Scary night in my house.

[NNadir]

My wife is watching the DeNiro version of "Cape Fear" - I just can't, too squeamish.

I'm not so squeamish though that I can't read some of Max Hastings histories.

I'm reading two in different shifts, http://books.google.com/books?id=uKmeiZmEXJoC&dq=Germany+Max+Hastings&printsec=frontcover&source=bl&ots=aMcLPCjXls&sig=RMyBHSuF8ShMYoV_c5W_B4O8wvk&hl=en&ei=o9TPStH0K87d8QbTyaz8Aw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CBYQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=&f=false">Armageddon: The Battle for Germany 1944-1945 and
http://books.google.com/books?id=uKmeiZmEXJoC&dq=Germany+Max+Hastings&printsec=frontcover&source=bl&ots=aMcLPCjXls&sig=RMyBHSuF8ShMYoV_c5W_B4O8wvk&hl=en&ei=o9TPStH0K87d8QbTyaz8Aw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CBYQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=&f=false">Retribution: the battle for Japan, 1944-45

I saw Hastings speaking last week on CSPAN-3, and the stories he told so calmly, in a proper British way about the shared brutality of Stalin and Hitler made my hair stand on end.

He made the argument that for Poland, the war didn't really end until the 1980's.

Scathing historian, no illusions about glory, he.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. My dear NNadir...

I hear you!

"Cape Fear" is a very scary movie...I saw it once, and that was enough, TYVM!:scared:

Your books sound fascinating. A good non-fiction history can really bring it home.

And you can set it down, and return later, after your hair has relaxed!

:hi:

[NNadir]

5. Taking a break from the books. I read most of Armagaddeon.

It's appalling to consider that these kinds of things took place in modern times.

We all know about the savagery of the Germans, and rightly deplore them, but I think that the savagery of the Soviets - which matched - is often forgotten.

I had a friend in high school, a woman I briefly dated, whose parents were Austrian. One time she told me about how her mother and aunts had been held as sexual slaves for more than a year. I was too young to believe that this sort of thing was possible in Europe. I didn't call her a liar, but I couldn't grasp it.

I'm far less naive now.

It's the sort of thing Hasting discusses. It reads almost clinically, but having seen him speak, and describe his personal experiences and interviews as he researched the book, I know my friend was telling an awful truth.

Sorry to bring that up here, but, I just needed to say it.

I can't imagine...

My wife is still watching that movie...

I'm going to try to sleep.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

6. You can always say anything you need to me, anytime...

:hug:

[NNadir]

8. Thanks Peg.

[Arkansas Granny]

2. Like you, I don't watch scary movies. I figure that if I'm going to spend

90 minutes to 2 hours watching something, I want to be entertained, not scared shitless.

[Skip Intro]

3. The BEST scary movies are the ones that scare you. Just gotta tell yourseslf..."it's just a movie"

[datasuspect]

4. i am desensitized

sometimes i just like violent movies for their own sake.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

7. is it weird that Reservoir Dogs cracked me up.

I swear they broke character.

[Generic Brad]

9. Cape Fear is scary?

After I saw it I booked a vacation on a houseboat. I thought it would be pretty cool. Turns out it was not as great as I expected, but that was more due to rain and bugs. But I am glad to report no crazed killers tried to off us on our trip.