Sounds like you should read:
"The Great Arc - The Dramatic Tale of How India Was Mapped and Everest was named" by John Keay
http://www.amazon.com/The-Great-Arc-Dramatic-Everest/dp/0060195185
Miserable chilly rainy day here so it is a good day to pick up a book.
To wrap the Dunces talk.. The book would have never been published but Thelma, his mother, was very persistent that it would be.
After the author’s suicide, she approached many various people with the manuscript for help. I knew one. He was an owner of a book store in the French Quarter. He told me that she was a indomitable force for a little lady. He gave me a first when it was published. Thelma had brought a box of books to his shop. Eventually for help, she approached the author Walker Percy who was teaching a creative writing class at Loyola Univ. in New Orleans. He tried to decline but Thelma’s relentless hounding of him made him waver. He read the manuscript and sent it to his publishers in NYC. They declined but he persisted. They said that the book would have to go through an extensive edit to make it publishable for their catalog.
Percy declined. I guess that he thought that the editing of a deceased author would always be suspect to the author’s legacy. He finally presented the manuscript to LSU Press and they published the book. I don’t know why Percy persisted. Maybe it was Thelma or his own past involving family suicide. I had met Walker Percy several times through the years. To me, he was not a very pleasant person but he was a very good writer. He seemed to be a complex man and deeply interested in philosophy, symbolism and language.
Ah...a fellow "Reacher" fan.
Make me is a long time away.
Yes it is. September I think. I am currently reading Personal for the second time. Actually, I just finished reading all of them for the second time. I first read them in order of publication. I went back and read them again in chronological order.
Now try the Vince Flynn "Mitch Rapp" series.
Andy
Based on your tip I just finished "The Hummingbird's Daughter." That has to be one of the finest books I've read and one of the best stories I know of.
Being raised just a bit in Mexico and having family roots there I found the characterizations, dialogue, culture and overall flavor of the place and the people (and the People) quite authentic. That combined with a really good and at least mostly true story made it come together into something real and true to such a rugged existence.
Thank You!
I suggest "Shoulda Played the Flute" - An Army Helicopter Pilot's Year in Vietnam
by?ÿDr. Richard L. Elgin,
Professional Land Surveyor
A set of books that I really enjoyed was by author Lee Child featuring his character Jack Reacher. The movie "Jack Reacher" (2012) was based on the ninth novel One Shot. If you read the books, and you've watched the movie, you'll be wondering why 5'7" 170 lb Tom Cruise plays 6'5" 250 lb badass Jack Reacher in the movie. Beats me. The books:
Killing Floor (1997)
Die Trying (1998)
Tripwire (1999)
Running Blind (2000)
Echo Burning (2001)
Without Fail (2002)
Persuader (2003)
The Enemy (2004)
-Prequel set eight years before Killing Floor
One Shot (2005)
The Hard Way (2006)
Bad Luck and Trouble (2007)
Nothing to Lose (2008)
Gone Tomorrow (2009)
61 Hours (Spring 2010)
Worth Dying For (Fall 2010)
The Affair (2011)
-This is another prequel set just before Killing Floor
A Wanted Man (2012)
Never Go Back (2013)
Personal (2014)
Make Me (2015)
I've read all of these except for the last two and they're a lot better than you would think.
Yes, Tom Cruise makes no sense.?ÿ Dolph Lundgren would have fit the character description to a "T" if he was 20 years younger.
The Ones No Surveyor Should Be Without
The Frontiersman - Allen W. Eckert
The Spirit of the Border - Zane Grey
The Last Trail - Zane Grey
Betty Zane - Zane Grey
Just for Fun
From Time to Time - Jack Finney
Time and Again - Jack Finney
The Ice Limit - Lincoln Child/Douglas Preston
Beyond the Ice Limit - Lincoln Child/Douglas Preston
11-22-63 - Stephen King
I do book on tape and kill at least a book a week depending on how much windshield time I get so my "library" has gotten pretty extensive.
These are just my favorites. And now I have so many new ideas!
Thanks everyone!
?ÿ
The Preston & Child Brooks are among my favoriets!
Also the relatively new Clive Cussler serie with Isaac Bell.
christof.
