What book(s) are you reading currently? - Page 8

**gmcbee** · June 3rd, 2009, 10:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tabler

...I am now reading 'A Comics Life, Born Standing Up' by Steve Martin, an Autobiography.

Steve Martin, Bela Fleck and Tony Trischka on Letterman:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jn3KCZEqxc

--
A handsome young pirate named Bates
Attempted a tango on skates.
He fell on his cutlass
which rendered him nutless
and practically worthless on dates.

**gmcbee** · June 3rd, 2009, 11:05 PM

Back on topic, just finished a reread of Stranger In A Strange Land.
Probably gonna reread Lehane's Mystic River next, unless y'all can change my mind by bedtime.

**Carrot74** · June 4th, 2009, 06:39 PM

Finished the Sword Of Truth series and am working on all the books of Tamora Pierce, like The Lioness series, The Wildmage series, etc.

clonevs · June 6th, 2009, 05:17 PM

"Privilege: Harvard and The Education of the Ruling Class" by: Ross G. Douthat

Just finished "Star Trek Titan: Over a Torrent Sea" by: Christopher L. Bennett

**scoundrel** · June 9th, 2009, 07:01 PM

I have read a number of autobiographical books written by WW2 pilots, of which the one I rate most highly as a quality work of literature is The Last Enemy by Flight Lieutenant Richard Hillary, who died on active service in 1943.

Tumult in the Clouds is second only to Hillary's book in my reading of this sub-genre. I bought it as one of my Waterstone's three-for-two bargains (three-for-two: it's retail literature as porn) and I was delighted with it. Major Goodson had an eventful and fascinating war career, served alongside some equally distinguished officers, had the ear of General Eisenhower, and to cap it all he is a really really good writer, with the skill to make the most of excellent material.

Unlike a conventional memoir, Goodson organises his book by subject matter, not just chronologically. Roughly, the structure is like this (my headings, not his):

Part One: The sinking of the Athenia and how Goodson survived and got home.

He tells the story modestly, but Goodson's role was very creditable. Though they were brave and did their duty, The Athenia's crew couldn't swim: none of them. So Goodson went to the bottom deck of the sinking ship and fished everyone left alive, handing them up to waiting crew members who evacuated them to the lifeboats. His final look at the flooding deck, when everyone else was already gone, is haunting to read. So is the painful scene when he landed in Galway as a shipwrecked mariner and was greeted by two children, 10 years old, asking politely and with pathetic dignity whether he has seen their mother and father. He hadn't, and there were no more survivors coming in after him. This is absolutely heart-rending and Goodson's fierce hatred of the Germans is born.

Part Two

The main section. This covers Goodson's war service and features detailed character portraits and stories of the doings of various key pilots of the 4th Fighter Group, based at RAF Duxford. These men include several of the leading aces of the USAAF in Europe, including John Godfrey, Don Gentile, Ralph (Kid) Hofer, and Duane Beeson, all creditted with more than 25 victories each.

Of these portraits the most significant historically is his insightful presentation of the CO, Colonel Don Blakeslee, a man who heavily influenced the formation of the US fighter force in Europe. The Fourth Fighter Group were created in 1942 out of the RAF's Eagle squadrons and at the time they were the only really experienced fighter pilots the US had, except for the AVG veterans in China and Blakeslee's experience in tactics and leadership were invaluable, though he was only a Captain and a squadron commander at first. In Goodson's account he emerges as a larger-than-life personality, at once loveable, scary and really impressive. You can see exactly why his men loved him and dared not disobey him.

He inherited 133 Eagle Squadron, a mixture of transferrees like Goodson, not happy to be there and surviving members like Don Gentile, resenting the newcomers and in deep mourning for twelve pilots lost at sea because their fuel ran out due to a ghastly planning blunder by someone high up. To make it worse, the squadron was being treated like a poor relation, in squalid quarters at a satelite airfield called Great Sampford (Goodson: There was nothing great about Great Sampford), 6 miles away from the comforts and facilities of Duxford.

With great elan, Blakeslee decided to kill or cure. He made his new pilots take off twelve abreast from the hazardous and bumpy grass runway and fly at daisy cutting height right across Duxford airfield, to show the authorities what they thought of being posted to Great Sampford. Their engine noise shattered most of the windows in Duxford, all at a ghastly early hour. The squadron was re-housed at Duxford that very day.

Goodson gives a really vivid account of this dangerous and bold display of aerobatics, and the various near-collisions involved. From the ground, the other squadron pilots were happy to say that it looked like an inch-perfect aeronautical display and a legend was born. But Goodson makes the point of what it was all really about-

It was when we climbed out of the planes that I understood. There was excitement, enthusiasm, boasting and pride. Everyone was babbling about how, against all odds, they faced and overcame catastrophe and gave a show fit for heroes. That evening Blakeslee wasn't the only 133 pilot with the belligerent swagger as we arrived at the officers' mess in Duxford. It had become a squadron characteristic, and the other squadrons accepted it.

Blakeslee had given the squadron its heart back again. He must have been a really exceptional leader of men.

Final section

A fascinating account of Goodson's experiences in Nazi Germany after being shot down. A fluent German speaker, he ditched his uniform and tried to evade capture but fell into Gestapo hands and was very nearly shot as a spy. His account of how he talked the senior commandant of the Gestapo prison into handing him over to the Luftwaffe and proper captivity is a really gripping story. Ultimately, mere trifles saved him:

He accepts impending death calmly. The German gives him a last brandy and Goodson brazenly cadges a last cigar to go with. When Goodson blows smoke rings the German is delighted, so Goodson teaches him the trick. They converse pleasantly about the relative merits of US and German fighter pilots (as we read, we can see the subtlety of the German making very sure that Goodson really is who he says he is). During the smoke ring lesson, the German treats Goodson to a second brandy:

Thank you-I said. At least I'm going out in style.

Yes-he said. You do have style. Prosit!-and he raised his glass to me.

Offered a last request, Goodson suggests that the Commandant might call the Luftwaffe to take him away. After a witty and bright exchange, the Commandant relents and does exactly that: Goodson had been joking. How strange life is.

Goodson: It was like being born again. everything seemed new and wonderful, and I saw it all in a new, clear light. Through the window, dawn was breaking. As in a dream, I walked over and looked at the trees and fields. They would have seemed ordinary; now they were fabulous

The guards came to take me back to my cell. I pointed through the window:
-Wonderschon, I said. Its beautiful.

This is one hell of a good book, full of vignettes like this. Read it if you get a chance. You will learn a lot about the human condition.

**Pinkpapercut** · June 15th, 2009, 02:42 AM

To get a bit heavy for a moment, in the last few years I've nursed my father and then my mother through terminal illnesses. Recently a friend recommended me a book she'd read and which she though would help me sort my head out.

I'm just coming to the end of it. It's one of the worst books I've ever read. It's "They F*** You Up" by Oliver James, and those asterisks in the title aptly symbolise the gutlessness of the whole book.

James borrows techniques of self-analysis from elsewhere, from John Bowlby for instance, to create what he calls an emotional audit, and buries this under a steaming pile of spurious psychoanalysis of celebrities, most of whom he's never met but has only read about in the media.

Embarrassingly lazy and most definitely not recommended by this reader.

bignubber · June 15th, 2009, 09:13 PM

this is a great thread for giving people ideas on what books to read. heres a few from me.

as a child, one book i read at school (in the early 1970's) was 'Bottersnikes and Gumbles'. it was about two tribes of animals that lived in a scrapyard and they recycled items, but they were always falling out with each other. a very funny book to read.

other good books i have read are:

Moon by James Herbert.
The Bad Place by Dean Koontz (a great book about a man who has a genetic ability to teleport to random place when he's asleep. i read this book in 2 days and thoroughly recommend it).
Atlantis Found by Clive Cussler.
Daughter of God by Lewis Purdue - a story about how the church covers up the second coming of christ and how one investigator battles the church and russian mobsters to find the documented evidence hidden by the Germans in WW2. - a great read.

finally for those of you who like true war stories- i am currently reading The Last Tommy. a book about the survivors of world war one and their life stories. there are only two of these survivors left now (henry allingham and harry patch).read this book and then give silent thanks for their bravery and true courage.

**tabler** · June 18th, 2009, 09:43 AM

Ive just started 'The Sound Of Laughter' by Peter Kay, Im not a huge fan though my Son raves about him so I picked this up for £1 from a car boot sale to see if I can get into him.

dorcelfan · June 18th, 2009, 12:14 PM

I've decided to start a re-read of Anne Rices' "Vampire Chronicles".....

"Interview with the Vampire" is already done and I'm a few chapters into "The Vampire Lestat".

Reading them again has also re-inforced my opinion on what a f*cking botch job they did with the movie "Queen of the Damned" which combined the 2nd and 3rd books.

A great series and books which, I feel, easily transport you to a believable reality.

Regards

D

**Wendigo** · June 18th, 2009, 07:59 PM

I'm waiting for the White House announcing that Barack O'Bama actually has Iirish ancestors, he must be the only US President in living memory who hasn't claimed that lineage to catch the Irish vote. I love this image - kudos to the creator.

On books I'm currently reading The Essential Spider-Man Volume 9 and for a little light reading Steve Alten's Meg and the 2 follow ups as I wait for Hell's Aquarium to come out in paperback.

June 3rd, 2009, 11:05 PM	#72
gmcbee Vintage Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Clinging to the rim of a crater on the dark side of Uranus. Posts: 1,065 Thanks: 3,961 Thanked 11,051 Times in 1,042 Posts	Heinlein Back on topic, just finished a reread of Stranger In A Strange Land. Probably gonna reread Lehane's Mystic River next, unless y'all can change my mind by bedtime.

June 6th, 2009, 05:17 PM	#74
clonevs Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 60 Thanks: 4,240 Thanked 559 Times in 59 Posts	"Privilege: Harvard and The Education of the Ruling Class" by: Ross G. Douthat Just finished "Star Trek Titan: Over a Torrent Sea" by: Christopher L. Bennett __________________ Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves. Confucius

June 9th, 2009, 07:01 PM	#75
scoundrel Super Moderator Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: England Posts: 26,238 Thanks: 162,399 Thanked 278,496 Times in 26,183 Posts	Tumult in the Clouds by Major James Goodson (USAAF) I have read a number of autobiographical books written by WW2 pilots, of which the one I rate most highly as a quality work of literature is The Last Enemy by Flight Lieutenant Richard Hillary, who died on active service in 1943. Tumult in the Clouds is second only to Hillary's book in my reading of this sub-genre. I bought it as one of my Waterstone's three-for-two bargains (three-for-two: it's retail literature as porn) and I was delighted with it. Major Goodson had an eventful and fascinating war career, served alongside some equally distinguished officers, had the ear of General Eisenhower, and to cap it all he is a really really good writer, with the skill to make the most of excellent material. Unlike a conventional memoir, Goodson organises his book by subject matter, not just chronologically. Roughly, the structure is like this (my headings, not his): Part One: The sinking of the Athenia and how Goodson survived and got home. He tells the story modestly, but Goodson's role was very creditable. Though they were brave and did their duty, The Athenia's crew couldn't swim: none of them. So Goodson went to the bottom deck of the sinking ship and fished everyone left alive, handing them up to waiting crew members who evacuated them to the lifeboats. His final look at the flooding deck, when everyone else was already gone, is haunting to read. So is the painful scene when he landed in Galway as a shipwrecked mariner and was greeted by two children, 10 years old, asking politely and with pathetic dignity whether he has seen their mother and father. He hadn't, and there were no more survivors coming in after him. This is absolutely heart-rending and Goodson's fierce hatred of the Germans is born. Part Two The main section. This covers Goodson's war service and features detailed character portraits and stories of the doings of various key pilots of the 4th Fighter Group, based at RAF Duxford. These men include several of the leading aces of the USAAF in Europe, including John Godfrey, Don Gentile, Ralph (Kid) Hofer, and Duane Beeson, all creditted with more than 25 victories each. Of these portraits the most significant historically is his insightful presentation of the CO, Colonel Don Blakeslee, a man who heavily influenced the formation of the US fighter force in Europe. The Fourth Fighter Group were created in 1942 out of the RAF's Eagle squadrons and at the time they were the only really experienced fighter pilots the US had, except for the AVG veterans in China and Blakeslee's experience in tactics and leadership were invaluable, though he was only a Captain and a squadron commander at first. In Goodson's account he emerges as a larger-than-life personality, at once loveable, scary and really impressive. You can see exactly why his men loved him and dared not disobey him. He inherited 133 Eagle Squadron, a mixture of transferrees like Goodson, not happy to be there and surviving members like Don Gentile, resenting the newcomers and in deep mourning for twelve pilots lost at sea because their fuel ran out due to a ghastly planning blunder by someone high up. To make it worse, the squadron was being treated like a poor relation, in squalid quarters at a satelite airfield called Great Sampford (Goodson: There was nothing great about Great Sampford), 6 miles away from the comforts and facilities of Duxford. With great elan, Blakeslee decided to kill or cure. He made his new pilots take off twelve abreast from the hazardous and bumpy grass runway and fly at daisy cutting height right across Duxford airfield, to show the authorities what they thought of being posted to Great Sampford. Their engine noise shattered most of the windows in Duxford, all at a ghastly early hour. The squadron was re-housed at Duxford that very day. Goodson gives a really vivid account of this dangerous and bold display of aerobatics, and the various near-collisions involved. From the ground, the other squadron pilots were happy to say that it looked like an inch-perfect aeronautical display and a legend was born. But Goodson makes the point of what it was all really about- It was when we climbed out of the planes that I understood. There was excitement, enthusiasm, boasting and pride. Everyone was babbling about how, against all odds, they faced and overcame catastrophe and gave a show fit for heroes. That evening Blakeslee wasn't the only 133 pilot with the belligerent swagger as we arrived at the officers' mess in Duxford. It had become a squadron characteristic, and the other squadrons accepted it. Blakeslee had given the squadron its heart back again. He must have been a really exceptional leader of men. Final section A fascinating account of Goodson's experiences in Nazi Germany after being shot down. A fluent German speaker, he ditched his uniform and tried to evade capture but fell into Gestapo hands and was very nearly shot as a spy. His account of how he talked the senior commandant of the Gestapo prison into handing him over to the Luftwaffe and proper captivity is a really gripping story. Ultimately, mere trifles saved him: He accepts impending death calmly. The German gives him a last brandy and Goodson brazenly cadges a last cigar to go with. When Goodson blows smoke rings the German is delighted, so Goodson teaches him the trick. They converse pleasantly about the relative merits of US and German fighter pilots (as we read, we can see the subtlety of the German making very sure that Goodson really is who he says he is). During the smoke ring lesson, the German treats Goodson to a second brandy: Thank you-I said. At least I'm going out in style. Yes-he said. You do have style. Prosit!-and he raised his glass to me. Offered a last request, Goodson suggests that the Commandant might call the Luftwaffe to take him away. After a witty and bright exchange, the Commandant relents and does exactly that: Goodson had been joking. How strange life is. Goodson: It was like being born again. everything seemed new and wonderful, and I saw it all in a new, clear light. Through the window, dawn was breaking. As in a dream, I walked over and looked at the trees and fields. They would have seemed ordinary; now they were fabulous The guards came to take me back to my cell. I pointed through the window: -Wonderschon, I said. Its beautiful. This is one hell of a good book, full of vignettes like this. Read it if you get a chance. You will learn a lot about the human condition. __________________ To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Last edited by scoundrel; June 9th, 2009 at 07:37 PM.. Reason: past-present tense inconsistent

June 15th, 2009, 02:42 AM	#76
Pinkpapercut Rust Never Sleeps Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: North of the Channel, west of the hills, south of the mountains Posts: 984 Thanks: 31,846 Thanked 20,519 Times in 986 Posts	To get a bit heavy for a moment, in the last few years I've nursed my father and then my mother through terminal illnesses. Recently a friend recommended me a book she'd read and which she though would help me sort my head out. I'm just coming to the end of it. It's one of the worst books I've ever read. It's "They F*** You Up" by Oliver James, and those asterisks in the title aptly symbolise the gutlessness of the whole book. James borrows techniques of self-analysis from elsewhere, from John Bowlby for instance, to create what he calls an emotional audit, and buries this under a steaming pile of spurious psychoanalysis of celebrities, most of whom he's never met but has only read about in the media. Embarrassingly lazy and most definitely not recommended by this reader. __________________ To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. That's To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. 's bottom and I'd love it for a pillow

June 15th, 2009, 09:13 PM	#77
bignubber Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 20 Thanks: 2,934 Thanked 860 Times in 19 Posts	this is a great thread for giving people ideas on what books to read. heres a few from me. as a child, one book i read at school (in the early 1970's) was 'Bottersnikes and Gumbles'. it was about two tribes of animals that lived in a scrapyard and they recycled items, but they were always falling out with each other. a very funny book to read. other good books i have read are: Moon by James Herbert. The Bad Place by Dean Koontz (a great book about a man who has a genetic ability to teleport to random place when he's asleep. i read this book in 2 days and thoroughly recommend it). Atlantis Found by Clive Cussler. Daughter of God by Lewis Purdue - a story about how the church covers up the second coming of christ and how one investigator battles the church and russian mobsters to find the documented evidence hidden by the Germans in WW2. - a great read. finally for those of you who like true war stories- i am currently reading The Last Tommy. a book about the survivors of world war one and their life stories. there are only two of these survivors left now (henry allingham and harry patch).read this book and then give silent thanks for their bravery and true courage. __________________ Giggety Giggety Giggety. all right!!

June 4th, 2009, 06:39 PM	#73
Carrot74 Vintage Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Up in the Frozen North Posts: 956 Thanks: 76,069 Thanked 9,346 Times in 954 Posts	Finished the Sword Of Truth series and am working on all the books of Tamora Pierce, like The Lioness series, The Wildmage series, etc.

June 18th, 2009, 09:43 AM	#78
tabler Comfortably Numb Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: St James Park Posts: 7,029 Thanks: 112,519 Thanked 146,054 Times in 8,009 Posts	Ive just started 'The Sound Of Laughter' by Peter Kay, Im not a huge fan though my Son raves about him so I picked this up for £1 from a car boot sale to see if I can get into him. __________________ To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. *Velcome to zee Forum. You must obey zee rules!*

June 18th, 2009, 12:14 PM	#79
dorcelfan Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: The sunny south Posts: 228 Thanks: 4,467 Thanked 1,936 Times in 219 Posts	I've decided to start a re-read of Anne Rices' "Vampire Chronicles"..... "Interview with the Vampire" is already done and I'm a few chapters into "The Vampire Lestat". Reading them again has also re-inforced my opinion on what a f*cking botch job they did with the movie "Queen of the Damned" which combined the 2nd and 3rd books. A great series and books which, I feel, easily transport you to a believable reality. Regards D

June 18th, 2009, 07:59 PM	#80
Wendigo Former Staff Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Blighty Posts: 113,781 Thanks: 259,897 Thanked 1,139,314 Times in 113,897 Posts	I'm waiting for the White House announcing that Barack O'Bama actually has Iirish ancestors, he must be the only US President in living memory who hasn't claimed that lineage to catch the Irish vote. I love this image - kudos to the creator. On books I'm currently reading The Essential Spider-Man Volume 9 and for a little light reading Steve Alten's Meg and the 2 follow ups as I wait for Hell's Aquarium to come out in paperback. Last edited by Wendigo; June 18th, 2009 at 08:02 PM..