The Joy of Erudition > Recent Status Updates

"I'm a wizard, Harry!"

Unfortunately, it's gotten less comedic and witty over the course of the book. The episodic nature is to be expected from its origin, of course, but I'm also disappointed in the lack of exploration of several interesting plot points from the beginning. It's still possible they'll get back to those by the end, but it's becoming less and less likely.

"His name was of many syllables in the native language, but he was known as Big Smoke."

This book has quite a few jokes in it! I wasn't expecting such lively banter and witty asides in what I thought was just going to be a melodrama. I wasn't expecting an ancient Egyptian princess mummy ghost either.

"The will ought to be wrong, but it wasn't. The meaning was so clear that even a court couldn't misunderstand it."

"All right. Marry me, and I'll show you life. I'll lead you any kind of a life you want."

"No, that won't do. As an old, settled-down, married woman I couldn't really do what I want. I must see life in its great moments. I must have thrills, adventures, see people, do daring things, watch battles. It might be best for me even to see someone killed, if that were possible."

Epilogue time

"Anything is unnatural the first time you try it."

They're rebuilding without any attempt made (at least none that was reported to the reader) to accuse, apprehend, or otherwise deal with the arsonist, and they have a very strong idea of the arsonist's identity -- the guy who broke into the place before and tried to rob her. And no one is talking about what they'll do if he strikes again. He got what he wanted, but he hates her and might do it out of pure spite.

What a waste of time!

Well, I saw that coming even without the I Ching, but at least something is happening now.

Stuff is finally happening.

We might still be heading somewhere in the vicinity of a plot. Hard to tell, though. But a second character has now mentioned this "man in the high castle", and people are still obsessing over the book-within-a-book, so maybe it's going somewhere.