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[c marvel]

I found on eBay (at a better price than Amazon) Japan's War With China, 1937-1945: The Struggle For Survival by Rana Mitter. It's fairly lengthy book, 480 pages. I knew about the beginnings of this conflict of course. I didn't know the whole history. I've looked for a complete, thorough history of this conflict now and than, it's just one of those subjects where it's difficult to find a good, complete history.


Cap

[mhatchett]

It is interesting reading. I learned a lot from Charles G. Finney's fantastic book Old China Hands 1961 about his time in China with the US Army's 15th Infantry Regiment (Can Do!) 1927-29. Finney is best known as the author of The Circus of Dr Lao. It's very clear that he was hugely impacted by his time in China, a country rocked by conflict for many, many years.

[Theli]

Outstanding Daninsky!

[RonClinton]

It's all Jeff's fault...he finally wore me down. I will of course sue for financial compensation and emotional distress if it's not every bit as good as he claims it is:

[Brian861]

Looks like a good production.

[jeffingoff]

It's all Jeff's fault...he finally wore me down. I will of course sue for financial compensation and emotional distress if it's not every bit as good as he claims it is:

I play the long game! Happy to wear you down. Even happier if you like the book as much as I did.

[Theli]

Very nice! I too have a copy, but it's being held at Camelot Books until other books are set to ship.

[RonClinton]

It's all Jeff's fault...he finally wore me down. I will of course sue for financial compensation and emotional distress if it's not every bit as good as he claims it is:

"Hello, Dewey, Cheatum, & Howe...? Yeah, I need to speak to someone about kind of an odd but very necessary lawsuit I'd like to file..."

[Martin]

"Hello, Dewey, Cheatum, & Howe...? Yeah, I need to speak to someone about kind of an odd but very necessary lawsuit I'd like to file..."

Made me miss Car Talk! Did you not like Goblin or just expected more? I have Bird Box and plan to give that a read before deciding on this one.

[RonClinton]

Made me miss Car Talk! Did you not like Goblin or just expected more? I have Bird Box and plan to give that a read before deciding on this one.

No, didn't care for it at all. The writing read to me as if tone-deaf to the way real people act and, primarily, speak. It felt strikingly immature in both authorial skill and experience...I have a feeling this was early, early work, and were he to have sought my advice I would have suggested it stay in the proverbial trunk. Notably, I didn't pick up this raw, unpolished voice in the other work of his I've read (and enjoyed), A HOUSE AT THE BOTTOM OF A LAKE, which leads me to again think this was an early work. I sure was excited to enjoy this one as much as Jeff, but it just didn't happen for me.

[RonClinton]

No, didn't care for it at all. The writing read to me as if tone-deaf to the way real people act and, primarily, speak. It felt strikingly immature in both authorial skill and experience...I have a feeling this was early, early work, and were he to have sought my advice I would have suggested it stay in the proverbial trunk. Notably, I didn't pick up this raw, unpolished voice in the other work of his I've read (and enjoyed), A HOUSE AT THE BOTTOM OF A LAKE, which leads me to again think this was an early work. I sure was excited to enjoy this one as much as Jeff, but it just didn't happen for me.

All that said, though, I'm still drawn to his new upcoming one, UNBURY CAROL, as the weird western vibe of it has a real lure. We'll see.

[jeffingoff]

No, didn't care for it at all. The writing read to me as if tone-deaf to the way real people act and, primarily, speak. It felt strikingly immature in both authorial skill and experience...I have a feeling this was early, early work, and were he to have sought my advice I would have suggested it stay in the proverbial trunk. Notably, I didn't pick up this raw, unpolished voice in the other work of his I've read (and enjoyed), A HOUSE AT THE BOTTOM OF A LAKE, which leads me to again think this was an early work. I sure was excited to enjoy this one as much as Jeff, but it just didn't happen for me.

Well, now the fine people in this forum will have reactions from either end of the spectrum to choose from! It can be terrible or terrific!

I feel bad that you read something on my recommendation that you disliked this much. I read your comment looking for common ground between our takes and I really couldn't find any. I felt swept up in this place and had a lot of fun visiting. The enjoyment perhaps caused me to look past the machinations of the story and nothing called attention to the mechanics. For me.

But I sympathize with you. I could take your reaction to Goblin and apply it almost exactly to Haven. Because when the illusion doesn't hold, it's time to put the book down.

Sorry, Ron!

[jeffingoff]

All that said, though, I'm still drawn to his new upcoming one, UNBURY CAROL, as the weird western vibe of it has a real lure. We'll see.

Hahahaha, ahem, well, I didn't enjoy Unbury Carol as much. Not that my opinion should hold that much weight with you any more. For me, Unbury Carol could have been so much more! SOOO much more. The potential of the world constructed here was not nearly fully realized. I did enjoy it quite a bit, but I ended up looking for the details that weren't shared.

[TJCams]

I haven't posted in this thread in a while, but that doesn't mean I haven't added more books to my collection..... might add pics later, as I have an issue somehow of them being rotated 90°.

Added recently include: Under A Watchful Eye - Adam Nevill, Children Of Time - Adrian Tchaikovsky, Afterparty - Daryl Gregory, Dark Matter - Blake Crouch, and the one I going to start next....Songs For The Lost - by local Windsor, ON author Alexander Zelenyj (Thanks to the author for hooking me up with this one!).

[RonClinton]

Hahahaha, ahem, well, I didn't enjoy Unbury Carol as much. Not that my opinion should hold that much weight with you any more. For me, Unbury Carol could have been so much more! SOOO much more. The potential of the world constructed here was not nearly fully realized. I did enjoy it quite a bit, but I ended up looking for the details that weren't shared.

No worries, Jeff. In fact, I've told the sharks at Dewey, Cheatum, & Howe to stand down and cancel the lawsuit. Just as well, as they viewed your YouTube videos and indicated that you would make for a compelling defendant.

Any book is a gamble, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Fortunately, my batting average (to mix metaphors) is pretty good, so a foul ball like GOBLIN is not a big deal. It is, however, perhaps, a lesson learned: Maybe Malerman is just not for me, even though I keep trying to make him so. I gave up on BIRD BOX about 1/3 of the way through, gave up on GOBLIN even sooner, and BLACK MAD WHEEL didn't even appeal enough to me to give it a try. Malerman is the square peg that I keep trying to force in my round-holed set of preferences, and perhaps it's time to give up trying, regardless of how much buzz surrounds him.