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Trumped-21.95
Odonnell
Manufacturer: World Pub
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Customer Reviews:
The Ghosts of John Voelker, interesting as ever.......2006-09-28
This book injects new life into the nationally-acclaimed stories of Voelker (aka Robert Traver) as told in "Trout Magic," "Anatomy of a Fisherman" and various periodicals.
John Voelker camped & fished in the rugged basin of the East Branch of the Escanaba River, just upstream from my grandmother's house in Gwinn, Michigan.
My own first big trout fishing experience was on Green Creek, up M-35 from Gwinn and in the same "neck of the woods." One of the nicest brookies I ever caught came from Warner Creek, just south of Palmer on the edge of the Empire Mine and yet closer to the mystical "Voelker's Pond."
Makes you wanna grab your pole & seek out a few speckies for yourself, hey?
Even better than expected.......2006-02-27
The writing and the photographs in this book are excellent. I have always wanted to visit "Frenchman's Pond" and now I feel like I have been there. The vivid photographs capture so many little details of John Voelker's life at the pond that a visitor would never see. The outstanding essays give insight into how much he loved this place. Out of respect for John Voelker and his family, I no longer feel the need to trample the bushes and snap a few tourist photos. My appetite is satisfied and I will leave Voelker's pond well enough alone. Instead I am left with a deep appreciation of John Voelker's favorite place and a desire to find one of my own.
Voelker would have liked this book.......2003-11-11
Trout fishing is not for the impatient. Whether you come to trout fishing, especially fly-fishing, with the requisite patience, or it teaches it to you, I'm not certain. But I am certain that the legendary fly-fishermen have it. I am also certain that patience doesn't guarantee success. Or else I would do better.
John Voelker must have been a patient man. He knew what it took to catch a brook trout with a fly and he was good at it. He also knew how to write about it, which he did with great skill and precision, as if casting a fly to a wary trout. In fact, he was famous for his writing, at least in fly-fishing circles, where he has achieved the status of a legend.
Voelker is probably better known to the general population by his pen name, Robert Traver, under which he wrote the 1950s best seller, Anatomy of A Murder, which in turn was made into an award-winning movie of the same name. (But for a little movie called Ben Hur in 1959, Anatomy of A Murder might have been one of the biggest Academy Award-winning movies of all time.)
He also was well known in Michigan as a Supreme Court Justice, but he gave it all up in his prime to fish and to write. "To paraphrase a deceased patriot," he said, "I regret that I have but one life to give to my fly-fishing."
Voelker, a simple man with a quick wit and a love for nature and a good drink, would have turned 100 at the end of June. He died in 1991. A new book by photographer Ed Wargin and writer James McCullough, both near-Petoskey, Michigan, residents, celebrates his life by exploring his secret fishing hole somewhere in the middle of michigan's Upper Peninsula.
Wargin's photos are crisp and clean, simple and celebrative at the same time. They seem to catch Voelker's demeanor as they show his favorite places and things, his secret pond, his fly rods, flies, and reels, his small, rustic cabin. A display of Wargin's photos at the Peter White Public Library in Marquette in June was impressive, but had nothing on the book, which seems better with each reading.
Part of the book's charm is the writing of McCullough, who now teaches English and education at North Central Michigan College in Petoskey. As a 15-year-old, McCullough had the chance to meet and fish with Voelker at his secret camp, and he uses that event, and his own fly-fishing experience, to infuse his narrative with an understanding of Voelker's take on life and living. This is fine reading and will make any non-fishing day a better one.
Voelker probably wouldn't have been too keen about all the hoopla surrounding his birthday. I suspect he rather would have been fishing. But he would have been patient. And he would have liked this book. And anyone who has found peace on a stream will like it, too.
A Fly Fisherman's Walden - A Tribute to Traver.......2003-06-15
While focusing on the legacy of Robert Traver, a famous Michigan statesman, novelist, and fisherman, this book manages to also capture the soul and unique philosophies of fly fishermen everywhere. Wonderfully photographed throughout the book, James McCullough, through his series of essays, recounts his memories as a young man meeting the famous Traver on Voelker's Pond and his experiences years later returning to the pond after Traver passed on. Simply a peaceful and entertaining book to read through, with glimpses of the secret solitude of the fly fisherman's world with lessons of life that extend beyond the rod and pond.
Breathtaking Photography!.......2003-06-11
This book is an amazing delight for those who love fly fishing, as well as those who simply love Michigan, great photography, and beautiful hidden places of nature. I learned things I didn't know about John Voelker, who wrote under the pen name Robert Traver, and through the stunning images, I felt as if I were right there at his beloved pond, fishing with him, something many of us flyfisherman have dreamt about for years. This books gives that dream new meaning. Thank you Mr. Wargin and Mr. McCullough, for capturing this place so beautifully!!!!!!
Book Description
Following on from the phenomenally successful Shakespeare, the Movie, this volume brings together an invaluable new collection of essays on cinematic Shakespeare's in the 1990s and beyond.
Shakespeare, the Movie II:
*focuses for the first time on the impact of post-colonialism, globalization and digital film on recent adaptations of Shakespeare
*takes in not only US and UK films but adaptations of Shakespeare in Europe and the Asian Diaspora
*explores a wide range of film, television, video and DVD adaptations, from Almereyda's Hamlet to animated tales, via Baz Luhrmann, Kenneth Branagh 1990s Macbeth, to name but a few
*offers fresh insight into the issues surrounding Shakespeare on film, such as the interplay between originals and adaptations, the appropriations of popular culture, questions of spectatorship, and the impact of popularization on the canonical status of 'the Bard'.
*Combining three key essays from the earlier collection with exciting new work from leading contributors, Shakespeare the Movie II offers sixteen fascinating essays. It is quite simply a must-read for any student of Shakespeare, film, media or cultural studies.
Book Description
Crossword lovers, rejoice:
There are more fun puzzle-solving challenges coming your way!
You don't have to be an expert solver to enjoy these crosswords. Following on last season's quartet of winning collections from The Los Angeles Times, here are another two popularly priced helpings of puzzle fun from the paper. The great news: these crosswords are more mainstream than the ones in The New York Times, AND each book contains a generous 72 crosswords--not the mere 50 of competing volumes. Plus, they're one dollar less than the competition, so you'll really get more enjoyment for your money. The stay-open, lie-flat, specially reinforced spiral binding makes it easier to work on the puzzles anywhere, too.
Customer Reviews:
Good crosswords with symmetry.......2004-07-03
The crossword puzzles in this collection appeared in the Los Angeles Times daily paper in the middle of 2002. They are tough, those that I tried really challenged me, and I was unable to complete a single one without cheating. The solutions are in the back of the book, which was the only way I could complete them. One other interesting point is that the empty locations form a pattern in most of them. I found myself looking through the puzzles and trying to identify all of the symmetric aspects of the blackened squares. Try the puzzles in this book, you won't be disappointed.
Book Description
Managing and Motivating Contact Center Employees reveals how to boost morale, streamline business processes, and inspire outstanding performance from frontline sales and service staff.
This creative and practical book gives instant help to anyone who knows the difficulties of managing in the diverse and dynamic contact center environment.
Download Description
Managing and Motivating Contact Center Employees reveals how to boost morale, streamline business processes, and inspire outstanding performance from frontline sales and service staff.
Customer Reviews:
An Insult to Every Contact Center Employee's Intelligence.......2007-05-24
I have now worked at two separate contact/call centers and I am always mystified as to why management has to treat employees so shabbily that it predisposes them to hate the company. It seems gratuitous and stupid, but I suppose that the "geniuses" who come up with these so-called employee motivating tactics never think for a moment that the employees might just have brains/feelings. Motivating techniques that I have seen first-hand involve infantile and immature contests that remind one of elementary school, and not of a serious company running a business. Prizes are often balloons handed to employees, blowing whistles and clapping when an employee receives a compliment from a customer while the managers/leads stand around the employee's desk for the whole call center to see and emulate, or an occasional sandwich/pizza delivered to the office for employees to partake. Of course, these are meant to take the place of REAL recognition like paying employees wages they can actually live on, or promoting them to higher jobs. Working conditions at call centers are notoriously bad: employees are expected to handle each call in 2 to 3 minutes at most while at the same time maintaining a high degree of quality service. Goes to show you how "sincere" companies are about keeping customers happy. The end result is a high employee turnover rate, and for those that stay, tension and fatigue is the order of the day.
So, the next time you call an 800 number to reach your bank, utility company, supermarket, or department store, please keep in mind what is going on behind the scenes. Hopefully, some day the government watchdog agencies that regulate the workplace will realize that much needs to be done to improve call center work.
Excellent advice based on reality!.......2007-02-11
From the moment I opened this book, I could tell the people who wrote it had worked in call centers. The advice is comprehensive and throughout the book they offer resources for additional information. If you have to give feedback to call center employees, get this book! If you are a new or seasoned call center manager, get this book. If you need to motivate call center employees, get this book! It is worth the money. I have purchased several books in this genre. This book and the book "Why Employees Don't Do What You Want..." by Fournies have turned out to be the most useful.
Good information with actionable suggestions.......2005-09-06
I was able to implement the ideas from this book in my call center.
A must have for your contact center library.......2003-12-12
Impact Learning International has done it again! There is no contact center topic more important than that of focusing on the biggest expense and the greatest asset...your people. Impact Learning provides excellent advice and practical help in a fun and understandable way. It is based on their many years of experience coaching and training in the contact center industry. I refer to my copy all of the time and have given away several copies to contact center managers. You MUST have a copy of this book in your business library!
Book Description
Farideh Goldin was born to her fifteen-year-old mother in 1953 and into a Jewish community living in an increasingly hostile Islamic state--prerevolutionary Iran. This memoir is Goldin's passionate and painful account of her childhood in a poor Jewish household and her emigration to the United States in 1975.
As she recalls trips to the market and the mikvah, and as she evokes ritual celebrations like weddings, Goldin chronicles her childhood, her extended family, and the lives of the women in her community in Shiraz, a southern Iranian city. Her memoir details her parents' "courtship" (her father selected her mother from a group of adolescent girls), her mother's lonely life as a child-bride, and Goldin's childhood home which was presided over by her paternal grandmother.
Goldin's memoir conveys not just the personal trauma of growing up in a family fraught with discord but also the tragic human costs of religious dogmatism. In Goldin's experience, Jewish fundamentalism was intensified by an Islamic context. Although the Muslims were antagonistic to Jews, their views on women's roles and their treatment of women influenced the attitude and practices of some Iranian Jews.
In this brave and dispassionate portrayal of a little-known corner of Jewish life, Farideh Goldin confronts profound sadness yet captures the joys of a child's wonder as she savors the scenes and textures and scents of Jewish Iran. Readers share her youthful adventures and dangers, coming to understand how such experiences shape her choice.
Customer Reviews:
a vanished world.......2007-03-28
this is an excellent novel, well written and not only a good story but a fascinating glimpse into a world that no longer exists. Interspersed with wonderful insights into the systematic and awful oppression of young girls are glimpses into the everyday life of a culture within a culture, food, customs, clothes, songs and so on but within a world vulnerable to the surrounding and increasingly hostile, racist, ignorant anti semitism of the Iranian islamic community.
i will read it agin soon
Being Jewish in Iran? The Challenge Begins........2007-03-06
Of all things, how would you like to be a Jew in Iran? The young girl was an outcast in her own family, as the only daughter with her brothers being the favorites. She cherished her friendships, which she enjoyed until she realized she was "different." Gradually, as things worsened in Iran, the Jews were being victimized in the schools and in the communities. Most Jews didn't consider going to Israel as an option because Iran was their home, the language, the Iranian customs, etc., were what they had grown up with. This is a very different look at the situation. I've read many Iranian books and enjoyed the different twist.
Personal memoir, Jewish & dhimmi in Iran.......2007-01-17
While this may not match others' memories of Iran during Ms. Goldein's period, this is a very honest *memoir* of growing up female, jewish, and dhimmi in Iran. We glimpse a country that has remained relatively the same for centuries-- for good and for bad. We see that islamic countries ghettoize their non-muslim minorities, just as in the West. We see a more deeply entrenched patriarchal society that does not see the individual-- of either sex, as important as the community.
But also a book of families that endure, despite outside and internal pressures. We see also that the strength of an individual can overcome these old pressures and gain a measure of acceptance in the process.
Wonderful book on so many levels!
Disappointing and very unballanced.......2007-01-04
As an Iranian-Jew who grow up in Tehran and was exposed to many points the book raised, I was surprised and disappointed at how this Memoirs painted such a negative and gloomy picture of Jews in Iran. As I remember it during Shah's regime, Jews were a key group of minorities in raising the economic standard of the whole contry and themselves. Yes, there were also many Ghetto's and poor areas for Jews and all other minorities, but that was a SMALL part of the story, the bigger picture was much happier, ballanced and positive. The author failed to share that Iran in pre-revolution was a great place to live for ALL-- specially minorities!!
fantastic.......2006-10-15
I loved Roya Hakakian's Journey from the Land of No, so I ordered this book since the topic is similar. I enjoyed Goldin's book just as much. Although Goldin's writing is not as polished and professional as Hakakian, she lived in a far more backwards region of Iran, thus the story was even more incredible. I felt as if I were transported back in time by Goldin. I recommend this book to everyone.
Book Description
In the weeks after D-Day, the level of artillery action in Normandy was unprecedented. In what was a relatively small area, both sides bombarded each other relentlessly for three months, each trying to overwhelm the other by sheer fire power.
The Guns of Normandy puts the reader in the front lines of this horrific battle. In the most graphic and authentic detail, it brings to life every aspect of a soldier’s existence, from the mortal terror of impending destruction, to the unending fatigue, to the giddy exhilaration at finding oneself still, inexplicably, alive.
The story of this crucial battle opens in England, as the 4th Field Regiment receives news that something big is happening in France and that after long years of training they are finally going into action. The troop ships set out from besieged London and arrive at the D-Day beaches in the appalling aftermath of the landing.
What follows is the most harrowing and realistic account of what it is like to be in action, as the very lead man in the attack: an artillery observer calling in fire on enemy positions. The story unfolds in the present tense, giving the uncomfortably real sense that “You are here.”
The conditions under which the troops had to exist were horrific. There was near-constant terror of being hit by incoming shells; prolonged lack of sleep; boredom; weakness from dysentery; sudden and gruesome deaths of close friends; and severe physical privation and mental anguish. And in the face of all this, men were called upon to perform heroic acts of bravery and they did.
Blackburn provides genuine insight to the nature of military service for the average Canadian soldier in the Second World War – something that is all too often lacking in the accounts of armchair historians and television journalists. The result is a classic account of war at the sharp end.
Customer Reviews:
Memoirs Of A Forward Observation Officer-Extraordinaire.......2006-02-11
"My narrative might stir poignant memories of comradeship and unselfish acts, and sometimes recognize acts of courage - even great courage - but never should it develop in the fashion of an adventure story, for the simple reason that a story that deals honestly with war can never be an adventure story. It may be gripping and even melodramatic in a horrible sort of way, but never, never an adventure story." ~ George G. Blackburn ~
Mr. Blackburn's "The Guns of Normandy: A Soldier's Eye View, France 1944" is not an adventure story, as the author stated, but a factual story and a very detailed and vivid account of World War II in Normandy, France in 1944. He even suggested to "any reader who is looking for adventure to look elsewhere." Mr. Blackburn has that exceptional ability to use picturesque words and to realistically describe the events that took place from Normandy to Falaise between July and end of August of 1944, thus, making the readers to actually put their shoes into his. His interpretative writing and creative use of language to capture the reader's undivided attention were put to use to the fullest.
To complete this remarkable historical book, Mr. Blackburn, having been a newspaper reporter himself, did an excellent task in conducting very thorough and exhaustive interviews, did a wide-ranging research, provided comprehensive footnotes as well as accurate casualty statistics, thereby making it a wealth of information about the longest two months in the history of Second World War.
A very courageous and empathetic military officer, Mr. Blackburn, along with his troop, demonstrated bravery above all things and they should all be commended for their heroic acts of courage and strong will to go on amidst all the horrifying, sickening and dreadful conditions of war.
One of the chapters in this interesting book that caught my attention is Chapter 62: "Comradeship," which is all about solidarity and Mr. Blackburn cleverly defined the word as "that special relationship between people who share awful conditions and whose lives depend on mutual support, which will always be a source of fascination. You used to think that it was just another word for friendship, but you know now that the most caring, sharing, selfless comrades can be men you've never met before and who will remain forever nameless, unless you meet them again under more civilized conditions someday, when in all likelihood, you'll not recognize them after the war, for their eyes will be cold and impersonal, not filled with the compassion and understanding you see in them here."
What really impressed me is the fact that the author showed off his artistic side in the midst of war by writing poetry during the quietest moments in the bleak of the night, to pass the time away since he was the one on-duty in the command post all night. And he penned one beautiful piece of poetry for his lovely wife, Grace Blackburn, (who passed away in 2002) to commemorate their third wedding anniversary (August 30, 1944). And I quote:
"From your pictures you're adorable, my dear
From reports you are the lady of the year
From those in the know these days I've heard
You're beautiful to see -
You twinkle like the candles on an anniversary!
From informants you would seem to be immortal -
They have booked the hall of fame and burst its portal -
From "enchanting" to "alluring;" from "endearing" to "enduring,"
But from memory, you're just swell my dear!"
I had a rare opportunity to correspond with Mr. Blackburn after he had sent me inscribed copies of two of his trilogy of military books over a year ago. His artistic side includes being a pianist, composer/lyricist, award-winning playwright and a scriptwriter. Likewise, he had written a musical entitled "A Day To Remember." His many awards include the Legion of Honor bestowed upon him by the French Government in 2004. And to top it all, he could still host the yearly Christmas Dinners at his home in Ottawa doing all the cooking and preparations for family and some friends. He recently celebrated his 89th birthday on the 3rd of February. He's not only a remarkable and brilliant author but also a talented and creative artist in his own right. I'm so honored to have met him and corresponded with him to this day.
I love reading non-fiction books as well as art, historical and biographies. I guess I have outgrown my interest in fiction, which was my main interest when I was younger. This book is so well-written, excellently-crafted, detailed, very informative, and also winners of the 1996 Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction, the 1996/97 C.P. Stacey Award and the 1996 Ottawa Citizen Book of the Year Award.
After reading this book, you'll absolutely want to read the rest of Mr. Blackburn's trilogy: "Where The Hell Are The Guns?" and "The Guns of Victory: A Soldier's Eye View, Belgium, Holland and Germany, 1944-45." Very highly recommended.
A powerfully written account of the summer of 1944 by one who was there.......2005-10-10
For most Americans, the story of Normandy means the fierce battle to land troops at Omaha beach. And that is surely a story that is worth knowing and remembering, as are the landings at Utah, Gold, Juno, and Sword. The problem is that the landing becomes the shorthand for the entire campaign in France, as if once the troops were off the beaches the fierce fighting was over and all that was left was the dash to Berlin. In reality, Hitler threw everything he could at these forces with the intent of pushing them back into the sea. He understood that once a breakout occurred, it would be all but impossible to stop their advance towards Berlin. Montgomery expected the Nazi forces to pull back across the Seine and reform their defenses there. Instead, Hitler threw most of the available Nazi forces at the British and Canadian positions in what became a fierce stalemate. Eisenhower, putting perspective on this fighting in the Caen sector said, "ten feet gained on the Caen sector was equivalent to a mile elsewhere." (Pg 311)
There is debate whether Montgomery intended his troops to be in an awful and bloody stalemate while only telling his forces they were there to break through the Nazi line, or whether he really hoped for a breakout that never materialized. In either case, the fierce fighting by these British and Canadian forces absorbed so much of the Nazi effort that it allowed Patton and his fabulous 3rd Army to break out and perform his breakthrough further down the line of the fighting like a running back going around the crush of the lines to an open field.
The author of this amazing book, George G. Blackburn, was there as a young artillery officer during this fighting as part of an artillery regiment that moved, set-up, and fired 25 pounder cannon to support the ground forces. Do not think for a moment that this was not harrowing and exhausting duty. The enemy desperately wanted these guns disabled and was relentless in trying to destroy these men and their equipment. As on officer, he also describes in vivid detail his first turn as a FOO (Forward Observation Officer). These are the brave men who go to the front and direct the fire of the canon onto the targets. The casualty rate for this duty is almost total and the bravery of some of these officers in standing out in the open directing tank fire onto targets is beyond understanding.
While it is certainly true that those of us who have never been in combat can never know what it is like, particularly in the kind of ferocious fighting and massed conflict documented in this book, but that argument is also a truism. Books are written to convey knowledge to another and are valuable because they allow us to know things other than those we directly experience. This book is so forcefully written with descriptions that are so immediate and fearsome, that it will likely affect your dreams. I know it did mine.
Also, movies are a powerful medium, but I know of none that can convey the random death, extreme violence, comprehensive exhaustion, stench, and feculence as vividly as this book. Blackburn allows us to understand the exhaustion of moving tons of earth, rock, and mud to create the pits for the guns, moving more tons of ammunition getting it into pits, the duty of firing the guns around the clock, and then finding your own slit trench (foxhole) to keep yourself alive during those brief moments of rest all the while hoping one of the incoming shells isn't headed for you.
When the high speed shells from the Nazi 88s bang into camp and lives are spared because of Czech's built duds to hurt the Nazi effort, we feel the strange exhilaration at being so randomly intact, and yet there is constant fear that the next round coming in might be live and make you dead. The randomness of trying to take shelter and having fragments destroy something right next to you and yet you are spared is constantly disorienting, yet you stay on your tasks. Blackburn describes how once he found one tiny fragment of shrapnel in his backpack when he went for a pair of his socks and found only cut up ball of thread, such was the spin velocity and razor edge of the fragment.
Then there is the demoralization of moving into an area where you have to dig pits for the guns and yourselves and find chalk just below the surface. Hours of work with a pickaxe remove only a foot of rock. Yet the need to protect the guns, the ammo, and yourselves keeps everyone hacking down into chalk. There were also the two bombings behind the front by Allied Forces costing hundreds of lives and much needed equipment. First it was the US and then, a couple of weeks later, the RAF. It was a combination of errors in navigation and, in the second case, a misunderstanding of the signal to use to mark the front of the line.
Yet, there is tremendous comradeship. Blackburn describes how it works more effectively than I have ever heard. Because of all the casualties, there is a constant stream of replacement soldiers and officers. Yet, men will risk their lives to care for men they do not know. They will huddle ever more closely in an impossibly crowded trench to give a new guy at the entrance a few more inches to get him out of the rain and a bit more shelter from enemy fire.
The events covered in this book are the few weeks between July 1 and September 5, 1944. This is a short time in civilian life, but through this book you will experience events that make this seem like an eternity. The horror of all the rotting flesh, human and farm animals, the dysentery, the artillery that is fired so frequently it glows red in the night, and the inhuman noise will almost wear you out as your read the book.
Mr. Blackburn recounts not only his own experiences (in the second person), but provides other stories and background through interviews with other people and official documents and reliable histories. It is a terrific book because it provides us insight into a part of the Second World War our shorthand way of remembering past events does not provide. For Americans, it is also wonderful to read about the sacrifices our neighbors to the North made to help our forces break out towards Berlin. And I found the efforts of the artillerymen, supposedly back of the fighting, positively heroic. Do yourself a favor and experience this book. You will feel gratitude towards a generation that is leaving us all too rapidly and understand more what our armed forces are today providing for us all over the world.
Blackburn's GUNS OF NORMANDY.......2005-10-01
Having just last month visited the Canadian Army Museum at The Citadel (Halifax, NS), I was still not ready for the powerful impact of this work. We Americans tend to overglorify campaigns of past wars. Blackburn tells it like it was, plain and simple.
The carnage and waste are equally balanced with duty and honor. The fanaticism of the Nazis is reported without hatred, as is the horrific tragedy of massive "friendly fire" bombing of the Canadians and Poles by the Royal Air Force.
The book is not just a news report, however. The personal details of the author's life in the War, and the lives/deaths of his many friends, adds to the veracity of the work. Moreover, the descendants of the named dead will surely treasure Blackburn's tender hand.
Wishing that such memoirs were not necessary, but thankful for this one!
Canada roars.......2005-02-06
In this second volume of a trilogy by a former very junior officer, George Blackburn, in the Canadian Royal Artillery, the author records his experiences, and those of the Canadian 2nd Infantry Division in general, in World War II's western European campaign. The first book, WHERE THE HELL ARE THE GUNS?, covers the training in Canada and England of Blackburn's unit, the 4th Field Artillery Regiment, from its formation to June 1944. This book, THE GUNS OF NORMANDY, describes the 4th Field's actions in northern France from early July 1944 to its arrival at the Seine River in late August. The final installment, THE GUNS OF VICTORY, chronicles the advance from the Seine into the Third Reich via the Benelux countries.
THE GUNS OF NORMANDY is one of the most compelling descriptions of men embroiled in modern land warfare that I've ever read. It gives (over)due credit to the Canadian efforts in the war against Hitler, this effort having been largely ignored in popular history next to those of its British and American allies. As Blackburn states regarding Canadian battle casualties in Normandy:
"The two infantry divisions (2nd and 3rd) accounted for 78 percent: 7,869 dead, wounded, or missing per division, the highest casualty rate in all fifteen divisions in 21st Army Group." Note: at this time, the 21st British Army Group comprised two of the four allied armies attempting to consolidate their Normandy foothold immediately after the D-Day invasion.
Although, late in the book, the author acknowledges the comradeship fostered among the troops of his artillery unit, the 2nd Battery of 4th Field, the reader may not be as mindful of such as compared to its portrayal in, say, BAND OF BROTHERS, the exemplary popular history of a company of 101st Airborne paratroops from D-Day to the war's end, subsequently made into an HBO TV miniseries by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, perhaps the best miniseries produced in the history of television. At times, Blackburn and his fellow GPOs (Gun Position Officer), seem almost like independent operators. Perhaps it's the distracting 2nd person viewpoint ("You ...") the author employs to describe his own battlefield experiences. I wish Spielberg and Hanks would produce a miniseries on 4th Field's exploits; it would be a visually powerful blockbuster hit. (George, can you land a Hollywood deal?)
At times in the narrative, following the complex movements of various artillery, armored, and infantry units across the French terrain is difficult. The author provides a couple of reasonably detailed maps of the principal combat area between Caen and Falaise that help considerably. But Blackburn is at his best when describing the isolated experiences of himself and others interviewed for the history. At one point, exhausted infantry grunts resting alongside a road stand up and cheer a passing arty column, something of a pleasant surprise to the latter, which apparently suffered an inferiority complex relative to the "footsloggers". At another, a trooper notable for his compulsive attention to personal appearance and hygiene jumps off a vehicle in darkness and lands on, and breaks through, the bloated belly of a dead bovine. Yuk! And definitely my favorite, a liberated French farmer gratefully invites a couple of 4th Field troopers over to the house to have dinner and sleep with his two teenage daughters. (They took the offer. War is hell.) But the reader might be left wondering what the mademoiselles thought.
There are two sections of photos that come primarily from government (rather than private) sources, and which mostly depict either equipment (tanks, field guns, transport vehicles) or the devastating damage inflicted on French towns and fleeing German columns. There are absolutely none of the author taken either then or since, a deficiency I deplore as I'd like to put a human face on the words of the man. (George, how about an autographed snap of you in uniform?)
The net effect of THE GUNS OF NORMANDY is to emphatically make the point that Canada's forces held the Wehrmacht by the nose in a bitter life or death struggle south of Caen while Georgie Patton's 3rd U.S. Army waltzed all the way to Paris through the lightly defended German left flank. One's opinion of the Canadians' sacrifices and fighting abilities - in the face of enemy action, demoralizing "friendly bombing" incidents, dysentery, lice, prolonged sleeplessness, poor rations, heat, dust, rain, and mud - must necessarily increase to that nation's profound honor. My perception of the Normandy struggle has been forever altered.
I eagerly anticipate reading THE GUNS OF VICTORY.
without peer.......2004-01-10
One of the nice things about reviewing for the Amazon sites, is the wonderful people you "met". Recently, Mark Blackburn, the son of this author, contacted me concerning three books his father wrote. My main focus of interest in history was medieval Scotland and England, with a secondary interest in the War Between the States of the US. Hand me a book on either topic and I am in history maven's haven. Mention WWII - I know the period - but it held a lesser interest to me, so purchases books on the era generally takes second seat. However, Mark interested me in his father's books; they sounded so rich with detail, being a first person account. I was lucky to locate copies of all three books. I truly thank Mark for pointing me in their directions.
I always loved the works of Bruce Catton on the US Civil War, because they were not dates and stale history; he was the master conductor for a time machine. When you read his works, you were there! Few historical writers really reach that depth, and yet still make the history so vital and alive.
I must say George Blackburn is in that league. I am just sorry he stopped writing at these three works; he is a great talent. They came in, and frankly, I was backlogged with review requests so I figured it would be weeks before I could get to them. I picked up this one, just to read a bit to get a feel for his style of writing. FOUR HOURS later, I returned to present day and was shocked so much time had passed. Never have I seen anyone make WWII so alive and accessible...you are there. But it's not just in that time travel feel, where you forget you are reading and experience it - it's his observations that are so incisive that go way beyond other historians of the period. It's it so easy to stand back and be an "armchair general", point fingers and blame this unit or that unit with failing to do what was commanded. He makes you see the men, the shoddy uniforms, the hardship of chronic dysentery from bad food and terrible living conditions, yet they were still expected to march miles! He makes you see the ridiculous odds the Yanks, Brits and Canadians faced with having tanks that were so inferior to the Germany Tigers. More than that, he shows where command KNEW this and yet no one voiced objections except the poor man depending on that tank to save his life!
I loved how he pointed out men could vividly recall the horrors, the loss of life, of friends dying - the emotions - rather than actual details of the battle, the logic of a man scared to his very bones doing what he had to do to protect his country.
This is a work without peer for WWII. If you are interested in this era, I cannot recommend them highly enough.
Customer Reviews:
Wonderful Book about a wonderful woman.......2001-01-09
This is a very intellegent book about the speeches of Barbara Jordan. The author connects history, politics, and religion in a way that gives you a complete picture of Barbara Jordan's life. . .
Amazon.com
A March 2007 Significant 7 Editors' Pick: Not since Fight Club have a I read a book that sizzled with such fierce originality and searing vision as Steven Hall's electrifying debut novel, The Raw Shark Texts. It's a twisting, trippy thriller that tears through the landscape of language, revealing the lurking terrors uncovered in every letter of the written word. Steven Hall swims in the same surreal waters as pop-culture pioneers David Lynch and Michel Gondry, and The Raw Shark Texts deserves to be shelved somewhere between Trainspotting and Life of Pi. It pulls you under like a riptide, leaving you exhausted, exhilarated, and gasping for air.
But don't just take our word for it. We asked Audrey Niffenegger, one of the most creative contemporary writers working today, to share with readers her take on Steven Hall's debut novel, The Raw Shark Texts. Check out her exclusive Amazon guest review below. --Brad Thomas Parsons
Guest Reviewer: Audrey Niffenegger
Audrey Niffenegger is a professor in the Interdisciplinary Books Arts MFA Program at the Columbia College Chicago Center for Book and Paper Arts. A visual artist, she shows her artwork at Printworks Gallery in Chicago. The Time Traveler's Wife, her first novel, was an international bestseller and was one of Amazon.com's Best Books of 2003. It won several awards and is being made into a major motion picture. Her visual novels, The Three Incestuous Sisters and The Adventuress, were recently published by Harry N. Abrams. Miss Niffenegger is currently hard at work on her second novel, Her Fearful Symmetry, a ghost story set in London's Highgate Cemetery.
Eric Sanderson has lost his memory, his girl, his life as he once knew it. His pre-amnesiac self is sending him letters, a sort of correspondence course on how to be Eric Sanderson. Unfortunately, this previous self didn't really have it all together either. This is too bad, because the source of all the trouble is a conceptual shark, a Ludovician shark, no less. Soon Eric is on the run, trying to piece it all together and find true love before his mind gets wiped by the shark for the twelfth and probably final time.
Steven Hall is an inventive, funny and extremely smart writer. I am a letterpress printer and a typophile, and I was drawn to his book because of the typography: The Raw Shark Texts is riddled with typographic games, codes, a flip book, and a boatload of very elegant plot devices that hinge on collisions between the Information Age and the imagination. At one point Eric and Scout, his guide/love interest, are speeding away from the conceptual shark on a motorbike. Scout eludes the shark by exploding a letter bomb, a bomb made out of old metal type; the type diverts the shark into a stream of random letterforms. At this I practically fell off the couch with admiration.
There's plenty to groove on in The Raw Sharks Texts even if you're not a type maven. There's echoes of Cyberpunk, Borges, Auster; there is adventure on the high seas, lost love, an exploration of what it means to be human in the age of intelligent machines. The Raw Sharks Texts is huge fun, and I gleefully recommend it. --Audrey Niffenegger
Books:
- Trumped!: The Inside Story of the Real Donald Trump-His Cunning Rise and Spectacular Fall
- Trust No One: The Glamorous Life and Bizarre Death of Doris Duke
- Turn Left at the Sleeping Dog: Scripting the Santa Fe Legend, 1920-1955
- Verdura: The Life and Work of a Master Jeweler
- Wealth Well-Given: The Enterprise and Benevolence of Lord Nuffield (Biography, Letters & Diaries)
- Whims of Fortune: The Memoirs of Guy De Rothschild
- Wildcatters: A Story of Texans, Oil, and Money
- Winfield: Living in the Shadow of the Woolworths
- A. Philip Randolph: A Biographical Portrait
- A Prison Diary: Vol. One
Books Index
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