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penwing reads (they/them)

penwing@bookwyrm.social

Joined 2 years, 4 months ago

Queer, geek, NW England, no longer late-30s.

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penwing reads (they/them)'s books

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36% complete! penwing reads (they/them) has read 18 of 50 books.

quoted Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (Norton critical edition)

Mary Shelley: Frankenstein (1996, W.W. Norton) 4 stars

The original story of science gone berserk: one that changed how far our dreams can …

I learned the possessions most esteemed by your fellow-creatures were, high and unsullied descent united with riches. A man might be respected with only one of these acquisitions; but without either he was considered, except in very rare instances, as a vagabond and slave, doomed to waste his powers for the profit if the chosen few.

Frankenstein by  (Norton critical edition) (Page 80)

1818... What change in 200 years eh?

This was 50 years before Marx too...

quoted Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (Norton critical edition)

Mary Shelley: Frankenstein (1996, W.W. Norton) 4 stars

The original story of science gone berserk: one that changed how far our dreams can …

I gazed upon the picture of my mother, which stood over the mantlepiece. It was a historical subject, painted at my father's desire, and represented Caroline Beaufort in an agony of despair, kneeling at the coffin of her dead father.

Frankenstein by  (Norton critical edition) (Page 49)

What is wrong with Frankenstein men?!?

Ada Palmer: Inventing the Renaissance (Hardcover, 2025, Head of Zeus) No rating

The Renaissance is one of the most studied and celebrated eras of history. Spanning the …

Nine dudes in a tower

Inventing the Renaissance by  (Page 64 - 89)

Palmer has some great turns of phrase - this is her summary of Florentine Government (nine randomly chosen people (of certain status) locked in a tower for a two month term at a time) - but is that a better system of government than "Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords”?

Ada Palmer: Inventing the Renaissance (Hardcover, 2025, Head of Zeus) No rating

The Renaissance is one of the most studied and celebrated eras of history. Spanning the …

(If seeing the concept of purity used like this is making your skin crawl, (A) good for you! (B) I recommend a trip down the hall to the Philosophy Lab where Alexis Shot well is brewing up work on the destructive effects of purity as a concept in our modern world. Each lab brews different things to make our world better: Chem Lab, new meds; Physics Lab, new particles; History and Philosophy Labs, new proofs that Nazis are wrong.)

Inventing the Renaissance by  (Page 39)

Hell yeah!

Notes the name drop for further investigation 8-)

Jeff Noon, Steve Beard: Gogmagog (2024, Watkins Media Limited) 4 stars

From the highly celebrated and award-winning authors Jeff Noon and Steve Beard comes Gogmagog, the …

Gogmagog

4 stars

I liked it - it's sheer weirdness (and wyrdness), the river trip, the characters...

My biggest criticism is probably the structure. It's very episodic and we learn little about the cultures our characters come from (except in may a specific episode/chapter) as they're all the only examples on page. There are also many time chapters end on a cliffhanger or other high tension point only for the next chapter to skip past the resolution and tell us in flashback undoing the built up tension.