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Showing posts from September, 2009

Cannonball Read #55: The Sinking of the Lancastria: The Twentieth Century's Deadliest Naval Disaster and Churchill's Plot to Make It Disappear

Written by: Jonathan Fenby

In 1940, the British troops were forced to flee from France upon the surrender of the French government. Many of the fighting troops had already been famously evacuated at Dunkirk, however there were thousands still left throughout France--communications officers, mechanics, engineers, supply depot managers, and other support troops--who needed to be moved back to England as quickly as possible. The British used whatever ships were available, including commandeered luxury liners like the Lancastria. On June 17th, 1940 thousands of soldiers, sailors, medical personnel, and civilians aboard the Lancastria were killed when the German airforce attacked and sank the ship. Although the official death toll was listed as approximately 3500, unofficial totals put the number killed at up to 6000, making the sinking of the Lancastria one of the worst naval disasters in history. However, it is virtually unknown because at the time, Winston Churchill decided not to releas…

Cannonball Read #54: The Wreck of the William Brown: A True Tale of Overcrowded Lifeboats and Murder at Sea by Tom Koch

In 1841, the packet ship William Brown, carrying a load of immigrants to the new world, hit an iceberg and sank--mere miles from where the Titanic would sink 71 years later--drowning hundreds and leaving the rest in a death-struggle on the lifeboats. The shocking part is that not a single member of the William Brown's crew perished, and in fact they tossed 14 passengers out of the lifeboats to their deaths for fear of "overcrowding," only to be rescued a day later. The book details both the history of the packet trade, the circumstances that led to the wreck, the wreck itself, and more interestingly, the scramble afterwards by the British and American governments to find a scapegoat to blame who would keep focus off the mutually profitable Irish emigration trade.

The machinations of both governments are nearly as appalling as the actions of the crew members who, in darkness, heaved defenseless passengers out of the lifeboats into the freezing waters of the Atlantic. It…




Cannonball Read #52: The Drawing of the Three (Dark Tower 2) by Stephen King

This second book in Stephen King's Dark Tower series suffers very seriously from clearly being a book in a series. The book feels very unfinished, which rankled me--much as it did with the Green Mile series, which I had to give up on and wait until the finished product was released as one book.

The plot continues the story of Roland the Gunslinger, fighting through a post-apocalyptic wasteland trying to reach "The Dark Tower". In this part, he slips through doorways into other worlds, where he recruits (willingly or not) three compatriots to share his journey. I really liked Eddie Dean, a heroin addict from 1980s New York City. His character is interesting and entertaining, as well as providing an excellent contrast to Roland. The other two new characters are not as successful, though they definitely add something new to the story.

Stephen King's writing style is--as always--very enjoyable to me, though I know there are people who find him overly verbose. If you don&…

"You wanted a monster? Well, you've got one.": Death Race

Warning: Death Race is NOT a good movie.

If you are looking for quality cinema rife with complex cinematography, a gripping plot, extensive character development, or any sort of "overall message," just pick up your copy of Citizen Kane or something and get the hell out of here.

Then again, if you are looking for a balls-to-the-wall, totally nonsensical, loud, flashy, explody, poorly scripted way to entertain yourself on a long, dull, afternoon while stuffing yourself with cheezy may want to check this out.

Jason Statham plays Jensen Ames, a former race car driver who finds himself at Terminal Island penitentiary. In the film, Terminal Island is famous for the "Death Race," a web-broadcast competition where prisoners compete in a vehicular battle to the death in order to win the chance for freedom. Jensen has to navigate life in the prison, preparing for the race with his new friends (including Coach, his mentor, played by Ian McShane) while avoiding both h…