The Quiet Gentlemen by Georgette Heyer

3.5 Stars

Another countryside romp in this story of succession as the disenfranchised Gervase returns from the battlefields, resigning his commission, and taking his rightful place as Earl of Stanyon. Much to the disappointment of some.

Similar to The Unknown Ajax in the general plot line and characters, but there's an added attempted murder to jazz this one up a bit. Definitely more dare-doing and mishaps for the characters. I figured out the mystery portion less than halfway through so it seemed to limp along even while the blood ran hot. If the last Heyer book I read had not been The Unknown Ajax then I probably would have enjoyed this a bit more. A couple months is not long enough between story reboots, nonetheless it was entertaining enough. Solid read.

In this one instead of being the country oaf, the long-lost heir is masquerading as a:

Martin, his affronted stare taking in the number of the capes of that drab coat, the high polish on the Hessian boots, the extravagant points of a shirt-collar, and the ordered waves of guinea-gold hair above a white brow, muttered audibly: 'Good God! the fellow's nothing but a curst dandy!'

Mythologies and French Philosophy

French philosophy requires lubrication.

Other Minds: The Octopus and the Evolution of Intelligent Life by Peter Godfrey-Smith

4 Stars

Philosophy meets evolutionary biology and very very interesting.

For those out there fascinated by the recent 'octopuses are aliens' (paraphased) journal paper, read this, please.

Godfrey-Smith explores how sensory and reacting developed differently in cephalopods versus vertebrates. Postulating how the highly centralized nervous system of vertebrates varies from the more dispersed one in octopuses, squid, and cuttlefish. Once I got into the frame of mind to read this, it went very quickly. This is aimed towards the interested layperson and gives the reader solid background information to follow along easily.

This was a gift from my friend Emma--Thank YOU! I loved it and plan to send it on to another friend, and with any luck the book will make its way around the world: NZ --> US --> UK.

Two Dramatizations from Vergil: I. Dido--The Phoenician queen; II. The Fall of Troy by Vergil

3 Stars

I wandered to read the first play Dido because while reading Circe by Madeline Miller I found myself listening to Dido's "I'm No Angel" and "Life For Rent" albums, especially "This Land is Mine" from the latter. And my brain being what it was kept whispering in the dark, Go. So, I went.

Dido and Aeneas is listed as a tragedy. I think if you're female in any ancient Greek play/story or Roman harkening back and you align yourself with a male then it's a tragedy--or more accurately, a parable. In the post-Trojan war Mediterranean, the gods are having fun messing with the humans per usual, which means getting the short end of the stick. This time Venus and Juno are squabbling, and let's be honest no good can from this: Venus, one of the instigators of the whole Trojan disaster and Juno, jealous and vengeful wife of philandering Jupiter.

Dido and Aeneas, puppets of the gods and one gets the worst of it. I'll let you guess which one.

I adored this:

Let there be no amity
Between our peoples. Rise thou from my bones,
O some avenger, who with deadly sword and brand
Shall scathe the Trojan exiles, now, in time to come,
Whenever chance and strength shall favor. Be our shores
To shores opposed, our waves to waves, and arms to arms,
Eternal, deadly foes through all posterity. 

For it brought me back to thinking of Hannibal's Oath by John Prevas. Love Hannibal. Carthage and Rome, clearly it was destined.

Anyway, this version was pretty cool in all the stagecraft and directions noted, as well as the listing of sheet music and lyrics for the songs. It is available at Gutenberg.org to download and read for FREE. Now, I really do need to read The Aeneid in it's entirety.

Border Districts: A Fiction by Gerald Murnane

1 Star

Unpopular opinion time.

Guard eyes while in town. 

Underdeveloped. Confluence of unwoven themes in a stream of consciousness format that bores the reader with repeated instances of "I never took any interest" and "While I was writing the previous paragraph".

There are repeated themes of stain glass, horses, females, anti-Protestantism as the author struggles with his faith. He espouses a belief in the humble and now, but a longing for wealth and mythic past. Reminds me of a nostalgic collective unconscious memory; the weaving of it is very starkly presented.

I feel that this speaks to a narrow audience: white, Gaelic/British heritage, and Catholic, which considering the author's Australian roots is not surprising, but it feels rather alienating and exclusive. I just wished that explorations of color and light had been better executed because there's an intriguing circling of the subjects. Feels more like a flushed book outline than a finished book.

There is an idea of something substantive, but it's never realized and that's disappointing.

My favorite part was in the closing, a quote by Percy Bysshe Shelley:

Life, like a dome of many-colored glass,
Stains the white radiance of Eternity.

A Death by Stephen King

3 Stars

Short and zingy.

Well, that was a right fine short story. Definitely got the mind running around in circles and wondering until the very end. If you like the Old West and questionable justice, then you might enjoy it.

Not sure if it was Shelby or Kelly that brought this to my attention first, but definitely worth the few minutes to read. FREE HERE .

Head On by John Scalzi

3.5 Stars

"Basically, Hilketa is both representation and alienation for Hadens."

This is an FBI procedural story set in the near future where the case is focused on robot controlled medieval gladiatorial sport, Hilketa. I wish there had been more sport, but this emphasized the political and economical consequences of Hadens, especially how business and legislation are in a constant push and pull. It feels like a Washington D.C. story with the lens decidedly on the business side.

The trajectory was good, but it felt dry. This is not a thriller even though there are elements which certainly seem pegged as such. But I guess that the protagonist, Agent Chris Shane, because he is a Haden can be preternaturally calm since his physical body is not responsible for the checks his threep is cashing.

This had some interesting points about inclusion for people who are limited by their physical bodies in the social world through threeps--imagine androids you can neurally connect to and interact in everyday life from work to shopping to family. Imagine them as star athletes with huge endorsement deals. It also brings to question all the other kinds of human interaction including sex and identity.

Overall, this was a fun read. Good choice for a beach, pool, or lazy weekend read.

And this world is a lot closer than you think, see this BBC article about a running robot: http://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-44089636/atlas-the-robot-shows-off-running-skills. We just need the neural interface, which a lot like saying sure we're going to Mars as soon as we figure out how to deal with solar radiation so we don't cook people along the way.