The Way of the Coyote by Elmer Kelton. Ok oater.
I thought The Things They Carried was an amazing book, it is on my short shelf of novels I kept after reading. I’ve also read Going After Cacciato. Very good, but in a different way. What’s the third one? How does it compare?
I’ve been reading Italian Westerns: The Opera of Violence.
Very interesting early Spaghetti book. I am almost done with it and will try to post about it when I am finished.
The authors are very insightful considering how close they were to the “golden age” (the book was written in 1975). Spaghettis are now held in much higher regard than they were at that time. A, more or less, conventional wisdom now accepts Spaghettis as groundbreaking and unique. But they wrote before that view had critically gelled.
Most of the moives discussed are Leone’s & Sollima’s but there are others considered as well. The authors, significantly, hold Corbucci in slightly less regard than the other two Sergios. Interestingly, they have not much to say at all about The Great Silence. I think it gets merely a paragraph. Conversely, they rave about The Hellbenders.
At least a third of the book is about the use of music and the composers thereof. And they don’t talk only about Morricone, though he gets his due.
Tons of B & W pictures. So many in fact, that the actual text may only comprise about 1/3 of the book.
If I Die in a Combat Zone
It’s good (as are they all) and I recommend it. Kind of a mix in styles of the other two to a certain extent. My favourite is still The Things They Carried. A wonderful book.
Just finshed The Road by Cormac McCarthy. Stark and compelling, I was genuinely gripped by this post apocalyptic story. To begin with I wasn’t sure about McCarthy’s style and the short chunks rather than full chapters. But the sparse, pared down style actually fitted the content really well and kept me with it very effectively.
I’ve only recently discovered McCarthy’s books (as a result of recommendations by members of this forum) and so far I’ve been impressed. I read All The Pretty Horses a short while ago and liked that too. Very downbeat, although not nearly as bleak as The Road. Blood Meridien will be next I think, although I’ll probably leave that til after christmas. Don’t want to spoil my dinner.
The Secrets of Harry Bright by Joseph Wambaugh…not as good as some of his stuff but not bad either.
[quote=“Phil H, post:65, topic:1204”]Just finshed The Road by Cormac McCarthy. Stark and compelling, I was genuinely gripped by this post apocalyptic story. To begin with I wasn’t sure about McCarthy’s style and the short chunks rather than full chapters. But the sparse, pared down style actually fitted the content really well and kept me with it very effectively.
I’ve only recently discovered McCarthy’s books (as a result of recommendations by members of this forum) and so far I’ve been impressed. I read All The Pretty Horses a short while ago and liked that too. Very downbeat, although not nearly as bleak as The Road. Blood Meridien will be next I think, although I’ll probably leave that til after christmas. Don’t want to spoil my dinner.[/quote]
Oh my god, Phil. Blood Meridian. So good. Very different than All The Pretty Horses, etc.
Spoil your dinner? Maybe, but the insights into humanity are worth a little spoilage.
I bought The Road when it came out. I have not been able to read it. As a single Dad with Apocalyptic fears it hits too close too home.
It makes me queasy.
I’ve read McCarthy’s No Country for Old Men and it was very good. I’ve heard about Blood Meridian and I found their going to make a movie out of it. Scalphunting has been an unhealthy curiousity to me. 
[quote=“Romaine Fielding, post:67, topic:1204”]Oh my god, Phil. Blood Meridian. So good. Very different than All The Pretty Horses, etc.
Spoil your dinner? Maybe, but the insights into humanity are worth a little spoilage.
I bought The Road when it came out. I have not been able to read it. As a single Dad with Apocalyptic fears it hits too close too home.
It makes me queasy.[/quote]
I can understand your reticence re The Road. As a father myself I did find it a tad uncomfortable but it is the discomfort that makes it work I think. I genuinely engaged with the central character because of the empathy I felt for him. (This is an achievement on the author’s part in itself. Like most heterosexual males empathy is about as high up on my list of skills as multi tasking) But despite all the bleakness (and it certainly is very bleak) there is still a sense of hope. I don’t want to spoil the book for you (or anyone else who is yet to read it) but the prevailing theme I came away with was despite all the horror, there are good guys out there. The problem is if you are scared of everyone, how will you know who they are.
I’ll be starting that tonight as I got it for Xmas.
I’m reading a book I got as a present for XMas :
Why life speeds up as you get older, by Douwe Draaisma, a Dutch college professor in the history of psychology.
Great! The cover says it has been translated into several languages, including English
I’m 3/4 through the book and think it’s a nice read !!! Gotta watch the movie as soon as I’m done with reading !!!
I got a couple books for Christmas.
#1. The Road: Cormac McCarthy
#2. The Gunfighters: Non Fiction book about old west gunfighters
#3. From Stagecoach to Tombstone: Howard Hughes
#4. The Complete Western Stories of Elmore Leonard: Elmore Leonard
[quote=“korano, post:73, topic:1204”]I got a couple books for Christmas.
#1. The Road: Cormac McCarthy
#2. The Gunfighters: Non Fiction book about old west gunfighters
#3. From Stagecoach to Tombstone: Howard Hughes
#4. The Complete Western Stories of Elmore Leonard: Elmore Leonard[/quote]
Very nice Korano. I have all of these, The Hughes book is very good. I will be interested to know what you think.
Thanks Phil, I know I HAVE to read it. I keep waiting for the apocalypse to happen any day now. I better read this before there is no light to read by. But I’ll hang on to it just in case I need to burn it for warmth.
Got a James Bond Omnibus for X-Mas. Includes three Novels and a Short Story all written by Raymond Benson. The Ian Fleming Novels were great fun and so far also Benson’s 007. 
Just finished ‘Birdsong’ by Sebastian Faulks.
I had heard good things about it but after the first 50 pages or so I still wasn’t convinced. However, it got much much better and by the end I was genuinely gripped. The story follows an officer during WWI and the account of the battle of the Somme and some of the underground scenes are exceptionally moving. Not perfect, but a very good book well written.
A Smile on the Face of the Tiger by Loren D. Estleman. This is an entry in the series of books with the private eye, Amos Walker. He’s somewhat of a modern-day throwback to the “pulp-fiction” type of P.I.'s of yesteryear. A fun read. I’m a big fan of Estleman, he also writes a pretty good western.
Sounds like my kind of stuff AceHigh. I’ll have to keep an eye out for him.
“Viva Elfego!: The Case for Elfego Baca, Hispanic Hero” by Stan Sager.
Biography of New Mexico lawman, lawyer, politician Elfego Baca. If you have never heard of him check him out.