5 comments about Homage to Catalonia.

1. This is one of the most complete and well-thought-out reports of the Spanish Civil War written in the English language. Considering the importance of international fighters in the war (debatable, but certainly in a political sense, noteworthy), and the effect of the war on socialist myth in the latter half of the 20th century, it is a book not to be missed by anyone interested in either World War II, modern socialism, communism, and/or anarchy, Spain, or George Orwell.
   
   The personal narrative was wonderful and typically vivid Orwell. His complaints about the politics going on behind the scenes, however, were sometimes dull. He admits (repeatedly) that he is biased and perhaps does not know all of what is going on. However, after reading _The Battle for Spain_, I got the sense that his complaining was actually very revealing from an historical perspective.
   
   I read _Homage to Catalonia_ and then _The Battle for Spain_ to get a basic idea about the Spanish Civil War, which I had previously known mainly through punk-rock songs and revolutionary anthem anthologies. I wish I had read them the other way around, though. Although I think this book is indispensable for English-speaking people to understand the Spanish Civil War, it is also a narrow view and very biased (as most works on the subject are). If it were anyone else, my expectations would be lower and I would probably have given it five stars. But compared to other Orwell works (including _Down and Out_) I would give it four.



2. A European with some sense of history (i.e. the preconditions of our present life) cannot do without reading this book.



3. The Spanish Civil War has long been a myth-like legend of the inherent good in man unifying to fight against the inherent evil. Orwell exposes how the petty impulses of humanity undermined the leftist coalition of communists and anarchists, leading to internecine struggles which brought ideological cousins to take the blood of one another, something that history shows to have led to the defeat of the Spanish resistance to fascism and the rise of Franco's state. It is a lesson that should be learned by today's leftists who neurotically mimic the same stupidity, pitting Trotskyists against Stalinists, and Communists against Anarchists. Historically, the greatest enemy of the far left has been the far left itself. Perhaps if more leftists read this book, they would resist these petty impulses?
   
   Orwell's book is clearly written and conveys with clarity the images of war and human folly. It is a moving story of personal sacrifice and disappointment. It proved to be as prophetic about the future of Europe as 1984 proved to be prophetic about our own time. I would recommend this book for all ages.



4. Maybe the best plea against _any_ type of war. I recommend it strongly to everyone.



5. George Orwell must be an excellent writer because, in all honesty, I wasn't overwhelmingly interested in reading about the Spanish Civil War. Nevertheless, I really, really liked this book.
   
   Understanding the history behind the war isn't a necessity, but I definitely recommend bringing yourself up to speed via wikipedia before starting. That way, Orwell's personal recollections, which are the meat of the book, will be more relevant to you.
   
   Orwell presents a refreshingly honest account of the war and his own evolving take on it. Spain's resulting chaos is a prescient warning for those who take too passionately and seriously partisan politics. Orwell shows that it never takes too long before ideals are thrown out the window to be replaced by the centuries repeated same old quest for power.
   
   I recommend this book to anyone interested in the Spanish Civil War, human nature's struggle for power, or Orwell's insightful, often humorous observations.

5 comments about Teacher Man: A Memoir.

1. Frank McCourt writes about his teaching years and the students he remembers most. When I finished the book, I had the same question as with his previous books - "and then what happened next?" In other words I never want the stories to end, I could keep reading forever. His writing is unique, exciting, and brings to life everyone he writes about. I especially recommend the audio version - he records them himself in his wonderful Irish accent - they are just a joy to listen to.



2. I only picked up this book one day when I was bored at work and a co-worker lent it to me. After reading the first chapter, I got up from my desk walked 5 blocks to the nearnest Barnes & Noble and bought the book. I had to finish reading it and I couldn't wait til she finished to borrow it. I could only wish to have had a Teacher Man like Frank McCourt when I was in school.



3. Before gaining worldwide fame and acclaim for writing his memoir of a terrible Irish Catholic childhood, Frank McCourt used the stories of his life to teach high school English for thirty years. "Teacher Man", his third foray into memoir writing, examines those years spent teaching from the very beginning to the bittersweet end. Scattered in between stories of the classroom are bits of Frank's life at those times, some comic, some searing, all of them evocative of his colorful life.
   
   After serving in the U.S. Army, Frank McCourt went to New York University on the G.I. Bill and decided to become a teacher, knowing that people back home would be amazed and respect him. He chronicles his struggle to get (and sometimes keep) a teaching job in the various high schools in New York, and his time wondering if he really wants to spend the rest of his life worrying about grading those 175 essays of 350+ words each. McCourt is a wonderful storyteller, and readers can easily understand how he could captivate classrooms, even the unruliest, with tales of his childhood. Anyone who has taught will appreciate his raw admission that he often felt like a fraud in front of the classroom, wondering why certain things (like how to handle unruly kids) isn't taught in those college education classes, and whether or not to admit they don't know the answer to something. Readers can also recognize the struggle that is common to everyone, of finally figuring out what they want to do in life, and where they finally belong.
   
   "Teacher Man" is a quick, honest, and sometimes brutal examination of teaching. So many are quick to dismiss teachers since they have the summer off, and teachers are treated as the lowest of the low on the professional totem pole. McCourt nails these feelings exactly, especially the image of his schoolbag full of ungraded papers sitting in the corner with eyes that follow you everywhere. Some people may find it hard to believe that he can recall the names of these students and aspects about their lives so many years later, but McCourt is right on when he talks about your life as a teacher: these lives stay inside your head, whether you want to give them that room or not. The struggles and glories of the classroom remain even as you try to go to bed at night, and will remain for years on end.



4. If you enjoyed either of his other two books, you will no doubt enjoy this one. He writes in the same witty manner and gives you a decent insight into how difficult teachers have it when trying to deal with high school brats :)



5. Decent book with good advice. I felt he rambled at times but maintained good humor throughout.

5 comments about Roosevelt and Churchill: Men of Secrets.

1. One of my college history professor's once told me that a secret in international affairs means that it is something you only tell one person at a time. The perfect example of "secrets between friends" is FDR and Winston Churchill. They kept secrets from everyone, their staff, the people the led, and even their own families. However, they had few secrets with each other. Thus David Stafford's book "Men of Secrets" is a fitting title for the special relationship between two of the greatest leaders of all time.
   
   Stafford traces a very good outline of the secret services during WWII and how both FDR and Churchill played an intricate role in creating and developing both nation's intelligence services. Colorful characters abound, see anything relating to "Wild" Bill Donovan, in FDR's burgeoning spyring and in Churchill's the dashing Ian Flemming (author the James Bond novels).
   
   What I found most interesting about the book is the relationship between FDR and Churchill. There are many conflicts of personality and political ideals of the two leaders. For example, FDR championed the freedom of British India; yet ordered Japanese-Americans into internment camps. Similarly, Churchill espoused civil liberties in England while attempting to crush rebellions in Ireland.
   
   In conclusion, Stafford provides a great overview and introduction into the world of espionage during WWII. He also gives extraordinary insight into the minds of FDR and Churchill. Arguably, FDR and Churchill had profound affect on the course of WWII and the secret they had an upper hand in the struggle.



2. Very informative, but not "a good read". I enjoyed "Franklin and Winston" much more.



3. I really enjoyed this book, not because I enjoy reading about FDR all that much, but because it gives so much new information about how he prosecuted the war -- and because it does the same for Churchill, one of my most favorite flawed heroes. The author makes many points about what each knew, but would not tell the other, how at times both men knew that the other knew, but withheld, information, etc., and how they played their parts (and one another) in the delicate diplomatic dance in light of these things.

   While admiring much about FDR's service to America and the world in WW2, I have a general antipathy to FDR's character and the way he did some things; but I do give him credit for having known how to move the American people by degrees, almost imperceptibly when that was necessary, into position to crush the Nazis, and this book reveals more about how he accomplished this. His foresight, diplomacy, and preparations surely shortened the war and saved untold lives. Having Churchill woven in as an equal on the world stage and in relation to FDR gave it a very savory counterpoise.




4. In the beginning of the war, Roosevelt sensed that Churchill even before he became Prime Minister would be important to the war effort. As time went on these men united by a fear of Hitler these men became friends as well as comrades in arms. This book explores there relationship though a rather unique perspective their intelligence departments. It explores how they got their intelligence and what they did with the knowledge that they gained from it. Despite their friendship the used it to advance the agenda of what they wanted for their own countries. At times their intelligence departments actually came into conflict as they both had different hopes and ambitions. As the war progressed these difference became more important.

   I found the book very easy to read. Full of information that although I am a WW2 fanatic I have never seen before. I can recommend this book if you want to learn about the relationship of between these two men.




5. An enjoyable account of the circumstances that brought the two men together, and the relationship that they forged.

   Often political friendships form out of necessity and mutual self interest. And that is obvious in this case.

   But the fact that the two most remarkable and influential men (in a positive sense) were to forge such an important relationship makes for great reading.

5 comments about The Seven Storey Mountain.

1. This excellent book has been on my 'must-buy'list for some time. It is beautifully written - goes straight to the heart. I have read it twice, and always find something new, and interesting. ( I had the advantage of a borrowed copy). I read in the'Note to the reader'at the beginning of
   the book that some would have difficulty in understanding the 'outdated religious atmosphere' that pervades the book. I think that the reader would find it a part of its charm (if that is the word).



2. I just bought a copy of this book. It is so beautiful I finished reading
   it word for word from cover to cover in 2 days. I am hooked on Thomas Merton! Looking forward to more of his works.



3. The Seven Storey Mountain is a true classic written by a humble genius. It is extremely well written and laid out. Thomas Merton being a highly intelligent man wrote it is a highly intelligent manner, and you can not help but sink into his wonderful narrative style and logical manner. It was written over half a century though and I at times had to reread sections because his writing style and use of words was not very familiar to me, and I wanted to insure I was understanding what he was saying.
   
   What really sets the Seven Storey Mountain apart is it gets better after reading it. It is often times in the years after my first read where idea and seeds that were planted when I first read the novel make themselves known. Thomas' search and discovery for religion and purpose will appeal to a wide audience, not just the uber religious. It is a wonderful novel of self discovery and change.



4. As an Eastern Catholic who is in the midst of discerning a call to the monastic life (a very serious call), I thought that reading the written account of Merton's own journey might be helpful. I was not disappointed. More than that, I think that all sophomores in high school should be made to read it, with a mandatory repeat in their senior year.
   
   Why?
   
   Because Merton so eloquently describes his involvement for the first 30 years of his life in what the Bible speaks of as "the vanity of this world." He carefully takes the reader through the journey of an ordinary childhood, his college years, and the inner sense of dissatisfaction he felt with all the things that the world calls "important". This gnawing sense within his soul led to his eventual conversion to the Catholic Faith. His expressions of joy at his conversion are lovely to read, and, for me, reflect my similar experience in entering our Lord's Church 7 years ago.
   
   I think therefore it would be good for young people to read this book on the threshold of their adulthood so that they could see that there is more indeed to life than the pursuit of wealth and fame. They would also read the read conversion of a soul from discontent to peace, from questioning to assurance, from boredom to joy. I think too many people associate the conscrated life with austerity and joylessness. One simply does not get that feeling from Merton's conversion to the Church, and then to the Trappist monastery. If one is truly called to the consecrated life, there is joy in responding to that call, and Merton makes this clear as he writes.
   
   Fr. Merton has a wonderful style of writing and, except for a few parts which got a little tedious for me to plow through, I found the book flows well and is easily readable. Merton has sections where he describes in clear detail his thoughts regarding the vanity of the passing world and his attraction to that which is eternal and timeless --the spiritual world. As we know from his later writings, there was a special call on his life which kept him from finding peace and rest within until he responded to it.
   
   This is a well written and easy to read story of one man's early life and spiritual journey. Once you pick it up, you will find it hard to put down until you finish it.



5. Having been a fan of Thomas Merton for years, I purchased 2 copies for 2 friends who were on a conversion journey themselves. Both declared that they were unable to put the book down and found it inspiring.
   Almost all of us struggle with the pull of material things, physical things, and spiritual things. Merton talks frankly about his struggles and his failures as well as his eventual feelings of the rightness of his decision to choose the spiritual life.

No comments about William Shakespeare (Biography Audiobooks).

5 comments about My War.

1. Lately I've been reading stories about war, an unfortunate constant of human history, I'm afraid. Tales about WWII, or "The Last Good War" (a book I read many years ago), as Studs Terkel called it, abound, but I especailly recommend this one. My War, by Andy Rooney (yep, the same bushy-eyebrowed old grump you see on 60 Minutes every week), is a true gem, full of his homespun self-deprecating bits of humor and wisdom, along with the expected grim and grisly stories about the carnage that is war. As to the importance of his wartime experience, Rooney says right up front, "My life was never the same again." As a young reporter (his army ID photo looks startlingly like Audie Murphy, who of course penned his own memoir, To Hell and Back) for The Stars and Stripes, Rooney got up close and personal with both the air and ground wars in Europe, and also traveled to India and China, rubbing shoulders with Ernie Pyle, Bill Mauldin and Walter Cronkite. One particular line from the book has stayed with me: "I laugh, bitterly, when I hear the phrase, 'He gave his life for his country.' No one gives his life. His life is taken." Rooney is a newspaperman and a reporter, but more than anything else he is a damn fine writer who simply tells it like he sees it. - Tim Bazzett, author of Soldier Boy and Love, War & Polio ([...])



2. This memoir by Andy Rooney of CBS of his army days during World War II mixes humor, cynicism, and tragedy. Rooney recounts how he was drafted into the artillery in 1941, and then transferred to the army newspaper STARS AND STRIPES. The author recounts his army experiences with a mixture of nostalgia, humor and sadness. The author admits his distaste for the military, and considers him self lucky to have drawn duty as a correspondent. Yet his service record was hardly risk-free. Rooney accompanied B-17 crews on raids over Nazi Germany, then infantrymen as they battled their way after D-Day. Rooney recounts much of the war's horrors and describes several friends and acquaintances that died in combat. The author's irreverent and at times cynical tone (particularly regarding General Patton) reflects both himself and many of the GI's that served in that deadly conflict. The book is generally very readable, although it does slow in a couple spots. Still, this moving 1995 memoir written half a century after Rooney's discharge is worth reading.



3. This is a great book. Andy Rooney, who I hate, is likable here in his stories about the GReat War. He tells stories, and jokes, and rubs elbows with all sorts of famous people, and, yet, doesn't seem to be bragging as much as telling. Also, his descriptions of tanks running over bodies and the air war are heart wrenching, beautiful, and terrifying. This book isn't my favorite overall, but it is the biggest surprise I've ever read. I really did love it.



4. My grandfather was in the Army Air Corp during WWII and would tell wonderful stories about his time in the war (the good and the bad). I think he would have liked Andy Rooney.
   
   I found the book very interesting particularly his insights on Patton. I have an great uncle who served under Patton. His mind never was the same.



5. Andy above and beyond potrayed his position in WW2 if anything played down. Yes he was a private that lucked out as many do in the service,but it seems he is able to tell the truth about it and feels no lesser for the facts. He tells of several heroes and some not so good officers. We have all known those. All in all I found the book very enjoyable and would highly reccomend it to all.

5 comments about Lines and Shadows.

1. I have read this book over and over again. It combines drama, humor, and enough social commentary that you won't feel it is frivolous. Based on fact, it is a great read. Presently, I am trying to follow up on what happened to the "characters" after the book ended. Can't go wrong with this book.
   
   Sabes que, Wambaugh at his best!



2. because it DOESN'T read like fiction; it's a true story with Wambaugh applying his direct understanding of how cops behave & what happens when they act out because of stress that returns night after night & can't be eased. There's the usual Wambaugh mix of booze, women, blurs between right & law. As usual, there's no insight or development for female characters, who are cardboard cutouts. But this time, instead of playing with character & language, as in other books, he projects his insights into those he depicts, without modifying their character. It's docudrama, despite its gunslinger theme, like Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood," a form Wambaugh is good at, maybe because it relieves him of tense necessity of creating a plot. Oddly, this book isn't cynical, even when describing disappointed moral objectives; but it does prove what Aristotle said, "We become what we do repeatingly." A police department that sends men to work in Hell shouldn't be surprised if they turn into devils.



3. I'm both in awe and suspicious of this book. It purports to tell the true-life story of a group of undercover police officers, most of Mexican descent, who work steathily to entice robbers preying on the heavy illegal alien traffic flowing into San Diego County from Baja California into attacking them, then turning the tables on their would-be victimizers.

   I'm in awe because it reads like fiction, with deep insights into the professional and personal lives of each of the policemen who are part of the BARF (Border Alien Robbery Force) team. We find out how they spend their off-hours, drinking and cheating on their wives with the sort of abandon of the cheerfully doomed. We discover how much they come to dislike one another, and particularly their leader, a hotshot in disco chains named Manny Lopez. The action sequences are riveting, and you get a real flavor for the desolate highlands these officers probe, and the desperate characters, both deadly and vulnerable, that they come across.

   But it reads too much like fiction. These guys either opened up to Wambaugh to a degree few ever do, not even to a very good, empathetic writer who asks all the right questions, or else the writer went the New Journalism route and extrapolated a lot of the inner monologues each of these officers have from time to time. I wonder about the former approach (cops are notoriously taciturn, even with each other or someone like Wambaugh who's obviously skilled at drawing them out) and question the validity of the latter, if used.

   Despite the numerous offenses against man, society, and God cataloged here, Wambaugh apparently didn't leave these guys so much out to dry that they got angry. It wouldn't be a good idea angering these guys, but how did he manage it, given the story we have here? I just wish there was some Author's Note explaining the access issue. All we have is the firm statement at the outset "This Is A True Story." Yes, sure, but are these the real characters? Did he do one of those magazine-writer tricks of folding in multiple characters to create fictional hybrids? Did he use pseudonyms? I'd love to know.

   The dialogue is brilliant, the writerly asides masterful and witty, and a crisp narrative pulls you through quickly while asking the question of when a good impulse (protecting aliens who are being savaged by gangsters while trying to illegally enter your country) become a really bad practice. By the final third of the book, the cops are strung-out adrenaline junkies probing into Mexican territory and looking for conflict, not the sort of characters you want representing your country in a sensitive border region.

   Was this really what they were like? And what happened to them after the book was published in 1984? I'd love to know.




4. The philosophical setting of this book is littered with "ifs." If the United States government would protect the US from invaders, as it is charged to do, this book never would have been written. If other nations were governed by constitutions conceptually similar to that of the United States, establishing freedom and individual rights everywhere -- such that people would not feel it necessary to flee their home governments, and seek freedom in the United States -- this book never would have come into being. If, if, if.

   This excellent book is a well-written tragedy about good law enforcement people who took the initiative to overlook one crime (illegal immigration) and proactively fight other crimes -- robbery, assault, battery etc. The story is compelling and riveting. It is good guys versus bad guys.

   Unfortunately, both sides lost.




5. Mr. Wambaugh as always, is able to catch the true flavor of what it was really like to be a cop and be a man. How hard is/was to "keep" a marriage, capture the essence of another culture and still tell a story as if we were all sitting in a bar listening to the ones who saw it all. The Seventies were ripe with blurried lines of two countries, two cultures forever linked in land of sometimes chaos. Those guys were the cowboys of the Seventies. It wasn't just a "Mexican" thing,... it was a Cop thing.

5 comments about Dolly: My Life and Other Unfinished Business.

1. As you would expect (if you're a fan of her songwriting) Dolly gives you the picture of her life in an honest, straightforward and sometimes amusing manner. Through tales of her own misdeeds and beliefs while growing up in a family that she admits didn't always play well together, she looks at her memories and can see how they shaped her into the performer that she always wanted to be. The little girl who loved to dream, make up her own songs and read everything she could get her hands on did get to be the center of attention as a much-loved entertainer, a shrewd and proficient businesswoman and a ceaseless humanitarian.
   But through it all she remained the caring, considerate person she had been raised to be. The rough little stone truly did prove to be a shining diamond; sparkling, tough as nails and valuable to the fans who love her for the beauty that shines from within. There's no one like Dolly!



2. I guess everyone knows or has seen Dolly Parton perform. She knows how to take a lemon and make lemonade out of life's challenges. I highly recommend the reading of this book.



3. The best thing about Dolly Parton's autobio is 'hearing' her VOICE come through the print. Eternally optimistic and carefully eccentric, there's no doubt Parton has one of the most blithesome star qualities in the biz. And why not - it's her business to be so lovable.
   
   While she hedges (considerably) on her 'indentured servitude' with Porter Waggoner and speaks infrequently about her creative process (writing and recording), when she gets a topic that pleases her - such as her childhood exploits - Parton lets go like one of her coolest numbers. Her humanism seems unbounded.
   
   Since the publication of this book, Parton, confounding all reasonable expectations, returned to the studio with a revitalized muse, producing some of her most credible work (Grass Is Blue, and onward). Hopefully, we shall 'hear' Parton speak of her artistic reinvention in a future volume.



4. I knew Dolly Parton had a good sense of humor but I didn't know it was as far out as it is. Although I've been a fan for a long time, I'm a "lazy" fan and didn't even realize she had an autobiography out there until recently. Just to think I could have been laughing 13 years ago. Duh! If you're feeling down and need a laugh, get this book. Dolly needs her own TV show and if the people who run Hollywood had good sense, she would have had it long ago. Of course, they don't so they would have probably put the wrong writers on it and it would have been cancelled in a week.



5. Dolly had a hard life growing up in the wilds of East Tennessee; she started out poor and indeed did have a 'coat of many colors' as her children's book explained. She wore hand-me-downs in the backwoods of Sevier County where my paternal grandfather's people lived. She's funny. Coming from the country, it took some doing and lots of help to get where she is today. She has re-invented her personality through the years from the young lovesick girl who write 'I Will Always Love You' to Porter Wagoner. After all, she was a young country bumpkin from the Knoxville area, and we inexperienced girls fall hard for the first person we can admire. He gave her the first 'big' break, singing on his show in Nashville.
   
   She had been on local talent shows in Knox County, Cas Walker's for country music. She migrated to Middle Tennessee to sing on the Grand Ole Opry where she met my friend, Hal Durham, who was manager of that fabulous old show on radio, television and live. I once attended at the Ryman and he gave Zachary and me a backstage tour.
   
   In Nashville and in the movies, she had a good life but suffered some setbacks and depression. The two photo secitons show how little Dolly the girl was transformed into Dolly the bombshell blonde. She is the richest person in this area as she owns Dollywood, the major attraction for people from all the states who visit the Great Smoky Mountains and from other countries.
   
   In her 'thanks' section, she included her favorite makeup, Revlon staff, and favorite lingerie shop, Frederick's of Hollywood. She includes Terry Morrow, local entertainment columnist for the News Sentinel daily Knoxville newspaper, and Ligiea Saveanu (whoever she is -- I was going to name my daughter Ligeia). From the Grand Ole Opry performers, she includes Archie Campbell from the famous Civil War area in EAst Tennessee, Bull's Gap, Grant Turner, and Bud Wendell, WSM announcer. Game show hosts were Bob Eubanks and Huell Howser; how could she leave out Wink Martindale and Pat Sajacks, both Tennesseans? For some reason, she included the Knoxville Democrat Party chairman, Jim Gray, Al Gore, Jim Sasser, and Sandra Fulton (wife of Dick Fulton of Nashville). Movie stars included Kevin Costner, Jane Fonda, and Delta Burke, while singers were Mac Davis, Billy Ray Syrus, Whitney Houtston and Reba McEntire. She has Johnny Carson, Eddie Hill, and many many others -- too many to mention.
   
   Like most successful people, she has humility when it comes to feeling indebted to others for her success. She showed he CBS anchor a thing or two when he enterviewed her ans commented on her most obvious attraction. She has talent galore, and I wish Dolly could live forever. She will in the figure on Sevier County Courthouse Lawn, as a young country girl. Dolly is everything to everybody.

5 comments about Into Thin Air.

1. Personally, Jon Krakauer is my all time, hands down favorite author. I am an adventure junkie. This was the second book i ever picked up of his and i seriously could not put it down. I am in college, normally college students have tons of other things to do than read, but i put things off just so i could read this book. I LOVE IT! If you are an adventurist, adrenaline junkie, a climber, a camper, a hiker... read it...



2. This story is a page turner which I read in a single night. It's the gripping tale, told in a powerful way of how too many climbers and competing agendas led to a major disaster on Mt. Everest. I saw the story as one of power and control run amuck leading to the loss of too many lives. Of one man who sat down to die, and of another who refused to die even when left for dead three times. The story takes many twists and turns and involves dozens of key characters, so it would be hard to read over too long a period of time since there are a lot of details to track. Never the less, it's a great adventure story that illustrates the dangers of miscommunication at the top of the world.



3. Krakauer doubtlessly is a great story-teller who can keep you engrossed in every detail he delivers at each turn of the story. My only complaint is that he sprinkles difficult vocabulary not only without any added effect, but clunkily, making certain words stand out from the rest of his prose. Take, for example, the following sentence:
   
   "Now, four days later, Nukita warned us that a similarly PREDACIOUS swarm of print and television reporters lay in wait for us..." (280, emphasis added)
   
   Um... why not just "predatory"? Is it just me, or is the word "predacious" as common a word as "predatory"?
   
   Or take another sentence:
   
   "But such moments were tempered by the long PENUMBRA cast by Everest..." (282, emphasis added)
   
   Again, why not infinitely more understandable and easy-to-imagine "SHADOW"? Why "PENUMBRA"? Why go so poetic and abstract all of a sudden? I was literally thrown off balance when I came across the word in midsentence because it's so out of place. Besides, it hazards leaving the reader wondering what the word means rather than sympathizing with the author's plight. My complaint is based on the fairly commonsensical belief that when a word is not adding anything - whether it be impact, image, style, etc. - it should be ruthlessly cut and/or replaced with another. PENUMBRA seems to fall pat into this sort of instance. Unfortunately, I didn't keep detailed note of every instance in which the author slipped in flashy words tragically to the detriment of his own otherwise lucid prose, I can't say for certain how often he did it, but as far as i remember, there were numerous similar occasions where I thought the word he chose was definitely working against his writing.
   
   But my quibbling ends here and I only have kudos for the book. It's an awesome adventure story about people with astounding willpower under the worst and extremest of environmental conditions imaginable. Highly recommended.



4. As with his other ode to ego versus nature, "Into the Wild", Mr. Krakauer makes it clear with "Into Thin Air" that nature is best seen as a test bed for the elite and ego inflamed to examine their will and inner mettle or, um, die. As a result "Into Thin Air" leaves the old school of respectable and fearful examination of man living WITH nature (see the books of Ernest Seton among many others as an example) into a new school of nature writing dedicated to exploring the various ways a man or woman must overcome nature or perish in the attempt. Which, let's face it, is just plain silly. There is very little to recommend in this viewpoint, it is narcissistic and sophomoric and ultimately degrading to both nature and man; so goes the book, and for that matter, so goes the Nepal Everest base camp, which has become, at my last visit, an open dump/sewer.
   
   If you really must read about the dangers of Mt. Everest, you are much, much better off reading "Mountain without Mercy" by B. Coburn, T. Cahill and D. Breashers. Better yet, pick up the book In Highest Nepal; Our Life Among the Sherpas by Norman Hardie. Norman doesn't conquer Mt. Everest or even care to, in fact he never even attempts the summit. Instead he lives among the Sherpa and discovers the various means they've discovered to live with the most extreme that nature has to offer. Which, in my view, is what nature writing should be about.



5. When I was very young, I believed my purpose in life was to climb Mount Everest. I was fascinated by the idea of hiking through the snow and eventually reaching the highest piece of land on earth. Walking to school, I would imagine myself climbing the mountain. Every road I crossed was a vast crevasse, thousands of feet deep. But, like most childhood dreams, I eventually grew out of it. So, Recently when I saw a book captioned: "The Mount Everest Disaster," the old ashes were rekindled and I naturally had to read it.
   
   Into Thin Air is Jon Krakauer's recollection of the "Mount Everest Disaster," as the cover phrases it. He gives background information of every climber on his team as well as general facts about Mount Everest and climbing itself. Krakauer's style is excellent, and afterwards it feels as if you were there on the mountain beside him.
   
   The book was a little slow at the beginning, unfortunately. Maybe it was the fact that none of the names meant anything to me, or the fact that everything is described in great detail, sometimes seeming very long and drawn out. Eventually I got used to it, and it ultimately was necessary for understanding all of the character's actions later on. One great aspect of the book is that Krakauer names who died right off the bat. Not only did that make me immediately interested, but it also became nerve wracking later in the book, knowing which characters were destined to never return home.
   
   Krakauer is a born storyteller. Most storytellers do just that. They tell stories. But unlike most storytellers, Krakauer had his own story to tell. It was a life-changing story at that. Many authors could have barely made up such a great tale out of thin air, but this actually happened. That is the most haunting fact of the story, it is true.
   
   Regardless if you like climbing, hiking, or snow, this is a great book. Even if reading isn't enjoyable, this book is. In short, this is the best book I have read in a very long time.

3 comments about Tears of My Soul / Cassettes.

1. A Korean spy changes her way of life. I would go into detail, but it wont do the book justice.



2. I have already recommended this book to my soul-mate Sehar



3. This is a moving account of a North Korean terrorist who was responsible for bombing a KAL airliner in the Bay of Bengal in 1987. The story tells of her childhood and progression through the North Korean Communiist party. She describes her training as a agent and spy.

   Following the bombing and after her capture, Kim struggles with the differences between what she was taught and the "evidence" she found in South Korea. She came to the conclusion that all she had been told were lies and with this realization, she became open to life.

   Kim read the Bible for the first time while she was a prison in South Korea. During this time she realized that she could receive forgiveness for the murders of the passengers on the KAL flight.

   She went on national TV to ask forgiveness of the families of the victums and to confess Christ as her Lord. Under a death sentence, she faced it with courage until the South Korean government commuted the death sentence to life.

   She now travels telling her story of God's grace and forgiveness.