All Reviews by Marc
Sixteen Months in Four German Prisons
by Frederick Arthur Ambrose Talbot
Great so far, with lots of twists. Not sure if it's really non-fiction, but even if not it's an exciting story.
Simple Sabotage Field Manual
by Strategic Services
Predicting new titles that Greg Homer will tackle with his unique breed of comedy is getting too easy; I called this one yesterday. Homerfodder. We need a new nom du keyboard, someone with a higher vision of comedy. And someone who, I daresay, really leaves when he says he is going to. ;-)
Anyway, I read the book. It has the basic saboteur's info, but it also contains material on how to manipulate people into conducting sabotage for you.
If you ever read Gimpel's "Agent 146", the story of a German spy in America during WWII, you'll start to understand that the front-line spies and saboteurs lead a uniquely depressing lifestyle. As a spy/saboteur, your superiors don't really care about what happens to you, you can't really trust anyone, and you have to convert your mind away from the constructive/creative mode that most aspire to.
As this book (inadvertently) shows, a saboteur is not some creative Robin Hood type so much as someone who fell prey to brainwashing and ended up as a thug doing their runner's bidding.
For example, what benefit do you gain from polluting your own water supply? Here you may be part of a resistance movement supporting a cause kept at bay hundreds of miles away from your location. What good does it do to potentially kill your friends and family while you wait for help?
The most critical thing to do if you find yourself surrounded by the enemy: Get Out. Don't stay and turn yourself into an anti-worker who dreams of comeuppance.
Finally, this book is dated in terms of technology and does not take into account video/audio/physical surveillance.
I know all this from experience; I served as commissar in a very backwards country during the Cold War.
In a computer game.
Underground
by Suelette Dreyfus
Gripping non-fiction book about several hackers, their motives, their methods, and their private lives. If you enjoyed "The Cuckoo's Egg" by Cliff Stoll, or if you like computer books in general, you'll probably like this one.
In the Sargasso Sea
by Thomas A. Janvier
Could hardly put it down. Surprisingly adventurous and readable for a book from 1898. I felt as if I were in the main character's shoes.
I highly recommend this book if you are up for some nautical adventure! Also if you own a cat, as I do, I think you'll like it too. :-)
The Return of Blue Pete
by Luke Allan
"The story lives up to its promise"
You can find a short review of this title from a 1922 New York Times, using this link:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9B05E6DE1F3CEE3ABC4953DFB6678389639EDE
This links to a full-article PDF; the review is the last paragraph of the PDF article. It was awesome to come up with that from a Google search! :)
Looking forward to reading this one!
The King James Bible
by Various Authors
I've been reading the writings of Josephus (Jewish historian from the first century A.D.) and these writings piqued my interest in the Bible once again.
Readers are advised not to think too literally when it comes to dragons and such (this is not a western book - it is an eastern book full of eastern symbolism). In fact I recommend you read along with a commentary as you study. And a study it is.
For example, Ecclesiastes is a fantastic complement to many of the philosophies manifest in modern Buddhist texts. Take this verse:
"Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity."
The equation of evil with vanity is really a key to moving from childhood to adulthood. In other words, we stop acting like children (live less selfishly, act less out of jealousy, etc.) so that we can live a more fulfilling life. This is one small key to feeling like we really *are* progressing in life.
What the coming of Jesus Christ adds to this is the promise of overcoming physical death ("oh death, where is thy sting?") through his resurrection, and of overcoming spiritual death (mistakes, misdeeds) through his work of atonement. We learn that man is not perfect, nor need he be to achieve happiness in his life.
While the simpler, more "self help"-like verses of the Bible are easy to swallow in small chunks and go down quite easy, a full study of the book is rewarded with a more general consciousness of the purpose of our life and the promise of an eventual reconciliation that takes into account our troubles, sorrows, mistakes, achievements and aspirations.
"To this end was I born" -Jesus Christ
The Life, Public Services and Select Speeches of Rutherford B. Hayes
by James Quay Howard
Haven't read the book. However, Mr. Homer's review of this book seems to contain some false information. I am unable to verify any of it so far...
James Nasmyth: Engineer
by James Nasmyth
This is a must-read for anyone interested in history or the history of technology, or just great biography. Nasmyth was raised very well and in this book he explains the beautiful attributes and skills he was taught from a young age, how they brought his career to fruition, and even spends time on items of interest for modern technologists, such as releasing patents to the public. I found this book surprising, humorous (especially the bit about where his last name comes from), and poignant, and felt like I was learning at the feet of a great man. Highly recommended.
Sailing Alone Around The World
by Joshua Slocum
Fantastic book. Captain Slocum is a famous "man of the sea" who sailed around the world alone around the turn of the 20th century. Not at all hard to read, especially if you like reading stories about the sea. BTW, there is an international Slocum society now, founded to support those who travel long distances in small boats: http://www.joshuaslocumsocietyintl.org/