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@Digimonkey Iain, random convestation in the pub on Thursday evening - the Desert Island Disc episode for Winkle Brown is rated as one of the best? Can't judge on that as have not listened yet - however, the guy who was chatting to me about it was enthused. Hope all is good,
Chris
Thanks C. - I listened to it last night - it is archived on the BBC app - if you haven't heard it yet - I couldn't recommend it too highly - it addressed the main issue that frustrated me with the book - my copy is 2007 but I believe it has been updated since - he never gives anything of himself away - in fairness - this was probably an age thing - guys of his generation didn't share their feelings or anxieties - charming in some ways - very much in the style of Sir Fitz Maclean - a near death experience might be rendered as ' a bit of a tight squeeze,' - but his visit to the newly liberated Belsen making a single paragraph was - as I say - frustrating. He speaks much more freely in Desert Island Discs - he was 95 when it was recorded - a couple of years before he died - I swear the old goat was flirting with Kirsty! - fair enough - I photographed her a few years ago and she is deeply charming in person. It is quite moving in places - a remarkable life. Great stuff - thanks again for the heads up - cheers - I.
@patw @Scotshave
This is a great read - part auto-biography - the man was a maniac - think Hunter S Thompson with a meat cleaver - part de-bunking the restaurant trade and celebrity chef culture. His 'A Cook's Tour,' is well worth reading as well - in fact I would recommend any of his non-fiction. His fiction - on the other hand - I found poor. I was saddened by his death. I.
Thanks for the recommendation I'll look that one up. I really liked him and his crazy character comes over in his writing, I'm only a few chapters in but hooked already.This is a great read - part auto-biography - the man was a maniac - think Hunter S Thompson with a meat cleaver - part de-bunking the restaurant trade and celebrity chef culture. His 'A Cook's Tour,' is well worth reading as well - in fact I would recommend any of his non-fiction. His fiction - on the other hand - I found poor. I was saddened by his death. I.
A fantastic book, Iain. I read it a few years back and thought it amazing. His desert word painting was exceptional.View attachment 52014
Today is 'World Book Day,' - so I thought to mark it. I love books - I'm a compulsive reader - I haven't owned a television for approaching 15 years - these two things are probably not unconnected. It took me a while to find - and photograph - the above title to recommend to you - I can't walk in a straight line across my front room because of the piles of books - get a Kindle I hear you say? Fuck that - they have no tactile quality - they don't smell nice and you can't put a lovely book mark in them. T. E. Lawrence fascinates me - second only to the cartographer Mercator - obscure, I know - I have read more biographies on him than anyone else - this book was his own take on his experiences - classified as auto-biography - it isn't really - in important places he fantasises - his epic camel journey to report the fall of Akhaba to Allenby - all most certainly not true - his capture and rape by Ottoman troops - very much not true - an indication of the author's difficulty with his own sexuality - but it remains an astonishing book. Vital - a primary source if you want to try to understand the weeping sore of the middle east today - he negotiated in good faith with the Arabs - without knowledge of the Sykes-Picot agreement - that had carved up the territory beforehand - in secret - between the French and British. Go look at a map - see the straight lines - that's where they came from - disjointing culturally cohesive peoples. A recipe for disaster - add to that the Balfour Declaration - if you ever wondered why Arabs have a problem with the British - this is a good place to start. The book is a big read - it runs to nearly seven hundred pages - his ability to describe sand, sand-dunes and general camel stuff - is exceptional - which is probably just as well. Lawrence wrote the first draft longhand - in pencil - and then left it by mistake in a train station - on his way to meet his publisher - he had to start again. This book needs a commitment of time - obviously - thicker than a camel sandwich. He became one of the first celebrities in the sense we understand today - thanks to the American photographer and film maker Lowell Thomas - unlike cretins called Kardashian or West - he actually did stuff - he was a central figure in massively important events - and David Lean made a truly wonderful film about him. Yours - I.
@Scotshave @patw @Blademonkey @Ferry-shave @Missoni @Skylarking
Ha ha - more happy than disgusted - yours - I.Sounds great, I just added this to my kindle wish list. I expect you'll be both happy and disgusted in equal measures at that
View attachment 52014
Today is 'World Book Day,' - so I thought to mark it. I love books - I'm a compulsive reader - I haven't owned a television for approaching 15 years - these two things are probably not unconnected. It took me a while to find - and photograph - the above title to recommend to you - I can't walk in a straight line across my front room because of the piles of books - get a Kindle I hear you say? Fuck that - they have no tactile quality - they don't smell nice and you can't put a lovely book mark in them. T. E. Lawrence fascinates me - second only to the cartographer Mercator - obscure, I know - I have read more biographies on him than anyone else - this book was his own take on his experiences - classified as auto-biography - it isn't really - in important places he fantasises - his epic camel journey to report the fall of Akhaba to Allenby - all most certainly not true - his capture and rape by Ottoman troops - very much not true - an indication of the author's difficulty with his own sexuality - but it remains an astonishing book. Vital - a primary source if you want to try to understand the weeping sore of the middle east today - he negotiated in good faith with the Arabs - without knowledge of the Sykes-Picot agreement - that had carved up the territory beforehand - in secret - between the French and British. Go look at a map - see the straight lines - that's where they came from - disjointing culturally cohesive peoples. A recipe for disaster - add to that the Balfour Declaration - if you ever wondered why Arabs have a problem with the British - this is a good place to start. The book is a big read - it runs to nearly seven hundred pages - his ability to describe sand, sand-dunes and general camel stuff - is exceptional - which is probably just as well. Lawrence wrote the first draft longhand - in pencil - and then left it by mistake in a train station - on his way to meet his publisher - he had to start again. This book needs a commitment of time - obviously - thicker than a camel sandwich. He became one of the first celebrities in the sense we understand today - thanks to the American photographer and film maker Lowell Thomas - unlike cretins called Kardashian or West - he actually did stuff - he was a central figure in massively important events - and David Lean made a truly wonderful film about him. Yours - I.
@Scotshave @patw @Blademonkey @Ferry-shave @Missoni @Skylarking
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