DIY History | Transcribe | Nile Kinnick Collection | Nile Kinnick correspondence, June-August 1942

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Nile Kinnick correspondence, June-August 1942

1942-07-17: Back

This morning we finally got started with a one hour dummy run.
I was piloting the tow plane, dragging the sleeve about 100 yds
behind, so didn't really learn much. We probably will start
firing tomorrow.
Since coming here I have had time to do quite a little bit
of reading, and have enjoyed it more than at any time for six
or seven years. Have found that by reading in all my spare
moments--between gr. sch. classes, while riding the bus out
to squadron, and, of course, after supper--that I can sail
right thru a book. Recently I read St. Exupery's "Wind, Sand
and Stars" and am now well started in "Flight to Arras".
I was prompted to check them out not only for my own enjoyment, but, also, to provide myself with vocabulary and
phraseology with which to describe my own flight experiences
and reactions. Despite the good press both of these books
received I have not found them much to my liking.  They are
adventure narratives philosophically written and some of it
is pretty good, but a whole lot of it I just don't"get".
Many pages are just so many words to me; poetry, lyrical
expression, emotion, yes, but the substance, what he is driving
at frequently eludes me. And most of the time I don't think
the prospect good enough to analyze and dissect. Having never
read much on Theodore Roosevelt, I selected a biography by
Henry Pringle which was a Pulitzer Prize winner, and which
was highly recommended by Wm. Allen White on the inside front
cover.  It was 600 pages long and quite exhaustive. However,
I found it interesting throughout and read it completely in
just a few days.  It would be my feeling that TR was not
presented quite so favorably in this book as in many others.
He is not denied his courage, patriotism, and forceful action
for national welfare; but from these pages, he was also
tactless, full of contradictions of speech and action, headstrong, and firmly believed that his view of a matter was
the just, righteous one and that all dispute, including the
courts, was out of the question. (What's the name of the
present incumbent in the White House???) This morning I
finished up Steinbeck's "Grapes of Wrath". It is full of
course language and episode, and I presume I invite your
censure when I say that I thorougly enjoyed it.
It has been hailed as a potent editorial force and
a great social document which I think it undoubtedly was;
a thundering protest against the inequities of society.
However, it was the idiom, the characterization, the course
reality of it all that appealed to me.  I have worked and
talked with people whose language, humor, and relationships
were just like that. They drink, they swear, they are immoral (whatever that may be), they are devoid of refinement
and decency, but they are just as responsive to kindness and
an helping hand as anyone else, perhaps, more so.  The grit
and stamina of Mrs. Joad, her determination tokeep the family
intact, the pathos, the humor, the endless struggle, it all
tugged at me inside. Steinbeck certainly painted a great
picture as far as I am concerned.

Saving...

This morning we finally got started with a one hour dummy run. I was piloting the tow plane, dragging the sleeve about 100 yds behind, so didn't really learn much. We probably will start firing tomorrow. Since coming here I have had time to do quite a little bit of reading, and have enjoyed it more than at any time for six or seven years. Have found that by reading in all my spare moments--between gr. sch. classes, while riding the bus out to squadron, and, of course, after supper--that I can sail right thru a book. Recently I read St. Exupery's "Wind, Sand and Stars" and am now well started in "Flight to Arras". I was prompted to check them out not only for my own enjoyment, but, also, to provide myself with vocabulary and phraseology with which to describe my own flight experiences and reactions. Despite the good press both of these books received I have not found them much to my liking. They are adventure narratives philosophically written and some of it is pretty good, but a whole lot of it I just don't"get". Many pages are just so many words to me; poetry, lyrical expression, emotion, yes, but the substance, what he is driving at frequently eludes me. And most of the time I don't think the prospect good enough to analyze and dissect. Having never read much on Theodore Roosevelt, I selected a biography by Henry Pringle which was a Pulitzer Prize winner, and which was highly recommended by Wm. Allen White on the inside front cover. It was 600 pages long and quite exhaustive. However, I found it interesting throughout and read it completely in just a few days. It would be my feeling that TR was not presented quite so favorably in this book as in many others. He is not denied his courage, patriotism, and forceful action for national welfare; but from these pages, he was also tactless, full of contradictions of speech and action, headstrong, and firmly believed that his view of a matter was the just, righteous one and that all dispute, including the courts, was out of the question. (What's the name of the present incumbent in the White House???) This morning I finished up Steinbeck's "Grapes of Wrath". It is full of course language and episode, and I presume I invite your censure when I say that I thorougly enjoyed it. It has been hailed as a potent editorial force and a great social document which I think it undoubtedly was; a thundering protest against the inequities of society. However, it was the idiom, the characterization, the course reality of it all that appealed to me. I have worked and talked with people whose language, humor, and relationships were just like that. They drink, they swear, they are immoral (whatever that may be), they are devoid of refinement and decency, but they are just as responsive to kindness and an helping hand as anyone else, perhaps, more so. The grit and stamina of Mrs. Joad, her determination tokeep the family intact, the pathos, the humor, the endless struggle, it all tugged at me inside. Steinbeck certainly painted a great picture as far as I am concerned.