Status Updates From Desperately Seeking a Duche...

And the last gasp of a parched research librarian is Cortland mentioning that his sisters need for hiding as a military skill was essential to her tactical brilliance. And here he said in so far is the Americans. Which meant the revolution because the Americans affected a gorilla warfare, as they had been taught by the Native Americans.

That Caldwell can incorporate Nicolas Steno and his discovery that the tongue stones which stump science were actually fossilized shark teeth, into her narrative, is beyond commendable. And that she has been able throughout this title to throw up a little stones from an ocean of scientific study has kept me entirely interested

Nicholas Steno (1638-1686)
Danish physician, anatomist & naturalist, credited with the development of modern stratigraphic principles by studying sedimentary rocks in Tuscany & recognizing the true nature of fossils

Avicenna (Ibn Sina)
The book of healing written by one of the most famous physicians of the Arab world
Written between 1014 and 1020 CE (published in 1027)
A vast scientific and philosophical encyclopedia designed to "heal" the soul through knowledge rather than serving as a standard medical manual.
Divided into four main parts covering logic, natural sciences, mathematics, and metaphysics

Georges Cuvier developed the theory of catastrophism, which states that sudden, violent, and widespread natural disasters—such as massive floods—repeatedly wipe out entire species and rapidly shape the Earth's rock layers.

Georges Cuvier (1769-1832)
“Why has not anyone seen that fossils alone gave birth to a theory about the formation of the earth, that without them, no one would have ever dreamed that there were successive epochs in the formation of the globe."
Georges Cuvier, ‘Discourse on the Revolutions of the Surface of the Globe’
When are the most important books in the history of science

Georges Cuvier possessed one of the finest minds in history. Almost single-handedly, he founded vertebrate paleontology as a scientific discipline and created the comparative method of organismal biology, an incredibly powerful tool. It was Cuvier who firmly established the fact of the extinction of past lifeforms.

When the ratio of dialogue to interior monologue becomes too heavily weighted on the interior monologue, the author loses the audience. At least those who read for a dialogue that encapsulates wit, humor, banter, and a compelling plot line. For in those narratives, interior monologue is the mortar not the brick.
Jane Austen notwithstanding, but there is no comparison now, is there?

To further enlarge upon that observation, Caldwell embarked on a series of books that dealt with rival gangs who own gambling houses, one becoming affluent. The series dealt with individuals and sisters, and was quite wonderful. Which made her an immediate buy, which was not quite so wonderful, as a matter of fact it was a disappointment. Too many books, too often, too similar-now just disappointing

Since I began this book there was something niggling at why I wasn’t enjoying it. And a previous title of this series read long ago and far away, I did not find as enjoyable as other titles. And as I approach this page it occurred to me what it was. The narrative has been and is interrupted constantly by interior monologue, which totally gets in the way of the plot, and is now why I understand I have skimmed

By the time of the Regency, Linnaeus’ taxonomy had been expanded from its first publication as a modest pamphlet to a multi volume text. This reflected the enormous leaps in science from the early 18th century to the 19th. That Cortland would have read the book at least gives him a fair shot with Caillin, i.e. He wasn’t a dullard

Animal Kingdom (Regnum Animale)
Vegetable/Plant Kingdom (Regnum Vegetabile)
Mineral Kingdom (Regnum Lapideum)

Systema Naturae is a foundational scientific work by Swedish botanist, zoologist, and physician Carl Linnaeus that introduced modern taxonomic classification and binomial nomenclature.
First published in 1735, taxonomy

The hints have been dropped since the very beginning of the narrative, like the breadcrumbs of Hansel and Gretel. But it is this sentence:
None of that overt sexuality however, could hold a proverbial candle to the seductive site of a woman holy enthralled by a book in her hands

And here we have the beginning of the rest of the plot

In the continuing, beat one over the head, fact that Caillin is it not being listened to, and is forced to deceive, the song comes floating into the air: Simon & Garfunkel, sounds of silence.
And in the naked light I saw
10,000 people may be more
People… without listening…

It occurred to me as the author trove the description of an Asperger brother, when Cortland tried to make a joke, and Keir did not get the sarcasm, that Google or any AI model is an Asperger because they have no nuance

Deborah Sampson became a hero of the American Revolution when she disguised herself as a man and joined the Patriot forces. She was the only woman to earn a full military pension for participation in the Revolutionary army.

Hua Mulan
In the fourth century in China and woman join the army taking her father’s place as he was too frail. It is a legend based on a real person but it’s still not verified. The question of her bravery though is not argued

Epipole was a daughter of Trachion, of Carystus in Euboea. In the disguise of a man she went with the Greeks against Troy. But when Palamedes discovered her sex, she was stoned to death by the Greek army

A polite cover. Begun on the quarter century anniversary of 9/11. How old we have become. How rotted has the state spoiled, with no end in sight