richardcampbell

Recent Reading.....

Finished a nice World War II true adventure story, We Die Alone, relating the trevails of Jan Baalsrud's escape and rescue after a failed espionage attempt in way northern Norway. Great stuff, but the one flaw in the book describing the hiking, swimming, sailing, sledding, doesn't include a map of the trek. Here's one. And the movie, Ni Liv, is apparently great, and a staple on TV in that area, but not available on DVD over here.
In fiction, The First Assasin, is a well-told Jackal-like attempt on President Lincoln early on in his first administration. The real highlight of the book is the evocative recreation of a panicky and defenseless Washington, D.C. sorting out who was on what side during the days before the Civil War began. Again, while the book is careful at getting the details right and setting incidents in real locales in D.C., no map!
Finally, From Tiny Acorns, the Kenny Baker story. (To put it simply, the guy inside R2-D2). An odd, light-hearted biography that manages to convey the hardships, successes, and love of life of Kenny. While we don't need quite as many details of which English pantomine show's he performed in, it's amazing how hard-working the man was. And I had no idea of his decades-long relationship with Jack Purvis and their cabaret act, The Minitones. Alas, there may be no film of that - can't find any original clips on youtube.
Posted by netrc at February 21, 2010 10:12 AM