say it ain't so, I will not go...
Sep. 1st, 2010 10:53 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sarea
You know when you type a super long thing and then click on something and it goes away, but then you weren't logged in and so the auto recover doesn't work? You know that feeling of rage like you want to toss your computer across the room from the frustration of it? And the thought of retyping everything you just wrote makes you want to /wrists? Yeah. Technology can SUCK IT.
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I finished Dr. Who S1! (Or S27, depending on your preference.)
- OMG Christopher Eccelston was only the Doctor for one season?? Nooooooooooo!! I really got attached to him! Without even realizing it. I was so sure that he had another season coming that when he saved Rose by taking in the bad stuff himself, I was like, "Oh, they should have saved that plotline for when they need to do a Doctor reincarnation." And then, of course, that very thing happens.
- I know David Tennant is like, people's favorite Doctor, but right now I am looking at him suspiciously.
- Wasn't really too enthralled with the finale plotline. Then again, I haven't been for any of the plotlines, really, but it doesn't prevent me from enjoying the show. I mean, that's not really the point of Dr. Who, is it? Mostly I just have fun with the silliness, and the emotional resonance still comes through.
- I have S3 and S4, but am waiting for my turn to come up in the queue for S2. SIGH. Stupid library system.
===
On the book front, I'm still slowly working my way through Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. Still don't know what the plot is and I'm like 400 pages in.
Finished Ursula K. LeGuin's The Beginning Place. I was not a fan. I don't know if it was this particular book or her writing, but if the former is a good example of the latter, then it may just be that I don't enjoy her style. I found it to be annoyingly vague, a bit overwrought, the characters unlikeable, and the ultimate 'message' fell flat.
I recently read a romance novel Jade found on Amazon called Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake, by Sarah MacLean. I normally would have stayed away from the title alone, which implies a gimmicky plot and too modern a mindset for my preferences in historical romance, but it had hundreds of reviews and an average rating of 4 1/2 stars, so I gave it a shot.
I both liked and disliked it more than I thought I would. For such a highly rated novel, it was pretty disappointing. On the other hand, for such a gimmicky premise, I enjoyed it more than expected.
The plot is this: Callie is a plain, plump 28-year-old spinster who's always been a bit in love with Gabriel, the Marquess of Ralston, who is, as you might have surmised, a rake.
Since Callie's firmly "on the shelf," she decides that since she has very little to lose, she's going to channel a 21st-century mindset and do all the things men can do in this era that women can't (along with girly wishes like dancing every dance at a ball). Thus the list is born. As expected, the author relies on this gimmick to move the plot along, which is sometimes fine, but more often, tiresome. The very first thing Callie wants to do is get kissed. If I came up with a list like that, and was raised in a society that deeply frowns on every single thing, and I'm a generally well-behaved girl from an important family, I probably wouldn't have started with that one, particularly since Callie proactively goes out in the middle of the night to secure said kiss from Gabriel. Really, she didn't start with drinking scotch? It's quite frankly unbelievable that she would take such an enormous risk so early in the venture -- but she has to, of course, because she's the heroine and that's how her romance with Gabriel starts.
The romance itself has some decent moments (particularly toward the end, when Gabriel calls some guy out for impugning the honor of his future marchioness), and on the whole is quite tolerable, but there's a lot of clunkiness, especially when it comes to the characters realizing their true feelings. It's like MacLean didn't know how to make it happen organically, so they just have these Eureka! moments with the thinnest possible excuses for how they got there.
MacLean also takes on too much, in several ways. The primary problem I have is that there is way, way, WAY too much liberty taken with how far the characters go to flagrantly disregard the rules of London society and yet manage to get away with it. It's not enough that Callie sneaks into not one, but two, gentlemen's establishments. She also has Callie tacitly admit to Gabriel's former mistress that she's slept with him in FRONT of a dressmaker's assistant (AS AN UNMARRIED WOMAN IN THIS ERA!!!), amongst other things. MacLean also gives Gabriel a newly discovered ILLEGITIMATE sister, who he wants all of London society to accept and get some decent guy to marry her. In that era, in which such things are EXTREMELY frowned upon, how likely is THAT? Yet it somehow happens, based on how powerful and likeable the other characters who support her are. Puh-leaze. It might make for a good plot on its own, but to happen in a book in which a bunch of other shocking/scandalous things are already using up our suspension of disbelief? It's too much.
There are young, attractive dukes running around everywhere. Callie's sister Mariana (who is more likeable than I would have expected, given that she's one of those annoying characters who are perfect and have everything) gets engaged to one at the beginning of the book, and Julianna (Gabriel's sister) has a "meet cute" with one, even though we never see anything come of it in this novel. Maybe it's a set up for a plotline in her next book, but if not, then it was wholly unnecessary, much like the Julianna character herself. Did she have to have such a scandalous past to work through? Couldn't Gabriel have had an awkward younger sister for Callie to help, without the additional baggage of being illegitimate and what not? Then there's Nick, Gabriel's twin brother. That's right, his twin. Why, what purpose this serves in particular? None. If you're going to have one of the main characters have a twin in a book, DO something with it. Use it to further the main plot somehow, even in some small way. Never happens. He just has a twin because. They're even easily distinguishable, because Nick has a big scar on his face, so it's not used as a way to show that Callie can tell them apart because she loves one of them. Wasted and unnecessary.
Then there's Callie herself. I'm predisposed to feeling sympathetic for a woman who, to me, is young at 28, yet her life is basically over. And naturally I agree with her revolutionary ideas about how unfair it is for women in society. But for pete's sake, if people like reading about this era, they probably also LIKE those societal constraints to a certain extent! Anyway, I know my regency romances. Her being 28 is ancient for an unmarried woman. Yet there's very little surprise shown by ANY of the characters (even peripheral ones that make up 'society') that she should make any kind of match at her age. It just didn't seem like a real obstacle. The biggest obstacle was that she was plain and plump -- but even that was glossed over because we're told that her mother dressed her badly and at one point she gets a modiste to make a creation just for her, which makes her look lovely, in a way she never has before. Oh, okay, so really, all plain women are really beautiful, it's just about how they're dressed. Is that the takeaway here? Lame and lazy. If you have a plain heroine, keep her plain.
Perhaps the MOST unbelievable thing is how Callie responds to Gabriel's sexual advances. For someone who's an Earl's daughter (then sister), who's grown up in a very rigid society, who's NEVER EVEN BEEN KISSED, she completely takes everything he does to her in stride. There's nary a thought about any of it after it happens, even to be shocked at herself. She's MORE nervous/feels more titillated when she gets to smoke a cheroot, than when she lets Gabriel get to third base. The sex stuff she's entirely comfortable with. It's pretty ridiculous.
The epilogue was completely unnecessary. Unless you're going to have a lot of time pass between the last chapter and the epilogue, it should just be THE NEXT CHAPTER. Instead, it's titled as an epilogue, nothing new is introduced, and all it does is say, "No, really, in case you didn't get it from their declarations of love in the last chapter, they really are happy now."
I know, that's a lot of negatives. But it should be noted that the writing and the plot were both compelling enough for me to continue reading. There is some cringe-worthy dialogue (it's very stilted, the way most regency-era romances are, because 99% of them are written by American women enthralled with London society back in the day and wishing they could have had their own Seasons, but who don't actually know how to make their dialogue sound authentic). The sexy stuff was pretty hot, though the whole time you may be thinking, "Really, they're doing all that in a public room in a men's sporting club where anyone can walk in at any moment???"
I think the first time I wrote this review, I was a little more balanced, wasn't quite so negative. But I don't think I could actually recommend this to anyone in good conscience, so I suppose it doesn't matter.
===
TV Show Meme, Day 27 - Best pilot episode
This one was a no brainer. Pilot episode of Arrested Development, hands down. I was raving about it to Jade back when I first saw it, calling it pretty much a perfect pilot episode. Usually, pilot episodes of TV shows are just... there. They establish the characters, are a bit awkward and clunky, and looking back on them brings enjoyment from nostalgia, but little else.
AD was not like that. From this very first episode the show was already completely in its element, knew what it wanted to be, and executed on that with serious skill. It not only did all the things that pilot episodes should do in establishing backstory, characters, etc., but managed to be hysterically funny almost the whole time, and did it in under 30 minutes. Most shows' characters take time to fully establish themselves and come into their own and develop character-specific personalities; not so with AD. From the outset the characters were completely fleshed out and wonderful.
It won a couple of Emmys for writing and directing, which is frankly amazing for a pilot episode. And so well deserved. I can't gush enough about how great a pilot it is. (And of course, a great show.)
===
I finished Dr. Who S1! (Or S27, depending on your preference.)
- OMG Christopher Eccelston was only the Doctor for one season?? Nooooooooooo!! I really got attached to him! Without even realizing it. I was so sure that he had another season coming that when he saved Rose by taking in the bad stuff himself, I was like, "Oh, they should have saved that plotline for when they need to do a Doctor reincarnation." And then, of course, that very thing happens.
- I know David Tennant is like, people's favorite Doctor, but right now I am looking at him suspiciously.
- Wasn't really too enthralled with the finale plotline. Then again, I haven't been for any of the plotlines, really, but it doesn't prevent me from enjoying the show. I mean, that's not really the point of Dr. Who, is it? Mostly I just have fun with the silliness, and the emotional resonance still comes through.
- I have S3 and S4, but am waiting for my turn to come up in the queue for S2. SIGH. Stupid library system.
===
On the book front, I'm still slowly working my way through Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. Still don't know what the plot is and I'm like 400 pages in.
Finished Ursula K. LeGuin's The Beginning Place. I was not a fan. I don't know if it was this particular book or her writing, but if the former is a good example of the latter, then it may just be that I don't enjoy her style. I found it to be annoyingly vague, a bit overwrought, the characters unlikeable, and the ultimate 'message' fell flat.
I recently read a romance novel Jade found on Amazon called Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake, by Sarah MacLean. I normally would have stayed away from the title alone, which implies a gimmicky plot and too modern a mindset for my preferences in historical romance, but it had hundreds of reviews and an average rating of 4 1/2 stars, so I gave it a shot.
I both liked and disliked it more than I thought I would. For such a highly rated novel, it was pretty disappointing. On the other hand, for such a gimmicky premise, I enjoyed it more than expected.
The plot is this: Callie is a plain, plump 28-year-old spinster who's always been a bit in love with Gabriel, the Marquess of Ralston, who is, as you might have surmised, a rake.
Since Callie's firmly "on the shelf," she decides that since she has very little to lose, she's going to channel a 21st-century mindset and do all the things men can do in this era that women can't (along with girly wishes like dancing every dance at a ball). Thus the list is born. As expected, the author relies on this gimmick to move the plot along, which is sometimes fine, but more often, tiresome. The very first thing Callie wants to do is get kissed. If I came up with a list like that, and was raised in a society that deeply frowns on every single thing, and I'm a generally well-behaved girl from an important family, I probably wouldn't have started with that one, particularly since Callie proactively goes out in the middle of the night to secure said kiss from Gabriel. Really, she didn't start with drinking scotch? It's quite frankly unbelievable that she would take such an enormous risk so early in the venture -- but she has to, of course, because she's the heroine and that's how her romance with Gabriel starts.
The romance itself has some decent moments (particularly toward the end, when Gabriel calls some guy out for impugning the honor of his future marchioness), and on the whole is quite tolerable, but there's a lot of clunkiness, especially when it comes to the characters realizing their true feelings. It's like MacLean didn't know how to make it happen organically, so they just have these Eureka! moments with the thinnest possible excuses for how they got there.
MacLean also takes on too much, in several ways. The primary problem I have is that there is way, way, WAY too much liberty taken with how far the characters go to flagrantly disregard the rules of London society and yet manage to get away with it. It's not enough that Callie sneaks into not one, but two, gentlemen's establishments. She also has Callie tacitly admit to Gabriel's former mistress that she's slept with him in FRONT of a dressmaker's assistant (AS AN UNMARRIED WOMAN IN THIS ERA!!!), amongst other things. MacLean also gives Gabriel a newly discovered ILLEGITIMATE sister, who he wants all of London society to accept and get some decent guy to marry her. In that era, in which such things are EXTREMELY frowned upon, how likely is THAT? Yet it somehow happens, based on how powerful and likeable the other characters who support her are. Puh-leaze. It might make for a good plot on its own, but to happen in a book in which a bunch of other shocking/scandalous things are already using up our suspension of disbelief? It's too much.
There are young, attractive dukes running around everywhere. Callie's sister Mariana (who is more likeable than I would have expected, given that she's one of those annoying characters who are perfect and have everything) gets engaged to one at the beginning of the book, and Julianna (Gabriel's sister) has a "meet cute" with one, even though we never see anything come of it in this novel. Maybe it's a set up for a plotline in her next book, but if not, then it was wholly unnecessary, much like the Julianna character herself. Did she have to have such a scandalous past to work through? Couldn't Gabriel have had an awkward younger sister for Callie to help, without the additional baggage of being illegitimate and what not? Then there's Nick, Gabriel's twin brother. That's right, his twin. Why, what purpose this serves in particular? None. If you're going to have one of the main characters have a twin in a book, DO something with it. Use it to further the main plot somehow, even in some small way. Never happens. He just has a twin because. They're even easily distinguishable, because Nick has a big scar on his face, so it's not used as a way to show that Callie can tell them apart because she loves one of them. Wasted and unnecessary.
Then there's Callie herself. I'm predisposed to feeling sympathetic for a woman who, to me, is young at 28, yet her life is basically over. And naturally I agree with her revolutionary ideas about how unfair it is for women in society. But for pete's sake, if people like reading about this era, they probably also LIKE those societal constraints to a certain extent! Anyway, I know my regency romances. Her being 28 is ancient for an unmarried woman. Yet there's very little surprise shown by ANY of the characters (even peripheral ones that make up 'society') that she should make any kind of match at her age. It just didn't seem like a real obstacle. The biggest obstacle was that she was plain and plump -- but even that was glossed over because we're told that her mother dressed her badly and at one point she gets a modiste to make a creation just for her, which makes her look lovely, in a way she never has before. Oh, okay, so really, all plain women are really beautiful, it's just about how they're dressed. Is that the takeaway here? Lame and lazy. If you have a plain heroine, keep her plain.
Perhaps the MOST unbelievable thing is how Callie responds to Gabriel's sexual advances. For someone who's an Earl's daughter (then sister), who's grown up in a very rigid society, who's NEVER EVEN BEEN KISSED, she completely takes everything he does to her in stride. There's nary a thought about any of it after it happens, even to be shocked at herself. She's MORE nervous/feels more titillated when she gets to smoke a cheroot, than when she lets Gabriel get to third base. The sex stuff she's entirely comfortable with. It's pretty ridiculous.
The epilogue was completely unnecessary. Unless you're going to have a lot of time pass between the last chapter and the epilogue, it should just be THE NEXT CHAPTER. Instead, it's titled as an epilogue, nothing new is introduced, and all it does is say, "No, really, in case you didn't get it from their declarations of love in the last chapter, they really are happy now."
I know, that's a lot of negatives. But it should be noted that the writing and the plot were both compelling enough for me to continue reading. There is some cringe-worthy dialogue (it's very stilted, the way most regency-era romances are, because 99% of them are written by American women enthralled with London society back in the day and wishing they could have had their own Seasons, but who don't actually know how to make their dialogue sound authentic). The sexy stuff was pretty hot, though the whole time you may be thinking, "Really, they're doing all that in a public room in a men's sporting club where anyone can walk in at any moment???"
I think the first time I wrote this review, I was a little more balanced, wasn't quite so negative. But I don't think I could actually recommend this to anyone in good conscience, so I suppose it doesn't matter.
===
TV Show Meme, Day 27 - Best pilot episode
This one was a no brainer. Pilot episode of Arrested Development, hands down. I was raving about it to Jade back when I first saw it, calling it pretty much a perfect pilot episode. Usually, pilot episodes of TV shows are just... there. They establish the characters, are a bit awkward and clunky, and looking back on them brings enjoyment from nostalgia, but little else.
AD was not like that. From this very first episode the show was already completely in its element, knew what it wanted to be, and executed on that with serious skill. It not only did all the things that pilot episodes should do in establishing backstory, characters, etc., but managed to be hysterically funny almost the whole time, and did it in under 30 minutes. Most shows' characters take time to fully establish themselves and come into their own and develop character-specific personalities; not so with AD. From the outset the characters were completely fleshed out and wonderful.
It won a couple of Emmys for writing and directing, which is frankly amazing for a pilot episode. And so well deserved. I can't gush enough about how great a pilot it is. (And of course, a great show.)
