Brandy's review
The Monsters of Templeton
by Lauren Groff
i love "paleontological" but think you must mean "paleo-biological" -- please tell me i'm wrong, as paleo-ontology sounds a lot more interesting than paleo-biology
I'm not sure I do or don't, given that I can't find a good definition of paleobiology online. When the lake monster surfaces, scientists descend on it and assume it's one of those living dinosaurs, one of those creatures that somehow survived millions of years and only turned up now. I used "paleontological" as the adjectival form of "paleontology," relating to dinosaurs, but I could be wrong here. It's happened before.
i am doubly wrong, or even triply--not only is "paleontological" the correct advectival form of "paleontology", but the "-onto-" of paleontology is the same "onto-" of ontology, so the sort-of-joke i was trying to make is, in fact, just etymology. (still, it still makes me smile to think about turning "the study of ancient beings/life-forms" into "the study of ancient Being"--like, what sort of field research would a paleo-ontologist do?)
(although maybe cryptozoological might fit here best.)
also, this is an advance proof that's found it's way to you?
This may, in fact, be the nerdiest discussion going on GoodReads right now, and I'm pleased to be a part of it!
"Cryptozoological" might be a more accurate word, as it relates to more-or-less actual creatures and not bones. But can anyone not admire the beautiful rhythm of "paleontological"?
Yes, this was an advance proof--Husband was working at an independent bookstore until a week or so ago, and brought home all kinds of ARCs. I tried to get through them before the book was officially released, because I felt guilty otherwise.
Brandy's review
The Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff
Brandy's review
rating:
bookshelves:
2008reads,
family-drama,
speculative-fiction
Wilhelmina (Willie) Upton has just slunk home in disgrace. Her promising life is on the skids, her graduate career just about ruined, and her beloved town of Templeton isn't faring so well, either. Willie has no sooner arrived in town when the lake monster's body drifts to the surface, a paleontological wonder from the deep, and everything begins to unravel. Vi, Willie's former-hippie-turned-Baptist mom, confesses that Willie's father was not one of the San Francisco free-love hippies with whom Vi'd been living, but was in fact someone from this tiny New York town. Willie distracts herself from her own problems with genealogical research, attempting to tease out her parentage from scanty evidence. Family history, generations of scandal, a long-standing curse, and a touch of magic realism shape this engrossing debut novel, told in several voices through letters, diaries, and other historical ephemera. The novel is not without its weaknesses; the chronology is hard to follow in pla...more
i love "paleontological" but think you must mean "paleo-biological" -- please tell me i'm wrong, as paleo-ontology sounds a lot more interesting than paleo-biology
I'm not sure I do or don't, given that I can't find a good definition of paleobiology online. When the lake monster surfaces, scientists descend on it and assume it's one of those living dinosaurs, one of those creatures that somehow survived millions of years and only turned up now. I used "paleontological" as the adjectival form of "paleontology," relating to dinosaurs, but I could be wrong here. It's happened before.
i am doubly wrong, or even triply--not only is "paleontological" the correct advectival form of "paleontology", but the "-onto-" of paleontology is the same "onto-" of ontology, so the sort-of-joke i was trying to make is, in fact, just etymology. (still, it still makes me smile to think about turning "the study of ancient beings/life-forms" into "the study of ancient Being"--like, what sort of field research would a paleo-ontologist do?)(although maybe cryptozoological might fit here best.)
also, this is an advance proof that's found it's way to you?
This may, in fact, be the nerdiest discussion going on GoodReads right now, and I'm pleased to be a part of it!"Cryptozoological" might be a more accurate word, as it relates to more-or-less actual creatures and not bones. But can anyone not admire the beautiful rhythm of "paleontological"?
Yes, this was an advance proof--Husband was working at an independent bookstore until a week or so ago, and brought home all kinds of ARCs. I tried to get through them before the book was officially released, because I felt guilty otherwise.