(no subject)
2 May 2007 12:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nuranarFrom jordannamorgan:
Comment and I will give you 3 interests on your list, and 3 icons, for you to explain. Then you must post the answers in your own journal and allow others to comment.
jordannamorgan:Comment and I will give you 3 interests on your list, and 3 icons, for you to explain. Then you must post the answers in your own journal and allow others to comment.
Jordi's questions for me:
Interests:
"alistair maclean"
"authenticity"
"godey's ladies book"
I'll do these in reverse order, because I wanna spend the most time on the first. :D
3. godey's ladies book - Actually Godey's Lady's Book, but when I first entered it I wanted to use the one with the most other users. Godey's was one of the most prominent nineteenth century women's periodicals. Its black-and-white and color fashion plates are extremely helpful for researching 1860s clothing, but it was far more than a fashion magazine. Bound editions of it go for ridiculous sums on ebay.
2. authenticity - This refers to the goal of being authentic in recreating the 1860s. At this point, I focus most on the clothing since that's what interests me the most. It's very important to me to actually recreate the look, and a look appropriate for my age, situation, location, and circumstances. (Some of these can vary according to the setting.) It's an outgrowth of my Truth obsession. :D
1. alistair maclean - Alistair MacLean was an author of action/adventure/spy books from the 1950s into the 1980s. I haven't read all of them, by any means. The new Wikipedia article is fantastic, since it describes the progression in his writing that I'd suspected but hadn't verified. The novels of his first ten years are simply phenomenal; all the favorites I own are from this period. Others seemed incredibly dull to me, so dull that I've never re-read them. It turns out these are all from the later periods. But the good ones are so excellent that I re-read them again and again. The one thing that stayed consistent through his writing was his avoidance of sex. It simply isn't there.
Jordi, you've discussed how much you admire Leslie Charteris's writing. When I was actively writing, Alistair MacLean (at his best) was my ideal. He could write brief but nearly poetical descriptions that laid out the terrain as clearly as a combat site - which it often ended up being. He wrote with an exquisite dry sense of humor, just enough to lighten the mood when things get really, really dark. His dialogue was more than just words; it had spice and interest and wit, without being the least bit forced or unnatural. His characters were put in the most incredibly difficult situations and survived, and succeeded, due to their own qualifications and guts, but weren't Mary Sues. And, most of all, his mastery of a complex plot and ability to trick the reader, even into thinking the good guys are bad and vice versa, was complete. (Ever heard of a triple agent? It's mind-blowing.)
Even now, and even turning from Dorothy Sayers and Tolkien (and yes, even Charteris), I'm struck by MacLean's ability. In more than a few ways he was a precursor to Tom Clancy, but compared to him Clancy is just a clearly-told story. MacLean was a writer.
Thank you for bringing him up. I've been discouraged by the few novels of his that I've found at libraries, since they really weren't that good. But now Wikipedia has a real article and I can see why he seemed so inconsistent. I've put in a lot of Reminders at PBS, with hopes that they'll turn out to be good 'uns. I'm sorry this was so long; but I've never been able to discuss him.
Icons:
CDV profile
Cynic
Vintage - blue suit
1. CDV profile
A CDV or carte-de-viste is a photograph printed on medium-weight cardboard. It was a fairly new technology by the time of the Civil War. This one is unusual because the scan I have is large and good-quality, it's a closeup that doesn't fade out details of the dress (which are very interesting), it's a profile view, and it has very good detail of the hair. There are some decent basic Civil War hairstyles out there, but there's a whole lot more in CDVs that I've never seen reproduced. This one is quite intricate - I'll bet at least some of it is a hairpiece.
The icon displays the extent of my iconing abilities, too. *g*
2. Cynic
Confession: I <3 Gregory. Not in a swoony fangirlish way, but I've enjoyed everything I've seen him in (Including the film The Guns of Navarone, from the excellent book by Alistair MacLean.), which is a pretty wide variety. I don't think the icon itself is particularly unusual, but the whole "cynic" thing is useful in the comment conversations I get into. And the raised-eyebrow expression is one that I use very much in real life, and always have. I try for my icons to express the emotion I'm feeling when I make my comment. Greogry does it very well. *g* It looks like there's a tiny smile, too, which keeps the eyebrow from being too devastating. ;)
3. Vintage - blue suit
This one is at best a stop-gap icon. (Although a pleasingly-colored stop gap.) When I use it, it means my post is more focused on the era's style itself and not a particular movie, year, or person. It'll likely be rotated out in the next big icon dump I do, but since I just did one last month that won't be for a while.
Interests:
"alistair maclean"
"authenticity"
"godey's ladies book"
I'll do these in reverse order, because I wanna spend the most time on the first. :D
3. godey's ladies book - Actually Godey's Lady's Book, but when I first entered it I wanted to use the one with the most other users. Godey's was one of the most prominent nineteenth century women's periodicals. Its black-and-white and color fashion plates are extremely helpful for researching 1860s clothing, but it was far more than a fashion magazine. Bound editions of it go for ridiculous sums on ebay.
2. authenticity - This refers to the goal of being authentic in recreating the 1860s. At this point, I focus most on the clothing since that's what interests me the most. It's very important to me to actually recreate the look, and a look appropriate for my age, situation, location, and circumstances. (Some of these can vary according to the setting.) It's an outgrowth of my Truth obsession. :D
1. alistair maclean - Alistair MacLean was an author of action/adventure/spy books from the 1950s into the 1980s. I haven't read all of them, by any means. The new Wikipedia article is fantastic, since it describes the progression in his writing that I'd suspected but hadn't verified. The novels of his first ten years are simply phenomenal; all the favorites I own are from this period. Others seemed incredibly dull to me, so dull that I've never re-read them. It turns out these are all from the later periods. But the good ones are so excellent that I re-read them again and again. The one thing that stayed consistent through his writing was his avoidance of sex. It simply isn't there.
Jordi, you've discussed how much you admire Leslie Charteris's writing. When I was actively writing, Alistair MacLean (at his best) was my ideal. He could write brief but nearly poetical descriptions that laid out the terrain as clearly as a combat site - which it often ended up being. He wrote with an exquisite dry sense of humor, just enough to lighten the mood when things get really, really dark. His dialogue was more than just words; it had spice and interest and wit, without being the least bit forced or unnatural. His characters were put in the most incredibly difficult situations and survived, and succeeded, due to their own qualifications and guts, but weren't Mary Sues. And, most of all, his mastery of a complex plot and ability to trick the reader, even into thinking the good guys are bad and vice versa, was complete. (Ever heard of a triple agent? It's mind-blowing.)
Even now, and even turning from Dorothy Sayers and Tolkien (and yes, even Charteris), I'm struck by MacLean's ability. In more than a few ways he was a precursor to Tom Clancy, but compared to him Clancy is just a clearly-told story. MacLean was a writer.
Thank you for bringing him up. I've been discouraged by the few novels of his that I've found at libraries, since they really weren't that good. But now Wikipedia has a real article and I can see why he seemed so inconsistent. I've put in a lot of Reminders at PBS, with hopes that they'll turn out to be good 'uns. I'm sorry this was so long; but I've never been able to discuss him.
Icons:
CDV profile
Cynic
Vintage - blue suit
1. CDV profile
A CDV or carte-de-viste is a photograph printed on medium-weight cardboard. It was a fairly new technology by the time of the Civil War. This one is unusual because the scan I have is large and good-quality, it's a closeup that doesn't fade out details of the dress (which are very interesting), it's a profile view, and it has very good detail of the hair. There are some decent basic Civil War hairstyles out there, but there's a whole lot more in CDVs that I've never seen reproduced. This one is quite intricate - I'll bet at least some of it is a hairpiece.
The icon displays the extent of my iconing abilities, too. *g*
2. Cynic
Confession: I <3 Gregory. Not in a swoony fangirlish way, but I've enjoyed everything I've seen him in (Including the film The Guns of Navarone, from the excellent book by Alistair MacLean.), which is a pretty wide variety. I don't think the icon itself is particularly unusual, but the whole "cynic" thing is useful in the comment conversations I get into. And the raised-eyebrow expression is one that I use very much in real life, and always have. I try for my icons to express the emotion I'm feeling when I make my comment. Greogry does it very well. *g* It looks like there's a tiny smile, too, which keeps the eyebrow from being too devastating. ;)
3. Vintage - blue suit
This one is at best a stop-gap icon. (Although a pleasingly-colored stop gap.) When I use it, it means my post is more focused on the era's style itself and not a particular movie, year, or person. It'll likely be rotated out in the next big icon dump I do, but since I just did one last month that won't be for a while.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2007-05-02 09:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-07 07:33 pm (UTC)Interests
daphne du maurier
operetta
rossini
Userpics
Believer
Grey Hair
Sylvia Scarlett
no subject
Date: 2007-05-02 09:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-07 07:44 pm (UTC)Interests
1930's
chevrolet
persuasion
Userpics
18th Century
Ivy Walker
Archie - in memoriam
no subject
Date: 2007-05-03 12:54 am (UTC)Alistair MacLean sounds fairly interesting. I may have to look him up at some point. I stand by Charteris as my literary idol, though. *g*
(As you may have noticed, it's very hard to get me "into" something unless I take the notion to do so completely on my own. I'm not sure why that is, other than a plain contrary streak. Or the fact that I usually have to sample things piecemeal for a while before I really latch onto them--for example, seeing the film adaptations of the Saint or Doctor Syn before I set out to explore the books.)
no subject
Date: 2007-05-07 08:28 pm (UTC)I think that you would greatly enjoy him. The good ones, that is. For what it's worth, I recommend The Guns of Navarone (which has excellent characterization - rare in action books), Ice Station Zebra, and Where Eagles Dare. I'm going to start focusing on the early ones (thanks to Wikipedia and PBS) and I'll update with what I discover.
I'm no iconoclast. *g* It's notable, though, that both Charteris and MacLean were writing in genres that attracted lots of authors, who turned out a vast quantity of decent story-telling in workman-like quality. But both of them had the extra ability to tell extra-ordinary tales with clearly superior writing ability.
Don't worry, I haven't missed that. ;) It might not seem that way, but I'm very much like that myself, and I don't know why either. I've gotten into what seems like a lot of new stuff lately out of sheer boredom. I can't stand the prospect of being bored, and even my favorite books get dull when one approaches ten re-reads. I've taken a chance on a lot of your interests because I was bored, and since we already shared quite a few.
If you want a piecemeal introduction, both The Guns of Navarone and Where Eagles Dare where definitely the best MacLean film adaptations. Both have differing textual "issues," but they're still quite good movies. Where Eagles Dare kept me on the edge of my seat, and literally shivering, the first time I saw it in 1999. (I still remember the date!) I can copy that tape for you, actually, if you're interested.
Now, explain yourself!
Interests
3 doors down
friend?
vigilantes
Userpics
Willie
Skinner
M. C. Escher
no subject
Date: 2007-05-07 09:40 pm (UTC)I have to say that I've never enjoyed war movies. Even with the couple of Cagney ones I've seen, certain non-battlefield scenes are the only parts I really like. (Why do I not care for the genre? I have no idea--it obviously isn't that I'm anti-war. More likely it just isn't a kind of human occupation that I find entertaining to watch.)
As for the interests/icons meme, my responses are here. :)
no subject
Date: 2007-05-08 02:21 am (UTC)I used to think that the reason Navarone and Eagles were my favorites was because they were WWII stories. Not so; I love Ice Station Zebra, and while it's set in the Cold War, it's definitely not a war story. Besides, a story has to be REALLY good for me to like it when it's in the 1960s. ;)
None of my favorites - come to think of it, none of any I've read - take place on a traditional battlefield. With the exception of HMS Ulysses, as you'll know since you read the comment below, none of them are war stories. They're action and adventure and often (not always) espionage.
For the record, both Navarone and Eagles are strictly off-battlefield. (Depends on how you define battlefield, slightly, but they're not about public army/air force operations.) Slight spoilers here... Eagles is about an ostensible commando mission (commandos being real troops, just specialized), but nearly everyone on the team is from... "black" occupations, so to speak. A lot more spy-ish than you'd think; then you're supposed to think. ;) It's one of the most trickily-plotted stories I've ever read. Like the incredible complexity of a Tom Clancy, minus sex, politics, and technology, boiled down into less than 300 pages. And boy! does it keep you guessing!
*mental note - dig out userpic of Gregory in German uniform for future MacLean rambles*
no subject
Date: 2007-05-03 06:48 am (UTC)Ooh, very informative. It's kind of funny. Today I decided to dump off all my James Bond books at the used bookstore (except On Her Majesty's Secret Service & You Only Live Twice -- those are actually pretty good) and was kind of sad, not having a replacement action type story to enjoy. I must check Alistair MacLean out, then. The absence of sex in his stories will be very nice... too many books have been just ruined by random scenes like that. Do you recommend any books to read first? Or just start from the beginning (as you said the first 10 are his best)?
Oh man, this gets even weirder. Just like 4 hours ago before I read your post, I asked my mom: "What's a carte-de-viste?" *falls over* And here it is, on your post! Personally I like that icon of yours a lot because the girl's face and hair are very sweet.
no subject
Date: 2007-05-07 08:07 pm (UTC)Definitely check out Alistair MacLean. You will be well-rewarded! As for books to start with... Yes, start with the beginning. I recommend printing that part of the Wikipedia entry, actually. That said, HMS Ulysses is one of the books that, because they spring directly out of the author's most intense experiences and powerful emotions, have incredible impact - and usually cannot be equalled by the same author later in his career. It's not the typical action story that most of the rest are. I'm very glad I've read it, but it's not representative of the rest; it's a great war and sea novel, not so much an action/adventure novel.
I've read and highly recommend The Guns of Navarone (like the article says, the one with his best characterization), Ice Station Zebra, and Where Eagles Dare. I've also read South by Java Head, which is one of the earliest ones; it's good, just not a personal favorite. Of the later ones, I've read When Eight Bells Toll, Force 10 from Navarone, Caravan to Vaccares, Bear Island, Goodbye California, and Partisans. They range from good-but-not-personal-favorite (8 Bells) to quite forgettable (Caravan and California).
Enjoy your new reading! We'll have to do our own reviewing and compare notes as we read them. Yay!
And for you:
Interests
laura bow
montana
roaring twenties
Userpics
misty thoughts
desert sky
Lloyd: Trapped
no subject
Date: 2007-05-07 08:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-08 02:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-07 05:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-07 07:47 pm (UTC)celtic christianity
nanowriye
the outdoors
Userpics
The Empty Tomb
cross, rose
Me