... all in a book I just finished. I don't consider myself qualified to write a "review," but I may pique your interest with my impressions of Dead Men, by Richard Pierce. When I read the book jacket synopsis I thought, "Sounds interesting," but I didn't have any wild expectations. Not unusual for me when I make a reading selection.
The main story is about the man (Royal Navy Captain Robert F. Scott) and his expedition that lost the race to be the first to reach the South Pole. Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen was first. Scott and his men are portrayed through diaries and papers that were saved and a bit of fiction. The fiction reads like very good interpretations of fact.
Rarely do I read a book "I can't put down." The only time I can remember that happening was The Godfather. I polished that off in two consecutive nights of uninterrupted reading.
Dead Men held my interest, delivered everything the synopsis promised and something I wasn't expecting. Not one, but two love stories intertwined in the telling of the adventure.
One, involving the two main characters, developed as their investigation of Scott's trek took them to Antarctica in the hopes of finding the bodies of those left behind.
The other was that of Scott and his widow. Her reaction to the news of his death was, to me, amazing.
I don't, as I said, have the qualifications to consider myself a book reviewer. If I did, I think I'd give this one 9 stars (on a 10 scale).
Harry,
ReplyDeleteI just stumbled across this, and am very humbled by your comments on my book. Thank you very much indeed.
Richard
Richard,
DeleteI'm pleased you found my post and appreciative of your taking the time to comment.
You're welcome. And I'm pleased to have the opportunity to thank you for writing the book. I hope to "read" you again.
Drop by again some time,
Harry
Harry,
ReplyDeleteYou're a gent.
R
I'm often called a number of things. "Gent" has not come up lately. Thank you.
DeleteBTW, I was just looking at my blog stats (I'm new at this and still trying to figure them out). This post, sir, has risen to the lofty #2 position! #1, I think, was an anomaly because it had been submitted for consideration for something or other. Therefore I'm calling this Number One.
Harry