Posts by Isabel Hitchings
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People who say 'exscape'
When I was at teachers college (I have 3/4 of a diploma) I had a language tutor who said "execitive" and "aventure" for "exec**u**tive" and "a**d**venture".
those dickheads who refuse to move their giant shoulder bag from the seat beside them when the bus is getting full. We are all sharing this unpleasant space. Be polite.
Especially when I am forcing my squirming kid to sit on my knee so that there's a space beside me and some selfish cow feels she needs a whole seat for her little wee handbag.
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Now I'm wondering who I lent my copy to, so I can steal it back and re-read it
I don't have your copy because I stole mine from my parents
Someone even ragged on Heart of Darkness, the total philistine.
And I'd rag on it again in a heartbeat.
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Archer's Goon is still my favourite DWJ, though.
I reread Archer's Goon a couple of years back. while it wasn't quite the transcendental experience it was when I first read it it was still a jolly good read and there were a few clever bits that I'd totally missed as a child (don't ask for details mind).
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Indeed it does. Wasn't implying any judgment on what sorts of stuff people read, more of a "why?" is SF/fantasy so strong.
My theory about this (and I'm pretty sure it would hold for a large chunk of PA readers) is that there is an area of sci-fi/fantasy that neatly bridges the gap between children's and adult's fiction so people who read at an adult or near adult level whilst still children get introduced to the genre at an impressionable age. My form 2 teacher handed out Anne McCaffery novels to the "good readers" in her class. I may have moved on from that particular author but she led me to lots of interesting places.
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Yeah? I loved it from the get-go. Not the violence part, but the incredible detail and plot. Arquebuses! Brigantines! Milanese full-plate armour! Carthaginian Visigoths!
I think that's the thing with highly detailed works like that though - if it goes into enormous detail about stuff that's your bag you'll love it if you were already a bit meh about armour and visigoths then reading it will just feel like a chore.
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food products (in cafes and restaurants) that are merely described as "vegetarian"
There are an awful lot of foods that aren't meat. I can't tell if I'm going to like your lasagne or sandwich or pie if all you'll tell me is what isn't in it.
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I wouldn't go to war for The Little Friend, but I found it enjoyable enough. <ducks for cover>
I guess I need to join you in your shelter 'cause I liked The Little Friend too. I read it before I read The Secret History and enjoyed it enough to seek out the author's other work.
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I loved "The Secret History". But then, I can remember being at a party with a group of friends and reaching the unanimous conclusion that yes, [character from TSH] was exactly like [dear friend who now works for the Ministry of (Redacted)]. So there may be mitigating circumstances there.
I loved TSH too mostly because I had a very strong sense of having known most of the characters and therefore having to uneasily wonder if people in my circle would behave the same way given the same set of circumstances.
Conversely A Secret History by Mary Gentle saw me piking less than a third of the way in. Pages and pages of tedium interspersed with very graphic, and often sexual, violence. Probably not unlike 15th Century warfare really.
Heart of Darkness has to be the worst thing I ever read as a set text - far too many words and most of them infuriating. Not helped by every interpretation I offered my tutor being completely wrong (according to her).
And, while she may be some kind of National Treasure, I've never really got the hang of Janet Frame's novels (though her short stories and autobiography are bearable)
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Turning 25 was my low point. I felt like I should have done something with my life by then when, in fact, I hadn't (the fact I'd spent the preceding year suffering from glandular fever and depression probably didn't help). Every birthday in the decade since has seen life getting better.
My mother, son and step-nephew all have birthdays in the same five day period as me which means we usually have lots of jolly family times but means it's unlikely I shall ever have a birthday party just for me again.
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My problem with Banks's sci-fi stuff is that all the covers look the same so I keep on picking up what I think is a new one and about three chapters in realising that it's actually the one I already read. Which is annoying.