Reading

[Louis the fly]

When I was at sea my main pastime was reading books. I liked factual books especially one's about people who had led unusual lives, it could be someone like Lawrence of Arabia to the Kray twins and everything in between. No matter how tired I was I always read a chapter before turning off the bunk light. Sometimes reading a paperback in a day.
Since coming ashore I have not read a single book, concentration has gone. I do not buy newspapers, getting the news from the internet and Al Jazeera who have international journalists based all over the world. They cover stories which are not reported on our UK news program's.
Strange how we change with time.

[Michael Black]

I was a big reader as well, the small readers digest books being a favourite as well as those papers that seemed to have a few weeks editions in them!. Still read a lot now mostly detective stories that I download to the kindle. Stopped buying a daily paper when I retired.
Regards Michael

[j.sabourn]

All our knowledge in our time came from books Louis , no matter what sort of books. Today all Our information mostly comes down from the internet which we assume comes from the same tomes . However a lot of this information comes from media reports also. We all have to believe in something , I would rather read a book if looking for information that had been written 100 years ago by an author who had made the effort to prove the authenticity of his facts and was well known for his writing. I already know that some of the internet information is taken directly from the media who are in most cases biased. However saying that soon we will have no other choice but to accept what we are told . I am not a doubting Thomas but think a lot of us act on what we read as kosher. Good luck with your reading . Cheers JS

[Red Lead Ted]

When I was at sea my main pastime was reading books. I liked factual books especially one's about people who had led unusual lives, it could be someone like Lawrence of Arabia to the Kray twins and everything in between. No matter how tired I was I always read a chapter before turning off the bunk light. Sometimes reading a paperback in a day.
Since coming ashore I have not read a single book, concentration has gone. I do not buy newspapers, getting the news from the internet and Al Jazeera who have international journalists based all over the world. They cover stories which are not reported on our UK news program's.
Strange how we change with time.

Hi Lou, Good to hear from you mate i hope your well and in good form, I read anything i could get hold of from Capt. Edges to Readers Digest, to sea Breeze's, You dont have to buy news papers anymore as you say you can if fortunate enough to have sky news get hourly up to date reports on there you dont even have to turn the goggle box on there is this thing i am typing on you can get any newspaper you want on the WWW. I watched the latest offering of a put the scouser down last night Liverpool Narcos, I wonder will there be a follow up on every City in the U.K. Because you could make the same case for any big city in the UK Scotland, Wales, Ireland, After watching it on now T.V. You can search for similar programs i came across Jamaica Narcos brilliant watch reminded me of my days in hungry Harrisons Kingston especially, Its worth a little investment that now T.V. I think i pay about £15 a month for the full Monty you will always find something to watch and that Jamaica Narcos is just like a good book you cant switch off until you get to the end. Best regards Lou, Keep your spirits up mate Terry.

[John F Collier]

I was a big reader as well, the small readers digest books being a favourite as well as those papers that seemed to have a few weeks editions in them!. Still read a lot now mostly detective stories that I download to the kindle. Stopped buying a daily paper when I retired.
Regards Michael

Hi Michael, I subscribed to Readers Digest in the 90s, they always carried very interesting articles and were a joy to read, one Author
I remembe I remember in particular is Alex Hayley, his acount of John Newton's life was a great read, in the 1700s he was Pressed
into the Royal Navy, after serving his time in the RN he join a slavery ship on the Atlantic run, when his ship encountered a very
violent storm Newton was convinced they were all going to die, he was'nt a religeous man but but fell to his knees and prayed to God
for their safety, the ship survived the storm and Newton came ashore, the experience of the storm change his outlook on life completely,
Newton eventually became a Clergman, he weote Hymns, his best known one is "Amazing Grace" he als became a Slavery Abolishionist.
Amazing Grace, was John Newton's acount of his own life experiences, I've always thought that books can be your best friend at times,
I thik I've I learned more from books in later life than I ever learnt at school, cheers .

[Doc Vernon]

When I was at sea my main pastime was reading books.They cover stories which are not reported on our UK news program's.
Strange how we change with time.

Hello Louis
Very similar here with me now days , although i have read a few good Books that have been Published by some of our Members besides those not read much at all since coming ashore!
Like you went through Paperbacks like anything, and liked the Westerns like the Zane Grey Novels! Also the Detective Books which there were many!
Also liked the Readers Digest those days , seems that they changed a lot though over the Years.
Cheers

[Lewis McColl]

Media & newspapers, freedom of the press lol, can hardly believe a word of what is broadcast these days. Al Jazeera news probably about the best of the bunch, Channel 4 news also. The rest are just political broadcasts.
Books , I used to be an avid reader at sea , still always have a book on the go by my bed every night cannot go to sleep without turning a few pages. I tried those Kindle things, it is lying in the drawer somewhere I prefer turning the page and the feel of a book.

[j.sabourn]

I knew a well read seaman years ago who told me he applied to his local constabulary for entry into the police force. There was a short written exam which he had no problem with , but they failed him on current affairs.Being a seafarer he didn’t have the local newspaper delivered every day. JS

[Colin Wood]

Still read a bit, but at sea it was Micky Spillane and Tobacco Road type literature. Also got the taste for the rougher type of poetry, mainly Robert Service with his Songs of a Sourdough and Rhymes of a Red Cross man. Can still quote most of 'The Shooting of Dan Magrew' and Cremation of Bill Magee..
As regards news, like to listen to SBS here in Oz from 0600 to 0730 when they have world news. It varies from BBC, American ABC, Al Jezera and French news in English. Gives a really good cross section of world news, not like the local ABC which is left leading and devoid of arguments between correspondence. Used to like Insiders on sunday morning with interesting debates between the very dissimilar people like Gerard Henderson and David Marr. On left and other right, but they seem to have been banished.

[happy daze john in oz]

Like most did a lot of reading at sea, James Bond was very popular then along with the westerns, Port Said Bibles , and many more.

Still read, very happy with the Wilbur Smith ones but as to news, most commercial stations are no different to Fake Book with the so called news.
But we do have Sky news which is the closest to the truth we can get.
As to the national broadcaster, the Always Biases Corporation, they are so far left it is a wonder they do not meet themselves on the way back.