Ketchup

[bironic]

Reading: Finished A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness, for the next book club. Thoroughly mediocre. I wouldn't have read it except it was billed as a vampire romance. That wasn't false advertising. But it draaaaaagged, oh my God, and as far as the romance plot thread went, it didn't understand the concept of the building and breaking of sexual tension. Plus its portrayal of the heroine's opinions on her independence, what she wanted out of a relationship, and her desire and ability to use her emerging Mary Sue super-magical powers got all messy and confuddled. The vampire, as perhaps should have been expected, was controlling and aloof, yet they fell all over each other. Without actually consummating anything. Which would have been the sole payoff by the end of the 600-page book. The history geek stuff and the supernatural worldbuilding were only mildly interesting. Will not be reading the rest of the trilogy.

Now about 150 pages into The Steerswoman by Rosemary Kirstein, as recommended by several of you. It's lovely. Rowan is quite likeable in her capability, reason, powers of observation, and flaws, some of which grow out of her personality and others of which are the result of limitations of the land and time in which she lives; and Rowan-and-Bel makes for a great adventuring team. I read a thing somewhere—maybe on Goodreads—that turns out to have maybe been a spoiler? If so, I'm glad of it, as it's making the story more interesting for my own personal tastes.

Watching: I've been making my way through The Fall since alpheratz recommended it. It's engrossing and well-made and plays to some of my personal kinks, although I keep comparing it to Top of the Lake, another meticulously produced mystery miniseries featuring a strong female lead, unfavorably and perhaps unfairly. Gillian Anderson is doing a superb job, and her character is fabulous: cool, competent, smart. The visual and thematic parallels they've been drawing between her inspector and the serial killer are interesting, although I wish they'd push it further. Someone at work who just watched it told me to wait for the end of the second season, so the jury's still out, I guess. Two episodes into S2, the tension has ramped up quite nicely.

As for Jamie Dornan, I wish I'd seen the show before he'd been cast as Christian Grey, because it's coloring my perception of the role and his acting abilities. Mostly he seems like the dead-eyed version of Jude Law, and it doesn't sound like Fifty Shades tested his range.

Didn't get a chance to see Fifty Shades last weekend because of the storm. We're going to try again tomorrow night.

What We Do in the Shadows looks like fun. Happily, MeetUp group is planning to go, and I am planning to tag along. We'll see if weather/transit permits.

Vidding: Muskrat Jamboree accepted one of my vids for the vid show! I need to do a thing and then send it in. Also need to get cracking on a multifandom vid idea I have for Club Vivid (which would also be for Kink Bingo); the end of April, the usual deadline, will come up fast if I'm not careful.

Writing: I discovered that I've posted exactly one fic in the last two years. D: However, I've written 6,500 words in various Mary Sue stories since Jan. 1, and that feels great. One of them is for posting. We'll see how long it takes to get it into shape.

Going: Nowhere, because the city is still broken. However, last night a coworker, fed up as we all are with the rush hour commuting situation, invited me to join her at an after-hours event at the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum rather than sitting on the bus for two hours, and it turned out to be the perfect balm. At night, the museum's usual low lighting felt atmospheric rather than claustrophobic. Despite the icicle stalagmites (yes, from the ground up, I have no idea how they formed) and the pine needle-strewn snow pressing against every window and skylight, inside it was warm and humid. Palm trees and a quiet steel drummer in the sculpture courtyard. Wine, live Arabic/Balkan/gypsy fusion music, chatting, and, of course, art. A local getaway to soothe frayed nerves.

Comments

[laurashapiro.livejournal.com]

YAY THE STEERSWOMAN! How I love it. (: The series' central mystery unfolds in a delightful way over the four books so far, and it's a miracle how you don't feel that unfortunate sensation of dramatic irony: you know something the characters don't, but somehow that never makes them look foolish.

[laurashapiro.livejournal.com]

Having read all four books, I will keep mum. (:

[bironic.livejournal.com]

:D And I will hide my comment in case it (a) is true and therefore (b) possibly spoils someone else.

[ellen-fremedon.livejournal.com]

you know something the characters don't, but somehow that never makes them look foolish.

Yes! I think it works because having that extra knowledge is just as likely to lead the you-the-reader to make wrong assumptions about the world; or at least, it did for me.

[bironic.livejournal.com]

I like how my-the-reader's process of figuring out whether my assumption about what's going on fits the story mirrors not only Rowan's own search but also the way Willam, for example, pieces Rowan and Bel's clues together to reach a perfect but incorrect conclusion.

[laurashapiro.livejournal.com]

Yes, this too!

[kassrachel.livejournal.com]

I have so enjoyed the Steerswoman books! I'm glad you're enjoying them too.

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the recommendation!

[amnisias.livejournal.com]

I saw The Fall when it was airing on BBC (2 years ago?) when Jamie Dorman was nothing but an underwear model, an in that context I was quite impressed with his acting abilities and holding up to GA sufficiently well. I think part of the brief probably was to make him hard to read to encourage viewer speculation as to his motives and thought processes...

As to 50 Shades, not seen it yet (it was such a Valentine's crush last weekend) but meaning to. I was feeling a bit bad for EL James, because most of the reviews homed in on the fact that the film was much better than the book and improved on the characters and plot (some thought it was actually 'quite good', some thought it was not great, but still better than the source). Ouch, that has gotta hurt. Some people seem to think the director was 'having fun at the expense of the book'. Clearly the movie is (even more) vanilla than the book (not unexpected given the cinema ratings).

Since I am one of those people who thought the first to books contained the kernel of a really intriguing and intersiting story that never came to frutition and was hampered by incongruent characterisastions, horrid dialogues and poor plotting I'm kind of torn between hoping that the movie found that kernel and made something of it, and preparing myself for being disappointed all over again.......

[bironic.livejournal.com]

>>when Jamie Dorman was nothing but an underwear model

Ha! Oh, his career arc makes a lot of sense now. He does have a beautiful body from what I've seen in The Fall. I'd wondered if some of the shots of his back in particular were a body double, but what you say suggests not. *has a fun few minutes poking around Google Images to confirm*

>>to make him hard to read to encourage viewer speculation as to his motives

Yes, exactly, it makes sense he'd have these opaque gazes because he's playing a sociopath. And Grey isn't so different. I'm thinking about trying to see him in one of the different roles listed on his IMDB page to see if those are deliberate acting choices or the limit of his range, you know?

>>I'm kind of torn between hoping that the movie found that kernel and made something of it, and preparing myself for being disappointed all over again...

We are of the same mind on this. It didn't sound like Taylor-Johnson had fun or poked fun but rather was trying her best to make something moving and artistic out of the source material, while having to play tug-of-war with James over creative decisions.

Did you see these two reviews? I found them particularly informative since I agreed with their opinions of the books, the issues with the main characters' consistency, and the strengths and problems of the portrayal of the kink relationship.

http://www.villagevoice.com/2015-02-11/film/fifty-shades-of-grey-movie-review/

"The film strips Fifty Shades of Grey to its essentials: a confident man, an awkward girl, and a red room rimmed with leather handcuffs. From there, Taylor-Johnson rebuilds. She constructs an erotic dramedy that takes its romance seriously even as it admits that Christian Grey's very existence is absurd."

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/13/movies/submitting-to-the-power-of-a-runaway-best-seller.html

"Mr. Dornan has the bland affect of a model, by which I mean a figure made of balsa wood or Lego. What vitality Fifty Shades of Grey possesses belongs to Ms. Johnson, who is a champion lip-biter and no slouch at blushing, eye-rolling and trembling on the verge of tears. She’s a good actress, in other words, and Ms. Taylor-Johnson matches the colors and the visual texture — the chilly blues and pulsing reds, the drab daylight and the velvety dusk — to Anastasia’s moods and desires."

[amnisias.livejournal.com]

...to see if those are deliberate acting choices or the limit of his range, you know?

I guess would be that JD is one of those actors who is aware of his own limitations and carefully choses roles on that basis. He's clearly not an 'actor's actor' that it out to push his boundaries and range...Which I think makes sense for GC, because of the media attention and risk of typecasting/sterotyping and being caught in a long term contract (if they film the other two books as well).

Thanks for the links! and erotic dramedy that takes it romance seriously - that could go either way....;)

I wont' be reading the whole articles now, because I've not seen the movie yet, and in some cases having read reveiws has spoiled the experience for me - either by building up expectations or by pointing out flaws that then bug me, but which I might not have noticed if I hadn't be primed. Also I want to be sure that I'm forming my own opinion before delving into the internet malstrom of opinions. I'm just weired that way...:)

[azephirin.livejournal.com]

I really wanted to like A Discovery of Witches, but it read like Twilight for People Who Think They're Too Smart to Read Twilight, and I returned it to the library about 1/3 of the way through.

[bironic.livejournal.com]

That was a savvy decision!

[glass-moment.livejournal.com]

The Steerswoman books have been on my to-read list for an embarrassingly long time. I should get going on those, huh?

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Eh, when the time is right, right? It took me a year and a half and a false start to get here.