Reading Wednesday

[yuuago]

Finished reading: Dead Reckoning: The Untold Story of the Northwest Passage by Ken McGoogan. I've read other books about the history of the search for the Northwest Passage before, but this one is different in a few ways. It was published recently (2017), so it's able to incorporate information from the discoveries of the wrecks of the HMS Erebus and Terror. Secondly, it discusses indigenous people to a wider extent than I usually see - it of course includes information about Inuit testimony re: the Franklin expedition, both the original tragedy and the re-discovery of it, but it also discusses various other people involved in the many other Passage searches, including overland expenditions. And it does this in a lot more detail than I typically see in these books, including names of the indigenous individuals involved, and quotes when available. He also devotes a lot of time to Jane Franklin and the role she had in creating the mythology surrounding John Franklin - I feel like, while this is usually covered to some degree, she isn't often given the amount of pagetime she deserves for her role in all this. Anyway, in all, it was very interesting, very readable. I'd also recommend this author's biography of Jane Franklin, Lady Franklin's Revenge - it's very good too.

Currently reading: Raising Steam by Terry Pratchett. I'm about 3/4 of the way through this one. It's very... odd. It's been a while since I last read any of the later Discworld novels, but the - how can I put it - the "texture" of the writing is so different from what I'm used to, it's throwing off my groove. I don't dislike it, but I think after I'm done with this one I might want to re-read an old favourite from earlier in the series and compare.

Reading next: Spark Joy by Marie Kondo. I meant to read this a few weeks ago, but went on vacation before I could get to it. Let's try again. ;)

Want to Read: The Collected Songs of Cold Mountain by Han Shan, translated by Red Pine. [This book.] I was reaaally tempted by this when I came across it while browsing through a bookstore in Victoria. Instead, I asked my local library to order it. ;) I'm not hugely familiar with Han Shan's poetry, but I have read and liked some of it, so I'm looking forward to reading this whenever the library gets it.

Comments

[aboxthecolourofheartache]

The reason why Raising Steam might feel a bit off is because it is one of the last books Pratchett published before his death. He was working closely with an aide at the time, but his health was taking a decided turn for the worse. I remember reading somewhere that he was unable to do his typical editing routine. :'( You might be picking up on the lack of that classic Pratchett tightly-edited patter.

[yuuago]

Oh, right! I forgot that there was hardly anything after this - just Shepherd's Crown (which I don't plan on reading). That definitely explains quite a lot. :(

[zeest]

I've read Raising Steam and I wasn't super into it, though I couldn't pinpoint what I didn't like about it. I thought maybe Discworld books just weren't my thing anymore. But reading the above comment about it being one of Pratchett's last books... it makes me sad :(

[yuuago]

The more I read it, the more I figure yeah, the fact that it's one of the last is probably to blame for the weird vibes I'm getting.

Very sad indeed, but - at least the books that we did love so much are still there.