Collected Miscellany

Combat Jump by Ed Ruggero is an intriguing story of the formation and first combat jump of the 505th PIR (Parachute Infantry Regiment) of the 82nd Airborne Division in World War II.

The book basically covers the formation of the first airborne units in the U.S. Army (including arguments for and against the formation) and then details the training and preparation that the paratroopers went through to get ready to battle the Germans and Italians. Most of the book details the 505th’s drop into Sicily.

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Rod Dreher’s recently released Crunchy Cons is a frustrating book. Dreher, a writer and editor at the Dallas Morning News, raises a number of issues worth discussing, and delivers interesting accounts of passionate people – including Dreher himself – who live out their ideals in ways difficult to categorize along simple right-left political lines. But the book’s tone, style, and structure undermine clear argument and limit its appeal beyond those already highly sympathetic to the label.

The epiphany for this entry in the ongoing hyphenization (or adjectivization) of conservatism came to Dreher when he mentioned to an editor at National Review that he had to pick up his organic fruits and vegetables at the local co-op. When she responded “Ewww, that’s so lefty” Dreher began to think about the political labels associated with certain activities.

After some thought, he realized that he was involved in a number of “counter cultural” activities that are usually associated with the left: organic and slow food, Birkenstocks, urban living, the Arts and Craft movement, giving up TV, etc. He went on to write an article for the magazine on the subject and was inundated with emails from likeminded individuals. With such an outpouring of interest, Dreher decided to dig a little deeper. Crunchy Cons is the result.

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One of the unique blogs I check regularly is Contemporary Nomad. A collection of authors from around the globe, it has a unique perspective and often unique content. Yesterday was a good example. Olen Steinhauer posted a short Q&A with fellow author and nomad John Nadler. Nadler’s latest work, A Perfect Hell : The True Story of the Black Devils, the Forefathers of the Special Forces, was released March 28 and only sat down with him to ask a few questions.

Here is a taste:

3. Reading A Perfect Hell, I was struck by the great sympathy you clearly have for the soldiers, and the respect you have for their experiences. The same is true in Searching for Sofia. It comes through in your word choice and the way you construct scenes and elaborate characters. Who do you think are your biggest influences as a writer?

As a teenager, I guess I was most influenced by the new journalists of the ’60s and ’70s: George Plimpton, Gay Talese, Peter Maas, Truman Capote, Jimmy Breslin, Tom Wolfe, and even Hunter Thompson, writers who pioneered the use of literary techniques to tell a non-fiction story. This technique seemed to create new vistas in journalism that even as a young guy I was really excited by. A fascinating sub-genre was the participatory journalism of Plimpton’s Paper Lion and Thompson’s Hells Angels, which inspired me in Searching for Sofia because circumstances demanded that I be part of the story. A Perfect Hell is straight narrative, but for me it was a fascinating writing experience because it was a literary non-fiction exercise, a journalistic exercise (based on my interviews with veterans), and a chance to try my hand at popular history.

I am sure Jeff will want to check this one out.

I have always respected the U.S. Army’s First Infantry Division – the “Big Red One” – but I have even more respect for it after reading The Fighting First by Flint Whitlock. It’s a combination of harrowing stories and narrative.

Whitlock briefly details the Division’s activity in World War II prior to D-Day – participation in the North Africa and Sicily campaigns. The majority of the book covers the training and preparation for, and the fighting on, D-Day. Whitlock then chronicles the exploits of the Divisions as it fought from Omaha – through Normandy, Aachen, and the Battle of the Bulge – to the end of the war. Of all American divisions that fought in World War II, the First Division suffered some of the highest casualties and was one of the longest serving in combat.

Whitlock does a superb job in bringing together stories of the rank-and-file soldiers and their commanders. I particularly liked Whitlock’s description of the Division’s hatred of General Patton. As one soldier stated about Old Blood and Guts, “Our blood, and his guts.”

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I have always respected the U.S. Army’s First Infantry Division – the “Big Red One” – but I have even more respect for it after reading The Fighting First by Flint Whitlock. It’s a combination of harrowing stories and narrative.

Whitlock briefly details the Division’s activity in World War II prior to D-Day – participation in the North Africa and Sicily campaigns. The majority of the book covers the training and preparation for, and the fighting on, D-Day. Whitlock then chronicles the exploits of the Divisions as it fought from Omaha – through Normandy, Aachen, and the Battle of the Bulge – to the end of the war. Of all American divisions that fought in World War II, the First Division suffered some of the highest casualties and was one of the longest serving in combat.

Whitlock does a superb job in bringing together stories of the rank-and-file soldiers and their commanders. I particularly liked Whitlock’s description of the Division’s hatred of General Patton. As one soldier stated about Old Blood and Guts, “Our blood, and his guts.”

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One of the great things about being a book blogger is the chance to learn something new; to widen your experience. I had just such an experience recently. As a student of the Cold War I am often intrigued by fiction that uses this period as a backdrop (see Olen Steinhauer for example). So when I received Pawel Huelle’s short autobiographical novella Mercedez-Benz in the mail I decided to move it to the top of the pile.

I am glad I did. It turned out to be a unique and captivating work. For such a short and simple work it has a lot of resonance and depth. It is both a tribute and a memoir; both a look back and a look ahead. If you enjoy elegant and humane writing you will enjoy Mercedes-Benz.

The basic story line is simple as Pawel narrates his experiences taking driving lessons in the Polish city of Gdansk in the post-Soviet 1990’s. The seeming simplicity of the style and story, however, obscure the underlying depth and emotion. As Pawel learns to drive with the help of his instructor Miss Ciwle, he tells her stories of his parents and grandparents. These stories center around his families ownership of a series of Mercedes-Benz automobiles – hence the title. Through these stories Pawel gives the reader an insightful glimpse into the last century of Polish life. In a way that straightforward history can not, these stories – based on actual events and illustrated with real photographs – take you inside the personal emotions and activities of the people on the ground as the world changing events take place around them; from pre-war independence to the long communist years to the new world of the post-communist era. The cars, and the driving lessons, serve as a useful hook to hang these vignettes on. Pawel nicely moves between the past and the present comparing and contrasting the periods and the people’s lives.

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