Reading Wednesday
Dec. 18th, 2019 07:33 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
troisoiseauxRecently read
I finished The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry, which was not what I expected, although not in a bad way. It was more Bowlaway than The Mermaid & Mrs. Hancock, and nothing at all like Kraken, which I'd assumed it would be based on the cover/blurb when I put it on hold, lo these many months ago.
The short summary is that, at the end of the 19th century, a scientifically-minded society widow from London and a rural clergyman form a surprising bond over rumors of a giant water serpent terrorizing the Essex coast— rumors in which the widow, Cora, sees the possibility of a living ichthyosaur as proposed by Charles Lyell, while the pastor, William, sees merely superstitious hysteria gripping his village. However, the short version does not fully capture the truly bewildering amount of stuff that happens in this book. It has myths! madness! Marxism! paleontology! theology! love triangles! love dodecahedrons! pioneering medical practices circa 1890! teenage friendship drama! I found myself bemused but never overwhelmed by every new POV character or narrative twist and turn.
Currently reading
Making progress in Nicholas Nickleby. I'm about 3/4 of the way through; Nicholas has finally interacted with the girl he fell in love with at first sight several chapters ago, just in time for Uncle Ralph to jump on board yet another nefarious scheme to ruin somebody's - i.e. the girl's - life. Goddammit, Uncle Ralph.
Delighted by the brief reappearance of Crummles and family, because Nicholas' theatrical interlude continues to be the highlight of the book for me. I felt unexpectedly sad about Lord whatshisface and the duel; he was only slightly less of a dick than everyone else he hung out with but the scene was poignantly written. On the other hand, I continue to find Mrs. Nickleby a deeply upsetting character— I know she's supposed to be the comic relief, but every time she opens her mouth I am filled with second hand embarrassment and anxiety to the point I'm practically choking on it.
To read next
While catching up on Pod Save America, a recent episode featured an interview with NYT technology reporter Mike Isaac about his new book, Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber, so I did something I don't normally do and borrowed it on Libby even though I'm not really in the mood to start it right now immediately. I have access to two library systems on Libby (home town/college town) and it had a 14-week waiting list on one of them but was available on the other, so I decided not to take my chances.
I finished The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry, which was not what I expected, although not in a bad way. It was more Bowlaway than The Mermaid & Mrs. Hancock, and nothing at all like Kraken, which I'd assumed it would be based on the cover/blurb when I put it on hold, lo these many months ago.
The short summary is that, at the end of the 19th century, a scientifically-minded society widow from London and a rural clergyman form a surprising bond over rumors of a giant water serpent terrorizing the Essex coast— rumors in which the widow, Cora, sees the possibility of a living ichthyosaur as proposed by Charles Lyell, while the pastor, William, sees merely superstitious hysteria gripping his village. However, the short version does not fully capture the truly bewildering amount of stuff that happens in this book. It has myths! madness! Marxism! paleontology! theology! love triangles! love dodecahedrons! pioneering medical practices circa 1890! teenage friendship drama! I found myself bemused but never overwhelmed by every new POV character or narrative twist and turn.
Currently reading
Making progress in Nicholas Nickleby. I'm about 3/4 of the way through; Nicholas has finally interacted with the girl he fell in love with at first sight several chapters ago, just in time for Uncle Ralph to jump on board yet another nefarious scheme to ruin somebody's - i.e. the girl's - life. Goddammit, Uncle Ralph.
Delighted by the brief reappearance of Crummles and family, because Nicholas' theatrical interlude continues to be the highlight of the book for me. I felt unexpectedly sad about Lord whatshisface and the duel; he was only slightly less of a dick than everyone else he hung out with but the scene was poignantly written. On the other hand, I continue to find Mrs. Nickleby a deeply upsetting character— I know she's supposed to be the comic relief, but every time she opens her mouth I am filled with second hand embarrassment and anxiety to the point I'm practically choking on it.
To read next
While catching up on Pod Save America, a recent episode featured an interview with NYT technology reporter Mike Isaac about his new book, Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber, so I did something I don't normally do and borrowed it on Libby even though I'm not really in the mood to start it right now immediately. I have access to two library systems on Libby (home town/college town) and it had a 14-week waiting list on one of them but was available on the other, so I decided not to take my chances.
