Started "Private Peat" last night.

Cor, I've enjoyed Ranger's Apprentice very much, though the writing is sometimes uneven. They're enjoyable adventure stories, and the author seems to almost change genre every couple of books. That said, there will be action violence, and sometimes use of d--n and h-ll. (Is this a sign of a changing culture, or are these perhaps not considered swear words in Australia, where the author is from?)

I just finished reading Private Peat. I quite enjoyed it and was surprised at the very optimistic writing.

I just read a list of Dead Sea Scroll fragments, because I was debating sn who considered Masoretic is supported over LXX (Septuagint) by these.

Now, once verse from Genesis 5:13 is really Masoretic rather than LXX. But it could equally well be Samaritan.

But there is another fragment, which is NOT Masoretic but actually identified as Samaritan.

The reworked Pentateuch section of Cave 4 has this text or scroll:

Genesis 32:25-30; 32:31 ?; Exodus 3:12; 4:27-28; 19:17-23; 24:4-6; 20:12-17,19-21 (Samaritan), 22-26; 21:15-25, 32-37; 22:1-13; 30:32.34; Deuteronomy 5:30-31; 21:1-10

When I first found out about Private Peaceful I was expecting a story of trench warfare and the bond of brotherhood; I did get that, but there is so much more to this story.Thomas Peaceful, Tommo to his family and friends, lived a quiet life in Iddesleigh, Devon with his widowed mother and two older brothers, Big Joe and Charlie. But things have changed since those times of contentment when being together wasn't a question hanging in the balance. He has joined up to fight in the Great War alongside his brother.
It's night, Five Past Ten (every chapter is given the time as a title), when we first meet Tommo and he's told himself not to fall asleep; he must remember his life, remember everything that has happened to him over the course of his nearly eighteen years because once it's dawn nothing will ever be the same again.

It is very well-written and worth a read - one part was so heart wrenching I nearly shed a tear and that is saying a lot from me - but I'd only recommend it to maturer readers as there are a few situations (albeit mostly hinted at) that may make some uncomfortable. There is also violence, as to be expected of a book written about war; language but it's rather sparse, and moments where the narrator questions God's existence (he wants to believe God exists but finds it difficult after everything he's gone through).

Is it a real story or historic fiction?

@Hans Georg: It's historical fiction.

On that note, I'm about halfway through another fiction novel set during the Great War. None other than All Quiet on the Western Front. It's a classic and some consider it to be the best war novel to exist - how this book has eluded me this long I'll never know. Since I'm not through with it I can't give a comprehensive review just yet, but for anyone who might want to look into it - it is heavy on the violence which can be described quite graphically.

Just started The Screwtape Letters. I'm only a couple pages into the preface, and oh my goodness I love it. So witty. This is the first "adult" Lewis book that I've read, so I'm expecting it to be engaging and fantastic.

Have fun, Shield! Screwtape is my favorite religious-themed book (besides the Bible, of course). I've read it so many times.

I'm rereading The Robe. It's been a couple of years, so I'm long overdue for another read. I had to tape the cover back on because it fell off. Now I can say I've literally read it to pieces! *assumes Edmund voice* First it was Narnia, and now it's you!!

So, All Quiet. I thought it was very good and I'd love to read the original German version because I feel that's the way it ought to be read, you know?
As for specifics on the novel itself, I thought the tone of the story added to the seriousness of it all, and I found the unemotional way the narrator communicated with the audience to be especially effective. Some might not like the cut and dry style, but it offers a layer of "reality" to the prose that might not be there if it were written in a more "romantic" way. The ending was appropriate and I couldn't think of any other way for the story to end without [insert serious spoilers here]. Note: This book is about people killing and being killed, often described graphically, so it isn't for delicate readers. Language is here but is not very prevalent. There are some "maturer" themes as well.

Noted. It came in at the library, but I don't know when I'll have a chance to read it.

Just finished Summerland by Michael Chabon. I really enjoyed it although I know very little of baseball, dirigibles, ferishers, Sasquatch, and Norse and Native America mythology.

I also just finished reading Wonder by T.J. Palacio with my daughter, who has special needs. What a delightful read! and it led to some great discussions about loneliness, disabilities, bullying, fitting in, friendship and change.

None other than All Quiet on the Western Front. It's a classic and some consider it to be the best war novel to exist - how this book has eluded me this long I'll never know.

I know why it eluded me. I am not a great fan of defeatism. I took a try at In Stahlgewittern by the other WW-I novelist, the one who was more praised by the Nazis - for not being a defeatist. But I found it somewhat monotonous.

On the side of anti-combattant literature, I could not get through Private Angelo by Erik Linklater either.

Sorry, Ernst Jünger was not a novelist, he made a diary.

For my own part, I finished two works of fantasy by a Frenchman. I don"t recommend it for children, though they are the reader group he wants. With teens.

Yvan Lallemand has a not only atheistic but also at times cynical world view, and a preoccupation with "hygiène mentale". Secretive organisations are not absent to secure it. Nor do they lack exotic extra empowerments of a cynical type.

projet alpha was more optimistic and less cynic than L'étrange monde de là-bas.

Both are very much conveying, in a way I found myself liking, a philosophy I detest. I suppose that was how CSL felt about Voyage to Arcturus (another one I failed to come through).

I've been reading the Percy Jackson books, and I think they're REALLY good. Rick Riordan is probably one of the best authors of our time...just a genius with words and characters. I just finished The Lost Hero.

Read "Private Peaceful" last night, all the way through.