Beth > Recent Status Updates

As was also true of the Gaskell I finished recently, I've read two different introductions to this one: B&N in paper, OWC in ebook. On the whole I appreciated the B&N one more, though the OWC had at least one element I intend to keep an eye out for as I read this for the second time (first was about thirty years ago).

Having listened to a volume of the "Anita Blake" series right before this, Jean-Claude's inspiration is painfully obvious, from the hair color, to the blue or green eyes, to the French accent. Rice is a much better writer, though, and I have a far better idea of what our MC here is like in about 20 pages or so than I've gotten from J-C in two books.

I'm in a 19th century mood, for some reason? I'll roll with it for now.

I have this as an audiobook narrated by the incredibly talented Simon Vance, but this is one that I'll likely want to primarily read in "black and white" and refer to footnotes about Anglican politics, and so on.

Listening to this volume's very visceral descriptions of crime scenes--including Anita and a cop whimsically playing gross-out games with a corpse--over thirty years after I first read it, I thought about squeamishness. It's come and gone over the course of my life, for (I think) specific reasons. I'm not sure if that "arc" will make it into my review, so I'll put a marker on the thought for now.

As far as I can tell from gathering this in at a snail's pace (1 to 40 minutes at a time, depending on how sleepy I am when I hit the "play" button), this second book's structure, themes and descriptions are a bit stronger than the first's. There's still an uncomfortable current of catcalling and SA in too many of the scenes. Hiya, early 90s.

I hadn't realized how quickly Charlotte's remaining siblings fell. Three within nine months.

It's funny that "write what you know," or its equivalent, was being bandied about even 150-plus years ago. Charlotte, in her guise of "Currer Bell," makes a good counterargument against that thinking around here.

We've made it to the Rialla (always italicized) at last! With an accompanying litany of minor lords, at least a few who likely will meet similar fates to a couple of the side characters in Book I: introduced with little fanfare, then murdered. The feeling of this book being too easy to put down has eased, and I'm genuinely interested in seeing how things play out.

A steep, often rather boring climb to the midway point. We've been pointing toward the Rialla for hundreds of pages now, and we know that's where the drama is. Let's get there already, please.

Some of the world-building is pretty cool, and as a born St. Louisan it's fun to see familiar things. We still have some of the same issues from the first book: every dude in sight being horny for Anita (or acting like they are), every woman being "evil" or hating on her. Any human character with narrative weight also carries guns, making any fraught interaction also a potential gun fight.

The changes to v. 1, ch. XIII are slightly more substantial than v. 1, ch. IV's, but not enough to justify a full reread. The changes amount to pivoting the cause of Branwell's dissipation and decline to unspecified failings in character or mental health, rather than the aftereffects of an unsuccessful love affair. Less dramatic, somewhat less interesting.

So much untranslated French, also not translated by the editor. A translation app is certainly an option, although I'm not convinced those passages convey so very much that they'd be worth the effort.

I've been reading this a few pages at a time on trains and before going to sleep, so I'm likely not getting a whole lot out of it. What I remember from before was mostly vibes anyway, so it's probably fine.

Another one I've been reading off and on for a while. It's a good vacation book--very cosmopolitan.

Gaskell is doing well showing the reader that within the outwardly quiet life, was a vivid inner life. The outer life is starting to feel rather stifling, I have to admit.

I'm going to be absent for a couple of weeks. Stay frosty, everyone. <3

Charlotte has a pen pal or two from the boarding school she went to, and is still fangirling on Lord Wellington, though I have the impression she also has other things to think about.

The current selection of a "bad book" club I belong to. It's fun, fast-moving, and silly--just what I'd hope for.

Adolescent Charlotte was a Lord Wellington fangirl??

The 3rd edition versions of V. I, Chapters IV and XIII were included as an appendix in my paperback. (The main text is the 1st edition.) Ch. IV has the same gist in its 1st and 3rd edition versions, by my reckoning, and I didn't perceive more than one or two minor differences between them. I suspect that there will be more noticeable and substantial differences between the two versions of Ch. XIII.

Surprised myself reading 60 pages of this in one day, when I've been struggling with sitting through 20 pages of fiction, even in audio form.

I have two Penguin editions of this book, edited by two different people: one from 1975, the other from 1997; one in paper, one in ebook. I've read the introductory material from one, and have started on the other's.

I'll likely read the main body in ebook, because the paperback is in rough shape and somewhat musty (though I've had worse).

I'm in butterfly mode and this is a change of pace from fiction. Elisabeth Jay's introduction makes the reader aware of Brontë's letters that Gaskell had available to her, and Gaskell's biases that came out in her depiction of her friend's life. (all writing of any worth has a bias, and it's good to know what that will amount to, going in to this one.)

Audios with adventurous female leads seem to be what my brain looks for while under stress. (it isn't all bad, don't worry, but it's adding up.) 90s Anita was the coolest girl on the block, in her day, but she's showing her age now. Not a bad thing.

My mind keeps taking the shortcut of picturing the manhwa characters as I read, which isn't necessarily bad.

The ebook didn't come available until 9pm my time, so I stayed up a little past my bedtime to start this book.

Penelope unlocking freeform speech (vs multiple-choice options) this early on is somewhat unbelievable, but also far superior to spending the whole series in a "choose your own adventure" format.

The manhwa based on this story is my favorite so far (among an admittedly limited pool), and I always like to check out the original version when available, even if it more strongly bears the marks of online serialization. Hang in there, Penelope!

From page to page I don't know if I'll laugh, feel furious, or want to cry.

This book's been on the SFFBC poll at least three times, maybe more, and it finally won. I have no idea why I've been more interested to read this than any of the dozens of nominees this last year or so, but I have a copy now, and I'm gonna read it. It better be good!

Reading a book--even one I really enjoyed--three times in six years is too much.* I might take another crack at it when Alecto is announced, depending on how far in the future that ends up being.

* This also happened with Hogfather, which was going to be an annual read until I started hating the idea of reading it yet again. No big surprise, then.