THE STORY SO FAR: PART 167

THE FRENCH IN MALI ARE BACK TO USING SOME OF THE SAME HIGH MOBILITY TACTICS THEY USED IN ALGERIA ALL OF SIXTY YEARS AGO

THEY ARE AS EFFECTIVE AS EVER

It is common in the U.S. to disparage the French—and I really don’t understand why. Nonetheless, the sentence, “We saved their butts in two world wars,” is one I have had repeated to me on numerous occasions. We tend to forget that we had an interest in the outcomes of both wars, which had nothing to do with saving the French

We also tend to forget that without the French there might not have been a United States of America in the first place.

Personally, I love France. Its politics are no screwier than those of most other nations, and it has long had an admirable quality of life. That apart, its culture is extraordinarily rich; and the country, itself, is beautiful. As for the French people, they have endured much, and achieved much, and the world would be a vastly poorer place without them. Most people associate the French with food, fashion and sex—significant factors in our lives, to be sure—but are not aware that France, amongst its other attributes, boasts a remarkable tradition of producing fine engineers. It is no accident that Boeing’s greatest rival, EADS (best known for its Airbus range of aircraft) is located in France in Toulouse. And, by the way, a rather dramatic sequence in my new thriller, THE BLOOD OF GENERATIONS, is located there. Consider also the truly breathtaking Millau Bridge.

The French lost their war in Indo-China much as we would go on to do in Vietnam. Nonetheless, some of their military units learned a great deal from the experience, and went on to apply this knowledge and expertise against the FLN in the Algerian War in the Fifties and early Sixties. In particular, the French paras made something of an art out of high mobility warfare, particularly when tracking down bands of FLN infiltrators. Either by parachute or helicopter, they would insert blocking forces and then destroy the rebels by way of bombing or close quarters infantry combat. In short, the French were pioneers of helicopter warfare and were also the first people to use TOW missiles from rotary aircraft.

Observing their operations in Mali reminds me of all this—together with the weeks I spent researching the French Foreign Legion in Corsica in 1964. These were highly disciplined and scarily tough soldiers. The parachute unit I got to know was the 2nd REP based near Calvi, Corsica. It is now France’s cutting edge rapid response unit. I blogged about it a little time ago.

What will happen in Mali, I do not know. The French are trying to accomplish a prodigious amount with a very small force. Mali is huge. Nonetheless, a great deal can be accomplished through high-speed maneuver warfare – and the French have plenty of experience at it.

 

THE STORY SO FAR: PART 166.

HOW LONG SHOULD A BOOK BE?

Most people have forgotten the Korean War. Nonetheless, it fascinated me even though I was only six when it started in 1950. It finished—more or less—in  1953, though a full peace treaty has never been signed. Given that North Korea is now a nuclear power, that is somewhat disturbing.

While scouring the school library, I ran across an article in the National Geographic about it, which, amongst other things, showed how the Koreans could carry heavy weights on their backs by using a frame.

Why don’t we do that, I wondered?

And, of course, now we do—but it was an early lesson that the West was not the repository of all wisdom (which, essentially, was the kind of thing I was originally taught). I was an early skeptic because attitudes, and what I could see and read, did not seem to match.

There is a nice story about the Korean War I have long remembered. There were press briefings every day, and a constant theme was that a particular position in the U.N. lines—it would vary—had been attacked by “hordes of Chinese.” This phrase became part of the daily ritual until finally one of the journalists stood up and asked: “How many Chinese to a horde?”

The effect of this question was to create absolute confusion because, needless to say, there was no credible answer. It remains one of my favorite lines.

One used to be able to be more precise when talking about a book. A novella used to be about 30,000 words long. A novel started at about 60,000 words—and a classic big thriller (the kind of book I love and write) came in at 120,000 words plus and could easily be 160,000. Assuming a talented author, this substantial heft guaranteed, in my eyes, a really good read.

Apparently, all of that is changing. A recent article by Michael Lewin in Book Publishing today states that:

“Today, however, the closing of the American mind has given way to the collapse of the American attention span thanks to texting, Facebook and Twitter. Neither authors nor readers seek size from their books.”

“If you are writing a business book to brand yourself as an expert in your field, keep it under 50,000 words… You fiction writers should take heed as well; 90,000 is the new optimum maximum length, down from 50,000 words just a few years ago.”

I guess that means I’ll only have to do half the work in future. Assuming I believe that—which I don’t—how do I feel about the supposed demise of the really good read read?

Profoundly sad, if you really want to know. I guess reading WAR AND PEACE by Leo Tolstoy—which I loved—when I was 13 had a lasting impact on me.

Tolstoy is illustrated above.

 

 

 

THE STORY SO FAR: PART 165

ALL LIVING LANGUAGES EVOLVE—BUT SHOULD “TECHSPEAK” BE OUR FUTURE?

Though I am a great believer in the concept that a language must evolve, I confess the following makes me very uneasy.

One of the reasons why writing skills are so important is that they aid our cognitive abilities immensely. Good writing is just not possible without clear thinking.

But does good writing mean that one has to do things in a traditional way—or is Techspeak a valid alternative?

Let me shudder a bit—and then admit that I really don’t know; and that perhaps I don’t want to know.  I have great affection for the English language, and feel I’m witnessing murder.

 

THE STORY SO FAR: PART 164

SOMETHING EVIL IN MY CUPBOARD!

COULD IT BE WE ARE BOTH POISONING OURSELVES—UNWITTINGLY IN MANY CASES—AND BEING POISONED (perhaps not so unwittingly)?

YES!

INGREDIENTS:
ENRICHED UNBLEACHED WHEAT FLOUR (WHEAT FLOUR, MALTED BARLEY FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMIN MONONITRATE [VIT. B1], RIBOFLAVIN [VIT.B2], FOLIC ACID [VIT. B9]), WATER, RAISINS, YEAST, CORN MEAL, CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF EACH OF THE FOLLOWING: SALT, DISTILLED VINEGAR, VEGETABLE OIL (CANOLA AND/OR SOY), VITAL WHEAT GLUTEN, CINNAMON, NUTMEG, YEAST NUTRIENT (AMMONIUM SULPHATE), DOUGH CONDITIONERS (PROTEASE, ASCORBIC ACID, AZODICARBONAMIDE), CALCIUM PROPIONATE AND POTASSIUM SORBATE (MOLD INHIBITORS), NONFAT DRY MILK.

From time to time, I like what are called in the U.S. “English Muffins”—particularly the kind with Double Raisin & Cinnamon. I don’t eat them every week, but more when the mood strikes.

Over four months ago, I bought a pack of Franz English muffins, but didn’t finish it—and then forgot where I had put it. The kitchen in this apartment is small, so I don’t have a traditional bread bin. I store stuff in an overhead cupboard. Because the top shelf is high, sometimes I cannot see what is there already so have a tendency to put packages or cans in front—thus obscuring what is there already. Normally it doesn’t matter because the goods are either canned or dry.

What can I say! I’m an absent-minded author! 

Today I found those four month old muffins—I was clearing out the cupboards prior to moving—and was appalled to find that they still looked and felt highly edible. After more than a third of a year, that just isn’t natural.

Franz proudly boast that their muffins are free of High Fructose Corn Syrup and Trans Fat, but it is clear that other evils are afoot. Food should behave like food—and when it doesn’t, it is creepy. Is the food being irradiated? There is no mention of that on the packet. Either way, something is clearly wrong, and I junked the things. I doubt very much I will ever eat one again. When food is that unnatural, a sentient human being has reason to be frightened of it—because food can, and does, kill.

The comedian and talk show host, Bill Maher, states bluntly and often that we are poisoning ourselves by eating what is increasingly being called “Industrial Food.” Minimal research would indicate that he is almost certainly right—and that the combination of the industrial processes which we still quaintly call “farming” is producing food which, all too often, is downright hazardous to our health.

What  do I mean by “industrial processes” when it comes to food? I mean factory farming, excessive antibiotics fed to animals, the triumph of genetically modified raw materials, massive overuse of insecticides, monoculture, the extensive use of dubious ingredients by food processors—and much more besides including padding-out processed food with cheap fillers (such as GM soy). Fillers are used to pad out the nutritional content. It is vastly cheaper to use cheap soy than more expensive meat but the protein content may look the same on the label.

Obesity and our general lack of fitness apart, the consequences of our poor diet are showing up in the fact that we tend to be significantly sicker than is the pattern in other developed nations, and we are dying younger than they do. Beyond that, our children are increasingly developing various conditions at a rate that is alarming. As the military comment regularly—because they have to reject so many candidates for physical reasons--we are not a healthy nation to the point here it has become a National Security issue.

Is our food the reason? I have no doubt at all but that it plays a major role in our current health plight. Next in line I would put lifestyle, and thirdly it is worth noting that we live in a massively polluted environment. Our air, land, and water is contaminated.

Are we doing much about it? Well, there is an organic movement, and many manufacturers are dropping High Fructose Corn Syrup—but, essentially, we are doing very little. The quality of our food has not yet become a major political issue. It needs to.

By the way, the reason French food is so much better lies in the ingredients. It is hard to over-emphasize this. This is not to decry French cooking—which is generally much superior to ours—but to make the point that the ingredients (the raw materials of a meal) are as fundamental to good healthy food as a solid foundation is to a house.

Perhaps the most worrying thing about ingredients is that all too often the difference is not detectable. It is comparatively easy to detect the difference between a factory farmed chicken and a genuine organic chicken, or between feedlot beef and natural grass-fed; but it is much harder where other foodstuffs are concerned. For instance, modern fruit tends to look absolutely gorgeous when it is racked up in all its visual physical perfection in a modern supermarket, even while the nutritional value of those same fruits can be shown to be but a fraction of their organic ancestors—and that is before we consider the very real threat from residual insecticides.

What you see is an illusion of perfection. What you get is, all too often, a mere nutritional facsimile of the real thing—and contaminated by chemicals into the bargain. And so we and our children get sicker sooner than we should—and we die years sooner. Surely this must be a cause for major concern? But, as of now, it is not.

A closing story: As most people know, bread is fundamental to the French way of life and it has to be bought daily because otherwise it goes stale. Well, I once visited friends in France who had a hole in the wall of their kitchen—as in a letter-box—for their daily bread delivery. It was a centuries old house. I have never seen that before or since (though it may be common for all I know) but I was charmed.

Perhaps the United States Post Office is in the wrong business—but should be in the food delivery business. After all, you cannot e-mail a baguette, but it does require to be either picked up or delivered daily. Five days a week would be a good start.

 

 

 

 

 

THE STORY SO FAR: PART 163

THAT EVER ELUSIVE GOAL—SUCCESS.

A TRIBUTE TO A FASCINATING WEB SITE, BRAIN PICKINGS.

Once a week, each and every week, the web site Brain Pickings—run primarily by the redoubtable Maria Popova-- comes up with a fascinating mix of comments and quotes of the kind you feel you should know if you are to regard yourself as a reasonably civilized and sophisticated human being—which, of course, you know you are.

The Brain Pickings web site team of Maria Popova (see illustration—though she was a little younger then) focuses heavily on concepts and related disciplines like “creativity” and “writing” so, needless to say, I have been drawn to the site like a cat to catnip. My hope is to be enlightened, educated, and stimulated by the many words of wisdom contained in each post, and—you never know—such accidents could happen.

Meanwhile, I have to confess that much of the material that Brain Pickings likes to quote—with which I should be intimately familiar—is really not. However, in the interests of retaining my dignity, I try and disguise that fact.

The following is a fairly typical Brain Pickings piece.

9 Rules for Success by British Novelist Amelia E. Barr, 1901

"Genius is nothing more nor less than doing well what anyone can do badly."

The secret of success – like its very definition – remains amorphous and forever elusive. For Thoreau, it was a matter ofgreeting each day with joy; for Jad Abumrad, it comes after some necessary "gut churn"; for Jackson Pollock's dad, it was about being fully awake to the world; for entrepreneur Paul Graham, it's about purpose rather than prestige; for designer Paula Scher, it meansbeginning every day with a capacity for growth. But perhaps, above all, success is about defining it yourself.

Still, those who have succeed – by their own definition, as well as history's – might be able to glean some insight into the inner workings of accomplishment. From the 1901 volume How They Succeeded: Life Stories of Successful Men Told by Themselves (public library; public domain) comes a wonderful essay by British novelist Amelia E. Barr (1831-1919) who, the despite devastating loss of her husband and three of their six children to yellow fever in 1867, went on to become a dedicated and diligent writer, eventually reaching critical success at the age of fifty-two.

At the end of her essay, under a section titled "Words of Counsel," Barr offers nine tips for success, echoing some familiar themes – Tchaikovsky's insistence on work ethic over inspiration, Ray Bradbury's case for perseverance in the face of rejection, the importance of having a good routine and working with joy, and the necessary reminder that success requires a deliberate investment of effort and good writing takes time.

1. Men and women succeed because they take pains to succeed. Industry and patience are almost genius; and successful people are often more distinguished for resolution and perseverance than for unusual gifts. They make determination and unity of purpose supply the place of ability.
2. Success is the reward of those who "spurn delights and live laborious days." We learn to do things by doing them. One of the great secrets of success is "pegging away." No disappointment must discourage, and a run back must often be allowed, in order to take a longer leap forward.
3. No opposition must be taken to heart. Our enemies often help us more than our friends. Besides, a head-wind is better than no wind. Who ever got anywhere in a dead calm?
4. A fatal mistake is to imagine that success is some stroke of luck. This world is run with far too tight a rein for luck to interfere. Fortune sells her wares; she never gives them. In some form or other, we pay for her favors; or we go empty away.
5. We have been told, for centuries, to watch for opportunities, and to strike while the iron is hot. Very good; but I think better of Oliver Cromwell's amendment – "make the iron hot by striking it."
6. Everything good needs time. Don't do work in a hurry. Go into details; it pays in every way. Time means power for your work. Mediocrity is always in a rush; but whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing with consideration. For genius is nothing more nor less than doing well what anyone can do badly.
7. Be orderly. Slatternly work is never good work. It is either affectation, or there is some radical defect in the intellect. I would distrust even the spiritual life of one whose methods and work were dirty, untidy, and without clearness and order.
8. Never be above your profession. I have had many letters from people who wanted all the emoluments and honors of literature, and who yet said, "Literature is the accident of my life; I am a lawyer, or a doctor, or a lady, or a gentleman."Literature is no accident. She is a mistress who demands the whole heart, the whole intellect, and the whole time of a devotee.

9. Don't fail through defects of temper and over-sensitiveness at moments of trial. One of the great helps to success is to be cheerful; to go to work with a full sense of life; to be determined to put hindrances out of the way; to prevail over them and to get the mastery. Above all things else, be cheerful; there is no beatitude for the despairing.

   Apparent success may be reached by sheer impudence, in defiance of offensive demerit. But men who get what they are manifestly unfit for, are made to feel what people think of them. Charlatanry may flourish; but when its bay tree is greenest, it is held far lower than genuine effort. The world is just; it may, it does, patronize quacks; but it never puts them on a level with true men.

   It is better to have the opportunity of victory, than to be spared the struggle; for success comes but as the result of arduous experience. The foundations of my success were laid before I can well remember; it was after at least forty-five years of conscious labor that I reached the object of my hope. Many a time my head failed me, my hands failed me, my feet failed me, but, thank God, my heart never failed me.

For more of history's timeless wisdom on writing, see H. P. Lovecraft's advice to aspiring writers, F. Scott Fitzgerald's letter to his daughter, Zadie Smith's 10 rules of writing, Kurt Vonnegut's 8 keys to the power of the written word, David Ogilvy's 10 no-bullshit tips, Henry Miller's 11 commandments, Jack Kerouac's 30 beliefs and techniques, John Steinbeck's 6 pointers, Neil Gaiman's 8 rules,Margaret Atwood's 10 practical tips, and Susan Sontag'ssynthesized learnings.

 

THE STORY SO FAR: PART 163.

THAT EVER ELUSIVE GOAL—SUCCESS.

A TRIBUTE TO A FASCINATING WEB SITE, BRAIN PICKINGS.

Once a week, each and every week, the web site Brain Pickings—run primarily by the redoubtable Maria Popova-- comes up with a fascinating mix of comments and quotes of the kind you feel you should know if you are to regard yourself as a reasonably civilized and sophisticated human being—which, of course, you know you are.

The Brain Pickings web site team of Maria Popova (see illustration—though she was a little younger then) focuses heavily on concepts and related disciplines like “creativity” and “writing” so, needless to say, I have been drawn to the site like a cat to catnip. My hope is to be enlightened, educated, and stimulated by the many words of wisdom contained in each post, and—you never know—such accidents could happen.

Meanwhile, I have to confess that much of the material that Brain Pickings likes to quote—with which I should be intimately familiar—is really not. However, in the interests of retaining my dignity, I try and disguise that fact.

The following is a fairly typical Brain Pickings piece.

9 Rules for Success by British Novelist Amelia E. Barr, 1901

"Genius is nothing more nor less than doing well what anyone can do badly."

The secret of success – like its very definition – remains amorphous and forever elusive. For Thoreau, it was a matter ofgreeting each day with joy; for Jad Abumrad, it comes after some necessary "gut churn"; for Jackson Pollock's dad, it was about being fully awake to the world; for entrepreneur Paul Graham, it's about purpose rather than prestige; for designer Paula Scher, it meansbeginning every day with a capacity for growth. But perhaps, above all, success is about defining it yourself.

Still, those who have succeed – by their own definition, as well as history's – might be able to glean some insight into the inner workings of accomplishment. From the 1901 volume How They Succeeded: Life Stories of Successful Men Told by Themselves (public library; public domain) comes a wonderful essay by British novelist Amelia E. Barr (1831-1919) who, the despite devastating loss of her husband and three of their six children to yellow fever in 1867, went on to become a dedicated and diligent writer, eventually reaching critical success at the age of fifty-two.

At the end of her essay, under a section titled "Words of Counsel," Barr offers nine tips for success, echoing some familiar themes – Tchaikovsky's insistence on work ethic over inspiration, Ray Bradbury's case for perseverance in the face of rejection, the importance of having a good routine and working with joy, and the necessary reminder that success requires a deliberate investment of effort and good writing takes time.

1. Men and women succeed because they take pains to succeed. Industry and patience are almost genius; and successful people are often more distinguished for resolution and perseverance than for unusual gifts. They make determination and unity of purpose supply the place of ability.
2. Success is the reward of those who "spurn delights and live laborious days." We learn to do things by doing them. One of the great secrets of success is "pegging away." No disappointment must discourage, and a run back must often be allowed, in order to take a longer leap forward.
3. No opposition must be taken to heart. Our enemies often help us more than our friends. Besides, a head-wind is better than no wind. Who ever got anywhere in a dead calm?
4. A fatal mistake is to imagine that success is some stroke of luck. This world is run with far too tight a rein for luck to interfere. Fortune sells her wares; she never gives them. In some form or other, we pay for her favors; or we go empty away.
5. We have been told, for centuries, to watch for opportunities, and to strike while the iron is hot. Very good; but I think better of Oliver Cromwell's amendment – "make the iron hot by striking it."
6. Everything good needs time. Don't do work in a hurry. Go into details; it pays in every way. Time means power for your work. Mediocrity is always in a rush; but whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing with consideration. For genius is nothing more nor less than doing well what anyone can do badly.
7. Be orderly. Slatternly work is never good work. It is either affectation, or there is some radical defect in the intellect. I would distrust even the spiritual life of one whose methods and work were dirty, untidy, and without clearness and order.
8. Never be above your profession. I have had many letters from people who wanted all the emoluments and honors of literature, and who yet said, "Literature is the accident of my life; I am a lawyer, or a doctor, or a lady, or a gentleman."Literature is no accident. She is a mistress who demands the whole heart, the whole intellect, and the whole time of a devotee.

9. Don't fail through defects of temper and over-sensitiveness at moments of trial. One of the great helps to success is to be cheerful; to go to work with a full sense of life; to be determined to put hindrances out of the way; to prevail over them and to get the mastery. Above all things else, be cheerful; there is no beatitude for the despairing.

   Apparent success may be reached by sheer impudence, in defiance of offensive demerit. But men who get what they are manifestly unfit for, are made to feel what people think of them. Charlatanry may flourish; but when its bay tree is greenest, it is held far lower than genuine effort. The world is just; it may, it does, patronize quacks; but it never puts them on a level with true men.

   It is better to have the opportunity of victory, than to be spared the struggle; for success comes but as the result of arduous experience. The foundations of my success were laid before I can well remember; it was after at least forty-five years of conscious labor that I reached the object of my hope. Many a time my head failed me, my hands failed me, my feet failed me, but, thank God, my heart never failed me.

For more of history's timeless wisdom on writing, see H. P. Lovecraft's advice to aspiring writers, F. Scott Fitzgerald's letter to his daughter, Zadie Smith's 10 rules of writing, Kurt Vonnegut's 8 keys to the power of the written word, David Ogilvy's 10 no-bullshit tips, Henry Miller's 11 commandments, Jack Kerouac's 30 beliefs and techniques, John Steinbeck's 6 pointers, Neil Gaiman's 8 rules,Margaret Atwood's 10 practical tips, and Susan Sontag'ssynthesized learnings.

THE STORY SO FAR: PART 162

I HATE TO SEE GREAT WRITERS FORGOTTEN. ONE WHO SHOULD NOT BE IS CHARLES MCCARRY

I’m not reading books as much as I should these days. True, I am reading much more stuff on the web, so arguably I’m reading more overall; but I’m not giving books—whatever be the form (physical or electronic) books—quite the attention they deserve.

There I feel that if I don’t read two books (or more) a week, I am letting the side down—and it hurts.

Mostly, I don’t feel “the need for speed” (to quote the movie TOP GUN) but I feel a desperate need to read—something almost any keen reader will recognize. If you are a reader, you just have to read. It is both an obligation and a privilege.

McCarry was the real thing—an actual spook—so his books wreak of authenticity even when his plotting borders the outrageous. He also writes with a very distinctive style—spare, knowledgeable, humorous, authoritative, and thoroughly entertaining.

The following is an extract of what Wikipedia says about him.

McCarry served in the United States Army, where he was a correspondent for Stars and Stripes, has been a small-town newspaperman, and was a speechwriter in the Eisenhower administration. From 1958 to 1967 he worked for the CIA, under deep cover in Europe, Asia, and Africa. However, his cover was not as a writer or journalist.^[1] He is married with four grown sons.^[1] His family is from The Berkshires area of western Massachusetts, where he currently lives.^[1]

He is an admirer of the work of W. Somerset Maugham, especially the Ashenden stories.^[1] He was also an admirer of Richard Condon, author of The Manchurian Candidate, Prizzi's Honor and numerous other novels.^[1]

McCarry was editor-at-large for National Geographic and has contributed pieces to The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and other national publications.

McCarry isn’t just a good writer—he surpasses excellent. So where should a reader start? I doubt it matters—all his books are entertaining and intellectually provocative—but my choice would be THE TEARS OF AUTUMN.

In November 1963, American intelligence officer Paul Christopher investigates the assassination of US President John F Kennedy. Believing that the Kennedy White House was behind the assassination of Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem, Christopher deduces that Vietnamese leaders had Kennedy assassinated as revenge. When one of Kennedy's former advisers threatens Christopher not to discuss the matter with anyone else, Christopher quits the Agency and heads to Vietnam to find the truth.