Read a book!
Eightieth book started & finished in 2010: How I Filmed the War: A Record of the Extraordinary Experiences of the Man Who Filmed the Great Somme Battles, etc. by Lieut. Geoffrey H. Malins (199 pp at Project Gutenberg, not counting index).
Was it interesting? A first-person account of being one of the first Kinematographers to film front-line war footage? During World War One, including the Battle of the Somme? It was highly interesting.
Well-written? It was engaging, and given that it was written during the war (albeit published after), its sometimes overly-nationalistic tone (Bully For Britain! Damn those godless Huns!) is perfectly excusable. I enjoyed looking at the pictures, and have been hunting for a copy of The Battle of the Somme film which uses some of the footage that Malins shot. If anything, my complaint is that I wanted to end each chapter by watching the footage he got.
First line: "Fate has not been unkind to me."
Would I read it again? I would. Especially if I ran across the film footage I was talking about.
Keep or give away? I would keep it if I owned it, but since I read it on-line here at Project Gutenberg, I don't need to. Although I would definitely buy an edition of the book that came with footage from Malins' camera.
Would I read a sequel/further adventures? I would, but he did not write further. He took ill in 1917, and was discharged from the army due to illness. He moved to South Africa, and died of cancer in 1940 (biographical detail from his entry at the Imperial War Museum website).
Was it interesting? A first-person account of being one of the first Kinematographers to film front-line war footage? During World War One, including the Battle of the Somme? It was highly interesting.
Well-written? It was engaging, and given that it was written during the war (albeit published after), its sometimes overly-nationalistic tone (Bully For Britain! Damn those godless Huns!) is perfectly excusable. I enjoyed looking at the pictures, and have been hunting for a copy of The Battle of the Somme film which uses some of the footage that Malins shot. If anything, my complaint is that I wanted to end each chapter by watching the footage he got.
First line: "Fate has not been unkind to me."
Would I read it again? I would. Especially if I ran across the film footage I was talking about.
Keep or give away? I would keep it if I owned it, but since I read it on-line here at Project Gutenberg, I don't need to. Although I would definitely buy an edition of the book that came with footage from Malins' camera.
Would I read a sequel/further adventures? I would, but he did not write further. He took ill in 1917, and was discharged from the army due to illness. He moved to South Africa, and died of cancer in 1940 (biographical detail from his entry at the Imperial War Museum website).