There's always time for a book

Photos!

2008-05-12T18:49:49Z

An overdue post on some of my recent travels. It mostly consists of photos!

Copenhagen had a nice feel: wide streets, outdoor cafes (with blankets on the chairs for when it got cold), bicycle lanes and lots of green (copper) roofs on churches and official buildings. I was a bit disappointed with our Copenhagen pictures, I didn't think they captured the feeling of the city very well. But here is one that has canal buildings and bicycles, two very Copenhagenish things.

Everyone who had been to Copenhagen said not to bother with the Little Mermaid statue. It's tiny! they said. Not worth the effort of walking there! But, perhaps due to my low expectations, I liked the statue. I think she looks suitably pensive and the surrounding area is very interesting and definitely worth a walk!

Bruges was the first destination of the next trip. It's a lovely town, easy to get to by train from the UK and, perhaps as a consequence, very busy with tourists! And although I can't knock the preponderence of chocolate shops, the lace shops were overwhelming, especially as there seemed to be a surplus of lace in the city which led to weird applications such as lace aprons for wine bottles. The canals were great to walk along and eat by:

I hadn't heard of a Begijnhof (also known as Béguinage in French) before this holiday. It was a religious community of women who took less binding vows than those of nuns (eg the one in Bruges did not have a vow of poverty). It was a chance for widowed and single women to live together communally. This photo is from inside the Begijnhof in Bruges, which was founded in the 13th century. Silence is requested inside its walls as some Benedictine nuns now live within the Begijnhof, which made it a very peaceful place to walk around.

Keukenhof in the Netherlands is supposedly one of the world's largest spring gardens, with over 7 million bulbs planted each year. The flowers sure made for the most colourful photos of the trip:

It was a beautiful day so wandering amongst places like this was a great pleasure:

Vianden was a lovely little town in Luxembourg, which itself was a lovely little country with rolling green hills and villages with colourful houses. Vianden benefited from a chateau on a hill overlooking the town, which, combined with narrow cobbled streets gave the town a very dracula-like feel.

Here is a picture looking back down on the town - it's from a chairlift which is why there's black lines through it!

Seven happy things from my week

2008-05-11T16:54:07Z

1. Last bank holiday Monday we visited Anglesey Abbey, which is an old country house near Cambridge. It’s a lovely building with great gardens and, bizarrely, what I reckon must be the world’s largest collection of paintings of Windsor Castle. Not only were there paintings from last 400 years of the castle, but even ones of random rural scenes with titles like “near Windsor Castle”.
2. The weather this week has been lovely. It’s been sunny and even warm! Granted, I’m still carrying a light jacket around with me but I wore a skirt with BARE LEGS this week!
3. I have finished up a few projects at work and am actually anticipating a time where I am not just frantically doing urgent stuff but also catching up on longer term projects.
4. I had a lovely looong chat with one of my sisters yesterday and feel caught up on the family goss.
5. Everything is growing really fast. You turn around and there are new leaves on a tree and nettles climbing over the path. And poppies have started coming out next to the roads!
6. Yesterday we saw a water shrew! I’d heard there was one hanging around a pond in a local reserve and yesterday evening we spotted it swimming around.
7. And talk about saving the best for last, today we went to visit the house that the children’s books of Green Knowe was based on! The manor at Hemingford Grey is one of Britain’s oldest continuously inhabited houses so it was interesting beyond the connections to the books. Seeing as I re-read Children of Green Knowe before this visit I think a separate post is in order!

More lists up as usual at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast!

People of the book

2008-05-09T18:02:22Z

People of the book came highly recommended from a number of reviews. As with Geraldine Brooks’ other book that I’ve read, March, I liked lots of things about People of the book. The story starts in Sarajevo in 1996 where a book conserver is at work on a precious Jewish holy book that was wonderfully saved from destruction by a dedicated librarian.* Different chapters are then interspersed that tell the story of the book backwards to its creation in the 14th century. The set up was a very clever way to explore snippets of history, especially as these sections seemed like the product of loving research.

Sadly the historical chapters often demonstrated the way apparently stable societies can be split apart by racial hatred. As I read I got depressed remembering just how recent so many of the atrocities in Europe alone have occurred. But I also think remembering these events is very important.

Despite enjoying People of the book , as a whole it was still slightly disappointing (which was also the case with March). I felt a little disconnected between the different sections and the ending was a bit dramatic for my tastes. And sometimes the Australianess of the main character was a bit over the top. The pattern of the language felt Australian enough to me that I don’t think all the additional slang words were necessary.

I don’t know if it’s because I would expect to adore a book with a plot like this, and getting closer to being a perfectly satisfying book is more frustrating than simply not being my thing at all. Happily, most people seem to enjoy it so I don’t need to feel bad!

*This book and some of its story was based on the real-life Sarajevo Haggadah. Very cool.

A salute to YA authors of my youth

2008-05-05T10:20:29Z

Scott Westerfeld recently provided links to some discussions on the coolness of YA fiction. In these and other discussions of YA books, there are often comments along the lines of “it’s not just Sweet Valley High anymore”. I agree that the post-Harry Potter boom in YA, particularly in fantasy, has been phenomenal. It’s fantastic seeing the growth in this area. But I want to acknowledge the scores of YA authors that were around when I was a child and teenager in Australia in the 1980s and 1990s. Many of the authors are Australian or New Zealanders, but I’m sure other countries must have had their equivalents?

It’s hard without my books with me (I’m even picturing book covers here but not recalling the title/author), but I here are some of the authors I remember from the YA (or “older children’s” or teenage as they were generally called) sections of libraries in the 1990s*:

In fantasy and YA, Diana Wynne Jones, Garth Nix, Isobelle Carmody, Margaret Mahy, Sally Odgers, Tamora Pierce, Madeleine L’engle, Diane Duane, Ken Catran, Victor Kelleher, David McRobbie, Caroline McDonald, and Gillian Rubenstein (now writing as Lian Hearn) all wrote books that I devoured eagerly.

In other types of novels, I remember reading authors such as John Marsden, Robin Klein, Paula Danziger, Catherine Jinks, Libby Hathorn, Gary Crew, Cynthia Voight (though I loved her fantasy books, too) and Melina Marchetta.**

I know these lists are sure to be incomplete but will avoid driving myself mad by just posting now and updating as necessary!

* of course there were plenty more in the children's and adults sections too
** scary aside for other Australian readers my age, Melina Marchetta’s Looking for
Alibrandi came out in 1992!

Happy things

2008-05-04T21:54:11Z

1. Yesterday we had a very flat tyre, but after bidding a sad farewell in our minds to some money that was supposed to be banked, we found out that the garage could repair the tyre for a very cheap price. Yay!
2. After dinner last night I remembered that we’d brought back some handmade chocolates from Bruges.
3. I was about to uproot what I thought were daffodils that had come up far too early (during winter) when I spotted a beautiful iris bud amongst the dying foliage – I had forgotten that was what I had planted! A nice surprise.
4. This is a mixed kick: annoying work that feels good to get done. I’ve finally had some time this weekend to start work on responding to thesis comments again – there’s not much to actually change so it’s frustrating that I haven’t done it!
5. The other thing I’ve enjoyed on this weekend at home is sleeping in + naps
6. It’s a long weekend this weekend! Tomorrow is another day off, hurrah!

Despite number 5, I’m too tired to make it to 7 kicks, but I’ll excuse myself as I had 8 last week.

As always, more lists up at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast!

Quick highlights

2008-04-30T06:50:36Z

Here’s a sample from the diverse range of books that have been keeping me busy in my non-internet writing days of recent weeks.

Wives and daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell. This novel follows the life of teenager Molly as she learns to cope with life beyond her sheltered home and her father’s remarriage. It’s a novel focussed around family relationships and growing up in a small town (including a sweet romance). I enjoyed it, but less so than North and South, perhaps because I found the social observations in the latter more interesting. When I read Wives and daughters I didn’t realise it had been written as a serial, but I wasn’t surprised as it definitely feels like a drama that has been stretched out further than is strictly necessary (however as I read it on a long train trip I certainly didn’t mind!). I also didn’t realise Gaskell died before completing the story and so was very shocked when I reached the last chapter and read “and here the story ended” with another writer finishing up the book!

Melusine by Sarah Monette was recommended to me by Checkers and other people and it was a very different type of book! (Lots more swearing for one thing!) The setting is a fairly typical fantasy world with magic etc but with an abundance of small details and interesting politics and social problems of its own. Melusine is very fast paced book and is narrated by two very different characters. I often find this type of storytelling difficult and want to keep skipping ahead to stay with one narrator but in Melusine I was interested enough in both stories to read it all in order! It finishes fairly abruptly with lots of preparation made for the sequel, which is already out (thank goodness!).

I only heard about Jeanne Birdsall's The Penderwicks: a summer tale of four sisters, two rabbits and a very interesting boy when I read a review of the sequel (not out yet) at Bookshelves of Doom. The references to Nesbit and Enright were enough to get me trotting around to the library. Having read the book, I agree that the story of a family’s summer adventures did have that lovely old fashioned and happy feel - I can see why it might be too cozy and sweet for some readers. For me, though, it was a really enjoyable read and I can’t wait for the sequel to come out later this year!

Sneaking away for a happiness list

2008-04-27T16:51:06Z

Eek, having visitors is even more time consuming (though fun!) than I thought! Though the holidays have been great. I’ve been missing my list making, though, so here are seven great things from recent weeks:

1. All of our recent travel. I’m digging this easy travel to a multitude of countries thing! Photos from Copenhagen, Bruges, the Netherlands and Luxembourg forthcoming.
2. Despite weather forecasts predicting doom and gloom we had spendid sunny days on our holidays
3. Staying in a village that had a very dracula-looking castle overshadowing it, and having a waitress serve us who was clearly on her way to becoming one of the living dead
4. Getting to eat yummy European food such as decent bread (I’m sorry but the cliches about poor bread quality in Britain are true, much to my shock and dismay)
5. When we came home after 6 days away my flower seeds had all started sprouting!
6. Yesterday I went to my first genuine English jumble sale. No Bishop’s Birdstump, and it was very very small (local church) but I bought a milk jug and glass cookie jar for 75p!
7. And leaves are finally returning to most trees, so everything it looking green and fresh. It never occurred to me that for so much of the year there wouldn’t be leaves on the trees so it is so nice to see them here again!
8. I have to sneak in an extra kick to say I’ve just gone to look at bluebells in a local wood and they’re even prettier than I imagined they would be. I get why everyone loves them now.

There are fantastic illustrations accompanying the other lists today at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.

I am missing the internet!

2008-04-19T17:17:09Z

I have so many books to talk about but alas work, travel and now overseas visitors (ie frantic cleaning) and more travel (yay!) have interfered. I haven't even got to read any of my blogs! *sniff*. I'll be back next weekend, hopefully feeling relaxed and rejuvenated, with lots of pretty photos to share.

Belated travel post

2008-04-06T19:26:40Z

As I’ve said, we had a fantastic time in Spain. Not only was it great catching up with an old friend and meeting a new one, but the too-short time we had around the country convinced me I need to go back.

We started our trip in Madrid. In my mind I had pictured it as being a rather dull practical city designed for government and business, but it was actually very pleasant! This revised impression might have been due to the fact that one of the first things we did was head off to a lovely square to sit in the sun (sun! I didn’t have to wear a coat!) and drink sangria. But there were lots of lovely buildings and many civilised things like giant sculptures on the street, permanent second hand book booths*, library kiosks on metro stations, excellent public transport and numerous parks. And we had some great paella and ewe cheese. The Prado museum was very very large. Even larger than I had imagined. However, despite limited time and the hordes who were taking advantage of the free entry on a Sunday afternoon, we saw some great paintings.

We took an impulsive side trip out to see local town called San Lorenzo del Escorial, you have to love small towns with colourful streets and monasteries like this:

We then caught a very civilised high-speed train to Seville that sped through large plains (so nice to have a distant horizon again), rolling hills covered with olive trees and, bizarrely, eucalypt plantations. Seville is a very pretty city, at least in the touristy old part we hung out in. There are lots of squares and narrow streets that cars can’t fit down. There were flowers and orange trees everywhere so the place even smelt good. But I didn't take enough photos. Here is one with a palm tree, flowering tree and an orange tree so you get a sense of how nice it was to hang out here:

Seville takes Holy Week very seriously, with numerous parades of brotherhoods. The costumes are a bit ku klux clan like at first glance (you can see them on the link) but the multiple colours soon dispelled that impression. The parades were very popular occasions, with lots of families turning out to participate and to watch.

After that we headed off to another Southern town that shows its Moorish influences very clearly, Granada. Granada has lots of white houses clustered on hillsides, so it was easy to walk around and get a good view from lots of different places. A nice meal here was gorgonzola tortellini with lime sauce, not so Spanish but delicious!

And Alhambra was wonderful, as you’d expect. My photos definitely didn’t do it justice, but there was lots of intricately carved white stone, fountains, curved arches at the top of doorways and terraces overlooking the city. Unfortunately one of the main courtyards didn’t have its fountains running, so I guess we’ll have to go back!

The worst part was the audioguide. Not only was there too much annoying music played to get you in the mood, it was based on the writing of Washing Irving. I previously had not given much thought to this author, but his sentimental descriptions of life in the palace don’t inspire me to go seek out his work. “Oh how my heart aches when I leave Alhambra”, “My cup of joy overruns every time I enter its dear halls”, “Can’t you just see the sun flashing off their spurs, gleaming on their white teeth” etc etc (these might be interpretations rather than entirely accurate quotes). Actually, by the end, it was fun listening to it just to see what he’d come up with next, even if it meant we never got useful information such as what the room was used for or what it was made from.

Granada was also the only place we had terrible waeather – very hard rain that even featured on the news that night! So I suspect I would have liked it more if we could have wandered around more.

The most unusual hotel of the trip was the cave. We couldn’t get an additional night’s accommodation in Granada so ended up in a small town set in a landscape where they used to film spaghetti westerns. But look, it was a cute cave!**

We briefly stopped in Valencia (cool towers with cannon marks from when Napolean tried to invade, giant Virgin Mary made out of flowers, cool underground archaeological site you viewed through a pool of water and a meal of tapas) on our way up to Barcelona. On the way we passed some nice looking coastline as well as some scary looking high rise developments that put the Gold Coast to shame.

The highlight of Barcelona were Gaudi's works. I was mildly interested in going to see some of his architectural features but admit I probably wouldn't have broken down and cried had they been shut for the day. But I'm so glad they weren't! First up was the Sagrada Familia church. Not only were there great features like columns that looked like trees, the audioguide very helpfully (and non-verbosely) explained the careful thought that had been put into the design. Also, it’s just very cool to visit a major monument while it’s being built. I'd like to go back for a service in 20 years and remember how it looked with rubble and scaffolding everywhere.

Casa Batllo was a completely different change of pace as it was designed as a private house. It also had lots of neat features like curvy door and window frames, cool blue tiles in the central atrium, attics that encouraged good air circulation for clothes drying and looked very attractive and a cool roof terrace that had elements inspired by a dragon. I could definitely picture living there. And I think more chimney pots in the world need to look like this:

We also got to wander around more cute pedestrian shopping streets, buy stuff at a food market, sample more tapas and eat in a lovely little restaurant. Then it was back to Merry Olde England for us, and Australia for our friends!

*Why is it that so many European cities manage to maintain hordes of scond hand book sellers but Australia/UK struggles?
**in case you were wondering, this was the excuse for using the icon for this entry

Seven happy things from my week

2008-04-06T18:37:19Z

Sorry about the non-blogging week, guys. I know better than to promise it will improve, but I amazingly I am still managing to write down books I'm reading so have no shortage of books to blog about once I get some time.

1. There was snow today! Admittedly very light snow that didn’t really settle, but still! Much more interesting than rain.
2. My tulips have started to open up! They are purple rather than the yellow and red stripes featured on the packet, but are lovely anyway.
3. More seeds sown and plants potted, summer should be pretty!
4. I managed to line up and attend some useful meetings this week, and after this week things should be far less madly busy
5. Yummy chocolate brownie ice-cream last night
6. I was lucky this morning and managed to have long chats with both sisters and my dad (it’s great when I get more than one person at home on a weekend day when one party doesn’t have to watch the clock for the time to head off to work).
7. We found cute town near us that we hadn’t discovered before and then had lunch in a country pub (huge traditional Sunday dinner…no need to cook tonight!)

Thanks as usual to Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast for encouraging us to make these lists!

Seven happy things from my week

2008-03-30T18:28:48Z

April is shaping up to be as mad as March for me, so posts will probably be light on the ground. I am still planning a Spain post, though! And I've been reading lots of interesting books so I will endeavour to write about them too.

1. Despite the snow last weekend (WHICH I MISSED! I CAN’T BELIEVE IT SNOWED WITHOUT ME) I know spring has officially arrived in my town. I know this because the old men are back on their seats. When we arrived late last summer we discovered that a favourite pastime for old men of the town is to sit on seats in the main street and watch people go by, and today they returned!
2. Speaking of spring, we went on a container and seed buying frenzy and now I am planning out pots and hoping for lots of lovely flowers in summer.
3. Also spring-like are the number of babies that are being born. This includes the baby my cousin just had this weekend!
4. I not only survived but enjoyed some training I did at work this week that included the scary task of having to practice a meeting with a roleplay actor and have it filmed so we could all critique it! (In case it sounds like it was just me, we did it in small groups, but it was still scary!)
5. Lots of simple but easily put off household chores were accomplished today (like clearing out empty cardboard boxes from a handy space behind the couch/under the stairs).
6. We did a super efficient shop yesterday where we ended up getting everything on our list, including some preparations for visitors in a couple of weeks.
7. Our council has announced we are all getting kitchen caddies and compost bins that they will collect every week for recycling. For someone without a garden that could use up compost, this is exciting news!

For more lists head on over to Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast!

I, Claudius - Chapters 17+

2008-03-24T16:51:19Z

Spain was great! I’ll write a post about it soon (with piccies! Hopefully great ones as one of my travelling companions had a very nice camera and an awe-inspiring dedication to good shots).

I admit once I was free of posting along with the group I just gobbled down I, Claudius. And any virtuous thoughts I had about keeping notes went out the window once Sangria and the Prado and the Alhambra entered the picture. So I’ll just post thoughts about all of the chapters in the last half of the book in a big jumble.

Germanicus died in such a typical way – he just wouldn’t face up to the truth and hunt down the source of his problems, but rather preferred to be noble and superstitious and die. I’m sure he would have been a good emperor, though, so it was poor old Rome’s loss.

It was bad Claudius’ house burned down and he was broke and had to move out of Rome, but it sounded like a lovely life. A countryside villa, no strange wife, snarky mother or murderous grandmother in sight and lots of interesting historical research to carry out. What a pity he had to be sucked back into Roman life (even if it made for a better story in the end).

Posthumus was so frustrating! He was alive and then frittered away his advantages of connections and popularity by swanning around simply ASKING Livia and Tiberius to bump him off! Grrr. I’m with Claudius. It was far more upsetting when he had already survived a murder attempt.

Livia demonstrates her awesome efficiency by referring to her bound and indexed copies of Augustus’ letters! How cool is that?! She is one devious woman.

And in the end Livia turns out to be far preferable to Tiberius. At least she was less destructive to the actual empire. Plus she’s openly ambitious and mean, not like whiny and shifty Tiberius. This part of the book was even more violent than earlier parts with lots of horrible details about people’s deaths. I cheered when Tiberius finally died, even if I knew Caligula’s rule wasn’t going to be a party.

Claudius does a great job at riding out Caligula’s madness. Unlike everyone else – this last part saw a bunch more people knocked off. Really, those Romans must have been quite fertile with the way they seemed to be able to recover from purges. I’m surprised it took so long for there to be a mutiny to kill him. I knew Cassius would pull through in the end.

The ending was satisfying. Hurrah for Claudius! Is there any better encapsulation of what has made him an engaging narrator than this: “I was thinking, “So I’m Emperor, am I? What nonsense! But at least I’ll be able to make people read my books now. Public recitals to large audiences. And good books, too, thirty-five years hard work in them. It won’t be unfair.”

I, Claudius was a great book to read. It was slow at times with the lack of dialogue and the name-heavy prose. But the sly humour and the sheer madness of the storyline (and the fact that many of the bits were true!) made it worthwhile. I just wish I had been around more to do it justice in my blog.

Claudius the God is on hold at my library. I’m eager to read it. Will Claudius revenge Caligula’s death as he promised even though it was a Good Thing that the mad emperor was offed? Will his fourth (? I’m losing track) wife turn out better than the previous two? Will he make Livia a Goddess? Will the population of Rome boom now that people can survive a year without being poisoned? Good times ahead, my friends!

Edited to add, thanks to Leila at Bookshelves of Doom for arranging this Big Read! It was great trying out a book I probably wouldn't have got around to picking up myself!

AFK

2008-03-15T21:27:15Z

Off to bed early to prepare for the early start tomorrow! I'll back again after Easter. I, Claudius (along with other books of course) is packed so I shall report back on the rest of the book when I return!

I, Claudius Chapters 11-16 - very delayed version

2008-03-12T19:13:32Z

I've been away for work (highlight was the facilitator who sounded just like a talk-show host version of Sean Connery) so have squished a few comments on the last two chunks together here.

Ooh, so Posthumous has managed exile over poisoning, never a mean feat in ye olde Livia-ruled Rome. Does anyone else wonder if they're going to run out of small islands to exile people to, though?

Eeeew to the violent bloodsports!

Cassius is shaping up to be quite the hero, winning duels, keeping his men alive, winning battles despite the odds, surviving a mutiny and so on.

Life in the army sure didn't seem like a barrel of laughs. I love how the soldiers get to sort it out amongst themselves as to who was guilty of leading the mutiny, and then the head chopping is carried out straight away.

There's lots about Germanicus in these chapters. He's becoming a bit annoying. Sure he's honest and is nice to Claudius, but I think he's being willfully naive and ignorant of Livia's ill-doing. I do like how he persuaded his wife to leave his battle camp by asking "whether she thought that Livia would make a good mother for their orphaned children". Of course, this quote shows he knows Livia is trouble but still chooses to do nothing about it!

I kept forgetting about Tiberius and so forgot to hate him until he responded to Claudius' offer of help with "a present of forty fold pieces 'to buy toys with next All Fools' Day'". Wow, nice uncle.

This book is making me realise just how little I remember (or indeed ever knew) about Roman history. I see Caligula has entered proceedings as a cute child and think "hmm, famous, possibly turns out to be evil, maybe emperor?". Very embarrassing. (By the end of Chapter 16 Caligula is shown to be a horrible child so I think I was right and Claudius is laying the ground for Caligula to be a rotter as an adult)

And remember Bookshelves of Doom has more commentary/links to other posts etc!

Seven happy things from my week

2008-03-09T18:39:40Z

Again I was tempted by the stress of very busy weeks behind and ahead of me not to post a list. But, again, I easily found seven good things from my week:

1. I never thought I’d be happy to say this, but it was so nice to be the in the office all week without travelling.
2. We went out for dinner at a local pub Friday night and had a great time. My co-workers are great people!
3. Speaking of which, my new manager started this week. She’s really nice and it will be so good to have a full team for the first time in months.
4. To celebrate we bought a bird feeder for outside our office window. It’s already attracting cute little British garden birds!
5. I saw my first wild newts in a pond! Very cute!
6. I have been cast into despair over finding a new skirt to take on holidays (see point number seven) and wear to work as shops only seem to have chiffon-let’s-pretend-it’s-summer skirts in stock, but I bought three on ebay yesterday. I’m sure at least one will fit!
7. My friends and I have managed to line up accommodation for our holiday in Spain next week (I’ll be away the next two Sundays but will do a mega happy list when I come back!). It’s Holy Week so accommodation was really tough to find, especially at short notice, but it looks like we won’t be homeless after all. I’m really really looking forward to this holiday especially seeing my Aussie friend. We’ve been friends since kindergarten and this is the longest we’ve been apart for 20 years so catching up over tapas and wine sounds like the perfect holiday.

More lists (and cute baby videos) up at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.

I, Claudius Chapters 7-10 (slightly delayed)

2008-03-08T09:29:21Z

I ran late putting this entry up as I was going out for dinner last night with work friends and at the last minute arranged to give one of them a lift, which involved very hasty tidying of the house so I would not be reported to the relevant health authorities.

I don't think I can talk about this book without spoilers. I personally wouldn't heed the spoiler warning as there are so many names and corpses and so on but in case you have a good memory: SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER!!! FOR EVERY I CLAUDIUS ENTRY FROM NOW ON!!

OK. I was dithering over whether I liked Livia or not. As I said at Bookshelves of Doom, she's evil but in an admirably manipulative and efficient manner. Well, no more dithering after she bumped off Claudius' poor little fiancee! She is very bad and must be stopped!

I liked all the stuff about Augustus hectoring the bachelors for not getting married and it turning out that it's the noble women who don't want to let themselves in for childbirth and the loss of their dowries. However, all the betrothals and marriages and divorces are quite complex, especially as they seem to be keeping it within the same extended family. Say what you will about the role of divorce in society, you have to admit it would be easier to keep track of people's relationships in a society where it was not allowed!

Cladius continues to be shown as learning lots of useful skills about speaking and writing history. But I'm glad Livia seems to be continuing to underestimate Claudius - it seems like a far safer position to be in.

Don't forget there are plenty of insightful comments over at Bookshelves of Doom!

I, Claudius Chapters 4-6 - in note form

2008-03-05T19:31:27Z

I wonder if I'm the only one getting a Jerome K Jerome vibe? I think it's the self-conscious, witty manner, the random asides and the discussion of ill health (although Claudius is more self-mocking than J).

The stakes of the story are raised as further hints (in the subtle form of a BABY WOLF FALLING OUT OF THE TALONS OF AN EAGLE INTO HIS ARMS) are given that Claudius is going to play a key role in the fate of Rome.

These chapters are very dense with storylines! I can't imagine how the miniseries covered them without dedicating hours and hours of episodes. There are enough things happening to keep any soap opera happy for a few seasons. Livia alone chalks up an impressive body count. I wonder if she's going to be knocked off in the same way - surely someone will think to poison her at some stage?

I don't hold out hope for Postumus having a long and happy life now that he's is the only one of Julia's sons left alive. Run, Postumus, run!

The great read returns!

2008-03-03T19:46:05Z

I had so much fun reading and blogging about Rebecca that I'm taking part in The Big Read II at Bookshelves of Doom. I'll be away for the last part of the reading schedule, and can't even promise to post frequently in the first couple of weeks, but I'll give it my best.

We're reading I, Claudius by Robert Graves, with today's portion being chapters 1-3. I admit this isn't a book I probably would have picked up on my own. I sure didn't vote for it. I'm a bit over Roman history, and the boring cover on my copy isn't doing the story any favours. But when I read the first lines, I relaxed a bit:

I, Tiberius Claudius Drusus Nero Germanicus This-that-and-the-other (for I shall not trouble you with all my titles) who was once, and not so long ago either, known to my friends and relatives and associates as "Claudius the idiot", or "That Claudius", or "Claudius the Stammerer", or "Clau-Clau-Clau Claudius", or at best as "Poor Uncle Claudius"...

I don't know if it's the Bujoldian echoes of Ivan-you-idiot but I liked the tone. Claudius goes on to say he is writing his life's story as a record for those who will read it in 1900 years time (according to the local prophet). These first chapters are tales of his parents and grandparents, and various intrigues that feature many a divorce and poisoning. The scene is set for a novel full of intrigue and drama!

There started to be a real tangle of Roman names by the end of chapter three - I hope I can remember them all across the course of the month - one of the problems of slowly reading when you have a poor name memory!

Seven happy things from my week

2008-03-02T20:13:45Z

It has been a really busy week, hence the lack of book posts (although there has been book reading, of course). I was tempted to skip my list this week because at first all I could remember were the busy and stressful moments. Plus it looks so lame to have two happiness lists in a row reminding me that I didn't post all week! But I like the tradition so here are seven nice things about the week:

1. After a work trip to Brussels in which very little was fun, I was cheered by eating a hot waffle with chocolate sauce at the train station. Yum!

2. The train home ran very late but a young couple in line near me were really interesting people who made the time seem like fun rather than utterly annoying. This is now the second time in recent memory that talking to people near me has turned out to be positive rather than a very regrettable mistake!

3. I gave a lecture to a very large group of students, many of whom still managed to overcome the whole lecture theatre atmosphere and ask interesting questions.

4. We had found out a few weeks ago that we weren’t actually the registered owners of our car, which was obviously not a good thing to find out. But now it’s all sorted! Phew!

5. To celebrate legally owning the car we went for a drive to England’s oldest pub (I should note that there are several of these “oldest” pubs scattered across England) in Cambridgeshire yesterday and had a nice lunch

6. On the way home we visited a new local farm store and bought a free range chicken that is roasting in the oven right now, and some very local honey (apparently this is supposed to help with hayfever. I say why not try out such a yummy solution?).

7. To go along with the other spring flowers I’ve been enjoying, there are also pretty pink flowered trees (cherry?) and white flowered Hawthorne (possibly?) hedges and trees everywhere.

As usual, more lists are up at the wonderful Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.

Happy stuff

2008-02-24T17:37:17Z

1. Well, obviously getting my thesis examiner reports and finding out I don't have too much to do was a highlight of the week
2. On Friday night we went into Cambridge for a Life in cold blood evening - the highlight was a talk from the producer and researcher of the show that had gave a look behind the scenes. It was very interesting to hear about how everyone pitched in to get ideas of what to film, and the best way of getting the shot (answer: patience). As the talk was at the Museum of Zoology, we got to wander around afterwards with wine and nibblies looking at animal skeletons - geeky fun!
3. My slow progression to a reasonable wardrobe continued with the purchase of new jeans. So boring and dispiriting to try pair after pair on but worthwhile when I found some!
4. I also bought other stuff I'd been procrastinating over, like a new type of shampoo and a brush
5. Our office at work is a lot cleaner after we made an effort to actually throw stuff out and pick stuff up off the floor!
6. The first of my daffodils in pots in the yard came out - beautiful!
7. I have spent all day at home in my bummy clothes

If you want to see some amazing illustrations and more lists, head on over to Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.

Mini reviews

2008-02-24T16:29:03Z

Some quick thoughts on books I’ve read recently:

Popco by Scarlett Thomas. Alice is singled out by her large children’s toy company to create a new fad for teenage girls. While trying to understand her new task Alice is also trying to solve the mystery of a locket left to her by her grandfather, a coding genius. Scenes of scary insights into marketing for children are interspersed by Alice’s memory of herself as a young girl and teenager.

There were many great elements to this book but overall I don’t know that it really worked for me. I loved the whole code breaking aspect (I would have been a sucker for the children’s spy kit described in the book), Alice’s teen experiences rang true and there were lots of intriguing side stories. But I think some of the suspense in the book was let down by the various ensuing events. I also wasn’t convinced by Alice’s sudden conversion to understanding the evils of mass marketing/mass meat production etc. But I know other people found the story meaningful, so I might have been a bit hard on old Alice. I think rowana recommended this book to me – thanks Ro!

All seated on the ground by Connie Willis. Aliens have landed on Earth, but they just stand around looking disapproving. This was a fun novella by one of my favourite authors, with Christmas carols playing a large role, so I enjoyed reading it. But I admit I’m glad I hadn’t bought the expensive hardback as a lot of the themes and storytelling methods were reminiscent of other Willis stories and I’m hungry for something new.

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 by Ysabeau S. Wilce. Everyone has written about this book extensively over the last year so I won’t write too much (hee, that’s a good excuse isn’t it?). As the wonderful title suggests, Flora Segunda is set in a fantasy world crowded with colourful names and magical beings. Unfortunately things aren’t going so great for Flora – her mum is absent, her dad depressed and the magical butler that is supposed to look after Flora’s house has diminished and the whole place is collapsing around the family. But in the best tradition of a penny dreadful, the plot soon picks up and Flora is having adventures all over the place. I thought it was great fun. At times the characters seemed two-dimensional, but this might have been in comparison to the flamboyant setting and plot. I look forward to reading the sequel!

Urban fantasy sans faeries

2008-02-20T19:10:23Z

Ysabel by Guy Gavriel Kay stars 15-year old Ned, who has travelled to Provence with his famous photographer father. Ned knows he’s lucky to be missing school but is also tied of being babied by his father’s assistant and is starting to feel bored. But Ned's worries are soon superceded by new concerns as the past becomes tangled with the present, placing his family and friends into danger. Kay does a great job at gently introducing the many different historical events that have occurred in the region.

Ysabel tells an interesting and action-packed story, especially if you’re a sucker for travel or history in a book. I like the modernity, too, though – the characters researched stuff on the internet and used mobile phones to communicate with each other at key moments. Too many books seem to ignore the reality of 21st century life in order to maintain tension in a story! It reminded me of Charles de Lint’s books at times. I’m not sure what it was - possibly large cast of characters thrown together and forced to deal with the reality of the supernatural. I did like that there are no clear baddies.

Sometimes the tone of the main character felt slightly off to me, like Kay was trying too hard to write from the POV of a teenage boy. And at times it felt like there were almost too many storylines going on so that they and the corresponding motivations of some of the characters couldn’t be fully developed.

If you like urban fantasy but would prefer historical characters (admittedly ones with supernatural powers) to faeries, this might be the book for you. Even though this isn’t marketed as a YA book, I definitely agree with Colleen that it would have strong YA appeal.

* Is it petty to want to bop an author on the head for getting to live in Provence to research their book?

I passed!!!

2008-02-20T06:59:13Z

I finally my got thesis examiner reports! I passed! I've only had a quick look (have to go to work) but one examiner points out typos (and has a lovely and flattering summary) while the other seems to contain vaguer statements that should be fine to address. I'll write more later, but just thought I'd share the good news!

Seven happy things from my week

2008-02-17T20:07:31Z

1. The apology that you all heard me go on about this week.

2. The lovely lady_schrapnell lent me the two recent Connie Willis novellas. There is nothing nicer than coming home to a parcel containing books!

3. Our boiler (which gives us hot water and heating) went on the blink this morning. Faced with a technical helpline that only opens Mon-Fri (because who need advice on weekends?) and a guidance manual that told us the problem was low water pressure and to simply increase the water pressure, we thought we were in for days of no showers and a cold house. Luckily we figured out that if you take the bottom off the boiler and turn two levers on at the same time, water topped up the boiler. Yay! Still feel this could have been in the guidance book though.

4. We went to a housewarming cocktail party last night. Yes! An actual social event! There was great conversation, yummy cocktails and I even survived the walk to the train in sub-zero temperatures.

5. Plus I met some new people at a work lunch this week. It was fun hanging out with a bunch of women my age (even if they were all seemed obsessed with Valentine’s Day. I knew it was a big deal in the US, but it’s also more recognised here in the UK than in Australia).

6. There was a booksale raising money for an orang-utan foundation at work this week. I took in some books and came home with a pile more. You didn’t want me to ignore the needs of the orang-utans, did you?

7. I’m just about to go eat a nice dinner and then watch Veronica Mars. The perfect evening!

Now to a travel book

2008-02-14T20:46:08Z

Over the course of the last month I've slowly read another Isabella L Bird travel book, The Golden Chersonese and the way thither. Awkward title, isn’t it?* Isabella explains in the acknowledgements that it was her sister’s favoured title. Sadly the preface also notes that her “beloved and only sister to whom the letters of which it consists were written” died before the book was published.**

This series of letters sees Isabella L Bird travel from Southern China to Vietnam and Malaysia. Or rather, a series of Asian countries and cities with exotic names I only vaguely recognise – hard to believe things have changed so much in just over 125 years.

The Golden Chersonese dragged a bit in parts, particularly when Isabella was exclaiming over the economy or population or politics (these things are less meaningful without knowledge of the time and era!). My favourite part was towards the end, where Isabella hangs out in the rainforest. There is wildlife all over the shop. Tigers, turtles, elephants, monkeys, apes – it all sounds so interesting, even if it’s also horrible to think of the differences between then and now. She spends days just writing, relaxing and making friends with the pet monkeys/apes*** (she apologises for the scribbles on one of the letters; the ape likes to take her pen and write as well).

As usual, Isabella’s letters include staunch support of racist opinions of the day (amazing how transferable her opinions are between cultures and religions), to more surprising insights into local customs (and in this book, colonial systems) to wry observations of the travails of travelling life. Eg of the latter:

It is most interesting to be among wild beasts, which, though tame, or partly so, are not in captivity, and to see their great sagacity and their singular likeness and unlikeness to us. I could dispense with the reptiles, though. Last night there were seventeen lizards in my room and two in my slippers.

It’s interesting to note that litigious culture is not only a modern day phenomenon.

The aunt of a Malay policeman in Larut, passing near a village, met an acquaintance, and taking a stone from the roadside sat down upon it while she stopped to talk, and on getting up forgot to remove it. An hour later a village child tripped over the stone and slightly cut its forehead. The placing the stone in the pathway was traced to the woman, who was arrested and sentenced to pay a fine of $25, and being unable to pay it she and her children became slave-debtors to the father of the child which had been hurt.

All in all, an interesting book that could do with some editing!

* I notice this 1967 print has a new subtitle, “travels in Malaya in 1879”

**Strange that the sister who obediently stayed home and did womanly things died young of typhoid fever while Isabella, who was sickly, trotted off to remote and dangerous locations by herself and thrived.

***Isabella wasn’t sure of the species but thinks they were silvery gibbons, which is backed up by her calling them wauwau monkeys another time, which is apparently another name for silvery gibbons. If it was a silvery gibbon it must have been taken from Java to become a pet as they don’t live in Malaysia; seeing as people took parrots and monkeys to Britain as pets I guess this isn’t that surprising. Sadly, they are critically endangered now.