Of books and other things...
Apr. 16th, 2008 02:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dangermousie1. Yay! You know the moment you get so excited in a bookstore? I am so giddy because I found, completely randomly and not looking for it, a complete English translation of Vis and Ramin, a Persian epic/romantic poem, I’ve loved since childhood.
V&R follows the story of the titular star-crossed lovers, Vis, a Princess married to a much older man against her will, and Ramin, a young warrior brother of Vis’ husband. The intro to this translation says that V&R seems to have inspired Tristan & Isolde, and they might be right, for all I know.
Anyway, the story starts when Vis’ mother, a noted beauty, refuses the offer of marriage from a neighboring King. But, to make him feel better, she tells him if she has a daughter, he can marry her instead. Yeah, WTF indeed. Anyways, years pass, she has a daughter, and after a lot of politicking and what not, the deeply unhappy Vis, that daughter, is sent off to marry her Mother’s former suitor. Escorting her to her new husband is Ramin, the much younger and hotter brother of the King. You can see how this is going to go, right?
In retrospect, you can tell I was destined to be a lover of Korean dramas.
I read V&R in Russian translation when I was a kid and fell madly for it. I mean, it has everything I love: forbidden love, and angst (at one point she makes him stand outside her window all night in a snowstorm!), and battles, and a happy ending. It also has those unmistakable touches of otherness: the reason Vis is pissed-off at the marriage is because it prevents her from marrying the guy she was previously engaged to, her brother. Yes.
One of the things I love so much in this poem, in addition to the effective, and new to my childhood self when I read it for the first time, portrayal of physical passion (there is no doubt Vis and Ramin are as much in lust as love with each other) is the unabashed portrayal of the strong woman at the core. Vis is voluble and strong-willed, passionate and occasionally blisteringly angry. She is a totally cool character to read about. While Ramin is hot and angsty and madly in love. Yay.
Anyway, I’ve only been able to find abridged translations since, so this full one makes me incredibly happy.
2. Because Mr. Mousie and I saw a production of Macbeth recently, I was inspired to pull out arguably my favorite novel ever, The King Hereafter by Dorothy Dunnett, for a reread. It’s about historical underpinnings of Macbeth (it posts that the Earl Thorfinn of Orkney and Macbeth were the same person). I love this book so much, even this third time, but something tells me I will still be unable to finish it. I have never finished it precisely because I love it so, and I know what happens at the ending, and I can’t stand it. I just might love Thorfinn even more than Lymond (also created by the same author, hmmm), which would make him my favorite fictional hero, and…*gets all emo*. I also love that he is so not like Lymond and Dunnett does not repeat her characters. Just as Groa is very little like Philippa.
3. Mr. Mousie and I watched Season 3 ep “Dirty Hands” of Battlestar Galactica. I haven’t seen it before, and it temporarily made me hate both Adama and Roslin. Up with the underclass!
This episode also made me realize why Roslin often makes me so uneasy. She is a great character, as a character, but she always makes me feel a little on edge. I finally realized why: we have never seen her show any self-doubt, or remorse, or guilt. Her choices are always correct in her head, before, during, and after (the thing with the arrow, with Helo’s baby, with the strike, etc). She is that rare possessor of utter certainty in the course of her actions: the certainty of either a Messiah or a mad person. Or just a politician exceptionally good at hiding her true self.
There is nothing she would not give up or sacrifice if she thought it was right, and while that might be true for some of the other characters, they would lose sleep over it afterwards, she wouldn’t. And that certainty can be very scary.
I do like the negotiation with the strikers afterwards. Part of it is that yes, they don’t want another strike (next time Tyrol will just hide Cally, or someone else would take over), and certainly not an out-and-out mutiny, but also because training up other people on this task would make workers replaceable. Next time they strike, there will be scabs.
Quick question: I know some portion of the fandom doesn’t like Cally. Why? I mean, she is not a favorite character, but she seems OK to me.
Oh, and on rewatch of third season, I realized I love Dee. I have sort of forgotten, in my then irritation with quadrangle-of-emo, how very awesome she is.
Oh, and Chief is still one of my very favorites.
4. On a much less intellectual note, Romantic Princess continues silly fun. Just something I’d enjoy before or after a long day. Plus, whatever else the OTTness, Jin’s problem is real enough: he likes the girl he is arrange-engaged to, but staying by her would mean giving up any individuality and striking on his own, but being trapped in the family forever. His trying to convince himself not to fall for her is kind of awesome. But Cai is still my favorite.
V&R follows the story of the titular star-crossed lovers, Vis, a Princess married to a much older man against her will, and Ramin, a young warrior brother of Vis’ husband. The intro to this translation says that V&R seems to have inspired Tristan & Isolde, and they might be right, for all I know.
Anyway, the story starts when Vis’ mother, a noted beauty, refuses the offer of marriage from a neighboring King. But, to make him feel better, she tells him if she has a daughter, he can marry her instead. Yeah, WTF indeed. Anyways, years pass, she has a daughter, and after a lot of politicking and what not, the deeply unhappy Vis, that daughter, is sent off to marry her Mother’s former suitor. Escorting her to her new husband is Ramin, the much younger and hotter brother of the King. You can see how this is going to go, right?
In retrospect, you can tell I was destined to be a lover of Korean dramas.
I read V&R in Russian translation when I was a kid and fell madly for it. I mean, it has everything I love: forbidden love, and angst (at one point she makes him stand outside her window all night in a snowstorm!), and battles, and a happy ending. It also has those unmistakable touches of otherness: the reason Vis is pissed-off at the marriage is because it prevents her from marrying the guy she was previously engaged to, her brother. Yes.
One of the things I love so much in this poem, in addition to the effective, and new to my childhood self when I read it for the first time, portrayal of physical passion (there is no doubt Vis and Ramin are as much in lust as love with each other) is the unabashed portrayal of the strong woman at the core. Vis is voluble and strong-willed, passionate and occasionally blisteringly angry. She is a totally cool character to read about. While Ramin is hot and angsty and madly in love. Yay.
Anyway, I’ve only been able to find abridged translations since, so this full one makes me incredibly happy.
2. Because Mr. Mousie and I saw a production of Macbeth recently, I was inspired to pull out arguably my favorite novel ever, The King Hereafter by Dorothy Dunnett, for a reread. It’s about historical underpinnings of Macbeth (it posts that the Earl Thorfinn of Orkney and Macbeth were the same person). I love this book so much, even this third time, but something tells me I will still be unable to finish it. I have never finished it precisely because I love it so, and I know what happens at the ending, and I can’t stand it. I just might love Thorfinn even more than Lymond (also created by the same author, hmmm), which would make him my favorite fictional hero, and…*gets all emo*. I also love that he is so not like Lymond and Dunnett does not repeat her characters. Just as Groa is very little like Philippa.
3. Mr. Mousie and I watched Season 3 ep “Dirty Hands” of Battlestar Galactica. I haven’t seen it before, and it temporarily made me hate both Adama and Roslin. Up with the underclass!
This episode also made me realize why Roslin often makes me so uneasy. She is a great character, as a character, but she always makes me feel a little on edge. I finally realized why: we have never seen her show any self-doubt, or remorse, or guilt. Her choices are always correct in her head, before, during, and after (the thing with the arrow, with Helo’s baby, with the strike, etc). She is that rare possessor of utter certainty in the course of her actions: the certainty of either a Messiah or a mad person. Or just a politician exceptionally good at hiding her true self.
There is nothing she would not give up or sacrifice if she thought it was right, and while that might be true for some of the other characters, they would lose sleep over it afterwards, she wouldn’t. And that certainty can be very scary.
I do like the negotiation with the strikers afterwards. Part of it is that yes, they don’t want another strike (next time Tyrol will just hide Cally, or someone else would take over), and certainly not an out-and-out mutiny, but also because training up other people on this task would make workers replaceable. Next time they strike, there will be scabs.
Quick question: I know some portion of the fandom doesn’t like Cally. Why? I mean, she is not a favorite character, but she seems OK to me.
Oh, and on rewatch of third season, I realized I love Dee. I have sort of forgotten, in my then irritation with quadrangle-of-emo, how very awesome she is.
Oh, and Chief is still one of my very favorites.
4. On a much less intellectual note, Romantic Princess continues silly fun. Just something I’d enjoy before or after a long day. Plus, whatever else the OTTness, Jin’s problem is real enough: he likes the girl he is arrange-engaged to, but staying by her would mean giving up any individuality and striking on his own, but being trapped in the family forever. His trying to convince himself not to fall for her is kind of awesome. But Cai is still my favorite.
