Impoving Texts

[eglantine_br]

Title: Improving Texts

Rating G

Word Count 1100

There is little excuse for this excursion into silly land. I think that Mary Wolstoncraft must have access to a time machine. Wonder where she got it. And I think she packed that particular basket with care. Improving books can take many forms, after all.

Maybe tomorrow we will all get to see the results

Comments

[vespican]

Very clever! Wonder if the treasure trove of books contained any of Forester's books... one's not about Horatio. Things get a little tricky, even when dealing with time travel, so....

Suppose those on the Indy wouldn't have been much interested in reading about adventures so similar to their own (or their own), so I doubt Ms. Wolstoncraft would have included much by Forester or O'Brian. (They didn't seem to be much interested in Two Years Before the Mast.)

As a final note, "log lines" the blog from the Constitution Museum recently had a post about sailors and reading.
Dave

[eglantine_br]

Sailors seem to be voracious readers. Books get handed around until they wear out. I suppose a book helps a person get space and privacy in a crowded world. Do you find so? I read on the subway for that reason. If I am away in a book I don't mind the other humans so close to me.

I got very silly here. I tried to choose books with alarming or ridiculous titles. Many came from my own shelves. And of course the whole thing was to introduce the treatise on Naval underwear.

I can just imagine Archie reading Lord of the Rings and loving it, can't you?

[vespican]

It's somewhat the same for me, reading at work on my lunch break. I'm where I can hear all that goes on, and yet I can shut it out and journey to where ever the story takes me.

I remember flying out of NAS Lemoore, for a short training deployment aboard ship. A member of our sister squadron had an entire extra seabag full of paper back books. I also remember seeing people standing in the chow line reading as their spot inched along.
Dave

[mylodon]

Lolling like a lolling thing. This might be the best thing what you ever wrote. :)

[eglantine_br]

I was giggling as I wrote. I love when that happens. It was great fun picking out the most outrageous book titles! I think the ship is going to be a very quiet place for a while.

[mylodon]

Yep. What was the half goat one, BTW?

[eglantine_br]

Pan is the half goat. He is pictured at the link that Anteros provided. The 'Itlalian ruin is Pompeii.

[anteros_lmc]

ROFL! This is as adorable as it is priceless and it really did have me laughing out loud :D Why am I not surprised that Archie is fascinated by the goat? ;) And I do hope that Horatio learned something useful from the Deconstruction of Naval Unmentionables that he will be able to put into practice later...

"Who do you suppose thinks up these titles?”
“No idea, H'ratio. Maybe the authors don't always get a choice.”
Archie is prescient as always....

And just in case anyone hasn't already encountered Pan and the goat, if you follow this link you can see them in all their glory!

[eglantine_br]

I had such fun writing this. It does seem a very odd collection of books now that i think of it-- but books given away often are. Mrs W obviously reads widely!

That goat sculpture is even more overwhelming close up! That is some true great art! (Horatio looks just a little like a goat, don't you think? I mean with the long legs, and the curly hair and all...)

[bauhiniakapok]

Wow...do you think that was consensual? The goat looks rather bemused.

[nodbear]

wonderfully silly - LJ is offeirng me 'collapse' which I think just means hide the text under the cut again but could describe me sniggering hugeky at this end

I like the dancing Archie and ....

A pink sateen ribbon did not have any Naval application that Horatio could name

that is a sentence which should not be left unfollowed up I feel

[eglantine_br]

I imagined you would find this one entertaining! And of course you were the great mind behind Saphronia going to the Bracegirldles. Saphronia must be living in a state of perpetual astonishment. New ideas, for real!

I wonder who will read what, and what they will think of it. What will those before the mast think of Harding Dana's description? Will anyone read Thomas Paine? Will Archie make off with the Marlowe?

Have you seen the dance that Snoopy does in the cartoon? That is how i picture Archie. Pure joy, like a happy beagle!