Your current reading list

[Mikethehack]

[Eiriksson]

This book is the intertwined narratives of 3 UN staff. The book covers their work in Cambodia, Rwanda, Haiti, Somalia and Bosnia.

It's the story of tiny victories (and as many defeats) under almost impossible conditions. It's a bloody good read.

That (early, so it's not a spoiler) description of the Cambodian man waiting for his wife to die or recover from last-gasp malaria, sitting on his heels for HOURS...how many of you who've been to SE Asia have seen that exact same sitting position? I can barely do it for a minute before the knees give out on me.

It's just loaded with those little observations, and that's on top of the narratives. I find myself thinking about a dozen or so scenes from it regularly.

[flipflop]

Ten out of ten, fucking eye-opener, not nice to pretty much the whole middle-class establishment, the media, parliament, entertainment. Keeps it's biggest barbs for New Labour and their focus on identity politics while abandoning the people the party was established to represent - the much-maligned post-industrial working-classes.

And that Katherine Tate, Matt Lucas and David Walliams can fuck off too.

Cheers

[rickshaw92]

Ten out of ten, fucking eye-opener, not nice to pretty much the whole middle-class establishment, the media, parliament, entertainment. Keeps it's biggest barbs for New Labour and their focus on identity politics while abandoning the people the party was established to represent - the much-maligned post-industrial working-classes.

And that Katherine Tate, Matt Lucas and David Walliams can fuck off too.

Cheers

I shall peruse this literally stuff whilst drinking cheap cider on a bench outside the off licence near the local councle estate. Innit.

[vagabond]

This book is the intertwined narratives of 3 UN staff. The book covers their work in Cambodia, Rwanda, Haiti, Somalia and Bosnia.

It's the story of tiny victories (and as many defeats) under almost impossible conditions. It's a bloody good read.

That (early, so it's not a spoiler) description of the Cambodian man waiting for his wife to die or recover from last-gasp malaria, sitting on his heels for HOURS...how many of you who've been to SE Asia have seen that exact same sitting position? I can barely do it for a minute before the knees give out on me.

It's just loaded with those little observations, and that's on top of the narratives. I find myself thinking about a dozen or so scenes from it regularly.

I've seen the squat and people look at me funny when there's no bench nearby and I emulate it here in the West. It's actually a comfortable sitting position if you get it right (and builds some good thighs).

Re: Emergency Sex. I enjoyed that book and it added a lot onto what I had already read about the UN and how messed up things on the ground can be there. It might sound misogynist but I preferred the mens's stories over the female's -- they seemed to have much more real depth and things to say about what was going on whereas it seemed she would natter on about her latest foreign affair and then maybe throw in how an operation went fucked up.

[vagabond]

I shall peruse this literally stuff whilst drinking cheap cider on a bench outside the off licence near the local councle estate. Innit.

Don't forget to wear your hoody, spit a good deal, and stab someone.

See you at Wetherspoons

[kilroy]

just picked this guy up whilst in minneapolis last week:

[nowonmai]

Good so far. The (first) US Civil War in under 400 pages.

[coldharvest]

Good so far. The (first) US Civil War in under 400 pages.

It's a superb book.
I take it you've read Shelby Foote's books?

[kilroy]

Shelby Foote?

the man is a stone cold pimp.

[nowonmai]

Shelby Foote?

the man is a stone cold pimp.

Really? Maybe I will read his books after all.

[rickshaw92]

Been readin cop thrillers by a dude called Stuart MacBride. Funny stuff. Its about an Alcoholic cop and his dyke boss set in Aberdeen.

[michelle in alaska]

yes. yes,. i've blabbed about how much i like this book already...
...and btw, Horwitz has an interesting visit and conversation w Shelby Foote....amongst many other interesting visits including backstore confederate museums not open to the general public. and beyond....
i'm getting ready to embark on a mini civil 'wargasm' of various civil war battle sites and memorials. first stop: Antietam. I'm embarrassed to say that i had to ask how to pronounce that, initially. I'm from minnesota. too northern to have that battle talked about much...
i guess i'm so intrigued, because the emotion this war generated is still very much alive. but lord, will i be dying from the heat....

[nowonmai]

yes. yes,. i've blabbed about how much i like this book already...
...and btw, Horwitz has an interesting visit and conversation w Shelby Foote....amongst many other interesting visits including backstore confederate museums not open to the general public. and beyond....
i'm getting ready to embark on a mini civil 'wargasm' of various civil war battle sites and memorials. first stop: Antietam. I'm embarrassed to say that i had to ask how to pronounce that, initially. I'm from minnesota. too northern to have that battle talked about much...
i guess i'm so intrigued, because the emotion this war generated is still very much alive. but lord, will i be dying from the heat....

Antietam will indeed be a wargasm. I'd love to see that place and personally would also pick out Fredericksburg and Beaver Dam Creek (Mechanicsville).

[Devlin]