For those that don’t know, John McCain, yes the Republican presidential nominee of 2008 comes from a high and mighty lineage of top brass in the Navy.  Both his father and grandfather were admirals and John McCain, in his time, was an advancing Naval Officer, himself.  In his time as a Naval Aviator, John McCain was shot down and captured as a POW in Vietnam where he remained for a number of years.  The majority of this book is recollections of his time in captivity.

The beginning of the book, however, does take time to tell the story of his grandfather and father in their Naval careers.  It is called “Faith Of My Fathers” after all.

One major aspect of this book that I really enjoyed was the personality and intimacy that was communicated throughout its pages.  You really felt like you were sitting next to a vet, just listening to him tell you his story.  Through all the good times and bad, there is a level of blatant honesty that is surprising of an autobiography from such a well known person.  Many times throughout the book I found myself wondering if the events that were unfolding truly happened the way that they were being told.  Such unbelievable events and actions taken by not only the author but also by others and only told through the author are littered throughout the book.

While reading, I had many of the same thoughts as while reading, Lone Survivor.  ”Is the author exaggerating or leaving out bits of information to make himself look better?”  That’s a tough thought to get over when reading autobiographies.  This autobiography (or even non-fiction at that) phase that I’ve been going through lately is completely different than my major interest in fiction prior.  I have not previously had much experience with the urge to question the author and his story as I have had in these books.  In fiction, it is just a story, the author has the freedom to move the story how he or she pleases.  But these autobiographies are about true American heroes that have lived during and through some truly unbelievable moments in time.

John McCain, however, tells his story well.

There is a bit of repeat in his story and a whole lot of jumping around in the chronological timeline that gets to be a bit annoying.  But it feels as though the stories are following a train of thought.  He isn’t just recounting everything that happened, but telling the story as well.

After finishing the book, I thought for a bit about my feelings towards John McCain before reading the book and now my feelings towards the man after reading the book.  In the end, I decided that the feelings were no different.  I have always respected the man for who he is and his accomplishments, but hearing in detail, from his voice, the story of his youth and years in the military, doesn’t lead me, in any regards, to admire or despise the man.  I feel more educated about his story and I admire his ability and determination to tell the story.  In the end I just feel better acquainted to him as a person.  More than just a political figure, I now know a little bit about the person behind the campaign.  In the book he discusses at times, regrets from years past and struggles that he had both in and out of the military.  Overall, the book glorifies his human aspects more than him as an American hero.

This book is not about politics and only makes mention of politics a handful of times.  This book is really just about an American family put in extraordinary circumstances.  Go pick up a copy, you won’t regret it.

ps. happy 300th post

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Overall, it was a very quick read.  The book reads in a very personal fashion from Luttrell’s perspective.  He makes no attempt to hide his opinions about politics, news corporations, nor how awesome the Navy SEALs truly are.

The aspect I enjoyed most about his retelling of his story is that he includes more than just the facts of Operation Redwing.  He talks about growing up, surviving BUD/S and touches on a few other missions him and his SEAL team went through.  This in addition to his personal account of Operation Redwing, when his team was MIA, he tells the story of his family and friends back home, that he only found out later upon returning home.

Many times through the telling of his story, especially in Afghanistan, I found myself questioning the details of his story.  ”How could this possibly have happened?  How is he not dead right now!?!”  But a lot of these questions go by the wayside when you remember the training they went through.  He only touches the surface of the amount of training he had, and it is seriously impressive.

The story isn’t all that “deep” really.  In fact, it is really just the story with one man’s opinions on paper.  Don’t expect to be analyzing the mental state of US Navy SEALs nor the Taliban or al Qaeda, but do expect to be entertained, captivated, and appreciative.

Here is the summary from the back of the #1 National Bestseller, Back Bay Books, Paperback edition:

On a clear night in late June 2005, four U.S. Navy SEALs left their base in northern Afghanistan for the mountainous Pakistani border. Their mission: to capture or kill a notorious al Qaeda leader. Less than twenty-four hours later, only one of those Navy SEALs remained alive.

This is the story of fire team leader Marcus Luttrell and the desperate battle in the mountains that led, ultimately, to the largest loss of life in Navy SEAL history. But it is also, more than anything, the story of the men who fought ferociously beside him until he was the last one left. Luttrell recalls their valiant efforts in one of the most powerful narratives every written about modern warfare – a stirring tribute to his teammates, who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

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I just finished TimeShift by C.K. Elstun. It is a book based on flying, romance, and the space-time continuum. The book is a good and quick read. It was given to my Dad, as a gift from the author, a guy he works with. My Dad gave me the book to read as I love to fly, and the book is based in the Cincinnati/Dayton area, with much mention of Lunken, where I take my flight lessons.

The book is broken up into two parts, before and after. I am not really going to tell you before and after what, for which you will have to read the book, even though when reading the Prologue before even chapter one, you know the general turning point of the story. I somewhat enjoyed the read in the first half of the book. There was indeed a little too much romance involved when what I wanted to read about were the planes, but the story flowed nicely. The turning point for me was with the end of Part 1 and the beginning of Part 2. Once the second part starts out, there actually appears conflict… something that is rather foreign to the first half.

Being from Cincinnati, I enjoyed all the recognition of setting. Being a pilot, I enjoyed all the small airport and prop plane jargon. I would recommend this book as a nice short read. I started the book last night, got about 1/3 of the way through, and finished it up today. A total read time of 5 or so hours for the 131 pages (and I do consider myself a slow reader). With the turning point of the story, it brings up some interesting thinking points, some that I have not considered before.

Anyway, if you have read this book and would like to discuss it in more of a non-spoiler setting, just leave me a comment.

Book Link: http://books.lulu.com/content/313168

A short summary…
They met quite late in life, an unlikely couple. Neither could have imagined a harmonious fulfillment with the other, but love sometimes defies convention. A contradictory mismatch, brought together by an antique biplane which drew them into love. It was a merging of beings. It superseded the ages. It bypassed space and time. It transcended the very universe. Take off on this flight of fancy and explore the unforgotten. Inspired in part by his experience as a pilot of small aircraft, TimeShift is the author’s first and only work of fiction, and is very loosely based on accepted theoretical physics, combined with pure fantasy and a timeless romance.

About the author:
C.K. Elstun was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and has enjoyed a long career as an announcer in television and radio. He is program director for WORDS Radio Reading Service, a non-profit service for the visually and physically disabled, in Dayton, OH. Inspired in part by his experience as a pilot of small aircraft, TimeShift is fiction loosely based on accepted theoretical physics, combined with pure fantasy and a timeless romance.

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