skygiants | (no subject)

genarti and I were in Scotland recently -- I was there primarily for a work event, but we managed to snatch a little bit of time around the edges to do some extracurricular activities, including really extremely delightful meetups with

raven and

happydork and

such_heights and

innerbrat!

We also had one stolen day to ourselves to ourselves in which we drove up into the Highlands and scoped out a castle with extensive grounds, which contained a really perfect beautifully-low-branched tree, perfect for perching in and reading.

ME: okay the gates do shut in an hour so perhaps we can't stay here in the tree and read long but I did get Flight of the Heron out of the library SPECIFICALLY to read descriptions of Beautiful Scottish Highlands and if I don't get to at least start it in this tree in the middle of the Highlands it truly will seem like a waste --

genarti: no you are right, this is so necessary. Also it's even better than that because one of the protags is English and so all his descriptions of the Highlands are "I hate these miserable hills, why is everything so steep, why can't land just be FLAT --"

Anyway, so Flight of the Heron! Which many of you know about already as a solid chunk of my dwlist went absolutely ham for this book over the past few years, but for those who don't, it's a Highly Romantic and Pleasingly Homoerotic Narrative from the 1920s about two Opponents whose Fates Become Intertwined during the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion -- cheerful, heroic, devastatingly handsome Highlander Ewen Cameron takes snippy and cynical Englishman Keith Windham prisoner in the early days of the war when everything is going well for Bonnie Prince Charlie and his troops, and treats him so charmingly that Keith develops an immediate snippy crush, and then they go through a period of variously outwitting each other on High-Spirited Escapades. Then as everything about the war gets worse their interactions become increasingly serious and fraught with risk and potential betrayal and the unparalleled high of defying unprincipled superior officers in order to race through the night and nurse an enemy prisoner that you're obsessed with back to health in a frozen shack For The Sake Of Honour. Extremely enjoyable, absolutely recommended if you enjoy a.) the bits of the Scarlet Pimpernel books where Chauvelin obsesses about Percy Blakeney's shoulders while Percy is outwitting him and/or b.) the bits of Kidnapped where they're on the run and Alan has to carry a sick David through the heather.

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Hee! I'm sure Ewen would not have appreciated that you went to the seat of the Duke of Argyll in order to experience the Highlands. *g*

But seriously, all this enjoyment of the book is making my fannish heart very happy. ♥

I did laugh very hard when I hit the part where a Highly Unsypathetic Duke of Argyll shows up in the book! (which came after we'd been to the Ancestral Seat)

Oh he would have been SO mad about it! Even if we also got a beautiful scenic drive up along Loch Lomond and a stop at Rest And Be Thankful going and coming. (I kind of wanted to go up to Fort William and Glencoe, but it was a slightly longer drive than we wanted to do on that day. And I'd only been to Scotland once before and Becca never at all, so we wanted to fit in maximum touristing in the one afternoon.) If it helps, that beautiful scenic castle has had multiple dramatic fires over the years... Also I recklessly confess here, I did eat one (1) blackberry that was growing in the garden right along the fence to the road. Take that, aristocracy!

Also I recklessly confess here, I did eat one (1) blackberry that was growing in the garden right along the fence to the road. Take that, aristocracy!
I am sure the Duke is now trembling in fear of the unwashed masses! : D

But seriously, all this enjoyment of the book is making my fannish heart very happy. ♥

Aww, I second this. :)