One Day - David Nicholls

I am a fan of love stories and "happy ever after" romances - but truth spoken, when I reach the end of reading one of these novels they usually leave me with the feeling that something has been missing, like the end just wasnt right. Yet it wasnt so with this novel and the reason for this is because it is a very real story -a story that you catch yourself thinking while you are in the middle of a page "this could definitely be me" or "I could see this happening to me". 
As always, David Nicholls knows how to create the most amazing characters ever. He somehow makes it possible for you to create a relationship with the two leading characters of the book that it seems that you are having a twenty year threesome with both Emma Morley and Dexter Mayhew. They are both very honest and true to life and I guess that is the secret in which makes this an 100% great book to read. 


Wikipedia on "One Day":


One Day is a novel by David Nicholls, published in 2009. Each chapter covers the lives of two protagonists on 15 July, St. Swithin's Day, for twenty years. The novel attracted generally positive reviews, and was named 2010 Galaxy Book of the Year.^[1] Nicholls has adapted his book into a screenplay; the feature film of the same name was released in August 2011.

Plot

Dexter and Emma spend the night together following their graduation from Edinburgh University in 1988. They talk about how they will be once they are 40. While they do not become romantically involved completely, this is the beginning of their friendship. The novel visits their lives and their relationship on July 15 in successive years in each chapter for 20 years. Emma wants to improve the world and begins writing and performing plays, which remain unsuccessful, while Dexter travels through the world, drinking and hooking up with women. Eventually both move to London where Emma becomes a waitress in Kentish Town at a Tex-Mex restaurant, while Dexter becomes a successful television presenter.

While there are various attempts from both sides to start a relationship, coincidences stop Emma and Dexter from getting together and while they have relationships with other people, they stay best friends, both secretly longing for the other. They are drawn together closer through a holiday together and the death of Dexter's mother.

Ian, Emma's boyfriend breaks up with her after he realizes that she is in love with Dexter and not with him. During this time Emma is able to find a job as a teacher, after various years of struggle, despite a "double-first degree". Dexter meanwhile develops a drinking and drug problem and watches his career collapse. The friendship between Emma and Dexter grows more and more difficult, after Emma is constantly hurt by Dexter who attempts to hide his feelings for her from both her and himself. After being treated rudely by Dexter at a restaurant, Emma breaks up the friendship.

At the wedding of Emma's former roommate, Emma and Dexter meet again. Emma admits that she wants Dexter back. At this point of time she has just ended an affair with her headmaster, Dexter has fallen in love with another woman, Sylvie, who is pregnant. At this reunion, he invites Emma to his wedding, who is disappointed by the situation.

Emma eventually overcomes her problems and publishes a book, while Dexter is unemployed and overwhelmed by his role as a father. After realizing this, he and Emma for the first time have sex. They do not get together and Emma leaves to go to Paris to write her second novel. When Dexter visits her in Paris, he learns that she met someone and likes him and for the first time admits his feelings to her. After talking about their relationship, Emma chooses Dexter.

Emma and Dexter get married and are happy together, however Emma wants a child. The couple finds themselves frustrated by the failing attempts to have a child. Dexter however is able to open a deli-cafe and finds himself suddenly successful again. On the anniversary of the day they met after graduation and the day they got together, Emma and Dexter have an appointment to see a house. While travelling there, Emma has a bike accident and dies. After her death, Dexter finds himself in despair. He starts to drink again and provokes people in bars in order to get beaten. He is comforted through his ex-wife Sylvie, his father and his daughter. The upcoming year he travels together with his daughter to Edinburgh where he and Emma met and they climb the same mountain together that Emma and Dexter climbed 19 years ago.

The book ends with a memory of what happened after that first night together in 1988 and Emma's and Dexter's first kiss and promise to stay in touch and their goodbye.

[edit]Major themes

Writing in The Times, John O'Connell writes, "For, in spite of its comic gloss, One Day is really about loneliness and the casual savagery of fate; the tragic gap between youthful aspiration and the compromises that we end up tolerating. Not for nothing has Nicholls said that it was inspired by Thomas Hardy."^[2] A critic in thelondonpaper observes that One Day"may be a love story, but it’s no fairytale: Nicholls doesn’t shy from the dark side of growing up, the disillusionment, regrets and random cruelty of life.".^[3] According to Jonathan Coe (Guardian Books of the Year 2009), "It's rare to find a novel which ranges over the recent past with such authority, and even rarer to find one in which the two leading characters are drawn with such solidity, such painful fidelity, to real life."

[edit]Reception

The novel attracted mainly positive reviews. Writing in The Guardian, Harry Ritchie called it "a very persuasive and endearing account of a close friendship - the delight Emma and Dexter take in one another, the flirting and the banter that sometimes hide resentment and sometimes yearning, the way the relationship shifts and evolves as the years pass."^[4] Ritchie comments, "Just as Nicholls has made full use of his central concept, so he has drawn on all his comic and literary gifts to produce a novel that is not only roaringly funny but also memorable, moving and, in its own unassuming, unpretentious way, rather profound."^[4] This story is reminiscent of Same Time Next Year.

Elizabeth Day of The Observer also praises the novel, although criticising "its structural flaws", since "some of the most important events in their life are never recounted." Despite this, she concludes by commenting "there is no doubt that One Day is a beguiling read. But although I really liked it, I wanted desperately to love it because Nicholls is, I think, a far better writer than this format allows him to be."^[5]

The Times deflected comparisons to When Harry Met Sally..., "saccharine" assumptions, and expectations that the "more literary" will snobbishly gratify themselves that they never read "'commercial' romantic comedies with cartoons and squiggly writing on the cover. Well, be convinced: One Day is a wonderful, wonderful book: wise, funny, perceptive, compassionate and often unbearably sad. It's also, with its subtly political focus on changing habits and mores, the best British social novel since Jonathan Coe's What a Carve Up."^[2]

Author Nick Hornby also praised the book on his blog, calling it "A big, absorbing, smart, fantastically readable on-off love story." His blurb is used in some editions of the book, such as the U.S. paperback edition.^[6]

In 2010, the novel was named Popular Fiction Book of the Year at the UK's annual Galaxy National Book Awards ceremony, and was later granted the accolade of Galaxy Book of the Year.^[1]

"Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea"

If you ever want to laugh until you feel urine running down your legs, tears rolling down your face, and your tummy muscles contracting harder than when you have ever been to the gym - well, then you have just GOT to read this book. It is a gathering of short stories in different stages of the author's life from since she is a young child, a maturing young adolescent and finally a young - and crazy - woman! You start the book by reading her first story “Blacklisted” where she becomes the newest popular girl in school by inventing a whole set of lies each day to back up the very first one she told. From there on the book just gets better and better – her accounts on driving and getting pulled over and then stuck in jail is just too hilarious to be true, the story of her Persian boyfriend letting a dog lick his private parts on a daily basis is gross but the way she recounts it makes it impossible for you to stop laughing. If that wasn’t enough she still goes on to the story of having sex with a red headed guy and his red pubic hairs – ugggg!!!

Chelsea makes you laugh just by recounting simple, every day, simple stories of her daily routine. I love her wit and lack of fear in using the most honest vocabulary and words ever known to humankind. I would call this the perfect book for you to tuck away on some frilly, folly vacations where all you want is something to keep you lightheaded and happy-hearted and constantly laughing!!!  

Wikipedia on "Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea":

Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea is a 2008 best-selling book by Chelsea Handler that was released on April 22, 2008, by Simon Spotlight Entertainment, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. The book is a collection of humorous and mostly autobiographical essays about her life. Handler has stated in an interview with Barnes & Noble, that she waited to write a book with such stories with no concrete theme and wrote My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One-Night Stands with the theme of one-night stands to get her enough popularity for this sort of book to do well. The title is satirically modeled after the Judy Blume novel Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.^[1] As of 2008, with the release of Vodka, sales of her first book have since rocketed; the two titles have sold a combined 1.7 million copies, according to Nielsen BookScan and have both topped several best seller lists.^[2][3]

In 2011, a television pilot for NBC loosely based on the book was announced, starring Laura Prepon as Chelsea.^[4] It was picked up as aseries for the 2011-12 television season, with its title eventually shortened to "Are You There, Chelsea?".^[5]

Blacklisted

In order to impress a fifth grade boy and to gain the respect of the girls at her school, Chelsea concocts a tall tale in which she is co-starring in a movie with Goldie Hawn. The lie quickly gets blown out of proportion, and things get even more complicated when Chelsea's father forces her to reveal the truth.

Chelsea in Charge

During her summer vacation on Martha's Vineyard, Chelsea pretends to be older than she is so that parents would allow her to babysit for money. After a few attempts, she gains renown as a babysitter, and the calls come pouring in. One of her calls, however is to look after a fourteen-year-old (even though Chelsea is really only twelve) and his "72-month-old" brother. She accepts, and chaos ensues.

Prison Break

Chelsea gets pulled over after drinking and driving, and is arrested and sent to the Sybil Brand Institute.

Bladder Stones

Chelsea returns home to find her father having urinary issues, conning people via his used car company and Chelsea's books.

Big Red

Chelsea somehow finds herself falling for a red head, even though she doesn't exactly have an affinity for men of that hair color.

Dining in the Dark

Chelsea is asked to go to London for the UK release of her book, and she decides to bring her recently single and unemployed friend along. Her friend makes reservations for the both of them at a restaurant where you dine completely in the dark, and when they arrive, they realize they've gotten more than they bargained for. After an unpleasant experience at the restaurant, they duck out to a nearby pub, where they meet what they assume to be a former rock star.

Dim Sum and Then Some

Chelsea and a friend retreat to a sketchy part of town in hopes of finding a massage place with openings. They come across a small shack operated by an Asian woman, and Chelsea assumes that it's a whorehouse. After a few minutes of a less than satisfactory massage, Chelsea complains, and trouble ensues.

Barking Up the Wrong Tree

Chelsea and her Persian boyfriend get stuck dog sitting for their friends. After they have sex on their friends' bed, her boyfriend lies naked watching TV and one of the friends' dogs comes up and begins licking his penis. Chelsea becomes very uneasy about it. They go to a party later and her Persian boyfriend holds that same dog in his arms the entire time. Later, they go to eat at his parent's home and Chelsea can't get over the fact that his mother is rude and looks like a man. They break up and he is understandably upset calling her spoiled among other things. She later sees him with the same type of dog that licked his penis and a new girlfriend, and alludes to the penis licking incident and leaves happily.

Re-Gift

Chelsea finds herself stuck going to the birthday party of someone she barely knows, and has no choice but to re-gift a used, but hardly played, board game. She also finds herself bartending at the dinner because the restaurant lacks one of her requirements: a full bar.

Jumped

Chelsea decides she needs to lose weight before her birthday and signs up for a private kickboxing class. After losing enough weight to be proud, she decides to treat herself and pigs out on a mountain of junk food from Starbucks. After eating it all at her apartment, and taking out her energy with cleaning, Chelsea falls asleep and wakes up exhausted. Her friend calls and yells at her for not picking her up at the airport and Chelsea leaves to get her. On the way, she nearly drives into a group of fourteen-year-old girls, one of whom calls her a cunt. She gets out to yell at them for calling her this and they attack her.

Mini Me

Chelsea meets a little person who looks and acts a lot like her and they become instant friends. Soon she learns that her friend needs her help.

Costa Rica

Chelsea gets dragged into going on vacation in Costa Rica with her father. The entire time she keeps emailing her brothers and sisters to get them to come and help her.

The Whole Truth - David Baldacci

I read this book in two days. It is what I call a “Non-stop book” - a book that once you pick it up you have to read non-stop. There is just no way you can`t do so. The story is intriguing, the plot exciting, the plan keeps you on your toes and the writer knows how to keep the reader going - and not want to stop as well! 

The whole context of the story is very different from what you get in a normal novel and the plot was well thought out and unique which I am sure is one of the reasons the author sold so many copies of the book making his book (and him as well) into a great success.

Go for it and get a copy yourself!

Book Review:

Dick Pender, a former employee in the White House press office, is an expert in perception management.  His motto is: "Why waste time trying to discover the truth, when you can so easily create it?"  In David Baldacci's The Whole Truth, some very influential people pay Pender big bucks to bury inconvenient secrets and manipulate public opinion, using cleverly crafted lies packaged for maximum media impact.   Pender's most important client is Machiavellian billionaire Nicholas Creel, the head of the world's largest defense conglomerate, Ares Corporation.  Although Creel has had a series of trophy wives and owns a four-hundred foot yacht, he is less interested in acquiring more wealth than he is in pitting the great superpowers against one another.  This would generate a huge arms race and, theoretically, create a stand-off that would prevent any one superpower from subjugating the others. For Creel, "a peace based on lurking terror was the best kind of all."

Baldacci's hero is Shaw, a globe-trotting troubleshooter for a shadowy international law-enforcement organization, "sort of like Interpol on steroids."  He is a strong and physically imposing man whose knowledge of surveillance, hand-to-hand combat, and weaponry makes him an extremely valuable asset.  His acting ability, uncanny intuition, courage, and coolness under pressure have helped him prevail in a number of dangerous situations.  On any given day, Shaw's quarry might include ruthless drug dealers, bloodthirsty terrorists, or vicious neo-Nazis, none of whom would be pleased to discover that he has deceived them.  Although Shaw dreams of retiring and living a sedate life with his beautiful and brilliant girlfriend, German-born Anna Fischer, his boss has him in a stranglehold from which he cannot easily break free.

The female heroine is award-winning investigative reporter Katie James.  As a result of a traumatic experience in Afghanistan, she became an alcoholic who has been relegated to writing obits, the graveyard of journalism.  Through happenstance, Katie meets Shaw, and both narrowly escape with their lives during a run-in with some murderous thugs in Scotland.  When an unexpected tragedy sends an enraged Shaw on a mission of revenge, Katie decides to risk her life in order to help him and, in the process, pursue the biggest story of her career.

The Whole Truth is marred by cliché-ridden dialogue and cartoonish villains who utter such lines as:  "I didn't bring you here for a lecture.  I brought you here to die."  The story is overly complicated and melodramatic, and the author repeatedly hammers home his heavy-handed message that unscrupulous individuals and governments intentionally mislead us by disseminating false information.  Baldacci does generate a fair amount of suspense, but his pedestrian writing, preposterous plot, and one-dimensional characters may limit the book's appeal to adrenaline junkies and fans of escapist thrillers.

Why Men Love Bitches - Sherry Argov

"Why Men Love Bitches" - as much as people like despising, critiscizing and making off remarks when it comes to these kinds of books for once I will disagree. Sherry Argov's book is very very good. The only thing is that in my opinion all women should already know this and not have to read this in a book, but I know that isnt so. Another good thing about this book is that it is very enlightening and it repeats over and over main points so there is just no way for you to forget the book's content or not get its point. Like I said, most things above I already knew and most everything was not a big surprise, but still, it was a great reminder and some things that I wasnt so sure about or was starting to wonder or waver were totally put back in context after reading this book.
I know a LOT of women that need to read this book - not once, not twice - but many times over. Study, even memorize it of so good it is. The truths written inside of it show what we women are doing completely wrong when it comes to not only getting a man in our lives but keeping him in there as well - and I guess that over there is already a big problem...the fact that we feel like we must have one in our lives no matter what the cost; yet once we realize that they are not indespensible and that if it happens it happens then that is when things do happen. And if they don't...well you can be sure that wondering and bemoaning like a mad woman wouldnt do any difference as well.
There is one paragraph in which Sherry Argov defines the term "Bitch":
Bitch (noun)- A woman who won’t bang her head against the wall obsessing over someone else’s opinion–be it a man or anyone else in her life. She understands that if someone does not approve of her, it’s just one person’s opinion; therefore, it’s of no real importance. She doesn’t try to live up to anyone else’s standards- only her own. Because of this she relates to man very differently.

Altogether it is a summary of principles to follow and apply in your life so that you can get the most of not only relationships but your life as a whole as well. Repeating what I have already repeated above: most of the women do know the points already. It’s just that they don’t apply it the right way.

Book Review:
Why Men Love Bitches" is a self help dating book written by an author named Sherry Argov. For those of you who haven't heard of this book, it basically gives advice to women about what they should and shouldn't do when they start dating a guy, and even what they should and shouldn't do while in the relationship. She uses the term "bitch" sarcastically, as she is not referring to a woman who is mean, but a woman who doesn't give up for her life for a man.

The rules are simple that most of us know, but sometimes forget when we get caught up in a new love interest. They range from the basic dating concept of "don't sit by phone waiting for him to call" to the more advanced relationship concept of "don't give up your social life to be with him 24/7".
Basically what I took out of it is this: anything you chase in life runs away. You can keep a man interested if he feels like he never completely has you. It doesn't mean playing a game of hard to get all the time, but more so that you shouldn't make a man the center of your universe. Don't give up plans or doing things you like to be with him. Keep your life exactly as it was before, only add him to it. Don't stop going to the gym or start seeing your friends less, because then the guy will lose respect for you thinking your giving up things to be with him. See him when it's convenient for you. Don't be needy and clingy because then you become more a burden than a reward. Be confident in yourself and your good qualities and know that any guy would be lucky to have you and should treat you that way. If someone doesn't treat you well, then find someone who does. It's as simple as that.


Source: http://www.shvoong.com/books/1742512-men-love-bitches/#ixzz1m88Dihc0

The Best Woman's Travel Writing 2010

This book was sent to me by a friend who knows my passion and dream of traveling. He is a traveler himself. And so I began to read the book. In the beginning it didn't really appeal to me, but as I continued reading the different stories of such brave, funny, insightful, adventurous and crazy women I started to relate and like more and more this book so full of variety. 
This book is made up of many short stories written only by women who describe and share their traveling experiences. Some of them are boring, others queer, others absurdly hilarious (those are my favorites), yet others totally out of context (like the story of a woman who went to mold her own vagina and took her fiancee to "partake of the experience" as well!) and yet others of very brave and wild women who went out to the wilderness full of gut and spirit trying out new adventures in places that many men wouldn't even dare think of stepping foot on.
It is a good book for those who like to read, a great book for those interested in different places and cultures and a fantastic book for those whose life is all about traveling!!! 


BOOK REVIEW:

Since the publication of A Woman's World in 1995, Travelers' Tales has been publishing award-winning books by and for women. We continue this tradition with The Best Women's Travel Writing 2010, the sixth collection in our annual series guaranteed to inspire women to take their first trip—or to continue exploring the world with wit, soul, and verve, as so many adventurous women do each and every day.

This best-selling, award-winning series presents the finest accounts of women who have traveled to the ends of the earth to discover new places, peoples — and themselves. The common threads connecting the stories are a woman's perspective and lively storytelling to make the reader laugh, cry, wish she were there, or be glad she wasn't. From climbing a volcano in Ecuador to running a kennel for pariah dogs in India to helping prepare meals in Iran, the points of view and perspectives are global and the themes eclectic, including stories that encompass spiritual growth, hilarity and misadventure, high adventure, romance, solo journeys, stories of service to humanity, family travel, and encounters with exotic cuisine.

In The Best Women's Travel Writing 2010:

• A search for the perfect wave in New Zealand provides a lesson in love
• Curiosity leads to an understanding of political activism and human rights in Burma
• A childless American is adopted by a six-year-old and becomes part of the family in Italy
• Cultural understanding deepens in surprising ways through language lessons in
  Vietnam
• On a fact-finding mission in Afghanistan, a retired professor learns that peace is
  everything
• A day on a nude beach in the Netherlands gives a self-described "prude" a new appreciation of body types, and comfort with her own
...and much more.

O Preço de Uma Lição

Not really my kind of book. Too much of a puberty, perfect love story with little food for thought and a writer who writes about himself as if he knew all about love and as if he was the know-it-all as well. 
Ok, but the good side of this book is that it also showed (for those who dont already know this) that a supposedly "hopper" or "guy that breaks girls hearts" etc, etc. can also be a perfect, wonderful and kind boyfriend - all that is missing is for him to find the girl that he likes so much, but so much that he will become all that for her. 
Thinking well now and also doing somewhat of a parallel... I see this happen the whole time with my students. I know my student is a womanizer, someone who is always making girls feel bad and "playing with their hearts" (well who said to give it up so easy to the first guy that shows up around the corner anyways, right?!) and yet once he finds "THE GIRL" - which believe it or not is always some young, naive, sweet, virgin and innocent girl - then they change totally and completely and become the best boyfriend ever just to make this young little one melt and smile with those adoring eyes towards them. Funny no?
Anyways, the this book is basically a guy that writes down his day to day life (I woke up, went to the bathroom, went to work, had lunch, came back home. etc. etc... you know how it goes!) and his first "relationships" (if you could even call it that!) and then finally on how he comes to meet this gorgeous girl called Juliana that is quite much younger than him and who he starts dating. It is always pretty much the same the whole book - never anything much different - but in the end he somehow looses her (okay, he looses her because he is quite stupid himself!) and then goes on to run after her and as the story says the main purpose that he wrote this book was to be able to get his love back. And that is how this book came out to be. 


Book Review:
Os meninos são, sim, capazes de amar.
”Tem um ditado que diz que o amor é cego. É justamente o contrário.
Quando você ama de verdade, é capaz de ver coisas que ninguém consegue. Falam que você não consegue enxergar os defeitos, pura mentira também! Você vê, estão todos lá. Mas vê também algo que só você pode, como lidar com eles e contorná-los. Então, o amor não é cego, ele é a maior lente de aumento que já inventaram.”
Como acontece esta coisa chamada amor? Nasce junto com a gente, mas não depende só de nós. A gente sofre e faz sofrer, ama e é amado. E com isso aprende muita coisa. Lições que trazem consequências, problemas e soluções.
O preço desse aprendizado transforma o garoto em um homem. Esta narrativa, cheia de incidentes, mostra que – ao contrário do que dizem algumas garotas – os meninos são, sim, capazes de amar.
Quais as transformações que o amor pode provocar na gente? O que ele ensina? Qual o seu preço? Acompanhe a jornada de um jovem, transformado pelo amor, à procura dessas 

Lone Survivor - Marcus Lutrell

One of the main reasons I enjoyed this book is because it was a subject I have never read about before and I was able to garner a lot of new info like army training, wars, the war zone in Afghanistan, the mujaheddin, Taliban, etc. 

I don't a agree with a lot of stuff that the author mentions in his book - always making the Americans the heroes and all the Afghans the villains and terrorists and like as if killing them would be the big solution to everything. He uses the excuse that because it was the Afghans that blew up the twin towers then every single Afghan deserves to burn. In my opinion it is too much generalization when the truth is that you are talking about human beings - each and every single one of them different than the other - and the fact that Marcus Lutrell is just sooo against any and all Afghans when I am sure a lot of them - actually most of them - had nothing to do with anything and were put in the middle of it all without any choice but to either join the Taliban (which i am also totally against) or to go to the Americans side...and them being born there it is only fair to understand when they go fight on the side that originated in their won country. I personally  dont see Marcus as a hero as he puts himself out to be and thats what I dont like about the book - the way it portrays that the Americans are always the good ones and the right ones and the ones saving the planet  - which is a distorted and wrong way of seeing things because all war is wrong. There is just no in between. It just doesn't go with me.

Nevertheless I still like Marcus Lutrell and consider him a good writer. What I do agree with him on is his do-or-die spirit and how he fights with a cause - even though I know it is the wrong cause. But that doesn't take away that the story is still a great story, and Marcus was a good soldier that has his values like sticking it out no matter what, team spirit and at least in his own mind he is fighting for what he has always heard and known to be true and good. So I guess that is what makes it a good book despite being controversial to many many things written in it. 

The friend who recommended me to read this book later on commented the following - and I totally back him up on it: "The book is good to read for perspective, which is so important in life. There are many guys like Marcus in the military. Their world is the whole world and nothing else. They are right and the rest are wrong. But knowing this perspective is important when your journey is through something as small as the world."

So all in all, despite being contrary and against MANY things that are on this book I still consider it a great and even pretty moving book. I do wish Marcus would help more the wonderful tribe that took him in and gave him "Lockhai" (maybe he did but just never mentioned about it in the book) as they were in my opinion the best part of the whole story and the determining factor that made the book turn out what it turned to be - that and also when Marcus decides not to kill the goat herders. It was so touching to see how they had no need or responsibility to defend them and risk their own lives to save him when he was a man that was fighting against their country and killing their own people and yet they were still righteous and compassionate to put the whole tribe's life on the line to save his life. That is the part of the story which shows you the greatest power anyone can ever have - the power of putting one's life before your own. That is what made this book beautiful. 

BOOK REVIEW:

About the Author

Marcus Luttrell was born in Huntsville, Texas in 1975. He has a twin brother named Morgan. Luttrell is a former Navy SEAL. Luttrell began his training for the Navy SEALs when he was only fourteen years old. There was an old US Army Special Forces soldier that lived in Luttrell's town. T his man's name is Billy Shelton. Even though Billy Shelton was a small man, no one looked down to him. To Marcus Billy Shelton appeared to be seven feet tall. After high school Luttrell attended Sam Houston State University. As soon as he was out of college he went to join the Navy. After basic Navy training he went to Coronado, California to join the SEALs. He has not written any other books. He also plans on becoming a doctor now that he is out of the Navy. His book is also being turned into a movie.

Setting

Lone Survivor take place mostly in Afaganistan. Mainly the Hindu Kush Mountain Range. Other parts of this book take place in Coronado, California and at Marcus' home in Texas. The book takes place mostly in the year 2005. Some other parts of the book happen in 2001 and before. Most of the action occurs in 2005.

People Involved in Lone Survivor

Marcus Luttrell- Author and the only survivor of the fated Operation Redwing. Recipient of the Purple Heart and Navy Cross.
Lt. Micheal Murphy- Leading officer of the team that Luttrell was a part of. Marcus' best friend. He was awarded the Purple Heart and the Medal of Honor. Lt. Murphy was the first person in the Navy to receive the Medal of Honor since the Vietnam War. Died June 28, 2005.
Petty Officer Matthew "Axe" Axelson- Another man in the four man team of Operation Redwing. Axelson was awarded the Navy Cross and the Purple Heart. Matthew Axelson was the husband of Cindy Axelson. He died June 28, 2005.
Petty Officer Danny Dietz- The final member of the four man team of Operation Redwing. Danny was an extremely tough man. He was awarded the Purple Heart and the Navy Cross. He died June 28, 2005.
Lieutenant Commander Erik Kristensen- Died in the Hindu Kush mountains trying to rescue Marcus. Kristensen was the commanding officer of SEAL team 10. He was awarded the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star.
Chief Petty Officer Dan Healy- Died in the Hindu Kush mountains trying to rescue Marcus. He was awarded the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star.
Petty Officer Shane Patton- Very laid back SEAL. He was originally a part of Operation Redwing and was switched with Danny Dietz at the last minute. He also died trying to rescue Marcus. He was awarded the Purple Heart an the Bronze Star.
Petty Officer James Suh- was also killed in the helicopter that was sent to rescue Marcus. He was also awarded the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart.
Sarawa- A Pashtun doctor who discovered Marcus and helped heal his injuries.
Gulab- A Pashtun man that was well respected in the village of Sabray where Marcus was hidden. He helped to protect Marcus from the Taliban.

SEAL Training

The US Navy SEALs having a training system unlike any other fighting force in the military. They endure months of arduous labor just for the right to wear the SEAL Trident. The Navy SEALs get hundreds of applicants, but only a few acutally graduate. Their training starts of with a session called Indoc. This is when the pretenders are weeded out. As stated in Luttrell's book and in official US Navy literature the purpose for Indoc is, "To physically, mentally, and environmentally prepare qualified SEAL candidates to begin BUD/S training." During Indoc SEAL hopefuls have the idea of teamwork placed into every aspect of their lives. After the men go through Indoc they then move to BUD/S training. BUD/S stands for Basic Underwater Demolitions/ SEAL training. During this training if one of the men was to mess up they were told by their instructor to, "get wet and sandy." The man at fault would then run into the freezing cold water, lay down in it, and then roll around in the sand. Then they would have to continue training that way. At the end of BUD/S phase one the SEAL hopefuls have to go through the infamous "Hell Week". At the end of this week the men a physically exhausted. The men who make it through "Hell Week" are then secured as SEALs. After phase one the SEALs go through their training that will help them in the battlefield. Once this training is done they are full fledged SEALs.

Operation Redwing

This book centers on Operation Redwing in the war in Afghanistan. As previously explained a good portion of the book takes place in SEAL training. Operation Redwing was a plan by the Navy SEALs to eliminate a high ranking Taliban official. In the book he was referred to as Ben Sharmak, but he is really Mohamad Ismail. Operation Redwing was continually called off because Sharmak was always on the move. One day He finally stopped moving. The SEALs knew where he was. It was their time to strike. The four man SEAL team consisting of Danny Dietz, Matthew Axelson, Mike Murphy, and Marcus Luttrell was inserted into the Hindu Kush mountains by an MH-47 helicopter. The guys of SEAL team 10 had a weird feeling about this mission. They all thought that it was because of the terrain. Due to this apprehension all the men brought extra ammunition with them. Matthew Axelson and Marcus Luttrell were the snipers for this mission. Danny and and Mikey were the spotters. It took the team a long time to find a good place to make the shot on Sharmak in the nearby village. When they finally found their spot three Afghan goat herders walked up right behind them. The SEAL squad quickly subdued them and had them sit on a nearby log. They then discussed the goat herders' fate. They has two choices, one to execute them on the spot, or they could let them live. There were problems with both. If they killed them they could be tried for murder back in the US, and if they let them live the goatherders could give their position away to the Taliban. It was up to Marcus, and he let them live. These goat herders did tell the Taliban where the SEALs were. Soon they were fighting for their lives. The Taliban had the high ground, and they were trying to circle around the SEALs. Lt. Murphy realized this and decided that the only way to win this fight was to get down the mountain and onto flat ground. Them men retreated down the mountain. The gradient was so steep that each time they retreated they fell down the mountain. During the first fall Marcus lost all his medical gear and his rifle sling along with he helmet and many other things. Even though he had no way to hold onto his rifle during the falls his rifle always landed right next to him. Marcus saw this as an act of God. The squad's radio was also broken. This made calling for re-enforcements nearly impossible. The men of SEAL team 10 had been shot many times. Lt. Murphy was shot in the stomach in the beginning of the battle. Danny also took several hits in the back. Axe was hit many times as well. Even though they were battered the men kept fighting. After Danny could no longer stand from being shot so many times Marcus ran over to him to try and drag him to cover. As he did this Danny kept shooting. While Marcus was dragging Danny, Danny was shot one last time in the head. He was killed instantly. Lt. Murphy also sustained major wounds while he made a call on his cell phone to HQ for re-enforcements. Then Mikey charged up the hill and stood behind the cover of some rocks. He was then killed by the Taliban. Axe was shot a number of times. One bullet even hit him in the head. Marcus and Axe took cover behind a tree and were hit with an rocket propelled grenade (RPG) that sent both of them flying. It was later determined that Axe had not been killed from the blast. The Navy figured this out because his body was found hundreds of yards away from where the bast hit, and when Marcus was blown away by the blast Axe had three clips left for his pistol. When they found the body there was only one and a half left. Axe had kept fighting until the end.

Sabray

Marcus was rescued by a Pashtun doctor from the village of Sabray. The Pashtuns are a strong warrior tribe that are usually allied with the Taliban. In this case they were not. One of their tribal laws is called lokhay warkawal. This law means that if they take someone into their home they a sworn to defend that person to the death. That is exactly what the village of Sabray did for Marcus Luttrell. Marcus was protected by a man named Gulab. They sheltered him until he was rescued by the Army Rangers six day after the original gun battle.

Style

Marcus Luttrell writes in a very casual way. His book is written in a very conversational tone. This helps the reader understand this book better. It also makes the reader feel as if they are listening to Luttrell talk about these events. Marcus has a very sophisticated vocabulary. There are rather large words used throughout the book. There is plenty of action in this book. The whole fight on the mountain takes up a lot of the book, and that part is very thrilling. Luttrell is very good at describing the scenery that the book is taking place in. Luttrell has a tendency to bring up major points many times because he really wants the reader to understand them. His major point is that there is much more that goes on in the world than the citizens of the US know because the media bends and twists things to seem like they are something else. Luttrell brings that up a whole lot in his book. The chapters were rather long, but the long chapters suited the book because so much stuff happened. The book was a good length at 388 pages.

Interview with Marcus on the Today Show

Reccomendation

I would reccomend this book to anyone. It is a great eye opener to the war in Afghanistan and Iraq. The only thing that I might be wary of is that there is a fair amount of foul language in it. This comes out more in the fighting parts of the book though. Janice Harayda said, "Luttrell’s memoir of this horrific
experience is part war story, part polemic against “the liberal media” and part Valentine to George W. Bush. As a war story, it is gripping, providing a rare soldier’s-eye-view of a guerilla conflict. As a polemic, it is uneven. And as a Valentine to the president, it is likely to appeal only those who already support the administration." The New York Times said,"Along with the tragic story about how Mr. Luttrell lost his comrades, the book is spiked with unabashed braggadocio and patriotism, as well as several polemical passages lashing out at the “liberal media” for its role in sustaining military rules of engagement that prevent soldiers from killing unarmed civilians who may also be scouts or informers for terrorists. The book was embraced by many military buffs and conservatives. And the baby-faced Mr. Luttrell, with his commanding physical presence and soft-spoken delivery, made for an intriguing presence in his television interviews." All in all this was a great book. I really enjoyed reading it.