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@Missoni
Thank you for taking the time to respond - Kindles? I really can't argue with your points - I know - I'm being willfully thrawn about it - I was talking to my other half about your comments - a former educational librarian incidentally - and she made an interesting point - observing that I am quite happy to use both film and digital cameras - with no apparent problem - even these days - a mobile phone - granted - one with a very good image capture system in it. They are complimentary to each other - good at different things - I couldn't argue with that either. I'm just not over the line with Kindles yet - the lack of understanding of linear progress you highlight - is an important issue for me - e-books just don't exist in any real sense - when I read a book - it becomes part of the sum total of who I am - and I prefer that to be tangible - I have kept every title I have read in the last 25 odd years - never - ever - lend books to people - it is common for me though - if I think someone might enjoy a title - just to send them a copy. I did go as far as checking out the models you mentioned - I was amused that - with the refurbished versions - you need to pay to stop the adverts - a very Amazon way of doing things. I might try one on my next trip away - see how it goes - not a big investment - as you point out. I'm trying not to be Luddite!
I agree with your comments about 'Seven Pillars' - it can be very dense in places - his language can be problematic - an indication of him really being more 19th century than 20th - but - as you highlight with the quotes - capable of rhetorical flourishes that astonish. When it is good - it is very good - the light and space of the desert landscape comes across amazingly well. I went to hear a talk delivered by Robert Fisk - on the occasion of a new edition of Lawrence which he had written the introduction to - ended up talking to him - and raised something that has long intrigued me - why the seeming natural affinity of English public school boys with the desert? Lawrence, Thesiger and Sir Richard Burton - to name but three. We kind of agreed with each other - they were inured to physical and emotional deprivation by their schooling and used to a society almost entirely lacking female interaction - they felt right at home. Interesting. So - Fisk - I recommend his 'The Great War for Civilisation - The Conquest of the Middle East,' to you - if you haven't read it - which I suspect you might have - being pretty much a reference text on 'sandpit' affairs. I have read Seale before - his book on Abu Nidal - but not the one you referenced - on the list - thank you.
So - finally - "The Man Who Fell in Love with the Moon,' - within very few pages I was utterly taken up by it - rapt - it is like nothing I have ever read before - unique - granted I don't go for fiction that often. I have sent the book to half a dozen people subsequently - not one failed to be amazed by it. I didn't think it was particularly challenging in plot - in the sense it didn't outrage me in the slightest - but I wouldn't consider myself in any way shape or form prudish - we all have our boundary lines - and this didn't approach mine. The memorable quote? "nobody hates like a Christian.' A direct result of 'The Man' was that I realised I knew next to bugger all about Native American history - and read 'In the Hands of the Great Spirit - the 20,000 year history of American Indians,' by Jake Page and 'Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee,' - Dee Brown - as my next two books. Bugger me - that was depressing - I kind of understood that the locals had been royally shafted by European colonists but had no concept of the scale of what was - by any standard - a campaign of genocide - in 1491 - 100 percent of the population of the continent were native Americans - now they are less than 1 percent - end of. I was particularly dis-heartened to learn that Scots were among the worst offenders - given that a lot of them - and the Irish - were escaping poverty and land theft by the English - they might have been a wee bit more enlightened - but no. Truly depressing. On that cheery note - cheers - I.
@Scotshave @Ferry-shave @patw @Blademonkey @Skylarking
Thank you for taking the time to respond - Kindles? I really can't argue with your points - I know - I'm being willfully thrawn about it - I was talking to my other half about your comments - a former educational librarian incidentally - and she made an interesting point - observing that I am quite happy to use both film and digital cameras - with no apparent problem - even these days - a mobile phone - granted - one with a very good image capture system in it. They are complimentary to each other - good at different things - I couldn't argue with that either. I'm just not over the line with Kindles yet - the lack of understanding of linear progress you highlight - is an important issue for me - e-books just don't exist in any real sense - when I read a book - it becomes part of the sum total of who I am - and I prefer that to be tangible - I have kept every title I have read in the last 25 odd years - never - ever - lend books to people - it is common for me though - if I think someone might enjoy a title - just to send them a copy. I did go as far as checking out the models you mentioned - I was amused that - with the refurbished versions - you need to pay to stop the adverts - a very Amazon way of doing things. I might try one on my next trip away - see how it goes - not a big investment - as you point out. I'm trying not to be Luddite!
I agree with your comments about 'Seven Pillars' - it can be very dense in places - his language can be problematic - an indication of him really being more 19th century than 20th - but - as you highlight with the quotes - capable of rhetorical flourishes that astonish. When it is good - it is very good - the light and space of the desert landscape comes across amazingly well. I went to hear a talk delivered by Robert Fisk - on the occasion of a new edition of Lawrence which he had written the introduction to - ended up talking to him - and raised something that has long intrigued me - why the seeming natural affinity of English public school boys with the desert? Lawrence, Thesiger and Sir Richard Burton - to name but three. We kind of agreed with each other - they were inured to physical and emotional deprivation by their schooling and used to a society almost entirely lacking female interaction - they felt right at home. Interesting. So - Fisk - I recommend his 'The Great War for Civilisation - The Conquest of the Middle East,' to you - if you haven't read it - which I suspect you might have - being pretty much a reference text on 'sandpit' affairs. I have read Seale before - his book on Abu Nidal - but not the one you referenced - on the list - thank you.
So - finally - "The Man Who Fell in Love with the Moon,' - within very few pages I was utterly taken up by it - rapt - it is like nothing I have ever read before - unique - granted I don't go for fiction that often. I have sent the book to half a dozen people subsequently - not one failed to be amazed by it. I didn't think it was particularly challenging in plot - in the sense it didn't outrage me in the slightest - but I wouldn't consider myself in any way shape or form prudish - we all have our boundary lines - and this didn't approach mine. The memorable quote? "nobody hates like a Christian.' A direct result of 'The Man' was that I realised I knew next to bugger all about Native American history - and read 'In the Hands of the Great Spirit - the 20,000 year history of American Indians,' by Jake Page and 'Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee,' - Dee Brown - as my next two books. Bugger me - that was depressing - I kind of understood that the locals had been royally shafted by European colonists but had no concept of the scale of what was - by any standard - a campaign of genocide - in 1491 - 100 percent of the population of the continent were native Americans - now they are less than 1 percent - end of. I was particularly dis-heartened to learn that Scots were among the worst offenders - given that a lot of them - and the Irish - were escaping poverty and land theft by the English - they might have been a wee bit more enlightened - but no. Truly depressing. On that cheery note - cheers - I.
@Scotshave @Ferry-shave @patw @Blademonkey @Skylarking
... great model, many people hold on to their voyage like gold dust. Just check that the kindle has not been black listed by Amazon (lost or stolen). Any problems with registering or start-up, send it back...if it suits there are a few tips for downloading books outside of the Amazon eco system; you can also download all the classics from amazon for free! (link below) but it does require a little navigating around the paid content. Some links worth checking out...
