The Book Thread - What You're Reading & Everything Book Related

[St. Phatty]

The Secrets of Harry Bright - by Joe Wambaugh.

it is partially about the crash of Flight 182 in San Diego in 1978.

In the first chapter, the author begins to describe a scene where an off-duty San Diego cop - Harry Bright - visits the scene of the crash - and finds a Human Face laying on the ground.

It is the face of his son.

How close do you think that is to reality ?

I think something similar happened, but that out of respect for the family, Joe Wambaugh changed the scene.

Maybe, in reality, an off-duty cop found his son's head at the scene.

Or that it was his daughter.

Joe Wambaugh was an LAPD cop for 14 years.

I'm sure he had friends who worked the crash scene in San Diego.

But I don't think he would write it EXACTLY as it happened.

Or would he ? - only if the family asked him to, which would be very strange.

It's an OK book. It's supposed to be one of Joe Wambaugh's best.

I think the dialogue in it is LAME. Many ICMag members could do SO MUCH BETTER.

 

[Montuno]

Solomon and Azrael​

Yalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī (1207-1273 A.C)

---

A man came very early to present himself at the palace of the prophet Solomon, with a pale face and discolored lips.
Solomon asked:
-Why are you in that state?
And the man replied:
-Azrael, the angel of death, gave me an impressive look, full of anger. Send the wind, please I beg you, to take me to India to save my body and soul!
So Solomon commanded the wind to do what the man asked. And, the next day, the prophet asked Azrael:
- Why have you cast such a disturbing look at that man, who is a faithful? You have caused him so much fear that he has abandoned his homeland.
Azrael replied:
-He misread my look. I didn't look at him with anger, but with astonishment. God, in fact, had ordered me to go and take his life in India, and I said to myself: How could he, unless he had wings, move to India?

​

Salomón y Azrael​

Yalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī (1207-1273 dC)

---

Un hombre vino muy temprano a presentarse en el palacio del profeta Salomón, con el rostro pálido y los labios descoloridos.
Salomón le preguntó:
-¿Por qué estás en ese estado?
Y el hombre le respondió:
-Azrael, el ángel de la muerte, me ha dirigido una mirada impresionante, llena de cólera. ¡Manda al viento, por favor te lo suplico, que me lleve a la India para poner a salvo mi cuerpo y mi alma!
Salomón mandó, pues, al viento que hiciera lo que pedía el hombre. Y, al día siguiente, el profeta preguntó a Azrael:
-¿Por qué has echado una mirada tan inquietante a ese hombre, que es un fiel? Le has causado tanto miedo que ha abandonado su patria.
Azrael respondió:
-Ha interpretado mal mi mirada. No lo miré con cólera, sino con asombro. Dios, en efecto, me había ordenado que fuese a tomar su vida en la India, y me dije: ¿Cómo podría, a menos que tuviese alas, trasladarse a la India?

​

 

[Montuno]

Prince Ye and the Dragons​

Shen Buhai (395-337 BC)

---

Prince Ye was famous for his passion for dragons. He liked them so much that he had them painted on the walls or carved all over the house. The true dragon of the heavens learned of this, he flew to earth and put his head through the door of Lord Ye's house and his tail through one of the windows. As soon as Prince Ye saw him, he ran away frightened and almost mad.
This shows that Prince Ye did not really love dragons so much, but rather something that resembled them.

El príncipe Ye y los dragones​

Shen Buhai(395-337 aC)

---

El príncipe Ye era famoso por la pasión que sentía por los dragones. Le gustaban tanto que los tenía pintados en las paredes o tallados por toda la casa. El verdadero dragón de los cielos se enteró de esto, fue volando a la tierra e introdujo su cabeza por la puerta de la casa del señor Ye y su cola por una de las ventanas. No bien el príncipe Ye lo vio, huyó asustado y casi loco.
Esto demuestra que el príncipe Ye, en realidad, no amaba tanto a los dragones, sino a algo que se les parecía.

 

[Montuno]

Esto es un microcuento, o un reto?
El maestro Monterroso tiene (cuando no?) ganas de jugar..:

Historia fantástica
Augusto Monterroso

---

Contar la historia del día en que el fin del mundo se suspendió por mal tiempo.

.........................................................................


Is this a micro-story, or a challenge?
Master Monterroso wants to play(when not?)..:

Fantastic story​

Augusto Monterroso​

---

Tell the story of the day the end of the world was suspended due to bad weather.

 

[Montuno]

 

[Green Squall]

"From Here to Eternity" by James Jones is one of those book that's going to stick with me for a while.

 

[Hermanthegerman]

From James Jones I really enjoyd "The thin red line". I finished the book and startet to watch an hour later the movie.

 

[Green Squall]

From James Jones I really enjoyd "The thin red line". I finished the book and startet to watch an hour later the movie.

NICE! I'm a huge fan of the movie as well. Its one of my favorites.

 

[Hermanthegerman]

I love the movie very much also! Terrence Malik was a good choice as director. I think I saw the movie 5-6 times?

 

[Green Squall]

I love the movie very much also! Terrence Malik was a good choice as director. I think I saw the movie 5-6 times?

Haha I've seen the Thin Red Line more times than I'd like to admit. Malik makes good movies.

 

[D. B. Doober]

What did you guys think of Nick Nolte?

 

[Green Squall]

What did you guys think of Nick Nolte?

I think he's a peculiar dude in real life, but maybe that added to him being a great actor.

My favorite movie with him in it is "Who'll Stop the Rain." Great soundtrack too. Lots of CCR.

 

[SamMitchell]

The Secrets of Harry Bright - by Joe Wambaugh.

it is partially about the crash of Flight 182 in San Diego in 1978.

In the first chapter, the author begins to describe a scene where an off-duty San Diego cop - Harry Bright - visits the scene of the crash - and finds a Human Face laying on the ground.

It is the face of his son.

How close do you think that is to reality ?

I think something similar happened, but that out of respect for the family, Joe Wambaugh changed the scene.

Maybe, in reality, an off-duty cop found his son's head at the scene.

Or that it was his daughter.

Joe Wambaugh was an LAPD cop for 14 years.

I'm sure he had friends who worked the crash scene in San Diego.

But I don't think he would write it EXACTLY as it happened.

Or would he ? - only if the family asked him to, which would be very strange.

It's an OK book. It's supposed to be one of Joe Wambaugh's best.

I think the dialogue in it is LAME. Many ICMag members could do SO MUCH BETTER. I like reading books of different genres, and a few years ago, I could read two books each month. But now I don't have such a chance because of my studies. Sometimes it takes too much time, and usually, all I read is for my studies. But it's also good because I can improve my knowledge. Last week I wrote a paper dedicated to military and sexual assault. To be honest, it was so complicated to write because I knew nothing about it, and the issue is pretty serious. But thanks to this site https://studydriver.com/sexual-assault-in-the-military/, I managed to read sexual assault in the military essays samples, which provided me some info about it, and those examples showed me what I have to write on. But I can't say that I liked such a task a lot, but it was interesting to find out something new for me. But I wish it was a book to read.

I've started reading it recently and can say that it's pretty good
It's the first book by Joseph Wambaugh, and if I like the whole book, I'll read something else.

And the last book I read was The Alice Network by Kate Quinn.
It's a historical novel based on real-life events - about two women. One was a female spy recruited to the real-life Alice Network in France during World War I, and the second was an unconventional American socialite searching for her cousin in 1947. The novel has a dual narrative approach - events that occurred beginning in 1915 and in 1947.
I really liked that novel, and I'm not even a fan of historical writing.

And also, I can't not to mention Erle Stanley Gardner. He was an American lawyer and writer. He wrote a series of detective stories about Perry Mason - a criminal defense lawyer, and those books are amazing. I've read half of the series, and each book is just great. If you're into detective and crime stories, you have to give it a try and read at least one of the stories. The author was a lawyer, so all the processes in the books are described very accurately, and what I like the most is that you can't say who is guilty and who is not until the end.

 

[St. Phatty]

I've started reading it recently and can say that it's pretty good
It's the first book by Joseph Wambaugh, and if I like the whole book, I'll read something else.

And the last book I read was The Alice Network by Kate Quinn.
It's a historical novel based on real-life events - about two women. One was a female spy recruited to the real-life Alice Network in France during World War I, and the second was an unconventional American socialite searching for her cousin in 1947. The novel has a dual narrative approach - events that occurred beginning in 1915 and in 1947.
I really liked that novel, and I'm not even a fan of historical writing.

Another one of Wambaugh's books, "The Black Marble", was recommended by Michael Connelly.

GOD IT SUCKS !

It's about a dog show groomer who lusts after his young female assistant and dreams of murdering his wife.

 

[Hermanthegerman]

I started my first novel of Cormac McCarthy today, "Blood Meridian or the Evening Redness". I like his writing style, but just had read the first 2 chapters.

 

[SamMitchell]

Another one of Wambaugh's books, "The Black Marble", was recommended by Michael Connelly.

GOD IT SUCKS !

It's about a dog show groomer who lusts after his young female assistant and dreams of murdering his wife.

Okay, thanks for sharing this info. It sounds like not the best book to read. But you know, someone's opinion about the book is very subjective, but for me reading about lusty groomer is not interesting at all.

 

[St. Phatty]

I'm reading "Symphony in C".

About Carbon but also about the formation of elements after the explosion of a larger black hole, which some people call the Big Bang.

Has one chapter on Diamonds.

 

[D. B. Doober]

I'm reading "Symphony in C".

About Carbon but also about the formation of elements after the explosion of a larger black hole, which some people call the Big Bang.

Has one chapter on Diamonds.

So the big bang was a black hole? I know the universe went from like the size of a grain of sand to billions of light-years wide in a few seconds...bomb?

 

[armedoldhippy]

"From Ridgetops to River Bottoms" by Sam Venable. a collection of his (allegedly) true adventures in the outdoors, whether in the mountains of east TN or the vast delta marshes of Louisiana, or fishing any body of water in between...if you truly love to hunt or fish, and have a "certain sense of humor", you need to read his stuff.

 

[Green Squall]

I've been getting lost in the world of fiction lately, but did pick up one non-fiction called "Blood River: The Terrifying Journey Through the World's Most Dangerous Country."

"A compulsively readable account of a journey to the Congo — a country virtually inaccessible to the outside world — vividly told by a daring and adventurous journalist.

Ever since Stanley first charted its mighty river in the 1870s, the Congo has epitomized the dark and turbulent history of a failed continent. However, its troubles only served to increase the interest of Daily Telegraph correspondent Tim Butcher, who was sent to cover Africa in 2000. Before long he became obsessed with the idea of recreating Stanley’s original expedition — but travelling alone.

Despite warnings Butcher spent years poring over colonial-era maps and wooing rebel leaders before making his will and venturing to the Congo’s eastern border. He passed through once thriving cities of this country and saw the marks left behind by years of abuse and misrule. Almost, 2,500 harrowing miles later, he reached the Atlantic Ocean, a thinner and a wiser man.

Butcher’s journey was a remarkable feat. But the story of the Congo, vividly told in Blood River, is more remarkable still."