This and that and the other thing..

[shadowkat]

1. Amazed I made it to work today without a)getting killed by a bus, or reaming said bus with my cane, b)getting knocked over by several pedestrains, not giving in to the temptation to trip said pedestrains with cane, c) injuring hip attempting to sit on train next to annoying woman who felt the need to take up six seats...and not clobbering said woman with cane. And who says life is not an obstacle course?

2. Ah, the bowling match above my head has stopped finally. They must be taking a lunch break.

3. Lost rocked last night. (Well it did if you ignore the whole island storyline which has become incredibly convoluted.) The Lock story though - highly satisfying. Particularly the small bits with Ben in them. The Sawyer story thread...was okay. May or may not write a review. selenak
already has in case you are interested. The other thing that rocked was Big Bang Theory - which made me giggle throughout, I think it was re-run.

4. Was reading that fic Imitation of A Man last night - yeah, I know, still.
Don't ask me why, but there's something about it I must find compelling. It is well written in places. And the feminization of Spike and masculation of Buffy that I find fascinating, particularly since I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that the writer appears to be unaware of it. Spike's clearly in the traditional female role here (not traditional in the sense of cooking, etc - but in how relationships are traditionally presented in literature and media) while Buffy's in the traditional male. (Generally speaking in most novels and media - men usually aren't in talking about their feelings, while women are. Men more action oriented, women more into talking/communicating. As evidenced by 85% of the tv shows currently on the air.) Anyhow when my Kindle couldn't access basic web last night to get the next chapter, I found myself scrolling through the comments to amuse myself. And one of the author (darkapple)'s comments truly befuddled me. A true WTF moment. The author stated and I'm doing this from memory, so wording may be slightly off - "what I love most about Spike is he brings no baggage to his love, his love is so pure, so absolute, there's no baggage, just pure love". Uhm okay. What??? Seriously - WTF??? There are days in which I feel as if we are on separate planets or dimensions in our interpretations/communications. Can writers be this unaware of what they are doing? I'm guessing so. Or maybe I'm just misreading the thing? Both are equally possible.

5. Definitely have a stress fracture. Doc seems to think it was caused by my massive hike home from church - which was you know, 40 blocks. 40 blocks is the equivalent of a half a mile maybe a mile. Hardly massive. The man clearly drives everywhere. With any luck will get a boot by the end of the week or weekend at the latest.

Comments

[candleanfeather.livejournal.com]

"Well the spoiler got me to continue reading " :-)

It's one of the problem I had too. The extreme preoccupation with the sordid aspects of William's life (wow, it's very long to say, in French we have a word for that "misérabilisme"). I always had to remember that yes such dire situations are possible. What annoyed me the most with that, is that it isn't done for a social study but to force the reader sympathy towards William. The sympathy should arise more naturally.
As for the end, I don't want to anticipate but I'm not sure you'll appreciate Buffy's characterization either.

Do you know the French litterature of the 19 th century. Romantism wasn't as important in France as it was in countries like United Kingdom or Germany. I can rec you three major novel writers whose major interest was in the study of their society: Stendhal (1783-1847), Balzac (1799-1850), Zola (1840-1902).

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Do you know the French litterature of the 19 th century. Romantism wasn't as important in France as it was in countries like United Kingdom or Germany. I can rec you three major novel writers whose major interest was in the study of their society: Stendhal (1783-1847), Balzac (1799-1850), Zola (1840-1902).

Oh, yes! I read Stendhal's The Red and The Black in high school - devoured it actually. Much prefer French 18th, 19th and Early 20th Literature to English. Voltaire's Candide (read in French), Les Liasons Dangereux - the original version - much better than Richardson's Clarissa. The English are frightfully prudish.

And something tells me I'd prefer Victor Hugo to Dickens.

What annoyed me the most with that, is that it isn't done for a social study but to force the reader sympathy towards William. The sympathy should arise more naturally.

Exactly. There is a very fine line between eliciting sympathy and forcing it. There's equally a fine line between showing and telling. I'm at the point in which I want to kill William just to put him out of his misery. I'm also not sure what is expected of Buffy here? Is she supposed to sweep in and save him from his sorry lot? After having died, come back, struggled with her mom's death, raising her sister, and getting a job, and slayage/saving everyone? In comparison - William actually has it pretty good. He just has to take care of himself.

He's incredibly pathetic. The writer has read too many penny dreadfuls (19th Century and Early Twentieth Century pulp romances that focused on dire situations) - which is what this reminds me of.

[candleanfeather.livejournal.com]

"The writer has read too many penny dreadfuls (19th Century and Early Twentieth Century pulp romances that focused on dire situations) - which is what this reminds me of." It's a strong probability.

By the way, do you know Diderot? A philosopher of the Lights, an author of the Encyclopedia. A brilliant writer and a warm and playful mind. He's one of my favourite author. Try if you want Jacques le Fataliste et son maître, La religieuse, Le Neveu de Rameau, Le paradoxe sur les comédiens...

And now I'm going to wish you a good afternoon (night, for me)