteria of Jimmermania was Ted Bundy."--TripletDaddy
This is a tough, NYC broad, a doctor who deals with bleeding organs, dying people and testicles on a regular basis without crying."--oxcoug
"I'm not impressed (and I'm even into choreography . . .)"--Donuthole
"I too was fortunate to leave with my same balls."--byu71
If you haven't read it, his John Adams is also a 5 star read or more
I've really enjoyed everything of his that I've read, and I think I read almost everything he has written - starting with a Readers Digest version of his book on the Johnstown Flood as an 11 or 12 yr old in the late '60s
Last edited by happyone; 07-01-2019 at 09:40 PM.
I may be small, but I'm slow.
A veteran - whether active duty, retired, or national guard or reserve is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to, "The United States of America ", for an amount of "up to and including my life - it's an honor."
Yeah, I've read that and 1776. John Adams is my favorite biography.If you haven't read it, his John Adams is also a 5 star read or more
I've really enjoyed everything of his that I've read, and I think I read almost everything he has written - starting with a Readers Digest version of his book on the Johnstown Flood as an 11 or 12 yr old in the late '60s
"Seriously, is there a bigger high on the whole face of the earth than eating a salad?"--SeattleUte
"The only Ute to cause even half the nationwide hysteria of Jimmermania was Ted Bundy."--TripletDaddy
This is a tough, NYC broad, a doctor who deals with bleeding organs, dying people and testicles on a regular basis without crying."--oxcoug
"I'm not impressed (and I'm even into choreography . . .)"--Donuthole
"I too was fortunate to leave with my same balls."--byu71
Just finished this one yesterday. Really good book. What a great group of people. Difficult to think about at times.There a lot of new books on D-Day coming out right now
I just finished Soldier, Sailor, Frogman, Spy, Airman, Gangster, Kill or Die: How the Allies Won on D-Day. There are lots of great first person accounts, a bit of humor, but it is pretty grizzly. The main problem I had with it is that the author doesn't seem to know just what a mortar is (according to the author almost anything that fires an explosive projectile is a mortar, including but not limited to - tubed artillery(howitzers), navel rifles - including the main guns on a battleship, anti tank guns ( the German 88mm), shoulder launched antitank rockets (the British PIAT)). I found it to be a weak 4 star read because the mortar issue irritated me so much
I'm currently reading -The First Wave by Alex Kershaw. This a new look at the first people into Normandy on D-Day. He is the author of "The Bedford Boys" that I mentioned earlier. I've really liked the books of his that I've readA couple I'm waiting anxiously for, but the library doesn't have them yet
Normandy '44 by James Holland.
He is another author whose books I've enjoyed. I recently read his Big Week. This is the story of a series of bombing raids in February of '44 that basically destroyed the Luftwaffe fighter forces and ensured Allied Air Superiority over the D-Day beaches.
Sand and Steel by Peter Caddick-Adams, who wrote one of the best books on the Battle of the Bulge I've read.
I just finished a new biography of Robert E. Lee's father - Revolutionary War Cavalry Commander, Light Horse Harry Lee - Light-Horse Harry Lee: The Rise and Fall of a Revolutionary Hero - The Tragic Life of Robert E. Lee's Father.
What a tragic story - born into one of the richest families in Virginia, a true hero of the Revolutionary War, he died bankrupt and wandering the Caribbean sponging off any who would give him a meal and a place to lay his head. Not only was he a War hero, he was also a successful politician - he was a member of congress before and after the Constitution was adopted, he was the gov'r of Virginia as well as a long time member of the Virginia legislature. However he was also a terrible businessman. He lost his and his two wives (his first wife died) entire fortunes land speculating and eventually spent time in Debtors prison.
During the War of 1812, as a Federalist and an opponent to the War, led him to being caught up in riots in Baltimore and he was sevrerly beaten and mutilated (his nose was almost severed) when the Militia cdr pulled the forces guarding the jail, where he and other prominent Federalists where being housed and let the mob do what they wanted. He never really recovered (mentally or physically) and eventually went to the Caribbean to try and ease his suffering. He was on his way back to Virginia when he passed away in South Carolina. After his death one of his travelling companions went to Baltimore where his wife was living and asked to see her and tell her his last words. One of Lee's daughters answered the door and told the gentleman that her mother was sleeping. When he pushed the issue, the daughter went and talked to her mother, came back and told the gentleman that her mother didn't want to hear them and then asked the man to leave, which he did.
In the epilogue, the author speculates just how much his father's trouble affected the personality of his son. In many ways Rob't E. Lee was the polar opposite of his father. Rob't's rise is the military was slow, but steady. He was extremely cautious in business and with his wife's dowry.
I thought it was a solid 4 star read.
Are you reading the Pevear and Volokhonsky translation or the Garnett? I read the P&K translation last year and thought it was excellent. Excellent in the sense that the novel had a nice flow to it not in the sense that I speak Russian and actually have a clue if the translation is accurate or not. From what I’ve read the old Garnett translation isn’t nearly as true to the Russian and feels clunkier than P&V. Hard to rip on her though as her translations are largely the ones that allowed readers in English to enjoy the Russian masters.
I'll have to check when I get home. Part of the problem could be that the pages are formatted with small print with two columns per page. My falling asleep may just be a Pavlovian response to reading a book that appears to be scripture.
"I think it was King Benjamin who said 'you sorry ass shitbags who have no skills that the market values also have an obligation to have the attitude that if one day you do in fact win the PowerBall Lottery that you will then impart of your substance to those without.'"
- Goatnapper'96
James Holland is fast becoming on of my favorites of the new generation of WWII historians. This year I have read four of his books and they are all excellent. In the order that I've read them
Big Week
I didn't type up my thoughts on this one, but as a WWII aviation buff - It is well worth the read. It's the story of the air campaign that broke the back of the Luftwaffe Fighter force in Feb 1944.
Battle of Britian
This is not just the story of the Spitfires vs BF109s, but a look at all of what was happening between May 1940 though September of the same yr.
My thoughts
Fortress Malta
The story of the WW II Siege of the Island of Malta - from 1940 - 1943
My thoughts
Finally Burma '44
This is story of a rather minor battle om the India/Burma border in Feb 1944 that restored the British/Indian Army faith in themselves and proved to them that they could take on the best the Japanese had to offer and more importantly - win
My thoughts
I have his book on D-Day Normandy '44 on hold for me at the library, so as soon as it comes in, it goes to the top of the reading list
I'm currently reading Caddick-Adam's book on D-Day Sand and Steel
It's a bit of door stop at over 900 pages. If any D-Day book deserves the subtitle "Everything you wanted to know about D-Day, but were afraid to ask", this is it.
The first half of the book deals with the planning of and the training the units went through leading up the momentous occasion. He covers the beaches in order starting with Utah.
One of many things I've like about it is that C-A tells the reader about the condition of the area currently - whether or not the area has been preserved, what is currently on the site etc.
C-A does give homage to Cornelius Ryan's "The Longest Day" as the first real history of D-Day, but he has a lot of problems with his research.
One of this things he covers is just how the beaches got their names. While no one can be sure, but one story is that Omaha and Utah beaches were named after a couple of GI's who built Omar Bradley's Map Room at his HQ in England - one was from Utah and the other, Omaha.
Last edited by happyone; 07-05-2019 at 08:30 PM.
I may be small, but I'm slow.
A veteran - whether active duty, retired, or national guard or reserve is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to, "The United States of America ", for an amount of "up to and including my life - it's an honor."
Those aren't the only translations. P and V are publicity hounds (I don't hold that against them; it's a business). But everyone here should know that fidelity to the original isn't the be all and end all of good writing. Which is the greatest translation of the Bible? The KJV, of course. One thing I can't countenance about P&V is the way in War and Peace they put the French in the text without translation and then put the English translation in footnotes. Artificial and pretentious. For Chrissakes, we're reading something that was originally in Russian--except for the French. Why not put the whole thing in Footnotes? What's so special about the French? Just saying in the text that this or that is spoken in French (it is important to know this) can be done elegantly and is much preferable in my opinion. Fidelity to the original or a pretense about the French is not the point of reading any of these great novels.
I think BK is very funny in parts, and actually quite modern. The Grand Inquisitor is not the best part. It's kind of distracting, I've realized.
Last edited by SeattleUte; 07-05-2019 at 04:58 PM.
When a true genius appears, you can know him by this sign: that all the dunces are in a confederacy against him.
--Jonathan Swift
Garnett.
"I think it was King Benjamin who said 'you sorry ass shitbags who have no skills that the market values also have an obligation to have the attitude that if one day you do in fact win the PowerBall Lottery that you will then impart of your substance to those without.'"
- Goatnapper'96
you are ambitiousGarnett.
I may be small, but I'm slow.
A veteran - whether active duty, retired, or national guard or reserve is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to, "The United States of America ", for an amount of "up to and including my life - it's an honor."
You might be interested in this article if you haven’t read it already. Maybe a few others would be too.
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/20...anslation-wars
I agree with you about the French not being translated.
Have you read this? By Janet Malcolm. She cite other literary scholars and critics. Redeems Garnet as unfairly maligned and characterizes P & V as a tragic fad. What matters is the quality of the writing in English.
https://www.nybooks.com/articles/201...anna-karenina/
When a true genius appears, you can know him by this sign: that all the dunces are in a confederacy against him.
--Jonathan Swift
I haven’t. Thanks, I’ll check it out.
"I think it was King Benjamin who said 'you sorry ass shitbags who have no skills that the market values also have an obligation to have the attitude that if one day you do in fact win the PowerBall Lottery that you will then impart of your substance to those without.'"
- Goatnapper'96
I wasn't able to read that article, SU because there's a paywall. Would you mind summarizing? I'm guessing the article is one of the main pieces of evidence that you've used to develop such strong opinions about Garnett vs P&V. Is the idea that P&V are a "tragic fad" something that is gaining traction? I mean, if that's true, they managed to impress a lot of the right people. It's hard for me to imagine that isn't a controversial take currently but the article I posted is the only one I've read on the topic.
In the past year I've read the P&V translations of Brothers K, The Master and Margarita, Dead Souls and Anna Karenina, all of which delivered for me an excellent reading experience. Prior to this, I'd only read Garnett but that was more than 20 years prior. I will say that the Garnett translations I read also delivered an excellent reading experience. I mean, bottom line, I read them too far apart to compare, but I'm genuinely curious as to whether or not Garnett will endure or if P&V are to become the new standard.
If you get me an email address I’ll get behind the paywall and send you the full article. I’m pretty agnostic about the translations, actually, except that I was really glad to see a backlash from credible critics and writers. I understand that publishers struggle to turn a profit and translators need to pay the mortgage. But the publicity that accompanied issuance of these translations was like StarWars. What was offensive, though, was the way that P&V and some of their admirers trashed Garnett. As you noted, it was Garnett’s transliterations that propelled these works into the Western Canon and inspired Lawrence, Hemingway, et al.
So I was skeptical. As for the New Yorker article, just listen to the New Yorker Radio Hour and you’ll soon see how insufferable David Remnick is. He’s just the type to fall for the publicity of a native Russian husband and wife team translating these classics.
I haven’t read Garnett so far as I know. My War and Peace was translated by Ann Dunigan. I read and reread it. Loved it. I read all the novellas and short stories of Tolstoy translated by David McDuff. I started reading my wife’s Brothers Karamozov from college, it broke in half and so I bought the Penguin edition translated by McDuff and finished that. I was interested in how different the two translations were, but loved them both. I didn’t find the first half. Maybe it was Garnett.
So I have been doubly skeptical of the P&V furor because it was earlier, not ballyhooed translations that were those life transforming translations for me.
When reading Anna Karenina I decided midway through to try out the P&V version, but it was a big bulky Oprah Book Club version, and I returned to my original, more compact book(this was before Kindle) to finish. I’ve lost it. Maybe it was Garnett?
As I said before, as with the Bible, fidelity to the original tongue means almost nothing to me. I want what is most beautiful and feels right in my own tongue.
Finally, I think it’s kind of rude, when someone is scaling the Brothers Karamozov, to tell him he may be climbing the wrong mountain. Not true. At this level, it’s a matter of taste. Malcolm and others think that P&V are klunky and overrated.
Last edited by SeattleUte; 07-10-2019 at 09:20 PM.
When a true genius appears, you can know him by this sign: that all the dunces are in a confederacy against him.
--Jonathan Swift
I went back and read what I wrote and this is a fair criticism. It is not at all what I had intended, but it is what I said. I really just wondered if Pelado was bored by the translation I'd enjoyed. My apologies, Pelado.
Thanks for you comments, SU. I enjoy reading different viewpoints and especially when we're in the middle of a moment where people seem to be forming a new consensus. I'll get you my email as I'd love to read that article.
Last edited by SteelBlue; 07-11-2019 at 12:27 PM.
Apology accepted, though I'm not smart enough to realize you had need to apologize.
"I think it was King Benjamin who said 'you sorry ass shitbags who have no skills that the market values also have an obligation to have the attitude that if one day you do in fact win the PowerBall Lottery that you will then impart of your substance to those without.'"
- Goatnapper'96
If you haven't already gone, IMnsHO Peter Caddick-Adam's book, Sand and Steel IS the one to read. Not only is it the best history I've read of the Invasion, it is also a bit of a Normandy/D-Day guide book. C-A has been going to Normandy since 1975 and he highlights what has been preserved, how the terrain has changed, where the museums are and their quality, available parking etc. However it is a bit of a door stop at just under 900 pages of text, with another 200 pgs of notes and indicies
I finally typed up my thoughts if anyone is interested
Last edited by happyone; 07-12-2019 at 10:17 PM.
I may be small, but I'm slow.
A veteran - whether active duty, retired, or national guard or reserve is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to, "The United States of America ", for an amount of "up to and including my life - it's an honor."
Thanks so much!! Not going until October so have time to get to this.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I'm not a reader, but this review makes me want to go get it, particularly before going out for a visit.
Do! (Both read the book and visit Normandy) As military man I think you would really enjoy walking the ground!
About the only problem I had with the book is that in a couple of places C-A puts the 16th INF in the 29 ID and the 116th INF in the 1 ID. (Its actually the other way around) These are the two regiments comprising the 1st wave on Omaha Beach. However most of the time he has them with the correct division - somebody blew it when proof reading. Quite frankly, only a History Nerd like me would probably care. C-A actually apologized for the error in the WWII group I'm a member of on Good Reads.
One other note - C-A is a retired British Territorial Army Officer, so he brings a professional's understanding to the narrative.
Last edited by happyone; 07-13-2019 at 10:13 AM.
I may be small, but I'm slow.
A veteran - whether active duty, retired, or national guard or reserve is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to, "The United States of America ", for an amount of "up to and including my life - it's an honor."
I'm reading Is There Anything Good About Men? by Roy Baumeister.
I highly recommend it.
We all trust our own unorthodoxies.
Book came in the mail today. It's a big one! I'll have to schedule time for reading if I'm going to manage it.
I sincerely hope you find it as good as I did. I agree, it is a bit of a door stop
I have one more recently released D-Day book on my TBR and I am waiting for the library to get it for me - James Holland's Normandy '44
I recently finished James Scott's look at MacArthur's liberation of Manila - Rampage. I gave this a 5 star rating on Goodreads, but is a difficult read. If you have ever read Iris Chang's Rape of Nanjing , you can probably get an idea of much of the content from pgs 200-400. Mr. Scott tells just what the Japanese did to the civilian population of Manila in excruciating detail. This includes vivid stories of beheadings, burning people alive, mass rape of 11/12 yr olds (along with their mothers) bayonetting of babies and any other way the Japanese could think of to terrorize the population. The best estimates are that the Japanese killed more than 100K civilians in the fight for Manila. MacA doesn't come off particularly well either. He believed that the Japanese had been defeated on Leyte so they wouldn't fight and even if they did, they would follow his example and declare Manila and Open City. Even when his people received Intel from reliable sources that the Japanese were fortifying the city - he refused to believe it - presaging what happened in Korea 5 1/2 yrs later.
He originally forbade his troops from using any indirect fire weapons or CAS. When the troops could not advance, he reluctantly gave permission to use Arty, but never allowed CAS. The Japanese were so well dug in, the Americans basically flattened the City to dig them out. Even with the heavy damage to the City, most residents welcomed the Americans as liberators.
The final 50 pages or so are a recount of the Japanese Commander (Yamashita) war crimes trial held in Manila. Contrary to popular belief, Mr. Scott doesn't believe that MacA dictated the verdict, but the rules of evidence were so loose and the charges were so broad, the verdict was probably a forgone conclusion, basically "Somebody had to Pay". He also states that if somehow Yamashita had been found NOT GUILTY, the British and Aussies were waiting the wings to try him for what happened in Malaysia and Singapore
My more complete thoughts
Last edited by happyone; 07-26-2019 at 05:18 PM.
I may be small, but I'm slow.
A veteran - whether active duty, retired, or national guard or reserve is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to, "The United States of America ", for an amount of "up to and including my life - it's an honor."
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