Last Book That You Read- Non- Fiction

Urquhart of Arnhem John Baynes

an interest as a kid in Arnhem led me to root out books and then I got to write on Arnhem for university so this came in handy. Urquhart largely intrigued because he was played by Connery but this book is a fascinating if brief portrait of a man who was a great leader and loved by those whom he commanded. There's a brief snippet on A Bridge Too Far where Urquhart is quoted of meeting Connery ("Liked him as a man") and even a picture to boot of Urquhart with Connery.
Trivial aside, he was the father-in-law to Menzies Campbell whereas his own uncle helped save Churchill during the Boer War.

Richard Dawkins - The God Delusion

Some issues I have:

- I disagree with him on the issue of abortion (obviously); what I do not understand is how he can go on about how sorry he feels for all of those who weren't given a chance in the "DNA lottery", and how grateful he is to be one of those that was given life to, and then complain about the anti-abortionist argument that the fetuses aren't given a chance to live. Apart from this central issue, his arguments pro abortion are certainly mostly fair and the whole chapter is full of important things he offers for consideration; e. g. refuting the Beethoven argument is important, because even the pro life guys should be arguing in a fair manner (and I am one of them); he is also right that from a consequentialist's point of view, abortion can be legitimate (though in most cases, I do not agree with their arguing).

- His central thesis about the creator having to be created or come about in some way being highly unlikely I do not follow. He tries to tackle this question in a scientific manner, but it may very well be that God didn't have to "come to life" through evolution or creation, that he was "just there from the beginning". Of course this assertion is highly unsatisfactory from a strictly scientific point of view, and it is the easy-way-out argument from theologians, a mere subterfuge, but it may very well BE that way.

- At one point, he uses a false analogy (involving Saddam Hussein's mustache, if I remember correctly). I don't have time to search it in the book and refute it in detail, but I may do if being asked to later. Dawkins never deliberately uses tricks in his arguments, he reveals and refutes many a false argument of his opponents and would not be stupid enough to ever use one himself, especially since he knows everyone and Joe's aunt will be trying to tear his arguments apart. He just didn't think it through.

Apart from those - only the first one is a bigger issue in my book - THE GOD DELUSION is excellent. Very well informed and considered, honest and humane, and humorous. His bible analysis (I'd like to read books that go much deeper and cover all aspects of the biblical theology and ethics), his answers to the pro-existence arguments (I had started reading THE MIRACLE OF THEISM before starting DELUSION, two chapters in, will resume it soon; those arguments are analysed there more thoroughly and on an academical level), the thoughts on the origin of religion and morals, his analysis of the early childhood indoctrination and abuse of the children's psyche by the diverse means from the side of the faith organisations and institutions, contain a lot of brilliant and very important reasoning. It's a book that goes a long way in arguing for science and against totalitarian and more than a bit inhumane ideologies and practices. As many people as possible should read it and approach it with an impartial mind-set.

CHURCHILL'S SECRET AGENT (no stars)



Putting aside whether any of the story is actually true or not, the sentence structure in this novel is so simplistic that it's jarring. The prose does not flow. There is no suspense. There is no education. There is no historical insight. There is no character development. 77 pages in and I have had to quit. Comes across as an awful book. Highly don't recommend. I should've picked up the on the fact that there were NO BLURBS on the front or back covers.....no great reviews from any reputable news outlet...not even a decent review from a fellow author; just stone cold dead silence. Stay far away.

Friedrich Nietzsche - The Anti-Christ

Nietzsche clearly was an unprejudiced, clear-headed analyst of all of life's affairs. I've only read parts of HUMAN, ALL TOO HUMAN, but THE ANTI-CHRIST I've read twice. It's so wonderfully honest and humane, so superbly written (I'm now specifically referring to his writing style), it's a masterful little philosophical work.
I suggest everyone read his elaborations on how the Christian religion, particularly the version according to Paul and the church (he is quite lenient, perhaps even partial towards the gospels, at least the person of Jesus Christ, as he is presented in the non-faked parts), undermined every decent form of state and societal life. He reveals all the insincerities and hypocricies of theological and priestly thinking and practice. It's also very appreciable of him to point out all the wonderful elements of Buddhism, which a clear-minded, righteous man will always strongly prefer to the inhumanities of Christianity (or Judaism and Islam, though the latter is much less objectionable, if you reduce it to the tenets of the Qur'an, as distinct from the shariah abominations).
It is also very important to see how a man who severely criticizes Judaism as a philosophical system and re-interpretation of human history as a primitive and false salvation history can at the same time be far from an antisemitist, because he rightly labels that theory and practice as "indecent" (which is a downplaying term, if we dare to criticize the good man Nietzsche).
It's already some time since I've finished it, there were several other aspects I wanted to write about here, but I'll have to flip through it again. Then maybe I'll come back to this thread to make some additions.

The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston and Mario Spezi.

I've never really liked true crime stories before. I can't put my finger on why, but perhaps it's because they feel too sterile and lifeless. They're usually written by someone who involved themselves in the sequence of events after the fact, so the whole thing comes across as merely a recount.

Not so with The Monster of Florence. This is a much more personal story, probably because it comes from the point of view of two writers who were inherently connected to it: Spezi is the journalist who covered a string of brutal serial murders around Florence in the 1970s and 1980s, whilst Preston is an American novellist who gets sucked into the case when he coincidentally rents a villa near one of the crime scenes in the 1990s.

Spoiler:

Overall, it was pretty good.

Prisoner Monkeys wrote:

The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston and Mario Spezi.

I've never really liked true crime stories before. I can't put my finger on why, but perhaps it's because they feel too sterile and lifeless. They're usually written by someone who involved themselves in the sequence of events after the fact, so the whole thing comes across as merely a recount.

Not so with The Monster of Florence. This is a much more personal story, probably because it comes from the point of view of two writers who were inherently connected to it: Spezi is the journalist who covered a string of brutal serial murders around Florence in the 1970s and 1980s, whilst Preston is an American novellist who gets sucked into the case when he coincidentally rents a villa near one of the crime scenes in the 1990s.

Spoiler:

Overall, it was pretty good.

I like the book too, so who has bought the movie rights Clooney or Cruise?

I've heard that the rights were purchased in 2010 and that Clooney was attached to star as Preston, but nothing has come of it since.

The hard part of making a film version is that the identity of the Monster is never revealed - and the film version would need a villain like that. Since it's a true story, the film couldn't go revealing a character to be the Monster if there was no proof of it.

Predators: Pedophiles, Rapists, and Other Sex Offenders by Anna Salter.

It’s just as grim as you might imagine. Importantly, Salter doesn’t simply focus on the predators themselves, but their victims and their communities. She doesn’t dwell too much on why predators do what they do, but how they choose victims and how they get away with it. Children, for example, are vulnerable because they have often been taught to be subservient, unquestioning, and obedient to adults, especially figures of authority.

I wrote a blog post about the book, and its relevance to my own experiences, here: http://www.agentintraining.com/2013/02/how-my-moms-lessons-saved-me-from-child.html

Note: I initially posted this in the Fiction section. The book is Non-Fiction, so I'm reposting in the appropriate forum. I replaced the initial post with an explanation. My apologies for my sloppiness.

Also, one commenter said my post was merely an ad for my blog pretending to be a book review. In response:

1. I figured some people might not want to read a lengthy post about predators and child molesters on a James Bond forum, so I included a link to the relevant post on my blog.

2. Personally, I like it when people post links to topics they address in depth on their blogs. It keeps the forums from getting clogged with excess verbiage while giving readers the option of pursuing the link or not.

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Erica Ambler wrote:

The Girl in Alfred Hitchcock's Shower - Robert Graysmith

Interesting purchase, in light of recent discussion. It's got a shocking :2*: rating on Amazon.

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Largo's Shark wrote:

Erica Ambler wrote:

The Girl in Alfred Hitchcock's Shower - Robert Graysmith

Interesting purchase, in light of recent discussion. It's got a shocking :2*: rating on Amazon.

And for a change no nincompoop reviews by people with their own peculiar agenda's but actually quite a few decently balanced reviews of people disliking the book for similar reasons. And if you can sympathise with the reasoning I expect the book will indeed fail to woo yourself.

The Longest Winter Meredith Hooper

been reading a lot of late about polar expeditions (chiefly Scott and Shackleton) and this one was quite interesting in it being about the 'other heroes' of Scott's Expedition of 1911-13. These being ones exploring along the East rather than the ones, the ill-fated chaps of Scott's party, who perished on their way back from the Pole. This Eastern Party survived but against such odds, reduced to building an ice cave and spending almost whole days in their sleeping bags whilst waiting for help not knowing Scott et al had died. Back when Britishers seemed more than they are now.

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Erica Ambler wrote:

Hilly wrote:

Back when Britishers seemed more than they are now.

Very true. The expression 'the past is a different country' seems particularly apt in Britain's case. (The Norwegians seem to have fared rather better in that respect - they won back then and, one might argue, they're doing rather better nowadays too.)

Have you read anything about Richard E. Byrd? Some of his Antarctic expeditions, such as Operation Highjump, were rather odd. Highjump would make an interesting setting for story featuring a young James Bond.

The Norwegians have fared better though you get the impression reading all this Amundsen was to a point, on the edge of things. First man to the South Pole, did it quite well and all the rest.

I've not read about Byrd much. Regrettably the local library and Waterstones' are fairly useless. I've got two of Shackleton's books to read and might press on beyond them to other explorers, even Fiennes.

Yes, I'll always bet my money on those Norwegians...

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Double Cross- Ben Macintyre

the story of the few spies ran by MI5 that countered against the Germans up to D-Day. Odd bunch but such are real spies. A chicken farmer, a playboy, a wannabe English gent, a bisexual French gambler and a woman so mad about her dog that when she could not be reunited with it she almost blew the whole thing wide open. D-Day, the fate of Europe and perhaps all that we have known since at the mercy of a wronged woman.
Rising to the fore towards the end is Johnny Jebsen. Arrested by the Gestapo, betrayed by a friend, he held out for God knows how long before being sent to Sachenhausen. He vanished into the ether in 1945. His MI5 handler believed he lived but died never knowing. Had Jebsen, a man who serially cheated on his wife and could never resist the finer things in life, talked -things would've been different.
It'd be nice to think this hero (for that's what he was) made a life for himself after the war if he had lived but the reality is he likely was murdered as so many were in the dying days.

In short: another fine work by Macintyre.

THE GOD DELUSION by Richard Dawkins

Like others I don't agree 100% with the entire case presented by Dawkins. But I find myself close to the 99% and a bit of small change. My own way of life didn't involve much religious indoctrination as such, but quite a measure of philosophical contemplating, both of which are frequently confused. Dawkins argues logical and eloquently within a moral philosophy that doesn't need a creator and the elements that come with religious belief, yet in moral terms is evidently superior to a 'faith' system of good vs. bad that ultimately is perfectly at ease with its followers committing the most grisly acts of violence in its name.

Résumé: I should have read it earlier. Then again I could have skipped it, I'm hardly the target audience for this treatise as I've been on Dawkins' wavelength anyway. Neither are those comfortable in their personal belief systems. But if you find yourself somewhere in between, somewhere where your own questions are not addressed by traditional religion, then this book could help you see a little bit clearer and make up your own mind about a number of ethical questions life throws our way as we plod along.

The Ian Kershaw Hitler pair, Hubris and Nemesis

solid fortnight pretty much. Well. Passes the time.

About to start re-reading an old favourite, Hong Kong: Borrowed Place, Borrowed Time (1968) by Richard Hughes, who was supposedly Fleming's inspiration for Dikko Henderson.

Loomis wrote:

About to start re-reading an old favourite, Hong Kong: Borrowed Place, Borrowed Time (1968) by Richard Hughes, who was supposedly Fleming's inspiration for Dikko Henderson.

Sounds intriguing. Be sure to post a review here when you get it read, Loomis.

Just finished up The Life and Times of Howlin' Wolf.



Excellent biography. The writing does get bogged down in a few places where the writer goes into a lot of detail about the songs. Yeah I get it ... it's a blues song with sad lyrics. But besides that it is quite a fascinating look at his life and his career. Highly recommended for anyone interested in one of the all time great blues singers.

Whicker's War the late Alan Whicker. At times funny, at times quite moving such as when Whicker writes of the comrades no longer here when he revisits Sicily and Italy.

Beyond Band of Brothers Major Dick Winters.

In some respects better than Ambrose's initial book perhaps because of it being Winters but nonetheless stirring and fascinating to read. A few more of that company had passed by the time Winters wrote this (2006/2008) and now, only 23 survive (the oldest being 96) and Major Winters alas is not one of them having taken that 'last jump' in 2011. Maybe it's the series on top of this book, but you get that feeling of camaraderie, you feel you know them in some way in this book, the friendship of Winters and Nixon (lump in the throat the first time round watching the series when Damien Lewis' voiceover in the final episode says "My friend Nix...died in 1995") and all the rest.
These men, and many many others, I will always marvel and look to for admiration.

The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind

Not sure I completely buy it.