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Biographical Historical Fiction:
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I really hope you mean non-law book, because winter break should be for relaxing.
I devoured A Gentleman In Moscow last winter break--it was so enthralling and a wonderful immersive experience. The narrator is a charming storyteller, the setting is unique and exotic, and it's historical without being at all dry.
You should definitely get this book. (Buy it or library). Because it’s basically all about that rumination. And you can credit yourself because Albert Einstein had similar dreams, journaled about them. And years later they wrote this book based on the situations in his dreams. This is the actual description: A modern classic, Einstein’s Dreams is a fictional collage of stories dreamed by Albert Einstein in 1905, about time, relativity and physics. As the defiant but sensitive young genius is creating his theory of relativity, a new conception of time, he imagines many possible worlds. In one, time is circular, so that people are fated to repeat triumphs and failures over and over. In another, there is a place where time stands still, visited by lovers and parents clinging to their children. In another, time is a nightingale, sometimes trapped by a bell jar.
https://www.amazon.com/Einsteins-Dreams-Alan-Lightman/dp/140007780X/ref=nodl_
I'm about 100 pages into a book called Musashi you might like. https://www.amazon.com/Musashi-Epic-Novel-Samurai-Era/dp/156836427X
The ending scene is based off a real event where a shot up tank was found surrounded by dozens of dead German soldiers. Except the tank gunner was alive.
https://www.amazon.com/Death-Traps-Survival-American-Division/dp/0891418148
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Unit cohesion and discipline routinely break down in war, especially 1945 Germany where most German units would've been surrounded and cut off from retreat so you would have isolated battalions who would keep fighting or mass surrender if you are lucky.
During the Korean war American units routinely fought isolated actions separated from assistance. Its one of the main learning curves of that war they had to grapple with.
Lowest bidder. All fun aside, if you come across a soldier or retired guy and have a dozen hours of free time, ask them about the bad design choices of military hardware. Pretty common that things that wouldn't pass as safe for vehicles/equipment in the civilian world are allowed to exist in the military. There's a book about it for WW2 era stuff. Nothing has really changed.
Hell, the Humvee was a known death trap for over a decade before the body count in Iraq forced the military to try to retrofit them.
Read Death Traps, by Belton Cooper.
https://www.amazon.com/Death-Traps-Survival-American-Division/dp/0891418148
He was an armor maintenance officer with 3rd AD in WWII.
>Way to build a strawman, says everything that needs to be known regarding the rest of your post.
Of course I'm going to include the single most famous example of good read but bad history. And you're just going to ignore the memoirs that have widly influenced our understanding of the war?
Books are valid sources but they are not gospel and some of them can be fake or so narrow in scope as to be false. Just because it hits the printers doesn't mean it's automatically better than everything else and should be scrutinized and independently verified like anything else.
I liked your review. Unfortunately it's been so long since I've watched them that I can't give a meaningful comment.
I'll say this though. This is a great compilation of the story and well worth the read. Musashi by Yoshikawa Eiji.
https://www.amazon.co.jp/Musashi-Epic-Novel-Samurai-Era/dp/156836427X
Despite this being a repost with no source or credit to the picture, the description is not accurate, the SS - 501st HPB has never seen combat in western Europe, but on the Eastern Front and the North African Campaign
Also, around Stavelot (Francorchamps) was the location of the famous massive German fuel dump, held as an absolute secret until the allied units found out about as a result of the rapid advance to cut the German supplies short. What the Germans really did not want, was to draw attention to that area and to keep the intel hidden, which means that combat was far away from there at La Gleize and its surroundings.
I highly recommend "Gates of Fire" by Steven Pressfield. Historical fiction about a Helot who was at the battle of Thermopylae, and captured by Xerxes forces while near death. Remarkable insight to the daily life and infighting amongst the city states from the perspective of a lower class citizen.
If you want to spend your time productively waiting out crypto winter, then I have some suggested reading: [Cryptonomicon](https://www.amazon.com/Cryptonomicon-Neal-Stephenson/dp/0060512806). I started thinking about cryptocurrency years before Bitcoin even came out, thanks to that book. Read it and git gud.
https://www.amazon.com/Ladies-Gentlemen-Penguin-Modern-Classics/dp/0140186247/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3K589KMXKXCUW&keywords=This+way+to+the+Gas&qid=1649472813&sprefix=this%2520way%2520to%2520the%2520gas%2Caps%2C55&sr=8-1 Have her read this as an alternate assignment......truthfully the most difficult text I EVER read in college. Not because it was complex but because the stories cut me to ribbons EVERY page.
Yes, of course, exactly like the holocaust.
When the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq first started I read a few Mil-blogs, often written by Veterans who were turning to journalism as a second career and were embedded with troops. One of the mil-blog had a post about books mentioning a Colonel who had a reading list he encouraged his staff to read, one of the book was Gates of Fire which I decided to read.
It's a fictional account of the battle of Thermopylae and the training of the troops who later fought in it. One thing I recall was that the strength of the Spartans lay largely in the discipline and their Phalanx formation.
The Phalanx had troops stand very close together with each Spartan's shield covering part of themselves and part of the person next to them, allowing both to use their spear. Because of this the most important gear the Spartan had was not his spear but his shield because without it the man next to him would not be covered and that uncovered person would not cover the person next to him and the whole Phalanx falls apart. It was their discipline and their willingness to protect the person next to them which made the Spartan's Phalanx so effective.
Anyway it was a pretty good book and I've gifted it to others in the past. You might enjoy it.
Read about about men in history who have demonstrated the traits you desire. Introspect on these individuals and integrate their (healthy) mental models into your life. For example, a great book to read about a strong man is Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa. (https://www.amazon.com/dp/156836427X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glt_fabc_KAAKPP9MH35GJ1EX5A4G?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1).
Overall, all men as they grow into young men and men, grapple with these ideas about strength, courage, boldness, etc. We have to learn how to be strong, apply strength to a problem at the RIGHT time but also how to NOT apply strength to a problem at the RIGHT time. A room of 6 men who could pose a threat to you or your date is likely a room that you should not apply brute force to. Rather, turn on your senses, stay alert, signal to your date that you see what is going on and are there with her. Assess the situation, if they are bombarding her with vulgarity, make clear to them that "Hey, come on gents, you can see she's with me Insert sly laugh directed from you to them" and then descalate by leaving the area with your date once your food is ready. Then talk with her about what happened and be genuine. Not every moment demands complete dominance.
In terms of fallout with your date, I would call her. Let her know "Hey about the other night, I wasn't forthcoming with you, I did hear those guys but I didn't say anything because I was afraid. I should have acknowledged that to you after we left. I'm still growing into the man I know I will be and I could have handled that better." Something like that bro.
She should respect you a ton for that, and even if she doesn't want to progress with you after all of this; becoming the man you were always meant to be does not involve her but rather it is a journey between you and you. Chin up my lad, embrace the genuine and communicate what you feel when you feel it.
Try A Gantleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. A former Russian nobleman is held under house arrest for 35 years, living in the same hotel and not allowed off the grounds. Seeing the world through his limited vision, the things we can miss seeing in the hustle and bustle of the world. And the ending is the very best it can possibly be. https://www.amazon.com/Gentleman-Moscow-Novel-Amor-Towles/dp/0670026190
Also the Miss Buncle books by D.E. Stevenson. Life in a small town and the fumbles and foibles of living in a place where everyone knows everyone else (at least they think they do) https://www.amazon.com/Miss-Buncle/dp/B074CD8SWB
'Einstein's Dreams' by Alan Lightman.
It's a fictional book that itemizes Einstein's dreams leading up to his creation of the theory of relativity. It's a really fun read and gets your head thinking about time and what time is. It's short, with each "dream" lasting only a handful of pages. It's been one of my favorite books to come back to anytime I can.
You can read reviews on Amazon as well as read the first few pages. Clicky for Amazon.
Once you read this you'll probably find that you want to read more of Lightman's books in the hopes of finding other really enjoyable reads. While his other books are good, they're not the same. I haven't found anything that's quite like this book so far, which is a shame. Would love to hear suggestions from folks who have read this and found other books similarly enjoyable.
Musashi authors a book called 'Book of the Five Rings' which I've not read. There's a historical fiction novel based on his life called Musashi to which I am referring.
A Gentlemen in Moscow (which is supposed to take place in the 1920s) mentions Tchaikovski and the Nutcracker in a mocking sort of way, I had been wondering why until now.
No priest holes, but have you read A Gentleman In Moscow)? It's about a count who lives in an attic room in an old hotel.
I read a book recently called Death Traps: The Survival of an American Armored Division in World War II.
It's quite a good read. The author was actually involved in putting together the super pershing.
The book Cryptonomicon (historical sci-fi) by Neal Stephenson has an entire chapter describing productivity before and after ejaculation. A manual override just doesn't have the same affect. Complete with chart.
It also has a chapter on the proper way to eat Captain Crunch cereal.
I have been unable to find a good exert online but just read the damn book, it is worth the money and time.
This:
What does it read like ... historical, fantasy? Do you know of any western novels or simply genres that compare?
If anyone else happens to like those short-format thought collection-style books, two other interesting ones that I really like are:
Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman
Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino
I come back to both of these books repeatedly for creative inspiration, I like them so much. I have yet to read Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives, but from what Grey said, I feel like the two that I mentioned might be a little bit more in-depth and may require a bit more work to understand in some cases.
Lots of good stuff out there. You might look at
- Dostoevsky's "Notes from Underground"
- Steven Pressfield's "Gates of Fire"
Logistics:
Death traps: Survival of an American Armored Division in WWII by Belton Cooper
A must read for any Ordnance guy who wants some pride in their branch. Its an autobiographical account written by Belton Cooper, a Maintenance Officer during the advance towards Berlin across western europe. Great read of WW2 on the ground tactics, cool stories of a WW2 Loggie Officer (which may seem hard to believe, but seriously some cool shit), and some takes on tank warfare from a maintenance perspective. Cooper gets really critical of eisenhower though on not implementing the pershing tank sooner.
https://www.amazon.com/Death-Traps-Survival-American-Division/dp/0891418148
Oh okay. In any case I really enjoyed Cryptonomicon. I'm doubting you'd like it though. It's over a thousand pages and in one section the author went on for several pages describing the proper technique for eating Cap'n Crunch.