soph (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sophia_sol) wrote2013-09-26 09:32 pm
sophia_sol) wrote2013-09-26 09:32 pm
Entry tags:
- anent: book thoughts 1,
- anent: movie thoughts,
- author: arthur ransome,
- author: james alan gardner,
- author: patrick o'brian,
- book theme: future,
- book theme: history,
- book theme: history (modernish when writ,
- book theme: kidlit,
- book theme: reread,
- book theme: sailing,
- book theme: science fiction,
- book theme: secondary world,
- book theme: space,
- fandom: aubrey-maturin series,
- fandom: league of peoples,
- pub date: 1930,
- pub date: 1984,
- pub date: 2001,
- rating: *****
(no subject)
Time for more books! Plus one movie!
The Far Side of the World, by Patrick O'Brian
Oh look, yet again I have nothing to say except AWESOME AS USUAL.
Anyways, then I was in the mood to rewatch the movie, because it is a GREAT one, even if it is only nominally based on this particular book in the series.
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
I am pretty sure the last time I watched the movie I'd only read the first couple books so the only characters I really knew were Jack and Stephen and Killick, iirc. This time? PRACTICALLY EVERYONE MENTIONED BY NAME was someone I knew from the books and I was filled with helpless affection towards ALLLLLL of them. Especially Tom Pullings. AWWWWW HI MR PULLINGS.
The movie may not actually follow any of the books closely but it still does a great job of capturing the feel of the books. SO GOOD. Except for two frustrations: one, they kept on feeling the need to have people explain things to each other that they would already have been familiar with; and two, the ruse of dressing up your navy ship to pretend to be something else was an EXTREMELY STANDARD PRACTICE at the time and Jack didn't need the inspiration of Stephen's natural science to think of it! I'm quite sure the only reason that was put in was to ~connect the plot threads with each other but WHATEVER IT DIDN'T NEED CONNECTING, Stephen' naturalist ways didn't actually need to be plot relevant, things can be important in a story without being a part of the Dramatic Showdown!
Ascending, by James Alan Gardner
I love Oar so much. She's one of my fave pov characters in any book I've ever read, I think. She is such a fascinating mix of arrogant and insecure and really really charming AND I LOVE HER A LOT. A LOT.
And also this book features the Pollisand, who's one of my favourite aliens. And of course FESTINAAAAAAAA. And great female friendship! And a really interesting coming-of-age! And fascinating world-building (universe-building?)! And LOTS OF OTHER SUPERB THINGS.
I first read this book when I was an impressionable teenager and was in love with everything James Alan Gardner ever wrote (....minus Commitment Hour), and I reread it a lot during that era but haven't read it in quite a few years. It's so amazing when you reread the beloved books of your irrational teenage years and discover they're still good.
I think I'm probably undertaking a haphazard reread of all the League of People's books, except that I don't know if I can convince myself to reread some of them despite loving them. And by "some of them" I really mean "one of them" because because HOLY CRAP Expendable is harrowing, or at least my memory of it tells me it is, and I don't know if I'm currently prepared to handle that. I almost want to reread it just to see if I can analyze why I find that one so much more harrowing than any of the rest of the books in the series, but that wouldn't actually help me to deal with the harrowingness of it, so maybe I won't.
Swallows & Amazons, by Arthur Ransome
Awww, nostalgia fiction! Such a great children's book. SAILING and CAMPING and having private naval battles with other children, and adults who are actually GOOD AT PARENTING, and siblings who like each other, and really great characters! My favourites are Nancy (of course) and Titty (probably also of course). And I like that Titty gets to be the person who saves the day TWICE OVER in the book, both being the one to capture the Amazon and being the one to find Captain Flint's stolen manuscript! Of course, it also has its unfortunate elements given the era it's from (all the talk of natives and savages and so forth) but overall just SUPER GREAT BOOK.
(although I always have trouble reading the bits with Captain Flint's mistaken belief that John is a scoundrel and a liar. NOOO CAN'T HANDLE IT.)
The Far Side of the World, by Patrick O'Brian
Oh look, yet again I have nothing to say except AWESOME AS USUAL.
Anyways, then I was in the mood to rewatch the movie, because it is a GREAT one, even if it is only nominally based on this particular book in the series.
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
I am pretty sure the last time I watched the movie I'd only read the first couple books so the only characters I really knew were Jack and Stephen and Killick, iirc. This time? PRACTICALLY EVERYONE MENTIONED BY NAME was someone I knew from the books and I was filled with helpless affection towards ALLLLLL of them. Especially Tom Pullings. AWWWWW HI MR PULLINGS.
The movie may not actually follow any of the books closely but it still does a great job of capturing the feel of the books. SO GOOD. Except for two frustrations: one, they kept on feeling the need to have people explain things to each other that they would already have been familiar with; and two, the ruse of dressing up your navy ship to pretend to be something else was an EXTREMELY STANDARD PRACTICE at the time and Jack didn't need the inspiration of Stephen's natural science to think of it! I'm quite sure the only reason that was put in was to ~connect the plot threads with each other but WHATEVER IT DIDN'T NEED CONNECTING, Stephen' naturalist ways didn't actually need to be plot relevant, things can be important in a story without being a part of the Dramatic Showdown!
Ascending, by James Alan Gardner
I love Oar so much. She's one of my fave pov characters in any book I've ever read, I think. She is such a fascinating mix of arrogant and insecure and really really charming AND I LOVE HER A LOT. A LOT.
And also this book features the Pollisand, who's one of my favourite aliens. And of course FESTINAAAAAAAA. And great female friendship! And a really interesting coming-of-age! And fascinating world-building (universe-building?)! And LOTS OF OTHER SUPERB THINGS.
I first read this book when I was an impressionable teenager and was in love with everything James Alan Gardner ever wrote (....minus Commitment Hour), and I reread it a lot during that era but haven't read it in quite a few years. It's so amazing when you reread the beloved books of your irrational teenage years and discover they're still good.
I think I'm probably undertaking a haphazard reread of all the League of People's books, except that I don't know if I can convince myself to reread some of them despite loving them. And by "some of them" I really mean "one of them" because because HOLY CRAP Expendable is harrowing, or at least my memory of it tells me it is, and I don't know if I'm currently prepared to handle that. I almost want to reread it just to see if I can analyze why I find that one so much more harrowing than any of the rest of the books in the series, but that wouldn't actually help me to deal with the harrowingness of it, so maybe I won't.
Swallows & Amazons, by Arthur Ransome
Awww, nostalgia fiction! Such a great children's book. SAILING and CAMPING and having private naval battles with other children, and adults who are actually GOOD AT PARENTING, and siblings who like each other, and really great characters! My favourites are Nancy (of course) and Titty (probably also of course). And I like that Titty gets to be the person who saves the day TWICE OVER in the book, both being the one to capture the Amazon and being the one to find Captain Flint's stolen manuscript! Of course, it also has its unfortunate elements given the era it's from (all the talk of natives and savages and so forth) but overall just SUPER GREAT BOOK.
(although I always have trouble reading the bits with Captain Flint's mistaken belief that John is a scoundrel and a liar. NOOO CAN'T HANDLE IT.)