E.B. Sledge in China
This is the second book in a row that I read because of teaching another book by that author last term. In this case it's Eugene B. Sledge's China Marine, which is partly outtakes from his original manuscript for With the Old Breed. That memoir ended with the surrender of Japan in WWII, but this one covers the time after, including service in Peking during the complicated period after the war, and then his return home to Mobile, and his adaptation to civilian life.
I can see why his original editor chose to finish the first book where it did, but this book is quite interesting (though shorter, and definitely less dramatic) as well. I'll be tempted to squeeze it into the syllabus if I teach WWII again, but probably won't be able to. (I'm beginning to think we need to make undergraduate semesters 8 months long, in order to cover the requisite material.)
While the China duty was relatively easy compared to Peleliu and Okinawa, it wasn't without tension. The Japanese Army is still encamped there, and still armed. On occasion they, the Japanese, are called out to deal with "bandits" or mostly the Communists. So the Marines are disarming the Japanese, and also letting them fight. The Communists are sometimes attacking the Marines, as are other groups.
Sledge's soldier's view of China is amusing and interesting. He loved being there, despite also wanting to go home. He found the place fascinating.
CBIP: Life of the Empress Josephine, anonymous (Cecil B. Hartley?)
The Year's Best Science Fiction, Twenty-ninth Annual Collection, Gardner Dozois, ed.
The Complete Illustrated History of the Aztec & Maya, Charles Phillips
The God of Small Things, Arundhati Roy
I can see why his original editor chose to finish the first book where it did, but this book is quite interesting (though shorter, and definitely less dramatic) as well. I'll be tempted to squeeze it into the syllabus if I teach WWII again, but probably won't be able to. (I'm beginning to think we need to make undergraduate semesters 8 months long, in order to cover the requisite material.)
While the China duty was relatively easy compared to Peleliu and Okinawa, it wasn't without tension. The Japanese Army is still encamped there, and still armed. On occasion they, the Japanese, are called out to deal with "bandits" or mostly the Communists. So the Marines are disarming the Japanese, and also letting them fight. The Communists are sometimes attacking the Marines, as are other groups.
Sledge's soldier's view of China is amusing and interesting. He loved being there, despite also wanting to go home. He found the place fascinating.
CBIP: Life of the Empress Josephine, anonymous (Cecil B. Hartley?)
The Year's Best Science Fiction, Twenty-ninth Annual Collection, Gardner Dozois, ed.
The Complete Illustrated History of the Aztec & Maya, Charles Phillips
The God of Small Things, Arundhati Roy