Brian's 2012 Book Log

[Brian.]

Brotherhood of Warriors by Aaron Cohen

 

 

 

Synopsis

At the age of eighteen, Aaron Cohen left Beverly Hills to prove himself in the crucible of the armed forces. He was determined to be a part of Israel's most elite security cadre, akin to the American Green Berets and Navy SEALs. After fifteen months of grueling training designed to break down each individual man and to rebuild him as a warrior, Cohen was offered the only post a non-Israeli can hold in the special forces. In 1996 he joined a top-secret, highly controversial unit that dispatches operatives disguised as Arabs into the Palestinian-controlled West Bank to abduct terrorist leaders and bring them to Israel for interrogation and trial.

 

Between 1996 and 1998, Aaron Cohen would learn Hebrew and Arabic; become an expert in urban counterterror warfare, the martial art of Krav Maga, and undercover operations; and participate in dozens of life-or-death missions. He would infiltrate a Hamas wedding to seize a wanted terrorist and pose as an American journalist to set a trap for one of the financiers behind the Dizengoff Massacre, taking him down in a brutal, hand-to-hand struggle.

(Taken from Goodreads)

 

 

My Thoughts

I decided to have a sort through some of my non-fiction books and donate some to charity to free up some much needed bookcase space. Some how this book has been sitting there unread for a long time so I decided that it should be my next read. I have read quite a few military memoirs but not many from people who served in the Israeli Defense Force (IDF).

 

Cohen misses out most of his childhood, choosing to focus on a few things that happened which eventually lead him to military school. This turned out to be just what he needed, he found the discipline turned him around and he decided that he wanted to head off and join the IDF special forces. The rest of the book focuses mainly on the training and selection processes followed by a few operations that he was involved in.

 

The training and selection part details the quite frankly brutal mental and physical pressure new recruits are put under. Although he doesn't details everything that happens, he does lay it out there, warts and all and some of it doesn't make comfortable reading. He also says that at the time he didn't understand why some things were done the way they were but later appreciated why.

 

The books is well written with the operational section being a particularly interesting and exciting read. Cohen worked for a military under cover unit, think James Bond and the SAS combined. They specialise in certain areas of under cover work which makes a less rounded special operations soldier but one who can infiltrate the enemy with great effectivity.

 

My favourite part of the book is the final sections where is discusses the end of his 3 year contract. He says that the contract is relatively short due to the intense nature of the work. He goes on to explain the mental hardship he went through trying to re-adjust to civilian life. This was made even harder because he didn't have an Israeli family to return to like other soldiers but moved back to the USA. This really showed his human side which made a good addition to the book.

 

Inevitably I didn't always agree with his politics and outlook on life but I didn't expect to. I think it is very hard to understand unless you are put in that situation yourself. The final section on the book was his opinion on what America needs to do to secure it's future with regards to terrorism. While I think he makes some valid points I found this to be a bit too preachy.

 

I found this to be a solid and quick read and I would definitely recommend it to someone who likes military memoirs.

 

3/5 (I liked it).

[Brian.]

1984 by George Orwell

 

 

 

Synopsis

Hidden away in the Record Department of the sprawling Ministry of Truth, Winston Smith skilfully rewrites the past to suit the needs of the Party. Yet he inwardly rebels against the totalitarian world he lives in, which demands absolute obedience and controls him through the all-seeing telescreens and the watchful eye of Big Brother, symbolic head of the Party. In his longing for truth and liberty, Smith begins a secret love affair with a fellow-worker Julia, but soon discovers the true price of freedom is betrayal.

(Taken from Goodreads)

 

 

My Thoughts

This is yet another one of those books that most people read in school as part of some course or another. For some reason I was forced to read Hardy and Shakespeare rather than more modern classics. Now Shakespeare I have no issue with, I found it hard to read at times as an adolescent but the stories were fantastic. Hardy on the other hand, the less said about that the better. Anyhow, I digress, I fancied something that required a bit of effort to read and this leaped off the shelf at me.

 

You can always tell when a book has had a huge cultural effect on the populace when words and phrases become part of our vocabulary and this book probably has most instances than any other I can think of. Despite the fact that this is one of the most voted modern classic I knew little about it (to be honest I often prefer it that way). I was aware of the concept of big brother and that the book was set in a dystopian future and that it had a huge political bent to it.

 

Initially I found the book a little slow going. The first section deals with an introduction of sorts to the characters and the world in which they inhabit. This part of the book needed some concentration to follow, my reading of this was not aided by a colleague unable to shut up for 10 minutes. This is not the kind of book which can comfortably be read with an action movie or similar on in the background.

 

As I reached the end of the first part however the story really hotted up and I found myself not wanting to put it down. This got so bad that I actually took it to a gig in my coat pocket so that I could read it on train. I ended up in a good conversation with one of the security guards during his search of me, who says reading is antisocial

 

There are many things bouncing around my head after finishing the book,

the torture scenes, especially those with the rats are pretty horrific.

It is incredible to think that this book was finished in 1949 and yet is still so relevant and resonates so strongly today. One of the first things that popped into my head was the media in the UK and how since the Leveson enquiry the government was to put it under more stringent controls. Now, I am all for the media being regulated but government control is not my idea of something that is good in the long run.

 

This is a very good book, I wish it had been on my school syllabus.

 

4/5 (I really liked it).

[vodkafan]

Wow good reviews Brian. Glad you enjoyed 1984.

[willoyd]

For some reason I was forced to read Hardy and Shakespeare rather than more modern classics. Now Shakespeare I have no issue with, I found it hard to read at times as an adolescent but the stories were fantastic. Hardy on the other hand, the less said about that the better.

Funny how we all differ: I love Hardy (and loved his books at school), but absolutely hated 1984 - could barely finish it. In fact, I've really disliked all Orwell's work that I've read (not a lot admittedly, but that's because I've hated what I've read!).

 

[Brian.]

Wow good reviews Brian. Glad you enjoyed 1984.

 

Thanks for the kind words.

 

Funny how we all differ: I love Hardy (and loved his books at school), but absolutely hated 1984 - could barely finish it. In fact, I've really disliked all Orwell's work that I've read (not a lot admittedly, but that's because I've hated what I've read!).

That's what is great about books, different strokes for different folks. It's a shame that students can't choose for a variety of titles for their studies but I imagine that would be a nightmare for the teaching staff.

[willoyd]

That's what is great about books, different strokes for different folks.[

Absolutely! It makes book groups, forums etc much more fun too!

 

It's a shame that students can't choose for a variety of titles for their studies but I imagine that would be a nightmare for the teaching staff.

Yes, but then I'm not sure that I was in any position which books to read when I was doing my A-levels. Equally, we studied some literature which I really disliked to start with, but grew to love, for instance Emma (subsequently becoming a real Austen fan), Middlemarch (which I must reread sometime soon), and, indeed, Shakespeare (although I still can't raise much enthusiasm for Othello!). So, me not choosing probably did some good!

[Brian.]

I think that I have come to an end with my book log for 2012. I have a book on the go but I don't see myself finishing it before the end of the year.

 

At the start of the year I set myself a target of 50 books and to be honest, I didn't think that I would manage it but in the end I've made it to 58. I have really enjoyed most of the books that I have read this year with a nice mix of fiction and non-fiction. I have read some great authors for the first time and managed to get in a few bits of classic literature and some books which are considered modern classics. I also seem to have developed a like of Russian literature and the ability to buy books at an alarming rate.

 

The books I have rated 5 stars this year have been.

Fight Club - Chuck Palahniuk

Journey to the Centre of the Earth - Jules Verne

20,000 League Under the Sea - Jules Verne

All Quiet on the Western Front - Erich Maria Remarque

Alone in Berlin - Hans Fallada

Norwegian Wood - Haruki Murakami

The Secret Race - Tyler Hamilton

Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden

South of the Border, West of the Sun - Haruki Murakami

 

There were no books that I rated 1 star but there were a couple that I probably wouldn't recommend to others.

Snuff - Chuck Palahniuk

Pao - Kerry Young

 

 

There are 2 ratings I would probably change in retrospect. I would probably move Fight Club down 1 star to give it 4/5. I would definitely move Crime & Punishment up from 2/5 to 4/5, it's been on my mind all year since I read it.

 

Its been a good year and although I don't think I will be able to read as much in 2013 due to a change at work I expect it to be just as enjoyable.

[vodkafan]

Hey Brian good to see you bust your expected target by a good margin too. I like the little overview at the end of what your best books were for the year. I look forward to seeing what you put on your 2013 blog.