Wednesday Reading Meme
Dec. 21st, 2022 10:53 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
osprey_archerWhat I’ve Just Finished Reading
littlerhymes and I finished Mary Stewart’s last Arthurian novel, The Prince and the Pilgrim, which is based on the medieval Arthurian legend of Alisander, who sets out to avenge his father’s death and go to Camelot… and neither avenges his father’s death nor ever makes it to Camelot, but instead marries the Pretty Pilgrim, who takes one look at him and informs him, “I love you.”
In Stewart’s version, Alexander is the one who takes one look at Alice and instantly announces he loves her - not twelve hours after he last rose from Morgan La Fay’s bed. OH ALEXANDER. There’s a bit where his mom is like “Thank God he’s pretty because he’s not very smart,” and it’s fortunate that Alice will be in a position to do his thinking for him forthwith.
I also read J. R. R. Tolkien’s Letters from Father Christmas, which is a collection of the letters that he wrote for his children from Father Christmas and Father Christmas’s various helper, like the North Polar Bear and the elf secretary Ilbereth. As they were written over a period of almost two decades, there isn’t an overarching story per se, but rather the ongoing happenings of life at the North Pole, such as North Polar Bear’s various scrapes.
The copy I read includes facsimiles of the letters (each character has his own distinctive handwriting: Father Christmas’s is shaky because he’s old, North Polar Bear writes a blocky hand because he’s writing with his paw, etc.), plus Tolkien’s beautiful illustrations. A Christmas feast.
What I’m Reading Now
I’ve been struggling to keep up with my email reading commitments! Whale Weekly has suddenly become Whale Almost Daily (and a chunk of chapters each day, at that! Ishmael and Queequeg are already sharing a bed like newlyweds), the letters from The Lightning Conductor are flying thick and fast, AND the first chapter of A Study in Scarlet arrived from Letters from Watson, which wasn’t supposed to start till January 1st! Oh my.
The daily Christmas Carol installments, however, continue just the right size. Scrooge has just bid farewell to the Ghost of Christmas Present, but not before being introduced to the Ghost’s terrifying hangers-on, the wretched children Ignorance and Want. One of the few scenes that didn’t make it into The Muppet Christmas Carol! Perhaps the filmmakers thought it interrupted the Ghost’s leave-taking.
What I Plan to Read Next
I’ve been enjoying A Christmas Carol so much that I’m taking the plunge on David Copperfield.
littlerhymes and I finished Mary Stewart’s last Arthurian novel, The Prince and the Pilgrim, which is based on the medieval Arthurian legend of Alisander, who sets out to avenge his father’s death and go to Camelot… and neither avenges his father’s death nor ever makes it to Camelot, but instead marries the Pretty Pilgrim, who takes one look at him and informs him, “I love you.” In Stewart’s version, Alexander is the one who takes one look at Alice and instantly announces he loves her - not twelve hours after he last rose from Morgan La Fay’s bed. OH ALEXANDER. There’s a bit where his mom is like “Thank God he’s pretty because he’s not very smart,” and it’s fortunate that Alice will be in a position to do his thinking for him forthwith.
I also read J. R. R. Tolkien’s Letters from Father Christmas, which is a collection of the letters that he wrote for his children from Father Christmas and Father Christmas’s various helper, like the North Polar Bear and the elf secretary Ilbereth. As they were written over a period of almost two decades, there isn’t an overarching story per se, but rather the ongoing happenings of life at the North Pole, such as North Polar Bear’s various scrapes.
The copy I read includes facsimiles of the letters (each character has his own distinctive handwriting: Father Christmas’s is shaky because he’s old, North Polar Bear writes a blocky hand because he’s writing with his paw, etc.), plus Tolkien’s beautiful illustrations. A Christmas feast.
What I’m Reading Now
I’ve been struggling to keep up with my email reading commitments! Whale Weekly has suddenly become Whale Almost Daily (and a chunk of chapters each day, at that! Ishmael and Queequeg are already sharing a bed like newlyweds), the letters from The Lightning Conductor are flying thick and fast, AND the first chapter of A Study in Scarlet arrived from Letters from Watson, which wasn’t supposed to start till January 1st! Oh my.
The daily Christmas Carol installments, however, continue just the right size. Scrooge has just bid farewell to the Ghost of Christmas Present, but not before being introduced to the Ghost’s terrifying hangers-on, the wretched children Ignorance and Want. One of the few scenes that didn’t make it into The Muppet Christmas Carol! Perhaps the filmmakers thought it interrupted the Ghost’s leave-taking.
What I Plan to Read Next
I’ve been enjoying A Christmas Carol so much that I’m taking the plunge on David Copperfield.
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Date: 2022-12-21 03:58 pm (UTC)I look forward to your thoughts! Have you seen the 2020 Dev Patel movie yet?
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Date: 2022-12-21 05:59 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2022-12-21 07:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-12-22 12:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-12-21 04:15 pm (UTC)I've been wondering if I should slam through A Study in Scarlet this week before Watson's Weekly truly starts rolling, rather than mess around with this 'excerpt' business. I am undecided!
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Date: 2022-12-21 05:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-12-22 12:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-12-21 07:09 pm (UTC)Good luck with David Copperfield. I have dim memories of liking it in school - perhaps your blogging about it will refresh me!
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Date: 2022-12-21 07:37 pm (UTC)David Copperfield is looking like it will be a long term project, so there may be many posts to refresh your memory! I just got to the bit where David's widowed mother marries the horrible Murdstone.
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Date: 2022-12-22 03:09 am (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2022-12-22 10:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-12-23 01:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-12-22 12:06 pm (UTC)Aww, the Tolkien sounds lovely.
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Date: 2022-12-23 01:08 pm (UTC)