Book update

[electricland]

What I've read lately:

Nelson Mandela's autobiography (for book club -- only managed half by Thursday night, but read the rest on the weekend). Absolutely compulsive reading, I recommend it wholeheartedly. I didn't know half this stuff; fascinating to watch a just revolution being put together from the inside. South Africa is damn lucky to have had people like this fighting on its behalf. Although, that said, it's necessarily a bit one-sided and personal; I would like an outside viewpoint on a lot of these events, because I simply don't know enough about them.

A College of Magics -- I got a craving. (Mostly because when I've had my bag sitting around gaping open for several weeks, I start chanting Jane's line: "One is either packed or unpacked. There is no middle ground.") Still love it. It threw me the first time because it took such sharp turns, but now I know what's coming, it works for me a lot better. This time around, having been there, I realized that Aravis is based on Edinburgh. I suspect that Greenlaw is more than likely based on Mont St-Michel. She has taste.

Tell Me Lies, by Jennifer Crusie (a girl needs some light reading and it was at the used bookstore for comparatively cheap)

Time Lord (no, it's not a Dr. Who tie-in, it's the biography of Sir Sandford Fleming) -- reading this on the bus in rather disjointed fashion. I'm enjoying it, but it's rather puttery after Mandela.

Naked Brunch, by Sparkle Hayter (crankygrrl lent it to me); good fun although I felt she devoted a bit too much attention to her secondary characters towards the end. But a neat premise and a happy ending and a (disguised) New York setting make me forgive her.

Heard Margaret MacMillan on Ideas last night and she was a riot. Now I really have to read Paris 1919 -- I think Mummy has it.

Comments

[javahousejihad.livejournal.com]

I would like to read the auto-bio of Mandela. He visted here recently and spoke. Do you happen to have the ISBN for it? The last biography I happened to read was Lenny McLean's The Guv'Nor

[electricland.livejournal.com]

The ISBN should be in the Amazon listing.

Definitely worth reading -- I'd love to have heard him speak! I liked a lot of little things about it too; learning that he liked to start car trips at 3 a.m., for instance.

[bryghtboy.livejournal.com]

I'm not 100% certain, but I would guess that any charge Mandela leveled at the South African government would be fairly truthful. Mostly because the Dutch colonies around the world were notorious for being horrifically draconian... Ever heard of the Dutch Reformist Church? One of their beliefs was that the mark of Caine was visible on the skin ... namely that the blacks were the descendents of Caine and thus evil and needed to be punished.

[electricland.livejournal.com]

Oh definitely... I was thinking more about things like the inner workings of the ANC and his wife's trial. It's not that I doubt him, just that it would be nice to get another perspective on things.

[bryghtboy.livejournal.com]

Mandela was only really around for the very beginning of the ANC really. Being in jail for that many years makes it a bit of a challenge to stay in contact.

Although I do take your meaning, his wife so far as I know just kind of went off the deep-end. Full armed revolt and all that. I guess the real question is how much backing from the ANC did she have in doing so. Which I'm totally boggled about how to even find out something like that. Because I'll be damned if I believe much of anything that DeClerk's government had to say. ~shrug~ So yeah, stuff and stuff along with agreement :)

[electricland.livejournal.com]

Well there you go, my dear. You need to read the book.

1) The ANC was founded in 1912, predating Mandela by a number of years.

2) Once the ENTIRE high command is jailed with you, it gets easier to stay in touch!

[raithen.livejournal.com]

Ok - bring the Crusie with you. And any other Crusie you have. I loaned Faking It to mom, and she requested more! ya know, if you have room in your suitcase. Also, I think I still have my copy of Mandela's No Easy Walk to Freedom, the original version (as opposed to the bio of the same name. And I MAY still have some of the other South African stuff. I took a course at Queens. Which I did exceptionally (!!) poorly in. And therefore when I moved back to BC I may have divested myself of several of the books. But I believe I kept Mandela. You can, of course, borrow it if you so wish.

And I feel all non-literate. I am struggling with reading right now. . . Kinda doing Emma, Paul St. Pierre's Breaking Smith's Quarterhorse, and The Rincewind Trilogy. And this does not include the horse books I am also reading. None are grabbing me. I am finding reading a struggle. I hate these periods. I will get back to reading, I know this. But I am so tired at night, and so active during the days (which I wouldn't change for anything) that reading is taking a poor second place. Odd, but there you go.

Anyway, time to sleep now. I have been up since 5:30 AM. That is too long.