The Chancellor Manuscript
Poking around my bookshelves the other day, I stumbled upon my very old copy of Robert Ludlum's
The Chancellor Manuscript. I've mentioned before that this was
the first Ludlum I ever read. That was a very long time ago, and I'd forgotten all but the basic plot
outline.
Fingering the pages, it took no time to draw me in again. This really is classic Ludlum. The pace is frenetic,
the words raw energy. The story twists and turns, and then twists within itself again.
If you have only experienced "new" Ludlum - the Covert-One series, or the estate-produce
posthumous novels - you really should go back and check out the classics.
In rediscovering The Chancellor Manuscript, it suddenly struck me what I
was missing in the newer novels. Old Ludlum pulled no punches. Love-making was sex. Bad guys were not just
simple terrorists, and their actions complex, ambiguous. Characters could be MCPs, and now law said they had to
act politically correct. While I still enjoy "new" Ludlum, in comparison it does come off as over-engineered to
modern sensibilities. Designed for a middle-American video-game generation, where head-shots with shotguns are
OK, but fade to black when things get intimate.
read more and comment..
Proven Enhancement
Never has Rails Trac been more entertaining than this. The change
history is just too funny;-)
read more and comment..
Vulcan 607
Vulcan 607
is the story of the incredible raid
on Stanley airfield by the RAF's aging V-Force that signaled the start of the 'shooting war' with Argentina
over the Falkland Islands. This was Operation
Black Buck.
Rowland White does a very good job of telling the story in immense
detail, giving equal weight to the technicalities and personalities involved.
It's a rollicking read, especially if you enjoy reading the real stories behind military history. And the point
is well made: considering the age of the Vulcan bombers and supporting Victor air-air tankers, the distances
involved it is amazing that Vulcan 607 managed to take out the Stanley runway on the first flight. To put the
single Vulcan 607 on target, it took: 1 Nimrod, 2 Vulcans, 14 Victors, 40 take-offs and landings, 42 1000lb bombs, 90
aircrew.
read more and comment..
Frieze!
Organised by Improv EveryWhere
read more and comment..