The reading effort has started

Well, it is now five minutes since I wrote the first post, so it is time to let you know what the first book of the 52 book reading challenge will be.

The book that I am going to read first is titled:

The Girl in the Picture
The story of Kim Phuc, the Photograph, and the Vietnam War

The book is about (in essence) a photo that was taken during the Vietnam War. A bombing of South Vietnamese fighters (on South Vietnam civilians - go figure) went wrong and innocent people were killed and injured by Napalm bombs. One of the injured was Kim Phuc, who was nine at the time. As she was running away from the bomb, and with serious burns injuries, she was photographed, and the photo became (apparently) a very important image of the war.

Given that I am still in Vietnam, finishing a holiday with my family, and that this book was bought for $90,000 Vietnam Dong (about $6US, or a little bit more in Aussie Dollars), it really was a bargain. That is the first of the bargain books to be read this year.

What happened was, this little old lady on the streets of Saigon wanted to sell me this book, but I didn't want to buy anything at the time. She, like most people with something to sell in Vietnam, was extremely persistent and she followed me and Gemma (my wife - who cannot cook really well (unlike the Julie in the movie that has inspired this blog - but she is a great wife, anyway) and our two boys Ged and Jeremy, about two blocks shoving this book in my face. I even put it at her feet and walked away, and she chased me again. Finally, I parted with the money, though she was disappointed with the price. Hey, I did not really want the book, but I was meant to have it, I think. Strangely enough, the next day we did a tour to the exact place where the photo that the book was written about, was taken. That is fate.

Anyway, it is proving to be a great read, and very enlightening.

I will tell you more soon.

Until next time, read hard.

Jimmy A