I hate getting books for Christmas in general because I’m such a mood reader, and I’ve plastered a fake smile on my face many a time and repeated internally ‘Its the thought that counts.’ as I unwrap a book I will not read.

But the worst one by far, given to me by my own Mother , who I know loves me, when I was fourteen years old! was >!Men are from Mars Women are from Venus.!< I am sitting there horrified thinking what is she trying to tell me? As my sisters are flat on the floor laughing to the point of puking. We eventually came to the conclusion she just saw an attractive cover on a bestseller table and grabbed it. Love to know your terrible gift stories.

  • Sweeper1985@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    A Vietnam War memoir called, “The War Within” by an Australian ex-soldier, Don Tate.

    It was ugly, racist, poorly-written, self-serving, boring, and did I mention racist?

    Lowlights for me:

    • The guy unironically continued, 50 years after the war, to refer to Vietnamese people as “zipperheads”

    • He was a voluntary enlistment who actually was keen to go to war, and acts like he was duped. Despite talking about how he was keen to go shoot zipperheads.

    • He tells a story about how he and another soldier went to a brothel on leave, and how his friend was having sex with a pregnant sex worker who went into miscarriage during the act. He frames himself as the victim in this story, because those mean Vietnamese women apparently kept glaring at him and saying critical things he couldn’t understand. (Cause I mean like, how dare sex workers in a war zone have feelings?)

    • after returning home from the war he says was so horrible, he saw protests against it. He literally - no insight or irony here - says the protestors were unAustralian (this is our equivalent of MAGA idiots) and that they should have been marching in support of the war if they supported soldiers…

    I usually donate unwanted books but I’m pretty sure I binned this one.