Thursday, April 29, 2010
This guy can't stop doing dumb things.
So I'm not sure if I just didn't get it, or if I missed enough cultural references that would put this in context, or what. I'm just glad it's over.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
The end of the Crusade.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
More Crusading.
Friday, April 9, 2010
The long Crusade featuring: perfect women!
I am now halfway done with The Albigenses by Charles Robert Maturin. I’ve finished reading volume 2. It is interesting how different volume 2 is from volume 1. There is so much more action! I feel like the plot developed so much more in volume 2, where volume 1 was maybe more about character development. SO much went on in this book.
It’s interesting that both main women characters are portrayed as being pretty much perfect. They are both beautiful, wise, smart, stand up for what they believe in, and have several handsome admirers. The Lady Isabelle even fixes a steely gaze on some bad guys, which intimidates them enough to refrain from doing bad things to her and her attendants! Not a very realistic portrayal. I wonder if they will remain perfect throughout the series or if the next two volumes will humanize them somewhat.
I’m still enjoying this quite a bit, although it isn’t one of the ones I am going around recommending to everyone like The Age of Innocence and Alias Grace. It is pretty long and involved.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Will you, won’t you, will you, won’t you, will you join the dance?
I had never read Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll before. This type of book – fantasy books in general, actually – is really not my favorite. I often feel like these kinds of books are super hard to follow and so implausible. I have a hard time figuring out the story when you never know if the next thing that happens is that the protagonist is going to grow 10 feet tall.
I am glad I read this one though. I was so impressed by the author’s imagination! I don’t know how all that crazy stuff came out of one person’s head. Maybe I will get to like them more if I think about it that way.
My favorite was the Lobster Quadrille song. I thought that was so cute. I also thought the ending was really sweet – how he wrapped it up with Alice’s sister thinking about her. It made me think of my little daughter and what her imagination is going to be like someday. So I didn’t mind this one as much as I thought I would!
Next up: Back to The Albigenses. Volumes 2 through 4 arrived! Now I just have to remember what was going on at the end of volume 1!