Posts filed under ‘READER’S OPPORTUNITIES’
THE GREEN BRAIN by FRANK HERBERT
The Green Brain another science fiction novel by one of the giants of the genre.
This novel deals with a subject overly used today, many times in the guise of making a profit. Right or wrong, that is my opinion. The subject Herbert deals with long before it was in vogue is the environment.
My paperback copy was published in 1966, with part of the story appearing in 1965 in Amazing Stories as a novelette, Greenslaves.
The story begins with the world wanting to protect the production of food from destruction by insects. Countries begin to eliminate all insects in farm areas and then populate the land with genetically altered bees. China is at the forefront of this effort and one of its scientists, Chen Lhu, travels to Brazil to assist in insect elimination. What he doesn’t reveal until far into the story is that the process does not work. This revelation only comes to light after he and other scientists are trapped in the jungle by strange insect populations. These insects, along with other bizarre occurrences are put into play by the green brain. This intelligence has the ability to manipulate insects and much more.
Herbert’s novel predates real world efforts to manipulate the environment with nonnative plant and animal species in order to control some condition in the habitat that man finds troublesome. More times than not the cure is worse than the problem.
One interesting sideline not pursued to a great extent but mentioned is the existence of a group of environmentalists called Carsonites.
Rachel Carson published Silent Spring in 1962.
INFO ABOUT ELMO’S SOJOURN
Here is a link for an interview I did for Melange Books.
You might learn a little more about me (lucky you) and about Elmo’s Sojourn.
Enjoy.
IN THE HEART OF THE SEA THE VOYAGE OF THE WHALESHIP ESSEX And THE LAST STAND by NATHANIEL PHILBRICK
The subjects of this piece are a recently read book and a book I read in the past by the same author.
The Last Stand deals with an historical event etched in the American psyche, Custer’s Last Stand. This is an extremely informative and well-written book tracing, with remarkable detail, the events leading up to the battle and the confrontation between the cavalry under Custer’s command and the Indians led by Sitting Bull.
The root causes of this disaster are many. Custer’s overconfidence in his abilities as a military tactician along with the incompetence of some of the officers in his command played a major part in the outcome, along with the underestimation of the number of Indians he faced on that fateful day, June 25, 1875. This was a tragedy that did not have to happen.
As the soldiers approached, Sitting Bull was expecting to discuss peace when his village was attacked by some of Custer’s forces who had no idea of the size of the Indian village.
Custer had 650 men under his command. The population of the village was 8000.
It is my lack of historical knowledge that makes this book so interesting to me. I thought Custer’s entire command was destroyed. Custer divided his command into three parts, one commanded by Major Marcus Reno, one commanded by Captain Fredrick Benteen and one commanded by him. Reno’s group made the initial attack on the village before Custer engaged in battle. When Custer was attacked, he sent a message to the rest of his command to come to his aid, but the made no effort to help and only learned of Custer’s demise when told by and Indian scout.
Philbrick handles this remarkable piece of history with skill and thoroughness that brings the characters and events to life.
I want to mention the other book by this author that I read some time ago dealing with an event in maritime history that gave birth to a classic novel.
In the Heart of the Sea, The Voyage of the Whaleship Essex is a fascinating read. The Essex set sail from Nantucket in 1819 in search of whales. I thought all whaling was done in the Atlantic, and initially it was, but by 1819 the whale population was greatly depleted and whaling was done in the Pacific. This made for a long and hazardous voyage around the tip of South America.
Fifteen months after the Essex set sail it was rammed by a sperm whale and eventually sunk. Twenty men sought survival in three boats. Of the 20, only six survived resorting to cannibalism by the end of their ordeal.
Guess which famous author worked this tale into a classic of fiction.
COMMAND AND CONTROL by ERIC SCHLOSSER
Having just completed reading the above book, I’m consumed by memories which I’ll discuss later in this piece.
This work deals with the birth of the nuclear weapon and its subsequent proliferation in both this country and others. I found the early proliferation of these weapons in the U.S. to be extremely interesting. One of the aspects at the beginning of deployment was which agency should control them, the military or the government. The safety of these weapons is also discussed in detail along with the measures necessary in handling these weapons is covered in depth. After reading this book, one wonders how some of the newly emerging nuclear powers, North Korea and Pakistan for instance, safeguards and controls their arsenal. Having these weapons, they may be prone to blowing themselves up rather than their enemies.
Past accidents with nuclear weapons are also discussed. To say we have been lucky thus far is to put it mildly.
The memories stirred by this work were the result of one accident the book follows in great detail. That accident was the explosive destruction of a Titan II missile complex located near Little Rock, Arkansas in 1980. My interest was due to the fact I served, from 1970 to 1973, as first a deputy commander and then commander of a Titan II missile complex outside of Wichita, Kansas.
For three years, every three or four days I would pull 24 hour alerts. I knew the layout of the complex and the hazards involved and that’s why reading this book induced a flood of memories.
I highly recommend this book. It is an outstanding history of the safety and development of nuclear weapons.
FEBRUARY RELEASE FOR ELMO’S SOJOURN
Just a little promo for my story being released this month by Melange Books.
http://www.melange-books.com/authors/walttrizna/elmossojourn.html
IN THE GARDEN OF BEASTS BY ERIK LARSON
I just completed reading In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson. He is a superb writer of creative nonfiction. His books are fact made to read as novels resulting in a page-turner of history.
This work covers the rise of Nazi Germany with Hitler and his henchmen gaining control of the government. The events are viewed through the eyes of William E. Dodd, in 1933, the newly appointed U.S. ambassador to Germany stationed in Berlin.
The story is a chilling recounting of the slow increase in terror and insanity of the Nazis toward the German population and especially the Jews. Reflected is how the horror slowly escalates until it is impossible to halt progress towards world conflict.
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