Medic Against Bomb: A Doctor's Poetry of War.

Medic Against Bomb: A Doctor's Poetry of War.

Author:

Frederick Foote

Publication Date:

15/10/2014

ISBN:

9780991386116

Blurb on the Back:

Winner of the 2013 Grayson Books Poetry Prize, this book features poems by Frederick Foote, a retired U.S. Navy physician the director of the Poetry Project at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. Martha Silano, who selected Medic Against Bomb for the prize, described the work well: “Refreshing, downright bracing, Foote reaffirms that war is anything but generic… these poems restore humanity to both enemy and combatant, leaving the reader with a fuller, clearer sense of the ongoing Iraqi conflict.”

Many of the poems developed from the author’s experiences on the hospital ship COMFORT, where military medical personnel cared for mostly Iraqi patients Medevac’d to the ship. Other poems emerged from the experience of caring for sick and wounded American servicemen and women, and for their families.

Review:

Thanks to Netgalley.com and Grayson Books for providing me with an advance Ecopy of the book for review purposes.

This is included in my 2014 goodreads.com reading challenge.

Medic Against Bomb is a collection of war poems from retired US Navy physician Fredrick Foote, and is mostly drawn from his experience of working on the US Navy ship COMFORT.

The Poetry is presented in a no nonsense straight forward fashion. It pulls no punches on what Foote saw and felt during his time there. Often thought provoking the poems deal with numerous traumatic and disturbing subjects and Foote manages through his poetry to give the subject the Gravitas it deserves.

As with any collection of poetry not all the poems are equal in length and quality. The book does suffer from the occasional dip in this regard, however, the quality of the writing shines through in most of the poems.

The book whilst short more than makes up for its briefness thanks to the quality held within, and its subject matter makes it an excellent read. A modern take on the poetry that the likes Siegfried Sassoon And Wilfred Owen pioneered.

8 out of 10.

Moab is my Washpot- Stephen Fry

Moab is my Washpot- Stephen Fry

Author:

Stephen Fry

Published:

1997

Blurb on the Back:

A number one bestseller in Britain, Stephen Fry's astonishingly frank, funny, wise memoir is the book that his fans everywhere have been waiting for. Since his PBS television debut in the Blackadder series, the American profile of this multitalented writer, actor and comedian has grown steadily, especially in the wake of his title role in the film Wilde, which earned him a Golden Globe nomination, and his supporting role inA Civil Action.

        

Fry has already given readers a taste of his tumultuous adolescence in his autobiographical first novel, The Liar, and now he reveals the equally tumultuous life that inspired it. Sent to boarding school at the age of seven, he survived beatings, misery, love affairs, carnal violation, expulsion, attempted suicide, criminal conviction and imprisonment to emerge, at the age of eighteen, ready to start over in a world in which he had always felt a stranger. One of very few Cambridge University graduates to have been imprisoned prior to his freshman year, Fry is a brilliantly idiosyncratic character who continues to attract controversy, empathy and real devotion.

Review:

This was read as part of my 2014 reading challenge on goodreads.com.

Is there a man alive who is more eloquent than Stephen Fry? The man is a national treasure. This is his first autobiography and spans his life from birth to his 20th year when he was starting University. The book is both in equal parts funny and brutally honest about his early years. 

He makes no bones about his problems in school both with expulsion and with theft. His subsequent arrest and prison term as well as his honest retelling of his suicide attempt makes for a personal and interesting read. Interspersed are tales of life, love, family and the unique observations that make Stephen so beloved to so many people. It is these tales that make the book hard to put down once started. 

I must admit that I have done his autobiographies back to front as I started with the Fry Chronicles last year but Moab gives a good ground on his pre Fry and Laurie life and if you like Stephen then it is a must read.

For shear enjoyment there is not much better. 

10 out of 10 

Peace 

Deejay.

Is It Just Me? - Miranda Hart

Is It Just Me?- Miranda Hart.

Author: 

Miranda Hart

Published:

June 2013

Blurb On the Back:

Well hello to you dear browser. Now I have your attention it would be rude if I didn't tell you a little about my literary feast. So, here is the thing: is it just me or does anyone else find that adulthood offers no refuge from the unexpected horrors, peculiar lack of physical coordination and sometimes unexplained nudity, that accompanied childhood and adolescence?

Does everybody struggle with the hazards that accompany, say, sitting elegantly on a bar stool; using chopsticks; pretending to understand the bank crisis; pedicures - surely it's plain wrong for a stranger to fondle your feet? Or is it just me?

I am proud to say I have a wealth of awkward experiences - from school days to life as an office temp - and here I offer my 18-year-old self (and I hope you too dear reader) some much needed caution and guidance on how to navigate life's rocky path.

Because frankly where is the manual? The much needed manual to life. Well, fret not, for this is my attempt at one and let's call it, because it's fun, a Miran-ual. I thank you.

Review:

This was read as part of my 2014 reading Challenge on Goodreads.com.

Now I have to admit I went into this book not knowing what to expect. The only thing I had seen Miranda in was Smack the Pony and one Episode of Call the Midwife. What I found was a likeable if not slightly neurotic book on a vast variety of subjects from smacking someone in the face with a prawn to her uncomfortable feelings towards beauticians and spa days.

Much of the dialogue is between her and her 18 year old self, exposing the differences between what she wanted to be and who she is now. She does refer to the reader on a number of occasions as "My dear reader chum" which gets shortened throughout the book to MDRC and after a while does tend to become irritating. 

The comedy elements however are pulled off with aplomb, she has a natural likeable style of writing and constantly relates to everyday situations in the funniest way possible (especially the office work bit.) By no means is this a challenging read but if you want a bit of light-hearted fun for a couple of hours you could do a lot worse. 

Plus if you read it while spinning on your Spinney chair it adds something.

For that I would give it 8 out of 10.

Peace 

Deejay.

An Introduction.

Hello my name is Dave

I know I have put up a number of posts already but I was moving stuff over from an old blog. I decided to concentrate my reviews in one place and Wordpress wasn't working for me. my old blog was review and remove and had reviews on CD's and apps as well but I wasn't enjoying writing about them, so I have decided to concentrate on my main passion (bar my loving son) Books.

A bit about myself.

I'm 30 love books and that's about all. I'm on goodreads.com please add me on there if you like my reviews. I'm attempting the 2014 reading challenge and have set myself a target of 75 books in 2014. As of today (02/04/14) I am on 23 out of 75, so that may be amended upwards as the year goes on. I will be posting reviews based on these books as I write them so If you want to find out what is upcoming then look at my reading challenge list. Once they are done I will hit the back catalogue of stuff I have already read and try and keep up with what I am reading.

This is a bit of a rambling post but I wanted to say Hi.

Please feel free to comment or add me on google + or follow me on twitter (@dwjjones1).

Peace out

Deejay.