Cat’s
Comments
(group member since Aug 02, 2017)
Cat’s
comments
from the Reading with Style group.
Showing 81-100 of 303
20.2 - The HouseNorthanger Abbey by Jane Austen
pub 1817
Deliberately very silly, Northanger Abbey is a fun romp through the tropes of gothic novels - Radcliffe in particular - joyfully inverting and mocking the expectations. Our heroine fails entirely to faint at any given moment; the evil plots to kidnap and murder fail to come about; the path to true love is remarkably easy.
Knowing that this is Austen's satire on the overwrought gothic novels being churned out, I can skim lightly over the flaws - Catherine is frankly TSTL, and is unbelievably naive, blind, and accepting. If I were reading this as a more serious-minded novel, I'd be entirely out of temper with her. But I do like Henry Tilney, the love interest, who is a well-balanced, sensible young man, with a delightful line in teasing his love and praise-worthy in his resolution to marry Catherine despite his father's disapproval.
A piece of frothy fun.
+20 Task
+20 Combo (10.4, 10.9, 20.1, 20.6)
+15 Oldie
+10 Review
Post total = 65
Season total = 2160
10.2 - SpyThe Mask of Dimitrios by Eric Ambler
pub 1939
+10 Task
+5 Combo (10.3)
+10 Oldie
Post total = 25
Season total = 2095
Task 10.1 - Square PegChildren of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky
600 pages
I'd heard very good things about this, have enjoyed others by this author and am generally a fan of sci-fi, so I expected to enjoy the book.
Actually I loved it.
It is an eons long space opera, and (after the prologue setting it up) follows two strands: the development of life on a planet, with intelligence kickstarted by a nano-virus introduced by advanced human, and a band of humans, fleeing post-apocalyptic Earth in a space ship cobbled together, searching for a new planet.
We drop into both situations at different time points - many many years between each visit, but keep a continuity of characters by virtue of sleep stasis on the space ship and, on the planet, that the spiders (for that's the society that we are following) have hereditary characteristics, driven by the nano-virus. (It's odd to describe, but makes sense and works so well in the book).
I loved the compare and contrast of the two societies, with the spider society being matriarchal and (within a community) cooperative. The humans were, y'know, humans. I really really loved the parallels that Tchaikovsky put the spiders through - from feuding villages to the rise of religion to science and space exploration, all whilst maintaining a believably arachnid society - different art, communication and technology.
Utterly brilliant and should be pressed upon everyone to read
+10 Task
+5 Jumbo
+10 Review
Post total = 25
Season total = 2070
Task 10.9 - The Origins of Modern GenreJane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
507 pages
pub 1847
MPG of romance spotted & verified!
Like so many of us, I first read this at school, lo those many moons ago, and have since reread it at least once and seen a few adaptations of it - film & TV. So this read wasn't going to be a white-knuckle ride of wonder, but a revisit to see what increased maturity (well, one can hope) made of the story.
And what did I make of it?? Well, I'd forgotten quite how young Jane was when she first meets Rochester - 18 to his 40. And I was reading it whilst the Weinstein sexual harrassment stories were circulating, which put a different complexion on the tale. Happily, Rochester isn't a sex pest, and Jane isn't - despite her tender years - about to let her firm morals & sense of self be compromised, even for the love of her life. It was, at the end, refreshing to read.
However, I had forgotten about some of the over-wrought melodrama (three days with no food and she's about to die? not exactly likely...) and the deeply obnoxious bullying of St John Rivers. I don't care that he's doing it out of a sense of religious purpose, frankly that makes it worse. But Jane is awesome at saying no.
5* still.
+10 Task
+20 Combos (10.4; 10.8; 20.1; 20.6 - approved in help thread)
+15 Oldie
+5 Jumbo
+10 Review
Post total = 60
Season total = 2045
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "(It's been too too many years since I read this. Did I actually read it, or just skim it?) "It was a long overdue reread for me. And obviously everyone skims over the Rivers interlude as being saccharine and then deeply deeply annoying. Jasper fforde even had the main thrust of his book, The Eyre Affair, being about how duff the Rivers bit is! (I might be editorialising there)
and whilst I'm scatter-gunning.... maybe I'll get a speculative OK here for The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - 18th & Mystery MPGThanks!
Can Jane Eyre be used for this one? St John Rivers (that obnoxious so-and-so) is a parson, and a missionary in waiting, and is a key part of the story, seeing as he prevents Jane from dying, finds her her fortune and is a pestersome bother who wants to marry Jane.
oh! I was also going to see if Jane was OK for 20.6 too.... I'll pop over there now!
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Cat wrote: "so as not to lose the possibility of combo points, can we verify Northanger Abbey as 19th Romance, please?"Yes, it has been claimed previously and qualifies for:
10.4, 10.9, 20.1, 20.2, 20.6. Yay! 20.2 is my main placement for Northanger Abbey, so I am relieved to see it's already been Oked for that :)
Jane Eyre, has also been claimed previously, and, qualifies for:
10.4, 10.8, 20.1 "
But Jane not (currently) OK for 10.9, right?
so as not to lose the possibility of combo points, can we verify Northanger Abbey as 19th Romance, please?
bah! I'm feeling grumpy right now. I read Jane Eyre, planning for it in this task with the Romance MPG, which was there when I started.GR has now done it's thing, and Romance has vanished.
Bah! You'd think I'd learn not to trust what seems an obvious, safe MPG...
I'm going to check back in a couple of days, see if it reappears, before moving it.
15.10 - Reading Globally #2Setting: Western Sahara
The Story of Captain Riley, and His Adventures in Africa by Samuel Griswold Goodrich
+40 Task
+15 First Visitor
+100 Alphabetical completion
+100 Six continents (Brunei - Asia / Denmark - Europe / Guatemala - N America / New Zealand - Oceania / Peru - S America / Western Sahara - Africa)
Post total = 255
Season total = 1985
15.9 - Reading Globally #2Setting: Qatar
From Dunes to Dior by Mohanalakshmi Rajakumar
31k words
+40 Task
+15 first visitor
Post total = 55
Season total = 1730
Task 10.8 - Double Letter NamesMy Life with the Chimpanzees by Jane Goodall
no lex - no styles
Season total = 1675
15.9 - Reading GloballySetting: Tanzania
My Life with the Chimpanzees by Jane Goodall
+40 Task
Season total = 1705
15.8 - Reading GloballySetting: Peru
The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder
+25 Task
Season total = 1665
Task 10.8 - Double Letter NamesKnight's Shadow by Sebastien de Castell
606pages
+10 Task
+5 Jumbo
Season total = 1630
Task 20.7 - Single WordSpellslinger by Sebastien de Castell
+20 Task
+5 Combo (10.8)
Season total = 1615
