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

Maureen’s comments from the fiction files redux group.

i would like to announce that i just came back from the organic bulk food store with two bottles of maple syrup, in amber and medium style. i felt it was my duty as a canadian to provide the syrup. :)

Jonathan wrote: "...well shit, now i feel bad...everything else was booked, though . . .and the locale was great..."

hey, i didn't mean to make you feel bad... i loved the place you got us in 2008 -- it was wonderful. and obviously, you know i'm neurotic about privacy... :)

Kerry wrote: Last year we slept in sleeping bags on the noisiest military cots you've ever encountered, so it'll definitely be a step up!

gotta say, as much as i love you all it'd be a cold day in hell before i take a step down to that. military cots and sleeping bags sound like a nightmare -- glad i missed last year. :)

yeah, there's definitely wifi -- i'm going to have to work remotely too. as neil says it's a big place, but there's not going to be much in the way of privacy -- only six bedrooms and then more crash space in the living rooms... i've studied the information that pennie has provided thoroughly, and it seems to me that 35 is a stretch... 35 includes the idea that there will be children there... some of the beds aren't suited to adults... like the top bunks but i'm sure there will be somewhere for everybody to sleep... :)

and conversely, we can all just go our own way for food but that seems kind of ripe for frustration: i might lose it if somebody drinks all my coke zero, when all they brought was tahiti treat. :)

Brian wrote: "i didn't see bacon on your shopping list mo... i'm very disappointed :)

and as you know... i eat scraps :P in fact it is time for me to go and pick up the scraps before they get too stale."

grocery list rectified -- i was trying not to have it reflect my own personal tastes too much. for example, i will be buying fibre 1 honey cluster cereal for my own sustenance, with my own money because i know i need it and can't do without it. :)

as for scraps, you need source material for scraps don't you? or are you planning on eating pine cones while we're away? if you are, i would prefer you not double-dip the pinecones in the guacamole or black bean hummus. :P

"Patty wrote: Ah Ha! Does Lorraine eat dairy? I was kind of thinking about stopping by someplac..."

martyn, please do tell us if lorraine is okay with dairy: i am planning on making spanokopita (spinach and cheese) in addition to other veggie-friendly things like black bean hummus, and guacamole... and of course when i make lasagna, i had intended to make both a meat, and a veggie, as i did last time...

speaking of eats, i hope everybody is still ready to chip in for basic groceries -- i thought we could take up a collection on arrival (probably an envelope or jar stashed in the kitchen), put together a basic list, and then get out and do a big shop at the safeway.

it seems to me that the most practical thing to do will be to buy a bunch of eggs, and BACON and other breakfast things and also a bunch of stuff for the barbecue: buns, hamburger patties, and veggie patties or shiitake mushrooms, that kind of thing, and that way we can forage for ourselves, if need be.

does anybody else intend on planning a group meal?

and does that plan make sense? let me know if i am way off base on the feeding/eating plans you had in mind...

what kills me is that pennie thinks we're going to have a roast beast in dorkapalooville. :)

1. Lara
2. Brian
3. Patrick
4. Neil
5. Chris (Sunday & Monday only)
6. johnny
7. lauren
8. owen
9. nephew danny
10. nephew matty
11. Kerry
12. mo

***

i will be there, hogging the hot tub. :P

it's going to be great to see you all. :)

do you think pennie has a cheese grater? i don't know if i could get that through customs.

but did anybody suggest kane & abel by jeffrey archer? that was a helluva business novel. :P

and in all seriousness -- what about mcteague?

patrick: i'm not sure that a trip to mcdonald's to illustrate an aspect of character is the same as the kind of stuff i find frustrating about this book. at one point, for example, a police officer asks what kind of computer a murder victim had, and the reply clearly outlines what kind of computer it is, including name brand. that's fine by me. it's this kind of stuff i object to:

...She drove to IKEA at Kungens Kurva and spent three hours browsing through the merchandise, writing down the items numbers she needed. She made a few quick decisions.
She bought two Karlanda sofas with sand-coloured upholstery, five Poang chairs, two round side tables of clear-lacquered birch, a Svansbo coffee table, and several Lack occasional tables. From the storage department she ordered two Ivar combination storage units and two Bonde bookshelves, a TV stand, and a Magiker unit with doors. She settled on a Pax Nexus three-door wardrobe and two small Malm bureaus.
She spent a long time selecting a bed, and decided on a Hemnes bed frame with mattress and bedside tables. To be on the safe side, she also bought a Lillehammer bed to put in the spare room. She didn't plan on having any guests, but since she had a guestroom she might as well furnish it.
Tbe bathroom in her new apartment was already equipped with a medicine cabinet, towel storage, and a washing machine the previous owners had left behind. All she had to buy was a cheap laundry basket.
What she did need though, was kitchen furniture. After some thought she decided on a Rasfors kitchen table of solid beechwood with a tabletop of tempered glass and four colourful kitchen chairs.
She also needed furniture for her office. She looked at some improbable "workstations" with ingenious cabinets for storing computers and keyboards. In the end she shook her head and ordered an ordinary desk, the Galant, in beech veneer with an angled top and rounded corners, and a large filing cabinet. She took a long time choosing an office chair--in which she no doubt would spend many hours--and chose one of the most expensive options, the Verksam.

****

did you really enjoy reading that? did you think it was all necessary? i can vouch for the fact that none of this information really adds to the book, and that nobody falls against the Galant and hits their head, and avoids a concussion due to its rounded corners. i would agree that the facts she needs a good office chair might be relevant to her character, but the fact she chooses an expensive Verksam but is willing to buy a cheap laundry basket, means nothing to me. As an editor, I would cut the bulk of all I transcribed there, except the opening paragraph, and don't think the irony was lost when i read she made some quick decisions but that i was made privy to every last one!

but hey, maybe you do mean you think this is globalization, and local colour. for me, it is lazy writing. :)

okay, i just read the second installment, the girl who played with fire (thanks margaret for adding the links!)

i found the second to be much the same as the first: the characters are interesting, the polemics are blatant, and they are compulsive reading, page turners, and i want to know what happens when i read them. but while i read, i am not for a second admiring the style of the prose. the stories are engaging but erratic: in the first, there's this old policeman right at the beginning of the book, corresponding with henrik vanger, and it seemed to me he'd be a real part of the book, only he wasn't. in the second, we spend a LOT of time meeting characters with lisbeth salander we will never meet again. her interest in the business man and his wife, a kind of red herring, and we don't get into the crux of it all until well into the book.

i often complain about the breadth of the works of popular fiction heroes, like king, and rowling, and i'll reiterate that criticism here: i would hate to see the length of the original manuscript on these works because i would bet dollars to doughnuts that the editors have cut a handful of pages only. i fear this is some marketing idea that people will feel they're getting a better bargain (more bang for their buck) or even smarter if their books are thicker so we're going to be lax in our editorial standards for the benefit of the bottom line. i think it's a huge mistake. popular fiction writers can tell a great story, and inhibiting their ability to tell it well by letting them blab on, really upsets me. :)

and i really have to say after reading this second one that i'm convinced that the translation can't be blamed for the failings of this series: i've no doubt being swedish and reading it would make it resonate more. as i point out above, this writing isn't about style: it isn't literature. i am tempted to fault the english translation for not taking out things that wouldn't appeal to north american audience, or an english one? i noted previously how unhappy i was with the detailed computer specs in dragon tattoo, and my distaste for the use of brand names increased with the second book, again with remarking on the G4 processor and 17 inch screen on an ibook too many times, and then even more disturbingly the long paragraphs regarding the purchase and furnishing of a new apartment with run-down of every piece of furniture complete with ikea style name. this really really rankles with me.

first of all it dates the book (do you think somebody reading this book in even ten years will find these details relevant, or even familiar? will ikea still be producing the malm line? will G4 be confused with g-force?), and second it goes against every tradition of editing ingrained in me: i am vehemently opposed to the use of brand names in books, and would avoid almost every one if possible, but the most iconic: a kleenex, or coke (i'll also say that in real life i usually say tissue, or cola -- yes, i'm pedantic that way, :P) if i was the editor of these books, i'd be more inclined to take out these useless references than i would the habitual reference to the ritual of taking coffee. but perhaps swedish life revolves around brand names too, and so somehow, all this is relevant after all? the only brand name i wanted to know was the one with this bacon pie salander was eating, only to be denied it -- i do know she eats billy pan pizzas though. perhaps larsson did not have a favoured brand of bacon pie? i can't deny i was most intrigued and stopped reading to look it up on the internet. turns out it varies from a quiche in not having dairy in: according to wikipedia traditionally bacon and onion only. since i love cheese, and hate the slimy onion unless it is puréed and its revolting texture eradicated, it appears this is not the dish for me. bacon quiche FTW!!!

(p.s. i think i am just going to copy and paste this into my review for the second book since i blabbed on for so long. but this is not a published work, so i feel fine about it really. :)

hi fellas: thanks for checking out the story! i really appreciate it as i can't stop thinking about it, and i keep telling it to other people, like i'm the wedding guest, and it's the albatross around my neck. :)

adrian: did it pinch your prepubescent buttocks? that's the image i'm hung up on. how old is she when she says she is too young? she kind of hit me in the same way iris murdoch hits me. i am curious about her novels now, especially the dark night: a novel in unrhymed verse that my boyfriend edwin arlington robinson was crazy about.

patrick: well, the story was published in 1922, when may sinclair was almost sixty. what little i've read of her seems to indicate that "modern victorian" is kind of an appropriate appellation for her. she is much more like henry james -- i can't say about peter straub because i've only read ghost story. and actually, this story has been noted for the spareness of her descriptions. still i can see how it drags a bit about three quarters through.

anyway, she has written a story that leaves me filling in gaps in the end in a horrific way, and that's why i can't stop thinking about it.

********

sadly, though may sinclair was a popular writer in her own lifetime (besides being an influentic critic) it looks like it might be really hard to get at the books i want. a search for the dark night on abe and alibris came up empty. i checked gutenberg and there's a bunch of stuff there -- hopefully it's her best stuff. :)

hey kids:

i recently read a collection of may sinclair uncanny stories. of the eight in the collection, three were very good, and one kicked my ass. it's called "where their fire is not quenched", and luckily for you all, it's available as a pdf online!

http://www.horrormasters.com/Text/a07...

i would love to hear what others think of this creepy story. the ending left me imagining the most grotesque afterlife image of all time. :)

now back to looking for jobs, and reading ghost stories, and comics. :)

Adrian wrote: "Betraying Salinger

Includes a photo of the author looking like a crazy old coot."

an excellent photo! i can only wish somebody prints photos of me like this when i no longer have to be constantly vigilant because people might be taking my picture because i am dead. oh wait... nobody is trying to take my picture, unless it's that creepy neighbour guy who spots me from his balcony and then hangs out in the hallway so i can't avoid him. remember this message if i ever disappear. :P

and skipper: isn't it lovely when adrian brings us links? just like the old days.

i actually like the article quite a bit. poor salinger: just because he was brilliant doesn't mean he had social skills. the fact that the writer of the article has decided he will never sell the letters he received from "jerry" makes me really happy.

i didn't realize amazon listed CIP data for unpublished books though -- that's news to me, and slightly disconcerting.

i'd also recommend that adam curtis documentary that martyn turned me onto: the power of nightmares. it's available on google video. find the first part here:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?doc...#

it parallels the rise of neoconservatism in the states with the rise of islamism in the middle east, and how they were both influenced by western philosophy.

hey everybody: ben may never get around to linking to this so i thought i'd better: here's his interview at the new yorker!

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs...

wooooohooooo!

i just read the girl with the dragon tattoo last night. i am terrible at getting round to reviews these days, unless i'm really moved, but i will come back and give my thoughts on the book. for now, i will say i'm not sure translation can be blamed for the writer's need to give us the catalogue description of a computer. it really has a nice page-turner quality to it, though. :)

hey everybody! guess what? i just got the club copy of PFL in the mail! i finished it last night, but i'm still in shock from the crappy painfulness of it all, so will post my thoughts soon, and try to get it to dan in the next couple of weeks. :)

Martha wrote: "Oh joy...I can't believe I'm finally going to meet the wonderful Miss Mo. Now if only we could arrange for onsite dialysis so Adrian could be there. Maybe we could do a mid-year, city-side Dork. Au..."

wouldn't it be wonderful to meet adrian? he and egret. i miss them all the time. not that i don't miss you all, but you know what i mean. :)

and i can't wait to meet you and jennie, and brian, and jennifer, and lauren, (and anybody else who's coming i haven't met who i haven't mentioned), and see all the ones i've met already. i love you guys. :)