Historical Fiction anyone?
So for the past month I have been reading the Richard Sharpe series of books by Bernard Cornwall.
Again.
For those of you who are not familiar with this series, it tells the tale of a rough, from the streets man who ends up fighting in the Napoleonic wars for Britain, and it inserts him and his doughty men into most of the important battles of the war, along with various maidens in distress and the plunder of the continent. Originally there were 11 volumes in the series, but it seems to have grown to about 20 or so (I know I am on the internet and I could go somewhere and verify this, but I am lazy. Go look it up yourself dammit). With my ridiculously long commute, I have a lot of time to read, so I have been averaging about 3-4 books a week, which translates to a solid month of so of immersing myself in this imaginary world, which I quite enjoy. Lets admit it, that's why I read - to escape. It really serves the same purpose as TV, but it is more portable and at least has the veneer of respectability. I sometimes wish I read books that would let me learn things or improve me in some way (and no, I don't mean any of those retarded and offense self-help books) but I never seem to pull it off, so I just continue to escape via written word and hope my children will be smarter than me.
But I digress. I am now on the second to last one of the Sharpe books, so by the end of the week I should be all out of books to read. I have to admit that I am somewhat dreading this occurrence - I normally read science fiction and the occasional fantasy novel, but now I have been so immersed in this Napoleonic world that I find myself somewhat reluctant to leave it.
I know I will enjoy what ever I move onto reading next, but for some reason I keep trying to think of things I can read that will continue in the same vein - perhaps I will re-read all the Lord Ramage books? Or maybe I will re-read Neal Stephenson's System of the World trilogy?
I don't know, but I am going to have to make up my mind soon. Is this a sign that I am getting old and crotchety, and that I can no longer deal with any kind of change, even the most innocuous? I hope not but I fear that this is at least the beginning. Next year every little sign that the world is continuing to evolve and grow will just provoke my resentment: "They changed the packaging on Pepsi? Bastards!" "Why the hell did they put that stop sign up there?" "Another strip mall? WTF?"
Stuff like that.
I guess as long as I can hide my nose in a book I can just ignore everything else that is going on around me. Why not? It's worked so far.
mood as described by a hat: fedora
Again.
For those of you who are not familiar with this series, it tells the tale of a rough, from the streets man who ends up fighting in the Napoleonic wars for Britain, and it inserts him and his doughty men into most of the important battles of the war, along with various maidens in distress and the plunder of the continent. Originally there were 11 volumes in the series, but it seems to have grown to about 20 or so (I know I am on the internet and I could go somewhere and verify this, but I am lazy. Go look it up yourself dammit). With my ridiculously long commute, I have a lot of time to read, so I have been averaging about 3-4 books a week, which translates to a solid month of so of immersing myself in this imaginary world, which I quite enjoy. Lets admit it, that's why I read - to escape. It really serves the same purpose as TV, but it is more portable and at least has the veneer of respectability. I sometimes wish I read books that would let me learn things or improve me in some way (and no, I don't mean any of those retarded and offense self-help books) but I never seem to pull it off, so I just continue to escape via written word and hope my children will be smarter than me.
But I digress. I am now on the second to last one of the Sharpe books, so by the end of the week I should be all out of books to read. I have to admit that I am somewhat dreading this occurrence - I normally read science fiction and the occasional fantasy novel, but now I have been so immersed in this Napoleonic world that I find myself somewhat reluctant to leave it.
I know I will enjoy what ever I move onto reading next, but for some reason I keep trying to think of things I can read that will continue in the same vein - perhaps I will re-read all the Lord Ramage books? Or maybe I will re-read Neal Stephenson's System of the World trilogy?
I don't know, but I am going to have to make up my mind soon. Is this a sign that I am getting old and crotchety, and that I can no longer deal with any kind of change, even the most innocuous? I hope not but I fear that this is at least the beginning. Next year every little sign that the world is continuing to evolve and grow will just provoke my resentment: "They changed the packaging on Pepsi? Bastards!" "Why the hell did they put that stop sign up there?" "Another strip mall? WTF?"
Stuff like that.
I guess as long as I can hide my nose in a book I can just ignore everything else that is going on around me. Why not? It's worked so far.
mood as described by a hat: fedora
posted by samiam at 9:32 AM
2 Comments:
You said "doughty."
*snicker*
Hey, at least you're reading regularly. I'm not. I'm reading not-ly. Good thing I got those English degrees so I could sit around later in life and Not Read.
And I wish I felt fedora today, you lucky bastard. If I was a hat, it would be festooned (take that, "doughty" boy!) with spinning knives, poison ivy, and several lit bombs and be called a Fuck You hat.
I got Terry one of these for Christmas and he ended up reading them all in about two weeks. All but the latest have been published here, and I plan on starting them soon.
http://www.scarrow.fsnet.co.uk/page15a.html
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