2018 Reading Thread - Jill's Conversation w/ Friends Re Books

I wish to acknowledge the efforts of my two buddies in enabling this thread. Without the efforts of @BookstoogeLT and @YouKneeK, I would not be here today. (It was truly a collaborative effort and i was cracking up towards the end.) But we've made it now to 2018 and I can move forward with my reading.

Besides, here comes the spouse with lunch.

Ohh, lunch. I guess that was a successful mission after all. Your country thanks you for your service!

*thumbs up* You were a great First Responder...

>1 jillmwo: I greatly enjoyed the opportunity to play a small part in the madness! ;)

Well, I will certainly remember your contribution! (And if I ever just drop the word coffee on your reading thread without further elucidation, you'll know how to take it. With a snort and a chuckle.)

>5 jillmwo: Ha, yes, random “coffee” posts are always welcome! :)

It was highly entertaining and a great team effort you two :)

Happy New Year! I hope the spousal lunch was good. You need to keep your strength up for all your reading and reviewing!

I wish I’d been a part of the whole exhilarating enterprise!

Wishing you a happy new year with many good books to read.

coffee...

>11 majkia: ah, donut.

Ah ha--here you are! Following and preparing to (wo)manfully brave the book bullets...and Happy New Year!

Happy new year!

>11 majkia:, >12 jillmwo: LOL You all learn fast. You can now infiltrate my office and everybody will think you belong there. :)

>1 jillmwo: Happy new year. Your crisp and insightful posts sharpen my reading and keep me dodging bullets.

Hugs to you all! You've no idea how much I value the companionship found here in the Pub and I'm always eager to hear from you. BTW, if I'm not mistaken, @hfglen recommended at some point in the past 24 months the book The Bletchley Girls. Amazon Kindle has it on sale today for 99 cents and the paperback for less than $10.00. At any rate, I've grabbed the Kindle edition. Sometimes it takes a while for one to act on solid recommendations, but you can't assume that such book bullets go completely off into the ether....

This is my last day of holiday vacation. It is all of 13 degrees outside. Spouse has us tickets for Darkest Hour so we'll see that instead of having lunch out. (I have a committee meeting this evening, which doesn't thrill me but which does serve as a gentle reminder of the need for a return to normal life.)

Edited to fix the touchstone to go to the right title, as noted by @MrsLee below.

>17 jillmwo: I believe you meant The Bletchley Girls by Tessa Dunlop? The Bletchley Circle goes to DVDs of a television show, which was excellent, but not .99. :)

For what it's worth, I snagged The Bletchley Girls too.

>17 jillmwo: I read The Bletchley Girls at the beginning of 2017, and listed it among my top non-fiction reads of the year (along with a couple of others on the same theme).

>18 MrsLee: Honestly, I can't think why any of you rely on any information I might supply...

>19 hfglen: Why does the early part of 2017 seem so very long ago?

>17 jillmwo: >19 hfglen: Well... at 99¢, that is a definite book bullet for me. Thanks for the re-mention you two!

>17 jillmwo: 99 cents at Barnes and Noble too...just sayin'. It might have found its way onto my Nook...

Happy New Year, Jill. I wish you well with your 2018 reading thread. It is only January 2nd and already you are at post #23. At that read you can start your second thread of the year in about six days.

By the way, I enjoyed the TV series of The Bletchley Girls.

Speaking of book bullets, I really enjoyed A Gentleman in Moscow. It was just wonderful. You were one of many of the snipers that riddled me and prompted my getting to the book quickly.

Ooh, am I glad to have eavesdropped on this conversation today! Ever since Bletchley Circle (actually, since Sebastian, an earlier movie on the topic), the codebreaking women of WWII have intrigued me. Just grabbed a copy of The Bletchley Girls for my Kindle. Many thanks for flagging it!

Happy New Year! I look forward to following your reading and the great conversations that your threads generate.

I am freakin' freezing here in the Mid-Atlantic region of the US. I am sitting under the electric throw I got for Christmas from the sympathetic spouse, in the hopes of getting my feet warm. (To give him all due credit, he does supply me with hot coffee in the mornings, with lunch when he's home, and blankets when I'm muttering about popsicle toes in winter.) Geez louise....

Cats...one under the covers against your feet -- or even on top of them and another at your side. They definitely add warmth (though I wish mine would lose their fascination with whatever is on the cover of the library books).

>27 MinuteMarginalia: I was going to mention the same thing! My little kitty makes my toes toasty warm, and gives them a massage at the same time. Does wonders for the arthritis.

Hurray! The Bletchley Girls is still going for 99 cents on Kindle, and I just grabbed it in a hail of bullets.

I'm burrowing back in. Toes are decidedly chilled. But this is why January is actually better than December. There's no time to read in December -- too much going on. Whereas the doldrums of winter in January and February (not to mention the increased likelihood of being shut in by a snowstorm) means that you have plenty of opportunity for DNBR days on the weekend. (Unless you're like me and have a backlog of housekeeping chores staring you in the face.)

And one day, I'm going to write a 2,000 word article on how to properly write a marketing description of a book for purposes of sale. One should not be misleading a trusting consumer for the sake of filthy lucre.

Under consideration from this month's list:

1. The Patient in Room 18
2. Shanghai Moon
3. Nicholas and Alexandra
4. The Bloody Chamber

Continuing (albeit slowly) on my amateur Austen Project. (At the rate it's going, the research might actually be done before I retire. Freelance is sucking up a lot of time.)

>31 jillmwo: I liked The Bloody Chamber a lot. I have a lifelong interest in fairy tales and folktales and have read a number of scholarly books on the subject. Usually I don't have much patience for "rewritten" tales because I think the authors often miss the point, inflate them unnecessarily with extraneous content (dancing mice, talking fish, petty rivalries), and sometimes just use them as source material to squeeze out a byline when they lack ideas of their own. This distorts or destroys the real value that has made them last so long--not that the old tales and myths are so fragile but that children (especially children) are getting empty calories instead of solid nutrition.

But Angela Carter does have ideas of her own, and she lets them drive the action even while permitting the transcendent themes of the old stories to have their rightful sway. This, at least, is how I remember the book after some twenty years or so.

>31 jillmwo:, >32 Meredy: I too love The bloody chamber and agree with Meredy's memories. Carter is at her finest in this collection, which is lush, dark, bawdy, erotic and brilliant.

I doubt that many are unfamiliar with Angela Carter’s collection,, The Bloody Chamber, because at this point, it’s considered to be a part of the 20th c literary canon. As a quick reminder, it’s a set of stories that reframe many of the classic fairy tales -- Beauty and the Beast, Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood -- in a more feminist light. I think I read this initially back in the ‘80’s. The paperback version that I own touts the 1984 movie on its cover. Sadly that edition is showing signs of acid deterioration in its pages so I allowed myself a birthday splurge and bought the Folio Society hardcover edition (currently on sale this January).

Three of the pieces struck me.

The tale from which the collection takes its name is actually based on Bluebeard which is not a particularly woman- or child-friendly tale. An innocent young woman weds a man who charges his wife with a set of keys to all the rooms in his castle, save one. That one she is forbidden to enter. Of course, an entirely human curiosity drives her to disobey and when she does (at least in the original) she discovers all of her spouse’s murdered, predecessor wives. He returns home, discovers her transgression and is about to cut off her head with his scimitar or cutlass, but the young wife begs her sister, Anne, to signal to her brothers to make haste to the castle and prevent her execution. Loyal sister Anne does so, the brothers arrive in time and the wicked murderous spouse is himself done away with. (The didactic meaning here is that one should curb one’s curiosity lest hidden knowledge put an innocent child in danger, but also that the child will -- if lucky -- be rescued from the consequences of his or her action.) When Carter retells the story, it becomes a tale of innocence awakened to the existence of corrupt and sybaritic evil as well as one’s own potential for it. Sex is a part of that story, but not the whole of it. The story becomes a Gothic (with a capital G) tale, told with lush language, foreshadowing and symbolism. (The constant reference to lilies throughout becomes a somewhat heavy-handed example of all, in my view.) The imagery is striking -- “a choker of rubies, two inches wide, like an extraordinarily precious slit throat” or mirrors in “stately frames in contorted gold”. ‘The Bloody Chamber’ is novella-length, one that is entirely and shudderingly memorable.

Another short-short story included is “The Snow Child”, two pages that encapsulate the result, should the evil Queen be victorious in the story of Snow White. (Actually this one made me go “EEeeuuww” after I swallowed it one night and subsequently digested the meaning. Seriously Eeuuw, when one considers the various valid interpretations.)

I’m still mulling over ‘The Company of Wolves’. I mean, what is Carter’s meaning in presenting the scope of mythology surrounding wolves, wolf as carnivore incarnate. As a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood, one isn’t sure that it’s entirely satisfactory. Is the point that wolves (men as shape-shifting entities) devour women and their lives? The only one who is truly devoured is Granny but I suspect that there is a “but” to follow….

Just as a quick aside if you'll allow me to go back to the tale of Bluebeard, one of the modern interpretations of Bluebeard is one of my favorite 19th century novels -- Jane Eyre. Mr Rochester as the stand-in for Bluebeard, annihilating one wife in order to marry an alternate younger and more innocent one. I may never be able to enjoy Jane Eyre in the same way ever again. The risk of Rochester beheading Jane will always be in the back of my mind. (No wonder he had to be physically maimed in Bronte’s work…) There’s also the unfortunate way in which this tale is illustrated during the 19th c to show Bluebeard as a character emerging from an Arabic setting.

This is my birthday weekend (I told you that I am @MrsLee ‘s evil twin and this is the actual proof. We share January birthdays.). I am binging on Shakespeare on DVD, seeing The Post at the movies, and reading and mulling over books. (It's one of the values of three-day weekends that one has time to do all three.)

Happy birthday!

>34 jillmwo: Happy birthday!

>34 jillmwo: Happy birthday!

That's an intriguing interpretation of Bluebeard. Makes me wonder -- if the concept underlying Carter's retelling of Bluebeard is innocence discovering evil and being rescued by outside forces, is "Company of Wolves" the other side of the coin? Here, faced with danger, Red saves herself by relying on her gender and sexuality, losing her innocence by taking the initiative and becoming more attuned to her (former) predator.

>34 jillmwo: *whispers* um, I was unaware of it. It's now on order from B&N.

>38 Marissa_Doyle: I suspect you're in for a treat, Marissa!

>37 MinuteMarginalia: There are references to the narrator discovering the possibility in herself -- that she is capable of being corrupted herself with a certain degree of enjoyment of that corruption, an alarming discovery to a "sweet, young thing".

>36 YouKneeK: and >35 Jim53: Thank you! My birthday gift purchased today is a brand new Chromebook. Not a fancy one but certainly one with better screen resolution.

By the way, here's the next installment of that Silmarillion primer: https://www.tor.com/2018/01/03/enter-the-silmarils-u-cant-touch-them/

>39 jillmwo: is this the Silmarillion featuring MC Hammer?

>40 Jim53: *snort*

Those of you who have a faint memory of this household's practice of doing Shakespeare as part of the New Year celebration will undoubtedly be relieved to know that the practice continued in 2018. We watched Chimes at Midnight which is Orson Welles' version of the the same two plays. For just a two-house film, Welles' did a great job of digesting the material into an enjoyable form. So now my brain is playing around in crafting a PROJECT involving the watching of many DVDs and reading of many books. I do not have time to actually execute such a project, but it would undoubtedly be a great learning experience if one could indulge one's finer instincts.

>34 jillmwo:
> The Bloody Chamber . . . considered to be a part of the 20th c literary canon
I had no idea. I discovered it on my own at a bookstore and haven't seen anyone else's mention of it before yours here. But I did send my mother a copy years ago, knowing that she was a great reader and had a special fondness for "Bluebeard," which was one of many stories that she told me from memory when I was a kid. She replied that she didn't much care for "stories like that," which left me wondering what on earth she thought of as "stories like that." Wish I'd asked her.

Greetings, Jill. I'll be stalking your thread as much as possible.

>38 Marissa_Doyle: and >42 Meredy: I blithely tossed off that comment when I was writing about Carter's work, but I don't think I'm far off. The Guardian newspaper categorizes it as a modern literary classic: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2006/jun/24/classics.angelacarter. The New Yorker wrote about her work here: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/03/13/angela-carters-feminist-mythology and when I messed around in the Open Syllabus Project hosted there at Columbia, The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories is assigned in college courses with solid regularity. It would appear mostly in courses pertaining to feminist thought/theory, fairy tales, and English Literature surveys.

I'm restless and trying to decide whether I should read something fun or read the very serious book on the history of print that I am supposed to be reviewing. Nothing fun is immediately to hand (although if I were to roam the bookshelves upstairs I might find something tucked away and unread). Not sure what I'm in the mood for.

>45 jillmwo: Looking forward to reading your thoughts on whichever you choose. (I can't help but visualize your description of the book on print with old-style capitalization: Very Serious Book...)

>45 jillmwo: That happens to me too. When you're in a fractious sort of reading mood, do you generally prefer a lot of short things or something long and meaty? fiction or nonfiction?

In this mood, sometimes, I just want something really easy -- space opera or regency romance. Something that doesn't entail complexity. Something unexpected or novel. And today, as I explained to husband over dinner, I was completely idle. One of those wasted days where you spend stupid hours on YouTube and by day's end, you've not tidied, packed away, or much of anything. I did make dinner in the crockpot (and that sentence sounds so much like I'm living back in the '70's) and for once the recipe turned out *well*. (Not as good as cooking with @MrsLee with her truffles, but respectable and practical in that it used up odds and ends in the fridge.)

Other times, when I'm in this mood, the problem is more to do with lazy brain. I have a perfectly good copy of Robert Massie's Peter the Great at my disposal (as recommended by @stellarexplorer), but again I feel a bit stupid and/or lazy. With that, I don't know what degree of absorption might be required and I want to make the reading count when I start it. I mean, a block of 90 minutes or so to get a handle on it.

At any rate, spouse wants to watch some more Shakespeare. (Much Ado About Nothing -- a modern version done in 2012 as a kind of a low budget lark by Joss Whedon and featuring Nathan Filian, of both Firefly and Castle, among others.) So I may not read end up reading anything tonight. It has it's own Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Much_Ado_About_Nothing_(2012_film) and what makes it kind of interesting is that it was filmed in 12 days at Whedon's own home. Lots of recognizable television and movie faces who've worked w/ Whedon in the past. There's an interview with Whedon in the Atlantic if you're interested: https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/06/joss-whedon-on-the-no-...

And, of course, I really should be writing an article for work. Anyone here ever regularly (or even occasionally) use their computer's microphone to activate a search on Google? Have you ever used your computer's microphone to dictate copy in Google Docs? I haven't done either with any regularity, but I'm not really a voice-activation sort. And I know it can be done. I just need help working out use cases.

Edited to Add: Apparently Joss Whedon holds Shakespeare brunches at his home on Sundays. Makes me wonder if perhaps Patrick and I should be moving to Hollywood.

>48 jillmwo: I'll have to look for that version of Much Ado. Ken and Em's version is one of my favorite movies ever.

I use voice-activated Google on my phone but not on my laptop. Back when I was working I helped out with a little testing of the training used for VTT, which is a popular add-on for some AI customers, but I didn't take anything useful from it.

>48 jillmwo: I’m the same as >49 Jim53: in that I use voice-activated Google quite a bit on my phone, and occasionally on my tablet, but never on my laptop or desktop. Do mobile devices count? If I’m by myself, and not near the computer, I usually use voice-activated Google searches if I want to look something up. I have insufficient patience for mobile keyboards and even Swype feels too slow and imprecise. I also voice-dictate my e-mails sometimes when I’m forced to answer e-mails with my phone, but I’m sure that doesn’t count since it’s not Google-based.

As far as dictating to Google Docs on my computer, even if I typed more slowly my writing style isn’t really compatible with voice dictation. I don’t write in sequential order; I throw thoughts almost at complete random onto the document and then flesh things out and reorganize once the thoughts slow down. I also jump around randomly to edit different parts as thoughts strike me before doing a final, sequential review.

>48 jillmwo: If your brain works the way mine does, you will become immersed in Peter the Great immediately. But who knows how large an assumption that is? Still, the perfectly good copy is sitting there, just waiting to be opened...

>48 jillmwo: My desktop computer has a microphone? Does that question answer your question?

As with others here, on my phone I do the OK Google thing.

When I'm alone I will talk to write a message here or in my text thingy or on FB, but I have to watch closely when I do, because apparently I don't speak too good.

Something just doesn’t feel right to me about engaging in conversational relationships with inanimate objects.

>53 stellarexplorer:, I am with you on that, especially when some of them can answer you back.

>53 stellarexplorer: Agreed, although I would consider it if the inanimate object in question were a replicator.

>53 stellarexplorer:, >54 pgmcc:, >55 zjakkelien: I have an Echo, so I talk to inanimate objects quite a bit, but not too conversationally. I use as few words as possible. For example, I always just say “Alexa, bedroom lights off”, instead of “Alexa dear, would you please turn off the bedroom lights so I can go to sleep now?”

On the other hand, I do speak conversationally with my cat, and I get way fewer useful responses than I do from the Echo despite his status as a hyper-animate object...

Actually, the input from all of you was helpful. I don't use voice direction with my devices. I just tend to type, so it's helpful when others can articulate what they do and why or why not. As @YouKneeK points out, it is sometimes wisest to use few and very simple words. (And that's in "command" mode mode. When you're trying to dictate a search query, you quickly see that the speech to text capability in these systems has on-going issues. Sometimes proper names can present very real challenges.)

I watched two things this week (apart from when I was doing research in the evenings). Spouse and I watched Henry IV, Part Two, specifically critiquing how various bits of speech and parts of scenes might be deleted or melded into one another. A common practice in the theater, but it's interesting to follow with a text and see exactly where those leaps are made and (sometimes) to wonder why. The other thing I watched (across several nights in bed before falling asleep) was a 2017 movie that I think got short shrift at the box office. Crooked House with Glenn Close, Gillian Anderson, and Christina Hendricks was actually quite well done. Even knowing who done it and how (having read it just within the past six weeks), the movie was successful in establishing a creepy mood appropriate to the murder within the family. Keep an eye out for it. I watched it via Amazon Video.

I have a book group tomorrow for which I must prepare and then I still have to read more in the Very Serious Book on the history of print. It's interesting but kind of intimidating at the same time. But I'm re-reading for the first time in literally decades A Wizard of Earthsea. Really enjoying it.

>57 jillmwo: Oh, I might have been hit by a video bullet with your Crooked House recommendation.

>58 clamairy: Ha! I like to know of those palpable hits! (And really, I enjoyed it as I hope will you!)

Today, the Township Library book group did Shanghai Moon by S.J. Rozan and it was a lively discussion. It usually is when you ask how folks liked this month's read and two pipe up immediately with differing views. One who hadn't thought she'd like the book but ended up enjoying it and the other in precisely the reverse situation. Then there's the third person who picks up on the book's theme (one which I had missed entirely) having to do with broken relations between families. So it was lively. What most of the readers found interesting was the portion of the book having to do with Jews escaping Germany just prior to World War II and emigrating to China. It was not an aspect of history that usually gets a lot of play, but the parallels between the experiences of Jewish and Chinese communities living in New York was quite striking. As a quick note, private investigator Lydia Chin is brought into a case of lost family assets from World War II and, throughout the course of the novel, is reading the letters of the young Jewish woman who flees to Shanghai with her grandmother's jewels. Dynamics of family as well as of culture are present throughout the story which makes it quite interesting as well. The general consensus was that it was an enjoyable read but that the variety of names as well as the criss-crossing family ties meant that one had to sometimes slow down to pick up on everything.

Okay, back to the discussion in my other read. The chapter l'm currently in is all about frontispieces. And why don't we have more of 'em?

And another blog entry about Tolkien's The Silmarillion from those folks at Tor: https://www.tor.com/2018/01/31/melkor-is-rebranded-and-feanor-goes-under-oath/

The critique refers to a work by C.S. Lewis, specifically The Great Divorce. And a very library-oriented characterization, "Arda's metadata has been adjusted". There's also much discussion of Ungoliant.

The full list of those entries is available here: https://www.tor.com/series/the-silmarillion-primer/ which is good because I think I may have missed one or two in my postings here.

BTW, for those of you kind enough to respond to my queries over voice-drive interfaces, the final piece went up this morning -- https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2018/02/01/will-scholarly-information-provid...

Freelance writing (not the piece I just linked to) has been sucking up my brain. I haven't had time to read and various volumes are crawling up the baseboards again. Honestly, the mailman should be holding me accountable, holding any new packages out of my reach and asking if I've finished the ones already in the house.

>61 jillmwo: Thank you. That sounds like a new postal service we can offer and charge for.

>61 jillmwo: Great article, thanks for sharing it!

>61 jillmwo: Enlightening! Here I work around cars every day and didn't even think about the voice-user tech in them. I'm hoping my car lasts forever, because it isn't full of gizmos.

>64 MrsLee: Until a year ago, I had a 2007 model car with absolutely no special features. Its most exciting feature was a remote to unlock the car, which I stuffed in the back of a drawer because the panic button on it was too easy to hit and I kept setting it off at 6am. :)

My new car isn’t anything fancy, just a 2017 Civic, but it's like a whole new world compared to what I had before. The right side-view camera for switching lanes is the best thing ever. Between the lane-keeping assist and the adaptive cruise control, it nearly drives itself whenever I’m doing lower-traffic highway driving. I don’t use the voice-activated features too often, though. Occasionally I’ll use “OK Google” via Android Auto while I’m driving, but it’s pretty rare. I love being able to use Waze via Android Auto and see the map on the built-in screen, though. It's so much better than the tiny cell phone screen.

I’m hoping that, by the time I need another new car, there will be affordable cars available that completely drive themselves so I can read while I commute like those lucky people who are able to take public transportation. ;)

>65 YouKneeK: I will keep an eye out for something I read in the past week or so that talked about the real timeline for autonomous cars. If I can locate it again, I'll share it with you.

Now here's a weekend game for you that I encountered in one of my 15 minute lunches this week as I read the first chapter of Bats in the Belfry. "If you were landed with a corpse on your hands, by what method could you dispose of it so as to avoid any future liabilities? Highest marks will be given for a method which is not only ingenious, but possesses the elements of practical common sense...It is assumed that one has created the corpse oneself, either by accident or malice aforethought, as may be most convenient."

So I ask the lot of you here in the Pub, how would you do it? The novel from which that quote was taken was originally published in 1937 when they had fewer distractions available to them, and this was apparently considered to be a fun method of entertainment. So it's your turn and I'm anxious to hear your ideas.

Meanwhile it's been a busy couple of weeks. Just now, I'm finishing up a re-read of A Wizard of Earthsea which is rather different in some ways from what I thought I remembered from my original exposure to it back in the '70's. Still very enjoyable, but I do understand now what Le Guin meant when she commented on how she was writing in a masculine mindset at that point in time. I look forward to re-reading Tombs of Atuan next.

>66 jillmwo: Was that this article by any chance?

>68 YouKneeK: The one I read had the expectation of autonomous cars being at least ten years or more away. I don't know if it was exactly this one (https://www.motoring.com.au/autonomous-cars-decades-away-says-nissan-110983/) but in that ballpark. I did read that one in The Verge as well.

I’m tempted to look at how the corpse arrived, and in what condition. I’d like to make a natural causes argument, if I can’t trace a murder to a perpetrator.

I or around some national parks and I am absolutely sure there are plenty of places to park a body. As long as there is nothing connecting me to the dead guy, I think I could get away with it.

>67 jillmwo: I remember Tombs of Atuan as being rather bleak -- though adding some balance with a female protagonist. I hope you'll be posting more of your reactions to that volume and the next.

>71 cmbohn: Funny enough I was also thinking of how to get the corpse into the local lion park unobserved ...

>67 jillmwo: Very clever, Jill. I will not be part of your conspiracy or help you dispose of the body. Who did you kill? How long have you got before you're discovered? Do you have any deep wells nearby?

On a separate. but related topic, I didn't do it. Nobody saw me do it. You can't prove anything.

I’d rather not risk moving the body, because you look awfully guilty if you’re seen. I prefer establishing either that it wasn’t murder, or that it couldn’t have been me who did it.

>74 pgmcc: and >75 stellarexplorer: We've established clearly that it was you and that you are aware that you did it. It is not a death that one can shrug off as due to natural causes so you must cease prevarication. The question remains -- how (given your current location and circumstances) do you get rid of the corpse? >73 hfglen: has got the right idea -- he's working out how to drop the corpse off in the lion park. @cmbohn also has the right idea and is currently investigating deserted locations in national parks.

If you'd rather not risk moving the body for fear that will be witnessed, then the question must be what do you do with the corpse on the living room floor? (Or where ever it is that the murdered soul chose to fall.) It would seem to me that dismemberment will take too long and neighbors might question the sound of a buzz saw coming from the house. Or at the very least complain to the local constabulary. But after all, it was your act of murder. If you'd planned it ahead of time, you'd have bumped the victim off outside on a rainy or foggy evening but I gather you hadn't that degree of foresight? At any rate, you're stuck w/ the body. Given the way these things go, you've only a day or two at best. Give me some practical ideas for how you'd manage the thing.

>72 MinuteMarginalia: I continue to mull over the way in which A Wizard of Earthsea was handled. It's not comforting happy-ending fantasy, but I think its appeal comes in part from the fact that Ged is not particularly socialized -- he operates primarily off of natural talent at his work and pride -- and adolescents would I think find that familiar. Focus on the thing that you know you can do well and be suspicious of those who diminish you and/or your achievement. But it's clear that Ged's problem arises from his lack of humility regarding what he does well and his painful suspicion of those who look down on him. Le Guin doesn't provide Ged with much comfort at any point during the maturation process. He has but three or four friends throughout the entire novel and the background of his childhood is indeed bleak. His mentors are not always near to hand, and not all guides are trustworthy. For all it has dragons and magic, the world of Earthsea is fairly harsh. But I think it has a good outlook or attitude for readers. Life isn't going to present clear solutions, advice received from guides may conflict, and a good friend is a prize above all.

Some follow-up -- I seem to recall @clamairy once quoting this bit from Wodehouse: One prefers, of course, on all occasions to be stainless and above reproach but, failing that, the next best thing is unquestionably to have got rid of the body.

>76 jillmwo: The point about the lion park being, of course, that lions are primarily scavengers and will eat the evidence. I gather that in some third-world cities vultures would perform the same function.

@hfglen -- Now see, that's the kind of application of logic and consideration that I would expect here in the Pub.

Well, let's see. There are far too many homeless encampments in the creek area behind my house, so someone is bound to see me if I try to dump it back there. They always do.

So. I can't really stuff it in a mattress and then donate the mattress to good will, they don't take them anymore. Although, I could go purchase a new one and have the company take the corpse and old mattress away, but it would be bound to be traced back to me eventually. I don't want any accomplices in this, so taking the mattress to the landfill myself is right out.

Into the tub. Then go find a chemical stew that would dissolve it and wash it down the drain. Nope. No good. I have to call the plumber if someone uses too much toilet paper, and I'm pretty sure I have no access to a chemical stew that would dissolve enough. Besides, I could never bathe again. Eww.

I suppose, I would have to put it in the tub, get a lot of ice to keep it from smelling, then go get into a gardening frenzy and dig up several beds in the garden to replant. (This happens occasionally, so it would not be suspicious behavior to my neighbors.) A very sharp knife, dismember as I do the chickens I cook, looking for the joints, then carefully, in the full dark of the night, carry bits out to bury in the garden. Then I would move to a country that doesn't allow extrication, because bodies always come to light eventually.

In reality, I am much more likely to call the police and give a full confession, because that is easier. I'm not likely to have killed someone unless they were threatening me or my family, so I would take my lumps and feel justified.

Well, so far @MrsLee is winning the game. She has considered a variety of possible approaches and brought forward the most practical available to her and the steps she'd adopt to fend off suspicion. Of course, because it's @MrsLee, she then goes and confesses to the police. Which demonstrates why I'm the EVIL twin. (Speaking for myself, I'd be the lengthy planner -- figuring out how to sure lure someone away and far from my personal property.

If I did it, I'd try to commit the murder and dump the body in some rural area where we might be able to count on the scavenging vultures that @hfglen noted. In the novel I was reading, they were going to kill the nameless victim by luring him out on the road at night on a foggy evening, and then running over him with a car. The young woman who I suspect will be the central character had decided the best way to kill someone would be in the lower-level crypts of the local cathedral where she could dump the body into one of the open tombs. She didn't specify just how she'd kill the individual to prevent him or her from crying out and being rescued.

We need to make it look like natural causes. That way the grieving family will take care of the body.

I didn't realize we were allowed to lure, or plan ahead. That is something different altogether. I'm thinking a walk in the woods around here. Although, it is surprising how bodies do get found, and even after years have gone by, their killers are caught. A case like that came to light here just this last year. About 10 years ago, some young folks lured a friend out to the woods, killed him, took his stuff, buried the body, etc. Recently one of them confessed with details because they couldn't stand it on their conscience anymore. Lesson here, no accomplices.

Ok, now I see that I did it. Previously I was merely presented with a corpse. For all I knew, the murderer was trying to implicate me.

Well, the way I’ve always planned it - and apparently we are allowed to plan - I would entice victim to a lovely mountainous area and push them off a cliff. The unfortunate misstep would be very hard to disprove, and with my heretofore spotless criminal record and adequate funds for legal help if necessary, the chances of going down are quite small.

If I recklessly and impulsively killed this former person in my own home, I’m in trouble. Especially if there is evidence that the person was visiting my home, which will then come to light. And how did they get to my home? If by car, what do I do with the car?

If no car, I lean toward purchasing - with cash - a large duffel bag for the body. Fortunately, my house is not visible from the road and no one is likely to see me leave. I remove my EZPass, just in case it could provide clues to my travels. I drive several hours north into a very remote wooded area, corpse suitably accommodated in the trunk. I park on a trailhead at night. A good flashlight is essential. I walk into the woods for a good distance, and drag the body off the trail to the spot I have previously prepared with an adequate deep hole. I dump the body in, cover with dirt, plenty of leaves and branches on top, blending with the surrounding woods. I take the duffel with me so it won’t be traced to me if ever found, and burn it. I’m back home by dawn, ready to resume my previously comfortable life.

If there is a car, the situation calls for more finesse. I hope I haven’t had to cope with solid proof they were at my house. But in that situation, I’d do what I must. Park my car ahead of time in a suitable location near a steep hill. Get the victim drunk if possible, or if not just try to get a detectable blood alcohol level going, so investigators will be able to tell themselves a better story. Kill by blunt force trauma. Drive victim’s car to the top of the hill. Put the emergency brake on. Place corpse in driver’s seat. Release emergency brake. Quickly get in my car and leave the scene. Corpse found in car at bottom with expectable trauma and a blood alcohol level. Single vehicle drunk driving accident. Possible speculation that driver fell asleep at wheel. Resume life. If questioned, the deceased arrived having had a few maybe, but didn’t look overtly impaired. Yes, we did drink a little. If I recall correctly, he had maybe two drinks at my house? Three. Three at MOST. I am bereft at the tragedy, and that I may in some small way have contributed. Alcohol is truly a scourge!

There's a rather horrific serial murder case in Toronto right now, involving a landscaper who was stashing dismembered bodies in large planters and possibly the yards where he worked. It's the kind of case that I'd really enjoy in fiction, but hearing that it happened in real life is pretty awful.

I have the perfect title for the murder mystery I will never write: The Corpse In the Compost.

>87 tardis: Clearly something went very wrong, in that he got caught ;-)

The problem if it's clear that's it's murder, is that modern forensics are really remarkably good. However all resources are stretched, so the best way to avoid detection is to avoid the full weight of technology being brought to bear against you. A staged car accident is distinct possibility - far too common for them all to be investigated. >80 MrsLee: can all be detected years later. Ditto all burying etc.

Thanks to reading so many posts before this point I have gotten the idea to wait until cover of night and move the body into the woods where I'm sure the coyotes would make quick work of it. But what to do with the clothes and other personal articles? I'm assuming we don't want those found either... Hmmm.

I'm afraid I have no memory of sharing the Wodehouse quote, but I do love it.

>90 clamairy: As if you’ve not harbored a personal strategy prior to reading these posts.... ;)

*snork* Yes, but only for the random things that end up dead in my yard.

>76 jillmwo: To be honest, Jill, I would just look up the relevant page in my training manual and follow the instructions there. Unfortunately, for obvious reasons, I cannot let you know the content of those pages.

For getting rid of all evidence of the bodies, I just read in Seven League Boots how they got rid of the Romanov family. TheY dumped them in some exploratory mines which were deep enough to do the job, but not so deep as to make it difficult to finish it. Lots and lots of gasoline and sulfuric something or other, lots of moving unburned bits to the center and more gasoline to finish, then they shoveled all the ashes and charred dirt out, drove back to town tossing out shovel fulls of the mix all along the way. It rained the next day. Evidence gone. Of course, they had their guards stationed all around to keep out onlookers. That helps. Also, what was supposedly found were the burned clothing which they had removed and not so carefully destroyed.

All you people who are packing around the corpse. Have you carried a totally inert body before? Not easy, and they tend to flop awkwardly at inappropriate moments.

All this talk has me remembering the movie, The Trouble with Harry. :)

>94 MrsLee: They flop less in a duffel bag. It’s recommended to bind the corpse if it’s too floppy.

That Romanov strategy sounds good. Especially if I’m willing to destroy the house along with the corpse. :)

This conversation isn’t doing anything to allay my long-standing suspicions that this group is populated with highly literate axe murderers.

I suspect @jillmwo brought this up for one of two reasons: 1) she’s one of the axe murderers and is looking for ideas on how to dispose of her latest victim or 2) she’s working undercover to root out the axe murderers in the group and is using this conversation to pinpoint the members who seem to have a little too much expertise with the topic.

>96 YouKneeK: :o)

The jig is up!

An axe is too messy.

I vote for leaving a naked body in the Woods loosely covered with leaf litter. Ive read The Body Farm and I think that is the best way to go.

>98 suitable1: In the library? With the candelabra?

I have traditionally opposed the strategy of leaving the body in the open in the woods. Dental records are likely to confirm the murder of the missing person. Much better that the deceased is never found, or that the death is thought to be accidental.

I swear that light is at the end of the tunnel in just about ten days. Patience. I have been too tired to read but trust I will be back eventually.

>102 jillmwo: Good to hear you are still about.

>102 jillmwo: Thank you for checking in. I was about to take the drastic step of FB messenger to find out if you were okay! :)

>102 jillmwo: Hang in there!

>102 jillmwo: Sorry to hear things are still hectic and hope the end of the tunnel comes sooner than expected.

Yes! I have turned in *both* freelance research projects and all I have left to do is the Powerpoint. (And travel to lower Slobovia for the conference.) But I'm going to survive. Honestly, I've earned my keep this week.

The storm tonight means spouse and I aren't going to drive to a local restaurant for our ordinary evening out. We'll eat plain ol' pork chops broiled in the failing oven, and be grateful that this Nor'easter hit on a Friday night.

Congrats on completing the projects. I hope the slides aren't too onerous. I was never very good at them; I got by by copying impressively designed decks from others and substituting my text among their graphics.

>107 jillmwo: Well done on the projects and enjoy Slobovia.

Have you checked the visa requirements and the relevant inoculations?

So yes, I’ve been missing since the beginning of February. I didn’t read much and I didn’t read well. (Okay, actually I was reading a ton of research reports and searching historical databases which also requires a certain amount of reading, but those were not the kinds of reading experiences that we talk about here in the Pub.) So let me briefly note the very few titles that I vaguely recall from the past five or six weeks.

If you’re unfamiliar with The Wizard of Earthsea, the story of Ged is that of a somewhat unsocialized but talented male teen. Ged has peculiar and compelling powers that, once witnessed, indicate the teen has the potential of generating great feats of wizardry. He is ultimately sent to the Isle of Roke be schooled by the great mages of Earthsea. The thing that keeps him alienated from other students there is his own awkward and defensive pride (born of his own insecurity about his place in the world). Ged unleashes a dark Power that shadows him; time and again, in trying to elude that darkness, he is brought to the edge of losing himself.

Le Guin deftly captures bits of natural imagery in her writing, “Still the wind grew stronger, tearing the edges of the great waves into flying tatters of foam.” Being the artist she is, she also thoroughly considered the way in which the magic system in her universe operates, “The world is in balance, in Equilibrium. A wizard’s power of Changing and of Summoning can shake the balance of the world. It is dangerous, that power. It is most perilous. It must follow knowledge, and serve need. To light a candle is to cast a shadow.“

The three women who appear during the course of the novel are the familiar archetypes of crone, matron and maiden. -- the witch who raised him, the aristocratic woman who tempts Ged to misuse his power, and the shy but welcoming young woman, the sister of his most faithful friend. There is the very slightest of hints that Ged may ultimately form a connection with the youngest of the three. All in all, rather conventionally written. It is Le Guin's prose style that lifts it above the norm, at least in my view.

Again, read as an adult, I sensed much more the male outlook than I ever did as a college student. But it does hold up to being read as an adult.

Turning to a different genre and novel, Bats in the Belfry by E.R. Lorac (Edith Rivett Lorac) suffered from much of the same issue. While there was a young woman (the one who was playing the mystery game of getting rid of the corpse referenced above), the central set of interactions in the novel arise from an action-oriented young man, an older, more sophisticated man, and the Inspector who finds himself in charge of a peculiar missing persons case. The girl is the prize in the context once all has been revealed. Unfortunately, the pace of the novel is slower than I was hoping for in terms of entertainment, but time and again, the writing style proved itself as fairly solid. The author's point is that police work is actually based on slow thorough probing of witnesses and sorting through evidence, detritus at crime scenes and timetables. It's a more thought-based process than might have been generally perceived in 1938 when the book was originally published.

This weekend, I also started Making the Monster by Kathryn Harkup. It’s targeted to the non-scientist reader who might want to understand how the science of 1816 could have influenced the creation of Shelley’s Frankenstein. Harkup wrote that great book about Agatha Christie and poisons that I liked last year. (Or was that two years ago? Man, I’m losing track of stuff.)

>110 jillmwo: *waves from behind the tissue box* Good to have you back. I am suffering from a distinct lack of desire to read at the moment. Not sure whether it is due to my cold, the current books I'm reading or life's ennui. Anyway, good to read about other folk's good reading. :)

Hope Lower Slobovia was tolerable. The other thing that I found interesting with A Wizard of Earthsea was the first indication that I recall of her interest in Jung, with need need for Ged to accept the Shadow as part of himself.

It's good to see you back here! I agree that A wizard of Earthsea still holds up to rereading as an adult, despite the gendered magic and limited female roles.

I read Ragnarok, A.S. Byatt’s version of the Nordic myths of the end of the world, back in 2012. I found her storytelling to be both sound and sober. (She tied the myths to a 9-year-old girl’s story living through the Blitz in World War II.) That read reminded me of the tales of Thor, Loki and Asgard that I’d been exposed to (however shallowly) as a kid. The death of Baldur was one tale that I always found memorable -- Loki in his disguise, shaping the mistletoe dart and aiding the blind man to throw the fatal shot -- tied as it is to the knowledge that there will always be one who will not weep over the death of Baldur the Beautiful.

Neil Gaiman’s Norse Mythology is a different approach to the same set of tales. There is a certain tone of humor and practicality to the way in which he tells the stories that was not included in the Byatt work. For example, Gaiman includes in his set of tales the story of three visitors to the Giant’s Hall. The three are invited to compete in a variety of competitive events - an eating contest, a drinking contest, a weight lifting and wrestling contest and a race. Three inhabitants of Asgard -- Thor, Loki and Thialfi each take on a different event and lose in each instance. The next day the Giant reveals the trick to his guests. Loki cannot eat more rapidly than can Fire. Thor was unable to empty the flagon because it was essentially a challenge to drink down the ocean; as it was, he managed to set in motion the tides. He couldn’t wrestle successfully against the old nurse who we discover is really a personification of Old Age. Finally, the guy who is invited to race against one of the Giant’s children learns that he was trying to outrace Time and no one can do that successfully. It’s a good story of things we must learn to accept and Gaiman tells it well.

So the question is whether one would recommend the Byatt over the Gaiman or vice versa. The short version is that I would recommend both but to very different audiences. Gaiman is frankly a light and enjoyable read, one that could be enjoyed by a full spectrum of ages. Byatt’s was more somber and written in a style intended for a more sophisticated readership

Then I also read for my library book group, Denise Mina’s novel The Red Road which is situated in Glasgow, Scotland. I found the book rather more grim than is generally to my taste, in part because every character was tainted or corrupted in one way or another. The author writes a tightly constructed novel that has as its central point of provocation the narratives that human beings construct for themselves as they justify their own actions and try to understand the actions of others. The members of the library group found The Red Road to be a struggle because of the way in which the numerous characters were introduced. (Francine gets referenced in dialogue as if the reader will understand but it takes another five+ pages before the author fully fleshes out who the heck Francine is. The author is going for a very naturalistic rendering of a character’s point of view, but it’s not very clear to the reader what’s going on.) It was nearly unanimous that the group would not go out of their way to read another one by this author. Speaking for myself, The Red Road is one of those novels I would recommend on a very general level on the basis of the author’s cleverness and artistic approach, but I’d be very particular in recommending it to a specific reader if I wasn’t sure exactly of the reader’s sensitivities and tolerance levels.

Byatt's Ragnarok is somewhere in one of my tbr piles. I should find it and read it as your review has whetted my appetite!

>114 jillmwo: Interesting comparison of the two versions, thank you. Although, being on a current binge of SG1, the mention of Thor, Loki and Asgard bring to mind very different images to the competition. :)

>116 MrsLee: At any current mention of Thor, Loki and Asgard - I can't help but think of Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston! Funny that!

>117 Peace2: >116 MrsLee: Yes, that's exactly where my mind goes as well, for some odd reason. ;o)

Glad you're done, Jill! Will you be around more now?

I think this is where I get to go SQUEE! (http://variety.com/2018/tv/news/kenneth-branagh-a-gentleman-in-moscow-1202742322/) Kenneth Branagh in A Gentleman in Moscow. I mean, what's not to love?

Apparently, he's currently working on Disney's Artemis Fowl. (Not something I'd likely see, but I know others might.) For more information: https://movieweb.com/artemis-fowl-movie-production-start-date-disney/

>119 jillmwo: OH! Well... this could be wonderful!

(I only hope they manage to portray him as a young man and then convey his aging in a believable way.)

>119 jillmwo: Based on how much I enjoyed the new Murder on the Orient Express, and his Shakespeare productions, I have very high hopes for this!

It is so difficult to type responses here when I have a miniature lion demanding my full attention to play with him.

>121 MrsLee: A miniature lion? Did @hfglen send you a cub from his local safari park?

Meanwhile, back to books because I've been thinking about Aging Content.

I have recently read two novels by Mignon Eberhart. The first one was The Patient in Room 18 and the second was While the Patient Slept. Both of these suspense novels date back to the 1930s and the stories haven’t aged particularly well. Reading them now, you sense fairly readily cultural and social attitudes that are no longer tolerated (however acceptable they might have been in telegraphing a sense of “different from me” in a literary work). Contrasted with contemporary works of today, both are just too simple in terms of plot, too slow in terms of pacing, etc., to be popular. At the same time, both titles represent milestones when thinking about the expansion of the genre. Heavily weighted towards the spooky atmosphere, they’re not too far removed from a gothic romance from Mary Stewart or a horror story by Stephen King. (Although can you imagine a sizeable house in Nebraska in the ‘30’s not having electricity? Does that seem plausible? I’m still wondering about that.)

Mignon Eberhart was writing at the same time as Agatha Christie and was touted as the American answer to Christie. She introduced the very popular medical mystery (given that her sleuth was Nurse Sarah Keate). Sarah is presented as being a fairly opinionated female as well as competent in the midst of a crisis. She won’t put up with a lot of nonsense from hysterical subordinates and in While The Patient Slept, she throws a glass of water on a nitwitted female and at another point, shakes the woman until her teeth rattle. (Honestly, Mittie deserves it and the reader can only applaud Sarah’s presence of mind.)

So what do we do when we are presented with content that may have a place in a subsection of a particular literary canon but which is no longer as exciting or as compelling as it was upon initial publication? Do we just quietly reshelve it, ticking off a box that indicates we’ve read it or been exposed to it but not talk about it? Should it be allowed to quietly fall into oblivion or out-of-print, whichever comes first? Or do we recommend it to others with the reserved, cautionary note that I have posted in the previous paragraph? Read it -- but only when you need something easy. Read it -- but only if feeling nostalgic for the past.

In an age where libraries are SERIOUSLY cramped for space, should titles like these get pushed into off-site storage or otherwise relegated to print-on-demand services at Amazon?

These types of questions come up whether you’re talking about mystery or science fiction or (I would imagine) romance novels. Barbara Cartland doesn’t carry much weight in the market in the 21st century; she barely managed it back in the ‘70’s which is the last time I saw her stuff in print. I love Black Amazon of Mars by Leigh Brackett but I’m not sure that those raised on Star Wars would love it as much even though both might be classified as space opera. (Another example -- The Prisoner of Zenda was written for adult readers but gets marketed to a youth market now.)

I still enjoy mysteries written in the thirties, but they’re not as satisfying in some ways as something by Tana French might be. Tana French isn’t particularly comforting to read, but she’s complex and she’s far more psychologically aware than either Agatha Christie or Mignon Eberhart. So I keep coming back around to the question of how do we categorize works that are no longer satisfactory for current sophisticated readers and which have some claim to recognition but which otherwise are just no longer compelling.

Meranwhile, I’m taking advice from @clamairy and reading Shadow and Bone, the first volume in the Grisha trilogy. It turns out that at some point, I had downloaded to my Kindle the first five chapters of it (clearly some sample type deal) and those chapters were sufficiently interesting to justify moving forward.

>122 jillmwo: I'm guessing that, like me, @MrsLee is owned by an orange cat, and the Feline Overlord was demanding attention.

As for the "Ageing Content" thought, I'd suggest that books such as Jill describes should be housed in off-site storage PROVIDED THAT they can be found when required (says he, thinking of Durban's less-than-50% track record in delivering books requested from their online catalogue. If that condition is reliably met, then only one copy of each of these books is needed. The books can then be allowed to mature for the next 50 to 100 years, at the end of which time they will be found to have grown a patina of historical quaintness, and may be enjoyed as history if not literature.

>110 jillmwo: et al. I do recommend reading the rest of the Earthsea works which Le Guin wrote considerably later. It very much changes the male-centric dynamic of the earlier books. tehanu the other wind which is the final conclusion and tales form earthsea which are preludes.

My guardian mini-lion. Sometimes he guards me from my feet.

>125 MrsLee: What a beauty!

>122 jillmwo: It would seem to me that this is what e-books are for. Because yes, some readers do like to read the older works if they're curious about the development of a genre (or just want something uncomplicated to while away the time)--but an ebook won't take up valuable shelf real estate.

>125 MrsLee: What a splendid animal! Now in Chinese tradition, he should be resting his right front foot on a ball (as a sign of masculine status, I believe). But then he would look just like a Ming Lion.

>125 MrsLee: He's glorious. But I have to ask, is this guy new to you? I have trouble keeping track of everyone's various critters in here.

>125 MrsLee: ::Waves:: to the lion, Teal’c and Master Bra’tac! ;) He is a beautiful cat.

>126 Marissa_Doyle: >127 hfglen: >129 YouKneeK: Thanks on behalf of Jinn Tawney!

>128 clamairy: This is the cat my mom begged us to save from starvation. That is not an issue now! We took in another cat the week before he showed up. They now rule the roost.

Sorry for the thread hijack, Jill! Cats. Back to our normal programming. :)

>130 MrsLee: How can one call it hijacking a thread when the conversation is about such a gorgeous and dignified feline? I'm honored by his presence.

Here's an interesting piece by an industry colleague that talks about how publishers may be looking at analytics to better understand how readers engage with ebooks:

Stupid live URL isn't working properly: Just cut and paste the actual URL: @arhomberg/reading-fast-and-slow-d6d329ad7715" rel="nofollow" target="_top">https://medium.com/@arhomberg/reading-fast-and-slow-d6d329ad7715
If not, google "Reading Fast and Slow Observing Book Readers in their natural habitat" as an article title

More to come because I did actually read a book this past weekend!

The sample for Shadow and Bone established the following conflict:

Relationship between Mal and Alina as orphans
The dangers associated with crossing The Fold; the Volcra
Emergence of unexplained power
Alina’s sudden wrenching from her known environment and subsequent exposure to danger
Introduction of the Darkling

That’s a rousing and lickety-split start-up for a fantasy novel. The problem I have had in reading Shadow and Bone is that once our protagonist, Alina, has been elevated from her lower-class position as a cartographer to an aristocratic setting, the speed with which events unfold slows down substantially. In the sample provided by the publisher, something unexpected happened in every chapter. But her arrival in the Little Palace meant that there was more focus on introducing complexity than introducing No wonder I plunked down money for the full work.

The book is intriguing and I am still sorting somewhat through my reactions. It's YA so it wasn't dealing w/ deeply complex issues. It's a coming of age story and at least from my perspective that makes it less interesting. But I do recognize that the conflict underlying Alina's coming of age was well-done and less predictable than most.

A few casual quibbles/observations are hidden here:
Does the training period that Alina undergoes in the Little Palace really need to absorb as much time in the narrative as it does? Of course, Alina needs to be introduced to the unfamiliar setting as does the reader. She makes friends with Genya who assists to some extent with introducing her to the class structure and intrigues of court life. Genya’s boyfriend will ultimately be key to climax in this book of both of those narrative threads. But, honestly, there were three court ladies who just reminded me of the trio in the “Mean Girls” movie. Eye-roll.

Alina is torn between the Darkling & Baghra (and their roles in the larger issue affecting Alina’s world) as well as torn between the Darkling & Mal (a secondary romantic triangle which for me was less interesting.)

I didn’t fall in love with this but I did keep turning pages and trying to work out the author’s idea/plan/intent. Perhaps more importantly, I kept thinking about the book and related aspects after I’d put my printed copy down -- the nature and function of YA lit, the problems associated with writing a female coming of age story, the ways in which authors handle or adapt or weave mythology into modern literature. I may well seek out the rest of the trilogy.

Just a follow-up to the above. I have been going back and forth between the needs of creating a work that will appeal to a particular demographic (teen-age or pre-teen girls) while trying to present a coming-of-age story that doesn't contain a romantic sub-plot. Perhaps if I hadn't read A Wizard of Earthsea so recently it wouldn't have struck me, but whereas Ged is not burdened with any romantic attachment as he works through his maturation process, Alina is laden down with one. Did the author do that because her agent or her publisher stressed the importance of inclusion of some degree of romance in order to bolster sales or did she do that just because she wanted the romantic attachment between Alina and Mal in the novel? Alina is strong enough in her physical prowess that her strength is not in question so she doesn't need to be protected. Are we assuming that young girls automatically crave a romance at that age?

*Jill wanders off, muttering like the old crone she is*

>134 jillmwo: Not having read the book you refer to; I do not think it unnatural that young hormonal teens are wrapped up in thoughts of the other sex. Or sex, period. I believe it is a proven fact that girls mature both mentally and physically earlier than boys.

Perhaps the issue is that the boy was not also smitten by someone? I think it more natural that teens have what is called the "romance" issues rather than books with characters 21 and older in them. At that age, although romance may be in the cards, the person is generally able to separate their desire for romance from their personal goals for physical or mental achievements. My opinion only. :)

Have you read Burdugo's Six of Crows? I liked the first Grisha book but I haven't read the second. Six of Crows though, was amazing. I was completely absorbed in that one.

>136 cmbohn: I haven't read anything else by Leigh Bardugo. I'm glad you can recommend something else by her for me to try. I am still mulling over the question of how perhaps we should be thinking about coming-of-age stories for young girls. I feel like I need to go back and review some of my old literary criticism -- specifically, The Female Hero in American and British Literature.

At any rate, earlier this week, one of my book groups was discussing Lock In by John Scalzi. And this evening, I saw this about a follow-up novel in the same universe, Head On also by John Scalzi: https://www.tor.com/2018/04/12/john-scalzis-head-on-and-the-potential-of-the-fut...

Chris Shane (a gender-ambiguous name, a significant point in Lock In) is an individual suffering from Haden's disease. Medical technology has developed the means whereby s/he can participate fully in the working environment, but there are challenges that fall in the way of doing detective work. Head On is another wrinkle in the integration of those with Haden disease with the larger mainstream society.

As always, having read Lock In some four or five years following it's actual publication, I'm undoubtedly lagging behind and others may not want to talk about this blend of science fiction and mystery but it too seems to feed into my thinking about assumptions regarding gender.

I realize that I might not have been particularly clear on this series. Scalzi’s (at this point) three-part series appears in the following titles: Unlocked: An Oral History, Lock In and Head On. The first -- the introductory novella -- suggests that the series is related to a disabling virus that becomes a pandemic. Unlocked: An Oral History of Haden's Syndrome uses an oral history approach to reveal the initial medical response in the U.S. and the development of related ameliorative technology. The second work in the series, Lock In, is almost a different genre. While one might pick it up (as I did) expecting to read a piece of science fiction, the protagonist is actually operating as a private eye. It’s not so much John Scalzi by way of Michael Crichton as it is Scalzi by way of Joseph Wambaugh. (Think Asimov’s Caves of Steel or Robots of Dawn.)

Because one is never quite sure of the gender of the first-person narrator, Lock In could be viewed as Scalzi’s exercise in writing in that non-gender-specific voice. (It wouldn’t be an easy thing to do and Scalzi deserves a thumbs up for that kind of professional exploration.) It could also be read (less successfully, in my view) as a meditation on disability. It doesn’t work for me in that context because the ameliorative technology allows victims of Hadens to operate fairly successfully in the real world. It’s admittedly more complicated for them, but there’s no real room for pity in watching Chris Shane perform in the course of normal, professional duties.

Now what makes Head On sound interesting is that it’s about able-bodied types having to compete against those whose disabilities are eliminated through ordinary use of ameliorative technology but also eliminated perhaps to a point where the disability actually offers an advantage. I don’t know if I’ll go out and buy the book, but it does push this series a little bit further into the realm of properly speculative fiction.

Also a quick note about another series. I read this past week, The Prisoner of Limnos by Lois McMaster Bujold. I am oddly enamoured with these little novellas (set in the Universe of the Five Gods) that are about a sorcerer and his chaos demon within. It's fun to watch Penric and Desdemona sparring with one another as they have adventures, and the internal and external relationship problems that ensue from living with this oddly split set of personalities are legitimately engaging. I do recommend all six if you're looking for something light. They are published consistently in digital form first (on Kindle) and then subsequently in collectible hardcover editions by Subterranean Press. Really rather enjoyable. (I may never get over to Bujold's Vorkosigan series at this rate. I'll be too busy following this one.)

>137 jillmwo: Scalzi recently wrote a blog post on Tor.com explaining that he intentionally set out to write Lock In without knowing the gender of the main character.

Hadens, Chris Shane, Gender and Me

It looks like an interesting post but I must admit that I only skimmed through it. I have not yet read any of these books so I wanted to avoid spoilers.

>140 ScoLgo: I had missed that earlier post on Tor so thank you for linking to it! I really did find Scalzi's work to be interesting to read in light of the assumptions I found myself making about Chris as I read.That column is even more interesting for this particular quote: That being the case, while I think many Hadens would feel and be strongly gendered, I thought that many would not be, and would feel more at ease being non-binary or on a gender spectrum—and even many of those who felt gendered might not choose to make that gender known publicly. To those they trust, sure. To the public at large, maybe not so much. Because that was an option, and because that could be a growing aspect of an emerging Haden culture. It’s a speculative aspect of a speculative community. I’m so impressed that he had thought the concept through in his narrative to such an extent but appreciative as well that Scalzi notes the instructive and useful contributions he's had with people about the issue.

Penric's Demon is a good opener to this series of novellas set in Bujold's World of the Five Gods. A young man is en route to his betrothal ceremony when he stops to aid a fallen traveler. By doing so, he sets in motion a series of events that change the course of his life -- so far, so good as the traditional coming of age. But the coming of age that is represented here has less to do with a young man finding himself and more to do with a young man listening to what we might call his feminine side. He absorbs a chaos demon that consists of the voices of twelve women of differing ages and backgrounds. Unwittingly, he tries to behave politely to his demon(s) and thereby succeeds in winning their support in a series of adventures. The demon is named (with her permission) Desdemona

Following Penric's Demon comes the book, Penric and the Shaman, which echoes some of the occurrences and world-building that were encountered in The Hallowed Hunt. Similar to the Hallowed Hunt, this purports to be a mystery with a crime to be solved. A murder is committed and the principal investigator needs Penric's assistance to track down a sorcerer who is the primary suspect. In this universe there are two theological schools -- the first are Temple Divines who deal with the formal pantheon of the Five Gods -- while the second -- the Shamanic tradition -- centers more on the natural world. Both schools of thought are still working out how some of these Powers engage with humans and with the animal kingdom. Penric isn't possessed of all theological expertise or knowledge, even with the experience of all his demons available to him. Inglis (the Shaman of the title) has been just as caught off-guard by the capabilities that he has discovered as Penric was in the first book when faced with Desdemona. Humans not so favored just stand back and watch the two powers interact. Chronologically speaking (rather than in terms of order-of publication date), Penric's Fox is the fifth book in the series and it picks up the friendship between Inglis and Penric and the tolerant Oswyl who relies on the two sorcerers to solve another crime. (Note that currently Penric's Fox is sitting on my ottoman in the TBR pile.)

Penric's Mission involves espionage and introduces a new range characters who subsequently appear in Mira's Last Dance and The Prisoner of Limnos. I found this trilogy of tightly-related novellas a bit less satisfactory but still enjoyable.

As a coming of age story, this series is definitely less literary in tone than Wizard of Earthsea but more satisfying (in my view) than Shadow and Bone. Admittedly this may be because each novella is a quick adventurous read with a certain wry humor to the interaction between the multiple male and female voices in each.

But I am wondering why I'm so stuck in this spate of coming-of-age stories at the moment.

I shall either sit sedately and read one of the books on my shelf or else I shall go off on a book buying BINGE. It appears that the latter option is the most likely and appealing. Does the arrival of spring have this effect on others?

>143 jillmwo: The arrival of a new day has that effect on me.

Okay, not a formal review but a few quick notes before the weekend is over.

The Daughter of Odren by Ursula K. LeGuin. A quick story (novella-length) of a daughter and cold, strategic revenge. It is sticking with me by virtue of its astringent tone.

A Cast of Vultures by Judith Flanders. A light-hearted contemporary cozy that one reviewer in Kirkus (I think) characterized as having language both prolix and enervating. I swear i had to go look up both terms to know what he meant but then found the assessment to be kind of accurate. This got read with the book group at the library today and it was interesting to me that two of the women attendees characterized it the same way (different vocabulary, but same meaning). The group liked the humor in it, though. Most would read others in the series (except for the two that found it both prolix and enervating...)

Finally, I'm reading Lady of Quality by Georgette Heyer. I don't remember reading this one before, but I am enjoying it because it's light in tone and requires no analysis or assessment. Escapism has very real value.

I've been reading (albeit slowly) Virgin Time by Patricia Hampl. The book's publication date is 1992 and was named a NY Times Notable Book from that year. Hampl is a stylist in her prose and consequently the book is best savored in slower segments of reading. It is part memoir about her childhood in the Midwest, and part travelogue as she does a walking tour of Franciscan monasteries in Italy. (She describes Assisi in such fashion that makes me wonder if I'd ever be able to manage walking it. Apparently the city sits right on the edge of the mountain.) I admit I get a bit irritated with her as a narrator, if only because temperance and/or humility doesn't seem to be a part of her make-up. By temperance, I mean that at times she seems to be unable to keep her fears or judgments in moderation (rather than as any commentary on her drinking habits *snort*).

>138 jillmwo: Thanks for the explanation of the Scalzi series. He's one of those writers whom I generally enjoy but whose works I don't usually seek out on my own. This might be the push I need to check this out. One question: I generally like Scalzi's humor. Does that put in an appearance here? It sounds as if this might be a more serious undertaking.

There are moments of humor @Jim53, but the Lock-In series didn't strike me as being as light as, say, Red Shirts was.

A couple of quotes from Patricia Hampl’s Virgin Time. “We walked long hours every day, with a lazy two hours for lunch, moving in and out, back and forth in the Umbrian antiphon of light and shade. Sheets of poppies, Chinese red, papered the shallow dishes of meadows, In the early mornings, birds started up like ink flecked against the white spy.” (Chapter 4, page 23)

“I piled on several layers of clothes and went out into the foggy night-day of morning. Along the brook trail, the wild iris still bloomed in the late spring of the place, looking chastened in the cold. Before I reached the chapel, my shoes and the cuffs of my corduroys were drenched with a dew so heavy, it seemed it had rained in the night.”(Chapter: Silence: Tuesday, page 197)

“If contemplatives live the life of the gaze which is the deepest prayer of all, then they must try to see it all. Prayer as focus is not a way of limiting what can be seen; it is a habit of attention brought to bear on all that is.”

What does it say that it seemed easier to be contemplative in one’s attention to the world back in ‘92 than it is now? Here’s a quote from Hampl’s newly published book, The Art of the Wasted Day.

“These women pick up a pen the way we tap on our cell phone...amateur Montaignes. But the analogy of the cell phone is wrong; the ladies and their friends were yakking. Theirs was a writing world."

Why the reference to Montaigne? Another quote: "Maybe Montaigne appeals to this age because he “retired” -- that word again...He left the world of power and command, sequestered himself in his tower to investigate the furnishings of his mind. Individual consciousness was his subject, not the sweep of his tumultuous era… In times of terror, like ours, we (we readers) seek instead the same singular voice, alone with its thoughts, maybe to assure ourselves that sanity does exist somewhere." (pg. 97)

In The Art of the Wasted Day, Hampl’s style doesn’t sound quite as poetic as that of Virgin Time. Her themes center around the unexpected death of her husband (although never directly or in detail), the way in which Montaigne’s written essays helped to shape the modern concept of self, and the two Ladies of Llangollen who in the 18th century took unconventional steps to preserve their own sense of self.

One hears the voice of the older woman in Wasted Day, a voice very different from the voice of the young woman of Virgin Time. It’s kind of odd for me to recognize that. I don’t think there’s that much difference between the lifespan of this writer and my own (although I think she may be a 2-5 years older than I). I think I hear in her writing a shared comprehension of the challenges of modern life. How do we reconcile or rationalize our manner of living, the way in which we've managed basic survival from adolescence through to old age? She works hard at communicating her role in being a writer (having had a full length career as a writer) as being that of an observer rather than adviser. (She may not have expressed much more about becoming human in this book than she did in Virgin Time.) I am having a hard time in weighing the value of this particular read, other than in noting that one has more time in retirement to think about how screwed up modern life is in many respects I think I come down on the side of it being a worthwhile read because Hampl’s second book (to me) seems to be the evidence of the need to consider modern madness. The natural consequence of that for me is to consider that I may NOT want to retire and thereby open up all that expanse of having time to think. But by not doing so, I may be stunting my own growth of self.

Meanwhile a lighter read that I'm enjoying is The Lost Book of the Grail: A Novel. Of course, it's all about archives and digital libraries so no real need to stretch.

I feel compelled to seek out Virgin Time now. I am in need of recapturing my (somewhat lost) ability to wander about the physical world. Am I wrong in thinking that is its focus?

Edited for touchstones, and to ask if the book is very religious in nature.

>150 clamairy: Honestly, there is a less reverential attitude towards religion in Virgin Time as Hampl sees the Franciscan priests and nuns as being flawed humans. She doesn't really understand why they do what they do. (She talks to some extent in the book about her Catholic education by an order of nuns and also visits convents and retreat centers as part of her memoir there.). But I came away from Virgin Time with a sense that she was not a woman possessed of conventional set of Christian beliefs.

I think The Art of the Wasted Day has far less of religion to it (with its discussion of Montaigne) than Virgin Time. Knowing your preferences, were I to put one of the two in your hands, it would be the former. But the poetic tone of Virgin Time is really compelling.

>151 jillmwo: Thank you!

Okay, I just hit my favorite book of 2018 (at least so far). I commend to everyone here in the pub, Charlie Lovett's novel The Lost Book of the Grail. It's a delightful story. Love Arthurian lore? We've got it. Love old books and traditional libraries? Check. Require a nice sentimental romance between misfits? Check. Have a taste for 19th century English life? We have Barchester just the way Trollope rendered it with a couple of musical services of Compline thrown in. *happy sigh*.

The reader is drawn into the cathedral community. Arthur Prescott is a bit of a fussbudget historian who has the responsibility of writing up a guidebook, providing background on Barchester Cathedral. He's an old-fashioned kind of researcher who favors old bindings and pages of vellum. His most closely-held secret is his on-going research project and his passion for Arthurian tales. But Barchester Cathedral exists in the 21st century and is strapped for cash. The archives may well be going on the block ton sustain maintenance of the building. A lovely American archivist familiar with digitizing manuscripts arrives in Prescott's haven, the library there at the Cathedral close. There's an obvious threat that she can't possibly understand why this collection of medieval manuscripts is so important to Prescott's work. To further flesh out the tale across the centuries, we catch glimpses of the lives of these manuscripts at various critical points in English history (Cromwell, the dissolution of the monasteries, early Norman raids, etc.) Again, I heave a *happy sigh*.

It's a nice light read. Not dreadfully demanding, it bounces along and there are only the occasional moments of violence in the tale. Nothing to be fretful over or deepen one's belief that human beings are horrible psychopaths. Indeed, when the gang of four breaks into the precentor's library to steal something, it's all done with humor and chuckles.

I really loved this one as an entertaining read. Include this one on your list for buying when next you celebrate a Thingaversary.

*happy sigh* (Yes, that's three happy sighs. I am charmed.)

*Three* happy sighs? I may have just taken a bullet.

I am trying to ignore your The Lost Book of the Grail. Barchester Towers was the first Trollope (and to date the only, although I have acquired several since the Towers with the intention of reading them sometime) I read and loved it. I shall run away now and forget all your comments about how much you enjoyed the book.

>155 pgmcc: (Jumping in front of the bullet) I'll save you, Peter. I'll take the hit. You're clear.

>156 Meredy: You are very kind.

Here I'm sharing with my best buds the joy of a combination of Trollope and Arthurian myth and @pgmcc is acting as if I'm exposing him to chicken pox. I want the full credit for book bullets hitting all three of you. (Frankly, I admit I don't know why I would NEED the credit. It's not like it's actually currency. It's just a matter of keeping score -- I mean, it's just a matter of principle.)

Hmmm... should I read Trollope first?

No need, Jim. One can enjoy the novel without any knowledge of Barchester Cathedral and its environs other than the recognition that it's a quintessential aspect of the British literary fabric.

Cool, thanks, Jill.

Now by Pete's logic doesn't that mean he needs to buy (12+1) times 31 (days late) times 10 Exponential 13 books on account of lateness? So he'll need all the book bullets he can get.

...with friends like Hugh...

:-)

>163 hfglen: You neglected the additional 6 (a multiplier of 12) titles to be added on for missing his twelfth anniversary. Meanwhile, I'm looking around for something really good to aim in @pgmcc's direction.

I'm done for now!

>162 pgmcc: Well, I am gobsmacked. I really am. YOU!? This demands some action, even if we all have to gang up on you.

>153 jillmwo: *forlorn sigh* That sounds like a book I need. I really do. Only, I'm trying very hard not to buy books until I'm out of whatever reading-desert-hell this is I'm in at the moment. One keeps telling oneself it is only a season, but it seems a very long one to me.

>162 pgmcc:

The enforcers will drop by when you least expect them. Have tea and cheese ready at all times.

>168 suitable1: Because you never know who might tip them off about erring Dragoneers...

>153 jillmwo: I may be able to dodge this book bullet, because when I went to check the book's page, I found I'd read the author's first book and been mightily underwhelmed. But that's an awfully glowing recommendation you're giving...

>170 Marissa_Doyle: It may well be that this was a case of a particular work materializing just when I was in the right mood for it. I found the main character to be appealing even if there was a whiff of stereotypical nerd to him. I liked the historical interludes that contributed to working out the solution to the over-arching puzzle. I know his writing style is probably pedestrian, but even so there was a moment in the book that made me choke up a bit with schmaltzy (?) emotion. No depth of description, but recognition of a moment of human connection. I don't mean to suggest that this is one for the ages. I don't think it is, but I found it a positive reading experience. It was light but engaging, and came across as just the right combination of elements. I mean, how can you resist a quick return to Barchester?

For what it's worth, I haven't felt compelled to pick up his Austen-related one. (I don't want anyone screwing around with my enjoyment of those!)

>167 MrsLee: I think this might be a brief oasis in the reading desert. A brief, refreshing pause in the journey. Quite honestly, I think you would like it.

Today's discussion at the Township Library was of Plague Land by S.D. Sykes. It was a lively discussion amongst the crowd (about a dozen in attendance). They all thoroughly enjoyed it. The book is set in West Kent in England circa 1350. The Black Death has pretty much decimated the local populations and Oswold de Lacy has been brought home from the monastery where he was "stored" as a third son because father and two brothers have passed away. However there are two mysterious deaths occurring (fortunately not described in too specific detail) and the young Oswold (disdainful of the local priest's explanation of the cause) determines that the real motivation behind the deaths lies elsewhere. This one was written by an expert in the period and the story-telling is far above average for a debut novelist. I think there are three or four titles in the series at this point and at least at our township library, they'll all be circulating. Good character development (no flat stereotypes) and solid historical framework. It may start out slowly in the first two or three chapters but the twists come at proper intervals and the narrative succeeds at holding one's interest. (Think dystopian society but without any reliance on technology or other futuristic comforts! It's the Middle Ages with all the necessary poverty and filth.)

Other stuff I've been reading has included Edinburgh Twilight and Death at Breakfast. Oh, and there's an excellent Raymond Postgate mystery, Somebody at the Door. He's the same guy who wrote Verdict of Twelve. I'll be writing up that one next.

>173 jillmwo: I only discovered the flowers and seeds of ivy after reading Verdict of Twelve on your recommendation. Ever since then I have seen them every time I go near ivy.

>174 pgmcc: They're not exactly the world's showiest, are they.

Here's something that will resonate with this group: http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/confessions-community-college-dean/tsundoku-...

>176 jillmwo: Confessions? It strikes me more of bragging. :-)
Yes! I have that addiction.

Okay arriving today were the following half dozen titles:

The Amber Shadows
The Left Behind: Decline and Rage in Rural America
Dangerous Crossing
Even the Dead
The Woman in Cabin 10
Steering the Craft

Some of these are the fall selections for the Township Library discussion group. One or two were impulse taps on the "Buy Button".

But I'm pretty sure that I'm going to blank on the celebration of my Thingaversary if I don't periodically binge.

>173 jillmwo: ow, that felt like a BB piercing my hide.

I finished Edinburgh Twilight by Carole Lawrence over the weekend and have spent the subsequent 24 hours wondering why this historical thriller didn’t work for me. Character development was there. Reasonable pacing was there. But something about the prose didn't work. The book runs close to 500 pages in print and it has (I kid you not) roughly 85 chapters. (Shades of gasoline rationing! One wanted to ask the author to stop and think whether this chapter break was really necessary….)

Admittedly, I wasn’t thrilled with the largely male cast of characters, although there was an interesting widowed aunt present. There is a tremendous amount of trauma for the lead detective and his brother, representing an on-going source of distrust for what is clearly intended to be a book series. Detective Ian Hamilton has an elemental fear (fire); he has lost both parents and sustained physical injury from fire. His elder brother has a drinking problem along with some issues unrecognized by Ian. The professional contacts in Edinburgh's police force include his boss, Robert Crawford, and a subordinate, Dickerson. Crawford has a sick wife and Dickerson will become emotionally involved before the end of the novel with Ian irritating both with his persistence. (Not to mention his habit of constantly quoting Shakespeare or correcting others' misquoting of Shakespeare.) The details of the murders weren't dwelt upon too lovingly, but in my opinion there were still more than enough corpses supplied for a book of this length.

Essentially, I think there were two issues interfering with my enjoyment. The first was the odd handling of chapter breaks. The point of view changed with some regularity (inside the anonymous serial murderer’s head, sometimes inside the head of a witness or informant, sometimes inside the head of Hamilton but never too intimately.) That's fine as a means of building suspense but the whole felt very choppy. I might almost have thought that the prose style was supposed to convey an experience similar to that of watching a television movie in cutting back and forth between characters and views.

Secondly, there was a striking lack of description included. (For someone who spent a lengthy period in Edinburgh doing research, the author didn’t include much that conveyed me the unique elements of that city. What do the houses look like in Old Town vs. New Town Edinburgh? Her Edinburgh might have been any Victorian city, not specifically the Scottish capital city.) Are descriptive paragraphs out of favor at present with editors and readers? It’s all well and good to want to minimize the ever popular “As you know, Bob,...” info dump, but tell me a little bit about the lamplighter’s work and equipment if this is one of the unique glories of Victorian Edinburgh. Particularly if it feeds into your theme. (I think she meant it to feed the theme, but i could be wrong.)

I am sure that this satisfies the entertainment requirements of some readers, but I won’t be surprised if, upon my arrival at Didi’s on Thursday, I’m told that this particular title won’t have been to the taste of the participants. And yet, it was a recommended title.

>153 jillmwo: I'm late to the party but I took your bullet, and since OverDrive didn't have it I recommended my local consortium acquire the ebook. We shall see if they do! There's always the possibility my new library will have the ebook version. I'm hoping get myself into the new system next month.

>180 jillmwo: I am glad to see that someone as qualified in literature as you can still fail to see exactly what was the cause of a book failing to enthrall. This makes me feel better about the books that did not do it for me.

Your description of the point of view changing reminded me of Iain Banks' Complicity, another serial killer mystery that took place in Scotland. Iain changed not just point of view with each of the three characters, but person also. Each chapter saw a change. One of the characters was the serial killer. I think he used the second person for that character. The first and third person were used for two friends, one a journalist and the other a...I cannot remember.

The murders are described from the point of view of the serial killer, obviously. The descriptions are quite graphic, so if you are squeamish at all do not go for this book, although it is a great read.

It is a very good murder mystery and explores the relationship between the two friends over their life. It also, as the title might imply, deals with everything that is wrong with the world and how we are all complicit in one way or another.

This is one of my favourite Banks novels. It and The Bridge are my favourites from his non-SF stories.

>182 pgmcc: Note to self... Must read more Banks... The only non-Culture book of his I have read so far is The Wasp Factory, which was quite disturbing - but oh, so good. My natural squeamishness notwithstanding, I think I will seek out Complicity soon.

Thanks for the BB.

>183 ScoLgo: I hope you enjoy it. The Bridge would a good follow-on read.

:-)

A businessman, carrying a briefcase containing a significant amount of currency, catches his commuter train out of 1942 London. That January evening, he shares a crowded compartment with nine others -- almost all of whom he dislikes or who have reason to dislike him. Ninety minutes later, he crosses the threshold of his own door and falls at the feet of his wife. What is puzzling is the actual cause of death as the coroner notes. It could be heart failure due to suffocation or it could be heart failure due to a loss of blood or it could be due to someone throwing a vial of vitriol at him. This last one is the most dubious (despite the marks of acid burn on his face and mouth). The man’s lungs are heavy with liquid. It seems unlikely that death could have been natural. Oh, and the cash has gone missing. But the inspector is told by his Superintendent to work out the problem quickly.

The local Vicar was one of the nine in that train compartment; he can clearly point out where each individual sat. (In the Poisoned Pen press edition of Somebody at the Door each of the book’s sections is headed with a seating chart of the nine. Nicely unobtrusive bit of design.)

Raymond Postgate adopts a technique similar to that used in Verdict of Twelve and delves into the backstory of those most likely to have done Arthur Grayling in. Was it the German refugee? Was it the small businessman whose shop was destroyed in the London Blitz? Was it the feckless clerk with the pregnant girlfriend? And where is the money?

I think Postgate’s exploration of the suspects’ lives in Somebody at the Door is handled in a more sophisticated fashion than was seen in Verdict of Twelve. I enjoyed it, particularly as the crime and the solution are uniquely woven in with the time period, the setting and the War. Fun, quick read! A true puzzle mystery.

Not my thing at all, but apparently the critics are applauding this Irish author's work: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/jun/13/mike-mccormack-wins-100000-interna...

More news from Ireland: Libraries will be open seven days per week for a 14 hour span each day! https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/libraries-to-open-seven-days-...

>187 jillmwo: I noticed this announced earlier in the week. It is good news. I hope it is a success.

Now that’s the kind of news I wish would make headlines, rather than the other stuff!

Here's something that may well appeal to everyone here in the Pub:
https://www.gadgette.com/2018/06/17/read-with-audrey/

I mean, do any of you already read out loud to others?

I have spent the past ten to fourteen days running around to ALA and other locations. ALA was in New Orleans this year. A couple of quick observations:

-- Arnoud’s is a great restaurant in the French Quarter!
-- Tsunami is a great seafood restaurant in the Downtown business district (and it’s open on Sundays for dinner.)
-- Drink more water than you think you need to drink and exercise restraint on alcoholic beverages. (You don’t really want to be the barfin’ bachelorette on the airplane because you over-imbibed. Yes, she was in my row on both legs of the trip.)

I did pick up two advanced readers copies while at ALA -- The Court Dancer which is an historical novel about a Korean courtesan who is brought to 19th century Vienna (translated from the original Korean language) and the other a work of non-fiction, How The Internet Happened. Haven’t broken into either one yet. (But I consider those two printed volumes as being part of my Thingaversary haul.) (Twelve years on LT as of last week as it happens.) I have another various five volumes en-route from various second hand shops so I consider my obligation for the anniversary as fulfilled.

Three reviews of British Golden Age mysteries:

The Wychford Poisoning Case The novel, by Anthony Berkeley, was based on a real-life poisoning case. The novel suffers just a bit from too many info dumps and too few potential suspects to be entirely successful. But there is an insouciance about the humor that I rather enjoyed. It’s not supposed to be deadly grim, but the author was a bit embarrassed by an incident that involves the spanking of a young woman in her late teens by an older man. As I read it, I took that as intended to be a part of the humor, but I realized that it can be a bit discomfiting in light of modern sensibilities.

There are two cousins who have known each other since childhood and the young female cousin is acting in a particularly obnoxious and insincere artificial manner. (She is at an age where she wants to appear to possess a level of sophistication that doesn’t fit with her family environment.) The male cousin (fed up with some bad behavior) proceeds to turn her over his knee and spank her. It was this inappropriate incident that embarrassed the author and this is apparently one of the first times the book has returned to print since initially published back in the early thirties.

The second book carried onto the plane with me was a recently printed facsimile edition of The Mystery at Stowe. However, the dust jacket was such a lurid embarrassment that I actually removed it from the book for purposes of travel. (See the cover shown in my library. With regard to the artwork, my husband characterized the whole (front and back) as awful and the drawn anatomy amateurish in technical execution.) The novel was more fun than the cover art, although by no means any kind of classic. This might be one where you really had to be a part of the culture in order to accept some of the premise. There were South American expeditions being planned, an intrepid, entirely straight-arrow female who is consistently misunderstood by the gossips around her, and a dashing young man who loves her and who has conveniently been part of the constabulary during his time in Africa. Of course, he identifies the murderer, thereby absolving her of any part in the crime, and, recognizing his value, she allows him to come with her on her next expedition. Much of the mystery and suspense depends upon two romantic triangles, but neither is particularly persuasive. The final motive and explanation left me disappointed. Not truly AWFUL, but really The Mystery at Stowe is the kind of book best consciously read as a cultural artifact. (Not unlike my experience in reading Mignon Eberhard earlier this year. See the discussion at the top of this thread.) Otherwise, there’s not much to say on its behalf as entertainment.

My third book in June was actually quite enjoyable (and not just because it followed two such mediocre reads). The title is Portrait of a Murderer by Anne Meredith. This was in the Columbo school of criminal pursuit. You know by 80 pages in who did it; the question is whether the individual will get caught. The book is actually much more a meditation on the driving motivation behind the murder. The three suspects all seemingly have exceptionally good motives to kill an old miserly parent, including other criminal and/or immoral acts. But -- as a society -- do we hang the one that makes us most angry or the one who really did the murder? If one has to pick between Bernie Madoff and Lizzie Borden, which one should be sent to the gallows? An old question but Anne Meredith did a superior job of exploring the social response. It is also a meditation on the individual internal drive to do what one truly feels born to do, which gives the book a thematic point that is well above average.

>191 jillmwo: O_O I don't think I could have handled someone in my row of the airplane barfing. :P I didn't realize this was such a long event! Glad it went well for you. Did you find any of the LT staff to hobnob with?

P.S. LOL on the cover art. Now see, I think I would have kept that on the book (in spite of the fact that I take covers off when I read a book), just to make people wonder.

>191 jillmwo: Happy belated Thingaversary!

Here's the nominations for the 2018 British Fantasy Awards: https://www.tor.com/2018/07/06/the-british-fantasy-awards-announces-2018-shortli...

Who has read what? Anyone got feedback on City of Brass? I have that one in Kindle.

>192 MrsLee: ALA was a five or six day trip. I got home long enough to throw the dirty clothes into the laundry and re-pack a bag. The follow-up trip of two days was one of those team building/bonding sessions -- less annoying than most simply because there was no forced bonhomie. Four of us went to the ballpark and watched the home team push the visiting team to extra innings. We cheered at the right parts, danced for the camera and then parsed the meaning of life in our industry for a couple of hours in the bar at the Hilton afterwards. The next morning we had our staff meeting al fresco at a local mom-and-pop coffee bar. And really, it was a better than usual staff meeting. I caught Amtrak home and the spousal unit met me in the city; then we went to dinner. I kind of had fun.

And I did run into Abby of LibraryThing in the hallway of one of the far reaches of the NOLA convention center. (It's always so nice when it happens serendipitously.) Sadly one of my organizational sessions was smack up against the LibraryThing session. Otherwise I would have been attending theirs!

>193 AHS-Wolfy: Thank you! I'm contemplating another purchase of books to further ensure that an adequate celebration was had....

So this is the second sentence in a mystery novel:

The crime was instantaneous and unpremeditated and the murderer was left staring from the weapon on the table to the dead man in the shadows of the tapestried curtains, not apprehensive, not yet afraid, but incredulous and dumb.

What questions does that leave with you the reader?
-- The identity of the murderer, of course. You’ve been provided with no clues to gender, distinguishing physical characteristics, occupation, or other specifics.
-- What happened? What motivated the murder? We’re told the murder was unpremeditated, the work of the moment, an act of passionate hatred. And the act of murder has only just happened. The responsible individual is still standing there, still processing the actual fact of having taken the life of another.
-- How will the individual be found out so that justice may be served?

So as an introduction, that’s a great opening because there are several motivations for why you might choose to continue reading. You want to follow the narrative to learn the answers to those questions. The sentence essentially provides you with an entire still image. There’s a table, there’s a window with tapestried curtains (suggesting that it is a large window with a vista. Why else have heavy tapestried curtains? Small curtains of a lighter fabric are sufficient to the task of hiding a narrow view of a street or alley.) There are some degrees of light present because we’re told that the victim is lying in the shadows. While not specified, the reader might imagine hearing the heavy breathing of the murderer as part of the reaction to the physical and emotional reaction to the murder.

If we were writing a television script, that would be the opening or establishing shot.

What Anne Meredith then sets up a narrative structure for Portrait of a Murderer subsequently follows this ordering of events:

1. Christmas Eve (a family group has gathered gloomily for the holiday season and this opening segment shows the various characters, their spouses and marital condition, outstanding financial obligations and the strategies each has for handling those.)
2. Diary of a Murderer (we learn who commits the murder, motivation and reaction)
3. Christmas Day (immediate awareness of the murder and the reaction of the various family members)
4. Aftermath of a Crime (the investigator arrives, interviews suspects and comes to a particular conclusion as to who should be charged)
5. The Verdict of You All (the case goes to trial and the jury makes its finding)
6. Witness for the Defence (the contradictory information & finding by one of those tied to the family and the uncomfortable options for clearing the record)
7. The Answer (how the act was accomplished and the murderer brought to justice)
8. Epilogue (the thematic point of the novel underscored)

To be quite clear, there are numbered sections that divide up each segment internally. I agree upon reflection with Martin Edwards in saying that this book deserves to be known more widely than it is.

The text reflects the psychological understanding of the thirties; the author’s fundamental concern is not excusing the murderer’s action, but rather to spotlight the hypocrisy of the Established Order’s principles of morality.

What brought all this to the fore of my brain was actually a different book. I have finally gotten around to reading Francine Prose’s book, Reading Like A Writer, originally published in 2006. It’s very good as one might expect. However, it makes me feel a tad foolish for not reading texts more closely, for not thoroughly considering the words, sentences and paragraphs of the books I read. I’m so clearly not an intellectual in that way.

One thing I did notice however was a clear reference by Francine Prose to a short story by Chekov that directly pertained to A Gentleman in Moscow. (Again, I really belong among the unwashed masses. I have never reach much Chekov, but it would have meant nothing to me if I hadn’t already read Towles’ Gentleman.)

Once I’ve finished Reading Like A Writer then I’ll go on to Prose’s more recent book, What to Read and Why.

I haven't read City of Brass though I've seen a lot of positive reviews from friends on Good Reads. It's on my radar for sure.

He had a magpie taste in reading, but it was steadied by a constancy of devotion to the Elizabethans.

Admittedly, that might not play as well taken out of context, but you must admit it's nicely phrased as a bit of mocking snark.

>198 jillmwo: I love that, but which book is it from? The Prose book?

>199 clamairy: - Actually, it's from a Ngaio Marsh book, Death and the Dancing Footman. I'm mid-way through this book which I know I read 20 years ago (back when I had a lengthy commute). But I couldn't recall anything about it and I think Amazon offered me a cheaper price than normal. It's quite enjoyable as a classic country house murder mystery. But my concentration is not what it should be so its taking me forever to get through the various books sitting in the house gathering dust and crawling up the baseboards.

Geez, it's been a month since I posted anything here. (I will claim the time-honored excuse of busyness and distraction. I'm not ignoring you; I'm just somewhat weary of jogging on the hamster wheel of life.) At any rate, I did read something this past month. See below.

The Golem and the Jinni

Two outsiders are living in nineteenth century New York City -- one, a golem only recently brought to life. The other is a jinni with the age of centuries. Neither is entirely comfortable; neither can be fully or successfully assimilated into the ethnic communities in which they find themselves. Chava lives on the lower East side in the Jewish community and Ahmad lives in Little Syria. Of course, there are those who befriend them but always there are forces who seek to limit their freedom.

I wasn’t expecting to like this (even historical urban fantasy isn’t my thing), but the novel has absolutely stayed with me. One review I read called the book “melancholy” and that precisely characterizes the tone of the novel. The characters are so lonely and cut-off from their natural element. There’s a great quote that I think captures this:

But Ahmad was not his name! He'd chosen it on a whim, never guessing that it would come to define him. Was that it, then? Was he, Ahmad now and not his true self, the one who went by a name he could no longer speak? He tried to remember how long it had been since he'd unthinkingly attempted to change form. His reflexes now rested in muscle and sinew and strides across rooftops, in the steel tools of a metalsmith -- tools that, once upon a time, he never could have touched. (page 262).

That’s the Jinni realizing how much of an impact the life in New York has had on his own sense of who he is and of what he is capable.

Chava (the Golem) is at a loss because she has no master (as a golem requires in the natural scheme of things). She finds work in a bakery and is successful because a golem’s natural desire is to serve and satisfy. She can look into the mind of a customer and know what would specifically please them that morning -- a little raisin challah that meets the needs of a customer stressed about money, but aching for even the tiniest treat. Such a little attention transforms the person’s day and Chava’s perceptions of her own self-worth and the contribution that she can make to her community.

There is real magic threaded throughout the day-to-day lives of the immigrants, Spells and illusions are as much a part of the nineteenth century city as the actual tin ceiling created for one of the apartment buildings. The magic is actually rather understated, emerging primarily from the identity of individuals rather than as an external force. At the same time, the story is dealing with the difficulties of the immigrant’s situation in a foreign setting -- self-determination, autonomy, and invisibility.

Ultimately there are wizardly confrontations. No action that an individual takes goes without a set of attendant consequences. This one struck me as solid and plausible fantasy which -- given the title -- I think is a remarkable thing. There is something of a happy ending, but perhaps not one that will continue ‘til ever after. Again, I think this one that may stick with me for a while.

>201 jillmwo:

I do believe that's a bullet for a book I never would have considered.

>201 jillmwo: I read that several years ago and enjoyed it very much. The premise was original, the characters were engaging, and I really liked the evocation of time and place. I've read several other things set in late 19th - early 20th century New York, and they all draw me in, even though I don't feel a special bond to NYC otherwise.

I don't precisely recall the ending, but I remember something wistful about it, and it wasn't quite the payoff I expected.

I'm way behind in my postings too, but I keep reading (and falling behinder). Some post is better than no post, right?

And I think you just got me with Portrait of a Murderer.

>203 Meredy: It is great to see you posting at all.

Keep well and do not sweat about getting behind and behinder. I am behinderer than you are.

>201 jillmwo: That was one of the books that was picked for me for Santathing last year but I haven't yet got around to reading it - you have made me excitedly anticipate it even more. I really must get these other books out of the way so that I can move on to it!

>201 jillmwo: Oh good, you're alive. I'll recall the search party.

>206 Jim53: *snort* I'm actually about to embark on a historical study of journalism. My reading for the next week or so is Communities of Journalism: A History of American Newspapers and Their Readers. And then after that, the truly uplifting story of Pandemic 1918.

I did read Sorcerer to the Crown which I liked. Humor and a crowd of fun characters. Someone here in the Pub had said once that the book contained one of her favorite literary dragons and I absolutely agree. The dragon in Cho's Regency England is right up there with Jo Walton's Victorian dragons in Tooth and Claw.

>206 Jim53: & >207 jillmwo: *waves wildly from the west coast*

I haven't had much to contribute to conversations lately, but I'm reading them and thinking fond thoughts of each of you!

>208 MrsLee: *waving in a generally westward direction* Our all-too-brief visit was great fun. Now Jill and I need to find excuses to come your way.

Crap, it's already mid-September. How does this keep happening? Why is life so busy? I could blame freelance with some legitimacy, but I think there's more going on as well. At any rate before I start the next portion of my personal reading thread in 2018, I will share the following quote from my current read which happens to be about women and reading and finding the time to read in the midst of everyday life -- Reading and the Making of Time in the Eighteenth Century by Christina Lupton:

Reading was something one might conceivably do instead of going to church -- an activity, like walking, that might be used on Sundays to prevent drinking and debauchery.

The first flippant response of course is to ask, "How's that working for you?" I wish I could say that the past month had been spent in drinking and debauchery, but I’m afraid I’ve just been frittering and procrastinating...

Starting new thread....