What are you currently reading ?

Started by goat major, 03 November 2012, 06:40:05 PM

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SV52

Spike Milligan's Puckoon
A third of the way through Joe Abercrombie's Shattered Sea trilogy
"The time has come, the walrus said..."

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mollinary

Tomblands by C J Sansom. Over five hundred pages in and still hundreds to go.  It draws you in, and I am enjoying it, but I have  a feeling it would have benefited from a more vicious editor!
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Raider4

Quote from: SV52 on 22 November 2018, 08:53:53 PM
Spike Milligan's Puckoon

Good grief, that takes me back. A slim volume, and when I tired to re-read it a year or so ago I felt that it had not aged well.

Cheers, M.
--

Leman

I still think the Boer War British officer pointing towards the opposite blank page with the caption (as far as I can remember), "It looks quieter over there," is quite funny. Also I seem to remember, "Bingle bangle bongle, bingle, bangle boo, going once, going twice, sold to Fu Man Chu." As I had the book over 50 years ago when still at school my memory may not be entirely accurate.
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FierceKitty

Quote from: SV52 on 22 November 2018, 08:53:53 PM
Spike Milligan's Puckoon
A third of the way through Joe Abercrombie's Shattered Sea trilogy

Not to mention bazonka!
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SV52

The chapter in Puckoon describing 'The Holy Drinker' clientele I found so funny I couldn't see for tears.  The late Spike's humour is right up my street.
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Leman

Currently reading Age of Eagles, which seems quite a good way of mimicking Napoleonic tactics without getting too tied up in tiny details. Also been having a look at how it manages, through Age of Valor (sic), later C19th and earlier C20th warfare. Looks like another way of getting a shedload of troops on the table. Would really like to see one of my FPW battles with a masses  of troops out.
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Techno

Azincourt, by that nice Mr Bernard Cornwell.

First thing I've been listening to, for ages, that has any remote sort of relevance to the forum.

Cheers - Phil.

Leman

It was a remarkably good read, probably up there with his Winter King trilogy. His description of the battle is very realistic and far removed from Sir Larry's depiction.
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kipt

Finished "Mons: An Artillery Battle" by David Hutchinson.  Great little book about the first battle with the British at Mons.  Their artillery came up piecemeal, but the officers were good professionals, knowing at this stage of the war they were to support the infantry.  The division, corps and army commanders didn't pay much attention to the artillery, with Haig being the worst - prevaricating in his reports and rewriting history.

The German 7.7 ammunition was very defective at this point, causing minor casualties.  The German howitzers, however, were very destructive.

Good book from Helion with good maps as well.  The appendices are: I. British Artillery Organization, 1914; II. BEF Orders of Battle, August 1914; III. German Army General Structure, 1914; IV. lectire pm Co-operation between Artillery and Infantry, August 1913.

Leman

What exactly is lectire pm co-operation?
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kipt

Sorry. "Lecture on Co-operation Between Artillery and Infantry, August 1913".

Leman

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Raider4

Puckoon by Spike Milligan. An odd book, some parts very funny, some not. Nominally set at the partition of Ireland (1924?), but there are probably half a dozen times when characters refer to WW2, or the fifties. I thought it might be the Author breaking the fourth wall at first. Some editing should have occurred here. Still, a short book so didn't take much time to (re-)read.

Quote from: Leman on 24 November 2018, 09:18:02 AM
I still think the Boer War British officer pointing towards the opposite blank page with the caption (as far as I can remember), "It looks quieter over there," is quite funny. Also I seem to remember, "Bingle bangle bongle, bingle, bangle boo, going once, going twice, sold to Fu Man Chu." As I had the book over 50 years ago when still at school my memory may not be entirely accurate.

Sounds like Spike, but neither of these are in Puckoon.

Cheers, M.
--

Leman

Can't remember the name of the book then, but it was definitely Spike Milligan. I think it was published in the sixties.
The artist formerly known as Dour Puritan!