In his own words
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Basic Documents in American History
Review: An actual reading of the documents that so many Americans profess to “defend unto death”, which so few have ever actually read. Americans have a racist past built into their entire socio-political system. Dred Scott, good grief. Brown v. Board of Education – good grief in 1955. A well regulated militia is not the…
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The Fabulous Riverboat
Review: A wild ride down the amazing river of Riverworld. Thought provoking and disturbing in some aspects. Suspension of disbelief taken way too far. Imagine a resurrected Mark Twain going from stone age capabilities to full industrial manufacturing and 20th century technology in about 5 years. Nope. Good but not great, worth reading, but I…
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Within the Tides
Review: Four novellas/short stories from the master of nautical yarns. “The Planter of Malata” is a dark psychological tale of passion and deception. “The Partner” is an excellent tale of business treachery and scheming. “The Inn of the Two Witches” is very reminiscent of Alamayer’s Folly or even Heart of Darkness. A boat with a…
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The Beautiful and Damned
Review: A rare gem of a book. All the glory and drama and sadness of the end of the Gilded Age. Exploring the ephemeral nature of the present moment, of each generation discovering its youth and beauty, and then slowly seeing it pass away. The slow descent into alcoholism was like looking back on my…
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Sherston’s Progress
Review: The third and final book in the trilogy, and what an outstanding volume. From his protest to his time at the shell-shock hospital, to his return to the front, to his return to England, an absolutely fascinating look into the Great War mindset by someone that experienced it and lived (barely) to tell about…
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Memoirs of a Fox Hunting Man
Review: I learned a lot about fox-hunting, and about England just prior to the war of 1914. An idyllic lifestyle, full of misty downs and comfortable firesides and then the cataclysm. Absolutely wonderful descriptions of the English and French country sides, you can see why the author is one of the most celebrated war poets.…
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Memoirs of an Infantry Soldier
Review: A superb semi-autobiographical memoir novel by the Great War soldier and poet Siegfried Sassoon. I could not put this down for long periods, and then I would put it down, to let the poetry and imagery sink in. Writing as 2nd Lieutenant Sherston, we see the horror of the front lines, and the sadness…
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The House of Mirth
Review: A classic among classics. This is the story of Lily Bart, a product of society in the Gilded Age, that rises and falls completely from grace. Though innocent (mostly) of the charges society brings against her, she can never regain her former status and is thus excluded from the tribal group that constitutes the…
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Pattern Recognition
Review: This is a book that has not aged well. Set in the present, which is 2003, it struggles to appear futuristic with the technology of the time. I lived in that time, and I prophesied that we were getting there, but not there yet. CD-ROMS, limited to what a CD could hold, and a…
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The Shadow Line
Review: Another dark, chilling tale of nautical adventure from Joseph Conrad. Even when the sun is shining in his novels, it’s like it’s coming through curtains, never full, bright, happy sunshine. Lots of nautical lingo, and you would need to be a sailor to understand what they all mean, eg. why squaring a yard or…