Wednesday Reading Meme

[osprey_archer]

What I’ve Just Finished Reading

Susan Fletcher’s Falcon in the Glass, which is fun, but not one of her best books.

Also two Adam Gopnik books. I am probably not the ideal reader for The Table Comes First. There is only so much I can read about the philosophical underpinnings of cooking and avant garde innovation in cuisine before my eyes start to glaze over. But I think it’s also partly that Gopnik’s writing style has become more aphoristic and more obsessed with mortality since he wrote Paris to the Moon, neither of which strike me as positive developments. He can turn anything into a meditation on mortality.

But I did like Gopnik’s children’s book, The King in the Window. I was so unimpressed by The Steps across the Water that I almost didn’t read this one, but I’m glad I did, because it’s much more solid. (Still not entirely solid. Gopnik clearly subscribes to the Alice in Wonderland school of fantasy worldbuilding, which I think only really worked in Alice and The Phantom Tollbooth.)

Oliver has become the king of the window wraiths, who are locked in an age-old struggle with their mortal enemies the...well, that would be telling: one of the pleasures of the book is learning with Oliver about the window wraiths and their world. But I mention the struggle with evil, because it leads to this great exchange between Oliver and Mrs. Pearson, the elderly lady who becomes one of his trusted lieutenants (and incidentally one of my favorite characters):

“I was thinking that since they picked me, then I must have, like, this sort of instinct inside me that would let me, uh, lead and all and that I shouldn’t really think too much. You know, trust my instincts. Get beyond my conscious mind, get in touch with the universe, go beyond, like, logic, and use the force…” Oliver trailed off weakly.

Mrs. Pearson’s eyes were like blue ice. Oliver could tell she was struggling to contain her emotions. “You...find...yourself in a confrontation with absolute evil, and you...are...planning...not...to...think?”

You have no idea how many children’s book heroes I have wanted to say this to!

What I’m Reading Now

Rosemary Sutcliff’s Sword at Sunset. This book gives me the same feeling as Blood and Sand: if Sutcliff’s publishers would have let her get away with it, Artos and his bff Bedwyr would clearly have been boinking their way up and down the coast of Britain in between Saxon-slaying sessions.

What I Plan to Read Next

Ysabeau S. Wilce’s Flora Segunda: Being the Magickal Mishaps of a Girl of Spirit, Her Glass-Gazing Sidekick, Two Ominous Butlers (One Blue), A House with Eleven Thousand Rooms, and a Red Dog. How can I go wrong with a book that has a subtitle as long as my arm?

Comments

[carmarthen.livejournal.com]

I'm not quiiite so sure she would have had Artos and Bedwyr bang, but emotionally they are certainly...involved. Not sure how far you are, so I don't want to say too much, but the central relationships of SAS get really interesting.

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

Artos has tons of issues, especially about sex, so maybe not. But he clearly would be happier if he spent more time cuddling with Bedwyr and less time sending Bedwyr off to do all the tasks that require spending tons of time away from the Companions. (Maybe he's trying to put himself out of the way of temptation?)

[carmarthen.livejournal.com]

Heh, yes, well, Artos isn't very good at being happy.

I had vague ideas once for a semi-fixit but I'd have to reread and I'm not sure I could pull it off.

[island-of-reil.livejournal.com]

He can turn anything into a meditation on mortality.

Well, everything is political, so it's possible to do so. But not everyone can pull it off. (I'm unfamiliar with Gopnik.)

if Sutcliff’s publishers would have let her get away with it, Artos and his bff Bedwyr would clearly have been boinking their way up and down the coast of Britain in between Saxon-slaying sessions.

I haven't read SaS yet but I get the impression that it would have made the book far more cheerful.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

Nothing would make SAS cheerful. Kittens and an orgy would just make things even worse! :-ooo

[island-of-reil.livejournal.com]

There's a reason I'm putting off reading it until there's more sunlight.

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

Surely kittens would add a ray of sunshine? A very thin, pale, wintery ray of sunshine? At least until their inevitable tragic demise?

But you're so right about the orgy. It would probably just give Artos feelings of angst and inadequacy.

[carmarthen.livejournal.com]

IIRC there is a puppy, and it doesn't help much...

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

Anything would make this book more cheerful. Anything. It's almost as depressing as Lantern Bearers.

[isiscolo.livejournal.com]

Well, she does have another pair of warrior BFFs boinking between Saxon-slaying sessions, which honestly, I'm amazed this is in a book written at this time! But yeah, as carmarthen alludes to, the relationships are rather fraught.

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

I can just envision her bargaining with the publishers about this. "I'll be more circumspect about Artos, king of the Britons, and his passionate love for Bedwyr, if you'll let me have Gault and Levin!"

The publishers: "Okay, fine."

And then they got the book and were all, "...this is circumspect?"

[goldjadeocean.livejournal.com]

How can I go wrong with a book that has a subtitle as long as my arm?

Said like a person who has never read Moll Flanders.