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Post by Ronv69 on Mar 10, 2021 20:01:54 GMT -5
Starting Ulick O’Connor’s MICHAEL COLLINS & THE TROUBLES.
I am about halfway through this now based on your recommendation. Very good book.
His first name is Ulick!!! Man, I bet that colors his life.
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Post by fadingdaylight on Mar 10, 2021 20:15:23 GMT -5
I am about halfway through this now based on your recommendation. Very good book.
His first name is Ulick!!! Man, I bet that colors his life. Seriously, can you imagine what middle school was like for this guy?
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Post by toshtego on Mar 10, 2021 20:20:37 GMT -5
The Fall of Constantinople 1453 by Steven Runciman. A Cambridge History Don.
When things go wrong.....
BY 1453 C-Town was much in the bag. The Italians had taken over most of Christianity and the Greeks were not up to resisting the growing power of the Ottomans. A sad ending to an important historical period, the Byzantine Empire. Ottomans were not especially kindly in their take over but could have been worse. A pivotal point, the end of the Medieval by some accounts.
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Post by Ronv69 on Mar 10, 2021 20:35:17 GMT -5
His first name is Ulick!!! Man, I bet that colors his life. Seriously, can you imagine what middle school was like for this guy? Exactly what I was thinking.
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Post by Plainsman on Mar 10, 2021 20:41:29 GMT -5
Seriously, can you imagine what middle school was like for this guy? Exactly what I was thinking. Probably not as bad as Americans like to think. The name is actually Uilleac. He has evidently chosen to Anglicize his name as there is no K in the Irish alphabet.
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Post by Ronv69 on Mar 10, 2021 21:01:37 GMT -5
Exactly what I was thinking. Probably not as bad as Americans like to think. The name is actually Uilleac. He has evidently chosen to Anglicize his name as there is no K in the Irish alphabet. He should have put more thought into it.
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Post by Plainsman on Mar 10, 2021 22:30:58 GMT -5
Working my way through Bruce Chatwin’s PATAGONIA— the book that supposedly “changed travel-writing for all time.” Chatwin writes in a deceptively simple, straight-forward style, the sentences both sparse and lush at the same time. And always there are layers of meaning behind them. I was surprised by his enduring interest in Robert Leroy Parker and Harry Rudabaugh, of whom the Pampas is rich in lore, legends, and maybe even some truths that are not yet, or ever will be proven. I like this book, and so far I can recommend it heartily.
Finished. A remarkable book. One that could stand to be re-read. I almost never do that, but might with this one.
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Post by Ronv69 on Mar 11, 2021 10:52:46 GMT -5
Julius Ceasar by William Shakespeare. Man, that guy could write! As many times as I have read it it still pulls me in and stirs my emotions.
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Post by toshtego on Mar 11, 2021 12:51:53 GMT -5
Julius Ceasar by William Shakespeare. Man, that guy could write! As many times as I have read it it still pulls me in and stirs my emotions. Truly! I recently watched the 1953 movie of the play directed by Joe Mankiewicz. John Gielgud, Louis Calhern, Marlon Brando, James Mason, among other notables. Worth watching if you love the play.
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Post by terrapinflyer on Mar 14, 2021 6:42:56 GMT -5
_Republic of Lies_, Anna Merlin. Conspiracy theorists in modern America. I'm only about halfway through, but I would recommend it to anyone interested in understanding recent American history on another level.
Also, because I usually have one fiction and one non- going at the same time, _My Absolute Darling_, by Gabriel Tallent. It's a rather disturbing novel and the protagonist is a 14 year old girl bring raped by her father.
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Post by Ronv69 on Mar 16, 2021 19:37:46 GMT -5
_Republic of Lies_, Anna Merlin. Conspiracy theorists in modern America. I'm only about halfway through, but I would recommend it to anyone interested in understanding recent American history on another level. Also, because I usually have one fiction and one non- going at the same time, _My Absolute Darling_, by Gabriel Tallent. It's a rather disturbing novel and the protagonist is a 14 year old girl bring raped by her father. I used to make fun of the conspiracy theorists until it all came true.
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Post by toshtego on Mar 16, 2021 21:54:40 GMT -5
_Republic of Lies_, Anna Merlin. Conspiracy theorists in modern America. I'm only about halfway through, but I would recommend it to anyone interested in understanding recent American history on another level. Also, because I usually have one fiction and one non- going at the same time, _My Absolute Darling_, by Gabriel Tallent. It's a rather disturbing novel and the protagonist is a 14 year old girl bring raped by her father. I used to make fun of the conspiracy theorists until it all came true. We all know the Earth is flat. Let us stop kidding ourselves about it.
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Post by Ronv69 on Mar 16, 2021 21:57:35 GMT -5
I used to make fun of the conspiracy theorists until it all came true. We all know the Earth is flat. Let us stop kidding ourselves about it. It's got to be concave because no matter what direction I walk it's always up hill.
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Post by toshtego on Mar 16, 2021 21:57:57 GMT -5
Based on the recommendations of others here, I started The Winter King. This is Cornwell's first "Arthur" book. You know, Round Table, Lancelot, Lady in the Lake, Sword in the stone. Yeah, that Arthur. Good detail of the era, the Fifth Century. The darkness is all around since them Romans went home. Most of the Druids have been killed. A few remain. Wwe shall see what mysteries men and women can weave!!!!
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Post by Ronv69 on Mar 16, 2021 22:00:09 GMT -5
Based on the recommendations of others here, I started The Winter King. This is Cornwell's first "Arthur" book. You know, Round Table, Lancelot, Lady in the Lake, Sword in the stone. Yeah, that Arthur. Good detail of the era, the Fifth Century. The darkness is all around since them Romans went home. Most of the Druids have been killed. A few remain. Wwe shall see what mysteries men and women can weave!!!! I've had that book since it came out but I haven't opened it yet. So many books, so little time.
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Post by instymp on Mar 17, 2021 18:01:10 GMT -5
_Republic of Lies_, Anna Merlin. Conspiracy theorists in modern America. I'm only about halfway through, but I would recommend it to anyone interested in understanding recent American history on another level. Also, because I usually have one fiction and one non- going at the same time, _My Absolute Darling_, by Gabriel Tallent. It's a rather disturbing novel and the protagonist is a 14 year old girl bring raped by her father. I used to make fun of the conspiracy theorists until it all came true. Kinda scary huh.
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Post by toshtego on Mar 17, 2021 18:34:15 GMT -5
Based on the recommendations of others here, I started The Winter King. This is Cornwell's first "Arthur" book. You know, Round Table, Lancelot, Lady in the Lake, Sword in the stone. Yeah, that Arthur. Good detail of the era, the Fifth Century. The darkness is all around since them Romans went home. Most of the Druids have been killed. A few remain. Wwe shall see what mysteries men and women can weave!!!! I've had that book since it came out but I haven't opened it yet. So many books, so little time. It might be the first of a Trilogy?
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Post by Ronv69 on Mar 17, 2021 19:26:18 GMT -5
I've had that book since it came out but I haven't opened it yet. So many books, so little time. It might be the first of a Trilogy? Yeah, it's 3 or 4 books.
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Post by Ronv69 on Mar 17, 2021 19:30:49 GMT -5
Just finished reading a silly space opera. Cross between John Wick and The Adventures of Tom Stranger, Interdimensional Insurance Agent. Called Requiem for Medusa. I think the writer could do better.
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Post by zver on Mar 17, 2021 19:39:33 GMT -5
Rereading the Rust book. It is documentation for the Rust programming language.
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Post by Ronv69 on Mar 17, 2021 19:46:04 GMT -5
Rereading the Rust book. It is documentation for the Rust programming language. Welcome back! You've been away for a while.
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Post by zver on Mar 17, 2021 19:51:45 GMT -5
Rereading the Rust book. It is documentation for the Rust programming language. Welcome back! You've been away for a while. Thank you! I have been busy. I have been spending a lot more time at home on my computer. Mainly doing some programming. I missed this place. It is a warm comfortable place to read about smoking pipes and day to day life.
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Post by Stearmandriver on Mar 18, 2021 1:17:18 GMT -5
Just finished "Devotion" by Adam Makos.
I read his other book, "A Higher Call" last year and it was great, and I'm a sucker for Corsairs, so it was a no-brainer to read when I found out about it. It's a true story chronicling a couple pilots - one of them the first black naval aviator - during the Korean War. They're shooting the movie now (which is how I found out about it... there probably haven't been that many Corsairs in one place since they shot Black Sheep Squadron, it tends to garner attention lol).
Anyway, great story. One of those that can restore your faith in human nature a bit.
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Post by Plainsman on Mar 18, 2021 9:10:32 GMT -5
This is not a current book, but one I read recently and wanted to recommend. TIGER by John Vaillant. The particular tiger in question is a Siberian, a man-hunter and -eater. The book is rich in information about Siberian Russia and the people who live and work in that strange and difficult environment. In some ways it is a terrifying book, but well worth it. It’s one of the most remarkable books I have read in the last couple of years. You will admire the tiger and the tiger hunters in about equal measure.
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Post by Ronv69 on Mar 18, 2021 10:00:16 GMT -5
Just finished "Devotion" by Adam Makos. I read his other book, "A Higher Call" last year and it was great, and I'm a sucker for Corsairs, so it was a no-brainer to read when I found out about it. It's a true story chronicling a couple pilots - one of them the first black naval aviator - during the Korean War. They're shooting the movie now (which is how I found out about it... there probably haven't been that many Corsairs in one place since they shot Black Sheep Squadron, it tends to garner attention lol). Anyway, great story. One of those that can restore your faith in human nature a bit. The Corsair is such a cool plane. I built a model when I was a kid, but I never realized how big they were until I saw one at the Texas Air Force museum.
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Post by Ronv69 on Mar 18, 2021 10:06:13 GMT -5
I started reading one of the Jack Reacher books by Lee Child. I know that he is hugely successful, but he is one of the worst writers I have ever picked up. The worst thing is that he writes about guns like he is totally unfamiliar with them. Everything he says about them is wrong. I put it down after the first chapter and started a book by Larry Corriea, who knows his stuff and writes a fun book too.
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Post by Plainsman on Mar 18, 2021 10:18:45 GMT -5
“The Corsair is such a cool plane. I built a model when I was a kid, but I never realized how big they were until I saw one at the Texas Air Force museum.“
In first grade we made trivets for Mother’s Day, on some kind of composition board that was then heated to melt the crayon and then coated with some kind of heat resistant film. Mine horrified the teacher— in the foreground an army truck with the rising sun on the side, out of which flew in every direction stick-figure Japs (today “Japanese Soldiers”, then, in 1945, “Japs”). In the background, gull-wing exaggerated, came a head-on Corsair spewing bullets. Loved the Corsair!
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Post by Ronv69 on Mar 18, 2021 10:21:32 GMT -5
“The Corsair is such a cool plane. I built a model when I was a kid, but I never realized how big they were until I saw one at the Texas Air Force museum.“ In first grade we made trivets for Mother’s Day, on some kind of composition board that was then heated to melt the crayon and then coated with some kind of heat resistant film. Mine horrified the teacher— in the foreground an army truck with the rising sun on the side, out of which flew in every direction stick-figure Japs (today “Japanese Soldiers”, then, in 1945, “Japs”). In the background, gull-wing exaggerated, came a head-on Corsair spewing bullets. Loved the Corsair! 🤣
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Post by Plainsman on Mar 18, 2021 10:52:49 GMT -5
“The Corsair is such a cool plane. I built a model when I was a kid, but I never realized how big they were until I saw one at the Texas Air Force museum.“ In first grade we made trivets for Mother’s Day, on some kind of composition board that was then heated to melt the crayon and then coated with some kind of heat resistant film. Mine horrified the teacher— in the foreground an army truck with the rising sun on the side, out of which flew in every direction stick-figure Japs (today “Japanese Soldiers”, then, in 1945, “Japs”). In the background, gull-wing exaggerated, came a head-on Corsair spewing bullets. Loved the Corsair! 🤣 I had two uncles in the Pacific, in very hot zones. They were Japs.
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Post by Ronv69 on Mar 18, 2021 10:55:20 GMT -5
I had two uncles in the Pacific, in very hot zones. They were Japs. I had two cousins on Corregidor. Maybe they knew each other.
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