Recent reading

[luzula]

Catching up...a few months ago, my book club geared up to twice a month instead of once a month, now that everyone is home all the time.

Oath of Dogs by Wendy Wagner (2017)
For book club, my choice. This was standing unread in my book case, so why not. It's immediately obvious why it was standing in my book case: it is sci-fi with alien ecosystems and environmental themes. It was fairly page-turney, but as a whole it didn't really work for me--it has various disparate components that didn't come together that well. The other book club members agreed, and we had fun picking apart the things that didn't work for us.

Redemption in Indigo by Karen Lord (2010)
Also for book club. A readable and interesting fairy tale.

We also recently discussed Octavia Butler's Kindred, which is very good and which I have read and reviewed before.

Elements of Gaelic Grammar by Alexander Stewart (this edition 1892, but written earlier)
Every time I think I don't have any more research reading to do, I'm wrong. I'll be honest, a lot of skimming was done, because I don't actually want to read page after page of irregular verbs. *g* But it was interesting to read a bit about the syntax and grammar. I'm so glad I have garonne to consult when I actually need something translated, and that I get lots of interesting commentary on the language every time.

My current fandom has skewed my reading so much! If not for book club, I would not have read any American books this year, which I usually do quite a lot, and I've read very few Swedish books. It's just all British books, all the time. I'm about 50/50 on male/female authors, though.

Comments

[jesse_the_k]

How many actual canines in Oath of Dogs?

I'm in the mood for some doggy readying.

[luzula]

One actual canine, and a bunch of other canine-type beings whose actual nature would be spoilery to disclose. But I don't know that I would actually recommend the book.

I remember that Robin McKinley's Deerskin has really excellent dogs, but it also has lots of recovery from rape, so maybe not good for light reading. Oh, but how about Diana Wynne Jones' Dogsbody?

[jesse_the_k]

Amazing but true -- I've never read any Diane Wynne Jones. That sounds like a good place to start.

[jesse_the_k]

And it's available for download at my library! Sometimes life in the 21st century is AOK.

[luzula]

Oh, you haven't! Do let me know what you think of it--I love that book, but then, I imprinted on it as a child, and it would be interesting to know how you find it, reading it as an adult. But it did hold up when I reread it a few years ago.

[jesse_the_k]

Halfway through, and I'm really loving how DWJ honors doggy intelligence and viewpoint. Thanks so much for this excellent distraction.

[luzula]

Oh, I'm glad! : ) Yes, I remember it gives excellent dog viewpoint.

[regshoe]

Ooh, that grammar does look useful. And, reading through the Introduction, it's pretty illuminating as to the historical attitudes to Gaelic—you can see some of the development of the sort of political wrangling that still goes on over the language today...

[luzula]

you can see some of the development of the sort of political wrangling that still goes on over the language today...

I guess you would know more about that than I!

Unrelatedly, I recently learned (not in this book) that the way that the English language phrases questions, which is "Do you want an apple?" instead of "Want you an apple?" like most other languages that it's related to, is because the precursor to English was influenced by Celtic languages when it arrived in Britain.

[regshoe]

So, for instance, I saw this article the other day, which brings up 'long-running controversies' over recent government policies to promote Gaelic in schools—as I understand it, the Conservatives think they shouldn't do that sort of thing because it's not a 'useful' language and English is more relevant in the modern world, etc.

Unrelatedly, I recently learned (not in this book) that the way that the English language phrases questions, which is "Do you want an apple?" instead of "Want you an apple?" like most other languages that it's related to, is because the precursor to English was influenced by Celtic languages when it arrived in Britain.

Ooh, that's interesting! I wonder if the English use of 'do' in negative statements ('I do not want an apple' instead of 'I want not an apple') has the same origin? (My impression is that English used to use the second construction more and it's fallen out of use, with only 'I have not' surviving and sounding a bit old-fashioned nowadays—and the same is true of 'Have you an apple?', in fact).

[luzula]

I wonder if the English use of 'do' in negative statements ('I do not want an apple' instead of 'I want not an apple') has the same origin?

Yes, according to my source (the linguist John McWhorter writing about the history of the English language) but it also appears that not all linguists agree about the Celtic influence. I mean, it happened quite a long way back, in Old English! But apparently Celtic languages, and English, are the only ones who use this construction, or at least the only ones in Europe.

But you're right that the 'standard' construction does also survive in English--I hadn't thought of that.

ETA: And thanks for the link to the article about Gaelic today--interesting!

[regshoe]

Fascinating stuff! Yeah, I suppose the fact that the 'standard' constructions are still used (the use of 'to be' is another good example, of course), and were more widely used quite recently, seems to argue against the idea that the 'do' constructions are the result of Celtic influence much further back in history. I suppose these are complicated questions :D