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Life update, Book of Dust,
Jul. 19th, 2025 08:20 amI still haven't fixed my laptop since breaking two keys (f and v) while trying to write code for an evening course in December, and it's made me even worse than usual at updating Dreamwidth.
Books Read Recently
The Incandescent by Emily Tesh
The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
The Divine Cities trilogy by Robert Jackson Bennett
Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett (skimmed the second half; it never clicked with me)
All of Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next books and Troll books
Yr Hobyd by Tolkien, translated into Welsh by Adam Pearce (loved this, but had forgotten the complex bullying/protective relationship of the dwarves towards Bilbo; I'm not sure if it was more influenced by Tolkien's school days or his WW1 service. I enjoyed the gentle irreverence with which the narrative treats Thorin's sense of his own importance, though I was also reminded of Gethsemane by Kipling: "The officer sat on the chair/ The men lay on the grass..." Weird hierarchies are of course not the preserve of dwarves and regiments. In my last job, I knew a manager who practically kow-towed and wagged his tail when a senior IT person joined a video call, after grunting at us, his underlings. That same job introduced me to a range of middle management whose internal translators had rendered their job title back to them as 'Grand Sultan' )
Watched
The Residence -- so much fun; I binge-watched the whole thing in a way I haven't felt compelled to do for years
Die Walküre (dir. Barrie Kosky) -- less fun, but excellent version. I loved Christopher Maltman's Wotan in both this and last year's Rheingold.
Preparations for The Book of Dust: The Rose Field
( Read more... )
Additional thoughts after the reread (in Welsh, as practice):
( Read more... )
Books Read Recently
The Incandescent by Emily Tesh
The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
The Divine Cities trilogy by Robert Jackson Bennett
Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett (skimmed the second half; it never clicked with me)
All of Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next books and Troll books
Yr Hobyd by Tolkien, translated into Welsh by Adam Pearce (loved this, but had forgotten the complex bullying/protective relationship of the dwarves towards Bilbo; I'm not sure if it was more influenced by Tolkien's school days or his WW1 service. I enjoyed the gentle irreverence with which the narrative treats Thorin's sense of his own importance, though I was also reminded of Gethsemane by Kipling: "The officer sat on the chair/ The men lay on the grass..." Weird hierarchies are of course not the preserve of dwarves and regiments. In my last job, I knew a manager who practically kow-towed and wagged his tail when a senior IT person joined a video call, after grunting at us, his underlings. That same job introduced me to a range of middle management whose internal translators had rendered their job title back to them as 'Grand Sultan' )
Watched
The Residence -- so much fun; I binge-watched the whole thing in a way I haven't felt compelled to do for years
Die Walküre (dir. Barrie Kosky) -- less fun, but excellent version. I loved Christopher Maltman's Wotan in both this and last year's Rheingold.
Preparations for The Book of Dust: The Rose Field
( Read more... )
Additional thoughts after the reread (in Welsh, as practice):
- Gwnes i fwynhau teithiau Lyra, Pan a Malcolm ar draws Ewrop, ond roedd agweddau yn dod yn ailadroddol -- er enghraifft, pan fyddai Lyra yn gofyn am al-Khan al-Azraq (the Blue Hotel), roedd y broses yn cymryd gormod o amser. Nid oes angen i fi glywed sawl tro: 'Ydych chi'n gwybod ble mae'r Gwesty Glas?' 'Nac ydw. Ond mae'n lle drwg iawn iawn iawn -- peidiwch â mynd!' (*cleciau taran*)
- Darllenais i ddoe am gefndir Pullman. Roedd ei dad yn beilot RAF yn ystod gwrthryfel y Mau Mau yn y pumdegau. Cafodd ei ladd ar ôl i awyren ddryllio a dyfarnwyd Distinguised Flying Cross wedi ei farw. Fel oedolyn, ac efallai hefyd fel oedolyn yn ei oed a'i amser, darganfuodd Pullman fod ei rieni ar fin ysgaru; cafodd ei dad problemau gamblo. Gallai hyn roi ongl mwy diddorddol i gymeriad Olivier Bonneville, mab ofnadwy i dad gwaeth. Mae hefyd yn dechrau egluro hoffter Pullman ar gyfer 'action men' fel Lord Asriel, John Parry a Lee Scoresby. Mae Pullman wedi dweud ei fod yn bwriadau ysgrifennu cofiant, a dw i'n edrych ymlaen at ei ddarllen.
- Ydy pob cymeriad pwysig yn Pullman yn brydferth/rhywiog/enghraifft drawiadol y dynol ryw? Mae'n dechrau mynd yn annifyr. Roedd yr adroddwr yn dweud am Alice (Alice! Fy ffefryn): 'doedd hi ddim yn bert, ond gallai fod yn boeth; aî dynion yn wallgof amdani'. Wel, iawn.
- Rwyf yn teimlo diddordeb cryf mewn dioddef seicolegol Lyra a Pantaleimon. Beth bynnag, tybed a fuodd Pullman erioed yn ysgrifennu am gymeriad dynol gwryw a ddioddefai yn yr un pryd -- ac yn ysgrifennu gyda chydymdeimlad?
- Ar ôl gwylio 'Conclave' a hefyd darllen ychydig o hanes y Dadeni, dw i ddim yn meddwl o hyd bod llwyddiant Delamere ar gipio'r Magisterium yn gredadwy iawn. Byddai wedi bod llawer yn fwy cymhleth. Petai ond Pullman yn darparu mwy o rwystrau yn ei erbyn, byddai Delamere wedi edrych yn fwy deinamig ac effeithiol fel 'big bad'.
( Read more... )
