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Jan. 7th, 2005 04:35 pmFinished Wormwood, and given that in addition to the points mentioned yesterday it also contains villains with Baroque Evil Plots That Make No Sense and an angel with an apparently split personality, I can't say my opinion of it improved.
I've also finished Linda Colley's Captives, at last - writing notes on the train does tend to slow you down. This is an exploration of the British Empire 1600-1850 through narratives written by English-speaking captives (mostly British, but including both sides of the American War of Independence). The main argument is that the British Empire was much more complex than is usually assumed, and that a detailed look at these narratives shows a variety of experiences of empire that don't fit into the mid-19th century "Empire on which the sun never sets" idea of the British Empire. It's certainly very interesting, and I've learnt a lot: I didn't even know that there was an attempted English occupation of Tangier, for instance. I did feel, though, that as a book it was rather unbalanced. The book covers two hundred and fifty years and three continents, gives a lot of (necessary) background, but attempts to concentrate on and draw conclusions from specific narratives. I would have loved to see more textual analysis, but that would have made it seem even more like two books, one an introduction to the conflicts in which the captives were involved, and the other a detailed exploration of their narratives. Definitely worth the reading, despite the conflicting aims.
I went into the library to return two books, meaning to come out with perhaps something short for the train home. Once again I haven't quite achieved my objectives:
Martin Radcliffe, ed., Masters of Mystery. Short detective stories. It's about time I broadened my crime reading, and I should be able to fit short stories into my day somewhere! I've been meaning to read some Bramah for a while, anyway, and the short story in this collection seems to be the only bit in the library.
John Crowley, Little Big. Chosen simply because it's part of a series called "Fantasy Masterworks", and I'm curious about what their idea of a fantasy canon is, especially given that I haven't heard of the few books in this series I've seen in bookshops.
It's not exactly a New Year's resolution, but I've decided to try to keep a consistent record of what I'm reading, even if I don't post much about them. I tend to forget, otherwise. I'm not sure how long this will last, though.
( Since Christmas )
I've also finished Linda Colley's Captives, at last - writing notes on the train does tend to slow you down. This is an exploration of the British Empire 1600-1850 through narratives written by English-speaking captives (mostly British, but including both sides of the American War of Independence). The main argument is that the British Empire was much more complex than is usually assumed, and that a detailed look at these narratives shows a variety of experiences of empire that don't fit into the mid-19th century "Empire on which the sun never sets" idea of the British Empire. It's certainly very interesting, and I've learnt a lot: I didn't even know that there was an attempted English occupation of Tangier, for instance. I did feel, though, that as a book it was rather unbalanced. The book covers two hundred and fifty years and three continents, gives a lot of (necessary) background, but attempts to concentrate on and draw conclusions from specific narratives. I would have loved to see more textual analysis, but that would have made it seem even more like two books, one an introduction to the conflicts in which the captives were involved, and the other a detailed exploration of their narratives. Definitely worth the reading, despite the conflicting aims.
I went into the library to return two books, meaning to come out with perhaps something short for the train home. Once again I haven't quite achieved my objectives:
Martin Radcliffe, ed., Masters of Mystery. Short detective stories. It's about time I broadened my crime reading, and I should be able to fit short stories into my day somewhere! I've been meaning to read some Bramah for a while, anyway, and the short story in this collection seems to be the only bit in the library.
John Crowley, Little Big. Chosen simply because it's part of a series called "Fantasy Masterworks", and I'm curious about what their idea of a fantasy canon is, especially given that I haven't heard of the few books in this series I've seen in bookshops.
It's not exactly a New Year's resolution, but I've decided to try to keep a consistent record of what I'm reading, even if I don't post much about them. I tend to forget, otherwise. I'm not sure how long this will last, though.
( Since Christmas )
