Books I have read

Books I’ve Read: The Religion War

Posted on March 18, 2014 by CharlieClaywell

Short and to the point, is the best way to describe The Religion War by Scott Adams (of Dilbert fame). Adams lets you know up front that the book is minimalistic and does not have extra padding like scene or plot building.

Adams is on a mission — he wants people to pause and think about their concept of God. At its core, this book is dealing with hard-hitting questions. Ideas like: How can ‘men of God’ with opposing viewpoints be listening to the same higher power. Is it possible that the concept of God is completely misunderstood — or even manipulated — by world leadership?

The book is a tool to stimulate the dialogue.

The Religion War is a fast-paced story that pits the Christian Alliance against a Muslim terrorist complete with a messiah figure — the Avatar. Like Adams, the Avatar is also on a mission. His goal is to prevent the impending doom that is about to be unleashed. Like a messiah, the Avatar tries to work his magic and intervene to save humanity. He even coordinates a meeting between the two sworn enemies, General Horatio Cruz and Al-Zee. The meeting ends in disaster, forcing the Avatar to rely on a restaurant owner and a computer programmer to halt the War.

In a somewhat unexpected twist to the story, though the Avatar fails. But, it is in his failure that a new solution is born. The solution is the brainchild of the programmer and the restaurateur — a solution, that a least for a time, saves humanity.

The most intriguing part of the book for me are the eight question posed after the story ends, including:

If you suspected you were deluded, how could you find out for sure?

Bottom Line: Quick, interesting and thought-provoking read.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars.

Categories: Books I have read | Tags: ,

Books I’ve Read — Shot All to Hell: Jesse James, the Northfield Raid, and the Wild West’s Greatest Escape

Posted on February 26, 2014 by CharlieClaywell

It is true, we are robbers, but we always rob in the glare of the day and in the teeth of the multitude. — Jesse James

There is just something about Frank and Jesse James that attracts interest. Immortalized into American lore, stories of the pair often are romantized to the point that it is hard to tell fact from fiction. Fortunately, there are writers who dig deep and try to research a story before committing it to paper.

That is definitely the case with Mark Lee Gardner, who has dug out the complete story of a botched Minnesota bank robbery conducted by the James-Younger gang. The book retraces the steps the men took to rob the bank and the fumbling way authorities worked as they tried to captured the six surviving members as the gang made its way through unfamiliar terrain and territory.

As the story of near captures, wrongly captured men, hysteria and admiration unfolds, it is amazing how the Younger part of the gang is eventually captured — because of a teen age boy Oscar Sorbel. For his efforts, Oscar will eventually be awarded $56. When the surviving Younger men are captured and taken to jail a new type of show unfolds as people want a glimpse of the famous outlaws.

Frank and Jesse elude capture for years. Jesse will eventually be shot and killed by Robert Ford. Frank, seeing the writing on the wall, eventually seeks out a clemency deal with the governor of Missouri — becoming the only one who truly escapes, despite the fact he was guilty of murdering a bank employee in the Minnesota robbery.

Book is written at a nice pace, has enough detail to keep it interesting, but not so much to bog it down. I would give it a 4.5 out of 5 rating. Excellent read.

I guess, if I had it all to do over, and had the choice, and had to make the choice as a young man, I’d rather have all the pain and danger and trouble than to be just a plain farmer. If I had an old man’s head, I would choose different. … — Frank James late in life.

Categories: American History, Books I have read | Tags: , , ,

Books I’ve Read: First You Have to Row a Little Boat

Posted on February 16, 2014 by CharlieClaywell

For some reason, I have recently started reading ‘meaning of life’ type of books and came across this one in a thrift store. The book landed on the best sellers list and once you read it you can easily see why.

First You Have to Row a Little Boat, by Richard Bode

The book starts off in a peaceful place — Bode’s youth and his overwhelming desire to own a sailboat.  You quickly learn that Bode, who does not try to evoke self-pity, has lost both of his parents. After their death he first lives with his grandparents, but he is eventually raised by an aunt and uncle when his grandmother becomes too ill to care for him.

You, the reader, follow along this quick trip through his childhood and beyond, by meeting the characters that teach Bode how to live. They do not sermonize or preach, instead offer small bits of wisdom along the way that Bode eventually latches onto as life lessons. The boat, although real, is a metaphor for his life, as he learns how to navigate through good and bad weather, how to control the wind and and figures out his destination.

Regardless of where you are in your life, at least one of the chapters will resonate with you. After his first boating accident on his sloop (he hit a log puncturing a hole in the vessel), he is relunctant to go sailing again.

I stood on the shore, looking at my sloop thinking about all the terrible things that might happen to me, and for a while I did not want to leave the harbor. For the truth is to sail, to even contemplate sailing, calls for a fundamental faith in one’s self, at that moment I was only aware of the barriers between myself and my destination..

Of course, he will go back out. He will learn and he will master seamanship. Eventually he win even place in a sailing race.

Even though I know little (nothing) about boating or sailing, Bode writes in a way I didn’t need to, giving just enough information about boating to explain what I needed to know. Although, he handles some pretty ‘heavy’ stuff for such a short book, you walk away with an appreciation that life does not have to be perfect, it just has to be lived.

And just like Bode as a young boy, you realize have to stop worrying about what might be and sail.

Categories: Books I have read, Middle age | Tags: ,