Reading Wednesday

[dhampyresa]

What did you finish reading

Ran Away, by Barabara Hambly: I felt quite of really stupid (also like crying) at the scene in the church, when Ben lays out the subtext of Go Down Moses and Swing Low, Sweet Chariot. (Underground Railway!) These books, I swear, they do such a number on my heart. I found Daniel ben-Gideon hilarious, ngl, and I kind of want him to show up in New Orleans at some point. I did like the way Ben paralleled Jewish bonds of family with the way slaves conceive of family. (Ngl, I laughed when it turned out the meeting place was called "La Chatte Blanche" /secretly twelve.) There's a lot of really good description of Paris in this one, which is really strange. It's like looking in a fun house mirror: I'm reading a book in English set in Paris, what is this devilry? Finally seeing Ayasha really brought home how much Ben love her and how much he misses her.


What are you reading now

Good Man Friday, by Barbara Hambly: This week was very busy, so I'm not very far into it, but I am enjoying so far (and nobody was surprised!). I love that Chloe and Minou still call each other darling and sweetheart. One thing I don't like though, is the way Minou calls some women 'salopes' (it's shown up in at least one earlier book). It's one of those words that I hate and I really hate it. It means something like 'bitch whore' and, idk, maybe it's because I'm French and it's a word I've actually heard used in a derogatory way all my life (unlike, 'bitch' or 'whore') and so it hits closer to home, but I really hate the use of that word in these books and it throws me out of the story every time. That said, I think Chloe and Rose would get along marvellously. So sad there won't be any Rose or Hannibal in this book :(
Edit to add: Holy shit, it's Edgar Allan Poe!

Hannibal's Odyssey, by William Mahaney: There is progress! This is a very interesting book, but damn is it dense as hell.


What are you reading next

I've no idea.

Comments

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

Ah, Ran Away! I love this book so much. It's great to finally see Ayasha fro herself, and not just in a dream (though I do also really love the dreams in this book). The conversation between Rose and Ben at the very end is one of my absolute favorite things in the whole series; it just breaks my heart.

But there's a lot of funny bits in this book, too– I particularly love the rivalry between the two preachers, and the musicians' bet on whether their arguing counts as a duel. What is the joke with "La Chatte Blanche"? There's a lot of little worldbuilding details I like too: that Hannibal seems to be friends with Marie Laveau, that he knows about Ben and Rose's participation in the Underground Railroad (does he help them out sometimes, maybe by forging papers? Did they hesitate before telling him?).

Good Man Friday is also great! I do suspect that a lot of cursing is in French (or sometimes Arabic!) to make it sound less strong to an English-speaking ear, but of course that doesn't work for you.

[dhampyresa.livejournal.com]

I like to pretend that it really is Ayasha in Ben's, on a special mission from the Virgin Mary (what? It could totally happen in the context of these books). Yes! It so heartbreaking, but the best way ("I'm glad when you dream, it's of someone you love"), but also in the worse way because, oh Rose.

I laughed so hard I had to put my ereader down when Hannibal said "They both missed, their aim was terrible". (Let me put it this way: the joke would have been kept by translating it as "The White Pussy", because 'chatte' is a female cat, but not only.) Hannibal being friends with Marie Laveau was great and that plus Ben's comment that Hannibal looked like Baron Samedi makes me wonder if maybe Hannibal has ever been involved in things he really had no business being involved in. (Well, there is the mention of the fact that most of his income comes from forging papers for runaways, so I suspect telling him was less of a dilemna than it could have been.)

Good Man Friday suffers from a tragic, tragic! lack of Rose and Hannibal. Magic squares! Math problems, yessssssssss! I don't know if I mentionned yet, but these books really do a number on my brain, language wise, because things are usually all-French or all-English, but here there's mixing and it is quite strange (also strange: the hiver from A Hat Full of Sky, I alwys read it as the French for winter, no matter how many time I read the book). In this particular case, I guess I lose the distance I have with English insults? I mean, I know they're bad but I don't know it in the same visceral way that I do with French ones. So I end up with the opposite effect of what Hambly is trying to do. I'm magic! /jazz hands

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

Oh, I love that idea! And yes, Rose, ahhh. I love how not-jealous she is, and I really wish she could have met Ayasha. I think they'd like each other.

Ha! I suppose Hannibal is already familiar with pretending to be someone else!

(I mean, of course I don't think Hannibal would betray them, but... it would be so very easy for him to do that I would understand it if the Januarys were cautious. Like, I was surprised when Ben lies to Shaw in 'Ran Away' about the voodoo marks on Huseyin's house, because a) it's not actually illegal or anything and b) I don't think Shaw would care much. But sometimes it just makes more sense to take precautions.)

It doesssssss. I like that they all write to each other, though, even though Ben's not gone for all that long. Ha, I can imagine how the language thing would be very disconcerting!

[dhampyresa.livejournal.com]

They would have gotten along great and turned Ben mad with worry in three days.

(I'd understand if they were cautious, but at the same time he's been forging freedom papers pretty much since the first book, so idk, it seems very unlikely he'd betray them. Shaw, on the other hand, is an officer of the law and right now that's what his whole identity revolves around (even more than before, because now he has no family), so I think Ben doesn't want to put Shaw in the position of being stuck between justice and the law.)

I love that they write to each other (Olympe too!), it really reinforces the sense of community in these books. Ben's gone for at least a month and a half, but idk how long exactly.

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

Ha, exactly!

I suppose I just enjoy wondering what the conversation was like. Did they call him over right away to tell him all about it– possibly with the note that he was expected to help keep them from getting caught? Or was Hannibal just at their house one day and said, "Uh, amicus meus, did you know there's a man living in your basement? Oh, you did? Well, I suppose that's all right, then."

He's certainly gone long enough that letters make sense! It's just that he comments, when he replies, that he won't be in DC for long enough to receive their responses that makes me think the letters are almost more just a sign of affection than actual communication.

[dhampyresa.livejournal.com]

What about both? They want to tell him, but he forestalls them by asking about the people asking in the basement. (Your dialogue sounds exactly like Hannibal and is now my headcanon for how that conversation went.)

I suspect the letters were getting written within days of Ben leaving, so he could get them before he had to come back. They're definitely a sign of affection!