The Secret Soldier

Back in the 70's and 89's I used to read a fair number of current novels. So called "thrillers" were often included in my reading list. Then, those interests faded as history and biography writing vastly improved in this country Historical fiction also became better grounded thus becoming a new interest. More recently a new "friend" shifted my focus once again. His name is John Wells.
John is one of those conflicted males who lives at several depths. He lost his beloved wife to a random terrorist attack. After that he seemed married more than ever to his job. . Office politics forced him to leave his work though yet he and kept going back to it. He is Muslim devoted to America and peace. He definitely prefers privacy and yet several books have been written about his activities.
In many of his books and The Secret Soldier by Alex Berenson is the latest, John Wells is presented as a real life character. Berenson wants his readers to understand that the hero does not always win and is not a super hero. Wells is written, according to Berenson, as "a compelling character not as the traditional action hero. He is more introspective, a searcher."
The Secret Soldier is a compelling, insightful, action packed book. Berenson was able to look at the rulers of the Arab World and explore how the regimes could lose their power. His main character is well developed and an intriguing personality. Anyone who wants a good political thriller with a very realistic scenario should definitely read this book.
There are literally thousands of novels on terrorism and you might think you’ve read one you’ve read them all. Bad guys, Allahu Akbar, bombs, and kick-butt spies and Delta Force teams to save the day. But Berenson works hard to make his novels stand out from the crowd. He also knows his history. With his journalist background, Berenson treats the reader to a fully fleshed out, but not boring or overdone, treatment of Saudi Arabian history and politics. It makes his novel seem authentic no matter how far fetched actual plot might be. They always seem current and close to today headlines. Yes, it's violent. So is life in The Age Of Terrorism....

Rin Tin Tin & Baron

I grew up in the big city (St. Paul). My mom had asthma. Dogs and cats were not an option so goldfish, parakeets, frogs and turtles proved to be my only pets. Still, my father often spoke of the beloved German Shepherd he had as a pet in the early 20's. That breed had become the most popular dog in America in that era. World War I had brought them notoriety and super movie star Rin Tin Tin popularized them around the world. Heres some "glamour" pictures of the most famous dog in the world. (Yes, Lassie fans.... it's true)
When I moved to rural Minnesota and took up flyfishing and upland game hunting, I fulfilled my lifelong dream of owning a dog. There was a golden retriever/German Shorthair cross, and then two Chesapeake Bay retrievers. When a bad knee finally ended my hunting pursuits, I went without a dog for a while. I missed having them around and thought hard on getting a companion/guard dog in my retirement. A skeptical wife took some convincing that a German Shepherd was the answer. His name is Baron. And now a somewhat elderly boy, me, can romp thru the woods following trails, seeking out birds, wildlife and new adventures......
Naturally, visiting the local library, the following book caught my eye. It was Susan Orleans biography of Rin Tin Tin. Rin Tin Tin was more than a famous German Shepherd. He embodied the core paradoxes of the American ideal: He was a loner who was also a faithful companion, a brave fighter who was also vulnerable. I was astonished to learn from this delightful book that he has existed for eleven generations over a century. By chronicling his amazing ups and downs, Susan Orlean has produced a hugely entertaining and unforgettable reading experience."
Ann Patchett, author of State of Wonder and Bel Canto writes "Not only does Susan Orlean give us a fascinating and big-hearted account of all the many incarnations of Rin Tin Tin, she shows us the ever-changing role of American dogs in times of war and peace. This book is for anyone who has ever had a dog or loved a dog or watched a dog on television or thought their dog could be a movie star. In short— everyone . "
Here's a clip from one of Baron's favorite movie roles.... Dog of the North

Forbidden

I’ve usually been somewhat of an omnivorous reader. Though, for fun, I used to read mostly fiction... from classical to best sellers on into the 70's. Fantasy and science fiction & thrillers were read but only rarely. At some point, I decided that the best American writers were doing history and biography. The following book doesn’t follow my usual reading habits....
Imagine a world, our world, where every person on the planet is dead and doesn’t know it. Not zombies according to the current literary fad, but rather a planet populated by people who are but shells of what they were created to be. A people devoid of all emotion with the exception of one fear.
Bestselling author Ted Dekker and co-author Tosca Lee conjure up just such a world in Forbidden, a dystopian novel which will appeal to some and horrify others. .. Dekker’s vivid imagination and at times almost maniacal focus on darkness and light coupled with Tosca Lee’s eloquence of prose is captivating Using interesting characters, the plot slowly builds to a riveting ending. The king where even if you favorite football team is on the tube it’s impossible to put the book down in the last hundred pages.
The book begins with
"In the year 2005, geneticists discovered the human gene that controlled both innate and learned forms of fear. It was called Stathmin, or Oncoprotein 18. Within 15 years, genetic influencers for all primary emotions were similarly identified.
Nearly a decade later, in the wake of catastrophic war that destroyed much of civilization, humanity vowed to forsake all that had conspired to destroy it. Out of the ashes rose a new world in which both the advanced technologies and the passionate emotions that led to its ruin were eliminated. A world without hatred, without malice, without sorrow, without anger. The only emotion genetically allowed to survive was fear. For 480 years, perfect peace reigned. Until now."
For some reason, I can’t quite fathom, Dekkers books have been wildly popular with some of those readers who favor "Christian" books. Other in the same category roundly condemn his writing. It may have something to do with ones take on current politics. Is it really about the dangers of "big government" or even worse "world government". Perhaps. But I’ve already read Orwells 1984. I suspect the devotees of Ayn Rand will find it fulfilling. For me, it's the dangers of science and technology used in defiance of humanity that is quite enough.

Lincoln And The Border States

Lincoln And The Border States - Preserving The Union by William C. Harris
Lincoln has often been quoted (whether true or not) as saying while he hoped to have God on his side in the Civil War, he must have Kentucky. And, no doubt, Missouri & Maryland as well. This book by Professor Harris (Univ. Of Kansas) is the story of how Lincoln accomplished the amazingly difficult and complex task.
Keeping the slave holding border states within the Union was the task for a great leader and in this case a masterful politician. Although that term has fallen into some disdain today, I use it in the best sense of the world now. Democracy rests, in part , on political leadership that is moral, wise, practical and inclusive above all. Lincoln had those qualities, perhaps, more than any President in the history of our country.
This book is not a history of the broader problems and events of the war. It requires some background to be fully appreciated. If political leadership is you interest though, the book is perfect. As a lesson in "how to do it" in the worst of times. That makes it well worth reading.
It’s not that much of politics today is lowbrow or even dirty. It was a bad then or even worse. Catering to the lowest common denominator and the politics of fear. Lincoln made the tough decisions, the moral decision but tempered it all with the possible and always an eye on the consequences for the future. We certainly could use a few more people like that in politics today.

Stasiland

It's the story of 17 million people living in a nation not of their own choosing. A few wanting it, some accepting it, many adapting to it and other stumbling into being it's "enemies" oten without intent. Many hunkered down, more than a few tried to flee often being killed in the effort. It was an all encomposing police state. The "stasi" were the enforcers. Equality was the idea. A communist totalitarian failure was the result. Stasiland: Stories From Behind The Berlin Wall by Australin author Anna Funder reads like a novel but actually is based on investigative reporting and the author personal experiences. What is actually revealed is a brutal world of indifference to humanity. A world of people caught in a nightmare. How sad..... Funder’s careful portraits of the people she meets from “Stasiland” shine a dazzling light on one of the world’s most paranoid and secretive regimes, and its effects on contemporary German society.

The Big Year

We came. To the Arizona desert for serveral weeks We saw. Our son Tony & his family: Kari, Ethan, Tensae, Leonard and new arrival Vanessa. We conquered. By surviving 100 degree days on the patio, adjacent to the golf course and swimming pool and enjoying our grandchildren. And on our return to Minnesota rushing off to see the newly released movie about birding, listing and an extreme form of competition - The Big Year.

Birder or not this movie was just plain a lot of fun. Seeing who can see the most birds in North American in one year is the basic plot as three main characters strive for this goal. They're not "nerds" but more than a little obsessed. The birding "hotspots" they visit are revealed with wonderful cinematography. All in all, this is a movie to be enjoyed by birders and non-birders alike. I highly recommend it.

Lincoln and the Civil War

"Lincoln was more than the "black man’s president" or "the Great Emancipator"; he was also "the savior of the Union." But he was also more than that; by leading a successful war to preserve "government of the people, by the people and for the people," he was "the Vindicator of Democracy." He succeeded because he somehow managed to be strong-willed without being wilful, moral without being moralistic, and righteous without being self-righteous because he inspired confidence and affection; because he a preternatural understanding of public opinion; because his sense of political timing was exquisite; because he had developed and extraordinarily high level of psychological maturity and balance; because he masterfully kept the Republican party (and by extension the North itself) unified; and because he was supremely eloquent in articulating the aims of the war. Without those qualities, he wold have failed, the North would have lost the war, slavery would have long persisted, and the cause of democracy in the world would have received a severe setback."

With that concluding paragraph, author Michael Burlingame sums up his wonderful assesment of Lincoln as President. There have to be thousands of books on the Civil War and hundreds on Abraham Lincoln but this small book is one of the best. I highly recommend it.

An Empire Of Ice

The book is An Empire Of Ice: Scott, Shackleton & The Heroic Age of Antarctic Science. If you might be interested in exploration and research under the most extreme conditions imaginable... this is the book for you. If you aren't into the scientific instruments and measurement techniques of more than a hundred years ago, do as I did, skip parts of it. That said, the author Larson's true tale is quite remarkable. The book also examines the "politics" of the race to the South Pole.

The crux of the "political" matter was that it wasn't a race at all. Roald Amundson, the Norweigian, got to the Pole first by ignoring scientific reasearch entirely. That research was the raison de'tre for the polar expedition to begin with according to the British. He also used sled dogs and other Artic survival techniques he had learned from the Eskimoes. Scott expeditions "manhauled sledges" a slower and more exhausting technique, that matched the Victorian view that exploration was a manhood test of will and courage. It certainly made for an interesting and might I add well research story.

The Help

We went and saw the movie The Help a couple of days ago. Mrs T. had read the book and highly recommended it. Afterwards, she said the movie was faithful to the book by Kathryn Stockett.
I thoroughly enjoyed the movie.
Synopsis:
Set in Mississippi one hundred years after the abolition of human slavery, Jim Crow is beginning to come under attack.
The novel is told from the point of view of three narrators: Aibileen Clark, a middle-aged African-American maid who has spent her life raising white children, and who has recently lost her only son; Minny Jackson, an African-American maid whose back-talk towards her employers results in her having to frequently change jobs, exacerbating her desperate need for work as well as her family's struggle with money; and Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan, a young white woman and recent college graduate who, after moving back home, discovers that a maid that helped raise her since childhood has abruptly disappeared and her attempts to find her have been unsuccessful. The stories of the three women intertwine to explain how life in Jackson, Mississippi revolves around "the help", with complex relations of power, money, emotion, and intimacy tying together the white & black families of Jackson.
Skeeter is a young aspiring journalist surrounded by friends and relatives who cling determidly to the racial attitudes of the past. The murders & terrorism of that era are only mentioned briefly in the movie. The menial work of the black "help" is locked in for each succeeding generation. It isn’t exactly slavery, but it is a caste system at the core. The black maids need the jobs but their lot is to be bombarded with the pain of disrespect, condescension and abuse. Skeeter struggles to find some of these women to dare to tell their personal stories.
The most telling white character is Skeeter's mother played by Sissy Spacek. Not a raving over the top bigot as some of the portrayals, she simply goes along to get along with her racist friends. This portrayal struck me as most sad and realistic.
Besides the broad strokes to portray some of the characters, there is the come uppance humor. Some very funny but way over the top unrealistic, involving some commodes scattered across one bigot's lawn and a fecal pie. Other than that, though, I highly recommend this movie. Sometimes it’s the down-to-earth stuff rather than those things that take up chapters in the history books that cuts closest to our own experiences of the heart.