"Ayo Gurkha!"

WoodOwl · Mar 22, 2002

...is the title of a Gorkha novel,yes a novel.by J.M.Marks which I just found a our used bookstore.Dates from 1971 and only cost $4.I'd gone in there looking for Gorkha nonfiction...
Hope everybody has a good weekend.Tomorrow I'm going to play with some owls,rattlesnakes,and hopefully some "wooly mammoths"....

WoodOwl

Bill Martino · Mar 22, 2002

Sounds like a fun weekend!!!!

WoodOwl · Mar 22, 2002

The natural science museum is having a naturefest;the owls are rehab birds,and the fellow who's doing the snakes also makes knives.Guess what I'm taking to show him...Then across the street is the Highland Games.Hope they have better beer this year.Going to try some haggis,too...

Weekends are nice.

WoodOwl

Bill Martino · Mar 22, 2002

Have a good one, Woody.

WoodOwl · Mar 24, 2002

Finished "Ayo Gurkha!".I'm a little unsire as to the intended audience;the protagonist is a 14 year old Limbu who lies about his age to enlist and the story line is pretty clean,which makes me wonder if this is a juvenile or "young adult" book,but then there is a fair amount of blood and gore,which the hero participates in,so it surely is too politically incorrect for today's intended juvenile audience.
The author seems to get his details right,and he does something I'd never seen before:he describes a khukuri:"The scabbard was of black leather and tipped with shining steel;the gleaming blade was long,slender,and balanced to perfection;and the Limbu-style handle was of buffalo horn,the broad butt capped with a shaped steel plate."
Sounds like a Sirupati,doesn't it?
It's worth looking out for by us khuk nuts;I paid only $4 for mine.

WoodOwl

Bill Martino · Mar 24, 2002

The Sirupati is the favored blade of the Rai and Limbu folks.

WoodOwl · Mar 24, 2002

Is there a particular reason the Rai and Limbu prefer the Sirupati?

Bill Martino · Mar 25, 2002

It works well for them in the high country. That's what they grow up using.

WoodOwl · Mar 25, 2002

Thanks,Uncle.When I first found the HI site the Sirupati photos grabbed me and wouldn't let go;just could decide on 18 or 20 inches until the PGA came along and decided it for me.

WoodOwl

PipeyCain · Mar 25, 2002

WoodOwl: Let me know if you want to sell that book "Ayo Gurkha" Ive been looking for a copy. Cheers!

Bill Martino · Mar 26, 2002

WoodOwl · Mar 26, 2002

Pipey:
I became aware of this book when I did a search via bookfinders.com or abebooks.com(is that correct)and there were several out there;don't know what the going price was.Thanks for the offer,but I'm going to keep it as I think I was meant tohave this book,as I found it just by happening to look down at the bottom shelf.I was getting ready to leave...

WoodOwl