(no subject)
I wish time was geographical, so one could go to the 60s for a week's vacation. This because of the sudden realization that autumn cities I have loved no longer exist. Yes, Pau and Paris and Tokyo are still there, but they're not the cities I saw. The feel of them has changed; and in Tokyo at least, the buildings have changed as well. Almost as bad as Toronto, if one goes by Streetview.
Japanese
Hyakki Yakoushou 19
English
The Commodore
The Wine-dark Sea
Clarissa Oakes
The Nutmeg of Consolation
The Letter of Marque
The Thirteen Gun Salute
No idea what led to that (for me) stunning number of novels, except that O'Brian goes down easily once one skims the nautical vocab and knows what one's reading for. One is reading for the emotional interaction, but I still puzzle over the fact that the Stephen-Jack relationship wouldn't work half as well without all the sailing and sea battles and their relationships with everyone else on the ship. It's not a case of having to work for one's reward; more a question of balance and weight and convincing detail. I fancy Novik is trying for the same sort of balance but doesn't manage it, is why one reads for Laurence-Temeraire and often wants to ignore the tedious travels and battles around them. (I also think she's trying for O'Brian's dispassionate narration, but to me comes off as cold instead.)
Japanese
Hyakki Yakoushou 19
English
The Commodore
The Wine-dark Sea
Clarissa Oakes
The Nutmeg of Consolation
The Letter of Marque
The Thirteen Gun Salute
No idea what led to that (for me) stunning number of novels, except that O'Brian goes down easily once one skims the nautical vocab and knows what one's reading for. One is reading for the emotional interaction, but I still puzzle over the fact that the Stephen-Jack relationship wouldn't work half as well without all the sailing and sea battles and their relationships with everyone else on the ship. It's not a case of having to work for one's reward; more a question of balance and weight and convincing detail. I fancy Novik is trying for the same sort of balance but doesn't manage it, is why one reads for Laurence-Temeraire and often wants to ignore the tedious travels and battles around them. (I also think she's trying for O'Brian's dispassionate narration, but to me comes off as cold instead.)