Jensownzoo's comments
(member since Oct 28, 2008)
Jensownzoo's comments from the SciFi and Fantasy Book Club group.
(showing 1-20 of 151)
I've read The Losers and I seem to remember thinking it was fantastic. Been long enough that it's due for a reread since I can't remember anything about it except for the book cover!
Bummer. I spent a lot of junior high/high school reading and re-reading (and re-reading and re-reading...) his books. I think I must have single-handedly driven his stats to the top at my library, I checked them out so much! He will be missed.
Oooh. I like that idea, Jon! I myself was wanting a barn-like library with high shelves and rolling ladders, but I may have to throw it all over for a tower of books!
For SciFi/fantasy I estimate I have about 600-700 unread books and probably about 2x that read that I have kept. Maybe more. I'm slowly working on my GR bookshelves to help me keep track.
Libby, if you belong to BookMooch, I've put a lot of the ST:TNG books up there for grabs. I'm working on mooching a lot of the original ST novels right now...I think I have 10 or so on the way to me!
Well, given her reaction when he tried to deny her a favored post upon the Enterprise, I don't give Spock a really good chance for being able to father children if he tries to break up with Uhura!
Sandi wrote: "Somewhere along the way, she got the name "Nyota". In this movie, her name is Nyota Uhura which seems to mean "Star Freedom". None of this is on any official sites, so I could be completely wrong.
..."
They never actually say it was her first name in the movie (unless it was in the credits, didn't stay for those), so "Nyota" could just be a term of endearment. Which would be totally heart-melting if it was because it was in Swahili but used by Spock...
I, too, felt we had a really great discussion of this book and I thank everyone for participating. A wide variety of perspectives makes for the best discussions. And Brad, thanks for taking the reins on this one.
I've mooched several books by Kay since reading Tigana because I was impressed enough with the "shades of grey" and complexity of his characters and society that I wanted to explore his other works. No Lion of al-Rassan yet, though. It looks like I'll be starting with either Song for Arbonne or the Finovar Tapestry.
Well, if one of the perks of being at the top was your own set of rooms...
Brad, it was a little late in the story to be terribly effective at this, but I think that Alessan's visit to his mother was fairly vital to demonstrate a reason why bringing back Tigana was so important to him as well as giving the reader an extra dollop of sympathy for him for having such a mother...
Libby wrote: "secondly, as I previously discussed, to demonstrate the effect of conquest and occupation on the psyche and how that manifests in physical behavior ..."
Do we have any pre-conquest experiences which which to compare them? I don't remember any and it seems like that should be a vital component of this kind of demonstration. I think it would have been a really good demonstration otherwise.
Zen wrote: "Jensownzoo wrote: "...but not the kind that is most familiar to the most amount of people in the "real world". "
If I may, very politely and non-offensively, point out that this viewpoint makes BI..."
Arrgh! I simply am not expressing myself very well. Maybe I just don't have the vocabulary that I am reaching for, or perhaps it is just simply that sexuality is just too big and varied a topic to be able to discuss using generalities?
It is very difficult to pick a word to describe what very common kind of sexual relationship is lacking in this book...there are too many variations of normal, healthy doesn't quite fit either and neither does positive because I agree that sex for comfort or even just as exercise can be both of those. So what term do we pick? Because sex is mentioned A LOT in this book and various aspects, purposes, and meanings are covered...but not the kind that is most familiar to the most amount of people in the "real world".
And I am SO not touching those puns...not even if you beg...probably...
As to the lack of interaction in the saishan, I got the impression that Dianora was the "lady at the top" with only one real rival--unlikely to socialize much with the women who were lower on the totem pole simply from a security standpoint. It would be much easier to prevent an "accident" orginating from an ambitious low status woman if she had little contact with any of them. Made her seem more mature, more secure in her position for the author to avoid showing much of her interaction with them as well.
I disagree, Brad. I don't she could have explained what happened, intentional or unintentional to anyone that wasn't living in her head at the time (us readers) in a way that would make everything alright. They would be celebrating the death of a tyrant, she would be mourning. They would be judging her for her actions of the past, she would be judging them for their actions in the future (comparing them to Brandin). It would have been very, very messy and heart-rending for her, and the author provided a very neat solution to it.
Well, given the rest of the book, I wouldn't have been surprised...
That was my take on Tomasso as well. That his sex life seemed to be rather slapdash and exciting anyway, but he really played it up for the public eye as a way of earning private approval from his father.
Was theirs a sexual relationship? If so, I completely missed it.
Ah, thank you Brad. That was mentioned very frequently throughout the book and I had completely forgotten.
Amy, for all we know, the merchant family has a trapeze set in their bedroom! I agree that as it is, just showing a healthy sexual relationship would not advance the story. I think the main point (which Libby helpfully made) was the sheer number of UNhealthy relationships that Kay decided to show (or even overtly imply) in the complete absence of a healthy one.
Crud. Refresh my memory on the gods in Tigana? I can't remember them at all. My memory gets a little strained after a month...after 6 months I can reread and it's almost a new book!
I see two main themes involving sex in this book. Sex as a tool and sex as a comfort.
As a tool we have Catriana (both Devin and that guy in the castle) and Dianora (prostitution and early with Brandin). Possibly that merchant's daughter who REALLY wanted a husband.
As a comfort we have Dianora/Baerd, Dianora/Brandin (later in their relationship), Devin/Alienor, Baerd/shadowland lady.
What we don't see is sex as a part of romantic love.
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