pjthompson (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
pjthompson) wrote2005-07-10 05:35 pm
pjthompson) wrote2005-07-10 05:35 pm
Entry tags:
Pernicious conspiracies and pernicious histories
Unsurprise of the day: Karl Rove was the one who leaked the story about the CIA agent. Do you suppose he'll escape prosecution as Novak did? Or will there be more selective enforcement of the law?
True confession of the day: I bought the damned memory stick. Only it wasn't a memory stick (silly cupcake!), it was a flash drive. As Oscar Wilde said, "I can resist anything but temptation."
Good news on my friend's birthday of the day: My friend who shares a birthday with Dubya and Nancy Reagan found out she also shares a birthday with the Dalai Lama. She was so relieved.
Things I thought of blogging about today: About the book I'm reading now—Pendragon: The Definitive Account of the Origins of Arthur by Steve Blake and Scott Lloyd—and Arthurian research in general.
Why I didn't blog it: I haven't read enough of it yet to give a definitive review. So far, so good—but I do tend to distrust books that call themselves definitive. They will have to prove themselves.
As to Arthurian research in general, I'm trying to base my Arthur on the historical person of the Dark Ages, not the legendary figure of Geoffrey of Monmouth, Chretien de Troyes, Malory, T. E. White. Which doesn't mean there isn't magic in my story, but I'm trying to make the historical context as real as possible. The thing is, the known history is so scant and scholars have argued so heatedly for so long over what evidence exists, that at some point I just had to decide to do the best I could and write the story. Somebody is sure to be offended by something—that's the nature of the Arthur Game.
And another aspect of the Arthur Game: people want their legend. So in The Novel, Night Warrior, I've made some concessions to legend and included some characters and situations that are part of the later medieval romantic add-ons. And the magic thing. But in a Dark Ages, post-Roman context rather than a knights in shining armor context.
Picture of the day: Tea for three
[broken link]
True confession of the day: I bought the damned memory stick. Only it wasn't a memory stick (silly cupcake!), it was a flash drive. As Oscar Wilde said, "I can resist anything but temptation."
Good news on my friend's birthday of the day: My friend who shares a birthday with Dubya and Nancy Reagan found out she also shares a birthday with the Dalai Lama. She was so relieved.
Things I thought of blogging about today: About the book I'm reading now—Pendragon: The Definitive Account of the Origins of Arthur by Steve Blake and Scott Lloyd—and Arthurian research in general.
Why I didn't blog it: I haven't read enough of it yet to give a definitive review. So far, so good—but I do tend to distrust books that call themselves definitive. They will have to prove themselves.
As to Arthurian research in general, I'm trying to base my Arthur on the historical person of the Dark Ages, not the legendary figure of Geoffrey of Monmouth, Chretien de Troyes, Malory, T. E. White. Which doesn't mean there isn't magic in my story, but I'm trying to make the historical context as real as possible. The thing is, the known history is so scant and scholars have argued so heatedly for so long over what evidence exists, that at some point I just had to decide to do the best I could and write the story. Somebody is sure to be offended by something—that's the nature of the Arthur Game.
And another aspect of the Arthur Game: people want their legend. So in The Novel, Night Warrior, I've made some concessions to legend and included some characters and situations that are part of the later medieval romantic add-ons. And the magic thing. But in a Dark Ages, post-Roman context rather than a knights in shining armor context.
Picture of the day: Tea for three
[broken link]