Kushner, Ellen - Swordspoint

I actually started Swordspoint about three years ago, got halfway through, and abandoned it. This was largely because I found myself detesting Michael Godwin, completely confused as to why Richard stayed with Alec, given that I thought Alec was extremely annoying and rather useless and a provoker of violence at that, and angry because all the female characters were pushed to the side in favor of male ones or portrayed as temptresses, manipulators, and/or whores throwing themselves at people (with the exception of Lady Halliday).

So I have actually read The Privilege of the Sword before this, which spoiled me a bit as to Alec's true identity.

I found that this time around, with prior warning, I didn't find Michael quite as despicable. Still, I dislike him a great deal, including his self-centeredness, and I did not feel sorry for him at all with regard to Lord Horn, despite Kushner's portrayal of Horn as, well, a horndog. I still found Alec annoying, but less so after reading The Privilege of the Sword. It seems that my tolerance for alpha bastards has decreased quite substantially, and I am still appalled by Alec's willingness to annoy people so they will challenge him and Richard can kill them for him. I mean... where do I begin with the wrongness? And no, despite Alec's obvious mental instability, I do not find it romantic, and I was actually rather offended on Richard's behalf. And why is it that everyone Alec offends seems to be deserving of death?

Richard, on the other hand, I adore to pieces. I realize this is rather hypocritical, what with what happens later, but I don't care. I like that he is small and quiet and unassuming and deadly.

I feel like I should have more to say about the book, given that it is a favorite of many, but, well, I'm still not a fan, though I don't despise it like I did when I first read it.

I will admit that on occasion, I am completely bought into the romance and angst of the Richard/Alec relationship, particularly in the short story "The Death of the Duke." But usually I go around adoring Richard and tolerating Alec because Richard likes him.

In conclusion: politics? What politics? ;) (I couldn't figure out half the people and if they were related to people in The Privilege of the Sword or The Fall of the Kings or not, so I largely ignored them.) Despite adoring court politics and intrigue and maneuvering, I was sort of bored by the intrigue here. This may be because I wanted to slap most of the plotters, including but not limited to Michael, Lord Ferris, and Lord Horn. And I wanted to slap all of the nobility for using swordsmen like they did, despite a wee part of me being absolutely thrilled by the idea of swordsmen.

Links:
- rilina's review
- tenemet's review

Donoghue, Emma - Slammerkin

I preface this entry to say that this is most definitely not the best book to take with you on vacation to relax.

Unless, of course, you enjoy reading dark, grim, extremely depressing stories while on vacation.

Mary Saunders is in jail at 16 in the prologue; we spend the rest of the book finding out how she gets there and what happens after. She's the daughter of a seamstress in the 1700s, and eventually, she gives up her virginity in exchange for a red ribbon. Then we get into the rise and fall of Mary Saunders, if you can consider going into prostitution a rise.

Donoghue is very good about historical detail, like she was in Life Mask, and I have no doubt that her account of Mary's life is an accurate portrayal of the options open to women at the time, to the lives of those who didn't have money, and etc.

But... Mary is simply so miserable, and she makes so many choices that put me off. Many of the choices arise because there just aren't that many options open to a woman at the time, but others are poor personal choices. And it didn't help that I disliked Mary more and more as she grew older. Also, since she is a prostitute for some time, all the men in the story are merely walking penises. Decency is perpetually stripped away by lust (no pun intended). And... well, I am sure it is a very accurate mindset for a 16-year-old prostitute in the 18th century, but it was very miserable vacation reading.

The end is so grim and so depressing that I turned right to Naruto to try to get some of it out of my brain, but I ended up having bleak, grey dreams for several days after that. I would fault the author for unnecessary depressing-ness, except that the end is historical fact, and Donoghue wrote the book after discovering said fact and wondering how things might have gotten there.

So really, it is just grey and bleak and grim and made me feel like all people were horrible, and those who weren't horrible were fools.

Ogawa Yayoi - Tramps Like Us, vol. 01-03 (Eng. trans.)

Upon reading the first three pages at rachelmanija's house, I decided to close the manga and buy it for myself based on the following:

• A heroine who is a working woman, not a middle-school, high-school, or college student


• The ugliness of the glass ceiling in the workplace


• Double standards for women and men re: education and aggressive behavior


• Workplaces that vaguely resemble the real world

Also, it has really unique and neat art, and I am a total sucker for that.

Sumire is said working woman (NOT an OL). She went to the prestigious Tokyo University, and then to Harvard, and holds a fairly good position at her newspaper. Her fiance recently broke up with her because he felt intimidated by her and ended up getting together with a woman who made him feel "more comfortable" (read: "less challenged"). On her way home, she finds a young man in a cardboard box and ends up taking him home and cleaning him up. Eventually, he moves in, but as a pet instead of a boyfriend. She names him Momo after the pet dog she had as a kid.

Sumire cooks for Momo, feeds him, shampoos his hair, pets him while she reads or watches TV at night, and has found that she's somehow come to rely on Momo's presence. I really love their relationship. It's not romantic (though it seems like Momo might want it to be). It's Sumire's very strange way of relaxing from all the expectations on her in the workplace, trying to let down her guard and etc. I'm not sure if this is a feminist manga, but it's definitely closer to it than most, and I especially enjoy how Sumire works and lives in a world that isn't too removed from my own, as opposed to most shoujo heroines.

I also adore Momo, who is a dancer. We don't know much about him yet, and I suspect that'll be part of the arcs to come, but I really like how young he feels, how carefree, and the way he absolutely adores Sumire. There are some twinges of UST in a few scenes, but it's not a romance yet, and I like that odd, delicate place between romance and friendship (petship?) that it inhabits.

Very interested to see how the series keeps going.

Also, I love the art.

Donoghue, Emma - Slammerkin (spoilery)

So, by popular demand, the spoilery summary of Slammerkin!

Well, if "by popular demand," you mean "by the request of three people."

Here's my previous entry on the book.

( Spoilers for Slammerkin )