a French Foreign Legion Forum

Welcome! Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Keeping occupied.

Joined
Jan 14, 2006
Messages
4,272
Reaction score
2,785
Location
U.K.
Home Country
United Kingdom
I have always been an avid reader when as a country person not taking care of animals, or fishing and shooting. Now indoors I am reading the superb historical novel; World without End by Ken Follett. It resonates in certain ways about what is happening now in the world with Covid 19. It is the magnificent sequel to Follett's Pillars of the Earth. If you get a chance I suggest you read one.
 

Perun

Super Active Member
Joined
Jan 24, 2013
Messages
1,394
Reaction score
619
Location
Zagreb
Home Country
Croatia
I have always been an avid reader when as a country person not taking care of animals, or fishing and shooting. Now indoors I am reading the superb historical novel; World without End by Ken Follett. It resonates in certain ways about what is happening now in the world with Covid 19. It is the magnificent sequel to Follett's Pillars of the Earth. If you get a chance I suggest you read one.
Hello Chas,
I've seen TV series "Pillars of the earth", enjoyed it (I love historical themes) never knew there is a book (which is always better than a movie). You got me interested in "World without end", I might check it out after I'm done with what I'm reading at the moment;
Paolo Sorentino - "Everybody's right" (a novel, Italy, present time) and a Bosnian classic I should have read when still in school, but never did Meša Selimović - "Derviš i smrt" (Death and the Dervish) about a monk questioning his soul, moral, faith etc (in Bosnia during Ottoman rule).
 
Joined
Jan 14, 2006
Messages
4,272
Reaction score
2,785
Location
U.K.
Home Country
United Kingdom
Hello Chas,
I've seen TV series "Pillars of the earth", enjoyed it (I love historical themes) never knew there is a book (which is always better than a movie). You got me interested in "World without end", I might check it out after I'm done with what I'm reading at the moment;
Paolo Sorentino - "Everybody's right" (a novel, Italy, present time) and a Bosnian classic I should have read when still in school, but never did Meša Selimović - "Derviš i smrt" (Death and the Dervish) about a monk questioning his soul, moral, faith etc (in Bosnia during Ottoman rule).
Go for it. There is some Latin in them . One phrase I shall use in my continual battle with politicians; Caput tuum in ano est ! Translates as; You've got your head up your arse.
 

Joseph Cosgrove

Moderator
Legionnaire
Joined
Jul 13, 2013
Messages
9,555
Reaction score
7,900
Location
Thailand
Home Country
New Zealand
I have always been an avid reader when as a country person not taking care of animals, or fishing and shooting. Now indoors I am reading the superb historical novel; World without End by Ken Follett. It resonates in certain ways about what is happening now in the world with Covid 19. It is the magnificent sequel to Follett's Pillars of the Earth. If you get a chance I suggest you read one.
Hi Chas, I remember reading Pillars of the Earth in the legion. An excellent book. I then saw someone reading it in French. It looked about two thirds the thickness of the English and original version. The guy who was reading it said it was book two of a two book story.I suppose that is what you get when you try to translate into another language.
As Perun said, they made a series out of it, but it was not the same and you absolutely had to have watched them all in the order to follow what was going on- or have read the book.
Which brings me to my next amazing piece of news. As we are going to be holed up here for at least the next week, due to songkran we went down to have a look at the second hand book shop. I usually let Erika pick out my books as she knows what I like. The shop is run by Thais so although there is some order, when I say order I mean, the books are more or less in in alphabetical order going by the Authors surname (or Christian name :ROFLMAO: I kid you not :ROFLMAO:). However she had to withdraw some money so I said that I would accompany her. Normally there is no risk, but as I have said before, if the Thais don't work, they don't get paid.
First stop was my friendly local 'sell everything' including beer. As I've mentioned, the gov, has brought out a law saying that it is forbidden to sell any alcohol until Camerone (perhaps not exactly those words.) You just have to be very discreet about it.
So when we went into the book shop, I picked up a book called the return of the dam busters. And then I thought about your recommendation. But for the life of me I couldn't remember who wrote Pillars of the earth. After checking to see if there were any new books by favorite Authors Jeffrey Archer and Robert Harris, I remembered it was good old Kenny, just to prove that I'm not doing a night jumper I've got photo proof;
IMG_20200329_152729.jpg Er no, that's a picture of Erika's cat. IMG_20200411_151502.jpg me with said cat in the kitchen. Check out the hair after a month with no barber.
IMG_20200411_151209_HDR.jpgIMG_20200411_152529.jpg

Please note that in the top left hand corner is another of today's trophies chang beer. Another angle to show the thickness of the book (only a wet ring to show that there was ever a chang there;)), which cost me 200 Bahts which is 4 pounds 92 or 5euros 59. I'll get 100 bahts back when I return the book. The other one about the dam busters cost 180 Bahts and the third which is by Chris Ryan (I know, I know) only cost 20 bahts but I cannot take it back.
 

dusaboss

Hyper Active Member
Joined
Jun 3, 2016
Messages
4,545
Reaction score
1,640
Location
Serbia
Home Country
Yugoslavia
Joe did you bought the house or your renting and what prices are in Thailand?
 

Joseph Cosgrove

Moderator
Legionnaire
Joined
Jul 13, 2013
Messages
9,555
Reaction score
7,900
Location
Thailand
Home Country
New Zealand
We rent. I would not advise anyone to buy a house in Thailand. We pay 17 000 a month which is middle of the range. We are a short distance from the shopping malls and literally 50 metres from the beach with only one French woman who lives in a house three down from us.
 

Joseph Cosgrove

Moderator
Legionnaire
Joined
Jul 13, 2013
Messages
9,555
Reaction score
7,900
Location
Thailand
Home Country
New Zealand
I have always been an avid reader when as a country person not taking care of animals, or fishing and shooting. Now indoors I am reading the superb historical novel; World without End by Ken Follett. It resonates in certain ways about what is happening now in the world with Covid 19. It is the magnificent sequel to Follett's Pillars of the Earth. If you get a chance I suggest you read one.
I'm actually just coming up to the time when the Plaque is going to hit :eek:.
It is actually the 2nd of a trilogy. Erika, bless her, has just bought, me form the second hand book, shop (UK 7.99), 'A column of Fire", along with a Jeffery Archer book.
I've taken a photo of the book and tried to send it to myself, it hasn't arrived. I don't want anyone calling me a Night Jumper, :cautious:
I've still got a fair way to go on the World without End, I'm on page 775 out of 1275 and I'm a slow reader.
One thing that I'd like to say about this new book, it should be interesting as QE1, who ruled for 45 years, lead England through the "golden age", with such distinguished characters as Francis Drake, who was a privateer or Corsair if you like.
The new book has (only) 885 pages.
As soon as the photo comes through I'll be sure to post it. So watch this space...
 

Joseph Cosgrove

Moderator
Legionnaire
Joined
Jul 13, 2013
Messages
9,555
Reaction score
7,900
Location
Thailand
Home Country
New Zealand
Finished my "World without end yesterday, all 1256 pages worth. I've just started on my favourite author, Jeffrey Archer's False impression. He's my favorite author, but not my favorite person.
He is a Lord, however he spent three years in prison. It is not for me to judge him, however he did deserve it.
It makes you wonder how someone who :

"Now published in 97 countries and more than 33 languages, Jeffrey Archer is firmly established, with international sales passing 275 million copies. He is the only author ever to have been a number one bestseller in fiction (nineteen times), short stories (four times) and non-fiction (The Prison Diaries)."

can still want more money? The royalties alone from the books should have been enough, not to mention the University lectures...
Anyway I'm off to the gym.
 

Le petit caporal

Legionnaire
Joined
Sep 4, 2017
Messages
5,490
Reaction score
4,188
Location
Nimes
Home Country
North Korea
Jog on mate
We will try and catch you up...some time, when ever
Jeeze fuq, why do i always have to explain?
 

Joseph Cosgrove

Moderator
Legionnaire
Joined
Jul 13, 2013
Messages
9,555
Reaction score
7,900
Location
Thailand
Home Country
New Zealand
Well I've finished the Column of Fire, I've just sent Erika to get it changed. She has for mission to find The Good Shepherd by C.S. Forester. That is the book which the film Greyhound is based on.
In the meantime I have another book by my second favorite author, Robert Harris, called Fatherland, with the subtitle what if Hitler had won?

Why did it take me so long to finish Column of fire? Because I'm a slow reader and more importantly, because I was preoccupied with Excel VBA, big time. The guy is useless; sometimes I would spend up to 3 hours on a twenty minutes video. The thing is if the dimwit doesn't get it right himself than he would just do it again. I mean how can you follow that?
Ok enough of me raging about free online tutorials.
Dusa, your turn.
 

hotsauced

Member
Joined
Jul 31, 2017
Messages
104
Reaction score
104
Location
Los Angeles
Home Country
United States


In the tradition of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, a stunningly vivid historical account of the forty-year battle between Comanche Indians and white settlers for control of the American West, centering on Quanah, the greatest Comanche chief of them all.S. C. Gwynne’s Empire of the Summer Moon spans two astonishing stories. The first traces the rise and fall of the Comanches, the most powerful Indian tribe in American history. The second entails one of the most remarkable narratives ever to come out of the Old West: the epic saga of the pioneer woman Cynthia Ann Parker and her mixed-blood son Quanah, who became the last and greatest chief of the Comanches. Although readers may be more familiar with the tribal names Apache and Sioux, it was in fact the legendary fighting ability of the Comanches that determined just how and when the American West opened up. Comanche boys became adept bareback riders by age six; full Comanche braves were considered the best horsemen who ever rode. They were so masterful at war and so skillful with their arrows and lances that they stopped the northern drive of colonial Spain from Mexico and halted the French expansion westward from Louisiana. White settlers arriving in Texas from the eastern United States were surprised to find the frontier being rolled backward by Comanches incensed by the invasion of their tribal lands. So effective were the Comanches that they forced the creation of the Texas Rangers and account for the advent of the new weapon specifically designed to fight them: the six-gun. The war with the Comanches lasted four decades, in effect holding up the development of the new American nation. Gwynne’s exhilarating account delivers a sweeping narrative that encompasses Spanish colonialism, the Civil War, the destruction of the buffalo herds, and the arrival of the railroads—a historical feast for anyone interested in how the United States came into being. Against this backdrop Gwynne presents the compelling drama of Cynthia Ann Parker, a lovely nine-year-old girl with cornflower-blue eyes who was kidnapped by Comanches from the far Texas frontier in 1836. She grew to love her captors and became infamous as the "White Squaw" who refused to return until her tragic capture by Texas Rangers in 1860. More famous still was her son Quanah, a warrior who was never defeated and whose guerrilla wars in the Texas Panhandle made him a legend. S. C. Gwynne’s account of these events is meticulously researched, intellectually provocative, and, above all, thrillingly told. Empire of the Summer Moon announces him as a major new writer of American history.
 
Joined
Apr 8, 2019
Messages
241
Reaction score
310
Location
USA
Home Country
United States


In the tradition of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, a stunningly vivid historical account of the forty-year battle between Comanche Indians and white settlers for control of the American West, centering on Quanah, the greatest Comanche chief of them all.S. C. Gwynne’s Empire of the Summer Moon spans two astonishing stories. The first traces the rise and fall of the Comanches, the most powerful Indian tribe in American history. The second entails one of the most remarkable narratives ever to come out of the Old West: the epic saga of the pioneer woman Cynthia Ann Parker and her mixed-blood son Quanah, who became the last and greatest chief of the Comanches. Although readers may be more familiar with the tribal names Apache and Sioux, it was in fact the legendary fighting ability of the Comanches that determined just how and when the American West opened up. Comanche boys became adept bareback riders by age six; full Comanche braves were considered the best horsemen who ever rode. They were so masterful at war and so skillful with their arrows and lances that they stopped the northern drive of colonial Spain from Mexico and halted the French expansion westward from Louisiana. White settlers arriving in Texas from the eastern United States were surprised to find the frontier being rolled backward by Comanches incensed by the invasion of their tribal lands. So effective were the Comanches that they forced the creation of the Texas Rangers and account for the advent of the new weapon specifically designed to fight them: the six-gun. The war with the Comanches lasted four decades, in effect holding up the development of the new American nation. Gwynne’s exhilarating account delivers a sweeping narrative that encompasses Spanish colonialism, the Civil War, the destruction of the buffalo herds, and the arrival of the railroads—a historical feast for anyone interested in how the United States came into being. Against this backdrop Gwynne presents the compelling drama of Cynthia Ann Parker, a lovely nine-year-old girl with cornflower-blue eyes who was kidnapped by Comanches from the far Texas frontier in 1836. She grew to love her captors and became infamous as the "White Squaw" who refused to return until her tragic capture by Texas Rangers in 1860. More famous still was her son Quanah, a warrior who was never defeated and whose guerrilla wars in the Texas Panhandle made him a legend. S. C. Gwynne’s account of these events is meticulously researched, intellectually provocative, and, above all, thrillingly told. Empire of the Summer Moon announces him as a major new writer of American history.
This is a good book I listened to it in audible....the Comanche in the cover is considered the last Comanche chief, Quanah. Fascinating. His mother was a white woman, like the summary says, that had been taken in a raid and eventually married the Chief and had children. Quanah became a successful business man persay after integrating despite having undertook many raids on these settlers...there's some pretty knarly stuff in this book from what I remember. And it's pointed out that with the Comanches not having a kind of unified tribe but instead it was broken up between different warrior Chiefs, it made it hard for them to continue resistance....
 
Top