|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Lily Fairbairn
Half-elven
Jun 19 2022, 3:14pm
Post #1 of 5
(370 views)
Shortcut
|
|
It's the occasional reading thread!
|
Can't Post
|
|
I'll be going places and seeing people for the next couple of weeks, so I'm going to go ahead and post what I have even though the old thread isn't very far gone. (Maybe I should say, "Gone but not forgotten!")
I'm still listening to The Fellowship of the Ring, in the new reading by Andy Serkis. The Nine Walkers have set out from Rivendell. All has gone relatively smoothly until they reach Hollin, where Aragorn notices a lack of animal life. Meanwhile, do they cross over the mountains or under them?
I'm also finished listening to SPQR, by historian Mary Beard. It's the absorbing tale of the development of the Roman empire, from its humble beginnings as a village by the Tiber through the first two centuries of its known-world-spanning strength and arrogance. She includes lots of details about different personalities and their actions, and isn't hesitant to refer to modern-day interpretations of said personalities and events.
I've also read a very small book, A Tivoli Companion by Tim Cawkwell. This is Cawkwell's personal essay on the town of Tivoli in the hills above Rome (NOT the later amusement park in Copenhagen), which is the site of a Roman emperor's villa, a Renaissance pleasure garden, and a nineteenth-century garden. It makes me want to learn Italian.
I started reading The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, by Stuart Turton, awhile back and then put it down when I got a spate of library books. I’ve now picked it up again and finished it, but with mixed feelings. The cover copy describes it as Quantum Leap (the old TV show) meets Agatha Christie, which is a good description. But oh my, it’s way too long, way too involved, and completely lacks QL’s and AC’s wit and sparkle. Instead it’s grim, dark, ugly, and plodding. Well, the premise is clever, and is actually handled fairly well if you can cut through the excess verbiage. And there are very nicely written bits. But it’s in first-person present-tense, which is so artificial and pretentious it kept jerking me out of the story, not that my confusion and distaste didn’t do that often enough. I kept skim-reading to the end, though, because I wanted to see what happened, so that’s a recommendation.
I'm now reading The Science of Murder: The Forensics of Agatha Christie, by Carla Valentine. This is a straightforward exploration of criminal forensics by a British woman who works in that field, with many mentions of how Christie used that material in her work, often ahead of her time. Valentine writes with great good humor and clarity.
So what have you been reading?
Where now the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing?
Where is the helm and the hauberk, and the bright hair flowing?
Where is the hand on the harpstring, and the red fire glowing?
Where is the spring and the harvest and the tall corn growing?
They have passed like rain on the mountain, like a wind in the meadow;
The days have gone down in the West behind the hills into shadow....
|
|
|
Annael
Elvenhome
Jun 19 2022, 4:19pm
Post #2 of 5
(366 views)
Shortcut
|
|
that book about Agatha Christie's methods sounds fascinating!
[In reply to]
|
Can't Post
|
|
Well, I read Interbeing by Thich Nhat Hanh, which was not so much a description of what interbeing is but rather a set of meditations to keep one mindful of the interbeing of all. I will probably, as the book advises, re-read it a couple of times a month. And then I was drawn to re-read Lois McMaster Bujold's Paladin of Souls. I have to wonder if she's had a near-death experience herself, she writes so movingly and, to my mind, accurately about what happens when we look through the gate to the other side. Ista dy Chalion remains one of my favorite characters ever, but her books teem with wonderful characters.
I'm also reading the annotated Persuasion, partly because the annotations are often useful to my research for a book set at the same time period (albeit across the Pond). I saw the trailer for Dakota Johnson's "Persuasion" movie this week and . . . Nope. nope. nope. Not because they are using color-blind casting, which doesn't bother me, but because Johnson's Anne Eliot is not in any way similar to the Anne of the books - and Anne Eliot is another of my favorite heroines ever. She seems to be modeled instead on Elizabeth Bennet, full of snark and rolling eyes and smirks at other people. I blogged about why the snarky, arch female character seems so popular these days and why I don't care for the trend. https://jodybower.com/...5/the-female-jester/
I am a dreamer of words, of written words.
-- Gaston Bachelard
* * * * * * * * * *
NARF and member of Deplorable Cultus since 1967
|
|
|
Lily Fairbairn
Half-elven
Jun 19 2022, 9:57pm
Post #3 of 5
(348 views)
Shortcut
|
...Lois has never had a near-death experience. It just goes to show you what perception and imagination can reveal. And good writing!
I enjoyed your essay on Persuasion. I agree with you, I don't care for this trend, either.
Where now the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing?
Where is the helm and the hauberk, and the bright hair flowing?
Where is the hand on the harpstring, and the red fire glowing?
Where is the spring and the harvest and the tall corn growing?
They have passed like rain on the mountain, like a wind in the meadow;
The days have gone down in the West behind the hills into shadow....
|
|
|
ElanorTX
Tol Eressea
Jun 19 2022, 10:00pm
Post #4 of 5
(348 views)
Shortcut
|
Consent: A Memoir of Unwanted Attention by Donna Freitas. (2019.) Describes her experience of being stalked by one of her graduate school professors. She'll be speaking at a conference I'm attending this week.
Several JRRT-related books and articles for a graduate course I'm auditing on "Creativity and Tolkien." I'll save those for the RR.
Snippets from St. John Chrysostom. He wasn't called the "Golden-Mouthed" for nothing.
Someday, when I move home, I'm looking forward to reading some new books and re-reading some beloved old ones.
ElanorTX
"I shall not wholly fail if anything can still grow fair in days to come."
|
|
|
Kimi
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Jun 20 2022, 5:36am
Post #5 of 5
(339 views)
Shortcut
|
I'd seen that there's a new "Persuasion" coming out, and wondered if I should give it a try - thank you for helping me decide (not to). Persuasion is my favourite Austen novel, and I love the adaptation with Amanda Root (we re-watched it for the umpteenth time just a couple of weeks ago). Decades ago now, we were lucky enough to see Amanda Root as Lady Macbeth at Stratford-upon-Avon, and she was breathtaking in a role that's about as different from Anne as a role could be. And on alternate nights she was doing Restoration comedy!
I very much enjoyed your blog post. Let Anne be Anne, with the characteristics we love her for. Not all heroines have to be arch, or feisty, or bursting with self-confidence.
A while back I tried watching a version of Mansfield Park, which has a heroine who tends to divide readers, as she's often seen as weak. They'd made Fanny *feisty*, not to mention physically robust, and in the process stripped her of her moral courage by changing a pivotal choice she makes. I know Fanny's not everyone's cup of tea, but for goodness sake, adapt another book if you must have a feisty heroine!
The Passing of Mistress Rose
My historical novels
Do we find happiness so often that we should turn it off the box when it happens to sit there?
- A Room With a View
|
|
|
|
|
