Interesting half-tracks

Holt tractor. USA.

When you say half-track, most people (at least those who know what a half-track is) will automatically conjure up the mental image of an M3 or a Hanomag, but in recent years, I've come across some more obscure half-track designs which are interesting enough to bear mention (not least as I am currently scratch-building some ficitious half-tracks).

Acme. 1918. USA.

Hadfield-Penfield-Fordson tractor

Tracked vehicles weren't really invented by any one person. The idea had been around a long time before it became commercially viable with the success of the Lombard Steam Log Hauler which was made in New Hampshire in 1901. This machine inspired Benjamin Holt who was already making agricultural machinery and traction engines and in the First World War belt driven Holt tractors (see image at the top of post) were used to haul artillery. The Holt tractors would be the primary inspiration for both the development of agricultural half-tracks (such as the Fordson shown above) and military tracked vehicles.

I'm specifically interested in the wide variety of unusual half-track and wheel configerations which flourished in the first half of the Twentieth Century, not least because half tracks more or less went out of fashion after the second World War and were replaced by more sophisticated, fully tracked vehicles. Below are a few examples of interesting British half-track gun tractors which have caught my eye. I know very little about most of them since half-tracks were apparently not as popular with the general population as tanks so information regarding them is harder to find.

FWD-Roadless. 3-ton half-track.

 Morris-Martel Roadless Experimental Half-track.

Morris Commercial-Roadless Mk.II. (with 18 pdr gun and limber). 

 Morris Commercial-Roadless Mk.II
 

Burford-Kegresse, 3 ton Field Artillery Tractor.

The Futurological Congress

By Stanislaw Lem

I first came across Ijon Tichy a few months ago when I saw a couple of German television adaptations of Lem's work (see below) and I was captivated by the thought that Germans could make something as good as 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy', after all, aren't Germans supposed to be serious and devoid of humour? (My tongue is in my cheek as I write).

Obviously the Germans were on to something and then my second astounding thought occured. Stanislaw Lem wrote 'Solaris', which is about as hardcore and as deep a science fiction novel as I've ever read. Obviously there was more to Lem than I'd understood, so I decided to dig deeper.

This I believe is the first book featuring Ijon Tichy, and at this stage in the stories, he is still an Earth bound character. As a guest at a 'futurological congress' being held in Costa Rica, Tichy experiences a series of ever stranger adventures as Costa Rica is plunged into a violent revolution. Due to the use of pharamcological weaponry however, Ijon is never quite sure what is real and what is not and as he struggls to make sense of what is going on around him, things simply get more and more bizarre.

I liked the book and was impressed by the translator too. Lem makes up a lot of weird and wornderful concepts, messing about with language like a child does with play-dough, and the translation must have been interesting work.

The story also demonstrates Lem's superiority as a science fiction writer, for though it is a comical story, and short too, it is nevertheless packed with interesting ideas and concepts, many of which might be the stock for far heavier tomes. As is often the case with novels from the previous generation, this is concentrated quality over the quantity and pap we are fed today.

4/5

The Bear's Tears

By Craig Thomas

Yet another disapointment, though this time I was braced against the possibility by having read 'Snow Falcon'. TBT was my latest attempt to penetrate the cold war spy genre, but it was a lame attempt since Tom Clancy's spirit was ever lurking in the back ground just waiting for the moment when he'd pop out and give a lurid description of some weapon system or other. Craig Thomas isn't quite as bad as Clancy, but he may as well be since he doesn't really shake of the gun-nerd's fascination. He doesn't seem capable writing a novel which doesn't at some point or other feature a MIL-24 complete with grotesque descriptions comparing the helicopter to various animals.

As a teenager that sort of writing might have passed by my quality control criteria, but at 42... No. I want a story with CHARACTERS. A reasonable plot is always a good idea but even an unreasonable plot can suffice, just so long as the story in some way relates to the human condition, rather than describing the pointless interaction of several cardboard cut-outs with clichéd names.

Having said all that, this novel was better than 'Snow Falcon', but it still grated my teeth so it deserves about the same pitiful score.

I feel sorry for Thomas as he was a published, and quite successful author in his day. Having read several of his novels now, it seems obvious he catered to a very specific audience in a very specific time and I doubt he shall be remembered except as a little read page on Wikipedia.
2/5

Panatgruel

By Rabelais

Oh dear. I had hoped for a timless jewel of classical literature, but what I got was a load of medieval drollery which had been picked over by generations of eager academics. Every page has added annotations and notes explaining the obscure references to contemporary philosophy, the Bible and Rabelais's life, but  none of these change the fact that 'Pantagruel' (the first book in a compendium of several books in one binding), is about as funny as a headache and as pointless as a third shoe.

I was hoping for something along the lines of Balzac, something which might read odd and old fashioned, but there was at least a point to it I could grasp; some fundamental idea which told a story, like a fable perhaps.

'Pantagruel' seems to be nothing more than the deranged ramblings of a man whose fame can only have come about because he was able to publish in a time before authors were two-a-penny. If there was a point to this, some punch line or other, I was utterly unable to find it. I still have several hundred pages if I care to attempt the second, third, fourth and fith books of Pantagruel, but frankly I'd rather be bored with nothing to do than bored and read a thousand academic explanations as to how or why I should find this funny.
1/5

The Hunger Games

By Suzanne Collins

I usually wouldn't have read this, but that it was recommended, and then lent to me (along with two sequels which I have yet to read). I have grown wary of popular books because as I age I find myself moving ever further from the zeitgeist (and I suspect I shall not return to it in this life).

The story started slowly though perhaps this was because I'd already been told what was going to happen, but then picked up in pace once the actual game had begun. The second half was quite enjoyable, but rather predictable and I didn't really empathise with the protagonist, nor her companion whose emotional attachment, I felt was a worthless drag to the story. No doubt it was required in order to satisfy the young adults at whom the book is aimed. It did nothing for me. I was hoiping he'd die.

On the whole, the story was readable, though it did remind me a lot of 'The Running Man', both in scale and ambition. 
3/5

Congratulations to Blogger...

...for updating my edit and post pages to make them really clumsy and user unfriendly. Well done!

Artist of the Month; Juan Giménez

Another of my all time favourite artists is the Argentinian comic book artist; Juan Giménez. Giménez created several fantastic adventure comics which were featured in Heavy Metal, most of which inspired me to no end, including 'Leo Roa', 'The Women of the Fourth Quarter' and 'The Metabarons' collaboration with Alejandro Jodorowsky which built upon the earlier work 'The Incal' by Jodorowsky and the late Jean Luc Moebius.


Of all those 70's and 80's era Heavy Metal-graphic novelists, Giménez is probably my personal favourite, over shadowed only in technical ability by Serpieri, though when it comes to drawing machines and tech, Serpieri has nothing on Giménez. Giménez has the rare ability of taking something mechanical and expanding upon it to make it look, bigger, better and far more realistic. Where most artists might add feed pipes, power cables and data lines in abundance, Giménez does it in a way that suggests practicality whilst retaining the punk romance of artist licence.

Anathem

By Neal Stephenson

Any one who has read anything by Stephenson will be aware of his ability to weave vast amounts of complex details into a story and may well approach this novel with some trepidation, but fear not. Not only are the complex details in this book presented in a readable and enjoyable fashion, but for once Stephenson's characters are drawn in a way that makes them both understandable and likable. I will go as far as to say that this was easily my favourite Stephenson novel to date and its a great shame that my old debating friend Wertz, who was a big Stephenson fan, will never have the pleasure of reading it for he died a few years ago.

The novel begins in what I originally took to be a sort of monastery devoted to the study of mathematics ("Oh great" I thought, "just what I need, a novel about religious math!") but which I soon realised was something else entirely different. The protagonist, named Erasmas lives in a monastic community, called a Concent where he studies the intellectual and philosophical history of his world (named Arbre). He has a number of good friends and together with them, he is drawn into an adventure of epic, yet entirely believable proportions. Erasmas himself tells the story in retrospect, and Stephenson has managed to make the character work well, both in his descriptiosn of self and how he regards his friends.

Oleg is reading the book at the moment so I'll be interested to hear his take on it, but for me, what really made the story work was the interaction between the protagonist and his friends. I enjoyed the book immensely and was sad when it ended. This was by far the best book of 2012 so far.
5/5

Tatja Grimm's World

By Verner Vinge

Vinge has written a few good books in his time, so I was eager to read this as it was his first published novel. The story revolves around a child prodigy who grows up on a planet with meager mineral resources, and who doesn't seem to belong, and who displays amazing intellectual abilities. Moving from one social group to another, she eventually passes up through the social strata until she reaches the very top, assuming the title of regent of the planet's most powerful nation.

At this point, she begins to discover a few disturbing facts about her home world and eventually this leads to the climax of the story and Tatja Grimm must use all her abilities to defend her planet from an alien threat. And so on and so forth.

The story is pretty straight forward, and devoid of any of significant plot twists which might make for a challenging read. Tatja Grimm isn't a particularly well described character either, so I never felt emotionally engaged by her story. On the whole the book is strangely pedestrian, and even some what self indulgent when regarded as a work of science fiction since a lot of Tatja Grimm's rise to power comes from her association with a science fiction publication.
3/5