A Hand Like the Raw Edge of Lightning...

Near the end of high school and throughout most of my undergraduate years I was a big fan of Louis L'Amour. I still consider myself a big fan, but having read all his books there was nothing left for me to read: Or so I thought. I came across The Key-Lock Man in the library the other day and picked it up.

The solitary rider did not fear his aloneness, for he had the companionship of the mind. He had strength also, patience beyond that of most men, and some knowledge of the wild lands into which he rode. If the men who pursued knew nothing of him, he at least knew their kind, and was stronger because of this.

It is this type of over-the-top, melodramatic, toughguy writing that endeared me to L'Amour. I consider westerns to be the man's version of the romance novel. They are formulaic, slight embarrassing to be caught with, and addictive.

"alternative" aggression may be worse than a swift kick to the back side...

I picked up an audio book at the library the other day; primarily for my wife. On my way to work on Monday, I realized I didn't have anything cued up in my shuffle, so I grabbed Odd Girl Out on my way to the car. As the father of a new baby girl, I thought it might me interesting to find out about female "alternative aggression". Interesting is not the word. I am down right frightened. It isn't popular to say this, but I had a relatively idyllic childhood. I wasn't one of the Popular kids, but I had good friends and I got to do cool things. I had a few run-ins with bullies, but nothing a few brief moments of violence didn't cure (admittedly, after 3 weeks of fear).

The stories of non-violent bullying among girls contained in this book make me very (that is very in italics, underlined, and bolded) worried. I had no idea how traumatic, life altering, and pervasive this alternative aggression is for girls. I tried to listen to it with my wife in the car and she asked me to turn it off because it made her too uncomfortable.

Along with Gift of Fear, I recommend this book to all fathers of daughters.

One crossbow please...

If the measure of a book is the impact it has on your thought process after you put it down, Stirling's Dies the Fire is quite a book. The basic premise is that some sort of "event" causes all modern (steam engine and beyond) technology to stop working; no electronics, no internal combustion engines, no guns. Sounds like an environmentalists dream, right? Think again. A delightfully chilling exercise in how society would change if we were all suddenly dependent on the strength of our arms for security and the strength of our labors for food.

For weeks after finishing this book I was nervous if was more than 5 miles from home in case my car stopped working. I also had an overwhelming desire to go out and buy a crossbow. It might be more realistic to think in terms of a collapse due to lack of oil, but this was a good read and I highly recommend it. Afterwards, you just might sleep better with a sword under your bed.