Wednesday Weekly Reading
What I have just finished reading: on Dec31 I read a Russian fantasy novel (not translated) about a random guy who ends up in a body of young Border Guards officer in the late 19th century and uses his technical knowledge (he's a gun nut and supposedly just generally good at technology) to get himself a fortune as a manufacturer (at the same time being awfully good at border guarding). A fairytale for boys; there's a sequel where this guy has plans to avoid coming revolution and the like. Why are all such books so empire-minded?
What I am reading now: (only what I am _actively_ reading)
H.V. Morton's A Stranger in Spain - I like Morton's travel writing, both for descriptions and for interest in people (and also for assuming that his readers have the same cultural baggage - I wonder if his original readers actually did have the same classical and Christian allusions on their minds).
Gordon Corrigan's Wellington, A Military Life - looks like I'm on a Napoleonica (for lack of a better name) kick again, and I like Wellington (I get a thrill from reading about people who are basically orderly by nature, 'cause usually people worthy of being written about, both in fiction and in biographies, are the messy creative types).
Graham Parry's Trophies of Time - a part of my 'maybe let's revive the dissertation' reading program. Essays/articles about antiquaries, some better known, some practically unknown.
Simon Schama's Citizens - 1000 pages All About French Revolution. Interesting and more balanced than I usually see (growing up in USSR I read all about how awesome revolutionaries were, later on I see mostly stuff about how awful the revolutionaries were).
What I am planning to read next: have no foggiest idea - probably should finish some other books I pecked into/left unfinished. Probably still Napoleonica.
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What I am reading now: (only what I am _actively_ reading)
H.V. Morton's A Stranger in Spain - I like Morton's travel writing, both for descriptions and for interest in people (and also for assuming that his readers have the same cultural baggage - I wonder if his original readers actually did have the same classical and Christian allusions on their minds).
Gordon Corrigan's Wellington, A Military Life - looks like I'm on a Napoleonica (for lack of a better name) kick again, and I like Wellington (I get a thrill from reading about people who are basically orderly by nature, 'cause usually people worthy of being written about, both in fiction and in biographies, are the messy creative types).
Graham Parry's Trophies of Time - a part of my 'maybe let's revive the dissertation' reading program. Essays/articles about antiquaries, some better known, some practically unknown.
Simon Schama's Citizens - 1000 pages All About French Revolution. Interesting and more balanced than I usually see (growing up in USSR I read all about how awesome revolutionaries were, later on I see mostly stuff about how awful the revolutionaries were).
What I am planning to read next: have no foggiest idea - probably should finish some other books I pecked into/left unfinished. Probably still Napoleonica.
This entry was originally posted at http://taelle.dreamwidth.org/57140.html. Please comment there using OpenID.