Quote:
Originally Posted by avantman42
I thoroughly recommend the Otto Prohaska books by John Biggins. Someone loaned me a paper copy of A Sailor of Austria years ago, and when I looked for a copy for my Kindle, I discovered there are four books in the series. I've now read two, and need to get around to reading the other two.
I guess they're best described as humorous historical adventure fiction. The main character, Otto Prohaska, is an officer in the Austro-Hungarian navy when WW1 breaks out. In the first book, he's the captain of a submarine. He has some bizarrely comical adventures, and the writing is laced with humour. "I can still say with complete confidence that no one can claim to have plumbed the depths of human misery who has not shared the fore-ends of a submarine with a camel."
The books are well researched, and do an excellent job of describing the oddities of life in the Austro-Hungarian navy in the dying days of the empire.
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This sounded so exactly my kind of thing that I went ahead and bought all four books for less than $5 each at Kobo while vouchercodes40 still works. Thanks.
Returning the favor in kind, I'd like to recommend the Bandy books by Canadian humorist Donald Jack. They tell the hilarious adventures of hapless and horsefaced Bartholomew Bandy, during WWI and immediately after. Kobo has the first six books (couponable) of which I've read four; I'm trying to make them last.