Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Book Tag


So, I got tagged by Cora. It is a book tag...and well, the rules say it better than I do:
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Here are the rules:

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open to page 56.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next 2 to 5 sentences, along with these rules.
5. Don't dig for your favorite book, the cool book, or the intellectual book. Pick the CLOSEST!
6. Tag five other people to do the same.
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Whilst I was reaching for the nearest book to me, all of them fell out. Not ALL my books, just all of the ones under my side table. Just six. The one that fell out on top was the one I chose. Partly because it was on top, and partly to save you all from learning about
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1. Mao Tse Tung
2. Nikita Khrushchev
3. Postwar Europe
4. Digital Video for Dummies
5. Fighter Aircraft
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The one I chose happens to be a book I picked up at a yard sale last summer...I think I paid a quarter or fifty cents. I bought it because the title screams Cold War fears! When I got it, I brought it home, put it down, and promptly forgot about it.
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Then, as I was picking it up, I thought, "I wonder when it was published." I opened it up and there on the front page was a dedication. "To: My cousin, Fay with love and best wishes. Sylvian April 7, 1952." I thought, that's an odd name. (Sylvian, not Fay. Fay's actually a pretty normal name...hmmm, Cora, what do you think of Fay? And maybe I should address Kim, Diana, and Grandma here, too.) Then I looked at the cover and there it was. The author's name was Sylvian G. Kindall. Sylvian has to be an uncommon name. I have an AUTOGRPHED BOOK! I did not even know it. I have a few books that have the autograph of the author, but none nearly so old.

I decided to look it up on Amazon...One was going for $40! I wonder what an autographed copy might fetch...yeah, probably not much. As Cora would say, "It's still a stupid old book."

The title is Total Atomic Defense, by Sylvian G. Kindall. Copyright 1952.
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So, The author uses very long sentences and a very big font size. I doubt there are more than seven sentences on the page, so I will simple give you the first full paragraph, which is two sentences.
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"The quickest means any modern belligerent has for cutting the enemy's supply lines of weapons and ammunition are by bombing raids carried deep into his territoy, wrecking the factories that produce these materials, killing and harassing the factory workers. In similar manner his supply lines of food can be slowed to a trickle if crops in his homeland can be destroyed by incendiary raids, canneries and packing plants wrecked by bombing, and facilities for transportation put out of order."

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Page 56:


(Warning, Histoy Talk Ahead)
It seems to me the author thought an atomic attack would be a VERY bad thing. I believe just those things he spoke of in that paragraph would have been VERY difficult for ANY enemy to do during the Cold War. He was obviously giving the Soviets more credit than they were due. At that early stage they did not really have a long range bomber capable of doing anything in American air space, except for on a suicide mission, and definitely not on a large enough scale to affect more than a miniscule fraction of the total American production. But, then, hindsight is 20/20...
(History Talk Over, aren't you proud of me? I kept it short!)
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So, now I have to tag someone...shit, I got no one...except:
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Kim at Journey to Isabella (Hopefully I beat Diana AND you have a BOOK)
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Eric at Ego-Maniacal (hopefully he doesn't have anything too technical...like a "HOW TO PUT A 'PIECE OF CRAP' RADIO IN 'PIECE OF CRAP' TRUCK." manual )


And...I don't have anyone else that has time to do this.
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I do have an ORIGINAL, AUTOGRAPHED book for sale though. I will carry out a secret auction. Please forwad a sealed envelope to me with your offer, and on January 29th, 2009, I will open the envelopes and the highest bidder will be able to buy the book. Good luck!

1 comment:

Lorrene said...

He probably writes big because he has not had the cadalacs(sic) taken off of his eyes yet. My stillwater book is autographed by the author, but not as long ago as yours. Mine was done for Mr Lemaster in 1963. That would be great Grandpa to you and Cora.