10 years ago #3

May 4, 2001, morning
No dreams to report on this lovely spring morning. However, I do have something to say. First of all, I finished reading this **** book by Robertson Davies the other day. It was a wonderful and enlightening peak into a very distant past. Long-forgotten ancestors caught on film. It’s true that my ancestors lived and had thoughts just as I do. This fascinating book, “Murther & Walking Spirits”, opened up my eyes rather nicely. Robertson Davies was quite a remarkable author. Blessed Presence, ensure for an eternity that Davies is kept safe wherever he may be. Amen. Of course, Robertson Davies is not only thing on my mind. Since January, my nightly practice has been to read the works of Lord Byron. Since January, I have also looked for quotes from his works. I have four at presence. The quotes may not be that moralistic, but I wasn’t looking for morals. Anything that I found to be interesting. Lord Byron could really write. Here is a description of a beautiful woman. Bear in mind that I have trimmed this a little “…seen her long locks that fail the painter’s power; her fairy form with more than female grace…” Somehow, that description grabbed me. Here’s another quote I liked. Again I have trimmed this one. “…to teach man what he might be or he ought: If that corrupted thing could ever such be taught.” A condemnation of Humanity. Well, I’ve rambled on enough. I will close for now. SYS.

The Davies love lives on. I really should read more by Byron. Thanks for your time.

Wanted: SNOW

Pardon the gripe, but without snow on the ground, I cannot get into the Xmas spirit and cannot start shopping or making my Xmas list. The sky taunted me the other day with a little bit of snow that quickly melted to naught. Now it's pleasantly grey outside but still no snow to make me smile. I understand that I'm part of a very small minority and I'm damn proud of myself for that. Meanwhile, I haven't done much with this blog for a while. For that I apologize, although nobody really has anything to say about my blog. I'll start with my obedience to the written word, and talk about 'Dialectics of Isolation' by Terdiman (the name makes me chuckle for purely childish reasons). This book is not really anything to write home about, but it did create a craving for works by Proust, Flaubert, and some guy named Stendhal. 'Dialectics of Isolation' is a study on the French novel before, during, and after the Revolution. I've read 'Madame Bovary' and I did come away with a few thoughts concerning the cruelty of love but not much else. Maybe it's time I picked it up again.
As for Proust, his 'Remembrance of things past' is a complete classic that I have yet to read. I think it's time to get reading. And I know less than nothing about that dude Stendhal, but Terdiman (snicker) champions him as one of the writers of depressing material from that period in French history. What would the emo kids think of such fellows? Of course, this adventure will have to wait until I've gotten through the likes of "England's lost Eden" by P. Hoare. Utopia seems a pleasant place, doesn't it? I don't think I'd be content with it for long, though. At least some folks are still looking for it, and in the dark reaches of New Forest, some folks thought they had found it. That's what "England's lost Eden" is about.
My transcribing Diary #5 to file is almost done. About a month's worth of entries to go. I'm pretty pleased with the progress I've made, and once I have finished with it, I can focus on other literary projects. Of course, once I get started, some things will have to fall by the wayside. Part of me wonders if I can ignore the call of "Diablo 2" for a long while. "Sims 3" is causing me some grief (par for the course) so ignoring that call will be easier (I think). Okay, that's about all. BYE.

General update

I've been dividing my leisure time between playing a new computer game, reading, and working on literary projects. Well, it's a new game as far as I'm concerned. Warcraft III (not World of Warcraft, since I don't have enough time/interest to spend online), and so far, I'm enjoying it. I'm playing an undead hero who's out to bring destruction to the land of the living, and it's been quite a bit of fun. Except when my melee fighters keep getting turned into sheep by those pesky sorceresses. That reminds me of Hexen II; another game where sheep seem to play a large role. What is the fascination with sheep? With the minds behind Sims, it's llamas, but SHEEP? Strange at times. Meanwhile, I'm halfway through the undead phase of the game and I don't really have the hang of melee fighting. Another reason why I wouldn't enjoy World of Warcraft.
On the reading front, I just finished reading Cressida Cowell's 'How to be a pirate'. It might seem a little young compared to much of what I read, but her series wasn't around when I was younger. I have much catching up to do. Cowell has a good writing style and I like the illustrations. Very good, considering they are supposed to be hand-drawn by the 'true author' of the story. They lend the right amount of realism and make the reader believe that Cowell's main character really is telling the story. Soon I'll be starting upon Rand's 'Anthem'. Back to the serious stuff. Oh, and I finished reading the second installment of 'Naruto' recently as well. Is my choice of literature getting younger? Considering the clientele I work with, I think reading manga and the like is a good enough idea.
And then there's the literary project that I know I need to work on. The Muse comes when it will, and it comes intermittently for me, which is frustrating at times. However, I'm doing what a teachers advised I should do. I'm creating the world my characters live in. Much like playing Sims... only I'm describing the world so that others can see it in their mind's eye. That's what's been going on with me since my last post. BYE.

Trekking through Trollope

Last year, I must've been churning through Anthony Trollope's Barsetshire series and through his Palliser series, for I rated Phineas Redux high enough to want to return to it in a year's time. Well, I've got plans to get down with 'Can you forgive her?', which is the 1st book in the Palliser series. But before I get through this one, I've got a few words to say about 'Orley Farm', which I just finished reading. Trollope, not one to be modest where his own scribbles are concerned, considered this book to be the best of the bunch. I'm tempted to side with him by saying that this is a rather good book. I have only one fault to make with Trollope's writing, but I shouldn't really lay the blame on him, but on British society at that time in history. If they had come up with other forms of diversion at that time, Trollope would have probably employed these other diversions. I can't blame the artist for the scenery being bad.
Anyway, I was enjoying 'Orley Farm' and along came a damned fox-hunt scene! Dickens, preferring the bleakness of poverty or sturdiness of the middle-class, rarely, if ever, dragged a fox-hunt into his works. Trollope is overly fond of throwing a fox-hunt into his books when he wants to take a break from the main plot and ventures into a romance between some young buck and a fresh, unspoiled young maiden. This time, one of the lordlings broke his leg and a few ribs while hunting the fox, and he spent a lot of time recuperating on a couch and mooning over the lady of the household. I was pretty pleased that it was one of the hunters who ended up getting hurt. The fox gets the short end of the stick, don't you think? Also, none of the horses got hurt, which is also a good thing.
Apart from the dreary fox-hunt as sub-standard sub-plot advancement device, the main plot was very good. I got into the story pretty early on, and found myself a little disappointed when I learned that the main character, whom I was cheering for, turns out to be guilty. I should've known this would happen. Every sapient creature has the capacity for good and evil, and this character was no different. I was pleased enough with the outcome of the book, though. It was a resolution, which any good writer should shoot for. I would've like a somewhat better outcome for the main character, but bad things happened to the 'bad guys' in the book, so there was something for everyone.
All in all, though I won't return to 'Orley Farm' in a year's time, I do recommend it. BYE.

Leery of series?

I started reading the last leg of Stephen King's 'Dark Tower' series and was reminded of how much I've forgotten from the previous six books. I don't think I've actually read the series from beginning to end yet, and this got me thinking. As wonderful as a series of books can be (familiarity with characters and plot), there are some series out there that can really get on my nerves. 'Dark Tower' is King's only long-running series out there, as far as I know, and he has gone years between books before putting fingers to keyboard again, which probably frustrates more than a few of his fans. This doesn't get me all that much - just the knowledge that I need to start out, from the beginning, to get things in order is a mild inconvenience.
Another author I could have a bone to pick with (but don't) is Robert Jordan. His 'Wheel of Time' series caused me no end of frustration because it's so damn long and each book is chock-full of details (some I thought unnecessary, but that's me). Unfortunately, Death robbed Jordan's fans of a complete and total resolution for this series about a year ago, and although I cursed Jordan every chance I had while he lived, I can do this no longer. One author's works I encountered and enjoyed is Terry Goodkind. His 'Sword of Truth' series, while bleak at times, had a mostly satisfying and honest resolution. I admire his resolve and plan to revisit this series after a while.
Then there are the authors who have written several series (Piers Anthony, Anthony Trollope, Isaac Asimov, I can go on). Good books for the most part, but it's easy to lose track of which book is from which series. I'm of the school that feels that if I am to enjoy one book in a series, I need to revisit all the books in the series. That is what I'm planning to do with a series by Anthony Trollope very soon. I am trying to keep track of about a half dozen series right now. That's the real thing about series. A person could start with 'Spongebob Squarepants' or 'Captain Underpants' as a child and read nothing but series after series for the better part of forty years. You get comfortable with a certain set of characters and want nothing more but the same. I'd rather not live like that. I like to keep my horizons as broad as possible.
A final note before I close this post down. My real pet peeve is with those authors who insist that people read their series from beginning to end, although each book works as a stand-alone. Hear that, Anne McCaffrey?! BYE.