A whole multitude of things!
Nov. 13th, 2010 05:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lizbeeLet's start with books. Books are good.
Recently I read Dust by Joan Frances Turner, and I think I've already promised to do a proper review post, but I'm still in the stage of going, "Oh my God, that was amazing." So maybe coherent thought isn't going to happen. Let me just run through the things I tell my friends as I shove my copy in their faces:
It's a zombie novel from the point of view of the zombies, with a lead character who was a teenage girl when she was alive. Now she's a shambling bag of rotting flesh, and she's quite happy that way, thanks very much. She has her gang, their have their land, unlife is good. Only, something is changing. Humans are rotting from the inside out. The undead are growing new flesh and organs. And undecay is far, far more terrifying than the alternative.
The first thing you should know is that there's a Facebook group leading a boycott against this novel, on the grounds that it's written by a woman and is thus totes a romance and HOW DARE THESE GIRLS GET TO PLAY WITH OUR TOYS? The owner seems to have closed it to non-members, which is a shame because it was hilarious, and I'm not going to join to see if he still has a photo of a burning cross as his avatar.
The second thing is that if you have trouble with graphic descriptions of violence, decay and the peculiar eating habits of the undead, this is not the novel for you. (Those who recall the time I had to keep walking out of Shaun of the Dead because it was too horrifying can stop laughing at me. No, really.)
Third thing is that it's a pretty amazing novel, with a really vivid sense of place -- Indiana and the Great Lakes -- with a very strong, powerfully American narrative voice.
Also, it's an original and interesting twist on the classic zombie story of horror fiction, sidelining the Hapless White Men in favour of ... well, anyone else, really.
Oh, and it's not actually a romance. Even though it's written by a woman. Shocking, I know.
Further on the subject of books. Remember a few months ago, I reviewed Winter of Grace by Kate Constable? My review came out positive, but also had a lot of stream of consciousness capslock flailing. So this is a bit embarrassing, really.
I read her blog occasionally, and apparently she read through a bit of mine, because she also refers to my review of Chicks Dig Time Lords and offers her own. The circle of books continues.
(This is where I subtly segue into talking about fandom things.) Constable's review of CDTL made me a bit sad, because she comes to the conclusion that she's not a true fan because her enjoyment of and pleasure in Doctor Who is not communal. Which makes me want to sort of flap around at every single person who enjoys something without becoming obsessive and say, "No, no, no, you are still true fans! Without people watching and reading and just liking stuff, there wouldn't be stuff for other people to obsess over!"
This made a lot of sense in my head.
I mean, don't get me wrong, fandom is marvellous and lovely, but it's only part of the audience. Not even the main part, a lot of the time. And people who don't react to television (or movies, books, music videos, games, comics, etc) by going, THIS IS WONDERFUL! I NEED MORE! I NEED TO WRITE AND DRAW AND MAKE MUSIC IN THIS WORLD MYSELF! still have a place in the community*.
* I get really eye-rolly when people talk about The Community Of Fandom, so let's pretend I came up with a better way to phrase it.
This has been a whole lot of talk about things which involve sitting around. Let's move on to roller skating!
I have this secret dream to be a derby girl. Since I have, y'know, the arthritis, this is a pretty stupid dream, but I really do love skating. And I could totes be a ref, which involves wheels and a uniform and punnish pseudonym, but carries less chance of serious injury.
Some of my other friends have the same ambition, and (unlike me) have the equipment and practice hours to back it up. So we've been skating the last couple of Friday nights, and I really hope it becomes a Thing, because it was a great time. Even though skating rinks had much better music when I was a teen, and back in my day we didn't send text messages and play on our Nintendos whilst skating. Kids today, man. How do they learn to multitask so young? And how do they balance?
Anyway, skating is aces, and my goal for the summer is to improve my fitness and stamina, so that I don't turn into a GIANT SWEAT MONSTER within 10 minutes. (Always ladylike, that's me.) And also learn to do crossovers and T-stops/starts, because I've been skating since I was a kid, and I'm still basically at the same standard I was at when I was 12.
So that's a small fraction of what I've been doing and thinking lately, and if it all sounds unbearably frivolous, well, I also spent some time at work transcribing a police interview with a murder suspect, so I make no apologies.
Recently I read Dust by Joan Frances Turner, and I think I've already promised to do a proper review post, but I'm still in the stage of going, "Oh my God, that was amazing." So maybe coherent thought isn't going to happen. Let me just run through the things I tell my friends as I shove my copy in their faces:
It's a zombie novel from the point of view of the zombies, with a lead character who was a teenage girl when she was alive. Now she's a shambling bag of rotting flesh, and she's quite happy that way, thanks very much. She has her gang, their have their land, unlife is good. Only, something is changing. Humans are rotting from the inside out. The undead are growing new flesh and organs. And undecay is far, far more terrifying than the alternative.
The first thing you should know is that there's a Facebook group leading a boycott against this novel, on the grounds that it's written by a woman and is thus totes a romance and HOW DARE THESE GIRLS GET TO PLAY WITH OUR TOYS? The owner seems to have closed it to non-members, which is a shame because it was hilarious, and I'm not going to join to see if he still has a photo of a burning cross as his avatar.
The second thing is that if you have trouble with graphic descriptions of violence, decay and the peculiar eating habits of the undead, this is not the novel for you. (Those who recall the time I had to keep walking out of Shaun of the Dead because it was too horrifying can stop laughing at me. No, really.)
Third thing is that it's a pretty amazing novel, with a really vivid sense of place -- Indiana and the Great Lakes -- with a very strong, powerfully American narrative voice.
Also, it's an original and interesting twist on the classic zombie story of horror fiction, sidelining the Hapless White Men in favour of ... well, anyone else, really.
Oh, and it's not actually a romance. Even though it's written by a woman. Shocking, I know.
Further on the subject of books. Remember a few months ago, I reviewed Winter of Grace by Kate Constable? My review came out positive, but also had a lot of stream of consciousness capslock flailing. So this is a bit embarrassing, really.
I read her blog occasionally, and apparently she read through a bit of mine, because she also refers to my review of Chicks Dig Time Lords and offers her own. The circle of books continues.
(This is where I subtly segue into talking about fandom things.) Constable's review of CDTL made me a bit sad, because she comes to the conclusion that she's not a true fan because her enjoyment of and pleasure in Doctor Who is not communal. Which makes me want to sort of flap around at every single person who enjoys something without becoming obsessive and say, "No, no, no, you are still true fans! Without people watching and reading and just liking stuff, there wouldn't be stuff for other people to obsess over!"
This made a lot of sense in my head.
I mean, don't get me wrong, fandom is marvellous and lovely, but it's only part of the audience. Not even the main part, a lot of the time. And people who don't react to television (or movies, books, music videos, games, comics, etc) by going, THIS IS WONDERFUL! I NEED MORE! I NEED TO WRITE AND DRAW AND MAKE MUSIC IN THIS WORLD MYSELF! still have a place in the community*.
* I get really eye-rolly when people talk about The Community Of Fandom, so let's pretend I came up with a better way to phrase it.
This has been a whole lot of talk about things which involve sitting around. Let's move on to roller skating!
I have this secret dream to be a derby girl. Since I have, y'know, the arthritis, this is a pretty stupid dream, but I really do love skating. And I could totes be a ref, which involves wheels and a uniform and punnish pseudonym, but carries less chance of serious injury.
Some of my other friends have the same ambition, and (unlike me) have the equipment and practice hours to back it up. So we've been skating the last couple of Friday nights, and I really hope it becomes a Thing, because it was a great time. Even though skating rinks had much better music when I was a teen, and back in my day we didn't send text messages and play on our Nintendos whilst skating. Kids today, man. How do they learn to multitask so young? And how do they balance?
Anyway, skating is aces, and my goal for the summer is to improve my fitness and stamina, so that I don't turn into a GIANT SWEAT MONSTER within 10 minutes. (Always ladylike, that's me.) And also learn to do crossovers and T-stops/starts, because I've been skating since I was a kid, and I'm still basically at the same standard I was at when I was 12.
So that's a small fraction of what I've been doing and thinking lately, and if it all sounds unbearably frivolous, well, I also spent some time at work transcribing a police interview with a murder suspect, so I make no apologies.
no subject
Date: 2010-11-13 07:26 am (UTC)I read and quite liked Dust, but I have a habit of reading during my lunch/dinner breaks at work and I could not do that for this book. That said, it wasn't gross enough that I was put-off from reading it entirely, which, if you think about it, is a really fine line to walk and she totally pulls it off.
no subject
Date: 2010-11-13 07:35 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-13 08:05 am (UTC)I quote E. Nesbit at you!
Date: 2010-11-13 09:01 am (UTC)(Quote)
"Ladylike is the beastliest word there is, I think. If a girl isn't a lady, it isn't worth while to be only like one, she'd better let it alone and be a free and happy bounder."
(Unquote)
WON'T SOMEBODY THINK OF THE ZOMBIES!
Date: 2010-11-13 09:38 am (UTC)Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.... The mental images they are - interesting.
Poor innocent, defenceless, marginalised zombies!
Sounds like a very interesting book, though.
no subject
Date: 2010-11-13 11:18 am (UTC)(Or the other one. I'm easy!)
no subject
Date: 2010-11-13 02:23 pm (UTC)(I'm going to choose to find the Facebook group's existence funny. What the hell, people?)
Jumping down a bit, I'm jealous of people who live near roller rinks. ^_^ (I loved roller skating when I was a kid, and ice skating and rollerblading never did it for me.) I hope you get to do it regularly! It sounds great.
Re: I quote E. Nesbit at you!
Date: 2010-11-13 08:28 pm (UTC)Re: I quote E. Nesbit at you!
Date: 2010-11-13 09:25 pm (UTC)I could also try to be a cad, but I feel like that involves more effort and better clothes.
Re: I quote E. Nesbit at you!
Date: 2010-11-13 09:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-13 09:30 pm (UTC)Re: I quote E. Nesbit at you!
Date: 2010-11-13 10:23 pm (UTC)The quote comes from the children's novel The New Treasure Seekers, and the author played her part in the suffragette movement by writing kids's books where the girl characters dreamt of growing up and becoming world-traveling adventurers, instead of marrying them. She was pretty nifty.
Re: I quote E. Nesbit at you!
Date: 2010-11-13 10:27 pm (UTC)Re: I quote E. Nesbit at you!
Date: 2010-11-13 10:29 pm (UTC)...It's a quote that suits you.
no subject
Date: 2010-11-14 12:31 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-16 02:48 am (UTC)I did the communal thing for 10 years or so, in no small part (I realize now) because the tech of the time meant that this was often the only way to see fannish shows. And man, if you ever want to see Geek Fallacies in practice, that's the way to do it. Being with people you want to be with is awesome. Being with people you have to tolerate, and who have to tolerate you...not so much.
I see a similar situation now, where the only real comics fans are the ones who spend insane amounts of money in the comics shop every Wednesday -- before Noon, so you don't risk missing the ten-minute window when under-ordered new issues actually appear on the racks. Do you not bag your comics? Do you buy trades at the bookstore? Or read manga? Or borrow comics from the library? Do you write fanfic? Do you not wish with every fibre of your being to be a comics professional? You're not a real fan.