and the fox ate my pigeons, all but two
Someone needs to slash Maurice. Not EM Forster's Maurice, which the author already did quite nicely for us, but Northern Exposure's Maurice. His denial and homophobia are pathological, and his interest in Officer Semanski is highly suggestive of a desire for physical equality in a relationship. Plus his name, which, as mentioned above, brings to mind Forster's groundbreaking novel about a gay young man in British society. Subtext, much? I can't imagine all the writers missed the association, being so obviously well-read as they were.
Maurice is an interesting character. Oh, he's a jerk, no doubt. But he's an honest jerk. And for the amount of character development undergone within the series I think he and Joel definitely tie for first place. I won't say he's any more likeable, but he's an understandable and (ocassionally) sympathetic character who speaks to the asshole in us all--whether we want to hear him or not. Don't get me wrong. If Maurice was a guy I knew, I'd want to kick his ass. That's the greatest thing about fiction, though--getting inside the heads of people we wouldn't ever want to know and figuring out the whys of their respective personalities. It would be great if that worked in real life too.
Just something I've been chewing over lately. Anyway, I finished Goethe's Faust parts I and II, and Marlowe's Doctor Faustus. Faust part I is still the best--part II gets way out there. The little tiny bit of the story that Faust and Mephistopheles are together is hilarious--they agree and scheme when they're trying to pull a fast one (or series of fast ones) on the emperor, and bicker like an old married couple when they're alone. Funny as hell! But the rest of it draaaaags. I can't emphasize that enough, unless I maybe put it in CapsLock, too. So slow and overwraught. I mean, there are moments that are amusing--pretty much anything with Mephistopheles, like when he's talking to the Homunculus, or when he tries to hit on the Lamia but gets too disturbed by the fact Classical mythology predates Christian mythology (she's older than he is). Or when he's hiding out from the other mythological creatures with the Sphinxes. But that's really it. And tell me this--who the fuck are the Mothers, and why are they in charge of the dead from Classical times? Huh?
I also re-read Peter S. Beagle's The Innkeeper's Song for the first time since I got it, several years ago. I forgot how good it was (mostly because for some reason I couldn't remember anything that happened after the foursome. Actually, since I was roughly eighteen/nineteen when I last read it, the sex is the part I remembered best. It's not really slashy sex, but I hesitate to call it truly het despite the ultimate configuration they achieve.) Anyway, it's still brilliant. Beagle is one of the few male authors that spring to mind who can write convincing female characters that do not grate on my nerves. Count yourselves lucky--I just excised a lengthy rant on female characters. My only problem with the book is not with it's portrayal of women, but with the fox. I love the fox. But what the hell is he? I know we see him as he really is, but what precisely is his true form? What is the old nothing?
On the trashier side of things, I started reading From Eroica with Love fanfic, even though I've never read the manga (and never will, unless a local library has them). It's not too hard to follow. Plus, I have a thing for repressed Germans, and there's enough bottom!Klaus fic to keep me happy thus far. I gave a cursory glance at the Big Bang Theory section on ff.net, but the quality seems questionable, there's too much het, and I haven't seen anything but season one yet so I have no idea where the idea of Penny/Sheldon came from. I find it highly disturbing, and not in a good way. Four of the main characters out of five are male--where is the slash?
Maurice is an interesting character. Oh, he's a jerk, no doubt. But he's an honest jerk. And for the amount of character development undergone within the series I think he and Joel definitely tie for first place. I won't say he's any more likeable, but he's an understandable and (ocassionally) sympathetic character who speaks to the asshole in us all--whether we want to hear him or not. Don't get me wrong. If Maurice was a guy I knew, I'd want to kick his ass. That's the greatest thing about fiction, though--getting inside the heads of people we wouldn't ever want to know and figuring out the whys of their respective personalities. It would be great if that worked in real life too.
Just something I've been chewing over lately. Anyway, I finished Goethe's Faust parts I and II, and Marlowe's Doctor Faustus. Faust part I is still the best--part II gets way out there. The little tiny bit of the story that Faust and Mephistopheles are together is hilarious--they agree and scheme when they're trying to pull a fast one (or series of fast ones) on the emperor, and bicker like an old married couple when they're alone. Funny as hell! But the rest of it draaaaags. I can't emphasize that enough, unless I maybe put it in CapsLock, too. So slow and overwraught. I mean, there are moments that are amusing--pretty much anything with Mephistopheles, like when he's talking to the Homunculus, or when he tries to hit on the Lamia but gets too disturbed by the fact Classical mythology predates Christian mythology (she's older than he is). Or when he's hiding out from the other mythological creatures with the Sphinxes. But that's really it. And tell me this--who the fuck are the Mothers, and why are they in charge of the dead from Classical times? Huh?
I also re-read Peter S. Beagle's The Innkeeper's Song for the first time since I got it, several years ago. I forgot how good it was (mostly because for some reason I couldn't remember anything that happened after the foursome. Actually, since I was roughly eighteen/nineteen when I last read it, the sex is the part I remembered best. It's not really slashy sex, but I hesitate to call it truly het despite the ultimate configuration they achieve.) Anyway, it's still brilliant. Beagle is one of the few male authors that spring to mind who can write convincing female characters that do not grate on my nerves. Count yourselves lucky--I just excised a lengthy rant on female characters. My only problem with the book is not with it's portrayal of women, but with the fox. I love the fox. But what the hell is he? I know we see him as he really is, but what precisely is his true form? What is the old nothing?
On the trashier side of things, I started reading From Eroica with Love fanfic, even though I've never read the manga (and never will, unless a local library has them). It's not too hard to follow. Plus, I have a thing for repressed Germans, and there's enough bottom!Klaus fic to keep me happy thus far. I gave a cursory glance at the Big Bang Theory section on ff.net, but the quality seems questionable, there's too much het, and I haven't seen anything but season one yet so I have no idea where the idea of Penny/Sheldon came from. I find it highly disturbing, and not in a good way. Four of the main characters out of five are male--where is the slash?