The Killer Angels

"'If it weren't for the slaves, there'd never have been no war, now would there?'

'No,' Chamberlain said.

'Well then, I don't care how much political fast-talking you hear, that's what it's all about and that's what them fellas died for, and I tell you, Lawrence, I don't understand it all.'

'No,' Chamberlain said. He was thinking of Kilrain: no divine spark. Animal meat: the Killer Angels."

From Michael Shaara's The Killer Angels. Not sure if they sell this book at the Gettysburg National Military Park but they should stock it in the gift shop.

The Killer Angels

 "To be a good soldier you must love the army. But to be a good officer you must be willing to order the death of the thing you love. That is... a very hard thing to do. No other profession requires it. This is one reason why there are so very few good officers. Although there are many good men." - General Robert E. Lee

The Killer Angels

 "'This is a different kind of army. If you look at history you'll see men fight for pay, or women, or some other kind of loot. They fight for land, or because a king makes them, or just because they like killing. But we're here for something new. I don't... this hasn't happened much in the history of the world. We're an army going out to set other men free.'" - Col. Joshua Chamberlain

The Killer Angels

"If it weren't for the slaves, there'd never have been no war, now could there?

"No," Chamberlain said.

"Well then, I don't care how much political fast-talking you hear, that's what it's all about and that's what them fellas died for, and I tell you, Lawrence, I don't understand it at all."

"No," Chamberlain said. No divine spark. Animal meat: the Killer Angels.

Finished re-reading The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara over the weekend about the Battle of Gettysburg. It's become a yearly tradition. If you've never read the book you should give it a try.

Books I Re-Read

There a number of books I re-read on a regular basis. Some of these books I read almost yearly but all of them I've re-read at least 5-times.

• Kim by Rudyard Kipling
• The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara
• Cannery Row by John Steinbeck
• Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
• The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham
• A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
• A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Re-reading this book has become a Christmas Eve tradition.

When I was in high school I used to read Trinity by Leon Uris every year. I think it was my way of trying to connect with my Irish roots. However, I haven't picked up that book in 20-years - so I won't count it. I guess you could also count the Harry Potter books but I've stopped having an obsession with them.

The Killer Angels

"The point is that we have a country here where the past cannot keep a good man in chains, and that's the nature of the war."

Re-reading the book The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara about the Battle of Gettysburg. My copy is old and battered after being read so many times over so many years and it may be time to finally get a new one. Still every year around this time I feel a need to re-read the book to remind myself about Gettysburg and how important that battle was to the North winning the Civil War. 

I must admit that the book details what was happening on a daily basis and while I'm just finishing July 2, 1863 and there's still two more days to go - I find myself sympathizing with many of the South's officers because I see the mistakes being made and the advice not being listened to. That said the clear hero of the battle is Joshua Chamberlain of Maine and he remains a personal hero of mine. 

The US military has been trained to fight for freedom but the beliefs being impressed upon them today are anything but thoughts of freedom. I can't get that thought out of my head either.

Remembering Gettysburg

Have a post up on Substack regarding the importance of Gettysburg.

Also currently re-reading Michael Shaara's The Killer Angels which I try to do every yea around this time to remind myself the importance of the battle. Highly recommend the book.

Lessons from The Killer Angels

 

Steven Pressfield is looking at Michael Shaara's great work The Killer Angels for lessons on dialog and exposition. 

The Killer Angels is one of my favorite books and something I try to read every year around the 4th of July (to coincide with the action as it happened during the Battle of Gettysburg). Highly recommend the book if you haven't read it.

Top 5 - Books I Re-Read

Almost every year for longer than I've had this blog, on or around June 30th I pick up and re-read Michael Shaara's great book The Killer Angels. The book is a retelling of the Battle of Gettysburg. Every year I marvel at the courage of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain and I wonder why such a supposed great military mind like General Lee did not take the solid advice of General Longstreet.

And every year I'm grateful for circumstances placing Chamberlain on the scene at Little Round Top. And that the back of the Confederacy was basically broken on the heroic yet futile Pickett's Charge the final day of the battle.

Every year!

Re-reading it this year got me thinking of other books I've re-read numerous times. So here are the books (in no particular order) that I've read and re-read at least 10-times each over the years:

- Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien.  First read this in college as part of an English class and was hooked.

- Cannery Row by John Steinbeck. Fun book and for years this was my go to beach book. The movie was awful though.

- The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham. First read this as a senior in high school and I love to go back and re-read it every once in a while. As much as I enjoy Maugham's writing I have never read what is acclaimed as his masterpiece Of Human Bondage. Same is true of Steinbeck's masterpiece The Grapes of Wrath. Over the years I've bought several copies of each but I think the more I'm urged to read something the more I resist the task. Just one of my foibles I guess.

- A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway. My favorite book by Hemingway.

- A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. My own personal Christmas tradition is to re-read A Christmas Carol on Christmas Eve. If you're not into reading the book you can watch the Patrick Stewart version of the tale - it's almost word-for-word from the book. Plus you get to see McNulty as Scrooge's nephew Fred.

EDIT: How could I forget Kim by Rudyard Kipling. This is another of my favorites. Now I just need to find my copy of the book.

The Harry Potter series of books are getting close to being on the list but I haven't re-read all of the books 10 times (yet).

Honorable mention:

- Man on Fire by AJ Quinnell fun revenge book that's even better than the Denzel movie version.
- Noble House by James Clavell.
- The Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss will end up on the list above (once he finishes the damn third book!)

Books

It's that time of year again for me to break out my well worn copy of Michael Shaara's masterpiece The Killer Angels. The book is a slightly fictionalized account of the Battle of Gettysburg which began June 30, 1863. One of my favorite books of all-time and a I book I think every high school senior should required to read.

Once done with The Killer Angels next up with be Michael Herr's classic Dispatches. Normally I don't read books I have already read back-to-back but with the passing of Michael Herr I feel the need to make an exception. Even if you haven't read Dispatches you may be familiar with Herr's work as one of the screenwriters of Full Metal Jacket.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Kevin Love to Boston? Not for the 3rd pick in the draft but for other picks - sure - sign me up... Visible Radiation would be a good name for a band...  Heh heh... One of my favorite bits of baseball trivia is the fact that Tris Speaker actually had more triples (222) in his career than strikeouts (220)... Hard Hat Jesus would also be a good name for a band... Have you seen those Heineken commercials where they brag about only having three ingredients? Is one of those three ingredients urine? Sure tastes like it to me... Getting close to that time of year for me to re-read The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara. The book is a retelling of the Battle of Gettysburg. Highly recommended... True story - before picking Dan Quayle to be his VP - George H.W. Bush briefly considered picking Clint Eastwood to be his running mate... Some excellent news from the field of Alzheimer's research... If lab grown meat technology is perfected - will that allow McDonald's to offer the McRib year-round?...