Musings

The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Older
(Reread for book club, then didn't attend bookclub, lol.)

Really good to get back to this series, and I think it rewards rereading. The first time through, I took a bit to settle into the worldbuilding and didn't initially notice a lot of details. I'm especially struck by the mix of languages worked into the text. I initially thought it was because it was a bit of a Sherlock Holmes pastiche, and the narrator liked off-beat words, but as the series goes on it becomes more clear that the mass migration has caused cultural blending expressed by languages, clothing and foods swirling together. It also works for a setting that evokes 19th-century London, which was also a crossroads of the world.

Older spoke about this series being influenced by her family's exile from Cuba, and the mythology a land she'd never seen, and probably never would, which translates to the bitter undertone of the nostalgia for Earth. I'm again struck by the emotional weight running under what keeps getting billed as a cosy mystery series.

I also really like the relationship between our heroines. Often second chance romances feel contrived, but it makes sense both that they didn't work out the last time, and that they are tentatively trying again now that they've matured. I'm immensely charmed by the whole thing.


The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles by Malka Older
Reread this since I was on a roll, which is good because I had forgotten most of the plot.

Our heroines, having gotten together, now have to figure out what to do about being in an actual relationship, while living in different cities and both having full time jobs. Oh no! Our narrator had an impressive capacity to tie herself in mental knots, and make the worst of every situation, but they also slowly learn that talking to each other might be a good idea.

There might be a reason I forgot the actual mystery plot, as it's not deeply memorable, but I did like the expansions to the worldbuilding.


The Potency of Ungovernable Impulses by Malka Older
I hadn't read this one yet, and am glad to have finally caught up with it. Rereading the other two first was a good idea.

I'm pretty sure that Older has very strong feelings about a specific Sherlock Holmes story, and is working through them here. It was maybe a little bit distracting? However it also really worked for the characters, and sparked some serious character growth.

I think this is the strongest of the books so far. I really liked how it dealt with struggles with mental health, and how that can splash out onto other relationships. It was both very frustrating to read about, and felt very real. I hope that the series continues to deal with the more difficult side of the main relationship, and how much work it takes to maintain.

The mystery surrounded damage to academic reputation, which was interesting, but mostly felt like an excuse to keep expanding the worldbuilding and the main character's understanding of her place in it. I am curious if Older will stick with the formula of the first three books, or if the world is going to carry the story into new places.


Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen, narrated by Susannah Harker
Reread before the movie comes out in the fall.

I'm of two minds of this one in a way that I'm not about Austen's other novels. On one hand, it's just so good! It's a delight reading Austen's prose, and I love how she sees humanity. There are so many small beats and bits of character observation that feel vividly contemporary. Any time I'm reading Jane Austen is a good time.

However, as a whole, I find the book pretty frustrating. There's a lot of telling us what happens, and not nearly enough showing the characters doing stuff (something every adaptation has to spend a lot of time fleshing out). The relationship between the sisters stands strong at the centre of the book, but everyone else is more sketched in, and it really feels like a draft version. Austen is also a lot more moralistic than she is in the later novels, in a way that I did not enjoy. The rest of the novels all stand out as saying unique and interesting things, and this one feels like an early version of what she did better in Pride and Prejudice.

I was hoping I would like it more the second time through, but no joy.

This post was called "Remembering Two Queens" when I started it, but we also just lost Tim Curry, which... what the fuck is this week?


Anyway, a handful of posts about defenders of queer rights who are no longer with us:

Remembering my friend barbara findlay by Wilbur Turner.
In her own words, barbara’s bio reads: barbara findlay is a fat old white cisgender dyke lawyer with disabilities who was raised working class and christian on the prairies and all of those locations have informed her work as an activist and a lawyer.

Renowned queer lawyer, activist barbara findlay dead at 77 by Lauren Vanderdeen.

Shantel Ivits said findlay once told them that "she would be brought back as thunder and lightning."

"On the night that she died, we had the most spectacular display of thunder and lightning that I have ever seen in my life," Ivits said. "And to me, that was just a reminder that barbara findlay is and always will be a force of nature."

Dolly Parton's family asked that people donate to The Imagination Library if they want to do something in her memory.

The courts in Texas, meanwhile, also (inadvertently, in terms of the timing) did something to honour her memory: Federal Court Rules Again that Texas Drag Ban Is Unconstitutional by the ALCU Texas. The judge mentions Dolly four times in his opinion.

I had to fact check this, because so much of Dolly's life sounded like one of those viral social media posts that turns out to be made up: Why Dolly Parton decided to give Austin drag queen Brigitte Bandit a rhinestoned guitar by Stephanie Federico. (Here's a tiktok of her getting it.)

oraclegreen made a beautiful set of Dolly icons from around when Rockstar came out.