Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: Bixby on December 13, 2021, 12:37:25 AM
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I just finished reading "Samurai" , the autobiography of Saburo Sakai. And now reading "The Blond Knight of Germany" which is a biography of Erich Hartmann's life and time flying for Germany in WWII and becoming the worlds highest scoring fighter pilot of all time.
Just a thought for any flight nut or anyone interested.
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In deference to this time... Dune by Frank Herbert
:salute
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read samurai years ago, was a good book.
semp
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In deference to this time... Dune by Frank Herbert
:salute
On a parallel with Dune is The Mote in God's Eye. Those two are my go to sci-fi works.
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Yes Ramesis...Dune is one of my all time Favorites. I read it when I was in High school in the 60's.
Decoy...the Mote in God's Eye rings a bell. Not sure if I read that one or not.
Another of my scifi favorites was "Childhoods End". Oh, and "Battlefield Earth".
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Loved the Mote in God's Eye, great book. Another Really good one in my opinion, is "Old Man's War" by John Scalzi. The whole series is a blast. "The Forever War" by Joe Haldeman has a nice twist to it. I think for the Pacific theatre of war, I really liked Robert Leckie's "Strong Men Armed".
ULDieter
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Loved the Mote in God's Eye, great book. Another Really good one in my opinion, is "Old Man's War" by John Scalzi. The whole series is a blast. "The Forever War" by Joe Haldeman has a nice twist to it. I think for the Pacific theatre of war, I really liked Robert Leckie's "Strong Men Armed".
ULDieter
For WWII Pacific Theater operations, a good fiction writer is W.E.B. Griffin, which is William Edmund Butterworth's pen name. His series The Corps spends a lot of time talking about the Marine invasion of Guadalcanal. His Honor Bound series also details life on Guadalcanal. The Fighting Agents series begins with Naval pilots recruited by Gen. Claire Chenault for service in the American Volunteer Group, also known as The Flying Tigers. Griffin is very historically accurate with his writing, although he does take literary license with the names of people involved. I also recommend his Brotherhood of War series, which chronicles the development of Army Aviation from puddle jumpers used to spot artillery to what it became in the 1960s.
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Yes Ramesis...Dune is one of my all time Favorites. I read it when I was in High school in the 60's.
Decoy...the Mote in God's Eye rings a bell. Not sure if I read that one or not.
Another of my scifi favorites was "Childhoods End". Oh, and "Battlefield Earth".
That was a great book, I was soooooo disappointed when the movie came out, what a joke!
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That was a great book, I was soooooo disappointed when the movie came out, what a joke!
The first or Dune Part 1...
I really hate they split Dune into 2 parts... I would not mind but
I guess I need to stay alive until the part 2 is released :cheers:
:salute
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The first or Dune Part 1...
I really hate they split Dune into 2 parts... I would not mind but
I guess I need to stay alive until the part 2 is released :cheers:
:salute
No I was talking about battlefield earth. The newest Dune was fantastic but the movie people were worried about it doing well so they didnt even order the second one until the first was already released. So ya, got to stay alive until the next one comes out.
Books are always better than the movies, but now and then they get it together just right.
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Books are always better than the movies, but now and then they get it together just right.
Always, because the director's perception of the events in the book is never the same as that of the individual reader. The best example I can point to is the mini-series Lonesome Dove. That's because McMurtry originally wrote the book as a script for a mini-series. He' couldn't sell it, so he re-wrote it as a television series with a two hour premiere/pilot that was the cattle drive, but that wouldn't sell. So he said, "Screw them, I'll write the book I want to write," and wrote a Pulitzer Prize winner. When Hollywood got in touch with his agent about a possible mini-series, it was already done.
Books allow you to get inside a character's head, movies just don't, no matter how good the narrative. Just my opinion.
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All lies Americans do not read books.
They just eat all the time.
Origins of the 2nd world war -AJP Taylor :)
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The Bible..... oh wait... ok. I thought you meant... awww never mind.
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If you own a dog or have had one in the past you might enjoy
Suspect, by Robert Crais. He has had several New York Times best sellers.
It is written through the eyes of the dog’s owner and through the eyes of his dog. There is fast action and you will most likely finish it in three days. I enjoyed it.
:salute
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I'm going to give a plug to a new friend's books. Barrett Tillman hooked us up. Tom Cleaver sent me four books to read, and asked me to post a review to Amazon in exchange. "Pull no punches", he said.
Well, after almost two months of reading, I finally finished his "Pacific War Quadrilogy". What is this? Cleaver's four volumes of WWII Pacific war aviation history. These books focus on Naval and Army Air Force Aviation, but Cleaver does not exclude other events and services. Indeed, he weaves every event in the Pacific war into a stunning narrative. I was very pleased and entertained with all of them.
When I use the term “narrative”, I refer to his page turning flow that grabs one's attention and keeps it. There have been other highly readable and compelling narratives written on warfare. Shelby Foote's huge three volume history on the American Civil War has been the standard on the topic. Cleaver has achieved something very similar with his four volumes. I will compare it to Tolkien's fantasy Lord of the Rings trilogy in terms of readability and construction. Comparing Cleaver's work to Foote and Tolkien places him in rarefied company. Yet, I do not hesitate to do so within the context of the subject matter.
Perhaps, it results from Cleaver's aviation experience. More than that, I believe, his ability is an amalgam of his natural story telling talent, fine tuned by his experience as a screen writer. Add to that his researching skills and many, many contacts with veterans, and the result is a outstanding narrative that covers prewar to postwar.
These four volumes, “I Will Run Wild”, “Under the Southern Cross”, “Pacific Thunder” and “Tidal Wave” should best be read in consecutive order. All of them are outstanding alone. However, in sequence, they provide what may be the best all-inclusive history of the Pacific war. Cleaver details the interim event between the major engagements, such as the Battle of the Coral Sea, Midway, Guadalcanal and the like. In between these major battles were many lesser, but still important events. Cleaver fills in the gaps, focused upon the aviators, sailors and soldiers who performed incredible heroic acts. Yet, he also provides detailed history of the prior or subsequent major engagements.
Consider those U.S. service personnel and civilians, scattered throughout the Pacific on outposts and peacetime deployments. Those, who immediately after Pearl Harbor, fighting with obsolete equipment, having little to no support, performed near miracles. Cleaver brings their remarkable stories to life in “I will Run Wild”.
“Under the Southern Cross” details the air and sea campaign in the SWPA theater. Cleaver fills the narrative with compelling story telling of the air war and the extremely important sea engagements, where American failure often teetered on the ragged edge.
“Pacific Thunder” defines the events, from where the U.S. Navy was hanging on by its finger tips, through the rapid growth of air and naval power from the summer of 1943, through the largest naval engagement in history: The Battles of Leyte Gulf, where thereafter, Japanese naval power simply ceased to exist.
“Tidal Wave” provides a detailed account of the greatest naval force the world had ever seen. Cleaver picks up after Leyte Gulf and carries the reader through the final ten months of the Pacific war. It is engrossing and Cleaver brings home the terror of Japanese kamikaze assaults and the end of Japan's ability to project conventional military power. Cleaver leads us through those events that led to the shores of the Japanese home islands.
Within his four volume narrative, Cleaver doesn't hesitate to skewer false history. He does not perpetuate mythology. He corrects the mythology and gives credit where it is due, often to those long overdue the recognition and overlooked by less detail oriented writers.
Simply stated, these four volumes should be on every must have list of WWII aviation and history enthusiasts.
I was so enthralled in these volumes, that I purchased them as audio books as well, so that I could continue to enjoy them while driving or working around our home. So, he ended up selling me books anyway! :)
Prior to reading Cleaver's “quadrilogy”, I had read several of Mr. Cleaver's other works. These include, “Holding the Line”, “Fabled Fifteen” and “The Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club”. All highly recommended. Some of you may already have some of Tom's books. I did find a factual error in "Holding the Line". It related to aircraft performance, and having copies of related Navy test data, I sent him copies for his own records. It wasn't an important mistake, but the type of error people like me would instantly spot. He was exceptionally gracious with this minor criticism. Apparently, his publisher's tech editor missed it.
All four volumes described above are available in hardcover, soft cover, Kindle and Audible audiobooks from Amazon.
(https://scontent.ftpa1-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/264973519_10227572825891617_1107758026506939094_n.jpg?_nc_cat=100&ccb=1-5&_nc_sid=825194&_nc_ohc=TLwSJwo2CuEAX-v27Wh&tn=mE4RSPDbXiADSEEa&_nc_ht=scontent.ftpa1-2.fna&oh=00_AT-Kl2KmBJ4b3YHoIyD4-NT1wkde2wZuf3bZeL7nYhjI4w&oe=61CF7F15)
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Thanks for the heads-up, Widewing. Many of us will now add these to our collection.
In the meantime: Where the heck have you been?
- oldman
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Hey there! I retired in Feb 2020. A few years prior, I lost my wife to cancer. Remarried in Nov 2019. Sold my Long Island home, living on Florida's Space Coast. I have a consulting contract with my former aerospace employer. Keeps me busy a few hours, several days a week. We've been traveling some. Enjoying my hobby of pistol shooting. Had double cataract surgery in October. New eyes... Confirmed what the old eyes and mirror showed me... Still funny looking. Been doing some manuscript editing. Swimming two miles, 5 times a week. Bicycling many of Florida's State and Federal parks. Bought the wife an electric mountain bike. Now tables are turned. I have to work hard to keep up with her. All in all, enjoying my retirement. How have you been? Healthy, I hope.
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Hey there! I retired in Feb 2020. A few years prior, I lost my wife to cancer. Remarried in Nov 2019. Sold my Long Island home, living on Florida's Space Coast. I have a consulting contract with my former aerospace employer. Keeps me busy a few hours, several days a week. We've been traveling some. Enjoying my hobby of pistol shooting. Had double cataract surgery in October. New eyes... Confirmed what the old eyes and mirror showed me... Still funny looking. Been doing some manuscript editing. Swimming two miles, 5 times a week. Bicycling many of Florida's State and Federal parks. Bought the wife an electric mountain bike. Now tables are turned. I have to work hard to keep up with her. All in all, enjoying my retirement. How have you been? Healthy, I hope.
Sounds like you're a happy retiree, good to hear. Lawyers die at their desks, so no retirement here, although I've managed to eliminate the international cases. Had a TIA and lost my medical, so AH is the next best thing. SPEAKING OF WHICH, you should come back and give it a try.
- oldman
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Hey there! I retired in Feb 2020.
I retired in 2007 and honestly, if I had to take a job today at 40 hours/week, I don't know where I'd find the time. For someone with no real job, I'm the busiest SOB I know. Go. Fight. Win. Or not.
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I've read everything Barrett Tillman has written, great author IMO, his book "Warriors" featuring the F20 was a favorite of mine in high school. 6th Battle was a good fiction book as well, his non fiction stuff is excellent IMO. Thanks for that post Widewing, I'll add a bunch of those to my list for the new year.
A great aviation author that doesn't get much attention is Mark Berent. He has a 5 book series featuring the Vietnam war, a lot of his experiences are woven into the story, and they are all excellent. He has a few non fiction books as well. Rolling Thunder is his first book, Steel Tiger the second, and they are worth every penny.
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Sounds like you're a happy retiree, good to hear. Lawyers die at their desks, so no retirement here, although I've managed to eliminate the international cases. Had a TIA and lost my medical, so AH is the next best thing. SPEAKING OF WHICH, you should come back and give it a try.
- oldman
Oldman forgot to mention you rejoining the Training Corp, too. Perhaps you're the anointed one, who could strip away my 20+ years of unbridled dweebery. :devil