tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post8962692957256373358..comments2024-03-28T10:16:38.716-04:00Comments on SleuthSayers: Move Over, Capt. AhabLeigh Lundinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921276795499571578noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-27117651316447768782015-12-22T14:47:58.870-05:002015-12-22T14:47:58.870-05:00Thanks, Art--best to you and family as well. And ...Thanks, Art--best to you and family as well. And thanks for giving me the idea for this post . . .John Floydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04001712728130488485noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-55544314323860919472015-12-22T08:49:30.820-05:002015-12-22T08:49:30.820-05:00Hey, John --
I'm slowly catching up on everyth...Hey, John --<br />I'm slowly catching up on <i>everything</i> now that the semester has ended and grades have been turned in--and wanted to say I enjoyed your column here! I know you mentioned being hesitant about echoing any points from my column, but really I love the idea of conversation here, responding, elaborating, building counterarguments, building clarity--and now I'm going to have to read that Philbrick book myself! (I'd rather do that than see the movie, I'll admit....)<br />Happy holidays to you and yours—and hope to see you again soon!<br />ArtArt Taylorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02409008167752619352noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-26010536693426481042015-12-20T00:10:59.512-05:002015-12-20T00:10:59.512-05:00Good thoughts, Leigh--thank you. I've not rea...Good thoughts, Leigh--thank you. I've not read either of the books you mentioned, but they have now been noted. As for books read and movies seen long ago, you are correct that they sometimes leave far different impressions years later--but I usually enjoy rereading/reviewing them for that very reason.<br /><br />I too love sea stories, and remember some dandies by both Clive Cussler and Alistair MacLean. And, of course, Peter Benchley. After all this talk of oldtime sea voyages, I might have to dig out my DVD of <i>Mutiny on the Bounty</i>. John Floydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04001712728130488485noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-40868438400276680122015-12-19T23:56:41.479-05:002015-12-19T23:56:41.479-05:00John, same views, same feelings here. You can stil...John, same views, same feelings here. You can still find a whaling ship in Mystic, Connecticut, the Morgan.<br /><br />Further thoughts:<br /><br />1. In the 5th or 6th grade, I read Richard Henry Dana’s <i>Two Years Before the Mast</i>. I’m not sure if I realized the adventure was non-fiction before I began, but I loved it. I’ve not re-read it since, so I wonder how I might view it as an adult.<br /><br />2. Joseph Conrad spent a large part of his career at sea, which really adds verisimilitude to his sea stories.<br /><br />3. Erskine Childers’ <i>The Riddle of the Sands: A Record of Secret Service</i> is a novel but one with considerable background and forevision– Childers intended the story (often ranked in the top 10 of spy novels) to serve as a warning to an unprepared Britain the unthinkable– that Germany was planning toward war.<br /><br />I loved sea stories (especially deep sea stories) as a kid, but I didn’t realize until I was an adult that my tiny Midwestern mother was a Horatio Hornblower fan.Leigh Lundinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07921276795499571578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-410854650676203332015-12-19T17:03:41.315-05:002015-12-19T17:03:41.315-05:00Thanks, Eve! I've read only two of those seve...Thanks, Eve! I've read only two of those seven: <i>After the Ice</i> and <i>A Sultry Month</i>. I appreciate the list!John Floydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04001712728130488485noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-90927101337771107702015-12-19T16:51:34.729-05:002015-12-19T16:51:34.729-05:00I've read THE CHILDREN'S BLIZZARD, and (of...I've read THE CHILDREN'S BLIZZARD, and (of course) all the Laura Ingalls Wilder books, and having lived up here in South Dakota for the last 25 years, I can tell you they're pretty accurate. The winter of 1996-97 was memorable, to put it mildly. <br /><br />Great non-fiction books? <br />After the Ice: A Global Human History 20,000-5,000 BC by Steven Mithin. There's a lot of flesh on them thar bones when he gets through with them....<br />Plagues and Peoples by William McNeill - pleasant dreams.<br />The Death of Woman Wang by Jonathan Spence (phenomenal about an almost anonymous woman in 17th century China)<br />God's Chinese Son by Jonathan Spence (the wildly improbable life of the founder of the Taiping Rebellion)<br />A Sultry Month: Scenes of London Literary Life in 1846 by Alethea Hayter (includes suicide, drug addiction, seduction, elopement, etc.)<br />A Midwife's Tale by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich (from the diaries of an 18th century American midwife in New England)<br />The Unredeemed Captive by John Demos (early American story of a Native American captive who never came home)<br /><br />Eve Fisherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03015761600962360110noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-64806889730317956842015-12-19T14:04:38.809-05:002015-12-19T14:04:38.809-05:00Interesting! I really do have to read some of his...Interesting! I really do have to read some of his books. And thanks for the education--I'm good at knowing/remembering just enough about something to be wrong about it.<br /><br />By the way, my plan is to go tomorrow afternoon to a showing of <i>In the Heart of the Sea</i>--so I will at least be knowledgeable about that.John Floydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04001712728130488485noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-67661911961353769282015-12-19T13:35:08.186-05:002015-12-19T13:35:08.186-05:00Oh, I meant to say, he also wrote a book about his...Oh, I meant to say, he also wrote a book about his family called, speaking of titles, THE FAMILY. One third went to Israel. One came to the U.S. (and invented the bra... Maidenform Company), and the others stayed in Germany and you know how that worked out for them.Robert Loprestihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08844889305615182897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-7889367795770365592015-12-19T13:33:40.294-05:002015-12-19T13:33:40.294-05:00John, actually the book was about the LITERATURE o...John, actually the book was about the LITERATURE of the weather of the northwest. People have been trying to describe it on paper for hundreds of years. THe title was brilliant: RAINS ALL THE TIME. Sums it up.<br />Robert Loprestihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08844889305615182897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-34365561666468614722015-12-19T12:55:35.841-05:002015-12-19T12:55:35.841-05:00You guys are making me cold just talking about thi...You guys are making me cold just talking about this. We're supposed to have a high of 80 during Christmas week, here in the south, which suits me just fine.<br /><br />Rob, I think Laskin also wrote, years ago, a book about the rainy weather in your Pacific Northwest. Can't remember the name of it.John Floydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04001712728130488485noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-88017089541103374452015-12-19T12:44:59.792-05:002015-12-19T12:44:59.792-05:00B.K.
Wilder gets mentioned in Laskin's book....B.K. <br /><br />Wilder gets mentioned in Laskin's book. She was describing the Snow Winter, 1880-1881, and her portrayal is considered very accurate. (She was there, by the way.)<br />Robert Loprestihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08844889305615182897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-65758283653370237162015-12-19T11:57:44.822-05:002015-12-19T11:57:44.822-05:00Bonnie, I'm glad you mentioned political nonfi...Bonnie, I'm glad you mentioned political nonfiction. I have on my shelves <i>All the President's Men</i>, <i>The Ends of Power</i>, <i>Blind Ambition</i>, <i>The Final Days</i>, and others from the Watergate era. Haven't gotten too much into current political books (unlike almost everyone I know)--maybe I prefer natural disasters to manmade disasters . . .<br /><br />Ad I should probably mention <i>Matterhorn</i>, by Karl Marlantes--it's one of the better books about the Vietnam War.John Floydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04001712728130488485noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-1382698381108279182015-12-19T11:40:58.001-05:002015-12-19T11:40:58.001-05:00John, in general I share your preference for ficti...John, in general I share your preference for fiction, though I usually read a few nonfiction books a year, usually about politics, social issues, religion, or higher education. I remember being enthralled by both ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN and THE FINAL DAYS, and also by Robert Kennedy's memoir about the Cuban missile crisis--those read like thrillers. A while ago, I received TAKING THE STAND, by Alan Dershowitz, as a gift--I've read only a few of the essays so far, but they were fascinating. I also share your fondness for Ron Howard movies--the ones you mention, and also Parenthood and Cinderella Man. <br /><br />Rob, your comment reminded me of Laura Ingalls Wilder's THE LONG WINTER--that was set in the Dakotas, and I think I remember a scene in which Laura and one of her sisters barely made it home from school during a blizzard (it's been a while since I last read that book to my now-grown daughters). As you probably know, that novel is based on Wilder's own experiences--could she have been writing about the blizzard you mention? Anyway, after living in South Dakota for eleven years, I can testify that blizzards sometimes start suddenly there, and and they can get bad.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17673578800047888317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-28768627728134762052015-12-19T11:31:07.633-05:002015-12-19T11:31:07.633-05:00Thanks, Rob--that's exactly the kind of tip I ...Thanks, Rob--that's exactly the kind of tip I was hoping for. I'll put <i>The Chidren's Blizzard</i> on my list.<br /><br />A sort-of similar book that I enjoyed years ago was <i>Isaac's Storm</i>, about the 1900 hurricane that hit the Texas coast and killed as many as 10,000 people in Galveston alone. It seems that disasters are always interesting subjects.John Floydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04001712728130488485noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-13309128230622181972015-12-19T11:09:44.646-05:002015-12-19T11:09:44.646-05:00Have not read or seen that one (although I did rea...Have not read or seen that one (although I did read Moby Dick once). Based on the nonfiction you mention I would like to recommend a book I just finished. THE CHILDREN'S BLIZZARD by David Laskin is the story of the blizzard of 1888 that swept from Canada all the way to Mexico, killing hundreds of people, mostly school kids in the Dakotas. (The day began so beautiful that many people weren't even wearing coats.) <br /><br />Along the way you learn a lot about the immigrants who settled that region, about the weather and the state of weather predicting (the term "cold front" was a direct response to World War I, many years later), and the stunning corruption and politicking in the Army Signal Corps whose job the forecasting was.Robert Loprestihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08844889305615182897noreply@blogger.com