While She Knits - Randomness

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

Happy Long Labor Day Weekend, you of the American persuasion!

This WSK idea is from peggy_2 -- Random Literary Related Links and Thoughts.

Whatcha got, sounis ?

Comments

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

Ok, here's a random literary thought after a recent reread of Cryoburn and Captain Vorpatril's Alliance. I think if the twisty minds of Lois McMaster Bujold and Megan Whalen Turner ran their own military, together they could achieve Total World Domination. We could only hope they would use their powers for good.

[thnidu.livejournal.com]

Heh, heh, hehhhhhh…

[tiegirl.livejournal.com]

Ha! I want to live in that world!

p.s. I'm enjoying Rae Carson's series very much. Lots of strategizing there, too

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

Ooh, the third book just came out, right?

[ricardienne.livejournal.com]

I'm devouring Annabel Lyon's The Golden Mean, which is about Aristotle as he tutors young Alexander the Great, because I just finished Lyon's new novel, The Sweet Girl, which is about Aristotle's daughter Pythias. This is the best historical fiction I've read since Hilary Mantel's Cromwell books, but it might especially appeal to Sounisians for its setting in 4th century Macedon (which is not unlike, e.g. Sounis or Eddis). Lots of details about ancient medicine and biological research which are fascinating, too.

[freenarnian.livejournal.com]

Those sound really interesting!

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

I like the name Katsa, and thought it was unfortunate for both authors when The Hunger Games and Katniss came along at the same time. I kept getting the two names confused, at first. Bitterblue hit me as such a strange choice for a name, when all the others in the books seemed to be made up.

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

I had exactly the same problems with all the names in GRACELING and it threw me right out of the story. The naming of anything is a difficult matter, but rarely have I come across a book with so many names that fell on my mental ear with such a resounding thud.

(That being said, I think the naming of a certain wizard in an otherwise enjoyable book by a highly respected author who is one of my childhood inspirations has to count as the greatest naming disaster I have yet encountered. Fthoom?)

[archdyadove.livejournal.com]

The names of the characters in Graceling didn't bother me at the time, but when Bitterblue came out, I couldn't remember who anyone was. Whenever a name doesn't sound quite right, that's what happens. Sometimes I just skip over them in the text, and avoid pronouncing them in my head, like they aren't really there. (My apologies, all you un-named ones!)
I had the same problem with the names in the Pern books. F'lar and F'tan and F'lon --or whatever their names really are-- just all blurred together. That's the main reason that I haven't read more of that series.

[(Anonymous)]

"Katsa" makes me think of catsup.


--Handmaiden

[hazelwillow.livejournal.com]

Po always sounded like it was trying to be Asian, to me. I can't be more specific than just generically Asian... I'm not sure if his country was modelled on any in our world (can't remember enough telling details). So I imagined him as Asian and that was alright, but I still hated the name Po. It's just hard to take for a English audience.

I thought the names in Graceling were bad, too. They all sounded arbitrary. None of them had any similar sort of linguistic integrity, if you know what I mean... they didn't sound like they came from the same culture, or if from different cultures they weren't distinct enough. I couldn't figure out what it meant that Katsa had a generic fantasy name (I don't mind Katsa actually), Po sounded would-be Asian, and Bitterblue had a name made of English words. If Bitterblue had been from a country where all the names were made up of English words combined, that would have been ok. But I don't think she was (as far as I remember, can't recall the other names of her people). Same with Po and Katsa. They seemed random and unrealistic, or like they were trying too hard. Not natural.

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

That's so strange! I got it in my email notifications, too, but I don't see it anywhere. It's NOT in the queue of "suspicious" (LJ's term) comments, nor in any kind of moderation queue. No idea!

[manderelee.livejournal.com]

It got spammed! *frowns* I deleted it afterwards, with the intention of commenting again (because I couldn't edit it either), but I got distracted by a movie.

Anyway, all I said was that I liked Po's name, because it reminded me of Teletubby!Po who had always been my favourite Teletubby. XD But you're right in that it wasn't quite fitting with Graceling's male lead, since it requires a certain level of dorkiness to carry off a name like Po.

But hey, his *real* name, Prince Greening Grandemalion, isn't very flattering either. I always thought it kind of sounded like "grinning grandma lion". =D

As far as Katsa goes, I noticed that quite a lot of female characters have sported feline names, like Catherine and Katrina and stuff... and they all have feisty personalities.

[booksrgood4u.livejournal.com]

random book thought here.....Why do so many books and even movies have as their main characters two guys and one girl? I mean, I get the idea of having three main characters, but why is it so often tipped toward the guy side? Think about it....
Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
Eli, Josef, and Nico
Jiaan, Kavi, Soraya
Finn, Keiro, Attia.

These are just a few from books I've read recently. What do you guys think?
And just to clarify....I'm not being super-feminist or anything, it's just something I've noticed.....

[1221bookworm.livejournal.com]

I'll point out a group that's 2 girls and a guy: Nya, Ailyn, and Danello from Healing Wars. However, your list is admittedly much longer ....

Oh, and then there's Riyria. There's 2 main groups, Royce, Hadrian, and Arista, and then there's Modina, Amelia, and Nimbus. So it kind of spans both sides. (However, this of course is a six book amazingly complex series, so it can afford to have 2 - or more- plots and character sets going on ....)

I think 3 is a good number because it's odd (artists think odds are better), and it keeps it from being overcomplicated. I think that it is determined this way: There is the main character and his/her buddy that person they have shared their secrets with forever, who is usually the same gender as the main character. Then, there is the third person who is the opposite gender of the main character whi is meant to "fill the gaps" in the main character's character (so for HP, Hermione is the book smart brains b/c Harry and Ron can't manage that!) (Of course this does not fit for Farsala, but hey, there's always got to be a few rebels!)

I was going to say that the more female leads there are, there should be more Healing War trios, however, I think female lead books tend to tilt toward romance in many cases, leaving the main character and her two boyfriends (thank you Twighlight and HG)

[freenarnian.livejournal.com]

I recently finished the Percy Jackson series, on loan from a young friend, and now I'm more excited than I thought I'd be about starting The Lost Hero, first in the Heroes of Olympus series. It took me a while to warm up to these books, being way past the target age for starters, and Riordan's style requiring a bit of getting used to, and then there's the awful movies to be avoided... but in the end, the characters made a home for themselves in my heart. :)

After that, I needed to hit my brain against something a little more solid, so I began Shakespeare's Richard the III, in anticipation of The Hollow Crown airing on PBS Sept 20. (Check out the previews on YouTube... it looks fantastic! And so many great actors involved! I'm excited. Linky link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmsDfjp3Jh4) However, I belatedly realized THC begins with Richard the II, not III. So now I'm halfway through III and wondering if I should just finish it, or abandon it for II. Derp.

Other than that, I'm eagerly awaiting The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater, out Sept 17. I liked The Raven Boys and the sequel looks promising.

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

I read DREAM THIEVES last week. It blew the top right off my head, in the best possible way. So. Good.

[lizzyazula.livejournal.com]

The Hollow crown looks FANTASTIC!!!! I wish I had friends who liked Shakespeare. I'm going to be watching these all alone *tear* (and is that Tom Hiddleston I see and hear?)

Speaking of new Shakespeare film adaptions, have you seen the trailer for the new Romeo and Juliet coming out in October? It looks like it's going to be a gorgeous film (aaaaaand again I'll be seeing by myself, alas).

The Raven Boys didn't exactly hit the spot for me like it did everyone else, but I keep on hearing good things about it and The Dream Thieves as well.

[filkferengi]

Thank you *so much* for the "Hollow Crown" link! I hadn't even heard about it, & now it's on the calendar, soon to be appearing on a dvr near me.

Squee!

[aged-crone.livejournal.com]

SHAKESPEARE IS EVIL! (When it comes to Richard III, anyway). Bah - phooey! ;)

[1221bookworm.livejournal.com]

This is something the last post about why we read fantasy reminded me of.

Sometimes "fantasy" books hit on some very important truths: myths, legends, heroic stories and songs are just plain elaborated.

My three favorite examples (sorry, the quotes are just my best recollections)

In Squire by Tamora Pierce, Kel complains about how boring "war" is, and how the "songs" never talk about the mud in your teeth. And Dom tells her that the songwriters glorify it b/c the girls back home don't want to hear about mud in their lovers teeth, they want to hear about how brave they were and how glorious the campaign was. Kel gets a tough lesson in reality, despite the rest of the series being a "fantasy" version of kings, knights, and castles.

In Crown Duel by Sherwood Smith, Mel asks a very important question. When she notices that they were riding off to face their enemy, all sick from riding in the rain, she remarks (to herself) "If we win, will our colds be in the songs" proving the songs don't always tell the "real" truth about what happens in war.

In Forging the Sword by Hilari Bell, Soraya is "eaves-dropping" on a supposed traitor, is very disappointed that they are not discussing their traitorous plans while she was listening. "in the stories, the villian always had the curtesy to discuss their plans while the hero(ine) is listening." The whole Farsala Trilogy also shows how rumors, legends, and stories can be created and enhanced just by their circulation.

Anyway, these are just some truths that are taught in "frivolous" fantasy books!! :)

[freenarnian.livejournal.com]

I love that scene in Crown Duel, when they're all sniffling and Shevraeth produces his ensorcelled handkerchief (the one that stays dry)! So much character development in those few sentences, and I remember it and think about it from time to time, even though it's been several years since I gave it a re-read. I'm a chronic sniffler myself, well-qualified in the art of going through an entire box of tissues in one day, so the idea of an ensorcelled handkerchief stuck with me. Left an impression on my young mind, this idea of heroes actually coming down with colds after camping in fields and such. Makes me think of that Chesterton quote... "Poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese." Fantasy writers have been mysteriously silent on the subject of the common cold! ;)

[manderelee.livejournal.com]

Can anyone give me any motivation to read Harry Potter? I've been telling myself for two years that I'd pick it up, but just as soon as I'm going to, another book (or sets of books, really) grabs my attention and HP is left at the bottom of the pile. It probably doesn't help that the only reason I want to read it is because I feel out of the loop. So if anyone can give me better reasons, that'll be great!