Maureen’s Comments (group member since Mar 02, 2009)

Maureen’s comments from the fiction files redux group.

well, there's been a hint, and no answer from anybody else. Dan do you have time to find another image and answer or do you want me to reveal and move on? or are we all just ready to take a break and wait for somebody to come along and answer this...? i'd rather not have to rant again. :)

Kerry wrote: "You're right Mo about P&P&Z being unfortunate, but I thought it was a fairly recognizable cover which is why I chose it!

I don't know Dan's."

Kerry. Definitely a recognizable cover -- I had actually expected a real twist on the story instead of just a generous dollop of zombies added to key scenes. Having barely survived the reading of two P&P sequels, I suppose I should have known better.

Re: The most recent image I posted that Dan provided a hint for, it's one I'm pretty sure you haven't read though you read the author's follow-up and didn't like it all that much, as I recall. :)

Dan wrote: "And this is a cover of a book by a guy who's gotten a lot of press good and bad here in the files and elsewhere."

should we consideer this a clue? or are you answering and coming back with a photo? :)

that's the unfortunate pride & prejudice & zombies.

that's got to be

a clockwork orange. :)

and since i'm so sure:

Rod wrote: "I'd have to disagree with you there, Maureen. I like NYRB covers in general, but their cover for Ebenezer Le Page isn't one of my favorites. The original one was painted by Daniel Maffia after a..."

i'm all for agreeing to disagree, rod. in fact, sometimes it's been suggested that we all agree far too much these days. i'd never have connected that portrait with ebenezer le page. :)

and i say this even if you love augustus caesar or the mists of avalon. of course, i'd think you were crazy, but who cares what i think? i'm just a girl on the internet. :)

here's another:

Rod wrote: "Does this help? I don't like this one as much, but it should be more recognizable.

"

yep! that helps! and it's the book of ebenezer le page! i've never seen that other cover, rod! for myself, i have to say i don't like it more than the nyrb. i like that the nyrb has an old weighted down man. it seems more appropriate to the subject matter, i mean, who is that supposed to be? ebenezer as a young man? raymond? if we were going to have ebenezer as a young man, looking like lord byron, i'd rather have him as a kid at the top of the greased pole. :)

in browsing through the covers on goodreads i think i actually like this italian edition cover best:



patty! that cover is almost tragic in its idiocy. i guess it's because it's pocket book era trickery when they tried to make classics "sexy"? :)

yes, patty is right! i cut out most of the horse. what i'm learning is that there are a lot of horse images on book covers. :)

thanks for pointing out that there are other sites/sources to upload to, you guys. last i checked flickr had a 200 picture cut-off on free accounts, and i've already downloaded 20 pictures, so maybe that's not the best one. i don't think that it's specifically picasa that is stopping mike, however. :P

mike: i'm fine with dirty windows. how about dishes? :)

Mike wrote: "Ok I know this one, but since i don't want to do laundry I'll keep my mouth shut"

it's either laundry or posting your own photos, punk. :)

as patty points out, it's not as easy to do as you'd think. :)

Mike wrote: "you're my official poster girl mo."

heh. well, i'm happy to do this one for you, because you are an excellent egg, but let's not go crazy. i have a limited arsenal, and i can't use it all up helping other people who won't download picasa (or get some other uploading account). unless you plan on coming over and doing my laundry, and all the other chores i have to do. :)

here we go:

Mike wrote: "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter"

yes! that's right! are you going to post an image or do you want me to post another one?

boo that nobody got that one. how about this?

who will rant next? i hope it's not me! :)

c'mon! atlas shrugged battle!

rod gave you clues! c'mon americans! i didn't read any uncle sam books up here. i read the hockey sweater by roch carrier. :)

Slowrabbit wrote: "Mau, i just love that you used the word truculent."

my lovely, i seek always for le mau/mot/mo juste, n'est-ce pas? :)

p.s. all this talk is making me think i should start a thread about historical fiction and how much leeway an author has in terms of writing effective fiction about real people and events. :)

Dan wrote: "Ranting on classical themes is one of the most endearing things about you Mo (to me at least!). :)"

heh. remember when i first found out you had a classics background, dan, and i archly asked you how you felt about augustus? it's usually the first question i ask. :P

lord, how people can think that octavian and augustus are somehow two radically different beings in one body has always infuriated me. i remember my prof grinning away when i was the only one who hadn't bought the party line hook, line and sinker. actually, probably because i was sensitive to his personal intervention in getting ovid banished for "carmen et error".

so it's uncle sam in a coffin with puzzle pieces all over the cover, so i'm guessing it's got to be a mystery? but i don't recognize it at all. :)

actually, i think i'd have had an easier time with augustus -- i just had to stop playing and focus on other stuff last night but i'd recognize fakey-handsome statues of that bastard anywhere (what limited historical record he didn't control tells us that he wasn't actually handsome at all and had his statues faked up to make him more attractive than in life). i've been avoiding that book for some time now. :P

here follows another rant:

just read your review, rod, and i come from the opposite camp: my degree is english and classical studies (which included literature and history), and i specialized in roman history. i actually took a whole course on augustus, which included reading Res Gestae Divi Augusti, in English, "the Achievement of the Divine Augustus" which the emperor ostensibly penned himself. but the thing of it is, while augustus brought stability to the empire, most people agree it's because he lived long enough to do that after all the wars and proscriptions that preceded it. and as far as we can determine, he was the master of spin, made sure whatever documentation that was created was official and did not dispute his reign. he was supported in this effort by his friend maecenas. most scholars agree that it's really agrippa (on the military side) and maecenas (on the administrative side and propaganda man) that made it work. at one point, i thought of writing a novel from maecenas' and agrippa's point of views, and when i found out this one came out i was frustrated, convinced that augustus' most outstanding legacy was really his ability to change his name make people think he was great leader of men, and beautiful, to boot, long after he was dead.

here's a photo of his one of his fakey pretty statues i saw in rome in 2007 that i captioned
'augustus, my enemy'


disclaimer: for some reason the book cover game has revealed two things that make me rage more than anything else. i am not so truculent about everything! :)

i love how you equivocate about these, rod. is it to buy time while you look for a new image? yes! gatsby! i thought about cutting more of the blue to see if it was still recognizable, but hey... i've got plenty more.

patty! i feel bad for knowing almost all of them (except for rod's!) i wanted to give other people chances! but i've changed my mind in the interim. :)

i've loved this particular book since i was small because i stared at it (it was one of my sister's university textbooks) for two years before i finally took it and read it and loved it and claimed it (ie. stole it and refused to give it back to her). i buy people this particular edition when i find it in book stores because it's also my favourite translation. :)

this is a scan that was already in picasa of my original copy's beaten-up cover:



and in the meantime, one from my arsenal...