Volatile

(((On The Move)))

2008-09-26T16:12:00.003-04:00

I updated many of my old posts in my new home. Please visit me there!

(misc) REMINDER: Extended Carseat Rear-Facing Saves Lives.

2008-09-25T09:22:00.009-04:00

(Innocent Traitor)

2008-09-23T11:20:00.009-04:00

And now, with much anticipation: HISTORICAL FICTION again!! And this will be my first Alison Weir book.

New glance on an old question mark: According to Alison Weir, Henry VIII did not desert Jane Seymour in her dying hours.

(The Last Days of Henry VIII) The End.

2008-09-23T11:11:00.013-04:00

"Truly, how are the mighty fallen!
For all his power and might, for all his pride and vanity, for all his grandiose plans, Henry in now commemorated only by the plain, bare essentials -- his name and date of death -- in humble brass letters set into a slab in the pavement of the choir, walked over heedlessly by thousands of tourists every year.
Henry's vainglorious ambitions for his tomb have been thwarted by history. In the end, it all seems rather sad."

--Robert Hutchinson

The Last Days of Henry VIII is a wealth of well organized, detailed pieces of information that did knock me out almost instantly. But I have rejoiced since I reached the long-awaited end one unremarkable day last week, some two months after first checking the book out...

So what did I retain from it aside from how really astoundingly extravagant Henry VIII's court's spending was? Well, not much that I didn't already know. (I might have learnt more if I hadn't shamefully skipped many passages!)

What did I like about it? The "Chronology" and the "Dramatis Personae".

(The Last Days of Henry VIII) Huh.

2008-08-06T11:40:00.005-04:00

So, you know how I was complaining about too much fiction before? Well, The Last Days of Henry VIII is layering history on very thickly! Goodness!
Granted, work's been very busy for the past two weeks, and I've had an ungraciously sick 23-month-old little girl on my hands, but in the past I've always picked up my book no matter what and read assiduously on the bus ride to and from work. But this book is a burden, and the proof of it is that I'm only on page 134 while there are only 273 pages!
Optimistically, I'm half-way through. Just gotta keep on reading and reading. It's probably getting better...

(The Last Days of Henry VIII: Conspiracies, Treason and Heresy at the Court of the Dying Tyrant)

2008-07-24T23:22:00.011-04:00

More history, less (no) fiction. Yay.

(misc) Fur.

2008-07-24T23:18:00.023-04:00

Watch this video,
or
that one, narrated by the HSUS,

then SIGN THE PETITION!!

(Plain Jane)

2008-07-15T13:23:00.013-04:00

Plain Jane, as my last book, had a nice flow.

Plain Jane: Henry was at Jane's side when she died.
The Boleyn Inheritance: Afraid of her ailment, Henry left her to die alone.

(The Last Wife of Henry VIII)

2008-07-02T20:25:00.015-04:00

The Last Wife of Henry VIII was entertaining and easy to read, and it offered me yet another glimpse from the sidelines.
The more books I read, the more I'm reminded that books are books. One author's perspective, among many others. Novels. Historical inventions, mostly or partly. I've now read a few books that tell the same story, and not everything always matches. I'll have to dig in much greater depth.

The Other Boleyn Girl MOVIE.
What disappointment! I understand (well, not really) that such a long book and complex story is arduously turned into a 90-minute feature. But if one decides to undertake this daunting task, then one cannot permit oneself, for lack of better adaptation talent available and/or monetary funds, to resort to such bending of the truth and absurd shortcuts as seen in this movie. I would rather have had no movie made at all.

(The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn) Compare and contrast: Mary and Anne.

2008-06-05T11:35:00.010-04:00

Who painted more accurate profiles: Philippa Gregory's or Robin Maxwell's, or neither?

I find that in The Other Boleyn Girl, Mary is a pure, innocent, kind child, while Anne is the very cruel one.
In The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn, Mary is portrayed as a whorish whore, and Anne is the kind, innocent one.

So, hmmm, is what's closer to the truth known, and who should I read next?

(The Boleyn Inheritence) Afterwards.

2008-06-02T15:00:00.012-04:00

After The Other Boleyn Girl, I went straight to The Boleyn Inheritance, and now I'm reading The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn.

After that, I've lined up books on Mary Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Katherine Parr, Thomas Howard, and Henry's children. Then from there I'll go back in time and ahead.
I just gotta know everything from every perspective (even if partly ficitional)!!!

And the TOBG movie is coming out on DVD next week, so I'm definitely looking forward to watching it!

(misc) And since my last update.

2008-04-30T00:58:00.014-04:00

Atonement, the movie, was a masterpiece!!!! The best screen adaptation I have ever seen. That story will haunt me for a long time.

Already read:

--On Chesil Beach (had to read something else by McEwan; interesting short story)

--The Changeling Garden (not very suspenseful or enthralling)

--The Thirteenth Tale (she got me!)

--The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (at first almost put off by the language used; later found it an extremely well-taught history lesson)

Currently reading:

--The Other Boleyn Girl

Had Katherine for next, but I'll be skipping it. I must read more about Henry VIII's court now!

(Atonement) Verdict.

2008-03-09T18:16:00.010-04:00

The verdict is that I did like it, over all. I almost wish I hadn't read the "London, 1999" part though. Not so much of a happy ending, but what can I do?! I look forward to seeing the movie.

I am now reading "On Chesil Beach", by McEwan as well; I also have "Feast of Souls", however I am not so much in a mood to read it. Next I want "The Other Boleyn Girl".

(Atonement) Cheating somewhat.

2008-02-28T10:49:00.009-05:00

I googled "atonement" and "happy ending" and quickly realized it's not going to be happening. Huh. There's a video clip of the movie ending, that I did not watch, even though I opened the page and had the cursor on play. I swear.

(Atonement) Part Two.

2008-02-28T10:26:00.008-05:00

Thank goodness the story's where it's at! Some sort of deal I suppose. Later, rather than sooner, however, McEwan's bound to backtrack and tell how it came to be as it is. I hope he does so fragmentally. I'll keep on reading.

(Atonement) Half-way through.

2008-02-27T23:20:00.008-05:00

I would have bet on it, on the scene in the bedroom. The scratches, the tears. Evident. Well, I still have a long way to go, so I may be wrong after all.

I know it's a story, but what happened in it bothers me so much. I just wish I could be over with it, see it all solved, read the happy ending. Coz there's a happy ending, right?!?!!?!??

(Atonement) A hundred pages later.

2008-02-27T13:06:00.012-05:00

Truth be told: I doubt I have it in me not to finish a book. And Atonement will not be the exception that confirms the rule. So nevermind the hair-pulling slow pace of the book! I've gotten to the "good stuff" now, and my blood is boiling just imagining what that little brat is scheming. Something bad is coming, McEwan keeps warning me. When is it coming? I can only assume, too many wrenching chapters from now!!

(Atonement)

2008-02-26T12:51:00.013-05:00

I wanted to read The Time Traveler's Wife, but the library only had it in large print, and it couldn't fit in my bag. Crap. I had no time to look around, so I picked up the paperback at hand: Atonement.

* * *

Can the remainder of the book atone for the first quarter's very poor first impression on me?

It was just yesterday that I marveled at the fact that I was on page 80 already. Me? Reading so much so fast? Wow, it must be an excellent book! But something happened between then and now. Now that I'm a little over 100 pages, I don't know that I'll be able to go through the entire book. It's a bit too heavily descriptive for my taste and sanity. To make matters worse, just when I thought I was finally done with that one excruciating passage, the author takes me back in time and describes the scene all over again from another character's perspective.
I really am interested in finding out what that whole plot is about and how it develops, but I'm almost at the point where I could drop the book and -gasp- wait for the movie that's coming out in a couple weeks!! So, I think I'll give it until Saturday, which is when I have to extend my borrowing allowance. Or not.

(His Dark Materials)

2008-02-23T16:29:00.019-05:00

I had not read a book other than a textbook and other than a book imposed by curriculum in years. Ten years to be precise. Those last books I read were (all of) Boris Vian's and The Notebook, my first book in the English language really. Now with my commute being longer, I needed something to distract me mornings and evenings. And with the public library being 3 blocks away, the choice was obvious: rekindling my old passion for the written.

* * *

I finished The Amber Spyglass on Thursday. I am so disappointed in the ending. I did absolutely love the series, but I did absolutely hate the ending. From twenty pages to go, I kept stopping and saying: "No, there has to be a way, it's not possible! His mother maybe? Something or someone? Anything!!!!" But as I kept turning the last pages, it became clear that nothing would make it right. Yes, I'm sorry, but that ending is wrong. Could it please be rewritten?! Better yet: a fourth book!!!! Screw the greater good please, because I'm a very hopeless romantic, and that's not going to satisfy me. They are young, yes, but something a couple years down the road maybe!? Whatever scenario I come up with in my head cannot satisfy me at this point, because I was let down so harshly.

I adored Mr. Pullman's style and way with words, and I would be tempted to read more of his work, but by now I am scared that he will do the same thing to me again! I'm opting to move on for the moment.

So now that I'm finished, what exactly do I do with my life? What book will consume me like those did? What's going to come even close?

(misc) Artifact.

2008-01-31T13:38:00.009-05:00

or a giraffe's neck?

(prologue)

2008-01-30T11:33:00.010-05:00

I predict my next post will be in about 73 days, at the very least.

I've never been into journals/blogs. It's just always bored me to tears after a couple of days, and I'm not so much into throwing my thoughts/life onto paper, if it isn't for an abstract poem.
I do like to write, but I never do it. It's a shame because I have an itch from that fiction novel in my head that I just can't lay out. Can't, no time, too tired, too busy... I've got all the excuses in the book. I know what I need, and that's discipline. I need a strict regiment. I must force myself to write daily, even if only for 5 mintues, even if only scraps, if I ever want my story to come to life.