January (and February) Reading
Feb. 27th, 2013 08:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
aseFor the holidays, I asked for and received epub copies of Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House novels (1932 - 1943), most of which I reread over the first half of January. They have held up surprisingly well. I was worried about Little House on the Prairie, one of my favorites, where the Ingalls family tries to establish a claim on Native American land, anticipating the government will force relocation of Indian Territory. The novel is surprisingly not-awful at respectfully presenting the Native Americans' rights to treaty land and to be treated as human beings, despite the lens of the Ingalls' prejudices and manifest destiny. And, of course, the Ingalls depart Indian territory at the end of the novel, relocated when the army tells them to leave. The tone of the departure is that the Ingalls were the problem, not the Native Americans. So it's not perfect, but it dances between the attitudes of the time and the attitudes of a more modern era in a way I can live with.
At some point, I will reread Farmer Boy and On the Banks of Plum Creek, which for some reason I started and didn't finish. Oh right, my library hold for Scoundels came in.
Star Wars: Scoundrels (Timothy Zahn) (2013): IT'S A NEW ZAHN SW NOVEL AND IT'S HEISTFIC. Now that we have that out of the way: for reasons which tl;dr, I did not get a lot of fiction read in the back half of 2012, so I was all kinds of thrilled to see a known quantity coming my way. And this is, let me be clear, not intellectually challenging: post-ANH, Han Solo has lost the Rebel material gratitude for that Yavin thing to causes unknown, and discovers a chance to clear his debt to Jabba the Hutt. He assembles a team of thieves, con-persons, and burglars to break into a crime lord's impregnable vault and retrieve riches beyond most sapients' wildest dreams. Zahn pretty explicitly pitched this as "Solo's Eleven", so as you might expect, there is snark, banter, and clever schemes. I have mixed feelings about the late-breaking Eanjer twist: first I was pleased to catch that something coming, and on reading the twist I groaned. I do not understand the appeal of Boba Fett. However, this got me back on the reading new fiction bandwagon, after a period when that wasn't happening, so I am giving this my usual OMG ZAHN WIN rating.
Since then, I have been reading the Brick, also known as Les Miserables (Victor Hugo) (1862). The Brick's nickname is instantly explained when one holds the paperback 1,460 page Fahnestock and McAfee translation, published in 1987. I'm alternating it with Project Gutenberg's 1887 Hapgood translation as appropriate. So far I am through book one of five.
Notes so far: I am heavily influenced bycahn's reread, in conjunction with the skygiants reread. I didn't discover the bookmark function on the ereader until book 2 "Cosette", so I have very little to say about book 1. That's okay, because two opens with Waterloo, the famous 50 page break from narrative.
I am not an English major, nor do I play one online. However, when reading a 19th century novel, it's important to acknowledge the context. What we call the novel isn't necessarily what Hugo meant by "novel". The work is in translation across time as well as language (and by extension culture). So when the narrative comes to a pause for Hugo's meditations on a culturally pivotal battle, with a bonus side of Hugo FEELS, as the language goes these days. I am pretty sure Les Miserables grinds to a narrative halt so Hugo can transfer his thematic baggage to the reader. This isn't necessarily good writing, so I'm hoping it pays off when Les Amis de l'ABC show up with further REVOLUTION arc. Yes, the capslock is necessary. Hugo has FEELS about REVOLUTION, one example of which I bookmarked at lunch today:
It's worth noting that Team Fahnestock/MacAfee translates "This is a solar fact" as "This is a fact as clear as day." I sense a French colloquialism that didn't quite make it across the language gap.
Oh, BTW, the part where M. sur M. implodes when Valjean is arrested doesn't actually endear Valjean or Hugo to me. Within the narrative, seriously, did Valjean have no successor, no trustworthy assistants? And Hugo: easy with the over-the-top karmic whump, seriously. It's possible to overdose on this stuff if you're not caref- oh who am I kidding, this is Victor Angstbomb Hugo, who finds out how far you can go with pathos by going toofar. Because that is what 19th century Great Novelists (tm) do!
I look forward to getting back to Valjean; one gets the impression Hugo is boxing him in with tangents, cutting off the lines of escape from revolution and social justice and striving for self-improvement until those are the only choices left.
Numbers game: 7 total finished; 7 fiction. 6 reread, 1 new. Working on Les Miz.
At some point, I will reread Farmer Boy and On the Banks of Plum Creek, which for some reason I started and didn't finish. Oh right, my library hold for Scoundels came in.
Star Wars: Scoundrels (Timothy Zahn) (2013): IT'S A NEW ZAHN SW NOVEL AND IT'S HEISTFIC. Now that we have that out of the way: for reasons which tl;dr, I did not get a lot of fiction read in the back half of 2012, so I was all kinds of thrilled to see a known quantity coming my way. And this is, let me be clear, not intellectually challenging: post-ANH, Han Solo has lost the Rebel material gratitude for that Yavin thing to causes unknown, and discovers a chance to clear his debt to Jabba the Hutt. He assembles a team of thieves, con-persons, and burglars to break into a crime lord's impregnable vault and retrieve riches beyond most sapients' wildest dreams. Zahn pretty explicitly pitched this as "Solo's Eleven", so as you might expect, there is snark, banter, and clever schemes. I have mixed feelings about the late-breaking Eanjer twist: first I was pleased to catch that something coming, and on reading the twist I groaned. I do not understand the appeal of Boba Fett. However, this got me back on the reading new fiction bandwagon, after a period when that wasn't happening, so I am giving this my usual OMG ZAHN WIN rating.
Since then, I have been reading the Brick, also known as Les Miserables (Victor Hugo) (1862). The Brick's nickname is instantly explained when one holds the paperback 1,460 page Fahnestock and McAfee translation, published in 1987. I'm alternating it with Project Gutenberg's 1887 Hapgood translation as appropriate. So far I am through book one of five.
Notes so far: I am heavily influenced by
cahn's reread, in conjunction with the skygiants reread. I didn't discover the bookmark function on the ereader until book 2 "Cosette", so I have very little to say about book 1. That's okay, because two opens with Waterloo, the famous 50 page break from narrative.I am not an English major, nor do I play one online. However, when reading a 19th century novel, it's important to acknowledge the context. What we call the novel isn't necessarily what Hugo meant by "novel". The work is in translation across time as well as language (and by extension culture). So when the narrative comes to a pause for Hugo's meditations on a culturally pivotal battle, with a bonus side of Hugo FEELS, as the language goes these days. I am pretty sure Les Miserables grinds to a narrative halt so Hugo can transfer his thematic baggage to the reader. This isn't necessarily good writing, so I'm hoping it pays off when Les Amis de l'ABC show up with further REVOLUTION arc. Yes, the capslock is necessary. Hugo has FEELS about REVOLUTION, one example of which I bookmarked at lunch today:
In that campaign [of 1823], the object of the French solider, the son of democracy, was the conquest of a yoke for others. A hideous contradiction. France is made to arouse the soul of nations, not to stifle it. All the revolutions of Europe since 1792 are the French Revolution: liberty darts rays from France. This is a solar [sic] fact. Blind is he who will not see!
-Volume II.2.III, "In Which We See That the Shackle Must Have Undergone Some Preparation to be Broken by One Hammer Blow"
It's worth noting that Team Fahnestock/MacAfee translates "This is a solar fact" as "This is a fact as clear as day." I sense a French colloquialism that didn't quite make it across the language gap.
Oh, BTW, the part where M. sur M. implodes when Valjean is arrested doesn't actually endear Valjean or Hugo to me. Within the narrative, seriously, did Valjean have no successor, no trustworthy assistants? And Hugo: easy with the over-the-top karmic whump, seriously. It's possible to overdose on this stuff if you're not caref- oh who am I kidding, this is Victor Angstbomb Hugo, who finds out how far you can go with pathos by going toofar. Because that is what 19th century Great Novelists (tm) do!
I look forward to getting back to Valjean; one gets the impression Hugo is boxing him in with tangents, cutting off the lines of escape from revolution and social justice and striving for self-improvement until those are the only choices left.
Numbers game: 7 total finished; 7 fiction. 6 reread, 1 new. Working on Les Miz.
(no subject)
Date: 2013-02-28 04:33 pm (UTC)"In Which We See That the Shackle Must Have Undergone Some Preparation to be Broken by One Hammer Blow"
I'd forgotten how much I love Hugo's titles.
It's worth noting that Team Fahnestock/MacAfee translates "This is a solar fact" as "This is a fact as clear as day." I sense a French colloquialism that didn't quite make it across the language gap.
...yeah. This is exactly the sort of reason why I recommended the Fahnestock/MacAfee translation :)
Oh, Valjean. Means so well, but doesn't think ahead! ...basically the problem of every character in this book, as we've discussed :)
(no subject)
Date: 2013-03-02 12:19 am (UTC)It's a novel, but the narrative is in service of GREATER IDEALS. Yes, the capslock is necessary.
I'd forgotten how much I love Hugo's titles.
There is a word which is not "loquacious" that seems to apply, yes.
...basically the problem of every character in this book, as we've discussed :)
Not sure that was me, but there is an element of that, yes. I will try to note other examples as I go along.