Book Description
At once an incredible adventure narrative and a penetrating biographical portrait, The River of Doubt is the true story of Theodore Roosevelt’s harrowing exploration of one of the most dangerous rivers on earth.
The River of Doubt—it is a black, uncharted tributary of the Amazon that snakes through one of the most treacherous jungles in the world. Indians armed with poison-tipped arrows haunt its shadows; piranhas glide through its waters; boulder-strewn rapids turn the river into a roiling cauldron.
After his humiliating election defeat in 1912, Roosevelt set his sights on the most punishing physical challenge he could find, the first descent of an unmapped, rapids-choked tributary of the Amazon. Together with his son Kermit and Brazil’s most famous explorer, Cândido Mariano da Silva Rondon, Roosevelt accomplished a feat so great that many at the time refused to believe it. In the process, he changed the map of the western hemisphere forever.
Along the way, Roosevelt and his men faced an unbelievable series of hardships, losing their canoes and supplies to punishing whitewater rapids, and enduring starvation, Indian attack, disease, drowning, and a murder within their own ranks. Three men died, and Roosevelt was brought to the brink of suicide. The River of Doubt brings alive these extraordinary events in a powerful nonfiction narrative thriller that happens to feature one of the most famous Americans who ever lived.
From the soaring beauty of the Amazon rain forest to the darkest night of Theodore Roosevelt’s life, here is Candice Millard’s dazzling debut.
Customer Reviews:
river of doubt.......2007-10-06
This book was great, if you like adventure, exploration, or teddy roosevelt this is the book for you.
not boaring at all this book is awsome
A Gripping Tale of Men of Character.......2007-09-21
Oh, for a President who had even one tenth of the character and integrity of the Teddy Roosevelt portrayed in this book. This is a real-life version of Conrad's Heart of Darkness, but the central figure never loses his sense of dedication and honor. Although there is plenty of suspense, even horror, in the story, I found it to be ultimately quite inspiring.
Awesome.......2007-09-20
This book went into so much detail about TR's expedition in Brazil that is hardly mentioned in other books on his life. And what a story it is! I heartily recommend it to anyone.
They Don't Make Presidents Like this Anymore..........2007-09-20
And that's not a statement of partisan politics, but it does say a lot about leadership. Volumes have been written about Theodore Roosevelt, the soldier, the statesman, the adventurer, and the president, but if there is a single book that captures the vitality, the determination, and the indomitable spirit of this great American, it is "The River of Doubt." Former National Geographic writer and editor Candice Miller pulls no punches and leaves no stone unturned in spinning this vibrant and suspense-packed tale of risk and discovery cutting through the heart of the Amazonian jungle on an uncharted Brazilian river. Miller brings the Amazon to life in all its bloody glory, an unfathomably dangerous place where even the frogs are deadly, where schools of piranhas can turn an ox - or a man - to a skeleton in minutes, a place where, despite caymans and poison dart-wielding natives, it is the insects - insects of all types and descriptions - that pose the greatest risk.
This is an epic journey facing not only the challenges of a wild river cascading over rapids and waterfalls through an impenetrable jungle, but also treachery and even murder. Roosevelt and expedition co-lead Candido Mariano da Silva Rondon, an officer of the Brazilian military and renowned Amazon explorer, find themselves surprisingly ill-equipped for their voyage through one of the planets most inhospitable regions, and ironically are soon near starvation in a green hell that while teaming with life, food is stubbornly unattainable. Meanwhile, it is a poignant tale of the bond between father and son, as Roosevelt and second son Kermit alternately sacrifice and suffer for each other while proudly denying emotion. This is one of those stories that, after weeks of terror, when Roosevelt and the tattered remains of his party emerge feverish from malaria and near starvation, you'll ask, "why haven't I heard about this before now."
Were this fiction, it would strain the bounds of credibility. But that this is the story of a former President of the United States is truly staggering. A remarkable achievement, "The River of Doubt" is a must read, illuminating a fascinating slice of world history in the twilight of the age of exploration while providing an intimate peak into the unparalleled character of Theodore Roosevelt. Bully!
Real-life adventure.......2007-09-20
River of Doubt is a cominbation of very interesting history and great adventure. This is the first book I have read about TR and as a result I plan to read more. Candice Millard does an outstanding job of presenting a grand adventure, while at the same time, letting you into the personal and interesting lives of the explorers. Ms. Millard has renewed my interest in historical books.
Average customer rating:
- A true American Hero
- Man of character, man of faith whose story should be proclaimed!
- Well rounded biography
- Excellent Title of an Excellent Leader
- Well Researched Look at a Major Civil War Figure
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In the Hands of Providence: Joshua L. Chamberlain and the American Civil War
Alice Rains Trulock
Manufacturer: The University of North Carolina Press
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ASIN: 0807820202 |
Book Description
This remarkable biography traces the life and times of Joshua L. Chamberlain, the professor-turned-soldier who led the Twentieth Maine Regiment to glory at Gettysburg, earned a battlefield promotion to brigadier general from Ulysses S. Grant at Petersburg, and was wounded six times during the course of the Civil War. Chosen to accept the formal Confederate surrender at Appomattox, Chamberlain endeared himself to succeeding generations with his unforgettable salutation of Robert E. Lee's vanquished army. After the war, he went on to serve four terms as governor of his home state of Maine and later became president of Bowdoin College. He wrote prolifically about the war, including The Passing of the Armies, a classic account of the final campaign of the Army of the Potomac.
Customer Reviews:
A true American Hero.......2006-03-29
In the Hands of Providence is a very well researched look of the life of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain. Alice Turlock presents a definitive biography of this modest professor from Bowden College, who met challenge after challenge to become one of the greatest leaders in Civil War history. Chamberlain had extraordinary observational and superb writing skills. His persistence at recording the historic events, which included his emotional reactions, gave Trulock's wonderful historic accounts for her book.
The book starts by giving us an in depth look at his obscure Christian upbringing in rural Maine, and follows his processes of becoming a great young man. He was an exceptional college student, receiving the praise of his instructors. He was also highly regarded by his neighbors and towns' folk alike. Many considered him to have the highest moral and ethical standard. He was so trusted and respected as a young man in his home town that an older business man of Maine, who was an acquaintance of Chamberlain's, entrusted him with the dealings of his estate.
While finishing his studies at Bowden, Chamberlain married his sweetheart Frances Caroline Adams. They had a very close and loving relationship. But during the war, the constant distance between them put a great deal of strain on their relationship. After graduation, he accepted a position as a professor at Bowden, and held that position for several years. Chamberlain maintained a very close relationship with his family, and he was especially close to his father in law George Adams.
When the war broke out in 1861, Chamberlain ask for a leave of absence from Bowden to enlist, but was turned down. Not to be left out of the war, he again applied for a sabbatical to study in Europe, and this time it was granted. He had no intentions on going to Europe, and instead immediately enlisted in the army as a lieutenant colonel, and never looked back. He played a huge role in the recruitment of the men for a regiment, which would later come to be known as the 20th Maine.
With no military experience, Chamberlain showed great promise in his leadership shills and military expertise. He became friends with his unit's commander, Colonial Ames, who became his tutor. According to Trulock, Chamberlain held a great deal of respect and admiration for Ames, and he gave Ames credit for his military success.
Trulock's description of Chamberlain's military life is extraordinary, and she supplies us with great details about the battles in which he was involved. At the battle of Antietam, Chamberlain was not directly involved in the fighting but was brought up in reserve the next day. Trulock gives a very vivid description of horror that Chamberlain witnessed upon arriving at the battlefield that day where 22,000 lay dead or wounded on the field. It was the bloodiest, one day battle in the Civil War.
Next, she transports us to the Fredericksburg, and the final assault by the North on Marye's Heights - the charge that involved the 20th of Maine. All the other divisions that day were either driven back, laid dead or wounded on the field. She describes tremendous courage that Chamberlain and his men showed as they made their charge on the now famous wall at Marye's Heights, the wall that was heavily guarded by Confederates. The division suffered great loses that late afternoon. They remained among the dead or wounded for 2 days and nights before the order was given to retreat.
The episode in history that Chamberlain is most remember for is the courage and heroism he displayed at the battle of Gettysburg. He was ordered to the top of a hill known as The Little Round Top where he was placed at the far left flank. There, Chamberlain was instructed to hold that position at all cost. The 20th Maine repelled assault after assault by the Confederates that day. When ammunition ran out, Chamberlain ordered a bayonet charge, an event that many historians say was the turning point of the Civil War.
Trulock also gives a very detailed account of the battle of Petersburg, where Chamberlain was horribly wounded. After hearing of his heroic actions during the battle, General Grant immediately promoted Chamberlain on the battlefield to Brigadier General. This was the only battlefield promotion ever issued by Grant. Somehow, Chamberlain survived his wound, due to the skilled surgery that was preformed on him that night and next day. Chamberlain's two close friends, Dr. Shaw and Dr. Townsend worked for hours repairing the damage inflicted by the mini ball. The wound he received that day would trouble him all of his life and required numerous surgery's to repair the damage.
His persistent heroism and outstanding leadership were the deciding factor when Grant chose Chamberlain to receive the Confederate surrender at Appomattox. He showed great respect for his fellow countrymen that day when he gave the order to his men to give a solders salute to the surrendering confederate men. His honorary actions that day were later critized by many people.
This book contains a lot of historic photos of Chamberlain's family, friends, fellow soldiers and numerous battle maps. The book also gives a great account of Chamberlain's life as Governor of Maine and President of Bowden College, but these accounts do not compare to the bravery and patriotic devotion that Chamberlain displayed during the Civil War. His actions made him a hero to his men, and the country he served.
Trulock has given us a great biography, not only one of the Civil War's greatest commanders, but one of the United States most distinguished citizens. The book flows very smoothly while covering details of battles that would interest even the most die hard Civil War enthusiast.
Finally, a book that does justice to an astonishing person. I highly recommend this book.
Man of character, man of faith whose story should be proclaimed!.......2006-01-25
Chamerlain's heroism is similar to Teddy Roosevelt, Alvin York, and Audie Murphy who came behind him, but have been better publicized.
The difference is that his act of confidence, courage and decisiveness may have been the one that changed the outcome of the Civil War, the 1864 election and the future of America.
In The Hands of Providence is the story of Chamberlain's exemplary character before, during and after that momentum changing moment. All Americans should read and learn this story.
- Richard V. Battle - Author of The Four Letter Word That Builds Character
Well rounded biography.......2005-05-10
I found Alice Trulock's biography on Joshua L. Chamberlain to be quite readable, well researched and well grounded. Considering the length of the book, Trulock's book read quite well for most readers of any level. Well, it may not be good as the one written by John Pullen but it definitely is superior to the one written by Edward Longacre. I put that in just for comparison purpose.
I think this biography may served as a good introduction to Chamberlain who's name have definitely reached near mythological level nowadays among Civil War readers thanks to Jeff Daniels and his role in that movie "Gettysburg". Of course, most readers would probably be disappointed that Jeff Daniel's portaryal of Chamberlain will not jive with Joshua Chamberlain of Trulock's book.
The biography covers all aspects of Chamberlain's life. The book does a good job covering Chamberlain's military career which proves to be the most important period of his life from which Chamberlain's life will be centered around until his death. I do wish to make a point here. He died at the age of 86, a very ripe old age and I doubt if his wounds he got from Petersburg really hasten his death, it may have cause him a lot of pain but even in modern days, most people don't live that long!
Overall, an very good biography on one of Union's more natural soldiers. A non-professional who performed better then most professional soldiers.
Excellent Title of an Excellent Leader.......2005-03-13
The Duke of Wellington supposedly stated that it is impossible for a Christian to serve in the military. Too bad he wasn't around during the American Civil War! Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson from the South and Joshua Chamberlain and Otis Howard from the North are notable exceptions to Wellington's thesis.
Trulock has written what is the best account of the hero of Little Round Top and who personally oversaw the surrender of Confederate troops at Appamattox.
Among the important events in Chamberlain's life covered include:
1. Birth and Christian upbringing in rural Maine.
2. His days as a student and adminstrator at Bowdoin College.
3. His early Civil War service including the formation of the famous 20th Maine Regiment.
4. Fascinating accounts of his involvement in major Civil War battles: Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, Petersburg, and other engagements.
5. The horrible wound suffered at Petersburg that eventually killed him some 50 years later.
6. His loving yet strained marriage to Frances Caroline Adams.
7. Postwar public service as President of Bowdoin College and Governor of Maine.
Reading the book was a joy - the narrative flowed smoothly while covering several details of a fascinating character. The author managed to keep the story from becoming too bogged down in dry detail without insulting the reader's intelligence. Oh, how I wish more biographies were written like this!
The book also contains excellent battle maps and numerous photographs of the main characters: Chamberlain, his wife, parents, sister and brothers, many Civil War officers, and other important people in Joshua Chamberlain's life.
All in all, an excellent and highly recommended read. Read and enjoy!
Well Researched Look at a Major Civil War Figure.......2004-10-02
Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain was the epitome of the American citizen-soldier. Since the birth of the republic, American soldiers have left home and hearth to serve the nation and many of them have come home physically shattered and haunted by what they have seen while still others have not come home at all. Thrown into the breech, some of the citizen solders found they did not have the fortitude for what was asked of them while many others have excelled, performing better than graduates of West Point or Annapolis, America's most prestigious military academies. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain was a citizen soldier who became a great hero of the Civil War, a man who met challenge after challenge and became a great leader of men and afterward, the course of his life was forever altered. An academically inclined young man, Chamberlain left Bowdin College and his studies and teaching in theology to accept a lieutenant colonel's commission in the 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment. The modest young professor took part in most of the important battles of the North's Army of the Potomac. He was a participant in the Battle of Antietam, still the bloodiest single day in American history. Today, we can walk the battlefield off Sharpsburg Pike, in rural Maryland and see "Burnside's Bridge and the cornfields where so many men fell and get some small measure of what men like Chamberlain went through. We can also visit the battlefield at Fredericksburg and see the heights that he and his 20th Maine and the Union Army tried to take in bloody frontal assaults into the teeth of Confederate guns and under the pounding of their artillery on the hills. Today Chamberlain's comrades - as well as the fallen Confederate troops - are buried on the commanding heights they failed to take, one of the Civil War's bitter ironies. Colonel Chamberlain then immortalized himself at Gettysburg's Little Round Top where he anchored the Union left, repelling assault after assault and winning the day by leading a charge down the slope that broke the Rebel troops. He was given a general's star by General Grant at Petersburg and was honored to receive the Confederate surrender at Appomattox. His heroism and leadership qualities helped him win the Governorship of Maine no less than four times, after which he retired to the Presidency of Bowdin College, his alma mater. Alice Trulock who wrote this book, was not a professional writer and after her retirement from civic affairs, this book took her ten years of careful research, writing and rewriting to complete. She based her work on a great deal of new research and handles the account of infantry combat beautifully. Unfortunately, Trulock died before the book was released and so she wasn't able to accept the accolades that were due to her for such a well-written and moving biography of an emblematic Civil War figure.
Amazon.com
Richard Evans Schultes was arguably this century's foremost botanist and the father of ethnobotany--the study of plants and medicinal knowledge of indigenous peoples. He inadvertently inspired the 1960s drug culture with the publication of his scholarly journals on hallucinogenic plants. A meticulous scientist, his research on Columbia's rubber-producing hevea trees led to America's mass-production of rubber during World War II, which ultimately contributed to victory. Davis, one of Schultes's most devoted students, recounts the great botanist's life--from his research along hundreds of miles of forested rivers and his jungle treks while shattered by malaria to his intuitive gift with Amazon shamans and his relationship with such cult figures as Timothy Leary and William Burroughs.
Customer Reviews:
The amazing world of plants and the people who study them.......2007-08-21
Wade Davis is a lyrical writer and an accomplished scientist. This account of enthobotanists studying the amazing properties of plants and the way they are used by indigenous people is one of the most fascinating books I have ever read. Into the already-dense tapestry of medicinal, psychotropic, and industrial uses of plants he weaves fascinating details about the lives of several other brilliant and eccentric botanists, the administrative debacle of the U.S. government's rubber policy during WWII, the extraordinary lifestyles, religion and mythology of the tribes he encounters, the history of the missionaries, the cultural and nutritional significance of coca and the saga of its commercial exploitation, and the brutal history of the Spanish conquest. Add to this the sheer logistical difficulties of working in the remote rain forest -- the washed out roads, unusual diseases and parasites, harrowing plane rides, etc. -- that he, and especially his predecessors endured, and the book reads like a nail-biter adventure story. Left me with an overwhelming sense of awe as well as regret for the wonders that exist and those that have been lost.
More jouney than you can imagine.......2007-04-02
I actually teared up at the end of this book, not something I expected from a book about ethnobotany. At the end of the reading I had learned about the lives of researchers in such exquisit detail that I lived along side of them. This book is nearly perfect, much better than even the rave recommendation from some very respected friends. It's possible that there will never be anyone who will have the knowledge from experience that Richard Shultes had aquired in South America and that alone makes this book very rich, yet added to his story are the experiences of Davis and Dr. Plowman two researchers that also immerse themselves deeply into the Andes, the llanos, and the Amazon to learn about the forests, the people and the use of medicinal and psychoactive plants.
This is a long book, nearly 500 pages and is a serious commitment but well worth it as you will not experience anything quite like it unless Davis's other book is better (I have not read it yet). I only have a few complaints about the book and those are regarding omissions in some available photographs that Davis mentions in the end and a lack of maps for much of the area covered in the book. There is one small map on page 125 that shows the route of travels but it is too small and difficult to use. I resorted to a copy of International Travel Maps - South America North West to see the detail that I needed as I followed the travels of Schutes, Davis and Plowman.
Davis is an excellent writer and he has a way of conveying a sensitivity to the lives of all that he encounters. That along with his insight into the cultures that he experiences and the knowledge and history that he brings into this makes it a unique, rich read.
One River by Wade Davis.......2005-09-27
It was in better condition than I expected (it was used). The cover isn't bent at all - it doesn't look like it's been read.
ADVENTUROUS PSYCHONAUTS BEWARE.......2004-09-06
Being interested in pharmacological psychedelics and their effects, I was most disappointed by this mundane travelogue. I struggled immeasurably to get through this tome. I kept aiming it at the trash can, but kept telling myself it was going to get better. It didn't and it ultimately ended up there. I expected an adventure novel into alternate dimensions or Davis' personal journey into mind altering hyper-dimensions. It was not to be. I understand the importance of Schultes work. All psychonauts owe this man a debt of gratitude. But this book is a tedious retracing of every footstep this man made in his discoveries, along with Wade Davis' personal journey and dealings with Schultes. Very dry reading in my opinion. SERPENT AND THE RAINBOW is a better book. Readers should be warned this is NOT a psychedelic adventure story, but a tiresome travelogue of plant classification. Important, I suppose, if that's what you're looking for. I prefer Schultes' own book PLANTS OF THE GODS. It's wonderfully illustrated and an easier read. Or if you're looking for a true psychonaut's adventures in South America, I'd suggest reading anything by Terence McKenna. He was one strange and brilliant fellow. Or THE COSMIC SERPENT by Jeremy Narby. Frankly, I'm surprised by the glowing reviews for this book. I found it to be quite boring.
Speaking of Wade Davis, there was a rumor some years ago that he was living amongst the Rastafarians in the Blue Mountains of Jamaica and planned to write a book about it. Now, that would be fascinating.
Even Deeper in the Wonder.......2004-04-15
This will be a very short review on a book that has long been with me. While working on a reproductive biology macaw research project climbing into the canopy of the Amazon each day for 3 months i found ONE RIVER one night piled amongst the research literature. Even though i had the Amazon literally ground into my bones after so many days of hard labor i could not put this book down each night reading by candle. Could one gourge on steak then still enjoy reading about cattle? This is simply a fascinating, and most well written book on arguably the most complex wonderful ecosystem as experienced by a most hard working curiously gifted individual. Do your soul a favor and read this book 5 times!!!
Average customer rating:
- Good Read - Very Interesting Alternate Earth
- An enjoyable read, despite considerable flaws
- A Virgin Earth
- Well, despite everything, I thoroughly enjoyed it !
- Noir Meets Goth
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Century Rain
Alastair Reynolds
Manufacturer: Amazon Remainders Account
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ASIN: B000EPFVCS |
Book Description
Alastair Reynolds's Revelation Space trilogy is "one of the most impressive serial space operas of recent times" (Locus). The award-winning author continues to forge the future of science fiction with Century Rain.
In the far future, the technological disaster known as the Nanocaust left Earth uninhabitable. Archaeologist Verity Auger continues to explore the remnants of the planet's environment. But Verity is needed to examine something far more important-the discovery of mid-twentieth century Earth at the far end of a wormhole. And on this alternate world is a device capable of destroying both Earths if Verity cannot find the man preparing to detonate it in time.
Customer Reviews:
Good Read - Very Interesting Alternate Earth.......2007-08-15
Another solid story and set of characters from Mr. Reynolds, and well worth your time if you are a fan.
If you have not read Alastair Reynolds yet, I would recommend PUSHING ICE first and then this book; together the two will give you a good feel for the strengths...and weaknesses of his writing.
Strengths of CENTURY RAIN:
1. Story is engaging, main characters are well-developed
2. Just the right amount of technology and scientific reality
3. No deux ex machina solution
4. Fascinating settings that leave you wanting to read more about them
5. Secondary characters are interesting in their own right
Weaknesses of CENTURY RAIN:
1. Ending is a bit too neatly tied up in parts
2. The key to the mystery was fairly obvious about 3/4 of the way through
Thus, I score it a high 4, not a 5, but more than enough to keep me waiting for the next novel by Reynolds.
An enjoyable read, despite considerable flaws.......2007-08-07
Early reviews on this novel convinced me to place it fairly far down on my list of new purchases. That was a mistake. Despite its flaws, I enjoyed the book thoroughly. The flaws will be familiar to Reynolds readers. Reynolds often introduces major plot elements that never pan out, and this book has lots of them. A great deal is made, for example, about the radio in Susan White's apartment, but it never amounts to anything. There are intimations of nefarious dealings by important secondary characters that are never resolved one way or the other. Reynolds characters (and corporate groupings like the Threshers and Slashers) are sometimes weak on motivation, and, as others have commented here, the motivations of the bad guys make no sense at all. It's not unusual for bad guys to have poorly developed motivations--you know, they're just evil. I can think of good reasons for the bad guys to be doing what they're doing (or at least part of what they're doing), but the reasons given in the novel don't add up. Don't let that stop you from reading the book, though. It's got enough interesting ideas, suspense, and action for most readers.
A Virgin Earth.......2006-12-09
Century Rain (2004) is a standalone SF novel. Nanotechnology has invested the atmosphere of Earth, overcoming its programming, then burying the surface in ice and attacking unprotected organisms. Only those few people in space survived the Furies. The Slashers want to try to correct the condition with better nanites and recover the Earth, but the Threshers want to avoid making the situation worse.
The Slashers have discovered an abandoned alien portal that leads to a vast number of places within the galaxy and maybe beyond. The Threshers are allowed access to the hyperweb only with Slasher escorts. Naturally, the Threshers try to learn as much about the network as possible.
The Slashers are not monolithic, for the moderates are supporting the Thresher cause to some extent. Slasher moderates and extremists are engaged in a shooting war within the Solar System. Of course, a few Threshers are collateral casualties.
In this novel, Wendell Floyd and his partner Andre Custine are underemployed jazz musicians within Paris in 1959. To supplement their income, they run a detective agency. One day, Monsieur Blanchard hires them to investigate the fatal fall of a tenant, Susan White, from his apartment building. Blanchard is convinced that it is murder, but the police magistrate has declared that it is suicide or misadventure.
Verity Auger is an archaeologist excavating Paris in 2266. She works for the Antiquities Board of the United States of Near Earth, a maze of interconnected satellites around the planet. Her latest dig has led to a tragedy and political opponents are trying to destroy her career. However, she is contacted by the mythical Contingencies Board and briefed on Anomalous Large Structures. Then she is sent to Mars.
On Phobos, she travels through a hyperweb tunnel to another Earth that is younger -- circa 1959 -- but strangely different -- the German attack on France was defeated before it reached Paris -- yet with problems of its own. While the Contingencies Board believes the Slashers know nothing of the portal on Phobos, Auger finds evidence of genetically modified human weapons on Earth 2.
On E2, Auger pretends to be the sister of Susan White in order to retrieve a biscuit tin of documents. The tin includes a letter to a German metalworking firm concerning a contract to produce three aluminum spheres and a map showing circles around Berlin, Paris and Milan, with distances noted in kilometers. The tin also includes a postcard with two words underlined: Silver and Rain. There is also a ticket to Berlin for the day after her death.
This story has some of the aspects of time travel and crosstime stories, but is neither. Earth 2 is apparently a "snapshot" of Earth taken around 1940 and then preserved in the ALS. The Slasher extremists have not only infiltrated E2, but seem to be building some kind of measuring instrument there, probably to locate its position within the galaxy.
Highly recommended for Reynolds fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of private investigators, alien artifacts, and parallel cultures.
-Arthur W. Jordin
Well, despite everything, I thoroughly enjoyed it !.......2006-11-18
What do I like about Alistair Reynolds books? As an intelligent person, but not an intellectual, I marvel at the imagination required to build worlds and factions, future technology and depth of story. I look for detail, a slow build, a gradual unravelling of information throughout the long journey ( not the space chases, but the reading of the book ). I look for believable characters that for a short period become part of your life.
I don't EXPECT an A.R. novel to be a literary masterpiece. I am not sure I would know one even if I read it (unless some high brow told me it was one!).. I am simply looking for a story that makes sense, leads me into situations and worlds that I would not be able to imagine, that creates technologies and cultures that take me away from the "9 to 5", and makes me yearn to know what will happen next.
I am a simple guy, not primarily looking for similarities and comparisons, not looking to make judgements on everything from writing style to plot holes. ... just whether I enjoyed the ride for a few days
Century Rain did it for me in spades. The concept of E2 leads to far more possibilities and questions than one book could hope to cover, and surely that in itself is enough to suggest the basic idea behind the book was brilliant? That is why the ending, with a raft of possible options for Reynolds to pick, was so enjoyable.
Yes, the pacing is patchy, there may be a few too many clichés, and "phew" that was TOO close" moments, but that is what happened in THIS story.
References to "Casablanca"? They are only relevant if you know Casablanca intimately enough to recognise any homage. Sorry I missed them guys, but what the hell, it did not lead to a lessening of the enjoyment of this novel.... Just the reverse, by the sounds of it !
Poor ending ?. Not in the version of the book I read. With all the negative feedback on Reynolds endings, you now tend to reach the last few pages of his books with a sense of "oh, boy, we are getting close to the point where he whole of the rest of the book will be judged". I have to say I thought the ending was superb. No story wraps itself up perfectly and in my mind, if it does, it lessens itself greatly. This story ending was a more than adequate "warm down" .. and left me to ask questions and continue to think about what the characters might have done in the future.
I am not criticising anyone who Is able to pull apart a book like this, spot every failing, cliché, or inanity, but I would suggest that the idea behind this sort of book is to suspend belief and lose yourself for a few days... and that is why I will continue to buy all of A.R. books..... some of which, surprise surprise, are better than others
Noir Meets Goth.......2006-09-29
Imagine a world of the future in which nanotechnology has run amuck and destroyed the earth. Humanity is now divided into two camps. On the one hand you have those who distrust advanced technology and want to guard what's left of the solar system. They are called the Threshers/ One the other, you have those who have embraced technology with the mindset that what is done is done and it makes no sense to abandon all the benefits it can bring. These would be the Slashers. The two groups are at loggerheads with each other but the Slashers have the technological edge but the Threshers have the earth.
Within these groups, there are varying shades. Some of the Slashers are eager to go to war again and try to recreate a world of their own choosing. Some of the Threshers don't want to work with Slashers under any circumstance.
The Slashers base much of their technology upon the remnants of a vanished civilization. This technology gives access to the rest of the galaxy but the understanding is imperfect at best. Like much of Reynold's work, there is a Goth feel to it.
Now, with tensions getting higher, the Threshers have access to a wormhole portal on the Martian moon, Phobos. The place the wormhole comes out turns out to be a BIG surprise. It comes out on earth. More specifically, it comes out in Paris in 1959 but this is not OUR Paris. In this world, WWII never happened. It was nipped in the bud with the German advance into France was stalled. It is a noir world right out of Mickey Spilane. Its as if a copy of earth was made in 1940, perfect in every detail, and then that world was left to develop on its own way.
The Threshers are excited about this find. They hope to fill in large gaps in their own forgotten history. The problem is that one of their teams has been killed. She has uncovered a big plot. The Slashers do know about the place and they have a terrible plan in place.
Humanity's only chance lies in the efforts of a Thresher archeologist and a private detective from the Alternate Paris.
It's an interesting and exciting story. There are a few ends which are left a little looser than I would have liked but it is a good read. The two main characters do not wind up together as one would expect but...they'll always have Paris.
Book Description
First published in 1776, the nine gothic tales in this collection are Japan's finest and most celebrated examples of the literature of the occult. They subtly merge the world of reason with the realm of the uncanny and exemplify the period's fascination with the strange and the grotesque. They were also the inspiration for Mizoguchi Kenji's brilliant 1953 film Ugetsu.
The title Ugetsu monogatari (literally "rain-moon tales") alludes to the belief that mysterious beings appear on cloudy, rainy nights and in mornings with a lingering moon. In "Shiramine," the vengeful ghost of the former emperor Sutoku reassumes the role of king; in "The Chrysanthemum Vow," a faithful revenant fulfills a promise; "The Kibitsu Cauldron" tells a tale of spirit possession; and in "The Carp of My Dreams," a man straddles the boundaries between human and animal and between the waking world and the world of dreams. The remaining stories feature demons, fiends, goblins, strange dreams, and other manifestations beyond all logic and common sense.
The eerie beauty of this masterpiece owes to Akinari's masterful combination of words and phrases from Japanese classics with creatures from Chinese and Japanese fiction and lore. Along with The Tale of Genji and The Tales of the Heike, Tales of Moonlight and Rain has become a timeless work of great significance. This new translation, by a noted translator and scholar, skillfully maintains the allure and complexity of Akinari's original prose.
Customer Reviews:
A Moonlight Drive with Ueda Akinari.......2007-01-10
Ueda Akinari's classic work of eerie fiction has been translated before quite a few times and always with obvious dedication and care, but when it comes right down to it this version by Anthony Chambers outdoes the others and will doubtlessly remain the definitive English "Tales of Moonlight and Rain" for some time. Of course, it's hard to go wrong with such a fine series of stories, each of which is really a masterpiece of storytelling; they may be strange, haunting, macabre, mysterious, or whimsical, but they're never dull, and it's no mystery why this Tokugawa classic still grips readers centuries later in Japan and abroad. Still, Chambers' rendition stands out in faithfully capturing Ueda's densely allusive, rich prose style with meticulous care, and indeed this is a key factor in elevating "Ugetsu Monogatari" above a host of other, similar works of the time. In so doing, Chambers has deliberately avoided overtranslating Ueda to sound English or twentieth-century, allowing the 18th-century Japanese flavor of the original to come to the fore. Paradoxically as it may seem at first blush, this makes the stories much more compelling actually. Just compare this passage as rendered by Leon Zolbrod (whose translation I've read and treasured for many years, so please no offense) with Chambers' more accurate rendition:
[ No sooner did he open the door of the sleeping chamber, than a demon thrust its head out at the priest. The projecting extremity was so huge that it filled the doorway, gleaming even whiter than newly fallen snow, with eyes like mirrors and horns like the bare boughs of a tree. The creature opened its mouth more than three feet wide; its crimson tongue darted, as if to swallow the priest in a single gulp.
'Horror!' cried the holy man, as he dropped the flask that he held in his hand. His legs no longer able to support him, he fell over backwards and crawled away, barely managing to escape.
'It's awful. The creature is a god of evil; my prayers are useless. If I hadn't got away on hands and knees, I'd surely have lost my life,' he said, losing consciousness.] (Zolbrod, page 180)
[He advanced toward the bedroom. The moment he opened the door, a giant snake thrust out its head and confronted him. And what a head this was! Filling the door frame, gleaming whiter than a pile of snow, its eyes like mirrors, its horns like leafless trees, its gaping mouth three feet across with a crimson tongue protruding, it seemed about to swallow him in a single furious gulp. He screamed and threw down the flask. Since his legs would not support him, he rolled about and then crawled and stumbled away, barely making his escape. To the others he said, "Terrible! It is a calamitous deity; how can a monk like me exorcise it? Were it not for these hands and feet, I would have lost my life." Even as he spoke, he lost consciousness.] (Chambers, page 178)
The first gets the point across fine, but the second just sort of grabs you somehow.
The extensive and exhaustive annotations, the interesting and informative introduction, and the fine reproductions of the original woodcut illustrations from the 1776 edition all add to the overall reading experience. I found the intro especially interesting in analyzing the total structure of the work, demonstrating that it's far from a random assortment tossed together; kind of like a symphony or a good concept album, each story reflects on and informs the others for a total effect. And in general, this book manages a wonderful synthesis of the scholarly and the literary that does full justice to Ueda's erudite and engaging moonlit, rainy tales.
A valuable translation, badly edited........2007-01-08
I was excited to see these stories were translated and waited six months for it to be finally published. I liked the scholarly and detailed introductions to each. The stories are subtle and engaging in a typical Japanese manner. I'd like to know who made the editorial decision to split the footnotes into two sections, one at the bottom of the page and the others at the end of the chapter. It makes for maddening reading, contantly have to refer to both in order to fully comprehend the story.
Amazon.com
This extraordinary saga moves from the Oval Office to the Amazon rain forests to show how Cold War intrigue linked a powerful American family, the U.S. government, and a missionary organization in a forty-year campaign to conquer the Amazon. At the heart of this story are two intensely ambitious men: Nelson Rockefeller, scion of the liberal and immensely wealthy Standard Oil family, and William Cameron Townsend, founder of the ultraconservative Wycliffe Bible Translators. Although leaders of opposing camps, they found common cause in the struggle against fascism and then communism, with the result that hundreds of thousands of Amazonian tribespeople died or were displaced. The systematic campaign of colonization fathered by Rockefeller and Townsend was a chilling foreshadowing of American intervention in the Third World to secure valuable natural resources in the name of democracy.
Customer Reviews:
The Political and Economic History of the US from 1930-1980: Those who Control and Shape the Movement.......2006-08-11
This book is simply superb in the information it presents. This book receives my higest level of recommenation. Colby spent 19 years researching the material for this book. The story is largely told through quotes, letters, and words of the Rockefellers, Presidents, Politicians, and big business leaders.
The book covers many topics. There are two main story lines. The first is the invasion of foreign lands and people using religion as the means to pacify the indigenous people, with the central focus on SIL and Cam Townsend. I found this part of the book interesting but not as interesting as the other topics in the book.
The other story line emphasized politics, economics, and influences from the Rockefellers; focuses on Nelson and his manipulation of presidents and use of government authority for his (and his family's) own interest. The most interesting topics were Nelson's manipulation of FDR and establishing a branch of government to push the Rockefeller Latin American interest, Nelson's authority and power over the CIA. Nelson's manipulation and pushing of the Cold War and an "American War Economy," The Rockefeller Kennedy struggle, Business interest in the Vietnam War, LBJ and Nelson Rockefellers personal friendship, and the crafting of the "Dollar Zone" by David and Nelson that models modern day NAFTA and CAFTA.
The book also has very interesting insight on the Kennedy assignation without ever mentioning conspiracy. The book highlights hatred of Kennedy from both David and Nelson Rockefeller, briefly mentions the Kennedy and the Steel Crisis, highlights the Kennedy movement from private to government loans to government to government loans something which David Rockefeller deeply resented Kennedy for. The book also goes into detail about the wrongdoings of the CIA and the Bay of Pigs and later describes the CIA investigation in the 1970s, which was headed by and manipulated by Nelson Rockefeller.
Another Review pointed out Battling Wallstreet by Donald Gibson. This is an excellent book which can be read in conjunction with the JFK material in Thy Will Be Done. Dr. Gibson's book focuses on the economic politics of JFK and the opposition JFK faced from the Rockefellers and big business. Highlights the Steel crisis in great detail and goes more into the objectives and motives certain business interest. Again never mentions any conspiracy.
Thy Will Be Done is an essential must read book if you want to understand what is wrong with politics. It is packed with loads of information, I suggest reading it slowly and taking time to think about the material. The behind the scenes looks of politics and economics is guaranteed to greatly interest anyone interested in economics, political science, or history. Like one reviewer said this is a book to own not just to read. I have gone back cited and re-read many sections.
Thy will be done.......2000-01-17
This is one of the half dozen best books I have ever read. It answered a lot of questions as to how the power brokers operate. I found some answers to the Kennedy death.
A fantastic reference on who runs our world & how they do it.......1998-12-11
I agree with all the reviews above, especially the last writerwho said to buy it and keep it.
I would only add that the authorsof Thy Will Be Done did an outstanding job of illuminating the intense conflicts between the Kennedys and Rockefellers on almost every business and government issue. Each well-sourced fact paints a picture of how much Big Business, Big Oil and Big Banks hated the Kennedys.
Col. Fletcher Prouty (Man X in the JFK movie) and the makers of the movie Executive Action pointed to a cabal of Big Money as the group that set the JFK assassination machinery in motion. I have always thought this a plausible theory but it needed more facts to support it. Colby's book provides them, in bits and pieces, scattered througout its chapters without ever announcing any belief in a conspiracy to kill JFK.
Yet, when I finished the book, I had a much clearer picture of these Big Money fat cats sitting around, discussing matters of mutual interest, including the fate of the Kennedys. And, there, at the head of the table, sat the Rockefeller Brothers.
Anyone interested in finding out more should consider reading a book by Donald Gibson called Battling Wall Street: The Kennedy Presidency.
Insights on Elliotts and Saints.......1998-03-12
The Colby book is of particular interest to evangelical Christians who have loved and taken inspiration from the lives of Jim and Elizabeth Elliott and Rachel Saint. It adds some information not generally known about their working relationships with each other and the Summer Institute of Linguistics, a venerable and respected organization in evangelical circles, that makes them more human and accessible. (Unfortunately, some of the references to the Elliotts and the Saints are not very well documented, so the information should be treated cautiously.) Elizabeth Elliott has admitted in later editions of her book "The Savage My Kinsman," that there are things she prefers not to talk about now, particularly regarding her relationship with Rachel Saint, that Colby sheds some light on. Finally, the context with which the missionaries were working, that is, U.S. politics and commercial interests in South America, will be of interest to churches that need to see the big picture of their missionary work, including the cultural impact of sending whites into an indigenous area. What the book does not seem to do is actually make clear Rockefeller's involvement with the missionaries and SIL, something perhaps better extrapolated from another biography called "Rich Man in the Kingdom," about his father's interest in religious philanthropy.
This is a book to buy... not check out from library.......1997-07-27
The book title does not make full justice to its contents. It only touches on one among the many areas that are covered. The main story line follows the Rockefeller family (specially Nelson's) financial interests in the third world in parallel with the evangelizasion efforts in the same areas.
However, it is difficult to imagine a wider coverage of those issues. Full account of the ties between the financial and religious interest is presented. Those range from fundraisers, political campaigns and economic interests at home to political, logistical and conspiratory collaboration abroad.
Each facet is well documented so that the reader which can't possibly be well versed in all the different world areas understands the background.
It took 18 years for the authors to complete the research. It may take me that long to fully appreciate all the different areas where both Rockefeller and the Evangelism movement had an impact. It is not enough to check out the book from the library... it has to be on the bookshelf of any person intereted in understanding the new type of collonialism.
Book Description
This brilliantly crafted narrative explores the roots of violence in Chinese rural society over the past seven hundred years, based on the study of a single highland county, Macheng, Hubei province, in the Great Divide Mountains separating the Yangzi valley from the North China Plain. Between the expulsion of the Mongols in the mid-fourteenth century and the invasion of the Japanese in 1938, Macheng experienced repeated, often self-inflicted waves of mass “extermination” of segments of its population. This book argues that, beyond its strategic military centrality and ingrained social tensions, cultural factors such as popular religion, folklore, collective memory, and local historical production played key roles in the continued proclivity of the county's population for massive carnage. In the process, the history of Macheng also provides a case study in the way events and trends of national significance in the history of China have been experienced at the local level.
Book Description
At fifty, Alix Kates Shulman left a city life dense with political activism, family, and literary community, and went to stay alone in a small cabin on an island off the Maine coast. Living without plumbing, electricity, or a telephone, she discovered in herself a new independence and a growing sense of oneness with the world that redefined her notions of waste, time, necessity, and pleasure. With wit, lyricism, and fearless honesty, Shulman describes a quest that speaks to us all: to build a new life of creativity and spirituality, self-reliance and self-fulfillment.
Customer Reviews:
Drinking In the Rain.......2007-05-24
This book was a fair book. Not my favorite, but did make some very valid life conclusions that I needed to hear. Drinking in the Rain takes some patience to read due to the overwhelming about of discussion about herbs. But if you are into plants and solitude, this book is for you.
A passionate, intimate memoir.......2004-05-24
Ten years ago Shulman went to her family's primitive cabin on Long Island, Maine, for a summer of solitude. A New Yorker through and through, she was apprehensive and fearful, but also excited and determined. Her life was vaguely dissatisfying and she was looking for a change.
Reading her memoir is like having a personal conversation with the author. Her tone is personal and intimate. When she stands back for a moment, picturing herself through a passing stranger's averted eye - a middle-aged lady in floppy hat and mismatched tennis shoes, gathering weeds in a basket - we too are startled and amused, having been looking from the inside out.
Shulman, recognized for her novels and feminism, reaches her cross-roads at age 50. Her children are grown, her relationship with her husband is a distant truce, the feminist movement has stalled, and her life is overfull of busyness.
But the birth of a new passion in her life is serendipitous. Always an adventurous cook, she finds her lengthy trips to the uninspiring island grocery a jarring intrusion on her pleasing solitude and a chore contrary to her new motto, "Do only what you like, nothing you don't!"
From years before she remembers mussel gathering, one of the few pleasures of the hurried vacations she had always hated. In those years, with small children and a domineering, orchestrating husband, the summer cabin, with no electicity or plumbing had meant a round of endless drudgery.
Now that she has only to please herself, mussel hunting is merely the first of her pleasures. Around her a world unfolds. Armed with Euell Gibbons and determination, she reaps the bounty of wild things, spending her days in exploration and discovery.
She finds in herself a new tranquility and simplicity which, as she feared, is invaded by New York's cosmopolitan pace and abundance. The reader is a bit ahead of her here, exhorting Shulman to enjoy what the city has to offer, just as she enjoys her island.
And when the author does absorb our advice (given to her by an old childhood friend at a party), she embraces it fully, applying this tactic to her whole life. Thus, when she accepts a position at the University of Colorado, she plunges into an exploration of New Age mysticism, health foods, mountain hiking and Buddhism. You don't have to share her interests to find her open-minded approach admirable.
There are upheavels too. Her children are less than thrilled in the back-to-nature changes in their New Yorker mother. Her husband shatters a summer's idyll at the island by sending divorce papers. And romantic love, with all its joy, threatens to disrupt her solitary self. As I said, you don't have to agree.
But through it all, Shulman struggles to maintain her equilibrium, making deliberate choices, letting her thoughts range free. She is enchanted by the wholeness of things - how all of nature interrelates - and then dismayed as pollution from the cities and radiation from Chernobyll threatens her island haven.
This is a memoir of continuous awakening and endless dialogue with the self and the world. There's helplessness, anger, hope and love and inspiration. It's a joy to read.
Stay with it.......2002-04-14
I must confess I almost couldn't get through "Drinking the Rain". Kates Shulman's account of a citified feminist's return to nature seemed an unintential parody, not helped by the comically overstated title. But midway through Ms. Shulman's story I became hooked. What seemed at first a pretentious and self-important rant transformed into a thoughtful and evocotive musing on what it is to be an artist. Ironically, it's only after Shulman returned to the city (and later goes to teach in Colorado) that the book came alive for me. Her descriptions of dinner with an old feminist friend left me teary eyed at their simple eloquence, and the descriptions of a snowy Colorado reunion with her kids kept me reading. By the end, I adored this story.
drinking the inspiration.......2000-09-17
Shulman raises many provocative ideas in her memoir. Among the ones that affected me most profoundly are Solitude, Rebirth, Self-Sufficiency, and the utilization of the resources in your own environment.
If you've ever feared that the possibilities for excitement, adventure, wonderment, or simply change- shrink with age, you will be inspired by Shulman's resolve to continue searching for meaning and discovery in her life at fifty and well beyond. What courage to embark on a new and thoroughly independent life after decades of playing the role of wife and mother. But Shulman is not a super human. She does not possess some rarefied quality that we could not all find nestled in our spirit. We walk with her down the beach of her island past a barking and threatening dog. She has always held an irrational fear of dogs though never has she actually had a bad experience with one. Her instinct is to turn back, but instead she contemplates the nature of fear and how best to conquer it, and she decides the best thing is to face it. So she continues on, if somewhat cautiously.
This book will mark you, if you let it. I come away feeling better equipped to face my barking island dogs. I am more observant and appreciative of my surroundings. And I will never see myself as stuck in a single way of life, never let the light of change and possibility elude me.
Drinking The Rain.......1999-12-17
This memoir was extremely well written. The descriptions of life for a 50 year old city woman living in Maine are unique and beautiful. Each sentence and each page is capturing. Although slow starting gets much quicker as you go. I immediately thought of my mother while reading and afterwards. For me it did not have much meaning besides the writing aspect, though as a fifteen year old girl having lived in the country her whole life I do not expect that. I will definately reread it at a later point. A very wonderful book!
Book Description
I didn't set out to write a book. It was 1982, fourteen years after I had last set foot in Vietnam, and thirteen years after I returned to The World. I had a family and a career. I'd never written more than an occasional letter to the editor in my life. My twisted insides had spawned ulcers. The nightmares were more frequent. I needed to get Vietnam out into the open, but I couldn't talk about it. Not after all those years.
Thus begins John Ketwig's powerful memoir of the Vietnam War. Now, over 15 years after its initial publication, Sourcebooks is proud to bring and a hard rain fell back into print in a newly updated edition, with a new introduction by the author and eight pages of never-before-published photographs.
From the country roads of upstate New York to the jungles of Vietnam, and finally to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., and a hard rain fell is a gripping and visceral account of one young man's struggle to make sense of his place in a world gone mad.
Customer Reviews:
A contrived bore.......2007-09-26
Don't be misled by this book. It's not the story of a combat veteran reflecting on the horrors of war. Rather, it is the story of a narrowly-focused guy "in the rear with the gear" complaining, endlessly, about the manner in which the war inconvenienced him.
In addition, the book is very poorly written. What Ketwig did was tell the fairly boring and un-compelling story of his military service and supplement it with a witless history of the war and a number of stories that are most likely apocryphal (his basic training stories and Special Forces tales are undoubtably make-believe...I am sure that anyone with some initiative could discover that there was no basic-training "suicide" at the fort he trained at in the manner he described) in order to spice-up an exceedingly dull tale.
Furthermore, there is something obscene about reading a litany of complaints from a rear echelon soldier when one considers that, not far from his boring but relatively safe posting, men were facing mortal danger. This is especially true in the case of Ketwig, who is myopic in the extreme when it comes to what he "suffered."
I will give Ketwig some credit for his unintentionally comical sketch of his unrequited love for a prostitute. That kept me in stitches for a while.
In closing, this is not an attack on Ketwig's politics. Indeed, there are a number of excellent books by anti-war combat veterans (Tim O'Brien for instance). My complaint is that for one to read Ketwig's book to get a feel for the war is akin to learning about sex from a voyeur.
We can ignore reality - or read and learn from history..........2007-09-01
This book is well written, captivating, balanced, and fair. I highly recommend it to anyone of any age with a brain - and the ability to use that brain to think for themselves. You don't have to agree with Ketwig to learn from his experiences - but the lessons are there.
Ketwig has written an outstanding book that contains much more wisdom about life (way beyond just The Nam) than the simple memoir it purports to be. Those who want to feel better about the Vietnam war say disparaging things about Ketwig. But do they say his experiences are misrepresented? No - they just don't like the way he REACTED to those experiences.
I wonder why not? I wouldn't want to sleep with rats and scorpions. I wouldn't like to see US war supplies sold on the black market by opportunistic, self-dealing traitors within our own ranks. I wouldn't like to see children maimed by napalm. I don't understand how other reviewers (supposedly intelligent people) can write such things off as mere "inconveniences." Does patriotism and duty require us to turn off our brains and accept mutely everything that is thrown at us by every situation? We can love our country and the American people and still find ample fault with the irresponsible and myopic fools who run the place.
Ketwig tells us what he felt as a participant in a ridiculous, ill-conceived war. As an American he is entitled to his opinion. As an American who served, he is MORE THAN entitled to his opinion. If more people read "...and a hard rain fell," perhaps we wouldn't find our country repeating the same sad, unnecessary sins of the past -and permitting today's clueless "leaders" to send the poor and the disadvantaged to fight battles for the rich and pampered who populate Congress - and the oil companies and the defense contractors who own them.
I am proud to be a Marine. Yet I am also very comfortable exercising my hard won right to confront and discuss the ugly horrors and realities of war - and not rationalize or bury such things because other Marines and servicemen died. Ketwig does a great job describing the lunacy of military bureaucracy and the stomach-churning frustration it causes. Good for him! Can ANYONE who has EVER served in the armed forces deny that the US military is the epitome of inefficiency and bureaucracy at its very worst? Really, let's be honest - as Ketwig has been.
Reading this book can help prepare the next generation for the uncomfortable but real dichotomies that await them wherever they may go - whether it's the military, Corporate America, or the local union office. All organizations are run by people who generally say one thing to rally the troops and get elected/promoted - and then do the polar opposite to ensure that their personal ambitions are met and their pockets well-lined, whether such actions support their constituents or not. This is a timeless lesson that too many people learn way too late in life - if at all. Ketwig helps the reader shorten that learning curve.
My late father, a decorated veteran of Korea, told me he'd gladly fight in the next war - just as soon as the Congressmen who declared it (or their own children) took the lead and led him into battle. He died knowing that this silliness would NEVER happen. The staff sergeant who ran my platoon, a Medal of Honor winner, confided the same attitude to me. Was he a dope-smoking shirker like some accuse Ketwig of being? No - he was a freakin' bona fide war hero - but a war hero WITH A BRAIN. The dirty work of war, as he and my father clarified for me, is the province of, as the late Leona Helmsley might have said, "the little people."
Ketwig helps us all understand the misery and ultimate futility of war. How can that be a bad thing?
A sad and disturbing book - most of it true?.......2007-08-26
I don't have any way to know with certainty how much of the content of this book is a true and realistic recounting of what actually happened to the author and how much may have been exaggeration or fabrication or stories borrowed from others or drug induced distortion. It may all be 100% accurate and straightforward. But, there have been many documented cases of Vietnam stories that were far from accurate and it wouldn't surprise me a bit to learn that this is another one. Maybe I'm just an unreasonable skeptic, but an awful lot of it just didn't seem credible.
In any event, if it's all true or not, it's a sad and disturbing story of a draftee who must have had many bad experiences. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone other than possibly someone looking for shock value.
Ketwig got it made........2007-06-06
Sorry that Ketwig has to serve in Vietnam but he got it made. He was a mechanic, never faced direct combat. Then he re-enlisted to get out of Vietnam. Stationed in Thailand and only once awhile he has to risk his neck to fly in Laos to repair artillery pieces. He even have the time to smoke lots of marijuana, went to R&R and had very good time with a prostitute. He had it so good that he should rename the book to something like "when rainbow appears...". He needs to stop smoking marijuana, that will stop the depression.
If you want good Vietnam story, read James Webb's Fields of Fire. Its a novel but its raw and very real.
"I saw guns and sharp swords in the hands of young children...".......2006-04-22
...AND A HARD RAIN FELL, John Ketwig's memoir of his time in Southeast Asia is a crucial book to read for an understanding of the fog of war and the spiritual wounds all veterans face. ...AND A HARD RAIN FELL takes us inside Ketwig's experience with a clarity amazing for a memoir. This book is even more critical today, as Iraq and Afghanistan blaze across our national consciousness.
Unlike Ron Kovic (BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY) John Ketwig did not start out as a flag-wrapped patriot convinced of the rightness of stopping the Red Menace at any cost. In the first third of the book, Ketwig speaks frankly of his thoughts of draft avoidance and Canada. He is squarely antiwar from the first word. A few reviewers have derided Ketwig for "whining" about "everyday inconveniences" and for having a generally jaundiced view of the military and "his patriotic duty", but other authors and Vietnam Vets have documented well the miasma of depersonalization that characterized the U.S. military in the middle 1960s. Eighteen year old boys like Ketwig were not volunteer soldiers, they were essentially draftees or forced enlistees, ripped from the familiar and the comfortable to be dropped into a thoroughly alien and brutish environment designed to turn them into killing machines in a matter of weeks. The trauma of such a transformation is hard to understand unless one has lived through it.Therefore, Ketwig's complaints about glassless windows in the winter, sheetless bunks (both ostensibly to prevent suicides), and regimentation by insult seem self-indulgent except to one who has felt (and intrinsically resisted) the same internal twist and torque imposed by an outside force.
From the moment of Ketwig's arrival in Vietnam he recognizes (if he cannot yet admit) the futility of the American mission. Transported from Ton Son Nhut Airbase (under rocket fire) in a bus with screened windows (to keep out thrown trash and grenades), and sent to Long Binh to guard an ammo dump (frequently booby trapped by guerrillas), there seems no spot in Vietnam where order reigns or where the American presence has imposed any sort of real peace.
Ketwig's transfer "upcountry" to Pleiku is similarly fraught with trauma: He volunteers for a convoy to embattled Dak To, and is nearly killed by a land mine. His compound is shelled by South Vietnamese turncoats. He finds himself in a bunker with other terrified teenagers wondering just what the hell is happening as the Tet Offensive explodes all around him. Unspeakable filth, rats, scorpions, poisonous snakes, booby traps, friendly fire, Vietcong infiltrators, the curses of the local people, and bizarre accidents are a daily ration which callouses him and his fellow soldiers. Dead men, crushed, broken, bleeding and napalmed bodies sear their eyes. Vietnam is a huckster's bazaar, selling death and trinkets to all bidders.
Thoughtful, Ketwig wonders why. His answer, to provide seed and farm implements to the peasantry seems like a more sane and ultimately successful way to combat Communism, but as a lowly Pfc his opinion is neither required nor respected. Ketwig is required only to repair and remove the gore from hosts of battle-damaged vehicles. A reflective reader has to stand with Ketwig, and question authority.
After a year of soul-scarring experiences and unsure of his place in The World, he applies for a transfer to Thailand, where he discovers and embraces a version of the Buddhist culture he had sought to find in Vietnam. The year in Thailand is therapeutic (both for Ketwig and the reader, who is as overwhelmed as the author by this point), but it also allows him to shut his demons away largely without confronting them.
Despite his love affair with Thailand, The World beckons, and Ketwig goes home to suffer the dislocation common to many Vietnam Vets. In time he makes a life, but his demons never rest. At least until he begins to tap this story out painfully, page by page, hunt and peck.
...AND A HARD RAIN FELL is as much an exorcism as it is a story of one man's war. It may not be every man's war; but it is a valuable recollection of what war does to human beings. There are others, more Mom-And-Apple-Pie, more heroic, and even more jingoistic. This is one, a well-written one, that cannot be ignored.
Books:
- The Second Captain Underpants Collection: Books 5-7 & Adventures of Super Diaper Baby
- The Shia Revival: How Conflicts within Islam Will Shape the Future
- The Stolen Child: A Novel
- The Summer of 1787: The Men Who Invented the Constitution
- The Vision A Two-in-one Volume Of The Final Quest And The Call
- The Weapon (Freehold War)
- The Wisdom of James Allen : Including As a Man Thinketh, The Path to Prosperity, The Mastery of Destiny, The Way of Peace, and Entering the Kingdom (Radiant Life)
- This Moment on Earth: Today's New Environmentalists and Their Vision for the Future
- Those Left Behind (Serenity)
- Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time
Books Index
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