Wed Reading Meme...
Jan. 20th, 2016 07:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkat1. What I just finished reading?
The Highwayman by Kerrigen Byrn - I gave it three stars. Enjoyed it. Okay for the trope.
Better than most. It's basically the wounded hero trope, and done far more realistically than most of the romance novels I've read.
The two characters meet as small children at a Catholic Orphanage in Scotland. Orphanages were notorious for their abuses. They are about three years apart. The boy, thirteen, has been beaten and starved, so the girl helps him. They fall in love. It's an innocent romance without sex - hello, they are ten and thirteen. Unfortunately, an old priest attempts to molest the little girl, and the boy accidentally kills the priest in an effort to protect her. The adults send the boy to Newgate Prison. Seventeen Years later, they meet up again, the girl is now working as a clerk at Scotland Yard, and the boy is dead. His friend, Dorian Blackwell, a notorious crime lord, finds her and kidnaps her. Except Dorian is not what he seems, the boy she loved may not actually be dead. It's not what you think --- and the heroine remains strong to the core throughout. No wilting violet or damsel in distress - nor is there any sexual violence in the novel, well outside of a thwarted attempt in the beginning.
It does, like most romance novels, get a wee bit melodramatic in places. Also, there's a rather (unintentionally) funny bit - regarding sexual prowess. And yes, a few plot contrivances. But hey, it's a romance novel - that's true of most of them. Who reads romance novels for their logical plotting? It's all about the relationships -- and this one is well done on that score. He can't bear to be touched, and is deeply scarred by his life in prison and the things he's done to survive and punish those who hurt him...and she is lovely, kind, and full of hope. Also, of course, he's powerful and rich. But for some reason it works better here - in a historical context, than in a contemporary one. Not really a Cinderella Fantasy though -- in that, she comes from wealth as well and he just restores what was her's to her, nor did she really desire it. More a wounded hero trope or misunderstood bad boy story.
2.) What I'm reading now?
The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood -- which I'm almost finished with. About twenty pages to go. It's the sort of thing you read in snippets and savor. Although I'm not sure her plot or characterizations completely work, she is an amazing prose stylist and wordsmith. It's worth reading for that alone, well and the comments she makes on age, loneliness, writing, and pulp science-fiction.
Also the structure is rather interesting.
Will do a full review when I finish it, which should be sometime next week. I tend to read it before bed - in twenty minute time frames.
The Pope's Daughter by Dario Fo -- it should be noted that Dario Fo is a Noble Prize winning Italian writer who writes solely in Italian and since I can't read Italian, this is a translation. Which means, I'm guessing, a lot Fo's style and lyricism is lost as a result. English and Italian don't have a lot in common. English is a bit harder on the consonants, while Italian is a bit softer, and prettier. Which is why Italian Operas tend to sound better than English Operas...and possibly German Operas.
I'm not sure this is a very good translation. I'm bored. The dialogue seems sort of juvenile and staccato. And the vast majority of the novel is told through dialogue. Moliere's Tartuff, it's not.
The story is a non-fictional account of the life of Lucrezia Borgia as told mainly through conversations. With lots of paintings.
Another issue that I'm having with it? I'm reading it in paperback, which means I can't enlarge the text - and I'm not sure I can see it that well. Also the book is difficult to hold on the subway.
Nor can I use reading glasses effectively on the subway. (Problem taking them out of backpack, wearing them until my stop, putting them back in the backpack.) This may be contributing to my frustration with reading the book. I've decided to read it at night, before bed instead. Since it keeps putting me to sleep on the train -- this might work better.
Why did I get in paperback and not electronically? Because it has paintings in it. And my ipad is heavy and difficult on my eyes to read constantly - with the backlight.
3.) What I'm reading next?
Don't know. I'm thinking of reading another romance novel - the one about the silly Earl who found his viriginal and scared bride in bed with his fully clothed brother. Sounds angsty and like fun.
Can't remember the name of it. I can never remember the name of these romance novels...in my defense, they are sort of inter-changeable. Romance novelists suck at titling their novels. So do sci-fi novelists, although they are slightly better at it.
Also, considering trying either Ancillary Justice or Traitor Baro Commorante again - both have similar styles, which I'm having troubles focusing on at the moment. And both are books that are obsessed with gender -- in both, the heroine is somewhat adrongynous. And in love with a woman, apparently, which doesn't interest me all that much at the moment. What can I say? I'm a heterosexual single female.
The Highwayman by Kerrigen Byrn - I gave it three stars. Enjoyed it. Okay for the trope.
Better than most. It's basically the wounded hero trope, and done far more realistically than most of the romance novels I've read.
The two characters meet as small children at a Catholic Orphanage in Scotland. Orphanages were notorious for their abuses. They are about three years apart. The boy, thirteen, has been beaten and starved, so the girl helps him. They fall in love. It's an innocent romance without sex - hello, they are ten and thirteen. Unfortunately, an old priest attempts to molest the little girl, and the boy accidentally kills the priest in an effort to protect her. The adults send the boy to Newgate Prison. Seventeen Years later, they meet up again, the girl is now working as a clerk at Scotland Yard, and the boy is dead. His friend, Dorian Blackwell, a notorious crime lord, finds her and kidnaps her. Except Dorian is not what he seems, the boy she loved may not actually be dead. It's not what you think --- and the heroine remains strong to the core throughout. No wilting violet or damsel in distress - nor is there any sexual violence in the novel, well outside of a thwarted attempt in the beginning.
It does, like most romance novels, get a wee bit melodramatic in places. Also, there's a rather (unintentionally) funny bit - regarding sexual prowess. And yes, a few plot contrivances. But hey, it's a romance novel - that's true of most of them. Who reads romance novels for their logical plotting? It's all about the relationships -- and this one is well done on that score. He can't bear to be touched, and is deeply scarred by his life in prison and the things he's done to survive and punish those who hurt him...and she is lovely, kind, and full of hope. Also, of course, he's powerful and rich. But for some reason it works better here - in a historical context, than in a contemporary one. Not really a Cinderella Fantasy though -- in that, she comes from wealth as well and he just restores what was her's to her, nor did she really desire it. More a wounded hero trope or misunderstood bad boy story.
2.) What I'm reading now?
The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood -- which I'm almost finished with. About twenty pages to go. It's the sort of thing you read in snippets and savor. Although I'm not sure her plot or characterizations completely work, she is an amazing prose stylist and wordsmith. It's worth reading for that alone, well and the comments she makes on age, loneliness, writing, and pulp science-fiction.
Also the structure is rather interesting.
Will do a full review when I finish it, which should be sometime next week. I tend to read it before bed - in twenty minute time frames.
The Pope's Daughter by Dario Fo -- it should be noted that Dario Fo is a Noble Prize winning Italian writer who writes solely in Italian and since I can't read Italian, this is a translation. Which means, I'm guessing, a lot Fo's style and lyricism is lost as a result. English and Italian don't have a lot in common. English is a bit harder on the consonants, while Italian is a bit softer, and prettier. Which is why Italian Operas tend to sound better than English Operas...and possibly German Operas.
I'm not sure this is a very good translation. I'm bored. The dialogue seems sort of juvenile and staccato. And the vast majority of the novel is told through dialogue. Moliere's Tartuff, it's not.
The story is a non-fictional account of the life of Lucrezia Borgia as told mainly through conversations. With lots of paintings.
Another issue that I'm having with it? I'm reading it in paperback, which means I can't enlarge the text - and I'm not sure I can see it that well. Also the book is difficult to hold on the subway.
Nor can I use reading glasses effectively on the subway. (Problem taking them out of backpack, wearing them until my stop, putting them back in the backpack.) This may be contributing to my frustration with reading the book. I've decided to read it at night, before bed instead. Since it keeps putting me to sleep on the train -- this might work better.
Why did I get in paperback and not electronically? Because it has paintings in it. And my ipad is heavy and difficult on my eyes to read constantly - with the backlight.
3.) What I'm reading next?
Don't know. I'm thinking of reading another romance novel - the one about the silly Earl who found his viriginal and scared bride in bed with his fully clothed brother. Sounds angsty and like fun.
Can't remember the name of it. I can never remember the name of these romance novels...in my defense, they are sort of inter-changeable. Romance novelists suck at titling their novels. So do sci-fi novelists, although they are slightly better at it.
Also, considering trying either Ancillary Justice or Traitor Baro Commorante again - both have similar styles, which I'm having troubles focusing on at the moment. And both are books that are obsessed with gender -- in both, the heroine is somewhat adrongynous. And in love with a woman, apparently, which doesn't interest me all that much at the moment. What can I say? I'm a heterosexual single female.