Books: That's all, folks.

[nebroadwe]

It's a bad month when I dump not one, but two books within the first chapter for annoying me. First out of the queue was Perpetua of Carthage: Portrait of a Third-Century Martyr by William Farina. I did hesitate when I read his bio and discovered he was the president of "a national real estate consulting firm" who'd previously written about Shakespeare and the American Civil War. Then I told myself not to be a snob: independent scholars exist. Unfortunately, Farina's idea of contextualizing Perpetua was to compare her to C.S. Lewis because they were both converts -- never mind the enormous temporal, geopolitical, sociological and even religious gaps between the two. No, thanks; I like my history historical.

Then I tried Larissa Taylor's Virgin Warrior: The Life and Death of Joan of Arc. Here I hesitated on general principles: it's really hard to write a biography of Joan that prescinds (wonderful word; thank you, John P. Meier!) from faith claims about her while dealing seriously with her self-presentation as someone called by God. (Do Florence Nightingale biographies have this problem? Must investigate ...) Still, I was willing to give Taylor a shot. She did have some interesting things to say initially on the subject of Joan's responses to hostile questioning about her voices and the possibility that such questioning had Joan both discovering new contexts for her experiences and/or responding sarcastically and enigmatically about them to an audience that had already made up its mind about her. On the other hand, Taylor seemed a little too eager to naturalize any hint of the supernatural in Joan's career, to reduce Joan's motivations to having her own will. That's fine, but "her own will" was presented by Joan and received by those with whom she came in contact in ways determined by their apprehension of the supernatural. The historian need not believe what they believed, but she should do a better job of analyzing and representing it than Taylor seemed willing (heh) to do. I gave up when she claimed that Joan left Domremy on her quest because her parents were too controlling (they tried to arrange a marriage for her and she demurred -- without any of the usual accompanying saintly Sturm und Drang, either) and she wanted to live out a prophecy. Good-bye.

I'm going to read some nice, purely political biographies now -- Thomas Wolsey and Thomas Cromwell. Argh.

Comments

[a-big-apple.livejournal.com]

Eek, two strikes in a row, how disappointing. Perpetua compared to C.S. Lewis might be interesting if the book was about conversion experiences or something like that, but not really an excellent choice for a Perpetua bio. Urgh.

A friend of mine just finished writing a play partly about Joan...two history teachers win a free time-traveling tour of women in history, and they spend a lot of time struggling with what actually happened vs. what history says happened vs. their skewed modern interpretations of what they're now able to witness firsthand. I wonder if she read Taylor's book for her research, I should ask her.

[nebroadwe.livejournal.com]

I did get a decent Perpetua biography out of the Farina bibliography, at least. Except now I can't remember the title or the author.

[a-big-apple.livejournal.com]

Lol.

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

it's been an already around bad year so far with book picks for me. Right now I'm just reading something fun Percy Jackson and the Lightening Thief but I've set aside far too many books this year

[nebroadwe.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed the whole Percy Jackson series: light-hearted, quick-worded, and soon over, as Treebeard once remarked. :-) Too bad the movie was so clunky. Riordan's supposed to be taking on Egyptian mythology next; I'll definitely be giving that one a try.

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

this is the first for me (evil little dog mention you liked the series when i saw the movie trailer and said 'that looks bad)

how many books are there?

[artemisrae.livejournal.com]

Swooping in on account of passionate feelings! There are five books, and I totally stayed up til like 3 am on a Friday night and read the fifth book in one sitting, because I had to know what happened. The first book is actually not my favorite, the series really picked up during the second one for me.

[nebroadwe.livejournal.com]

I think Riordan got successively better hold of his characterization with each volume up to no. 3, where he found his comfort level and plateaued. I'd have loved no. 5 to push deeper into the whole your-strength-is-your-weakness thing, but these are Thrilling Adventures first. Besides, Riordan managed to pull in a whole raft of Trojan war tropes without whacking the reader over the head with them ("Lookit, lookit -- Trojan war tropes!") and I enjoy plotting subtleties as much as character ones. So I own no. 5 in hardback anyway. :-)

[artemisrae.livejournal.com]

I'd have loved no. 5 to push deeper into the whole your-strength-is-your-weakness thing

But if he'd done that, how could I fic it?

I don't have the rest of high school and college plotted out, nosireee...

[nebroadwe.livejournal.com]

Heh. I know what he does for a living as an adult, and what happens when he and [spoiler] have their first child. (Hint: nothing good. Remember who she peeved off in BOTL?)

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

I stayed up later than my sick body should have to to do the same with the first book in the series. Guess I'll be at the library soon looking for the rest. Thanks. Already told my cousins and friends with kids in the actual intended age range to go pick it up

[nebroadwe.livejournal.com]

Conversely, my local goddaughter and her sister are really good with recommendations for an 11- and 9-year-old. They hooked me on both Avatar: The Last Airbender and Percy Jackson. :-)

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

hahahaha, i should ask my friend's son and my little cousin for recommendations

[artemisrae.livejournal.com]

Irresponsible question on my part, but since Percy Jackson came up in the above comment: did you give up fiction for Lent? On account of I'm going to be feeling much guiltier that I haven't focused on help_haiti if you've been allowed to read it this whole time...

[nebroadwe.livejournal.com]

Yes, I did. Which was PAINFUL when everyone's Big Bangs hit the 'Net. I did fall off the wagon once by reading this (http://rufftoon.deviantart.com/art/Alternate-History-P-01-52615635). I thought it was going to be a four-panel strip, which doesn't count, and then it turned into a graphic novel, which does. Oops. No worries on help_haiti delay -- I know you're good for it.

[artemisrae.livejournal.com]

Oh god, Big Bang, I still owe people comments on theirs...

And also I am really really relieved. Basic update: I wrote out an opening scene, know the wrench I'm going to be throwing into Tyson and Percy's plans, and I know exactly how I'm going to end it. So mostly it's writing it and we're golden :D

[nebroadwe.livejournal.com]

So mostly it's writing it and we're golden :D

Snortle. Of course -- easy as π.

By the way, I think it was you who recommended an ATLA 'fic to me in which Madame Wu is a member of the Order of the Lotus and, ahem, knows Uncle Iroh. Was it? And if so, can you point me at it again? I've lost my link somehow.

[artemisrae.livejournal.com]

OKAY FIRST OF ALL ON ACCOUNT OF I DON'T WANT TO SPOILER COM BUT

Heh. I know what he does for a living as an adult, and what happens when he and [spoiler] have their first child. (Hint: nothing good. Remember who she peeved off in BOTL?)

YOU CANT SAY STUFF LIKE THAT TO ME AND NOT HAVE HAVE ME DEMAND CLARIFICATION. Also because me and juxtaposie have been plotting the CRAP out of this and I love hearing other people's ideas. ALSO also because the Dark!Percy fic in the kink meme ruined Percy's career for me...

(My take: Percy's really gung ho for kids. Annabeth is more cautious. I also have a humorous bit of conversation re: Annabeth's birth that I'm going to shoehorn into a fic SOMEDAY I swear to god. Or maybe I need to cave and just post as a drabble.)

I need more people to talk to about PJO. I really only have Josie and haven't really had a decent convo about it...

Also, about the ATLA fic: that was me! Well, it wasn't my fic, but it was my LJ buddy birdsarecalling (who doesn't write ATLA anymore, so unfair) and I swear the fic was called Wingman, but apparently it's actually called Fortune Favors the Bold, and it is here (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3086057/1/Fortune_Favors_the_Bold).

[nebroadwe.livejournal.com]

YOU CANT SAY STUFF LIKE THAT TO ME AND NOT HAVE HAVE ME DEMAND CLARIFICATION.

COM, you're not reading this, right?

Coast Guard. He enlists; his rating's boatswain's mate and I suspect he's on his way to command rank someday -- hero, you know (though he'll have to groan his way through OCS first).

[artemisrae.livejournal.com]

COM YOU BETTER NOT STILL BE READING THIS.

Okay! Yes! I can see that! ESPECIALLY once I wiki'd boatswain's mate and actually learned what that was - that seems like the kind of thing Percy would naturally be good at. (Plus the opportunity to talk down some attacking sea monsters, hee!). I guess a friend of a friend of juxataposie was in the Coast Guard, because she's told me a few stories about the insane stuff they've done even in training.

Me, on the other hand? I can't shake a good old fashioned NYPD cop. Of course, my post-series fic has Percy really struggling with that whole "Big Three Kids Change the World" thing that's been stated several times in the book, because he's already saved it once and he's not sure he's actually any good at the stuff that'll really CHANGE it, but he really enjoys protecting people? And he loves NYC.

Plus it gives me the opportunity to give him a cliched slightly older partner who eventually becomes convinced Percy's the Hand of God or something. ("You - you just got shot!" "The gun jammed!" "There's a hole in your uniform!" Percy never really got the hang of manipulating Mist.)

So now I have to ask... what happens with Hera? juxtaposie might have actually called me from work on her lunch break to ask...

[nebroadwe.livejournal.com]

Avert your eyes, COM!

NYPD? I can see that -- some nice built-in incongruity there, too, with Percy the Troublemaker turning into Percy the Authority Figure (at least in the perception of others). Might throw him off-balance a bit while in training, hmm? The older partner sounds like fun, too. Of course Percy wouldn't ever really get the hang of the Mist -- he's all about the Righteous Fist of Justice, not the Subtle Hand. No doubt it gets him into trouble ... and why do I suddenly have this vision of him asking Nico, now a lawyer, to represent him in some civil proceeding? And Nico demurring, because his primary area of interest is, of course, tax law? :-)

I figured Percy for a career at sea, but merchant marine seemed too tame and the U.S. Navy/Marines both less regularly active and less consistently involved in saving people/getting the bad guys than the Coasties. (Plus, if you can believe their propaganda, they're the most relaxed branch of the service in terms of rank-within-team, which I think would appeal to Percy.) Imagine what kind of miracles he'd pull off in SAR ... but of course, I can't write that stuff, because decent real-world militaria is way too research-intensive. People come down on you like a ton of brick, too, if you get it wrong. But I might do the pregnancy story someday, because of course he'd be on compassionate leave because Annabeth's in the hospital with pre-eclampsia and Hera's ill will. Remember the myth of Leto? I was thinking something along those lines: Hera refusing to allow Annabeth to give birth, unless Annabeth and Percy are prepared to give up the child to Hera. I haven't quite figured out how Percy manages to save the day yet ...

[artemisrae.livejournal.com]

I really hope COM has given up on us by now.

Might throw him off-balance a bit while in training, hmm?

Yeah, well, I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm coming from the perspective of my own experience in school: Did okay in high school and my first two years at college (parental enforcement was involved) but then got into x-ray school and suddenly discovered that I could actually ENJOY learning something and I've made the Dean's List every semester. Percy didn't want to peak at 16 so... he won't. (Muahaha). Throw in ADHD, aggravated by Styx magnifying his weaknesses (and being inactive is a weakness for Percy), by the time he gets into the police academy, yeah, he's going to be way thrown off by the concept that he might be good at this and his superiors aren't groaning at the sight of him.

I mostly picture him casually putting people into choke holds while he disarms them. "My wife could kick your ass kid."

AND NICO AS A LAWYER. I had not even THOUGHT of that concept! I've read another fic that puts him as an OB-GYN, but me personally? I put him on a far less academic route. I figure, the kid is 12 in book 5, he's been displaced in time, and - I'm screwing around with Fate and all here but - for all he knows, he could have been the Chosen One if he'd been pulled out of Lotus Casino oh, ten years earlier. Not that he necessarily wants that, but maybe he did? Or maybe he would have liked the decision? (Michael Bluth: "So you want to be in charge?" GOB Bluth: "NO! But I'd like to have been asked!") So I have him struggling a bit to figure out his place, and after pretty much every single school counselor (that people keep INSIST he sees) is going to suggest that he take up art to express his inner feelings. I actually eventually have him and Annabeth becoming very close friends, I see a lot of similarities between the two of them.

I would encourage the pregnancy story! My suggestion for dealing with Hera? Peer pressure. Forget Athena and Poseidon (who I'm pretty sure would have Things to Say about this), I'm pretty sure Apollo and Artemis would be sympathetic, on account of they were the babies that Leto was delivering. Not to mention Artemis being associated with childbirth (she helped deliver her brother! That's badass!) and their in with her lieutenant. Of course, now I'm picturing Percy arguing with Hera and pointing out that she's sitting on the throne that Annabeth herself helped design, like seriously, is there no gratitude in this world?

I admit Josie and I have discussed their family (a hellhound totally tries to eat their son when he's like five, because "Mrs O'Leary is nice!" and scares the bejeezus out of Percy) but I'm still working on Annabeth admitting she's ready for a family. She's been reluctant.

Someday all these thoughts will come out into real fics. Honest.