Brain Candy

This blog had as one of it's original ideas a running record of my reading. This in turn would encourage (I was hoping) more reading.

I've been working so much (doesn't that sound better than I've been to too lazy?), so serious reading has been non-existent. But I have done some reading:

The more observant might have noticed that my Amazon box in the sidebar changed to Pompeii by Robert Harris. This was a loan from the wife's cousin-in-law (is there such a thing?). This was a real page-turner for me. I love ancient history, especially Rome. So I finished this in a day or so, mentally comparing the seemingly fastidious research of this book to that of Duh Vinci Code.

We Were Soldiers Once by Lt. Gen. Harold G. Moore (Ret.) and Joseph L. Galloway was a loaner as well. As a veteran of Vietnam it was of interest to me anyway. One of the crucial decision points in the Viietnam War was in 1964-5, when Johnson decided to commit large numbers of ground troops. I saw the movie with Mel Gibson and quite enjoyed it. The book has much more detail and a nasty finish (the movie more or less covers the first battle and leaves the nasty, stupid second one out). But it was enjoyable at any rate.

Last Man Out by James E. Parker was the last of the loaners. But I've tended to avoid anything to do with the war given my own ambiguous feelings about that enterprise. And anything to do with the shameful (to me) ending has been a definite no-no. But I did finish this one. It wouldn't be appropriate to say I enjoyed it. But it was a worthwhile read. What should we have learnt from this failure?

And now to the brain candy of the title. The youngest daughter has been enthusiastically reading some of the books by Clive Cussler. This since she watched Sahara.

As it has been a talking point for us, I agreed to read some of the books. But being the obsessive-compulsive type, I wanted to read the Dirk Pitt series in chronological order. This had the additional benefit of giving her boyfriend and I something to talk about, since he's doing the same thing.

So He's been bringing the books to me, one at a time as I finish the previous one. So far I've read The Mediterranean Caper, Iceberg, Raise the Titanic! and Vixen 03.

This is not by any means an endorsement of the books. The over-sexed, irresistible hero seems so faux James Bond to me. Ian Fleming was a favourite of mine years ago. And the wife and I used to love going to the movies when they came out, though we've stopped of late. When the fantasy sexuality of the hero combined with the morally repugnant profession (he's an assassin, right?) began to bother me I stopped watching the movies.

At least Dirk isn't an assassin, but his character isn't exactly deeply written either. It's more stubbornness and the hope of continuing the conversations with the youngest and her boyfriend that keep me going. I hope to persevere until Sahara, but that's seven more of these books. So we'll see.

While the boyfriend is out of country I have an opportunity to do something more intellectual, so I've borrowed The Force of Reason by Oriana Fallaci from the library. Hopefully I'll have it and one or two others finished before my supplier returns and I resume reading the Cussler series.