Dan's Reading Journal

Joker One by Donovan Campbell

Reality war stories are often harrowing, haunting, and incredibly intriguing.  The experience is not unlike the observation of a car wreck....you don't really want to, but can't help but look.  I heard Donovan Campbell interviewed by Terri Gross (the NPR Fresh Air program) and was totally fascinated by this young man's understanding of leadership, his exercise thereof and his accounts of how he learned how to lead while serving as a platoon leader (as a Marine Corps lieutenant) in Iraq.  To quote from the Harvard Business Publishing, " Donovan Campbell is currently a Zone Sales Leader Designate working for Frito-Lay in Dallas, Texas. He returned to Frito in September from a year-long involuntary military recall, during which he helped Special Operations Command Central start its Tribal Engagement Initiative in Afghanistan. After four years as a Marine Corps infantry officer, intelligence officer, and sniper platoon commander, including two tours in Iraq, Campbell graduated from Harvard Business School. His book about his Marine platoon and their 2004 Iraq tour together, Joker One, [was] be published in 2009."

The book, Joker One (the name of his platoon) is no disappointment.  Campbell was assigned to Ramadi in 2004, which turned out to be one of the hottest spots of insurgent activity in the entire country.  Campbell describes his introduction to Iraq, his getting to know and then getting to lead the members of his platoon, and the action events in which the platoon participated.  While not totally objective (who could be?), Campbell does an outstanding job of introducing the laymen to modern urban anti-insurgency warfare, concisely and incisively describes firefight action, and brings the heat, terror, fear, and physicality of war very much into the reader's consciousness.  I will not belabor the aspects of fighting and attack - suffice to say that by the end of his tour he has pretty much decided he will die (and has moved on beyond that) and that his (and his even more experienced gunnery sargent) hands shake continuously.

What is most fascinating about Joker One is how Campbell describes his job relative to both his superiors and his subordinates, the men in his care.  The leadership lessons, examples, and teaching/training (both on-the-job and that provided by the Marine Corps) is extraordinary to read.  The fact that he came home in one piece - and that is platoon suffered only one KIA (many wounded) is astonishing.  That all of this happened when he was about 24 or 25 years old is testimony to the kind of individual he is and the kind of training you get as a Marine officer.  I was hard pressed not to be incredibly impressed with the thoughtfulness, composure, compassion, and commitment demonstrated by Campbell and his men.

You can read the transcript of his interview on NPR at Joker One/Donovan Campbell on Fresh Air.  The book and the interview are very much worth your time.

Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin

I may the the last person you know to read Team of Rivals and I probably am a bit of a contrarian with some of my reaction.  Let me say up-front that it is a terrific store of information and I learned a lot that I did not know.  The premise of the work is interesting -- Abraham Lincoln has not been given his due as a political genius nor a leader (manager) of people.  Goodwin sets about and very successfully makes her point. And doing huge injustice to her scholarship, those points are simple and straightforward.  First, Lincoln's nomination as the Republican nominee and his subsequent election as President was no fluke, no accident, and anything but lucky.  Rather, Lincoln's election was the direct result of his own political acumen and the application thereof to the situation as he saw it (better than most) and his execution (better and more sophisticated than almost everyone).  Second, his process of selecting, attracting, and managing the key members of his cabinet - all of whom were his rivals for the Presidency (William Seward, Salmon Chase, and Edward Bates) was an unparalleled demonstration of superior knowledge and understanding of human behavior and motivation.  Her exploration and demonstration of her thesis is interesting and the politics of the US from 1844 - 1864 is indeed fascinating.  While I am certainly no expert, Goodwin's scholarship appears exhaustive and detailed.

The book suffers from two flaws in my opinion.  First, Goodwin has sharp insights, but is constantly asserting as fact what she believes Lincoln was feeling or what his motivation or thinking must have been.  I do not question her analysis, but it was occasionally noticeable that conjecture was presented as fact. Second, the story is not told linearly, but jumps vertically through the experiences of Lincoln, Seward, Chase, and Bates.  It took me a while to get it  - until I did, it was a bit confusing.  Once I got it, it worked rather well. 

Goodwin is a thoughtful writer, but her prose is not exciting nor inventive.  As a small example, Salmon Chase's daughter Kate is describe numerous times....and always the same way, "beautiful".  Minor perhaps, but it was telling. However, these are small flaws. In the whole the scholarship overwhelms the narrative deficiencies.  More important, there is so much to learn and Goodwin lays it all out for us. 

As a final note, while the book centers on Lincoln, I found the descriptions of Seward and Chase to be very, very interesting (Bates was less a focus, or left less of an impression on me).  Chase turned out to be a self-centered, colorless and while effective in his technical role he was endlessly and quite annoyingly blind to his own impact on others.  Seward, in contrast, came across as a terrific ally who subjugated his own interests (after losing the nomination to Lincoln) to the betterment of the country.  Not only was he a tireless worker, he showed extraordinary judgment, tact, and commitment.  Seward, unfortunately, paid a much higher price for his loyalty than Chase paid for his lack thereof and comes off decidedly as the better man.

Doris Kearns Goodwin's Abraham Lincoln is a terrifically complex, interesting, fascinating, and absorbing character.  I truly enjoyed getting to know him, his style, his way of thinking and acting, and his ability to understand the American people both writ large and individual by individual.

While a bit of an effort, it appears to be worth the work of reading Team of Rivals. No question you will learn something new.

Defiance - The Bielski Partisans by Nechama Tec

Summer Reading.....

The movie, Defiance is based on Nechama Tec's Defiance - The Bielski Partisans.  Make no mistake, the devastating terror and heart-stopping danger is very real, but the story telling was much improved by the Hollywood script writers.  Having said that, Tec has none-the-less done the world a huge favor in putting together the interviews, research, and chronology of the Bielski partisans.  Led by the Bielski brothers, this Belorussian Jewish group became part of the Soviet resistance against the Nazi aggression.  While there were many Russian, Polish, and other resistance groups, few were Jewish, and virtually none of them other than the Bielski group welcomed unarmed men, women, children, young or old.  Even less than that accepted unarmed Jews.  From 1942 through 1944 (until the Soviet liberation) the Bielski partisan group created a community that lived deep in the forests and swamps of Belorussia and kept more than 1,200 Jews alive.  "Liberating" food from local peasants, cooperating with armed Soviet partisan groups by sending fighters and providing services (like gun repair and tailoring), the Bielski partisans represented one of the largest rescues of Jews by Jews in World War II.

The history is important, no doubt.  Tec's book, however, reads like a college paper.  Comparing and incorporating differing perspectives (some collected from survivors) and different attitudes is always difficult and Tec has the intellectual honesty not to judge, but the result is a very academic treatment of the situation - little emotion, little tension.  This is a telling, not a novel.  It sets the historical record straight and gives an appropriate recognition to some people who sought no honors and no glory, but deserve a tremendous amount of both.

Tuvia Bielski was interviewed by the author some weeks before he died.  He sought no fame and no aggrandizement.  I doubt seriously that he looked much like Daniel Craig.  Perhaps the times make the man, but after reading this historical record you will have no doubt that, in this case, the man also make the times.

Summer Vacation Reading

Most of my vacation reading is escapist stuff....and this vacation was no exception. I will review the important, heavier, mostly non-fiction stuff individually.  Here is the "junk" reading....

Thrillers, Mysteries, and Such

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson is really worth reading.  For whatever reason, I have been drawn to Swedish mystery and cop stories for some time. Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo wrote ten Martin Beck police procedurals from 1965 to 1975 and while they were clearly reflections of the times (the authors were pretty determined to show how their socialist country was exhibiting many of the same problems as capitalist countries) these 10 novels were wonderful minimalist mysteries.  Stieg Larsson has written a very interesting action story though the action is somewhat muted by Larsson's style.  The style does not detract, however, but seems to mirror my recollections of the "Swedish style". No punches pulled, but there is a bit of minimalist in Larsson as well and that sharpens some of the prose.  The title character is not the lead character, and while she is integral to the main mystery, her own backstory is equally absorbing. 

The quick synopsis -- Mikael Blomkvist is given a chance to redeem himself from professional misconduct when he is employed by a Swedish industrial tycoon (and head of a strange and dysfunctional family) to spend a year writing the family history as the cover for investigating the disappearance of the tycoon's grand-niece some years before.   In the course of events, he is introduced to and hires Lisbeth Salander (her of the tattoo) to assist in the investigation.  Lisbeth has her own story and her own style -- she is more than modestly anti-social and is an absolute wonder in her ability to ferret out information.

So, an interesting crime story, a pretty good mystery, a couple of terrific characters, a fabulous recrafting of the closed-room crime story (all the family lives on the same island -- calling Mrs. Marple!!), and a true anti-hero in the character of Lisbeth.  Enjoy.

Only bummer was finding out that Stieg Larsson - an investigative journalist in Stockholm - died in 2004, leaving behind a trilogy of which The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is the first published in the the US.

Bad Elmore Leonard is better than most people's best.  No one typically writes a better gritty, more real than reality story about crime, criminals, and damage than Leonard.  In Road Dogs, Leonard brings back Jack Foley, the star of Out of Sight (played by George Clooney in the movie of the same name) as well as Cundo Rey, the Cuban gangster who first appeared in La Brava and Dawn Navarro, the psychic from Riding the Rap.  Foley and Rey befriend each other in prison by watching each other's back (the prison term is "road dogs") and when Foley gets out he heads for Rey's homes (he owns two) in California (at Rey's request) to stay for a while and check in on Rey's wife, Dawn.  Dawn is a temptress who has been waiting 8 years for Rey to get out of prison so she can get his money.  Rey is a borderline psychotic with a temper and an imagination that focuses on infidelity.  Foley is a bank robber and con man and ladies man and there we go.  While Leonard throws in some pretty good tricks, Foley comes off a bit too smart -- he is never fooled and he's never without a comeback or response.  Rey and Navarro seem more contrived and less possible with each passing page.  The witty dialog is good, but the plot seems pre-ordained and a bit tired.  Still fun to read - as I said, Elmore Leonard on his worst day is a pleasure, but this is certainly nowhere close to his best.

  

Persuader; Gone Tomorrow by Lee Child are only two of some 14 Jack Reacher action novels.  Jack Reacher was an Army MP for 13 years (in the early stories, Jack is still in uniform) and is now a happily unemployed drifter who just happens to end up in some outrageous situations for which he is more than adequately prepared to act.  Think Spenser without the civilizing accoutrements of girlfriend, apartment, sidekick helper and the ability and desire to cook and eat good food.  Reacher has commitment issues...like he take clothes to the cleaners because he just isn't sure he will be in the same town when they are finished.  Like he trusts no one - not the government, not the cops, not the crowds, not the bad guys -- no one but himself.  At six-five and 250 pounds of all the MP training the Army could provide, he is a whole lot of skill waiting to happen...and Lee Child gives him the opportunity in every book.

Often, that opportunity is really contrived.  In Persuader (#7), Reacher just happens to be in Boston and just happens to spot a guy who was murdered 10 years previously (on a case Reacher was investigating).  Trying to get some information on the guy's limo lands Reacher in the middle of an unsanctioned FBI sting on what the FBI believes is a drug tycoon.  Fur flies.  Reacher to the rescue!

In Gone Tomorrow, the opportunity is (if you would consider this possible) even more far fetched.  Reacher is in New York, on a subway at 2 am and is one of 5 passengers -- when he looks at one of them, he goes through the entire Israeli 11 point list of what makes a suicide bomber and she nails all 11 --  but he is wrong about the bomber part....as he approaches her she pulls out a gun and kills herself.  And we are off to the races as Reacher gets hip-deep into the war in Afghanistan, a Senatorial election, and a major babe whose mother is an ex-Soviet political commissar looking for an American soldier.  PS, it turns out that of the 5 people on the subway car at 5am, one is Reacher, one is the suicide, one is the Congressman who wants to be Senator's chief of staff, and two are FBI agents. 

So, other than the fact that the story origins are completely unbelievable, Lee Child can write tight action and create very good mystery stories.  The Reacher novels are wonderful in their ability to suck the reader in and help waste a couple of otherwise perfectly usable hours.  Lot's of tight scrapes, twists and turns, feats of incredible physical activity, bad guys getting what they deserve, and Reacher's dry, skeptical, ironic, and totally sarcastic view of life in America (and some other places).

Silks by Dick Francis and Felix Francis is the second collaboration between the father (Dick) and son (Felix).  Dick Francis has written some 40 mystery stories and unlike Robert B. Parker (whom I adore, but must be honest with myself) Francis does not write the same book over and over again. Quite the opposite, in fact.  While all of Francis' books involve horses and horse racing of one sort or another, they also always include some other area of professional and technical expertise.  In Dead Heat (2007) the protagonist is a chef and we learn a lot about what it takes to be a professional chef and own and run a restaurant; in Banker (1982) the key character is a merchant banker.  In Silks, our hero is an English barrister (lawyer, but the kind that try cases) working towards becoming a Queen's Counsel (a status conferred by the Crown).  The double entendre is that while all race horses and their jockeys were specific silks, so are the Queen's Counsels required to wear silk gowns to distinguish their status.

In Silks, barrister Geoffrey Mason is an amateur jockey who takes on case of a professional jockey accused of murder.  Under threat already by former client he begins to be pressured to lose the case by parties unknown...and off we go.  Francis has never written a boring book, he is always interesting, his research is always good, and the mystery has enough to it to keep the reader interested and anticipating what comes next. If you have not read any Dick Francis, pick any one of the 40 up and you will not be disappointed.

   

Science Fiction

Joe Haldeman writes intriguing sci-fi. I reviewed The Accidental Time Machine back in March (see Spring Break 2009 Reviews) and I also very much enjoyed The Forever War.  Haldeman has the really good ideas and the story telling knack that puts him very close to the Robert Heinlein/John Varley school of science fiction.  Camouflage is no exception. The idea here is a really good twist on and combination of the "we have been visited before" theme and the "they walk among us" theme of science fiction.  In Camouflage, an egg shaped artifact is found on the ocean floor and all attempts to communicate with it, open it, or even scratch it fall way short of success.  In parallel, we are made privy to the fact that not one, but two different alien intelligences are (and have been for quite some time) on earth observing us.  One, known as the changeling, has been on earth a very long time, but only recently has it taken human form.  The other, known as the chameleon, has always been in human form.  The changeling has the capacity to learn and to love.  The chameleon is a conqueror, looking for victory and delighting in war and its process.  The Changeling and the Chameleon are ignorant of each other's presence, but with the discovery of the artifact, that is about to change.  Haldeman writes a good story, and shows really good character development in our aliens (and others).

Jack McDevitt is also a good story teller.  I really like his Alex Benedict/Chase Kolpath series (Polaris, Seeker, The Devil's Eye, A Talent for War) and branched out beyond those with Ancient Shores.  It was worth the risk.  Simple premise, big impact -- a farmer in North Dakota uncovers a sailboat on his property.  Interesting given that there has been no lake in the area for about 10,000 years.  Even more interesting is the material of the boat and sail has an atomic number on the periodic table well beyond what we currently have identified.  A search for other artifacts (along the shores of the ancient lakebed) turns up a building made of the same material as the boat -- and it is on Sioux land. The building houses a transportation device that links instantaneously to other habitable planets.

McDevitt takes us through some interesting suppositions and possibilities like what will the US government do about something like this when it sits on Sioux territory?  What happens to the world economy when industries like transportation (air, rail, ship) start to be questioned as to viability?  Or what happens when oil is discovered on one of the planets -- what happens to the power politics in the middle east?  How do governments and media coexist in such situations?

An interesting story with some cool sci-fi tidbits. Only bummer was the ending which comes straight out of nowhere and is pretty damn ridiculous.  Other than that....a good waste of time.

Time travel...of all sorts is a constant sci-fi theme.  Parallel universes...ditto.  Paul Melko combines the two themes in Walls of the Universe and turns in a really nifty story.  A high school kid named John Rayburn is tracked down and tricked into changing places with John Prime -- a parallel universe version of Rayburn who just happens to have a device that allows the user to travel to parallel worlds.  Only problem is that this device is busted....Rayburn can't return home.  Turns out there are many travelers and many planets, but not all of them are nice and comfortable.  Melko takes this traditional track and makes it interesting and most important, personal.  We get to know both Johns and the whys and wherefores of what makes them tick.  Personal ethics get confronted and bad guys are met and friends get made.  The story of how and then if John can return to his original universe is well written and engaging.  Melko (a new author for me) does a very good job of personality development and writes a very readable story.  I look forward to reading more by this author.