thebajarunner
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3696
Registered: 9-8-2003
Location: Arizona....."Free at last from crumbling Cali
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Mood: muy amable
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"El Paso" a very interesting read
This novel by WInston Groom (wrote Forest Gump) has been out for a while.
It is mostly in Mexico, lots of very interesting characters like Pancho Villa, (the true villain of the book), Tom Mix, Gen. Fierro (The Butcher)
Ambrose Bierce and lots more.
Somewhere in the narrative there is a reference to a long ago offer from Japan to buy the entire Baja peninsula, for $10 million. Anyone familiar
with this story? So much of the book is based on real history that I am thinking it must have been true.
All in all a very fascinating read, well worth the time.... it is pretty long.
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Howard
Super Nomad
Posts: 2348
Registered: 11-13-2007
Location: Loreto/Manhattan Beach/Kona
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Mood: I'd rather regret the things I've done than regret the things I haven't done.
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I sure hope this book is good! I just found a used one on Amazon for $1.88. Big bucks.
If I don't like it I can use it for other activities. I normally would of had it downloaded to my reader but being the cheap SOB that I am I went for
the $1.88 version.
No pressure on you though. 
We don't stop playing because we grow old;
we grow old because we stop playing
George Bernard Shaw
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thebajarunner
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3696
Registered: 9-8-2003
Location: Arizona....."Free at last from crumbling Cali
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Mood: muy amable
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Quote: Originally posted by Howard  | I sure hope this book is good! I just found a used one on Amazon for $1.88. Big bucks.
If I don't like it I can use it for other activities. I normally would of had it downloaded to my reader but being the cheap SOB that I am I went for
the $1.88 version.
No pressure on you though. |
Do me a favor....
When you have finished, or are just part way in, post a quick comment.
I guarantee you will enjoy it.
First of all, I really like good writing, and Groom is a good writer,
Second, anyone with a small tick of interest in Mexico will be really intrigued with the background you will pick up.
Every time I find a really cheap one on Amazon they hack me bigger bucks for shipping, but don't hold that against me, either
Worst case, if the book is a bust let me know and I will split the cost (less shipping) Let me know where to send 96 cents.
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Howard
Super Nomad
Posts: 2348
Registered: 11-13-2007
Location: Loreto/Manhattan Beach/Kona
Member Is Offline
Mood: I'd rather regret the things I've done than regret the things I haven't done.
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I am to cheap to be a member of Amazon Prime for free shipping. $6.42 was my net cost. Almost joined Prime for the free shipping but if things didn't
work out I didn't think I could ever get over that financial loss.
We don't stop playing because we grow old;
we grow old because we stop playing
George Bernard Shaw
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Howard
Super Nomad
Posts: 2348
Registered: 11-13-2007
Location: Loreto/Manhattan Beach/Kona
Member Is Offline
Mood: I'd rather regret the things I've done than regret the things I haven't done.
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You people are so wise. I spend my money so willy nilly. I think we need to go fishing so you can teach me more.
Actually I think a lot more people need to go fishing as that could be the conduit for civility and life! You could use a lot of metaphors about
fishing and improve ones life!
I suppose beer would have to be involved as well.
We don't stop playing because we grow old;
we grow old because we stop playing
George Bernard Shaw
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jamiec
Junior Nomad
Posts: 69
Registered: 3-16-2020
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Thanks thebajarunner, I'm going to check this one out.
This past summer I picked up Flying Into the Sun by Paul Ogier on Kindle for $4. It's about a surfer in the 70's doing surf runs down the coast and
smuggling to make ends meet. Talks about his stint in a Mexican jail and how learning to fly allowed him to be a smuggler but later a commercial
airline pilot. Interesting read, I finished it in a couple of days.
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thebajarunner
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3696
Registered: 9-8-2003
Location: Arizona....."Free at last from crumbling Cali
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Mood: muy amable
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It is a novel, not an in depth bio
| Quote: Originally posted by lencho |
Just finished it, thanks for the reference.
Definitely entertaining, but it's not a book I'd read twice; I found the fictionalized personifications of real-life characters to be shallow and
annoying.
If anybody is interested in a more first-hand view of Villa and Reed I'd suggest Insurgent Mexico |
I found "insurgent Mexico" to be good history, but the writing does not flow as well as Groom.
And, interestingly, the author of "Insurgent" is one of the main characters in "El Paso"
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thebajarunner
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3696
Registered: 9-8-2003
Location: Arizona....."Free at last from crumbling Cali
Member Is Offline
Mood: muy amable
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fNot wanting to turn this into another feud....but
| Quote: Originally posted by lencho |
Which is what annoyed me. Depicting real life historical figures doing and saying things they never did and maybe wouldn't have
done... it bothers me the same way that deep fake stuff does. 
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That is what historical fiction is all about. Taking real characters and trying to reconstruct events and dialogue. I can assure you that the
dialogue in a true history is basically reconstructed.
Good historical fiction can be very instructive. One of the classics of the Civil War is Shaara's "Killer Angels" and that is fiction. I can assure
you that the dialogue is from Shaara, not from the real characters.
Interesting that at the bottom of all your posts you quote two fiction writers (Both of whom I admire)
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