Roman Villa

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

My, my, my it's been slooooowww around here lately.  So, I will share a link that peggy_2  sent me. 

There's a TV show in Britain called Rome Wasn't Built in a Day.  In it:

"Six builders attempt to build an authentic Roman villa
working with only the tools and materials that the
Romans themselves would have used."

And, there is a very cool virtual tour of what they have built that made me immediately think of the Thief books.

Have any of you Brits been watching it?

Comments

[brandy-painter.livejournal.com]

It has been slow around here. I was thinking of that just the other day. Thanks for finding something for us to discuss. That virtual tour is definitely reminiscent of the books. I especially like the dining area and bedroom. I often forget how dark it really was at night before electricity lit everything up.

[gauroth.livejournal.com]

It's a very interesting programme!

May I also recommend 'Time Team'? They often have experimental archaeology as part of the programme, eg a flint knapper making a prehistoric handaxe. Fantastic! And it's introduced by Tony Robinson, aka Baldrick from the 'Blackadder' series. Which is also clever and funny and just wonderful!!!

[gauroth.livejournal.com]

During the Blackout in the war, when my mum was a young woman, she said that nobody did anything in the evening because it was just too dark to see where you were going!

[elle-winters.livejournal.com]

Slow =[ yes.
Virtual tour was fun, except now I realize how much I suck at giving myself a virtual tour.

On the other hand, I was at a museum with mini palace displays, of course I was oo-ing and aww-ing at ones that I suspected to be Attolia's throne room. :-)

[lizzyazula.livejournal.com]

Completely off topic...but how do you like the Ring of Solomon?

[beth-shulman.livejournal.com]

I came here to ask this question :D I was a little bit disappointed.

[lizzyazula.livejournal.com]

Disappointed about the book, or my asking the question first?

[beth-shulman.livejournal.com]

With the book! I don't know, I liked how dark the series was, this was just a mildly entertaining departure for me.

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

I'm halfway through and love it so far--it's lighter, and I agree that what made the previous series so fantastic was the mix of humor and dark, deep meaning. That series has one of the best endings I've ever read. But, this one is so much fun!

[beth-shulman.livejournal.com]

That series has one of the best endings I've ever read.

I have met a person who agrees with me! Finally :D I have a friend who thought the ending was awful. I thought it was perfect.

It's lighter, and it's definitely entertaining, but I kept waiting for it to be more, somehow.

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

Yes, it was perfect. It's funny (and no offense at all to your friend) but most of the middle schoolers who read it hate the ending. But the ones who can think in a different, bigger-picture way think the ending is entirely the right one.

[beth-shulman.livejournal.com]

:D None taken.

Random question: have you read A Song of Fire and Ice? I'm hearing a lot of people recommend it and I'm wondering if it's any good.

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

I have not, but I shy away from the 800-pg epics. If I have to keep a character cheat sheet, it's not the book for me. :)

Let's start a While She Knits post, and you can ask about it over there!

[beth-shulman.livejournal.com]

Sounds good! I have an amazing book to rec :D

[lizzyazula.livejournal.com]

Oh, I agree! Jonathan Stroud has a fantastic sense of humor, and I love him, but considering how complex the trilogy was in its characters and themes, The Ring of Solomon seemed a bit lacking in substance. And quite frankly, Asmira just wasn't as endearing a character as Nathaniel and Kitty were. As you said, it was just mildly entertaining. There were some funny Bart quotes though, he always gives you a good laugh.

[lizzyazula.livejournal.com]

I also loved the ending. The last paragraph is one of my favorite quotes. Generally I hate unhappy endings, but when an author handles a sad ending well, that book usually becomes one of my favorites. Like The Book Thief and The Pigman...sad endings, but good endings.

[creative-lefty2.livejournal.com]

I agree that the original end of the series was perfect. It was actually the end that made me really like the other books.

[beth-shulman.livejournal.com]

YES. Exactly :)

[beth-shulman.livejournal.com]

Oh, I loved Bartimaeus. But like you said, he didn't lend the book enough substance to elevate it to the series' standard.

[hazelwillow.livejournal.com]

I squeed when I saw "hypocaust"! :D Too bad they don't take you on a tour of the plumbing. ;p
There doesn't seem to be much space to actually sleep/live/raise a family in, but I suppose it's not fully built yet. Maybe the family would live in outbuildings?

This is a different time period, but there's a similar venture going on in France. A group of people are building a 13th c. castle using only 13th century tools, technology, and methods. It's been going on since 1997 ans is supposed to be done in 2023! http://www.guedelon.fr/en/the-guedelon-adventure_01.html

[stubefied-by-gd.livejournal.com]

I hope it's okay if I jump in -- what I thought the Solomon story brought to the series was an interesting look at who Bartimaeus was before Ptolemy - which soft spots he did and didn't have, what he thought of the idea of being loyal to or loving a master.

In that way, it was neat. I wasn't madly impressed by the first book, either, so I'll hold out judgment waiting to see if this is the beginning of a whole 'nother arc that will end in more ultimate awesome.

I think I enjoyed Solomon more than most of the original trilogy, since I basically couldn't stand Nathaniel and never fully warmed even to Kitty. The end of Ptolemy's Gate, of course, was awesome. The end was what made the whole thing worth while - that and the footnotes. (Come to think of it, it was kind of like a reverse Hunger Games experience for me.) So I'm very open to see if there is somewhere else Solomon's Ring story is going.

[stubefied-by-gd.livejournal.com]

I agree. Up until that point, I was basically reading because my friends had told me it would be worth it, and the narrative voice was amusing enough. Those were the same friends who made me read The Thief. Good friends. :)

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

I never warmed up to Kitty either, in fact, I couldn't even remember her name until you just said it. Nathaniel was never meant to be sympathetic, I thought, and the fact that I came to begrudgingly like him in the end, as he changed so much, was a pretty cool reading experience. I actually found Asmira more interesting, though she's a little 2-dimensional at times. She, too, grows and changes.

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

Oh, and I was having book club one day, and one of the 7th graders was talking about the series and said, "all books should have footnotes!" *huggles*

[beth-shulman.livejournal.com]

Of course it is :D

I definitely agree that the ending is what made me love the series most, but I liked the way all the pieces added up. I didn't like Nathaniel, but I liked his development. I liked how Kitty challenged him. I liked how Bartimaeus challenged everyone, and was more a tone-breaker, a bit of comic relief, rather than a character expected to carry the entire story with this really mood-breaking humor. I think that's why the humor didn't translate as well for me.

Also, I liked that the series was a bit darker. This one was missing that.

And LOL at the reverse Hunger Games experience. Mockingjay = WHAT WHAT WHAT.

[beth-shulman.livejournal.com]

That is so cute.

[beth-shulman.livejournal.com]

I think that's why the humor didn't translate as well for me in The Ring of Solomon.

Apologies for incoherency. It's been a looong day...