High - A Journey Across the Himalaya through Pakistan, India, Bhutan, Nepal, and China (Erika Fatland, 2023)

 (570 pages)

Author took a journey through the areas mentioned in the title; it was divided into two segments, each lasting months.

I like travel books - they give a feel for geography and history told against a story line of things the traveler is encountering, difficulties along the way, etc.

These areas are generally unfamiliar to me. As she moves east, even less familiar.  Lots of visits to Buddhist temples (after starting more with Hindu-Muslim mix, mostly Hindu, then Hindu-Buddhist mix).

Discussions of India-China borderlands are interesting, also India-Pakistan - fraught areas, as is well-known. Kashmir.

Discussions of Chinese control in these areas - after some intermittent resistance, now it's mostly well-controlled.  Social media monitored more closely than in modern-day Great Britain! In the short "acknowledgements" section at the end of the book the author mentions the risks that folks took in speaking with her, including on dangerous topics; she obscured their names and locations in the telling. This atmosphere won't be changing anytime soon.

Lots of Chinese tourists in various areas - as the country has gotten wealthier, they are on the move.

Some of the areas are incredibly obscure.  Shamans with lots of power.  Menstruating women sent off to a hut for days; poor conditions, unhealthy to the point of causing some deaths.  Changing, but many still stuck with this.

Dealing with altitude. She visits Mt. Everest base camp, an interesting perspective from a person not attempting the summit.

Pretty amazing to imagine throughout; I don't foresee visiting any of these places; so it's nice to at least get an armchair experience.

Gates of Fire (The Battle of Thermopylae) (Steven Pressfield, 1998)

(384 pages)

Greek survivor at Thermopylae is asked by Xerxes, seeking understanding about the courage of the Spartans, to tell the story of the battle as he understood it.  A Persian historian records the tale.

A good job of moving back and forth in time. Weaving in early childhood experiences of the survivor (and his sister), his incorporation into Spartan ways.

I wasn't as interested in the battle sequences though no doubt they are rendered effectively.

This kind of fighting - no drones; no gunfire from a distance.  

Descriptions of the Spartan training.  Their superiority. Selection of the 300; their known fate.

I appreciated that the author typically presented the Persians, even their auxiliaries, as courageous fighters. 

Ending phases of the book are remarkably good.  The speeches of King Leonidas and others on the final morning of the battle. The type of brotherhood of these men in arms; echoes of similar stories from wars throughout history; very effective. A relationship unlike any other.

This is an idealized presentation of Sparta as I understand things - though that's OK, the focus here is military matters and it seems Sparta very much excelled there.

Courage of the Spartan women is presented, an interesting angle that I hadn't previously seen; how their support mattered.

Good discussions of courage and fear; "there are rooms we must not enter" - courage doesn't mean absence of fear.

Well worth reading.

The Pioneers (David McCullough, 2019)

 (258 pages)

Quick read, enjoyable, McCullough writes engagingly.

This is a story about the Northwest Territory - which became five states with which I'm quite familiar (WI, IL, IN, MI, OH) - I don't know much about this history.  

For one thing I didn't realize the scale of the Ohio River - looking at it on the map was useful.

Also didn't realize how this followed close on the heels of the Revolutionary War; lots of veterans involved.  First settlers head for Ohio in 1787. Founding of Marietta, Ohio.  

Author kind of obsessed with the education and anti-slavery planks of the founding documents; somewhat though much less interested in the fate of the local natives.

The stories about clearing the land, building settlements, dealing with Indians, etc. seemed more familiar.  Mad Anthony Wayne's expedition ended the Indian threat (if that's the way to describe it).

Rapid growth, a lot of change is seen - flatboats, keelboats eventually steam power. Crossing the Alleghenies very difficult; early travelers sometimes had to take apart their wagons and carry the pieces through a rough spot or two (along with the cargo).

Story is told via diaries and letters that I don't think were previously plumbed to such depth.  It's an effective way to tell the story - we see things through the eyes of selected founders and their descendants. One was a doctor who moonlighted as a naturalist (Hildreth). Reminded of the approach in Holland's excellent book about WWII in Italy (though not as compelling as that instance). 

Rabbit, Run (John Updike, 1960)

 (325 pages)

Updike is well thought of, I think.  This novel (and a couple companion pieces) are considered to be among his best, I think. 

But I only made it a little over halfway.  Maybe missed something great. But I don't like this kind of book.  Protagonist was a successful high school basketball player, later unhappy with his wife, acting immature, mostly interacting with unappealing folks.

Destiny of the Republic - A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President (Candice Millard, 2011)

(308 pages)

Book club selection per Nicole.

An era of US history I don't know much about. Garfield was elected in 1880 and assassinated shortly thereafter.  The author focuses on four people - 

1. James Garfield - author presents him as a great guy; not running for president (or at least effectively demure about it) but becomes nominee after an impasse.  Great orator, family guy, has a farm in Ohio, ancestors carved out life on the farm.  Civil War veteran with success despite no experience. 

2. The assassin - Guiteau or somesuch name - pretty much mentally ill, not very interesting. Minimal or zero security for US presidents at this era.

3. Alexander Graham Bell - had achieved great success with the telephone, now thought to apply related principles to create a device to locate the bullet embedded in Garfield. Probably on a useful track but this was difficult to pull off.  I was interested in the descriptions of Bell's creative process - in a way it reminded me of Mandelstam's (per the book immediately prior).  Inventive outbursts, keep going while the flame is burning!

4. Lister (of antiseptic medicine fame) and Bliss (Garfield's doctor) - avatars for the then state-of-the-art medical practices.  US doctors generally uninterested in Lister's ideas at this phase.  Bliss poking his fingers into the wound - guess what, lots of infection! Not that long ago.

Medical treatment in DC in the summertime - intense heat - a group try to create a sort of air-conditioning system.  Includes John Wesley Powell.

Insanity defense in the assassin's trial.  England's McNaughton rule.