Katarina > Recent Status Updates

I can't believe I waited so long to read this! It is fantastic!

It's interesting to see how the two plot lines are playing along and paralleling each other. Just got to two revelations!

So, Victor is one of those really bright but kinda stupid people. I'm not sure how I feel about the monster-- on the one hand, he's tragic. On the other, he's just embarked on a killing spree. A particularly vengeful, twisted one at that. I wish I was book-clubbing this, because I feel like what I'm getting from this is strongly shaped by my experiences; I want to know how others see all this.

Poor monster. I enjoy the idea of him speaking beautiful, native French, but I just feel so sad that Felix chased him away. I wonder what M. De Lacey thought of all of it-- he'd had a lovely conversation with the monster, then there's screaming, yelling, and violence, and I'm sure Felix was like, "Dad! He could have killed you!" I hope M. De Lacey realized the good intentions even after that.

Just sayin', Frankenstein's creation is pretty eloquent for toddler-aged. Can't wait to hear his story.

It threw me for a loop that it began not with a doctor bent on odd experiments, but on an explorer bent on navigating and studying the north pole. However, I've gotten tot the part where Victor is telling his story. First red flag: "... till death [Elizabeth] was to be mine only." Whoa, man! Whoa.

So I was just going to read a chapter, then go back to bed. An hour and a half later, I've read half the book, gotten dressed, and will just finish the book. It's like high school all over again: books or sleep? Well, I've already read half the book, so...

Holy Cow, this is way more intense a book than I ever thought it would be; I wish I'd read it sooner.

I just read a few paragraphs about how corn ethanol is not actually a great fuel from an environmental perspective; even biodiesel may not be any better than use burning gasoline. I think I need a hug.

Apparently food smells don't make us salivate, they just make us aware of the fact that we have saliva in our mouths. Mary Roach says, "I have seen the data, but I too find it hard to believe…" I don't. I feel like I'm salivating like crazy reading this, but the thought of eating right now isn't very appealing.

Talking about ginger graters versus nutmeg graters: "If you need a tool to grate both spices (and zest lemon, and grate Parmesan), then forget tradition and buy a Microplane." Sound advice.

After sharing the story of "The Maiden with no hands", in which a poor girl is taken advantage of by a devil and her own father, the chapter concludes that the "collaboration" with the Grimm brothers was lacking: "…it was as if the ladies…had no hands. Although they could read and write, they were nonetheless robbed of holding the symbolic quill of authorship"

One lesson we can take from Victorian crime writing that does hold up: never trust a dog-killer!

Still not a Dickens fan... Just finished On Duty With Inspector Field, an account of shadowing a Victorian detective inspector. Conceptually very cool, but I thought the narrative style was odd (present tense and rather vague about what they hoped to accomplish). It ended up being a series of interesting sketches of places a gentleman normally wouldn't go, and sometimes the people there, too.

Not an easy read, at least not if you think about it. Particularly the chapter on craftsmanship (or lack thereof) left me very uncomfortable. Nonetheless, this was an excellent, and very interesting, book.

"...globalism means more than the system of mutual exploitation it has become. Preying on the developing world's vulnerabilities... Is neither defensible nor sustainable."

" But as consumers we habitually downplay and ignore [collateral damage]. We rail against exploitation of low-paid workers in Asia as we drive twenty minutes to the Big Box to save three bucks…. We fume over the mistreatment of animals b agribusiness, but freak out at an uptick in food prices….. the Age of Cheap has raised cognitive dissonance to a societal norm.

So far, it's a bit slow. Nice forensic examination, but that felt a tad…anachronistic. Fantastic, but anachronistic.

Wow, one can read quite a lot on an airplane when the book is interesting. And this one certainly is.

So far, so good. Started a bit slow, but that established characters nicely, and allowed things to build.

I'm waiting for the crisis. This girl (Courtney, the main character) is headed full-steam toward a meltdown. She's holding onto all the wrong things and not giving the right ones a try; she's judgmental and selfish, and something has got to give.

Just finished the chapter on Eros. What a fascinating read! Love the book so far.

Fascinating. I gave up on trying to just chew through it; I'm taking my time and letting the ideas soak in. I'm also reading with sticky note tabs to mark passages, because there is just so much GOOD STUFF!

I'm thinking a lot as I go about my relationships, and it gives new insight, understanding, appreciation, and even validation.

CRAZINESS! There's a scene where they visit a mental home and meet a lady who asks, "was it your child?"... I KNOW WHO SHE IS! This lady was in Postern of Fate (a later Christie, well, sorta), but the weird thing is I had the books next to each other, so it's like she just wandered from one to the next!

I'm in the middle of the 2nd novel. It's pretty good, and I'm enjoying guessing!

I've actually become fascinated by the murders-- I totally understand now why people learn everything they can about serial killers. It's bizarre how simultaneously revolting and compelling they can be-- the standards they hold themselves to, even though they've (in this case) murdered an entire family.