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- Jul 18, 2016
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just started reading 'The 37th Parallel' by Ben Mezrich.
I'm about a quarter of the way into it.
But it is such a frustrating read.
Lots of space filler waffle. stuff you don't need to know and that doesn't help the narrative.
But more annoying is when you come across factual errors.
The scene. A pilot, radar operator and intelligence officer are flying a sortie in 1944.
The intelligence officer spots some odd lights.
Pilot asks him 'where' ?
IO says 'starboard, closing fast'.
'Pilot swings his eyes to the left'.
No, starboard is the right hand side, not the left. That is port.
And the writer makes exactly the same mistake a few paragraphs later.
Then there is a point where the narrator tells of the investigator driving along at night when the power of his jeep cuts out. No electric. Dead.
Shortly later , lights etc come back on ..
...The engine growled to life...
How ? The motor is stopped; stationary. To get it to turn you need to operate the key.
Just having the power return will not energise the starter motor.
These sort of things are really annoying.
I hope the rest of the book improves.
INT21.
I'm about a quarter of the way into it.
But it is such a frustrating read.
Lots of space filler waffle. stuff you don't need to know and that doesn't help the narrative.
But more annoying is when you come across factual errors.
The scene. A pilot, radar operator and intelligence officer are flying a sortie in 1944.
The intelligence officer spots some odd lights.
Pilot asks him 'where' ?
IO says 'starboard, closing fast'.
'Pilot swings his eyes to the left'.
No, starboard is the right hand side, not the left. That is port.
And the writer makes exactly the same mistake a few paragraphs later.
Then there is a point where the narrator tells of the investigator driving along at night when the power of his jeep cuts out. No electric. Dead.
Shortly later , lights etc come back on ..
...The engine growled to life...
How ? The motor is stopped; stationary. To get it to turn you need to operate the key.
Just having the power return will not energise the starter motor.
These sort of things are really annoying.
I hope the rest of the book improves.
INT21.