book review - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

t walgamuth · #1 05-28-2007, 10:16 AM

i just finished "cold mountain" a novel about the personal lives of a few people during the civil war.

it was engaging with some interesting period details, a lot of kindof improbable fighting scenes, and ultimately an unsatisfying ending.

i had seen the movie before reading it but could not remember the ending so i guess i deserved it.

i am starting a new book by jimmy carter about his childhood.

when reading factual books it is always very satisfying because you know it actually did happen.

no way to say things are improbable and unrealistic.

tom w

davestlouis · #2 05-28-2007, 11:26 AM

I hated the movie Cold Mountain, couldn't sit through it.

I have been re-reading The Destruction of the Bismarck this weekend, written by David Bercuson and Holger Herwig...we all know how that turns out but it is a great story nonetheless.

t walgamuth · #3 05-28-2007, 11:33 AM

that sounds interesting.

i never seem to tire of ww2 and the civil war.

tom w

davestlouis · #4 05-28-2007, 11:37 AM

I read a book several years ago, loaned it to someone and it never came back, called Confederates in the Attic, it's a study on how some southerners still really yearn for antebellum times and are hard-core re-enactors. They also seem to believe the War of Northern Aggression isn't over...the SOuth will rise again.

t walgamuth · #5 05-28-2007, 11:44 AM

i used to smile about that thinking that the die hard confederate attitude was kindof all in fun.

it really is not in many cases, i reluctantly conclude.

tom w

Gurkha · #6 05-28-2007, 11:47 AM

Love war movies, Cold Mountain was a bit too emotional but still good show, Battle of Bulge my favorite.

davestlouis · #7 05-28-2007, 11:50 AM

Tom, I apologize for hijacking your thread, but I watched Full Metal Jacket again the other night...amazing! ANd Jaws 3, in 3-d just ended on one of the cheesy satellite channels I get...horrible piece of film-making but fun on a dreary rainy day.

t walgamuth · #8 05-28-2007, 11:58 AM

i have never seen full metal jacket. i suppose maybe i should check it out.

tom w

t walgamuth · #9 06-21-2007, 10:46 PM

I just finished "Through the crosshairs....snipers in Vietnam". I also read recently "dear mom... letters from a sniper" by Joe Ward.

It was very interesting. We used snipers sparingly in ww2 and Korea. The enemy in both cases used them pretty routinely. Both sides used them a lot in ww1. In Vietnam we had maybe 1200 snipers total in the conflict combining Army and Marines. They accounted for 13,000 kills with an average expenditure of 1.7 shots per kill.

Some commanders did not believe in using snipers at all, others used them but didn't like talking about it. Many folks who thought nothing of pilots painting a plane on their plane each time they got a kill didn't think it was right to keep score if you were a sniper.

So that combined with the fact that many or our records were lost when positions were overrun or abandoned means that records are skimpy about the precise numbers.

And I can only imagine that most snipers who came home spoke little about it. As most vietnam vets that I know speak very little about it unless they have had a few beers....or not at all.

My dad had shot competitively before ww2 and always felt had he gone to the military instead of working in war industry he would have been made a sniper. He used to say the average life of a sniper in the field was something like 13 minutes. So he was glad he didn't go at all. Also he was a bit too old at 22 in 42 with two children and a wife.

Some of the snipers in Vietnam used the same equipment as they did in ww2...30 06s with bolt action, but they also used scoped M1 garands and m14s with scopes. They had a starlight scope with which they could see very well at night too. They generally had more kills at night.

Our guys had pretty good accuracy over 1000 meters. The enemy snipers were considerably less... up to 800 meters.

Occasionally industrious snipers fitted their scopes to 50 cal machine guns for killing accuracy over 1500 meters, using single shots.

Today we have special 50 caliber sniper rifles. I think they are semi automatic.

Tom W

Botnst · #10 06-21-2007, 11:11 PM

I know a man who was a marine sniper in Vietnam from 1965 to 1969 or so. He is a good friend and a good man. Before the USMC he had not followed the path of most snipers (as I understand it), though he had shot small game with a shotgun. After Vietnam he had a few issues getting settled into GI Bill & college and so forth but eventually settled into a productive pretty normal life. He was able to separate his duty as a marine from his later life.

Over the many years I've known him I have heard very few tales of his experiences. Some are extremely bizarre, yet bizarrely believable. He received two Bronze Stars, a Silver Star and a Purple Heart.

Benzadmiral · #11 06-22-2007, 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gurkha

Love war movies, Cold Mountain was a bit too emotional but still good show, Battle of Bulge my favorite.

I went to "Cold Mountain" specifically because La Goddess Nicole Kidman was in it, and got a bonus with Renee Zellweger's eccentric character Ruby. I enjoyed it. However, the opening pages of the novel are hard sledding, and if an author can't manage to engage me in the first few pages, I'll often switch books.

On the other hand, I tried three times over 20 years to finish Dashiell Hammett's "Maltese Falcon"; lost interest in it each time at the same scene. Only on the fourth try did I realize what his technique was, and was able to not only finish it but enjoy it. So maybe "Cold Mountain" will be one of those for me.

Ruby (as played by Renee Zellweger): If I cry one tear for my daddy I stole it off a crocodile.

t walgamuth · #12 06-23-2007, 08:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Benzadmiral

I went to "Cold Mountain" specifically because La Goddess Nicole Kidman was in it, and got a bonus with Renee Zellweger's eccentric character Ruby. I enjoyed it. However, the opening pages of the novel are hard sledding, and if an author can't manage to engage me in the first few pages, I'll often switch books.

On the other hand, I tried three times over 20 years to finish Dashiell Hammett's "Maltese Falcon"; lost interest in it each time at the same scene. Only on the fourth try did I realize what his technique was, and was able to not only finish it but enjoy it. So maybe "Cold Mountain" will be one of those for me.

Ruby (as played by Renee Zellweger): If I cry one tear for my daddy I stole it off a crocodile.

Good book falling short of great by the dismal ending. He survived all those unlikely fights up til then, why kill him off at his opportunity for happiness?

Perhaps because he was AWOL?

Tom W

t walgamuth · #13 06-23-2007, 08:21 AM

I just started "Goodbye DArkness" last night by William Manchester. A memoir about ww2. The forward describes his first instance of killing a Japanese ...a sniper.... in the most graphic terms. Making it at once real and not at all romantic....I was hooked.

Excellent writing so far.

I have several other of his books but I am not sure I have read any of them yet. After this I am sure I won't quit til I have read them all.

Tom W

Txjake · #14 06-22-2007, 09:34 AM

My Uncle was a combat Marine in three wars: WWII, Korea & Vietnam. he saw lots of action, was at Guadacanal, Tarawa, The Frozen Chosin, Operation Hastings, etc. He carried a lot of mental baggage until the day he died. He was a hard drinker, a rough, brutal man who never smiled much. After he died, my Aunt told me in a conversation about his life said that his nightmares were horrible and there were many nights that she spent holding him while he wept and cried uncontrollably. I had always wondered before then why this kind, gentle woman stayed with him. After that night I understood. There are many casualties of war and some folks do not die from the hidden wounds they suffer until much later in life.

t walgamuth · #15 06-23-2007, 08:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Txjake

My Uncle was a combat Marine in three wars: WWII, Korea & Vietnam. he saw lots of action, was at Guadacanal, Tarawa, The Frozen Chosin, Operation Hastings, etc. He carried a lot of mental baggage until the day he died. He was a hard drinker, a rough, brutal man who never smiled much. After he died, my Aunt told me in a conversation about his life said that his nightmares were horrible and there were many nights that she spent holding him while he wept and cried uncontrollably. I had always wondered before then why this kind, gentle woman stayed with him. After that night I understood. There are many casualties of war and some folks do not die from the hidden wounds they suffer until much later in life.

Thanks for an excellent comment...

Tom W