(no subject)

[skygiants]

Woke up this morning, stood up to go brush my teeth, felt blood rush away from my head and legs start wobbling, realized rapidly that the likelihood of fainting if I continued to stand was embarrassingly high, dived for computer, collapsed onto couch, e-mailed work to say I would be late and fell back asleep.

That was several hours ago; now I am awake and feeling much better! Have read e-mail from boss telling me to STAY HOME, feeling super guilty anyways because I am now perfectly capable of working and pose a minimal risk of collapsing on the subway. Although I suppose I have not really taken any sick days in the six months I worked there, so maybe I should not feel so guilty as that for taking one before I leave. I am not used to this, though! I have not really taken a sick day since middle school; my illnesses tend to be of the common cold, 'suck it up and deal' variety. Or they fall conveniently on weekends.

ANYWAYS. I am rambling. I should stop that. And I have a book to talk about! Barbara Hambly's A Free Man of Color was handed to me by agonistes last time she was in the city; she ordered me to read as much of it as I could before the end of the weekend when she would have to take it back to Denver to return to silveraspen. And I could have finished it, too, if everyone who was there that weekend had not been so busy being awesome and distractiony! I liked what I read enough to pick it up from the library, although it took me a while to get around to reading the second half; when I did, I wondered why I had waited so long.

The book is a mystery novel, but that's not what makes it excellent - it's the careful depiction of the complexities of class and race New Orleans society in the 1800s that makes this so strong. Benjamin January is a free man of color; his skin is dark, which sets him apart from his light-skinned mother and sister, who are cultured upper-class mistresses of wealthy men and thus almost able to ignore the basic rights they do not have. Every character is strongly drawn, and nobody - sympathetic or not - gets off the hook of complicity in the system.

So yes, I was impressed with it all the way to the end . . . and then the end surprised me with GIBBERING GLEE that has nothing to do with high literary quality but everything to do with AWESOMENESS. If there is a book that is NOT improved by the addition of SURPRISE SWORDFIGHTING CROSS-DRESSING LESBIANS, I have not yet come across it!

Well played, Barbara Hambly; I will definitely be reading more of these.

Comments

[blacksheep91.livejournal.com]

Mah, bah, see you're not feeling well either. (And yet I had to go to school because my teacher only gives out four free sick days and I've already used up one. All I wanna do is go home and sleep. -_-)

[skygiants]

Oh, that sucks. I hope you feel better soon, and that you get the chance to go home and sleep and feel better!

[blacksheep91.livejournal.com]

My mom keeps forcing cups of Emergen C at me which is supposed to help fight this kind of thing. But still you'd think that my body could at least wait till next week when I have spring break! (Way to time it immune system.)

Whatever, maybe I'll treat myself to a Tutu marathon when I get home or something? (After I finish today's Hamlet chapter. >_>)

[skygiants]

Hey, when spring break comes around, though, you'll be happy to be feeling well and capable of having awesome times!

Tutu marathons cure ALL ILLS. It is a fact.

[agonistes]

HAHAHAHAHAHA AWESOME. I was wondering if you'd finished it!

I missed one in my initial read-through (Graveyard Dust -- apparently Olympe gets accused of murder, and oh my god do I ever have my fingers crossed for more MAMZELLE MARIE), picked it up at the Tattered Cover last weekend, and will be toting it with me this weekend, and I think I could see my way to letting you have a peek if you want. *serene*

In conclusion: WNHBBWLBIHL!!!!

[skygiants]

It took me a while, but I finally got around to it! IF ONLY I HAD KNOWN WHAT I WAS MISSING.

:D :D :D I would not be averse to this. *sereeene* (Ooooh. More Mamzelle Marie AND more Olympe! NEVER A BAD.)

NO BOOK that would not be improved by this. NONE.

[rymenhild.livejournal.com]

You know, if you have sick days, you should totally take them!

I shall put A Free Man of Color on my list.

If you're looking for books, you should read The Porcelain Dove (or, Constancy's Reward) by Delia Sherman. It's a novel of eighteenth century* France, sort of historical fiction with magic. Berthe, the narrator, is femme de chambre to a duchess, and she has some very interesting things to say about class and cultural issues. (She also has plenty of subconscious class and cultural issues going on.) As usual in Sherman's work, sexuality's treated in a subtle and historically solid manner. Berthe doesn't know the word "lesbian" and if she did she'd never dream of applying it to herself, but she's not attracted to men at all and she's terrifically jealous of any man who comes between her and her duchess Adèle.

Also, there are characters you would love! Like Hortense, Adèle's sister, a freethinking heretic who snarks in such a deadpan way that almost no one ever figures out she's actually snarking. And Pompey, the black slave boy who is treated like a dog by just about everyone around him. After reading to Adèle from some ridiculous Orientalizing romance involving an African prince, Pompey tells Berthe (something like -- I'm paraphrasing), "That's silly. Anyway, I'm not African. If I remember correctly, I was born in Haiti. I speak French and I grew up in France. In fact, if you think about it, I'm actually a Frenchman." To which Berthe, rather confused, says, "But your skin is dark..."

I'm about halfway through the book, and I'm fairly sure there's going to be a revolution in twenty pages or so. Plus some curses, lots more magic, and some good French family drama.

I guess when I'm done I should write an actual review.

[rymenhild.livejournal.com]

That * is supposed to have a note:

* The long eighteenth century. In fact, the VERY long eighteenth century.

[skygiants]

. . . I am not quite sure what you mean by the very long eighteenth century.

[rymenhild.livejournal.com]

In English departments, we say "the long Xth century" when we mean "It's the same kind of literary movement that happens in the century just before or just after, so we might as well include it." So you could make a case for saying that The Secret Garden is a novel belonging to the long nineteenth century.

In The Porcelain Dove... well, what I mean has to do with the magic, so maybe I won't explain. You can read and find out.

[skygiants]

Aha! Oddly, that is a term I don't think I ever came across in my English courses. But I was wondering if it was something novel-specific. *grins*

[skygiants]

I know it is silly to feel guilty . . . but I do anyways! It is the 'people soldier on through worse so why am I such a wimp' sort of guilty. *sheepish*

Oooh! Iiinteresting.

- REVOLUTION. :D! You definitely know how to get my attention. *adds to list* I encourage more book-review writing, by the way! More people on my flist should booklog, I always want to know what everyone's reading!