10/09/2005 06:13:00 PM|||James O'Malley|||I've just finished the book I've been reading for the past couple of weeks- the same book that I've made a point of name-dropping into multiple blog updates. BBC World Affairs Editor John Simpson's The Wars Against Saddam: The Hard Road to Baghdad, was excellent.
Essentially, the book is, unsurprisingly, about all the wars Saddam Hussein has been involved in- Iran/Iraq war and the two Gulf Wars- they tell the tale of how John covered them, and how they all happend and that. Dead interesting stuff.
The best bit is probably getting to "hear" John swearing- after his convoy is missiled by the Americans, he phones up the BBC and shouts, "Get me on the fucking air!"- not only are we seeing someone unexpectedly swear, but it really emphasises and exaggerates the point he's trying to make!
As it's easier to criticise than be nice about something, here are the bad points about the book:
John (we're on first name terms) expresses opinions! I'm aware it's not published by BBC Books, but surely he should uphold the whole impartiality thing? Having a guess at where he is politically, dare I suggest he's more conservative (small C?) than I'd have hoped? He seems to hate Bill Clinton and the most liberal man in the (first) Bush Jr administration, Colin Powell. They've apparently fucked up Iraq bad.
He also seems to apologise somewhat for the Bush administration, but not too much- "there were WMD", "Saddam was awful". Maybe I'm reading into this too much?
He also seems to repeat himself once or twice, and I've felt like I'm reading the same descriptions and stuff, although this may be because I've skipped about in reading the book, although he might just forget what he's written. It wouldn't surprise me- I'm always repeating myself, including the same puns and so on. Just ask Heather. It's worse when I'm parroting a blog entry that I know she's read.
The other thing is, that I'm sort of disappointed with him. There's many references to him smoking cigars- when I first read it, I thought it might just be because he was offered one at a hotel in Arbil, but I think he does actually smoke. I mean, yes, it's hardly CELEBRITY CAUGHT IN SMOKING SHOCKA, but being straight-edge in all but name myself means I have a certain dislike for smoking.
The worst part of being in "pubs", like I've done a few times recently, is ending up stinking of smoke, even if you havn't been near any. John must smell like this, all the time.
In fact, I try to make a point of saying, "you shouldn't smoke, it's bad for you" when I see people that I know smoking- much to their annoyance. Maybe this is one of the reasons why Kayleigh dislikes me so intensely?
And now here's John Simpson, a man who I admire for being on the telly, smoking like the oil wells that have been set-alight around him. He even tells an anecdote where he shares a cigar with Feargal Keane, who's another BBC correspondent.
There's also an anecdote where John explains how he hadn't changed his clothes or washed in five days- this coupled with the evils of smoking, I bet he was really pleasant to be around!
Unfortunately, I think all of my favourite celebrities smoke- Andrew Marr's book, My Trade, which admittedly, I've only read the preface of so far, includes Andy (we're also on first name terms) admitting to being able to smoke sixty cigarettes a day.
Then lets think about the bands I like- all punk and pro-drugs and all sorts- I'd wager that with the exception of Anti-Flag (they're "straightedge"), most of them smoke like chimneys and make it look like the best thing ever.
I believe even Charles Kennedy, leader of the party I'm a member of, has admitted to having the "occasional" cigarette.
If all these people are smoking, then surely it's cool? Surely I can be better than them by imitating them as closely as possible? Maybe I should take up smoking? It'd go against everything I've been taught until now, but if everyone else is doing it, why shouldn't I?|||112888078808299626|||Smoking is cool!