ODDS & SODS Mk2, by Derek Robinson
ODDS & SODS MK2, as you might guess, is a follow-up on ODDS & SODS. Strange title, and if you’re not English, even more odd you old sod. Usually means a disreputable man, but sod is one of those broad terms that run the grammatical gamut through noun, adjective, and verb. Allow me to steer you in the general direction, with a hint. Not unusual to hear a bad guy in an English movie yell “Sod off!” He’s not wishing anybody a Happy Birthday.
I’ve often written reviews of Derek Robinson’s works, which span everything from superb flying novels from World Wars I and II, espionage novels, and various books exploring the truths and falsehoods we know as history. He and I have never met, but I feel as if we’re friends. Books will do that and I’ve read every one of his.
(Go to the top of my blog and type his name. That will lead you to all the titles I’ve reviewed, most of which are available on Amazon.)
His latest effort, ODDS & SODS MK 2 is short, but fascinating, with quick wit and twists and turns that take the reader behind the scenes of real events, in prose, poetry, and history. Need some teasers?
What’s the real meaning of the oft quoted lines from Shakespeare’s Richard II, Act 2, Scene 1?
This royal throne of Kings, this sceptered isle, …
Or, how about the effectiveness of gliders in World War II and the much-celebrated use of paratroops? What’s an easy way to tell photos of real dead people from the pretend corpses in cop movies?
You see, these are the types of questions that keep me up at night, and make me question damn near everything lodged in my agile brain. Here’s something I recently found. It’s what Mark Twain said: It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.
But, is that so? Scholars at the Center for Mark Twin Studies at Elmira College (Elmira, NY) say they can find no substantive evidence that Mark Twain (Samuel Clemons) ever said it or wrote it!
See, that’s the kind of thing Derek Robinson examines. But, Robinson’s palate is much larger than mine and more colorful. He slaps new paint on old canvases of fiction, history, and folklore to bring to light things that just ain’t so!
When I said ODDS & SODS MK2 is a short book, I meant it, but it’s 114 pages are fabulously interesting. Every last one of them sparkles!
For the past several years he and I have also corresponded in short chunks of emails. And if you want this book or it’s predecessor, ODDS & SODS, you’ll have to write him, too. Order both! Give yourself a treat and tickle your curiosity!
or
derekrobinson840@btinternet.com
You’re not just in for a treat, but a rollercoaster ride of history and clever writing. And that IS so!
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