The Lieutenants: The Brotherhood of War

The Lieutenants: The Brotherhood of War by W.E.B. Griffin

The first of nine books in the ‘Brotherhood of War’ series. Initially, I wasn’t sure if I would enjoy such a book, or such a series.  I can’t honestly say that I’ve ever given “war novels” much of a chance.  I love History books about some of the major wars, and a great love story seems to go rather well with something as unfortunate as a war as part of its background.  But books that seemed to put most of their emphasis on the coming and goings of the military , I feared, might be somewhat different.

This book was different.  It was quite technical.  There’s tons of military jargon thrown in here that really doesn’t seem that important.  Yet author W.E.B. Griffin has this skill mastered in that it doesn’t take anything away from the story.  Unlike some Tom Clancy novels (which I do enjoy), Griffin doesn’t spend 8 pages describing something inane like what the inside of a bomb looks like.  Instead, he gives us just enough detail (even though there is quite a lot) to help us understand a bit of the background, and then quickly moves on with the story and the characters.

Speaking of characters, this really is a ‘character’ book.  This story focuses mainly on people and not that much on the events that surround them.  The story takes place as World War II is winding down, spends the bulk of book taking place during the late 1940s, and ends right around the time the Korean conflict begins. (remember there are 8 more books to follow.)  As the title implies, the story focuses on characters that are, or become, Lieutenants. 

There are four such characters in this book, although the time spent on each is not dispersed equally.  We see how and why such individuals become officers in the United States army.  The book is brutally honest, and sometimes a bit scary when one ponders that such incidents probably happen in the actual armed forces.  Example: One of our Lieutenants starts off as a Private. He’s a young spoiled rich brat who only joins the army because he was kicked out of college.  It seems this young private knows a lot about the sport of polo.  Well, a general, who is a polo nut, needs this kid on his polo team. Since only officers can play on the team, the general “has” to make the kid a lieutenant.  So the spoiled brat is made a officers as he’s barely out of his teens.  This doesn’t go over well with many others in the army, and we have a nice setup for a story.  Generals obviously have quite a bit of power.

The paperback is 400 pages, and I was surprised how quickly the 400 pages zoomed by.  I loved reading this book (as soon as I was done, I immediately started reading the second of the series).  I would definitely not consider this book ‘classic literature’ by any source of the imagination.  It’s not in the same league as a Herman Wouk, for example.  That’s o.k. though. I loved reading this book and would highly recommend it.  I’m hoping the remaining installments in the series are somewhat comparable in terms of quality.

Today’s reader might find much of the book to be racially offensive.  Although the minorities in the book ‘prevail’, we read about a lot of hostilities towards people who aren’t White Anglo Saxon Protestants.  To be fair, though, this isn’t the author’s fault – this is how people talked back in the 1940s.  We must also remember the book was written in the early 1980s, and political correctness wasn’t a requirement then, either.  Perhaps I’m a bit sensitive.  One of the other lieutenants is a rather unattractive Jew.  Every time the guys walks into a room, the author states something like “The General then saw a Jew walk into a room” or “He then saw a Jew standing by the doorway.”   This puzzles me.  What exactly does a ‘Jew’ look like?  Again, though, this was how a lot of people talked during the particular time.

So, yes, heavy on the technical descriptions, but still a great story.  It’s always a pleasure for me to discover a new author.  Highly recommended even though the book was written quite some time ago, and a good introduction to how the military actually operates – good, bad and ugly. Fortunately, mostly good.

In the Night Room

In the Night Room - by Peter Straub

File this one under “weird”.  Maybe all of Straub’s books are somewhat bizarre, I’m not sure.  I’ve only read two, and the first one (‘Mystery’) seemed much more straightforward.  Although weird, I must say that I quite enjoyed this book.  Not only was the story fairly unique, but I really enjoy Mr. Straub’s writing.  When you read a lot of books in your spare time, like me, you notice little things that show you just how difficult the art of novel writing is, and how rare true geniuses actually are.  As much as I enjoyed this book, there too many little things that prevented me from truly loving this book and making me want to read everything by the author. More on that in a bit.  First, the plot:

Tim Underhill is a fairly successful writer.  The book he is currently working on is, coincidentally titled “In the Night Room”.  When we first meet Tim, he seems to be losing his sanity.  He’s seeing strange things, meeting ghosts, and experiencing things that no sane person should be undergoing.  The book alternates chapters with <I>another</I> successful author. Her name is Willy Patrick.  Willy’s primary genre is Young Adult books.  It seems that Willy, just like Tim, is also experiencing a recent bout of temporary madness.  Oh, and her new book is <I>also</I> called “In the Night Room”.

Well, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that the bouts of madness that these two authors are having are probably somewhat related, and as the story progresses, we do, in fact, see our two protagonists unite.  From here, the story seems to go a bit downhill.  I wonder if, when Peter Straub started writing this book, if he had his “idea” solidified, but he might not have figured out a very satisfying ending.

The book is filled with weirdness.  Sometimes the weirdness is explained, sometimes it is not.  I was annoyed that I was unable to figure out the name of one of the ‘supernatural creatures’, so I Googled it after I was done reading.  I figured someone out there must know the meaning.  Alas, I could never find it.  It seems Straub made the puzzle so complex, that only he knows the meaning, and doesn’t intend on sharing it.  This ticked me off slightly.  I don’t care to be left in limbo for something like this.

Then there’s the issue of this book not being the first book to feature the character Tim Underhill.  Apparently there’s another novel by Straub that sort of “sets this one up”.  I didn’t know that, and I again felt a bit gypped.  Apparently, it’s not necessary to read the other one before this one, but I still wish I would have known about it.  Maybe some of the parts of this story wouldn’t be quite so baffling.

This book was a great idea and an overall very good story.  I wish, though, that the destination was as enjoyable as the journey.  At least it would have been nice if the destination made a bit more sense.

How to Move to Canada

How to Move to Canada - by Andre Du Broc

The 2016 United States presidential race will likely go down in history as a black eye for the country.  Never has the country seemed more divided.  More people, it seems, are voting AGAINST their least preferred candidate as opposed to voting FOR a particular person.  These sentiments, of course, bring out the worst in some people, and we’ve all heard those with temperaments of a 16-year-old spoiled brat spat things such as “If (candidate I hate) becomes President, then I’M moving to Canada!”  Well, if you happen to be one of those pessimistic grouches that want to trade the stars and stripes for the red and white maple leaf, author Andre Dubroc has just the book for you.

This book is meant to be a joke (i.e. you’ll find it in the ‘Humor’ section of your local bookstore).  It is, at times, hilarious.  I found myself literally laughing out loud many times.  Beneath all of this humor, however, is actually a very practical guide.  The first couple of chapters of this book, for example, really educates the uninformed novice exactly how to move to Canada.  It’s not exactly an easy thing to do.  It ain’t like moving across town (if you’ve ever actually moved across town, you know that THAT is not actually easy either.  Remember all of the forms you had to sign in the realtor’s office?), and for every real step that one must take to accomplish their relocation, Dubroc manages to add wit and humor within his actual instructions. 

After Dubroc teaches us all of the steps that are actually involved in relocating to another country (and there are quite a few), he then teaches us about Canadian food, nomenclature, habits, and overall attitudes.  We learn that, just like in the United States, people in Canada are diverse, and stereotypes are applied to those indigenous to their particular province. Again, this is a humor book, and these descriptions are probably somewhat true, if probably not a bit broad.  We’re guilty of this in the U.S. as well. We’re likely to characterize a truck driver from Mississippi much differently than a professor that lives in Vermont.   I should also point out that the author seems to have something against Quebec.  Hopefully, most Quebeccians (???) have a sense of humor. 

With a French name like “Andre Dubroc” you might think that the author is actually from Canada, or has some roots there, but he’s actually from Louisiana.

Although this book is peppered with a few swear words, it’s a far cry from the vitriolic diatribes of such hate filled mongers such as a George Carlin or a Bill Maher.  This book is also mainly apolitical.  Yes, the author takes some shots at the political extreme, but he seems to hit both sides with equal aim.  He seems to realize that humor is at its best when it’s not so hate-filled.

This book is designed to be, and is, a quick read.  Like a lot of humor books, it contains some page filler such as coloring pages to color your favorite Canadians and “word searches” where you can complete a puzzle at the end of the chapter reviewing the new words that you’ve just learned.  I found the author to be quite gifted, however, and being that this is his first book, I would love to see more by him.  I’m willing to bet that if he had a nice chunk of time to work with, he could actually produce a much more detailed body of work.  Since, as mentioned, this book actually contains real tips, I wouldn’t limit this author’s potential to only humor.  This guy has some real talent with the written word.

If you happen to come across this book and the 2016 election Presidential contest has already come and gone, don’t fret and think that this book is no longer relevant.  I’m sure in the days to come, we’ll have plenty of other elections and episodes of grumpiness that will cause many to shout that they will soon change their place of residence.  So a book like this will always come in handy.