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The C-5 Galaxy History: Crushing Setbacks, Decisive Achievements
De Roger Launius et B.J. Dvorscak
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The C-5 Galaxy is truly an effective military aircraft. It remains an essential, successful component of the U.S. military airlife capability. This book reveals the events that led to the C-5 requirement; and the controversies of its early operational existence. Details of testing, flight characteristics, operational accomplishments and world flight records are presented. Interviews from senior Lockheed management and experienced flight crews validate the C-5's decisive accomplishments.
Actions du livre
Commencer à lireInformations sur le livre
The C-5 Galaxy History: Crushing Setbacks, Decisive Achievements
De Roger Launius et B.J. Dvorscak
Description
The C-5 Galaxy is truly an effective military aircraft. It remains an essential, successful component of the U.S. military airlife capability. This book reveals the events that led to the C-5 requirement; and the controversies of its early operational existence. Details of testing, flight characteristics, operational accomplishments and world flight records are presented. Interviews from senior Lockheed management and experienced flight crews validate the C-5's decisive accomplishments.
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Avis
Love the premise but the delivery just fell flat for me. A tad too erudite. I kept feeling that I was in the classroom, receiving a lesson on human diaspora, and that just kept pulling me away from the more intimate, personal story on offer. Don't get me wrong, Gibb obviously is highly educated and has done her research, but sometimes I just want to experience a story. Yes, through Lilly, a reader becomes exposed to an interesting cross-cultural perspective as Lilly finds herself being defined as a farenji (foreigner) in Harar because of her white skin, while back in London she does not identify with the English Caucasian community. From that perspective, Lilly is very much a woman who, culturally, identifies more with a nation that clearly views her a not one of their own kind. I should also mention that the story does contain some disturbing descriptions, like the genital mutilation of young girls, that were rather difficult to read. Overall, I found that the continual messaging of messages of ethnicity and identity seemed to stifle the story, to the point where I was unable to make any kind of reader connection with any of the characters. Favorite quote (and a good humanity lesson of the story for all):"For all the brutality that is inflicted upon us, we still possess the desire to be polite to strangers. We may have blackened eyes, but we still insist on brushing our hair. We may have had our toes shot off by a nine-year-old, but we still believe in the innocence of children. We may have been raped, repeatedly, by two men in a Kenyan refugee camp, but we still open ourselves to the ones we love. We may have lost everything, but we still insist on being generous and sharing the little that remains. We still have dreams."
This is the best book I have read in a long time. I really enjoyed it and it flowed wonderfully. It was such a great story line. I loved how unique it was. I didn't know much about Ethiopia's history, so this was a great introduction. I liked how the history didn't overbear the story. The characters were fantastic! I loved Lilly. She was just beautiful. I loved her relationships with the other characters. This book was so well written that I wanted it to so badly to be a true story! I can still hope. I also really liked the ending. Nothing is perfect and I was happy that it wasn't a perfect ending. It made the story more real. Just wonderful.....
This is a wonderful novel. It tells the story of an English girl, Lilly, whose hippy parents drift off and leave her in the hands of a Sufi religious leader in Morocco. Finding religion a consolation, she becomes an ardent Muslim. As a teenager she goes on a pilgrimage/haj to Ethiopia, only to find the male leaders reject her as a 'foreigner'. In the early 70's political unrest is growing in Ethiopia – the people are angry with the corruption and repression of Haile Selassie’s government. Aziz and his friends support the resistance, while Lily views the political issues through the lens of her faith. Escaping the revolution in 1974 Lily flees as a refugee to England where she works as a nurse and also clings to the hope that she will find Aziz again one day. Gradually she learns to make peace with the past.The portrait of life as a displaced person in UK is very good, but the scenes in Ethiopia are outstanding. I’ve never been to Ethiopia but the scenes and characters were so vivid and utterly convincing. It was an enthralling glimpse into another culture, another religion, and the collapse of Haile Selassie’s long reign. Obviously Gibb saturated herself deep in Ethiopian life as part of her doctoral studies yet her knowledge rests lightly; it never felt pretentious or burdensome.Over the course of the novel (1970 – 1991) we see Muslim orthodoxy becoming increasingly conservative, strict and right wing. However Lily can’t accept this; she adheres to a ‘moderate interpretation … one that allows you to use whatever means allow you to feel closer to God……It’s an interpretation where jihad is one’s personal struggle to be a good Muslim, not a fight against those who are not Muslim, as our imam has started preaching.’
“My body is a whisper where hers is a shout” p 26.
Abandoned it by about page 120. Too much vague gauzy stuff, with spiritual I-wanna-understand squishiness.
Abandoned it by about page 120. Too much vague gauzy stuff, with spiritual I-wanna-understand squishiness.
This thoughtful novel explores the themes of belonging, ethnicity, politics, faith and love. Lilly is a British child whose parents die while they are in Morocco, leaving Lilly to be brought up by the sufi Sheikh Afdal. She adopts a life of religious conviction, and at 16, finds herself forging a life in Ethiopia, amongst the locals.Gibb's research is astounding and her writing effortless. The reader is plunged into Ethiopia during the 70s under the autocrat, Haile Selassie. She offers a glimpse into the intimate lives of Muslim women, exploring issues of prejudice, deprivation, and female circumcision. She also succeeds in highlighting commonalities between people that transcend religion and culture. An easy read, brilliantly written and highly recommended.
My SIL recommended this book. it is now 'old news' at the library and beat several of my other requests through the hold queue.A gem of a story. The fortitude of the main character, Lilly and many of the other characters will stay with me for a long. The book was also an excellent introduction to Islam, the role of the Qur'an and the place of women.I have read so many amazing books over the past few months, I am continuously amazedI I can read such amazing stories every month. Another Canadian novel at that!
Camilla Gibb's third and most recent novel Sweetness in the Belly is my favourite. Sweetness is a story of Lilly, a white Muslim woman, who is forced to rebuild her life as a nurse in Thatcher's Britain after fleeing from Ethiopia, in the process becoming separated from her lover.Concerned to help the Ethiopian refugee community, she spends her weekends as a volunteer for an organization which seeks to bring exiled families together, and hopes to find news of Aziz.Alternate chapters tell the story of Lilly's years in Ethiopia, a decade earlier. She is the child of hippy parents who are every bit as irresponsible as the parents in Gibbs' earlier novels. They travel in Morocco and Lilly is left at the shrine of a Sufi saint with an imam called the Great Abdul, while they return to the city and are murdered - probably selling heroin in a back alley. Lilly finds peace in her soul through prayer and learning to recite the Qu'ran.She makes a pilgrimage to the walled city of Harar in Ethiopia with Hussein (another adoptee of the imam) when unrest breaks out. Lilly goes to live with an impoverished Ethiopian family and gradually learns the ways of the people she has come to live amongst. She falls in love with an idealistic young doctor, Aziz whom she is forced to leave behind when political upheavals make it dangerous for her to stay in the country.This brief summary doesn't do this carefully researched and beautifully written novel justice. I knew so little about Ethiopia, hadn't even heard of Harar, and now I feel that I've spent some time there - the setting is so beautifully invoked and sensuous. There's a real compassion and respect in Gibbs depiction of the Ethiopian people and their way of life, and the plight of refugees in London.
This is one of those books that seep into your soul. I really didn't want it to end and, yet, I wanted to know what happened to the characters. This book certainly deserves its place on CBC's 100 Novels that Make you Proud to be Canadian. There will be people who quibble with that because no-one in the book is Canadian, no action takes place in Canada and Canada is mentioned tangentially only two times that I can think of. It qualifies as Canadian because Camilla Gibb lives in Toronto although she was born in England. She spent time in Ethiopia doing research for her Ph. D. in social anthropology and that work forms the basis for this book. Lilly is English by birth and white but she was raised by a Sufi teacher in Morocco and she has adopted the Muslim faith. Her teacher decided it was to dangerous in Morocco and so he sent her and another student, Hussein, to Harar in Ethiopia because the saint he worshiped had a descendent who ran a mosque in Harar. When they finally reached Harar, a journey of months by camel, they went immediately to Sheikh Jami who would not accept Lilly into his household but he did accept Hussein. Lilly was taken by one of the Sheikh's wives to a poor relative who could use the income Lilly would provide. Nouria had four children, no husband and survived by taking in washing. Lilly didn't actually have much money to give her but she started a school to teach neighbourhood children the Qu'ran. Even though she was a "farenji" (a foreigner) Lilly gradually came to be accepted by the neighbourhood women. There were some things that Lilly could not accept though. Most girls in Ethiopia had a clitorectomy to ensure their purity for marriage. Lilly witnessed Nouria's two young girls undergoing this barbaric practice and was appalled. One of the girls became very ill and finally a doctor was summoned. Aziz was able to save the girl and, over time, he and Lilly became friends and more. The government was still run by Emperor Haile Selassie at the time. Aziz and some friends wanted a socialist upheaval in Ethiopia but instead what they got was a bloody civil war. Lilly left Ethiopia and went to live in England where she became a nurse. She could not let go of wanting to get word of Aziz. In 1981 Lilly helped an Ethiopian refugee from Harar, Amina, give birth. Lilly and Amina became neighbours and good friends. More refugees were coming to England from Ethiopia so the two started an office to assist them, especially in reconnecting with their families. Amina had been separated from her husband in a refugee camp and was always searching the lists for his name. Similarily, Lilly was always looking for Aziz's name. One of them was rewarded. I have gone to school and worked with a number of Ethiopians. I am quite sure they were all Christian and so this story of the Muslims in Harar was an eye-opener. They seem to be so contradictory; girls are genitally mutilated but parents were supportive of them being educated, especially in learning the Qu'ran. Women covered themselves in veils but quite often the veils were colourful and diaphanous. Marriages were arranged but it was the groom's parents who paid a dowry. So, so interesting.
Lilly, the English child of two hippies who wander through Africa and Asia, is raised and educated by Abdal, a beloved Islamic scholar and her guardian Muhammed Bruce Mahmoud, English convert to Islam and friend of her parents, visits and provides English books and gifts. When the political situation changes Abdal sends Lilly on pilgrimage to Harar, Ethiopia for safety. Lilly lives with widowed Nouria and her 4 children. It takes years for Lilly, the white "farengi" to become somewhat socially accepted. She learns the language, helps with housework and child care, and soon teaches Quran to the children, and is paid to teach the neighbors' children as well. Always a keen student as well as a committed Muslim, so when Lilly meets Aziz he opens her mind with knowledge of the medical field he practices and his understanding of politics. They have enlightening conversations about how his liberal view on religion differs from her view but do agree on some like their abhorrence of female circumcision. But once again, when life in Ethiopia changes for the worse Aziz sends Lilly to England. Now a nurse and social worker, Lilly, lives among the Islamic immigrant community in London's council housing, and now it’s the English who curse and bully her for being Muslim. While her life is busy helping to care for bewildered immigrants acclimate to England, like many of them, her heart has remained in Ethiopia. Sweetness in the Belly is an extraordinary tale of the sorrow and pain caused by shifting history, military regimes, and religion. And it deals with living as an “outsider” and finding a community, a home, acceptance and love.
Beautifully written. Camilla Gibb intimately portrays the lives of her characters with nuance and warmth.
Two parallel and consecutive stories told by the same narrator: an orphaned English girl brought up in Muslim faith in Morocco, first as a teenager in Africa, and then a woman and a refugee in England. The first story takes place in Ethiopia in the 70s, and culminates with the famine which brings about the overthrow of Haile Selassie, and the other one tells of the life of African refugees in London, England in the 90s.It is passionately told and quite interesting.
An amazing tour de force of a novel.It weaves the lives of Lilly - a child of hippy parents who died from a bad drug deal and left her in Morrocco with their spirtual Sufi leader -- to Ethopia where she lives in the late 70's and meet a young, kind doctor names Aziz.It is this story, interwoven with her life in London from 1980-1990 and the women that she meets, befriends, and her iinability to let go and let others into her life that I found so rewarding.Lilly is a "farjeni" a foreigner who doesn't belong in Africa - a white, Muslim; and in London she also is also an outsider.Beautifully written and well researched, I look forward to reading more from Camilla.
This is the story of Lilly, a white muslim nurse working in England. She is a refugee from Ethiopia, where she was separated from the man she loved by civil war. She now works to reunite refugees all the while maintaining her love for Aziz.It's a good story, alternating between Lilly present life in London and her past in Ethiopia. Well written -- especially the parts in Ethiopia, which really evoke a picture of life in Harar. The book also provides some food for thought about the blending of cultures we see more and more of. Lilly is a devout Muslin, but is a white woman of British heritage. The author has some interesting insights: in London, the only thing that unites Muslims is their faith; they come from different cultures adn traditions. That is why faith often becomes such a strong force in immigrant communities.The story wraps up a little too neatly for my taste. The London doctor, Robin, in love with Lilly seems a bit too good to be true. But, all in all, a good book.
The author draws a fascinating picture of life in Ethiopia and in London from the point of view of a Western (Irish and English) Muslim woman brought up in Morocco, and living on the margin in both cultures. She must reconcile herself as a child to life in Ethiopia and as an adult to life in London. The heroine becomes a mirror reflecting the heartbreaking struggles experienced by the Ethiopan refugee community in London. Her intimacy with them brings to the forefront of her consciousness the story of her lost love, told in flashbacks through the course of the novel.
An introduction into a part of the world that is pretty much ignored these days. A trip through Ethiopia of the early 70s and 80s era London. Also explores Muslim practices in that region.
As a young girl, Lily traveled with her parents. In Morroco, her parents leave her at an Islamic shrine for a week. They are killed and Lily finds herself comforted and raised in the Islamic tradition. Eventually, she is forced to flee to Ethiopia, where after making a place for herself as a young women, she is forced to flee again to London.Sweetness in the Belly is a beautiful culturally textured novel. Thick with the flavor, the smells, the saddness, joy, spiritually, horror, and humor of the worlds she inhabits, this novel is both vivd, imaginitive, and feels so real. Definitely one of the best books that I've read in a year.
“My body is a whisper where hers is a shout” p 26.
Abandoned it by about page 120. Too much vague gauzy stuff, with spiritual I-wanna-understand squishiness.
Abandoned it by about page 120. Too much vague gauzy stuff, with spiritual I-wanna-understand squishiness.
I love Giller nominees for how they expose the reader to other cultures, in this case to Ethiopia and its Muslims. Some thought-provoking proposals about how legalism negates the need for self-discipline, but interpreting rules and moderation requires self-discipline. Also about the role of religion and tradition. I also liked how the story of the main character's past is interspersed throughout the present. For those looking for a romance, there's that too.
Amazing. Will stay with me for a long time. Interesting to learn about Muslim religion through a novel - always hear that Islam is not about what the radical Islamists say/do, but never really knew what it was. LOVED this book
Lilly’s parents, British citizens, lead a life of reckless wanderings. While the family is traveling in Ethiopia, Lilly’s parents are killed and Lilly is sent to stay with the Great Abdal, a teacher and leader of his people. She is taught to be a devout Muslim by Abdal and she learns much about literature and art by visits from a great teacher, Muhammed Bruce. Eventually she is sent to live with a young mother, Nouria. Lilly finds she can supplement the income of Nouria and her children by teaching the children the Koran. Lilly comes to know a handsome doctor, Aziz. As Lilly grows older, she and Aziz become friends and then fall in love. The story brought together so many unexpected elements---a young British girl who becomes an ardent Muslim…a devout Muslim who risks it all for the sake of being with the man she loves…the complex ancestry of the doctor, with both desirable and undesirable parents---that it felt like a memoir. It has left me thinking about cultural identity and religious belief; thinking about a book even after finishing it is always a sign to me of an excellent read.
I really enjoyed the glimpse into Harar life that this book offered. I didn't know a lot about Ethiopian history and the story made me want to find out more. The main character was convincing and the description of life in London for recent immigrants seemed all too realistic. Sometimes I got the feeling that the author was using British English words a little self-consciously (loo, rubbish bin, bung) and there was one use of a Canadian English word or phrase which quite threw me out of the story (and I can't for the life of me remember what it was, but it wasn't until that point that I realised the author was Canadian).The book is very well written and engaging and although it is clearly the result of years of research, it manages not to make the reader feel as though they are being lectured to in any way.
3.5 stars Lilly was born to an English father and an Irish mother, but her parents were nomads of a sort, so she grew up in Morocco, at least until both parents died. From there, the person who was taking care of her brought her to Ethiopia. This was the 1970s, before a revolution in that country. In the 1980s, Lilly is living in London, England, along with an Ethiopian friend. The two of them are helping Ethiopian refugees find family, friends, and relatives, and both hope to one day find and be reunited with the man they each love. It was good. I mostly didn't like Lilly, though, especially in the 1980s as she pined away for Aziz so many years later and wouldn't let anyone else in (nor did she even decorate her apartment...she just couldn't move on). I had a bit of trouble getting “into” the book at first, though. It was a bit tricky, also at first, as the narrative jumped back and forth between Ethiopia in the 70s and London in the 80s, as I tried to follow along and figure out who everyone was. Overall, though, the story still turned out to be a good one.
A novel about an English girl, Lilly, who ended up being raised and educated as a Muslim when her nomadic, rootless parents were accidentally killed in North Africa. As a teenager, Lilly moves to Ethiopia, essentially on her own. The story takes us through the days of unrest and change in Ethiopia and the life of Ethiopian refugees in London afterwards. I found it very interesting to read about the differences between Islamic practices and what I guess I'd call denominations. I also found it meaningful that this is the second book I've read recently that describes how Islam changed in the 70s and 80s as less tolerant, more violent and repressive factions grew influential. I really enjoyed this book, Lilly's story, and the glimpse at other cultures.
I picked up this book for free at a book exchange, otherwise I would never have acquired it due to its distasteful title Sweetness in the belly, a disgust which was strengthened by the mention of infibulation--female circumcision, blood and menstruation (pp. 67-8). Sweetness in the belly is very much a women's book, but definitely not chick-litt.One problem I have with this book is that the cultural perspective of the author is not clear. It could be argued that the position of the author is irrelevant, as the story needs to be told, and only a narrator within the text would do, however, in this book, this oversight irritated me. In this context it is important to know that the author, Camilla Gibb is a social anthropologist who lived and worked in Ethiopia. While generally I would not be bothered by the position of the author, that is to say, the work may not be autobiographical, and the story of the book may be entirely fictional, there is a strong sense that the auctorial voice must be authentic. Whether in an historical or contemporary novel setting, suspense can only be maintained by the craft and skill of the author to create a make-belief reality. Sweetness in the belly is too researched, and seems to lack indigenous originality.I tried to appreciate Sweetness in the belly as an introduction into the Muslim world of women, but the femininity of the book, its content, style and references to Islam, prevented that. Possibly, I would have felt differently if the story had been told by an Ethiopian female writer.It did not help much that the novel was unexpectedly (and unnecessarily) long, with 334 pages, and the narrative jumps in confusing non-chronological order, back and forth between 1974 and 1991, and between the geographical locations of Ethiopia and London.
Gibb is immensely readable. I'm delighted to have discovered another notable Canadian writer.“He must have envisioned a time when I would have to make my way in the wider world; the books he presented offered lessons about war and morality and disease and love and betrayal and, perhaps most important, survival. Under the sea, at the centre of the earth, on another planet, alone on a desert island, as a person hunted, in war, as a giant among little people, in the future, in a world upside down, a world through a looking glass, a world gone mad."A world like the one we live in. A world like the one we left." (248)
I picked this up thinking it was a memoir. It took me a little while to catch on it was a novel, and for some reason I was disappointed that it was fiction not fact. That disappointment and shattering of expectation colored my perceptions, I think. Still, the book takes an interesting premise -- a white, western woman raised as a Muslim. The story careens around to different parts of the world: Morocco, Ethiopia, finally leaving Africa for London. It touches many aspects of life, including political upheaval, rebellion, faith, bigotry, health, tradition, and of course, love. The health care bits, particularly interested me.Well written, well paced between the present day, and the past, informative, it was an interesting book, even if it wasn't a memoir.
Lilly Abdal, orphaned at age eight after the murder of her hippie British parents, grows up at an Islamic shrine in Morocco. The narrative alternates between Harar, Ethiopia, in the 1970s, where she moved in pilgrimage at age 16, and London, England, in the '80s, where she lives in exile from Africa, working as a nurse. A bit trite and oversimplified. Not much beauty in the portrayal of place, contrary to my hopes.
Beautifully written, with an equally beauriful story.
This is the story of a child whose British parents were murdered, leaving her to be raised in a Sufi mosque in Morocco, then flee to Ethiopia and then to England. It is a slow moving and wonderful reading experience to join this unusual journey to adulthood. The writing is excellent so I felt as if I was with her and her Sufi mentors, then with her attempting to fit into life as an Ethiopian white Muslim woman. The relationships are very complicated as she must deal with being suspect in her role, as well as the jealousy of others. It is fascinating to watch the development of her faith as it follows her cognitive experiences of living with not only different religions, but more interestingly with other Muslims who have varying perspectives and interpretations of their religion. She moves from youthful black and white thinking to a more sophisticated understanding of life. When she leaves Ethiopia she must adjust again, now to life in England, where she works with a non-profit group to help other refugees. She also experiences romantic relationships that are complicated and fascinating.Reading this book is a good way to develop understanding of common refugee experiences as well as experiences specific to this particular group. The waiting and waiting to know if your loved ones are alive, to determine if or when to move on beyond that hope and to a new life in a new country are experienced by the reader.Highly recommended.
Lilly,is a English born devote Muslim woman raised in Ethiopia by a Quran specialist after her hippie parents die. She embraces that life although she is always a foreigner . She winds up in Harar living with Muslim woman and embraces their traditions living by the word of the Quran until she falls for a local doctor. the novel moves between Harar and England where Lilly must flee when the Emperor is dethroned and the corrupt world of Haile Selassie exposed.The political and religious unrest is real and we live it through the very real voice of Lilly who is really quite innocent and non judgemental.