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UBC #17
Novik, Naomi. Black Powder War. New York: Del Rey-Ballantine Books, 2006.
I've been dithering about what to say about this book for a couple of days now. Because on the one hand, I liked it; on the other hand, I thought it had more flaws than the previous two books; on the gripping hand, although I do not--quite--know
naominovik, we have friends in common, and she may or may not be reading this blog.
(This is where the whole living genre thing gets very very weird. I'm used to talking about people who've been dead for 400 years. So, you know, if I say I think Timon of Athens kind of sucks, I don't have to worry that Shakespeare will see it. And, yes, I think it is something to be mindful of.)
So, yes, I enjoyed it, but I did think it had problems. Mostly to do with the fact, as I have said before, that travel narrative is hard.
I'm currently reading a couple of books at once.
scott_lynch's The Lies of Locke Lamora (which is so far shiny and very clever), and Angus Fletcher's Allegory: The Theory of a Symbolic Mode. (Mr. Fletcher for the table, Mr. Lynch for the bedroom.)
I'll have a great deal to say about Allegory when I've finished it, but for now I want to offer an artifact of 1964, which is when it was published. He's talking about the use of animals in the doubled plots of allegory:
To which I can only say, as I said in the margin, "!"
A footnote tells us that The Strange One was written by Fred Bodsworth and published in 1959. Has anyone ever heard of this book? Can anyone report back on whether it's truly as awful, muddle-headed (species and race are COMPLETELY DIFFERENT CONCEPTS, thankyouverymuch), and offensive as it sounds?
Morbid curiosity is possibly the worst kind.
---
WORKS CITED
Fletcher, Angus. Allegory: The Theory of a Symbolic Mode. 1964. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1995.
Novik, Naomi. Black Powder War. New York: Del Rey-Ballantine Books, 2006.
I've been dithering about what to say about this book for a couple of days now. Because on the one hand, I liked it; on the other hand, I thought it had more flaws than the previous two books; on the gripping hand, although I do not--quite--know
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
(This is where the whole living genre thing gets very very weird. I'm used to talking about people who've been dead for 400 years. So, you know, if I say I think Timon of Athens kind of sucks, I don't have to worry that Shakespeare will see it. And, yes, I think it is something to be mindful of.)
So, yes, I enjoyed it, but I did think it had problems. Mostly to do with the fact, as I have said before, that travel narrative is hard.
I'm currently reading a couple of books at once.
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
I'll have a great deal to say about Allegory when I've finished it, but for now I want to offer an artifact of 1964, which is when it was published. He's talking about the use of animals in the doubled plots of allegory:
A popular novel like The Strange One runs two parallel stories at once, one telling of miscegenation between a white boy and an Indian girl, the other describing the mismating of two different species of geese.
(Fletcher 192-93)
To which I can only say, as I said in the margin, "!"
A footnote tells us that The Strange One was written by Fred Bodsworth and published in 1959. Has anyone ever heard of this book? Can anyone report back on whether it's truly as awful, muddle-headed (species and race are COMPLETELY DIFFERENT CONCEPTS, thankyouverymuch), and offensive as it sounds?
Morbid curiosity is possibly the worst kind.
---
WORKS CITED
Fletcher, Angus. Allegory: The Theory of a Symbolic Mode. 1964. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1995.
no subject
Date: 2006-06-24 06:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-24 06:29 pm (UTC)I'm still doing this... with variations for LJ names as first names.
This occasionally leads to awkwardnesses, but only really falls down where you have five sisters, none of whom you know, four of whom you own works by, and all of whose lives you frequently discuss.
no subject
Date: 2006-06-24 06:59 pm (UTC)I'm talking more about the unfortunate who presented a paper on Le Guin's work, and at the end, a lady stood up near the back and said, "No, I didn't."
no subject
Date: 2006-06-24 07:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-24 07:11 pm (UTC)Also, I once beta-read something for someone who replied with a variation "no I didn't" to "this bit didn't work for me", which reminds me of Z saying he hadn't kicked me, honestly.
no subject
Date: 2006-06-25 10:41 am (UTC)It is awkward with living writers, though. Myself, I have one friend who is an author, and I normally use the possibilities of my reviewing his work as a threat...
no subject
Date: 2006-06-25 12:57 pm (UTC)Unless you're the author.
It is surprisingly difficult to convince undergraduates of this.
no subject
Date: 2006-06-25 01:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-25 01:01 pm (UTC)The number of students who assured me Shakespeare wanted us to learn things from his plays ...
no subject
Date: 2006-06-25 01:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-25 12:02 pm (UTC)(Which is not to say I haven't ranted when I hated the living authors' books.)
Other than that, well, writing about people's books is what I do, and so I just try and do it in a way that I could look the author in the eye if I needed to.
(Hence, http://www.steelypips.org/weblog/2006/06/novik_03.php .)
no subject
Date: 2006-06-25 01:04 pm (UTC)(I agree about the character introduced near the end.)
no subject
Date: 2006-06-25 06:30 pm (UTC)Is there _anyone_ who doesn't like the character introduced near the end? On general statistical principles there must be, but it's hard for me to imagine.