Diana S. Long

Forever, in life and in death

Revisado: 05-05-20

. Achilles is a well known name in Greek Mythology as he was the son of a mortal King and a Goddess, a hero of the Trojan War, one of the main characters in Homer's Iliad and the greatest Greek warrior. But he also loved and was loved by Patroclus. The story that the author has written for this pair is a moving and beautiful love story of two men whose souls are entwined through all eternity as they were in life. I found the story beautifully written and applaud her taking the initiative of presenting them as they appear, homosexuals. One of my favorite lines from the book comes near the end when Patroclus is pleading with Achilles mother for them to be together “I could recognize him by touch alone, by smell; I would know him blind, by the way his breaths came and his feet struck the earth. I would know him in death, at the end of the world.” The book was amazing and I highly recommend.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Rule, Britannia

Revisado: 05-05-20

While the United States took a wait and see, it's not our problem attitude, the bombs fell on Britain and it's people. Most of us are aware of this fact. While Hitler was plowing through Europe, wrecking every type of havoc on it's citizens, Britain might have appeared down, but she was never out. In this work, the author follows the war, it's effect on the populous and the Churchill family while the bombs dropped. Getting an overview using mostly facts and figures does not tell the whole story like the view from the ground. Larson is an excellent non fiction writer where he incorporates an event with a focus on the main participant or participants. I have never been disappointed with any of his works as they are well researched, easy to understand and an excellent read.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

A Bryson Road Trip

Revisado: 02-03-20

. And we're off, again with a most favored travel companion as he criss-crosses the American landscape for all the sights and sounds, highways and bi-ways, tasting the fare and describing his adventure. What is different in this work is that Bryson avoids for the most part all the large cities and tourist traps in search for the more quaint and less dense populations to get the feel of small town America and the people who reside there. Not as jovial as he later works were to come it's never the less entertaining and informative and I heartily recommend.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Excellent spy-techno-thriller

Revisado: 02-03-20

This was one high octane spy-techno-thriller featuring Jack Ryan, everyone's favorite low key analyst working with-in the CIA. Most of the time reading this/listening to it actually read by narrator Scott Brick, I was on pins and needles as it gets quite intense especially when the hunt is on. The basic story is a nuclear submarine is taken over by a crew of Soviets who plan on defecting to the US and bringing this new and highly advanced sub with them. It falls on Jack Ryan to determine what the commander of the Red October has planned as they aren't given a heads up. When the Russians determine that their prized sub has gone rogue, the hunt is on and the entire Soviet Navy is on a mission to seek and destroy lest in fall into enemy hands. Not all of the hands on the Red October are in on the scheme and things become tense when the plan is uncovered. Plenty of action and non stop intrigue incorporated into this work. Great work by narrator Scott Brick with all the different accents needed to bring this story to life. Highly recommend.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Educational and Fascinating

Revisado: 01-16-20

. I will be the first to admit, I knew absolutely nothing about the people who first crossed that bridge from Asia and populated the entire North-Central and South American continents nor did I realize that Native Americans loathe being called Indians and in Canada they prefer First Nation when being referred to. I make not of all this. Another little fact I was oblivious to was the time references BC and AD are strictly Christian and the preference should be CE (Common or Current Era) or BCE (Before Common or Current Era), I duly make note of these for future use. In this course we follow the homo sapiens over the bridge and into the Americas...this is how they arrived, DNA has proved this and there are absolutely NO other human type people here period. I was amazed at how much there is here and right in our own back yards, or near by. The mounds that are far older than the Pyramids of Egypt and bones of animals that tell the story of what was here, who were the hunter gathers,what tools they used, what they ate and their beliefs. This was an excellent educational work and although I listened to the program as an audio it also comes with a PDF to follow along like a lesson guide.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Excellent Legal Thriller

Revisado: 01-16-20

Sweden is the setting for this story and its focus is a family consisting of a father (who is a pastor in The Church of Sweden), mother (a notable lawyer for the defense) and a daughter (recently turned eighteen who appears to have a long history with anger management issues). The story unfolds told by the three members of the family in their own words beginning with the father. When the daughter is arrested for the murder of a young man the father decides that he needs to investigate the crime himself and looks to uncover the truth. As each member of the family lends their voice to the work we learn a great deal about the history of the individuals...secrets and lies mainly. I found it a fascinating work full of twists and turns and highly enjoyable.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Remarkable Journalist

Revisado: 01-16-20

Many people are possibly familiar with her being one of the wives of writer Ernest Hemingway but in her own right she was one of the most brilliant and prolific investigative reporters of the twentieth century. In this work Gellhorn takes us from war in Spain, many areas of campaigns in WWII, the middle east as well as Viet Namn, South America and although not a war the disaster of Chernobyl. Some of her reporting and interviews were so damning and explosive they were not even published in the news media. She told it like it was, interviewing the people who were effected by the events. Perhaps the administrations of the leaders of the United States were afraid of the truth. This was an eye opening series of interviews and a legacy of a journalist who braved the dangerous areas to get the story told for the people of the world. Very revealing a remarkable collection of her stories. Highly recommend.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Compelling Story

Revisado: 01-16-20

A short non fiction story which needs to be told especially when we see the protests with tiki carrying white supremacists in recent times. Fascism began in Germany and probably other parts of Europe prior to World War II and filtered into the United States once the German immigrants started bunds where they would gather and claim the Aryan race was far superior to other peoples and especially poured forth anti-Semitic hate filled rhetoric. We've always been a Democratic people, enjoying freedom of the press, of worship, of gathering and protesting but with it comes responsibility to not infringe on other citizens rights. For the Jewish population of Newark, New Jersey these German gatherings were more than they could bear and they stuck back, violently. This is the story of those men and one of the leaders of the “Minuteman” group. They got the name for being ready at a minutes notice to break up the meetings. It was before my time as I was born after WWII and it's one of the many stories that should be told. I question some of the decisions made by the leadership in the country especially when the war ended and the dust settled and perhaps I don't really want to know because it would be too much to bear. I do believe that stories like this, when and if they appear from time to time should be read as it's just one more piece of the puzzle for the history of us...the homo sapiens who inhabit the planet Earth.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Ultimate story of man versus nature

Revisado: 05-04-18

I listened to the audio recording of the work, narration performed by Simon Prebble. It is apparent to the reader that a great many hours were spent on research for this project, reading journals or diaries, documents and other written forms as well as first person interviews of some members of the group. This is in my way of thinking, it being one of the most incredible tales of man versus nature. Some of the story was rather painful to read. In his want of exploring Antarctica, Shackleton assembled a team of men, dogs, provisions for the expedition and for all appearances planned extremely well but having put all that together would never have imagined that everything could go so horribly wrong from almost the start. The area they were headed into was a hostile, uninhabitable part of the earth that is never predictable, mainly ice and snow, wind and sea with very little protection from the elements which became the challenge if the men were to survive. After losing the Endurance, being stuck and crushed in ice flows, with three smaller boats and limited provisions the men had to combat not only the elements but become a team working together to survive and remain hopeful until they were rescued. I thought it was an amazing story, sometimes intense and well worth reading.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Excellent Memoir by a true Patriot

Revisado: 04-19-18

I wasn't sure how I would feel about reading this book but I chose to give the man a chance to defend his actions by reading this book and I will never regret that decision. Put into a impossible position by both parties who would like nothing better than to see his head on a platter, I got not only to listen to how events unfolded during the 2016 elections through the time he was abruptly fired but also I learned a great deal about the man himself and what sort of person he is. In this work Mr. Comey gives the reader a glimpse into his background, family life and the values accumulated along the way and why he is a true patriot and does put his country first in his loyalties. There is no doubt that these are troubled times in the United States and per the author's words it is like a “forest fire”. He has chosen to portray the Trump administration of being run like a “Mob” with the boss wanting everyone to be loyal to him first. Others might say it's on the cusp of Fascism, either way it's not anything close to a democracy. Of course you have to chose for yourself and as long as we still have elections on a timely basis there is always hope. I did have to investigate into a few things that I questioned that were included in the work and having done that, I am satisfied. I recommend this work and I appreciate the honesty of this author. Thank you for serving Mr. Comey, I truly wish that you had been able to remain in your position because I believe in you 100% in your loyalty and truthfulness.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 14 personas