EDIT NOTES: This post was made several years ago on Bubblews, a site that is no longer online. I found it while cleaning out some folders on my google drive, and decided to repost it, with some minor grammatical corrections. According to my file, I wrote this on October 9, 2014, 11:55 AM. I plan on eventually reading the novel, and rewatching the movie to see if my views still hold true. Also this post doesn’t focus on GWTW portrayal of slavery, which is at times very awkward because of its avoidance of the reality. This just focuses on their main plot around Scarlet.
On Sunday, I saw Gone With the Wind in Theaters. It was a great experience, although I hate to tell the movie people that 5 minutes is not enough to allow people to get to the bathroom and/or go to the concession stand to refill their drinks. Should have been fifteen, but that is not the point of this post.Continue reading “Scarlet O’Hara (Bubblews Repost)”→
Today’s Women of History topic takes us on a walk on the wild side. Ching Shih was a pirate, a highly successful one. She even got to retire, which is not a common occurrence for people in this line of work. She was also one of the few well known female pirates (There are more than you would think given the popular culture).
Ching Shih was born Shi Vianggu in 1775 in Guangdong, China. The name of this town was originally latinized as Canton, hence the term Cantonese. It is located in the lower part of China, bordering the China sea, and north of Hong Kong. She spent some time as a prostitute within the province before she was captured by pirates sometime before 1801. She ended up marrying the leader of those pirates, a man named Cheng I. Cheng I came from a long line of pirates, so it was a family business. It was as his wife that her successful career as a Pirate began, as she was involved with his activities and knew who supported her husband, and who needed other means to support her later in life. He also began consolidating the pirates in the area, eventually becoming the ‘Red Flag Fleet’, one of the most powerful pirating fleets in Asia at the time.
Film: Wonder Woman (PG-13)
Director: Patty Jenkins
Release Date: June 2 2017/September 1 2017
Grade: A
I really enjoyed this movie. I will admit that one of the reasons I wanted to see it is because I like Chris Pine, but honestly he was only one element of a good film. The background of the Amazonians was well-developed, and Robin Wright did an amazing job as the general. I wish we had seen more of her in the film then we did.
The secondary characters were great as well, and they didn’t ignore the idea of PTSD from the war. They also didn’t make the superhero always right. I’m also glad they made it be WWI, and not WWII. While the Germans are still the guys following the bad guy, It gets tiring after a while to see it always be the Nazi’s (although if there is a Nazi, they should be fought). This movie didn’t shy away from the fact that at the time there was many disadvantages to not being white and male without making it seem like a lecture. It didn’t glorify war, but it wasn’t heavy-handed with the opposite. It had an even tone through out. There were plenty of female characters that had names and lines none of them were seen in awkward near nudity scenes. Diana’s uniform is reveling, but functional rather than just something that makes her look ‘sexy’ which has long been a comic book flaw. I was surprised that they reversed the trend of seeing women in surprise nudity to seeing the guy in surprise nudity. Although he was taking a bath, so it is a little more understanding then say what happened in Star Trek where Carol Marcus just starts changing in front of the man who is technically her boss.
I also give them credit for an amazing plot twist at the end which didn’t stick to all the conventions either.
It was a good origin film, connecting well into the general DC universe. I have to admit that out of the DC films I have seen, this has been the only one I have enjoyed. I can only hope that DC takes note from this and the movies will improve in quality of writing.
Besides Chris Pine, Gal Gadot, and Robin Wright, it has a lot of familiar faces. Danny Houston plays the German General, who perhaps is not unlike his edition of Stryker from the X-men movies. David Thewlis, known for his portrayal of Remus Lupin in the Harry Potter films plays Sir Patrick, one of the leaders of Great Britain attempting to make an armistice with the German forces.
Title: PS From Paris (Previously called Elle & Lui )
Author: Marc Levy (Translated by Sam Taylor from French to English)
Publication Date: September 2017 (US Edition, Kindle First program)
My Grade: B-
I thought the idea of the story sounded interesting, so when I saw it on the Kindle First list for August, I decided to choose it. For those of you who are unfamiliar with it, Kindle First is a benefit of the Amazon Prime Account where you are given a selection of six books to choose one book to get free each month before its released to the general public on the site. I’ve gotten a few good books this way. I got PS From Paris during the August books, and it was released earlier this month so if you are interested it is on Amazon now. These often show up in Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited program for the first few months.
Back to the book. The book is actually a sequel to a book I’ve never read. The book, whose title I forget at the moment, was made into a Reese Witherspoon film called Just Like Heaven. The connection was another reason I choose to read it. Its been awhile since I’ve seen the movie, but I remember the basic plot of it.
PS From Paris takes on the story of Paul, Arthur (the lead male character in the first book)’s best friend. Paul had moved to Paris after writing his first novel, which was based on the story of his best friend and his wife. He wasn’t that comfortable with the low-key fame he was getting so he went to Paris to get away from it, and write other books. Since then he’s found he has an amazing following in South Korea. He has also been having a long-distance relationship of sorts with his translator, Kyong. Arthur, who thinks this relationship is a bit of a bad idea, ends up setting him up with a date through a dating site. There he meets Mia, thinking she is there to talk to him as an architect which makes things very awkward at first. But then it becomes an interesting friendship. This being a romance, its typically predictable where this will end up.
The novel has a few clichés, and I think there are some background stories that could be fleshed out, but overall it was an enjoyable read. The translation (as the book was written originally in French) may have not crossed over some of the flow of the book that you might find in a native language, but I rarely found anything choppy to indicate that it was a poor translation. I have the first book on my wish list for a later purchase as I’m interesting in other writing by Mr. Levy, but at the same time I’m not driven to read it right this minute.
My only issue is I feel the end was rather rushed, and the book could have used a better sense of timing for each of the acts so to speak. However, like I said, it was enjoyable, there weren’t any characters that I despised, and while I wasn’t particularly attached to either of the main characters, I found them to be tolerable.
I am currently reading a novel called PS From Paris by Marc Levy. Mr. Levy is a French Author, so my edition is an English Translation (and also from Kindle First, so not quite out yet to the non-prime purchasers). It’s the sequel to another novel which was made into the movie “Just like Heaven” starring Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo. It made me curious. This is only the third time I knowingly read a book that was translated (I’m sure there were a few in English class I never considered being translated during High School).
My question to you: Are you more likely, less likely or neutral to read a book that says its been Translated from its native language? And if you do read translated books, have you ever attempted to read the original language? Or found it lacking a little due to the translation losing some of the intent?
The last book I read that was translated before this one ended up being a unlikable one, but apparently one that was very popular. It was called the Glassmaker, and I can’t recall if I posted my review here or on Bubblews (now gone). This book however is something I am enjoying so far. It made me wonder if perhaps I limit myself by not searching out books that are translated from other countries. There are so many stories out there that I may be missing because I don’t come across them.
I’ve often read arguments about how either electronic books are better than physical copies or the opposite. People get quite passionate about their books, and I don’t blame them. Personally I tend to live in the middle ground, where e-books on my Kindle and my bookshelf full of paperbacks and hardbacks are living contently together.
I’ve tended to have more E-books Books lately because I wanted to read something right away, or move on to a sequel but didn’t have the time to get the paperback. Occasionally it was simply because I don’t have the room…at the moment. I’m the type of person who has stacks of books everywhere. Some are read, some aren’t. I always plan on reading them, but I also have the OOOH SHINEY feeling when it comes to my books.
Physical books are an expeirance. Perhaps it is because I trained to be in a field where paper is part of communication, but having the physical book in hand is great. The feel of the paper, the neat lines of ink. The Book Covers and Dustjackets. It appeals to the senses with touch, and the contrast between the ink and paper. It has a smell, different as it ages. A used book store smells different than a new book store. The ones with collectable and hard to find ones have a smell all of their own too. So picking up a paperback is a experience that involves all your senses. Used books have a history too, so in a sense you are sharing it with someone else.
That’s not to say I don’t like my e-books. They are good too. They fed my need to consume a story. They are easier to read when traveling because you don’t have the weight of all those books. They last longer because they don’t get affected by the environment. Well, within reason. Killing your e-reader will affect them. They can be interactive, with many e-readers now having a way to share quotes and notes from your readings to your friends on social media. It can make its own expeirance.
So I think in the end, the argument is a silly one. They are all books, waiting for us to morph into the story, and find enjoyment. There are so many adventures out there to enjoy, don’t waste time fighting over how you got there.
For this week’s edition of Historical Women, we travel a bit closer to our own time. Our subject today is Grace Hopper, an American Admiral and computer scientist. I have talked about her before, as she is one of those people I’ve always wanted to know more about. She is one of the pioneers in computer engineering, and is the one said to have coined the term “Bug” for a computer problem.
She was born Grace Brewster Murray on December 9, 1906 in New York City, the eldest daughter of Walter & Mary Murray. She was known for having an early interest in how things worked, taking apart things and putting them back together. This followed her into her career. Continue reading “Women of History: Admiral Grace Hopper”→
Title: Falling for the Highlander (Book #4 in the Highlander series)
Author: Lynsay Sands
Publication Date: January 2017
My grade: C
I found this book to be a bit underwhelming. It over all had the best potential for the background mystery, but it failed to really go there. I understand it’s a romance novel, but I was actually disappointed by the amount of time spent on the romance versus the plot. Maybe it was because the main characters, Murine and Dougall are not really compelling characters in this book. They were actually more interesting as secondary characters in the previous books.
I’m wondering why this series, unlike the Argeneau series, has failed to really grab me. I enjoy the books, but I don’t find them particularly worth talking about. I can recommend as a light read for a day you don’t want anything too heavy. It has a happy ending, too, which I appreciate right now. But it’s not something I can say “Oh, you must read this!” like some of Sands’ other books.
THe basic premise of the novel is that Murine’s older half-brother tries to sell her off as a mistress to pay to keep his image as a country gentlemen by having a horse. Dougall, the older brother of Saidh, is disgusted by the offer and leaves. Murine, unwilling to stay after that happens takes off on a cow to see if she could make it to one of her friends homes and find a way out of her brother’s care. She runs into Dougall and his brothers, who decide to help her to Scotland. On the way there, the brothers all claim they will marry her, which Dougall finds annoying as he has started to be interested in her.
There is alot of time spent on Dougall trying his best not to be her lover till they are married and on Murine’s fainting problems. I don’t particularly feel that Dougall’s interest in Murine really develops much. It has one of those “Oh, it must be love because we are nearing the end of the book” type of realizations. I’m hoping that the next book, which takes on the last lady from book #2, Edith and another Buchanan named Niels.
Title: A Highlander takes a Bride (book 3 in the Highlander series)
Author: Lynsay Sands
Publication Date:
Grade: B-
This book was a harder read for me then the last two. Mostly because I had to keep looking up terms I was unfamiliar with, like Applemoyse (An apple dessert) and tincture (a medication dissolvable in alcohol apparently). There were also a few names I had to google for pronunciation. This is medieval Scotland, so its well before the unification of Britain. However, they keep it quite vague as to who is King of Scotland, or England. Just that they exist. So the exact time period is a little vague.
In this book, we follow Joan’s new friend Siadh, who after visiting Joan while she gave birth to her son Bearnard, goes to visit a cousin named Fenalla, who has lost her fourth husband in suspicious circumstances. Saidh isn’t sure what to think as her cousin did in fact kill her first husband. And the book keeps you guessing if the woman had in fact killed her husband, or if it was someone else. Someone who is now after Saidh. The result of that mystery is actually quite surprising when you get to it.
The romance end of it is Saidh catches the eye of Greer MacDonnell. He’s the new Laird, having inherited the position after his cousin Allen’s death. He immediately is fascinated with her, and she with him. It’s not long before he decides they should be married (abit more because he wants to have sex with her but she’s a noble lady so no sex till the ring is on). Which introduces us to the vast amount of brothers Saidh has, all who play a role with the story, and the next two according to the summaries. I found the brothers, and Alpin who is Greer’s squire, to be interesting. The romance was bit quick in my mind, but considering it is a romance novel, and you only have so many pages to develop a relationship and solve a mystery its understandable.
I did think the injuries were a bit much, especially when they seem to switch from major to something minor later on. In one scene Saidh is hit with an arrow through her upper chest that ends up being pushed through to the other side, but within a day or so seems to be alright to carry around the castle and have a love scene with her husband. Alpin’s illness is never really explained, only that he is ill, but I suppose his minor character status would allow for that. And I have to feel sorry for Milly, who gets used by Greer pretty much (and apparently turns into a bitter person for it in the next book when she’s mentioned.)
Still not a bad read, so I gave it an C+ Great characters, but I feel it was bit too much about the sex that it took away some of plot.
When I decided to start a blog series about women from history, Boudica jumped out at me. Not because she was my favorite historical woman, or because she had some major play in history. She just did. So for no reason whatsoever other than ‘because’, she’ll be my first post subject.
Boudica was a British Queen, back during the Roman Empire. At that point England (And Great Britian as a whole) was made up of different tribes. She was part of the Iceni Tribe which lived in what is now modern day Norfolk.
Boudica (also spelled Boadicea, Boudicea, and called Budding in Welsh) was born around 25 AD She was married to Prasutagus, who was the elected ruler or King of the Iceni. Prasutagus had a agreeable relationship with the Roman Empire, enough so that when he died he left his kingdom to both his daughters and the Empire. This of course caused problems.
The Romans had left the Iceni and the other British tribes for the most part alone since Ceaser visited a century before. However, around 43 AD, Emperor Claudius decided to invade, and this time take control. The Tribes eventually had to submit, but instead of leaving them alone for the most part, Claudius left behind his soldiers on the island. Some of the native population continued to rebel, but successive governors of the island sent by rome made things more and more difficult for the Iceni and their neighbors. At one point they no longer had the ability to have any weapons that could be used for rebellion (hunting weapons were still allowed to a point). When Claudius died, his successor Nero had them build a temple in Camulodunum for him, which required the Celtic Icenic to worship their invader. They were also forced to pay for it. Not having the funds to do so, they ended up borrowing money from rich Romans.
Boudica’s eventual rebellion was motivated by different things, depending on what source you were told. Most of the tales of Boudica were Roman, as there was no written celtic history at the time. However, the Romans who wrote about the Queen of the Iceni had different ideas of what motivated her. According to some, her motivations were due to oppression. The Romans, such as Seneca, who had leant money to the Britions called those loans in with force. The Governers took more and more of the freedoms the Celtic populations enjoyed to keep them under control. THis included destruction of their holy lands, which sadly would not be the last time this would happen in history. This got worse when her husband, who had on friendly terms with the Roman Empire, died. Rome decided to take complete control rather then share with the man’s daughters.
Other accounts have more dramatic reasons. According to Tacitus, Boudica was flogged for resisting her estate being taken over by the local leader and her daughters raped. Given that there is no account from the side of the Celtics, or Boudica herself, its hard to know for sure what really happened to her or her people that caused her to decide to seize leadership and rebel.
In around 60-61 AD, Boudica lead Celtic rebels in full rebellion against the Roman invaders. She attacked, and destroyed several cities. One of which was the City of London, which still bears traces of the attack where Boudica’s army burned the city down. Other cities included Verulamium, and Camulodunum (Colchester). According to Dio, she was vicious in her retribution, killing those who remained in the cities. She had a larger army, with an estimate of 230 thousand. However in the end the Roman leader Suetonius was victorious and returned Britain to Roman control. His troops were better trained and better armed, and in the end that seemed to win the day.
Boudica died soon afterwards, with even her death in dispute. In some accounts she ended it by poison, others she died of an illness. She was given a costly funeral by her tribesman. Despite the loss, she was still greatly respected by most accounts. I suppose in a way its amazing that she managed to not only gain the respect of her fellow celts, but enough respect from the Romans that they told stories about her. They won, they could have told any story they wanted. Made her out to be some demon, but they didn’t.
I suppose it confused them. The Romans weren’t particularly equalitarian when it came to gender. Most of the heroines of their tales were either godesses or foriegn Queens. Boudica, Dido, Cleopatra. Women who defyed the Roman idea of Womanhood.
Today it doesn’t seem that far fetched that a group of fighters would go into battle for their Queen. Its happened many times before. Boudica left in imprint on the history of Great Britain, not just as a Queen. She became a symbol of resistance. She became a subject of Art, and inspiration during the Victorian Age.
Sokorra Lewis 