From Sunday's Times and News-Star
Life’s
too short to read bad books.
It
wasn’t until a few years ago that I would bail on books that, after reading 50
pages, made me feel like I was getting poleaxed by Joe Frazier in his prime.
Some sort of misplaced pride issue or deep-seeded need to finish what I’d
started.
This
was very dumb. Now I’ll bail in a heartbeat. Had to leave only a couple by the
road this year, and didn’t feel guilty a bit. Progress!
You
can’t judge a book by its cover, but you can judge most based on past
experience and on opinions from friends who you’ve discovered have similar
reading tastes. I’d thought about reading “1491” -- about the Americas before
Columbus sailed the ocean blue, and because I was born on Columbus Day Eve –
but was told by someone I trust that reading it was like trying to run up and
out of a history ditch. Neg!
On
the other hand, the best all-around book(s) I read this year was the Liberation
Trilogy by Rick Atkinson, the North Africa/Italy/Europe part of World War II.
Read like literature. He’s working on a Revolutionary War series now. Sweet.
Some
people read Atkinson’s work because they “had” too, and that’s the thing about
how books affect people. A friend of mine’s father read “The Day of Battle,” Atkinson’s
work on the Italian Campaign, because his father had served in Italy and was
Division Ordnance Officer with the 92nd Infantry Division. This was
a gentleman who grew up in northwest Arkansas, was a University of Arkansas
engineering graduate, volunteered to return to active duty in 1940 as an Army
Reserve 1st Lieutenant and, by the fall of 1944, was a Lieutenant
Colonel who would retire as a “full bird” colonel in the Army Reserve.
“He
never talked about his experiences during his service in North Africa and Italy,”
my friend wrote. “When I would ask questions about the 92nd Division, I usually
got a two or three word reply and no other details! He left Shreveport for duty
in North Africa and later the Italian campaign on April 1, 1943, on a Merchant
Marine vessel. When he returned home in late November of 1945, I did not know
who he was and sometimes referred to him to my mother as ‘that man.’”
War is hell, which some
families know as others never can. A good historian can at least offer an educated
shoulder to lean and to learn on.
“The Death of Santini”
by Pat Conroy is the best “memoir” I read in 2013. It is depressing, at times
dumbfounding, and a must-read if you love Conroy. He can be over-the-top here
or there, but America has no more lyrical writer than this son of the Carolina
coast.
“Light of the World” was
my favorite fiction, the latest by south Louisiana-reared James Lee Burke,
still my favorite at “earthy” writing, of the smells and sights and textures of
Cajun country.
Re-read Paul’s letters
in the Bible; plenty there to keep anyone occupied for a while, a while being
defined here as “the rest of your life!” A book titled “The Insanity of God” by
missionary Nik Ripken is not as convicting, but it’s still an attention-getter:
few of us consider that Old Testament stories – only the names have changed --
are being played out overseas today. I’d recommend “Leaving Church” by Barbara
Brown Taylor too, for beautiful and thoughtful writing.
“Wild Trees” by Richard
Preston – I read his “The Hot Spot” about the Ebola virus years ago –
“Winterdance” by Gary Paulsen (about the Iditarod), “The Big Burn” and “Worst
Hard Time” by Timothy Egan are high on my pile. Still haven’t but must read
“Rising Tide” by John Barry. And maybe “Isaac’s Storm,” by Erik Larson. And
some Elmore Leonard and John D. MacDonald, to see what Travis McGee is up to on
his houseboat in Slip F-18 in Fort Lauderdale.
And “Lord of the Rings”?
Maybe this will be the year. But like you and most other book lovers, I’m
already way behind…
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