wednesday books
30 April 2025 23:23![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
landofnowhereI've been doing some interesting reading lately, but also it's been a long day, so this will not go into as much detail as I'd like.
Network Effect, Martha Wells; this is an excellent book, my favorite of the Murderbots, but I don't have any specific comments.
Tintinnalogia, or the Art of Ringing by Richard Duckworth and Fabian Stedman and Campanalogia, or the Art of Ringing Improved by Fabian Stedman. Since I'm currently working on ringing Stedman Doubles in tower, I thought I'd take a look at Stedman's original books on the art of change ringing from the 1600s. Bell ringing actually hasn't changed that much! Things I was entertained by include this example of why peal composers do not make the best poets and the random (non-ringing related) combinatorics problems in the intro of Campanologia, e.g.:
Poet and Merchant, A Picture of Life from the times of Moses Mendelssohn, Berthold Auerbach, translated by Charles Timothy Brooks. I asked sherbertilluminated on tumblr for recs of "bad" 19th century biographical novels, and was recommended this 1840 novel about the 19th century Jewish German poet Ephraim Kuh, which is actually pretty good, and quite readable once you get through the first chapter. Since I know nothing about the protagonist or any of the other historical characters, except for a bit about Moses Mendelssohn and his gentile BFF Lessing, I'm not bothered by historical inaccuracies. I'll have more to say about it next week, I'm sure.
Network Effect, Martha Wells; this is an excellent book, my favorite of the Murderbots, but I don't have any specific comments.
Tintinnalogia, or the Art of Ringing by Richard Duckworth and Fabian Stedman and Campanalogia, or the Art of Ringing Improved by Fabian Stedman. Since I'm currently working on ringing Stedman Doubles in tower, I thought I'd take a look at Stedman's original books on the art of change ringing from the 1600s. Bell ringing actually hasn't changed that much! Things I was entertained by include this example of why peal composers do not make the best poets and the random (non-ringing related) combinatorics problems in the intro of Campanologia, e.g.:
A man having twenty Horses, contracts with a Brick-maker to give him one hundred pound Sterling; conditionally that the Brick-maker will deliver him as many Loads of Bricks, as there are several Teams of six Horses to be produced out of the aforesaid twenty to fetch them, and not one Team or Sett of six Horses to fetch two Loads. The Brick-maker might be thought to have made a very advantageous bargain, but the contrary will appear.
Poet and Merchant, A Picture of Life from the times of Moses Mendelssohn, Berthold Auerbach, translated by Charles Timothy Brooks. I asked sherbertilluminated on tumblr for recs of "bad" 19th century biographical novels, and was recommended this 1840 novel about the 19th century Jewish German poet Ephraim Kuh, which is actually pretty good, and quite readable once you get through the first chapter. Since I know nothing about the protagonist or any of the other historical characters, except for a bit about Moses Mendelssohn and his gentile BFF Lessing, I'm not bothered by historical inaccuracies. I'll have more to say about it next week, I'm sure.
no subject
Date: 1 May 2025 13:54 (UTC)no subject
Date: 25 May 2025 17:49 (UTC)I feel like the patterns should be a good template for some sestina-like poems but I haven't really experimented with it yet, maybe someday.