What are you reading at the moment?

@Digimonkey Hi Mate, thanks for the recommendation; I have not read it yet - I have a copy in the house and its on the must read list before SWMBO bagis it up with other books and drops them off at the local chaity shop!

I remember picking up an old Commando Comic at a church sale of all places about 5 years old; it was about the LRDG and from then I was hooked on WW2 history. I can't imagine what it would have been like to meen the man; to have a drink and conversation with him!

If I may make a recommendation in return - Peter White's With the Jocks: A Soldier's Struggle For Europe 1944-45. Of all the WW2 personal books I have written, this is one of the best, up there with Field Marshall Lord Alanbrooke War Diary. With the Jocks follows the 52 Highland Division from autumn 1944 to the end of the war, as they battle through north west europe from Holland into Germany. Peter White kept a journal; it is a master piece in writing - every page comes alive. For me it was a printed version of the HBO Band of Brothers series.

I read A Writer at War not long after it came out, I must dust that off; I also liked that - the experiences were very powerful, much like Peter Whitee's With the Jocks.

If you get a chance to look at with the Jocks, I would like to know what you thought?

All the best,

Chris

Thanks C. -
'Jocks' just ordered. I look forward to it. If you are ever around Doune - the David Stirling monument is just at the edge of the village - and is a magnificent spot - a glorious view on a good day. I'd suggest to anyone - 'My Early Years' by Winston Churchill - him from 0 to 25 - fascinating and very funny - people forget he was a journalist - he knows how to tell a good tale - his bafflement during his very expensive schooling - joining the Horse Guards regiment - at that time the officers had to keep - at their own expense - two teams of polo ponies at all times - being permanently skint - despite being from one of the wealthiest families in Britain - an eye witness to the last cavalry charge by the British army - Omdurman - his impressions of the North West Frontier - of then - India - being taken prisoner and escaping during the Boer war. It rips along - well worth a look. Cheers - I.
 
Thanks C. -
'Jocks' just ordered. I look forward to it. If you are ever around Doune - the David Stirling monument is just at the edge of the village - and is a magnificent spot - a glorious view on a good day. I'd suggest to anyone - 'My Early Years' by Winston Churchill - him from 0 to 25 - fascinating and very funny - people forget he was a journalist - he knows how to tell a good tale - his bafflement during his very expensive schooling - joining the Horse Guards regiment - at that time the officers had to keep - at their own expense - two teams of polo ponies at all times - being permanently skint - despite being from one of the wealthiest families in Britain - an eye witness to the last cavalry charge by the British army - Omdurman - his impressions of the North West Frontier - of then - India - being taken prisoner and escaping during the Boer war. It rips along - well worth a look. Cheers - I.

I also ordered 'with the Jocks 'earlier today on Chris's recommendation.
Bloody book worm enablers...:p
 
@Barry Giddens - never heard of her mate - I shall look her up - two things spring to mind - first - the cover looks like the background to one of your sotd pics - secondly - does this have anything to do with Granta? Ha ha ha ha - I.
Ha! No Iain, good old Penguin. It's a bit of a change of pace after Grossman. It's literaly one of those ‘Hampstead Novels ‘. She writes so well though. My other half's favourite novelist so I best not offer any criticism.
 
Thanks C. -
'Jocks' just ordered. I look forward to it. If you are ever around Doune - the David Stirling monument is just at the edge of the village - and is a magnificent spot - a glorious view on a good day. I'd suggest to anyone - 'My Early Years' by Winston Churchill - him from 0 to 25 - fascinating and very funny - people forget he was a journalist - he knows how to tell a good tale - his bafflement during his very expensive schooling - joining the Horse Guards regiment - at that time the officers had to keep - at their own expense - two teams of polo ponies at all times - being permanently skint - despite being from one of the wealthiest families in Britain - an eye witness to the last cavalry charge by the British army - Omdurman - his impressions of the North West Frontier - of then - India - being taken prisoner and escaping during the Boer war. It rips along - well worth a look. Cheers - I.

@Digimonkey Hi, please let me know what you think of With the Jocks; will remember about Doune next time I'm round that part of the world; SWMBO and I are planning to to Go Ape later on in the year, which is not that far away.

All the best,

Chris
 
Is that your first Ackroyd Stephen? @Digimonkey and I are both admirers of his work.

Hi Barry,

No; I'm a big Ackroyd fan. I just finished re-reading Hawksmoor before The House. I first came across him via Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem a good few years ago and thought that the title alone begged a read.

Since then, I think I've read a fair amount of his work. I especially like the transitional nature of his writing; the way he disrupts the idea of time as a linear concept in Hawksmoor and Dee, for instance.

I need to get a hold of his take on The Canterbury Tales soon. Then take about 2 months to re-read London: The Biography .

Ones on the ‘to read' list include The Great Fire of London and The Last Testament of Oscar Wilde.
 
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Hi Barry,

No; I'm a big Ackroyd fan. I just finished re-reading Hawksmoor before The House. I first came across him via Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem a good few years ago and thought that the title alone begged a read.

Since then, I think I've read a fair amount of his work. I especially like the transitional nature of his writing; the way he disrupts the idea of time as a linear concept in Hawksmoor and Dee, for instance.

I need to get a hold of his take on The Canterbury Tales soon. Then take about 2 months to re-read London: The Biography .

Ones on the ‘to read' list include The Great Fire of London and The Last Testament of Oscar Wilde.
Evening Stephen,

I had the same route in to Ackroyd as you. Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem - what a title! I'm also drawn to him for similar reasons to you. Pyschogeography and the dissolution of boundaries. London: The Biography certainly warrants a re-read, but it's finding the time.

Have you read any Iain Sinclair or Allan Moore?
 
Evening Stephen,

I had the same route in to Ackroyd as you. Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem - what a title! I'm also drawn to him for similar reasons to you. Pyschogeography and the dissolution of boundaries. London: The Biography certainly warrants a re-read, but it's finding the time.

Have you read any Iain Sinclair or Allan Moore?

I haven't read Allan Moore, but Sinclair's Lud Heat inspired Ackroyd to script the mystical and cosmic placing of Dyer/Hawksmoor's churches, so it would be good to read him. What do you recommend from Moore?
 
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