The past few years I have been working slowly but surely through the works of Mary Roach. I find her style to be intoxicating, even if her subjects seem a little outside my own personal interests. When announced that her latest book would be about the science of war I was immediately wondering how her light-hearted and comedy heavy style would work with this subject. Once I realized that she was, as usual, going to focus on the weird eddies of science and discovery. In […]
The Forgotten War need not be forgettable.
I finished this book last weekend, but haven’t really had the time to review it. Both my wife and son are taking a nap, and I’m in the middle of Hurricane Matthew, so I figured now is as good a time as any. The Korean War isn’t called “The Forgotten War” for nothing. I’ve been a history buff as long as I can remember, and I don’t think I’ve ever read a book or seen a documentary about it. Other than M*A*S*H*, I don’t think […]
Disposable tin soldiers
A child of the 80s, I grew up on a distorted view of Vietnam. Free love was a whispered aphorism that seemed almost impossible in the age of Ronald Reagan, televangelism, and HIV. Peace on earth, a barely remembered dream amidst the bluster of Cold War bravado and the cinematic blood lust of Sylvester Stallone, Chuck Norris, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. The 60s were dead. But in its place, like some perverse cosmic satirist with a zeitgeist-altering pen, was a hyper-visualized mirror image that exaggerated its […]
Like the war itself, I want to support it but find myself turning away from the lies and delusion
This is easily the most controversial book I’ve read for the Cannonball. First: about me. I was never in the military. But I was an army brat, and have spent most of my life around military or ex-military. While I am under no illusions about my qualifications to speak on war, I do think I understand the kind of person Chris Kyle was (in the most general sense). I’ve known people like him (in temperament if not experience) my whole life. And, frankly, I don’t […]
To stare into the abyss and see a vacant soul
Objective Troy (2015) Not previously reviewed for CBR. On September 30, 2011, the US assassinated Anwar al-Awlaki and Samir Kahn in Al Jawf, Yemen. Both men were American citizens, though only Awlaki had been targeted by the US government. Two weeks later, Awlaki’s 16-year old son, Abdulraman al-Awlaki, was also killed in a drone strike in Yemen, though he wasn’t specifically targeted. He, Awlaki, came to national prominence as a “moderate voice” of Islam following the devastation of 9/11, giving numerous interviews to the media; […]
You are entering the Red Zone. Proceed at own risk. When in doubt, run.
I consider myself very lucky that I discovered Justin Cronin’s “The Passage” series only last summer, so the wait for City of Mirrors was much less painful and dramatic than it would have been if I’d been reading in real time: The Passage was published in 2010 and The Twelve in 2012. City of Mirrors came out four weeks ago. That’s not on a George R. R. Martin level, but still could have been a brutal wait for me. Whew! I love this series. I […]
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