What books are we reading at the moment ?

[Mr Larrington]

Full Dark, No Stars ~ Stephen King.

Only one killin' so far, or two if you count the cow.

[peliroja]

I read whatever I could get my hands on second-hand at backpackers and campsites Down Under, including:

Corduroy Mansions, Alexander McCall Smith
Wilderness of Mirrors, Linda Davies
Unnatural Exposure, Patricia Cornwell
Goodfellowe MP, Michael Dobbs

Finding books in Aus and NZ was hard! You pay a fortune for new books - e.g. approx. NZ$30-45 for a new paperback.  I've resolved to buy an e-reader for our next trip.

[Mr Larrington]

If I had a time machine I would return to the period, find out which blithering idiot came up with the idea to give all our jet engine technology to the bloody Americans1 and beat some sense into him with Mr Shovel here.

1 - Who repaid this act of largesse by bankrupting BRITAIN and gifting jet engines to the Soviet Union (while simultaneously executing the Rosenbergs for sending nuclear secrets in the same direction).

It seems I have done the Americans something of a disservice here as, contrary to what I had read elsewhere², Hamilton-Paterson-Chap says that it was a combination of Rolls-Royce and Sir Stifford Crapps who flogged the RR Derwent to the Russkies.  Seventeen-time winner of Soviet Moustache of the Year and all-round Professional Git Mr. J. Stalin reckoned that no-one could possibly be that stupid, so when he discovered that they could, he reportedly fell about laughing and ran around the Kremlin with a lampshade on his head.  Possibly.

2 - Step forward Mr. R. Coltrane.

[spesh]

If I had a time machine I would return to the period, find out which blithering idiot came up with the idea to give all our jet engine technology to the bloody Americans1 and beat some sense into him with Mr Shovel here.

1 - Who repaid this act of largesse by bankrupting BRITAIN and gifting jet engines to the Soviet Union (while simultaneously executing the Rosenbergs for sending nuclear secrets in the same direction).

It seems I have done the Americans something of a disservice here as, contrary to what I had read elsewhere², Hamilton-Paterson-Chap says that it was a combination of Rolls-Royce and Sir Stifford Crapps who flogged the RR Derwent to the Russkies.  Seventeen-time winner of Soviet Moustache of the Year and all-round Professional Git Mr. J. Stalin reckoned that no-one could possibly be that stupid, so when he discovered that they could, he reportedly fell about laughing and ran around the Kremlin with a lampshade on his head.  Possibly.

2 - Step forward Mr. R. Coltrane.

Aksherly, it was the R-R Nene engine that we were blitheringly stupid enough to sell to the Reds, who reverse engineered it into the Klimov RD-45 and then VK-1- which went into the MiG-15.

Oh how UN pilots in Korea must have laughed... 

[andygates]

I'm exploiting the anonymity of the e-reader to gobble some Star Wars extended universe novels*, without dying of geekshame.  You have to read them with the right voices, and add the scene wipes, and it's pretty good.




* Thrawn Trilogy.

[Mr Larrington]

Aksherly, it was the R-R Nene engine that we were blitheringly stupid enough to sell to the Reds, who reverse engineered it into the Klimov RD-45 and then VK-1- which went into the MiG-15.

Oh how UN pilots in Korea must have laughed... 

(Googles)

Both the Derwent and the Nene, it would appear.  I knew there were two but I couldn't remember which the second one was.

[spesh]

Aksherly, it was the R-R Nene engine that we were blitheringly stupid enough to sell to the Reds, who reverse engineered it into the Klimov RD-45 and then VK-1- which went into the MiG-15.

Oh how UN pilots in Korea must have laughed...  

(Googles)

Both the Derwent and the Nene, it would appear.  I knew there were two but I couldn't remember which the second one was.

I remembered the Nene being a freebie for Uncle Joe from a book by Bill Gunston - I forget the title, but it was a catalogue of bad decisions, cockups and general fusterclucks in aviation history, most of which appeared to come c/o HMG.

Anyway, you've given me inspiration for something else to add to the Chrimble list.  

[citoyen]

Anyway, you've given me inspiration for something else to add to the Chrimble list.  

A Gloster Meteor?

d.

[microphonie]

Currently reading Greg Bear's Darwin's Radio, from wiki:

"In the novel, a new form of endogenous retrovirus has emerged, SHEVA. It controls human evolution by rapidly evolving the next generation while in the womb, leading to speciation.
The novel follows several characters as the "plague" is discovered as well as the panicked reaction of the public and the U.S. government to the disease."

Just finished the first section dealing with the discovery of the 'disease'. Very readable so far...

[Quint]

I believe we have just paid them off for their assistance in WW2 and are still paying them off for WW1 (or maybe t'other way round, I get so annoyed), prostitutes are more honest, we paid dearly and are still paying for their "generous" assistance, couple that with their threats over our little Suez fiasco and , well, special relationship eh ?

 

If I had a time machine I would return to the period, find out which blithering idiot came up with the idea to give all our jet engine technology to the bloody Americans1 and beat some sense into him with Mr Shovel here.

1 - Who repaid this act of largesse by bankrupting BRITAIN and gifting jet engines to the Soviet Union (while simultaneously executing the Rosenbergs for sending nuclear secrets in the same direction).

It seems I have done the Americans something of a disservice here as, contrary to what I had read elsewhere², Hamilton-Paterson-Chap says that it was a combination of Rolls-Royce and Sir Stifford Crapps who flogged the RR Derwent to the Russkies.  Seventeen-time winner of Soviet Moustache of the Year and all-round Professional Git Mr. J. Stalin reckoned that no-one could possibly be that stupid, so when he discovered that they could, he reportedly fell about laughing and ran around the Kremlin with a lampshade on his head.  Possibly.

2 - Step forward Mr. R. Coltrane.

[Captain Zep]

Currently reading Greg Bear's Darwin's Radio,

Me too!  I must be about 75 pages ahead of you.    How are you finding all the biology? - all I know about biology is where my 3 kids came from. 

[microphonie]

Currently reading Greg Bear's Darwin's Radio,

Me too!  I must be about 75 pages ahead of you.    How are you finding all the biology? - all I know about biology is where my 3 kids came from. 

Not too bad I think - I've read a few popular science books that deal with genetics & evolution so I have a bit of knowledge. But then again I may be convincing myself I understand more than I actually do! I'm not sure I'd be able to explain it to someone else in any sort of technical detail, which I suppose is a good test.

That's my answer re: the biology in the book, not where your kids came from, by the way...

Might have to check out more of Bear's work - this is my first by him.

[Flying_Monkey]

Might have to check out more of Bear's work - this is my first by him.

Some of his earlier stuff was very interesting - Blood Music is a bit of a classic now.

[Ray 6701]

Joss the life & times of the legendary Lake District fell runner & shepherd Joss Naylor.

Redirect Notice

[Bledlow]

Gogol. A collection of stories & 'The Government Inspector'.

[David Martin]

'On Tour' by Messrs Wiggins and Gallagher.

Quite a good read and a refreshingly different style.

[Nuncio]

Last Night in Twisted River by John Irving.  A slow and downbeat start compared to the swing and verve of the others I have read  (Garp, Owen Meany, Hotel New Hampshire), but it’s early days yet - there are another 500 pages to go.

[Flying_Monkey]

Now reading Mark Mazower's Hitler's Empire, a very readable account of the organisation of occupation under the Nazis.

[E.C. Ryder]

Just started on Life by Keith Richards

[Quisling]

Joss the life & times of the legendary Lake District fell runner & shepherd Joss Naylor.

Ooh, that's going on my Xmas list. I always fancied a stab at the Bob Graham Round but have never been remotely fit enough. Mind you, Bob way slightly older than me when he did it so there's hope for me yet. If Joss did 72 peaks he's up there with my all time heroes. What a chap!

[clarion]

There was an article about Joss Naylor in TGO last month.  Astonishing man.

[tiermat]

Fields of Death by Bernard Cornwell Simon Scarrow.

Good so far, and will be right the way through, if his other three about Napoleon and Arthur Wellesley (Duke of Wellington) are anything to go by.  I normally like to read "junk" thrillers, but have a soft spot for historical, er, pseudo fiction, I suppose you could call it.  It's not completely fictional, nor is it completely fact, but sits somewhere in the middle.  Mr Scarrow and Mr Cornwell seem to be the lead purveyors of this kind of gendre, apart from the Sharpe novels....

[Clandy]

Revisiting Asimov's Foundation trilogy.

[Tom B]

'Possession' by A.S. Byatt

[Little Jim]

The House by Bill Bryson - full of fairly useless facts and some wonderful names (heard of Canvas White?) - an anorak's dream!