Susan Hated Literature

Author: Georgette Heyer

Over the Easter I wasn’t online, but I was still reading. And two books that Ninemoons gave me were Sylvester and These Old Shades.
Both written by Gorgette Heyer and are historical novels. I’ve also stuck em under the chick lit tag because I can’t see many fellas enjoying them. A few maybe, but they are very much in the same category as Austin (although funnier).

I’d have to say I prefered Sylvester, although the main male character was ery similar to Mr. Darcy, but the overall book wasn’t so it isn’t even near a rip-off.
These Old Shades could very easily have been a cliche ridden book, but Heyer’s writting makes it very very readable. Justin, the Duke of Avon, is a with wonderful wit and sarcasm, and Heyer does the wise thing by not actualy detailing all of his previous adventures that have earned him the nickname Santanas (the devil) so that although we know he is a rake and a rogue we, as readers, are never alienated by him.

Both books are great reads, and I’ll have to get some more of them off Ninemoons, and you may as well read her review of These Old Shades.

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Lucretia Again posted this great news. A new Alexandre Dumas novel has been found and it to be published.

Believed to be the great writer’s last work, The Knight of Sainte-Hermine - a swashbuckling tale of derring-do in the finest Dumas tradition - has not been heard of since 1869, the year before the author’s death, when it was published in instalments in a French newspaper called Le Moniteur Universal.
- more on The Scotsman

I’ll admit I’ve never actually read The Three Muskateers, although I’ve seen numerous film & TV versions but I loved The Count of Monte Christo.

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And no, not the death of W.A.S.P.s, I’m talking about the insect here.
Was browsing on New Scientist and noticed the back page featured a question on what eats wasps (apart from stupid birds). Turns out there are quite a few wasp-eaters out there

“Returning home late one night I heard the persistent buzzing of a wasp in the kitchen window. It appeared to be struggling around at the bottom of the window, unable to fly properly. A tiny red spider was attached to the underside of its abdomen. The spider must have been some 20 times smaller than the wasp and was positioned where the wasp was unable to mount a counter-attack.
The next morning revealed an empty, transparent wasp exoskeleton
- from New Scientist’s Back Page (link may die in a week or so)

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Why exactly is it that people driving cars can’t use their indicators?
And why do people riding bikes think it is okay to use the footpath?

And do I sound like one of those Grumpy Old Women?

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Author: Margaret George
DDC: 813.54
ISBN: 0330327909

I read George’s Memoirs of Cleopatra a year or two ago, and really enjoyed it, so when I spotted this in the bargain basement I figured I may as well purchase. Still it has taken me an age to actually manage to read it. Mainly because it is quite a large book, and a difficult size for carrying around. Still, when HistoricalFavorites was started up I decided this was the push I needed.

All in all it was an interesting read, but not a great one. The problem with writing a book based on the life of a real person is that you have to stick to the facts, and often reality does not make for a good read.
First off, you don’t really know the motivations like you would if you had created the characters from scratch. And there is the fact that her real motivations are very alien to the modern world. Surely a lot of her problems would’ve been solved if she had just given up the throne? But that wasn’t an option for someone of the time, believing themselves to be chosen by God to have the divine right to rule.

I found that I didn’t really like the character that George created, while I admired certain aspects of her character, overall I felt that she was just far too innocent. Of course I suppose, if she was more knowing then she would have come across as more scheming and so not quite so sympathethic.

And of course there I have the natural Irish antipathy towards Queen Elizabeth of England and never liked her, despite her portrayal here. I much prefer the Blackadder version

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Sometimes you just feel like getting away from it all - to some pure, solitary mountain top where you can wander, free as a bird… but if you’re stuck behind a desktop instead, take some solace in this.
I am the mountainy singer

I AM the mountainy singer -
The voice of the peasant’s dream,
The cry of the wind on the wooded hill,
The leap of the fish in the stream…

- from the guardian

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So I’ve been doing a bit of surfing, and what with St. Patrick’s day having just been, there are quite a few sites that mention it. So my question: when did it become Patty’s day?

Or is it just an Americanisation of Paddy’s Day? Coz I use paddy’s day, makes it sound less like a religous day to me, but Patty *shudder* I don’t like it. Makes me think of yer one in The Simpsons, Marge’s siter. Isn’t she called Patty?

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