Reading Wednesday
Finished reading: A Gentleman of Leisure by P G Wodehouse. This one took a while to grow on me, and at the end, I still wasn't really into it. I think it might be because after reading one of the Jeeves novels, this set of characters just wasn't as fun in comparison. It didn't put me off Wodehouse, though - I'll read more eventually.
Also finished reading: Yamoria the Lawmaker by George Blondin. I had to put this one down for a while, because I wanted to think about it more deeply. And... I'm not finished thinking about it. But, I had to return it, so - of course I finished it. Basically, my impression is - the stories told are interesting in their own right; if you have any interest in Native oral stories/histories, this might be a book to investigate. It's also interesting for what is communicated through the stories - traditionally the purpose of this stuff is to communicate how to live. I'd recommend reading this one along with (or before/after) a more detailed history book, such as Drum Songs.
Currently reading: Drum Songs: Glimpses of Dene History by Kerry Abel. I wish I hadn't taken so long to read this, because it's great. My assumption was that it would be dry, but it isn't; I can hardly put it down. This book tries to trace Dene history as a whole, as well as the histories of individual groups (Chipewyan, Dogrib, Yellowknife, and others) when possible. In doing that, it's both a history of the people and of the changes in the region itself through the fur trade in this part of northern Canada, with a Native-centred look. Part of the reason that I'm finding it so enjoyable is that I'm reading about my region, and that hardly ever happens. I know about the locations discussed in the book, Fort Chipewyan comes up frequently... And so on. (Unrelated: I was very amused when it started discussing Peter Pond, who has a ton of stuff named after him here in Fort Mac, but who was a "scoundrel" according to the records of one of my ancestors, who met him at least once.)
...Anyway, back to the subject - the reason I'm enjoying it so much is not the familiarity of the region; that's just the icing on the cake for me. It's just written in a very easy-flowing style, discusses all aspects of Dene life as far as we know them, goes as deep possible into inter-group relations/conflicts (alliances, wars, changes in territory as a result of the fur trade, etc). When possible, it brings in oral history, and matches them up as closely as possible with written sources. Some of the stories it has mentioned are ones that I read in Yamoria the Lawmaker, and that's really cool. And it talks as much about individual people as possible. Thanadelthur was awesome, True Facts. (Turns out there's some fiction/literature out there where she features prominently... I should see if I can get my hands on some of it.) So, yeah - it's interesting and readable. Excellent.
Of course, one thing that I need to keep in mind is that the author is not Dene. But since I'm reading this back-to-back with Yamoria the Lawmaker, I figure, I'm at least getting the two perspectives together. So far, they align pretty well. And of course, it's possible that when I next head to the library, I'll find a book written by a Dene author that is similar to this one, and just as awesome. Hopefully.
I'm still nowhere near the point that I need to be in order to start writing the story that I want to write, but at least I have some more ideas of directions that I can take with it.
Reading next: I have no idea. Since I'll be on vacation next week, I'm not going to be taking more books out from the library. Might possibly start The Seventh Bride by T Kingfisher, just because I've had it for ages and haven't read it yet, and I might want to nominate it for Yuletide exchange. We'll see.
This entry was originally posted at http://yuuago.dreamwidth.org/3496665.html. You can comment here or at the original entry.
Also finished reading: Yamoria the Lawmaker by George Blondin. I had to put this one down for a while, because I wanted to think about it more deeply. And... I'm not finished thinking about it. But, I had to return it, so - of course I finished it. Basically, my impression is - the stories told are interesting in their own right; if you have any interest in Native oral stories/histories, this might be a book to investigate. It's also interesting for what is communicated through the stories - traditionally the purpose of this stuff is to communicate how to live. I'd recommend reading this one along with (or before/after) a more detailed history book, such as Drum Songs.
Currently reading: Drum Songs: Glimpses of Dene History by Kerry Abel. I wish I hadn't taken so long to read this, because it's great. My assumption was that it would be dry, but it isn't; I can hardly put it down. This book tries to trace Dene history as a whole, as well as the histories of individual groups (Chipewyan, Dogrib, Yellowknife, and others) when possible. In doing that, it's both a history of the people and of the changes in the region itself through the fur trade in this part of northern Canada, with a Native-centred look. Part of the reason that I'm finding it so enjoyable is that I'm reading about my region, and that hardly ever happens. I know about the locations discussed in the book, Fort Chipewyan comes up frequently... And so on. (Unrelated: I was very amused when it started discussing Peter Pond, who has a ton of stuff named after him here in Fort Mac, but who was a "scoundrel" according to the records of one of my ancestors, who met him at least once.)
...Anyway, back to the subject - the reason I'm enjoying it so much is not the familiarity of the region; that's just the icing on the cake for me. It's just written in a very easy-flowing style, discusses all aspects of Dene life as far as we know them, goes as deep possible into inter-group relations/conflicts (alliances, wars, changes in territory as a result of the fur trade, etc). When possible, it brings in oral history, and matches them up as closely as possible with written sources. Some of the stories it has mentioned are ones that I read in Yamoria the Lawmaker, and that's really cool. And it talks as much about individual people as possible. Thanadelthur was awesome, True Facts. (Turns out there's some fiction/literature out there where she features prominently... I should see if I can get my hands on some of it.) So, yeah - it's interesting and readable. Excellent.
Of course, one thing that I need to keep in mind is that the author is not Dene. But since I'm reading this back-to-back with Yamoria the Lawmaker, I figure, I'm at least getting the two perspectives together. So far, they align pretty well. And of course, it's possible that when I next head to the library, I'll find a book written by a Dene author that is similar to this one, and just as awesome. Hopefully.
I'm still nowhere near the point that I need to be in order to start writing the story that I want to write, but at least I have some more ideas of directions that I can take with it.
Reading next: I have no idea. Since I'll be on vacation next week, I'm not going to be taking more books out from the library. Might possibly start The Seventh Bride by T Kingfisher, just because I've had it for ages and haven't read it yet, and I might want to nominate it for Yuletide exchange. We'll see.
This entry was originally posted at http://yuuago.dreamwidth.org/3496665.html. You can comment here or at the original entry.