What I've Been Reading Wednesday

[thisbluespirit]

Only one day late!

What I've Finished Reading
The Mauritius Command, and the series continues to be solidly excellent. Then, slightly to my own surprise, I managed to read The Goblin Emperor, which I enjoyed very much (I can see what people mean about it being a very reassuring read and why some other people also find that annoying, but it suited me just fine right now) but stupidly did so in only about three or four days and was sick for the following three days as a result, which does dampen enthusiasm somewhat. (I don't know why I did it; I think I get a bit panicky that my reading ability might vanish, leaving me stranded halfway through a book).

So, after that I didn't read properly for a week, and then read the v light Daisy Dalrymple mystery I got from the library, Damsel in Distress, by Carola Dunn.


What I'm Reading Now
I'm technically reading Desolation Island (the next in the Aubrey-Maturin series), but not really much at the moment, as I think I was reading too much of them and having less brain than I should have done.

I am also beginning to work my way through my random Seven Masterpieces of Gothic Horror, starting with the first, The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole. It's very random and its heroes are terribly saintly, but this makes me laugh, especially when some of the other characters would rather be hanging around with less saintly people, or somebody has a moment of sarcasm. (Matilda's maid Bianca would obviously prefer to be in a Shakespeare comedy, but Matilda won't oblige her with even normal curiosity, let alone shenanigans and scheming.) There is also a spooky giant helmet with plumes of doom, and it's only 100 pages long.

I also enjoyed the particularly OTT bit where a Helpful Friar who has turned up to reason with Villainous Manfred accidentally causes Manfred to order the execution of the suspiciously Noble Peasant Theodore and is midway through begging for Theodore's life when he pauses to realise (via a handy birth mark) that Theodore is in fact his long-lost son (and he was formerly the Count of Falconara, because obv. you can't actually have a Noble Peasant. How he carelessly lost his son and her mother, hopefully I will find out before it's done.)

I am (family history) note-taking from Boyd Hilton's A Mad, Bad and Dangerous People: England 1783-1846, but I don't know if it counts as reading, as it is one of the Oxford History of England so more political and so on, so I am doing a lot of skimming through it. (It's a large book. When I'm not using it, I am trying to flatten some paper with it. It's multi-purpose.)


What I'm Reading Next
I think the library has the next Daisy Dalrymple book, so I might get that next week, but otherwise I think it will be something else off my TBR pile. There are several possibilities! If I can be sensible this time, that is. And at some point, presumably the next 'Gothic Masterpiece,' The Old English Baron by Clara Reeve. (It's longer, though - all of 134 pages!)

Comments

[persiflage_1]

I've seen quite a bit of hype for The Goblin Emperor but have yet to look at it properly.

I bought the ebook of Christie's Cards on the Table today - I'm trying to rid myself of physical books before I move (at some undefined point between now and Xmas!!) so I snagged that when I noticed it was reduced in price. Think I've mentioned that though I love Honeysuckle Weeks in the TV version, I hated the fact they changed the ending from the book, so I was determined to own the book.

[thisbluespirit]

I've seen quite a bit of hype for The Goblin Emperor but have yet to look at it properly.

I enoyed it! In many ways, it's a very gentle read, but there's also a lot of really complex world-building involved in it. Very good in lots of ways.

Think I've mentioned that though I love Honeysuckle Weeks in the TV version, I hated the fact they changed the ending from the book, so I was determined to own the book.

Oh, that one was such an annoying thing! I don't know what came over the writers. Of all the Christies to change the ending on, why would you do it to that one? I'm glad you have the e-book!

(How are your moving plans coming along, or is it better not to ask...?)

[persiflage_1]

I'm here for gentle reads!

Seriously, it was SOOOO annoying!

Moving plans are not yet in motion as the letting agents have yet to tell me when the tenant downstairs, whose room I'm moving into, is leaving. Possibly the end of this month. Possibly next month. *rolls eyes*

Meanwhile, I'm ditching books, DVDs and CDs that I no longer want to keep as I know I'm not likely to engage with them again.

[thisbluespirit]

Oh, but you have somewhere to go now? While that sounds v irritating, I am glad to at least hear that! <3 I hope the letting agents get a move on though!

And, indeed, if you're no longer into them, you don't want to have to pack them in boxes!

[persiflage_1]

Yeah - as of last week. The tenant in the front groundfloor room's moving out, so I'm going in there. Which is pretty much perfect - bigger room and no more flights of stairs (2 of 'em!) to get to my room. I just hope my housemates don't wake me up banging the front door (they can be rather asshole-ish about door banging in this house).

Exactly!

[thisbluespirit]

Oh, good! I mean, door-banging and hitches, aside! /o\ Will it be a little better in summer, not being an attic, as well?

[persiflage_1]

I assume that it will be somewhat cooler, yes.

[flowsoffire]

*hugs*

[grondfic]

Do the Gothic Masterpieces include The Monk by Matthew Lewis? It sags badly in the middle, but in general it's a big laugh.

[thisbluespirit]

It doesn't include The Monk, but it does have another one of Lewis's, called Mistrust.

[jhall1]

If you find The Castle of Otranto amusing, you appear to be in good company, as judging by Northanger Abbey Jane Austen felt the same way. (Regarding Catherine Morland, I find it interesting that fangirls have evidently been around for over 200 years.)

[thisbluespirit]

Aha, yes, once I've read my Gothic masterpieces, I should definitely try and re-read Northanger Abbey! I'm not surprised Jane Austen found it amusing too. Although, to be fair, it is actually pretty entertaining for something peopled by medieval saints and a villain who seems to change his character and motivation every time he reappears, and I think Horace Walpole intended some of it to be amusing, too.

The fangirls (and boys) are always with us. *nods*

[shannonsequitur]

At some point, Austen fans may become curious to read Ann Radcliffe's The Mysteries of Udolpho. DON'T DO IT. It was the most agonizingly boring thing I have ever attempted to read. It's something like 800 or 900 pages long and I painfully dragged myself through about 150 of them before finally giving up. SAVE YOURSELVES. I wish someone had warned me.

[thisbluespirit]

If I ever get an e-reader one day, I'm probably bound to try it, no matter how much of a bad idea that may be. :-D

[hamsterwoman]

I really enjoyed The Goblin Emperor. It's not really my preferred kind of fantasy book, but it was such a pleasant read, and I find that it has stayed with me for the past several years, the characters and the worldbuilding. (And there's some good fic in the fandom now, too.)

[thisbluespirit]

It is a rather impressive mix of intricate world-building while being sort of gentle and positive. I liked it! I just wish I'd gone slower. *slaps self*

I have a few flisters who are really into it.

[st_aurafina]

*hugs* I guess a book that makes you want to read it quickly even when you shouldn't must be a bit unputdownable? I have it on my to-read list, I will check it out. I know it's a popular fandom, as far as book fandoms go.

[thisbluespirit]

True, although since it was quite gentle, I could have and should have gone slower! I was just being rebellious, but that never works against illness.

It is a good book, though. A sort of combination of intricate and rather different world-building (often hinted at rather than gone into in depth) plus a central character gradually putting things right by being good and well-meaning. (I can see why other people who like a little more bite in things are impatient with it, too, but it worked for me. If I had more of a brain, I could see it easily becoming one of my comfort reads.) I hope you enjoy it too - reassuring reads are a very good thing currently!

<3

[sovay]

I managed to read The Goblin Emperor, which I enjoyed very much (I can see what people mean about it being a very reassuring read and why some other people also find that annoying, but it suited me just fine right now)

I really liked it.

[thisbluespirit]

I did, too! I'm sorry my reviews are not really reviews, but at least they can be starting points for conversations sometimes. :-)

I hadn't thought about the parallel to Claudius; that's an interesting point. (I've seen the TV series in the last few years, but it was a long time ago I read the two novels, and what I remember of the series is mostly the darkness of it, overall.)

it's something I'd like to read again fairly soon to get more out of and then maybe glance at the fandom or discuss - but, given my current situation, that won't happen, really. (But it is getting better. I laughed a lot at Castle of Otranto last night. Even if possibly I wasn't meant to be laughing; in some bits it's hard to tell.)

[sovay]

I'm sorry my reviews are not really reviews, but at least they can be starting points for conversations sometimes.

Well, it seems to be working.

(I've seen the TV series in the last few years, but it was a long time ago I read the two novels, and what I remember of the series is mostly the darkness of it, overall.)

The novel was one of the formative books of my adolescence. I started Latin as soon as I could in my school system, which was in ninth grade; a year and a half later I picked my mother's red-spined Modern Library edition of I, Claudius off a shelf in the living room because I read everything that wasn't nailed down and I hadn't heard of the BBC miniseries, I didn't know from Derek Jacobi, I fell in love. (I did recognize, in the acknowledgements, the identity of "Aircraftman T. E. Shaw" who argued with Graves over the use of "assegai" rather than "javelin" for framea. I'm with Lawrence.) I carried that copy around like a talisman for a year. Further exposure would demonstrate to me that I have a fraught relationship with most of Graves' art, but his voice for this one character clicked at once. I am lukewarm to indifferent toward Claudius the God, but you can take I, Claudius from me over the bodies of the Praetorian Guard.

I'm glad your situation is getting better!

[thisbluespirit]

I carried that copy around like a talisman for a year.

Aww. It was a long time ago now that I read them, as I said, but I was older, and they weren't formative, though I enjoyed them. I knew of I, Claudius, but they never repeated things like that; it was just a vague TV legend. I remember reading them, I remember liking them (I think, as with you, more the first book), but I don't remember much else, except that I was reading them in English lit. (I think, for some reason, I must have regularly been early to at least one of the sessions, maybe?? At this remove, I can distinctly remember the books I read in that space, but not how or why I was doing that.)

But it is a pretty apt & interesting comparison; I wonder if it went into the mix somewhere along the way?

I am lukewarm to indifferent toward Claudius the God, but you can take I, Claudius from me over the bodies of the Praetorian Guard.

I really doubt it; any situation that involves me triumphing over and slaughtering the Praetorian Guard en masse is some very strange mirror universe me!! ;-p

[liadt]

I've seen the Goblin Emperor being recced around and have been thinking of getting to it next year and am attracted because of the reassuring claims, although just opening a book and reading can be reassuring in itself.

[thisbluespirit]

All I can say is that I enjoyed it and it's simultaneously reassuring but has intricate world-building behind it as well. Certainly very well worth a try!

[swordznsorcery]

Well done on being only one day late! :) I've been meaning to do a Media Monday for about three months, but I always seem to lack the brain. I'm glad the Daisy Dalrymples are going well. I should think they provide quite a good counterbalance for those weighty O'Briens? The same author has a series set in modernish Cornwall, but that's probably less entertaining than the mock Golden Age stuff.

My grandfather was a great fan of Walpole. He had these gargantuan, leatherbound copies, from the 19th century. I do like a nice, old book (although not always what's inside it!)

[thisbluespirit]

Post! It will only be even worse in six months, just imagine! ;-)

I'm glad the Daisy Dalrymples are going well. I should think they provide quite a good counterbalance for those weighty O'Briens?

They do. The O'Brian's really aren't that weighty once you get past the first one - they're frequently a lot of fun. It's just an odd thing to balance out what works currently and what doesn't, but more things work than they used to! I have choices! I enjoy stuff! Amazing! :-D

My grandfather was a great fan of Walpole. He had these gargantuan, leatherbound copies, from the 19th century. I do like a nice, old book (although not always what's inside it!)

Otranto is weirdly entertaining, and you can't tell whether Walpole means the saintly stuff or whether he's having us all on - there are some bits that seem meant to be humorous. I'd be rather intrigued to read some of his other things sometime. You know, when I have more brain, an e-reader, endless time...

Large, old leatherbound copies sound v alluring! There's not much of Otranto to put into one, though!

[lokifan]

I love Otranto! It's so delightfully OTT.

[thisbluespirit]

It is! I really loved it in the end. :-D