Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Book Review - Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War by Karl Marlantes


No other war (or police action to be precise) has been more dramatised in fiction in modern times than the Vietnam conflict. We’ve all seen the movies and heard the stories of this war that, like so many before and since, have appeared such deadly exercises in futility. Despite this being a well mined field (pardon the pun), Matterhorn takes it to a higher level. Written by a decorated Vietnam veteran over 35 years, we follow a young Lieutenant, who, unlike the other grunts he charges over, is well educated and not obligated to be there.

This novel has an incredibly sincere quality and is consistently powerful. There is no doubt that Marlantes really knows what he’s writing about and the peripheral issues such as race relations and politics within the marine corp are tackled head on. This is war literature of the highest order and the raw emotion captured is, at times, quite simply breathtaking. Its no boys own adventure but equally it is not portrayed without humour; there is much of the gallow variety here.

The writing is superb, telling it like it is; and without pretention. This novel has reached a wide audience, including no doubt those whose previous knowledge of Vietnam was limited to Oliver Stone movies and China Beach. It’s clearly a project of passion and deserving of all the accolades it has received.

Monday, October 25, 2010

Tech Talk


On a previous post I have talked about my aversion to things of a modern, technological bent.


No more.


I have just returned from Singapore with this wonderful gadget, a surprise gift for Lina. Its fresh out of the box so it has'nt been given a test run but I'm sure its going to be a handy device.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Isaac turns 4


On a previous post I have written of the ultimate kids birthday party that were, to me at that time, a curious and unfamiliar Malaysian phenomenon.


Love a country - love its customs. Last weekend we laid on our Kiwi version of the Malaysian Birthday Extravaganza when we celebrated Isaac's 4th birthday. Dinosaurs was the theme and for another perspective on such parties in this fine city see this post of a fellow expat KL blogger (and no this was not quite the extravagance of our sons party; although it was pretty close).


Perhaps it's an unusual perspective on my part, regardless, I am firmly of the view that a children's party should also be cause for the adults to leer it up as well. It's difficult standing around at a kids party, clock watching, and longing for the a boredom numbing beverage, whilst the ankle biters are busy having all the fun. With this in mind, in addition to the pass-the-parcel games, chocolate fountain, and fairy bread, we laid on an adult food spread and beers.


So here is a snap taken that day, with more to follow later. We hope the party was enjoyed by young and old alike. Lina and I certainly enjoyed putting it on, and Isaac...... well the picture speaks for itself.