Bus riding, week 2

[flea]

Today on the (25-minute behind schedule) ride home, there was a woman on the bus with Tourette's. Not that she could help it, obviously, but there's nothing like a woman hand-flapping and screeching, "sweaty vagina!" in an odd, high voice to let you know you're on a public conveyance.

ION I started 'Tess of the D'Urbervilles,' and then went and spoiled myself for the plot via Wikipedia, and I'm not sure I want to go on. Maybe I will only read 19th-century novels written by women, since so far in the ones I've read written by men the women are all Symbols of Pure Womanhood and/or Connected To Nature (or actually named The Vengeance.)

IOON, week two of moving books 4 hours a day and I am not any less sore at the end of each day. Nor is my butt smaller. I suppose this is a consequence of being 39.

Comments

[veejane]

You did not take a moment to inform her that internal parts don't get sweaty? "Crotch" doesn't have that 3-syllable rhythm to it, I suppose. I wonder if Touretteers can pick up different phrases based on syllables or sound-alikes? That might be fun. Like, if you can't stop yourself talking, might as well make it a word game.

"Sweaty vagina" could easily become "groovy penuche"!

In re Tess of the D'Urbervilles, I sat through most of the movie as a teen, and could have told you not to read that book. You might like Balzac or Trollope (I've read the former but not the latter); they've both got much better reputations for avoiding Tiny Wet Kleenex Heroine syndrome. But not Zola, as you always want to shoot yourself at the end of a Zola novel. (Even when the heroines are well-rounded.)

[flea]

I tried Trollope once and bounced off, but may try again.

There's lots of Dickens; I think he does okay on women, actually, although Lucy Darney was not very interesting (how much gorgeous blonde noble sentiment does one need?)

[veejane]

Charles Darnay isn't very interesting either. That pair are just cardboard cutouts with HERO printed on the back. Stout Miss Pross, though!

I think Dickens does very well with sharp secondary characters, like Miss Pross and like Miss Petowker in Nicholas Nickleby (not a very good book) that I tend to forgive the greater (Kate Nickleby) and lesser (Esther Summerson) tendencies toward Kleenexism in the primary characters.

[flea]

Charles gets the "stupid" placard, for going to France at such a time and in such a way. Madame Defarge is her own sort of awesome as well. (Also, though, the number of coincidences needed to make the whole thing work - seriously? Were there only 10 people living in all of England and France then?)

My other problem with Dickens (sometimes) and the 19th century in general is Dialect. I hate reading things written in Dialect, except for the broad Yorkshire in Secret Garden for some reason. (Which, in reading aloud, I always turned to Cockney, may Dickon forgive me, since I have no idea how Yorkshire actually sounds.)