Is it just me, or does a person’s IQ immediately drop about 20 points upon contracting the flu? Seriously. Last week, I was reading The Little Giant of Aberdeen County and enjoying it very much. Then, I got the flu. I swear I must have read the same page three or four times and still have no idea what it actually said. So, I put it aside and re-read a couple of Suzanne Brockmann’s Troubleshooters books, instead.
- The Women by T. C. Boyle – 4.5
- The Mountains of Saint Francis: Discovering the Geologic Events that Shaped Our Earth by Walter Alvarez – unfinished due to extreme boredom
- In the Company of the Courtesan by Sarah Dunant – 4.5
- Once and Always by Judith McNaught – 3
- Hot Pursuit by Suzanne Brockmann (reread)
- Gone Too Far by Suzanne Brockmann (reread)
I’m still not sure if I’ve read Once and Always before. Most of the deja vu vibe I kept getting was for the story, not the characters.
I’m almost done with the flu, or it’s almost done with me 
, so I’ll continue The Little Giant where I left off later today or tomorrow.
It is 1527 and the Emperor’s army is at the gates of Rome, unpaid and eager for plunder. The Eternal City is about to be sacked and the Pope imprisoned, much to the dismay of Henry VIII of England. However, the plight of England’s king is the last thing on the mind of Bucino, the eyes through which we see this tale. He is a dwarf in the service of a courtesan.
After suffering the greed of the Spanish and the righteous cruelty of the Germans, Bucino and his mistress flee to her native city: Venice. Though Rome is sore beleaguered, Venice is the jewel of Italy, rising in cosmopolitan glory from the waters of the Adriatic. Compared to the overt sins of Rome, Venice preserves a veneer of luxurious austerity. And it is a veneer. Courtesans actually go to Mass in order to gain the attention of potential new clients!
Dunant brings Renaissance Venice to brilliant, vivid life. The isolation of the Ghetto, the mostly amicable relations with the Ottoman Empire, and the surprisingly lenient treatment of those charged with witchcraft. The squalor of the poor and the understated opulence of the rich.
One thing I found of particular interest was the ruby. In any other place in Europe, Bucino would have gotten almost as much as the woman.
I find that I liked In the Company of the Courtesan more than I did The Birth of Venus. It is an enjoyable escape into the glories of Renaissance Venice.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Okay, I just got around to watching this, thanks to the magic of the DVR, and I’m disappointed. They obviously didn’t do their homework.
I mean, they did the whole battle between Red Thor and White Christ wonderfully. My riff is with the Midgard Snake. The storm god versus the serpent is a common motif in mythology. As they mentioned, you have Indra and Zeus (later Apollo) battling snakes. However, they overlooked the fact that Vedic, Greek, and Norse cultures were all Indo-European. The stories are so similar because they evolved from the same exact legend. Even the Hittites had a version of it. Same thing with the World Tree, though the kind of tree changed from culture to culture, depending on what grew in the area they came to inhabit.
Snake and tree stories, I know, are older than any of these, and are common to cultures not Indo-European, the Marduk and Tiamat myth from Babylon, for example, but the versions mentioned by the so called scholars on this program were. The Maya sea monster legend being the exception.
I wonder if there will be a second season of this show? And what myths and legends they will explore. It seems to me, sense they discussed Beowulf, there should be a couple of episodes on Arthur. The Founding of Rome with the whole Romulus and Remus story and the Rape of the Sabine Women. The cult of Mithras. Isis, Osiris, and Horus.
By the way, I noticed this in the Beowulf episode and it continued to irritate me in this one, but isn’t Odin supposed to have only one eye? I thought he sacrificed the other one for wisdom.
Dr. Phil would have a field day with these people. Or, I just had this thought, maybe Jerry Springer. I can just see the fun Springer, or even Maury Povich, would have with the whole Miriam/Frank/Olgivanna triangle. So many neuroses and psychoses in one book not set at a mental hospital.
- Frank Lloyd Wright – Sociopathic narcissist with a mother complex.
- Olgivanna – A father complex, hence her fixation for older men and the supposed security they would bring.
- Miriam – I can’t figure out if her moods were caused entirely by the morphine, or if she was also bi-polar, with more than a little Narcissism and sociopathy thrown in for good measure.
- Mamah – Also a little sociopathic, though not to the degree of Miriam or Frank, but, still, oblivious, or uncaring, of the effect of her actions on others. I also don’t understand how someone could abandon their children like that. Are women like that just cold, or is there some kind of hormone imbalance? It’s probably not a case of either/or, I suppose.
- Carleton – In this novel anyway, he was a schizophrenic.
And these are just the obvious ones. I can only imagine the dozens more than could be seen and identified by a psychologist.
The only normal woman Frank was attracted to in the whole debacle of his love-life was Kitty. Then again, she didn’t get much page time, so she could have been as full of complexes and neuroses as the rest of them for all I know.
I wonder what it says about me that the character who fascinated me the most in the entire novel was Miriam. She was just so vivid. The abruptness in the changes of her moods between extremities was breathtaking.
This was an interesting, thought provoking read.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
You might also want to try Loving Frank by Nancy Horan, which I read last year and adored.
Have any of you been watching this show? It’s about finding truth in the various mythical stories and legends of the world. For the most part, I find the various commentaries to be interesting and insightful, except for the last couple of subjects: The Odyssey and Beowulf.
The Odyssey.
Not once, in the two episodes it took to discuss this story, did they mention the involvement of Athena. They went on and on about the wrath of Poseidon, but not one single word about Athena. Poseidon, the god of the sea, horses, and earthquakes versus Athena, goddess of wisdom, crafts, and war. The power of natural chaos versus the order of the human mind. This is one of the predominant themes of Greek mythology.
Beowulf.
First, the sword and scabbard. I did not notice this, my nephew pointed it out to me. The man who plays Beowulf wears his scabbard on his right side as if he fights left-handed, but, most of the time, he holds the sword in his right hand.
Second, the scholars talk about how, in this story, we see the Christianization of the old oral tales, but they neglect to mention one of the most obviously Christian allusions in the entire poem: Hrothgar’s queen.
Third, the fact that they referenced the Icelandic sagas for the Battle on the Ice, but did not mention Bjorn Bjarki, the hero of that battle in the sagas. Bjarki was, supposedly, part bear. Beowulf translates into modern English as “bee wolf.” A clear reference to a bear.
And, fourth, in looking for historical evidence for people mentioned in the poem, they neglected to mention that there is a possible reference to the death of Beowulf’s overlord, King Hygelac of the Geats, in a Frankish chronicle: The History of the Franks by Geoffrey of Tours.
I set aside a few books this month. It was me and not the books. I was just in a kind of funk, I think. I’m not sure why I dumped any of the books I left unfinished this month. Maybe I’ll go back and try them again.
Even the latest Nora Roberts didn’t jerk me out of it. I ended up doing a lot of skimming through Black Hills. Maybe Ms. Roberts needs to cut down on quantity and get back to quality, because her last few books haven’t been all that great.
Despite all of this, I got quite a lot read this month.
- Saints at the River by Ron Rash – 4.75
- The Virgin Queen’s Daughter by Ella March Chase – unfinished
- The Manning Grooms by Debbie Macomber – 3
- The Treasure Keeper by Shana Abé – 3
- Heart of Gold by Jessica Bird – 3
- Speak No Evil by Allison Brennan – 2.75
- See No Evil by Allison Brennan – 3.25
- Fear No Evil by Allison Brennan – 3.25
- Sudden Death by Allison Brennan – 3
- I Can See You by Karen Rose – 4
- Daniel X: Watch the Skies by James Patterson and Ned Rust – 2.75
- The Healer by Sharon Sala – 2.75
- Tomorrow & Always by Barbara Bretton – 2.75
- The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant – 4
- The White Queen by Philippa Gregory – 4
- The Last Queen by C. W. Gortner – 4.25
- Practical Demonkeeping by Christopher Moore – 3.5
- 92 Pacific Boulevard by Debbie Macomber – 3
- Black Hills by Nora Roberts – 3
- House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus, III – unfinished (due to lack of time more than anything else)
- Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali – unfinished
I saw these at Miss Erin’s Scraps today and just couldn’t resist. They were perfect for scrapping my babies. Unfortunately, I don’t have enough pictures of Brady to do anymore layouts of him. An omission my sister will be hearing about, believe me.
This first LO is with Kaylee. I used the Starlight Paper Shaper Freebie. The colors were just perfect for our happy, chubby girl.
This is Danny, using the Fresh Paper Shaper Freebie, though I used more of the shapes than papers. I did a lot of color changing with this one to match his shirt. The title’s font is A Bug’s Life. You can get it from dafont.com.
After my recent historical fiction kick, I felt the need for something different. Don’t get me wrong. Historical fiction, in one form or another, is my favorite genre. But, occasionally, we all need a change. What could fit the description “different” more than a book by the fabulously off-kilter Christopher Moore?
Practical Demonkeeping starts out hilariously. The stereo stealing raccoons made me wonder what else the possum on my front porch the other night wanted besides food. That whole scene, music preferences included, had me giggling out loud. Luckily, I was in my own bedroom. Chris Moore definitely has a gift for the bizarre and absurd.
Having said that, I didn’t like this book nearly as much as I did Fool or, better yet, The Stupidest Angel and Coyote Blue. Compared to them, Practical Demonkeeping was almost boring at times.
Any book by this author is an outrageously, outlandishly, funny read, and I definitely intend to continue going through his back list. Next time, I’ll probably read Bloodsucking Fiends and You Suck (not sure which one comes first) in anticipation of next year’s release: Bite Me.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
