Missive #221 Published 16 February 2024
22. PAYMENT IN KIND…
Old West meets New West in this novel set in Southern California by early western writer Henry Herbert Knibbs (1874-1945). Most of the story, in fact, would happily take place in the 19th century. There is a ranch with cowboys on horses, gold prospecting in the Mojave, and a big gunfight outside a saloon. But for good measure, Knibbs also throws in a motor car, Los Angeles, and references to movie-making.
Missive #220 Published 14 February 2024
"In this semi-autobiographical novel, an American named Roland Lancaster has a doomed affair with a younger woman, Elsa, in Cuba during World War II. The love story, in its happiest moments, parallels the idyllic life that author John Dos Passos had with his first wife, Katy."
I didn't dislike this book but think that Dos Passo's nonfiction is better than his fiction. A semi-autobiographical book is only half way between.
Missive #219 Published 12 February 2024
Child of God established McCarthy's interest in using extreme isolation, perversity, and violence to represent human experience. McCarthy ignores literary conventions – for example, he does not use quotation marks – and switches between several styles of writing such as matter-of-fact descriptions, almost poetic prose, and colloquial first-person narration (with the speaker remaining unidentified). — Wikipedia
The book is all of that and may not be to everyone's taste.
Missive #218 Published 11 February 2024
Continuing The Federalist Papers.
Federalist No. 14
Objections to the Proposed Constitution From Extent of Territory Answered
Author: James Madison
To the People of the State of New York:
Missive #217 Published 10 February 2024
This completes the Videssos Cycle of books which I read out of order. They were good reads; although reading them in story line order would probably be best publication order is probably the simplest.
Missive #216 Published 9 February 2024
21. NASRUDDIN AND THE CASE OF THE COW
Nasruddin’s neighbor came running up, shouting loudly. “There’s been a terrible accident!” he said to Nasruddin.
“What happened?” asked Nasruddin, alarmed.
“Your ox got loose and gored my cow to death,” the neighbor explained. “Someone will have to pay!”
“What do you mean?” replied Nasruddin. “Surely you can’t hold me responsible for what my ox did to your cow.”
Missive #215 Published 5 February 2024
I have read a lot of Berry's essays and liked them however this collection left me disappointed. That may not prove to be true of all readers since the Customer Review rating were good. It is long on discussing the poetry of other writers which I have little interest in reading plus the language used in the discussion is not one that I understand. He has some other books of his essays that I'll continue to read and hope that he does not focus on poetry.
Missive #214 Published 4 February 2024
Continuing The Anti-Federalist Papers
Agrippa XIII
by James Winthrop
To the People
Missive #213 Published 2 February 2024
20. BITING YOUR OWN EAR…
Edward Hamilton has reconstructed this amazing story of wilderness, forts and weapons. He takes the reader through each successive war with a surgeon's precision, utilizing some of the best maps ever constructed to detail the magnitude of the European engagement being fought on North American soil. Vital, thrilling and fascinating, the French and Indian Wars culminated an age old rivalry and set the stage for years to come. In the long view, this excellent account shows us exactly why we speak English today instead of French.
Missive #212 Published 31 January 2024
I thought I would continue my thoughts on the rhymes in history that we might be seeing in the not too distant future. The Strauss–Howe generational theory states that a crisis recurs in American history after every saeculum ( a period of 80-100 years). The crisis are not always the same but they do rhyme.