This and that

[luzula]

1) dSSS is POSTED! (Yuletide is under control.)

2) Just finished reading Connie Willis' "Doomsday Book", which several people have recced to me. It was really good, but augh, so dark. It almost gave me nightmares. I thought Kivrin's part of the story was a bit slow in the beginning, and I was more into what was going on back in Oxford. But that long build-up in Kivrin's story pays off, because by the time those medieval characters start dying horrible deaths in the plague, you've really started caring about them. So yeah, it's very effective.

3) Am listening to an audiobook of Ursula K. Le Guin's "The Left Hand of Darkness". It must have been ten years or so since I read it last, and wow. It's even better than I remembered. Possibly this is because the reader is very good, but gah, Le Guin's writing! *has no words* I fangirl her so hard. Also, there is a long journey across an Arctic landscape in the book. You will not be surprised that it pushes my buttons. : )

4) I found a song which feels like it's made for Bob/Caroline. Just listen to this: "Caroline, I'm on my way back home to you/Can't imagine what I've been going through/Without you by my side/It's been a long, long time/Oh, won't you say a prayer for me/I hope that you remember me/You're always on my mind, my Caroline" and this: "Promises that I can't be/Someone's heart that I can't keep/Days so long I couldn't speak/Roads so rocky I could not sleep/I've seen things so beautiful, all around this broken world/They pale in comparison to you". It's maybe a bit too bouncy and happy, but I can imagine it's when they're being reunited after CotW.

5) Oh yeah, and I can now report on the 19th century porn that I was listening to as an audiobook. It is full of hilarious purple prose. There is "staff of love", "twin globes of alabaster reposing on a field of snow", and in a single paragraph, we have the following euphemisms for the female genitals: "the very sanctuary of love itself", "the mossy covering of that hallowed spot", "secret charms", "mount of Venus", "mystical grotto", "the abode of bliss".

But it also uses quite matter-of-fact terms: "vagina" and "clitoris" are common. In fact, there's quite an emphasis on the clitoris--there is always clitoris stimulation during sex, and mention of clitorises being erect, and women complimenting each other on their "spendidly developed clitoris". There's quite a lot of lesbian sex (sometimes with a dildo, which is called exactly that), but not even a hint of sex between men, despite there being sex scenes where several men are present. People always come at exactly the same time, which can be hilarious when there are five people participating. The same words are used for female and male orgasm, usually "spend", "discharge", or "emit", and indeed all 19th century women seem to ejaculate copiously when they come.

I admit I didn't make it through all four hours of this audiobook, because it is pretty repetitive: beautiful people with no personalities (but splendidly developed clitorises!) having sex over and over.

Comments

[spuffyduds]

I just did a spirited reading of your porn review for washa_way. He was most amused.

I think you've found the Official Greeting for the next con. "Hello, fellow fangirl! What a splendidly developed clitoris you have!"

[luzula]

I'm glad you guys enjoyed it. My boyfriend has also found it amusing. *g*

"Hello, fellow fangirl! What a splendidly developed clitoris you have!"

"Yes indeed! Slip your hand underneath my petticoats and feel how stiff it is!"

(This is in fact a quote from the book.)

[brigantine]

*cracks up* Oh porn, how you haven't really changed much in the last hundred years. Bless.

1) dSSS is POSTED!

W00t! *fistbump of victory* \o/

[luzula]

Yeah, I suppose that's true. *g*

W00t! *fistbump of victory* \o/

Yessss! *fistbumps*

[the_antichris]

Have you read To Say Nothing of the Dog? I read that first, and picked up Doomsday Book expecting more fun time-travel capers, and then my face gradually went from this D: to this DDDDD: to this DDDDDDDDDD:. (Really good, though. REALLY good. I have Blackout to start when I've finished Yuletide.)

[luzula]

No, I haven't read that one, though I've heard that it's more light-hearted. I do mean to check out more of her books, though. And I was prepared for the angst in Doomsday Book, so it didn't take me by surprise. But yeah, it still hit me hard.

[the_antichris]

To Say Nothing of the Dog is GRATE. It's my favourite, though all her books are good.

[glitteryv]

Yays to posting your dSSS entry (and having the Yuletide one under control!) \Luz!/

I think that song is perfect for Bob and Caroline. So what if it's a little too bouncy-bouncy? They were madly in love (to the point of reuniting once they were both dead) and I like to think of both of them being silly and romantic every once in a while. ;)

Also, I don't know what I'm more perplexed by: the fact that it was important to make the reader understand how splendid those clitorises were OR that there wasn't any m/m happening amid all that "spending". Hee!

[luzula]

I think that song is perfect for Bob and Caroline.

I know, it really is! I want a vid about them using that song. Except that is sadly not possible. *sigh*

[china_shop]

I love Doomsday Book, but it always makes me feel like I'm coming down with the 'flu. I need to put a note in the front of my copy reminding me that 'flu-like symptoms are a result of my over-active imagination, and not caused by infection with very old germs. ;-)

[luzula]

Yeah, I get that paranoid feeling. I didn't feel like I was coming down with the flu, exactly, but it did remind me how fragile the human body is.

[prudence-dearly.livejournal.com]

Oh, Doomsday Book! So heartbreaking! *augh* Connie Willis is one of those authors who gives me nightmares without actually providing any monsters. Have you read Passage? It freaked me the frick out without ever letting me know exactly why. Really good.

"mount of Venus"
You may find that this is "mound" of Venus. IJS, in case you were interested, since it was an audiobook. (This may also be one of those things where it's mount in one place and mound in another, but in English writing I've found it's mound.)

[luzula]

This is the first Connie Willis book I've read--despite reading a lot of sf and fantasy, she had passed me by completely before. And thanks for the rec, I'll check it out.

You may find that this is "mound" of Venus.

Hmm, I went to double-check in the Gutenberg text, and it is actually "mount of Venus". This is an American book, not a British one--maybe that makes a difference. But yeah, it's really more of a mound than a mount. *imagines big mountain between one's legs*

[prudence-dearly.livejournal.com]

Eeek, it would make sitting down gracefully more difficult ;)

If you're looking for something creepy, I'd say Passage will do it. I'd also rec To Say Nothing Of The Dog (which is also an Oxford time travel book) if you're looking for something less creepy and with more laughs.

[hurry-sundown.livejournal.com]

Just howling over the Victorian porn. I had to read some for a lit class in undergrad (srsly). It's been decades, and I'm still not completely recovered.

ITA on The Left Hand of Darkness. That's one of my all-time favorites. Who's the reader? I might have to look for it.

[luzula]

Hee. *tries to imagine the classroom discussions*

The reader is called Ruth Stokesberry, and the recording is from 1986 (or 1987--it's unclear), by Books On Tape. It really is an awesome reading!