Books and movies and stuff
May. 17th, 2005 09:10 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
annathepiper+0: I have now finished Desolation Island, the fifth book in the Aubrey/Maturin series, and enjoyed it immensely. It's quite weird to read novels that just... stop as O'Brian's do, but after poking around the reader reviews on Amazon for a bit I learned that apparently the proper mindset to approach O'Brian's work is to pretend you're reading one big serial novel. I can deal with that.
And it was like coming back to old friends, reading this novel. I saw little bits and pieces that reminded me of the movie as well as the earlier books, things like Jack's favorite meal being mentioned, the Leopard sailing down around the Cape, and the works of Corelli. I grinned reading about Jack having his very own guns to fire from his cabin and jumped reading about him getting smacked upside the head. I fretted reading about Stephen's private battle with opium addiction. I wanted to throw Grant over the side repeatedly for his continual air of 'when I sailed down this way before I did such and such a thing' rather than letting Jack run the bloody ship--though to be fair to Grant, he did seem to get his act together when it counted, towards the end.
And I really went 'awwwww' when Tom Pullings was one of the victims of the epidemic on board the Leopard and they had to put him ashore in Brazil. And then when Jack got clobbered by the splinter during the battle and told Stephen he wished Tom were there just before he zonked out, I went 'awwwww' again. Mr. Crowe is now definitely emblazoned into my brain as Aubrey, but just as vividly, the young fellow who played Tom Pullings in the movie is burned in right alongside him. It added a whole extra layer of sympathy for the events at hand, for me!
Killick was delightfully grouchy as always, and I was especially charmed that Jack soothed his savage steward by letting him fire off the first shot from the guns he put in his cabin. >:) Killick's another person burned right into my brain thanks to the film--as is Bonden, who periodically popped in with Billy Boyd's face for occasional lines. And I even remembered who Mowett is, too. ^_^
Definitely feeling for Stephen, as I mentioned--not only because of the opium problem he's having, but also because of his ongoing (thwarted) passion for Diana. And I was touched by the evidence of Sophie's regard for him as well as Jack's--in particular with Sophie's plea to her husband to think of Stephen being what finally sells him to take command of the Leopard.
Good, good stuff all around--and for once I actually read every single word going straight through rather than skimming long bits. Perhaps this is due to being farther along in the series now, but it seemed as if there was a lot less exposition and a lot more action, as if O'Brian assumed at this point that his readers wouldn't need in-depth explanation of the workings of a ship and was therefore free to throw you right into the thick of things. I approve.
And I definitely look forward to picking up The Fortune of War!
Next on the queue for reading: Julie Czerneda's second Web Shifter book, which I have discovered has been sitting on my To Read shelf for nearly FIVE YEARS. I found a receipt in it that showed me I'd bought that book in August 2000! Yes folks, this is an indicator of how fast I actually read stuff. ;)
-1: My lead at work is back in the hospital. :( Somewhat concerned about this, since although he came through pretty well with his recent visit, it looks as though he's had some complications that will require him to have surgery. Since he's been telling us lately that the workload on our team is about to go up dramatically, I hope this won't make things completely fall apart for us.
+2: Having finally looked up the release date for the next Russell Crowe movie, Cinderella Man, I have realized that that is in fact coming out SOON. So I'll have had barely enough time to get over the initial goopy rush of a shiny new Russell album before I'll be walloped with a shiny new Russell MOVIE! And although![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
solarbird and I are short on bucks right now, I do still have leftover free movie vouchers from Volt. I know now what I'm going to spend 'em on--because only Russell Crowe can get me into a theater to see a movie about boxing. ;) He's going to have to work really hard to top his performance as Lucky Jack, but I'm looking forward to giving him the chance to try!
+3: ALMOST DONE WITH THE BOOK! I've finished my pass of third draft revisions, and as of tonight and over the next few days, I shall be reviewing all the comments I have received from my beta readers to fix any last-minute problems. Target day for mailing the manuscript is SATURDAY!
Monday miles: 1.0
Miles out of Hobbiton: 110.66
Miles to Rivendell: 347.34
And it was like coming back to old friends, reading this novel. I saw little bits and pieces that reminded me of the movie as well as the earlier books, things like Jack's favorite meal being mentioned, the Leopard sailing down around the Cape, and the works of Corelli. I grinned reading about Jack having his very own guns to fire from his cabin and jumped reading about him getting smacked upside the head. I fretted reading about Stephen's private battle with opium addiction. I wanted to throw Grant over the side repeatedly for his continual air of 'when I sailed down this way before I did such and such a thing' rather than letting Jack run the bloody ship--though to be fair to Grant, he did seem to get his act together when it counted, towards the end.
And I really went 'awwwww' when Tom Pullings was one of the victims of the epidemic on board the Leopard and they had to put him ashore in Brazil. And then when Jack got clobbered by the splinter during the battle and told Stephen he wished Tom were there just before he zonked out, I went 'awwwww' again. Mr. Crowe is now definitely emblazoned into my brain as Aubrey, but just as vividly, the young fellow who played Tom Pullings in the movie is burned in right alongside him. It added a whole extra layer of sympathy for the events at hand, for me!
Killick was delightfully grouchy as always, and I was especially charmed that Jack soothed his savage steward by letting him fire off the first shot from the guns he put in his cabin. >:) Killick's another person burned right into my brain thanks to the film--as is Bonden, who periodically popped in with Billy Boyd's face for occasional lines. And I even remembered who Mowett is, too. ^_^
Definitely feeling for Stephen, as I mentioned--not only because of the opium problem he's having, but also because of his ongoing (thwarted) passion for Diana. And I was touched by the evidence of Sophie's regard for him as well as Jack's--in particular with Sophie's plea to her husband to think of Stephen being what finally sells him to take command of the Leopard.
Good, good stuff all around--and for once I actually read every single word going straight through rather than skimming long bits. Perhaps this is due to being farther along in the series now, but it seemed as if there was a lot less exposition and a lot more action, as if O'Brian assumed at this point that his readers wouldn't need in-depth explanation of the workings of a ship and was therefore free to throw you right into the thick of things. I approve.
And I definitely look forward to picking up The Fortune of War!
Next on the queue for reading: Julie Czerneda's second Web Shifter book, which I have discovered has been sitting on my To Read shelf for nearly FIVE YEARS. I found a receipt in it that showed me I'd bought that book in August 2000! Yes folks, this is an indicator of how fast I actually read stuff. ;)
-1: My lead at work is back in the hospital. :( Somewhat concerned about this, since although he came through pretty well with his recent visit, it looks as though he's had some complications that will require him to have surgery. Since he's been telling us lately that the workload on our team is about to go up dramatically, I hope this won't make things completely fall apart for us.
+2: Having finally looked up the release date for the next Russell Crowe movie, Cinderella Man, I have realized that that is in fact coming out SOON. So I'll have had barely enough time to get over the initial goopy rush of a shiny new Russell album before I'll be walloped with a shiny new Russell MOVIE! And although
solarbird and I are short on bucks right now, I do still have leftover free movie vouchers from Volt. I know now what I'm going to spend 'em on--because only Russell Crowe can get me into a theater to see a movie about boxing. ;) He's going to have to work really hard to top his performance as Lucky Jack, but I'm looking forward to giving him the chance to try!+3: ALMOST DONE WITH THE BOOK! I've finished my pass of third draft revisions, and as of tonight and over the next few days, I shall be reviewing all the comments I have received from my beta readers to fix any last-minute problems. Target day for mailing the manuscript is SATURDAY!
Monday miles: 1.0
Miles out of Hobbiton: 110.66
Miles to Rivendell: 347.34
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no subject
Date: 2005-05-17 05:55 pm (UTC)At some point in there (ou should only have to scroll down a little) there are Aubrey and Maturin.
no subject
Date: 2005-05-17 06:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-05-17 06:49 pm (UTC)Sadly, the only instruments available in the Sims are a barroom piano, drum kit, electric bass and electric guitar, and everything but the piano is expansion only. The next expansion is title "Night Life", and has pictures up of lots of clubby scenes, so I'm guessing no cello or fiddle. :(
no subject
Date: 2005-05-17 06:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-05-17 06:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-05-17 08:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-05-17 09:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-05-17 09:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-05-17 09:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-05-17 10:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-05-17 11:47 pm (UTC)On another note, could you take a look at this ( http://www.livejournal.com/users/framlingem/326514.html#cutid1 ) , please? It's an attempt at writing with actual rythm and rhyme, and I'm not very good at R&R. You're musical, so I figure you've got a better sense for it than I do.
no subject
Date: 2005-05-18 06:57 am (UTC)I'll comment on the tune over on your post.