Summer Reading

[formergothardite]

So I've been in a long reading slump. I have so many books I start and just can't get into, But someone gave me the first Outlander book and I was super excited. I've seen clips of the show and it looked like something I would like. Time travel, men in kilts, the struggle between choosing between two different times, all things that appeal to me. 

But holy fuck. I'm not sure I want to watch the show after reading this, not unless they changed it. 

Spoiler

He beats and rapes her!! And we are supposed to swoon over him because he is a young, hot guy in a kilt?! The writer tries to justify the beating by saying that was their culture and him later swearing he won't do it again. But he talks about how much he enjoyed assaulting her. And he raped her to teach her a lesson that she can't deny him sex? She is begging him to stop and saying he is hurting her and he says that he will show her no mercy. And then the next morning when she is covered in bruises and feels like her insides have been beaten he demands she has sex with him again and she realizes that he is making sure she learned her lesson, that he will be gentle but she can't deny him sex. 

I just do not get the cult following of this series. 

 

Edited July 7, 2019 by choralcrusader8613

[AliceInFundyland]

In a similar vein, I just finished listening to the audiobooks of Got.

Now, I read them all. And the first three a few times. But I tend to skip distasteful parts. And then there was the show, which did its own distasteful stuff, then backed off.

Ok so the narrator is this guy Roy Dotrice. He has a few issues. One is voice continuity. Another is just being bad at female voices.

But that was fine. What was unpleasant was just some of the random sex. I was ewwwwwwww. Like hello I'd blocked or completely erased this sketchiness (I woke up in the middle of the night night to Jorah 'embracing' Dany) and was grossed out.

I will still read the final two if they happen. Just some new perspectives.

Edited July 7, 2019 by AliceInFundyland

[Maggie Mae]

2 hours ago, formergothardite said:

So I've been in a long reading slump. I have so many books I start and just can't get into, But someone gave me the first Outlander book and I was super excited. I've seen clips of the show and it looked like something I would like. Time travel, men in kilts, the struggle between choosing between two different times, all things that appeal to me. 

But holy fuck. I'm not sure I want to watch the show after reading this, not unless they changed it. 

  Hide contents

He beats and rapes her!! And we are supposed to swoon over him because he is a young, hot guy in a kilt?! The writer tries to justify the beating by saying that was their culture and him later swearing he won't do it again. But he talks about how much he enjoyed assaulting her. And he raped her to teach her a lesson that she can't deny him sex? She is begging him to stop and saying he is hurting her and he says that he will show her no mercy. And then the next morning when she is covered in bruises and feels like her insides have been beaten he demands she has sex with him again and she realizes that he is making sure she learned her lesson, that he will be gentle but she can't deny him sex. 

I just do not get the cult following of this series. 

 

I have only seen the first season and part of the second. I listened to most of the first audio book and read about half of the book. I'm usually 100% on team book. But honestly, I think i prefer the show.  

The show is now streaming on Netflix, FYI. I think it was an interesting premise, but I'm not a fan of romance so I think that might be why I prefer the show?  I would have liked more back and forth between the two times, and more history. Less rape. 

Edit: I will say that the show handled rape a hell of a lot better than Game Of Thrones The Show TM

[formergothardite]

I'm currently reading Dread Nation by Justina Ireland. It is a book about when the Civil War getting interrupted by zombies. Former slaves and Native Americans are put in schools when they are 12 to train them to kill zombies. 
It is good so far. 

[Marly]

I'm currently reading American War by Omar El Akkad. Very interesting story so far! The story is set in the future, during the second civil war. This civil war is over the abolition of fossil fuels, which the south disagrees with. Florida is gone due to the rise of the sea water level, most of the west coast is absorbed into the Mexican Protectorate, and Georgia, Alabama and Missisippi form the Free Southern State. 
The author portrays a very vivid, grim, realistic picture of war. It also shows how desperate people (refugees and war victims) are easy recruitment targets for rebel groups and other people concerned with the continuation of the war. How they are likely to be exploited by those with stakes in the war. The author manages to show this and convey the horrible conditions of the refugees without too much gore or explicit scenes. I personally don't like detailed accounts of rape and/or torture, for instance. So far, and I'm over halfway through, this book doesn't have scenes like that, yet still perfectly conveys the desperation, anger, hoplesness and feelings of revenge of the southern refugees.
I also like how it portrayes how the roles are now reversed. The new superpowers are China and the Bouazizi Empire, and the latter supplies the Free Southern State rebels with ammo and weapons, as their economy benefits from the war in the USA. They also supply refugee camps in the south with medical aid. 

I would definitely recommend this book. 

[CTRLZero]

I've been traveling and house/cat-sitting for a few weeks, and it's nice to be back.

I picked a book off the shelf at the home I was occupying:  Brain on Fire by Susannah Cahalan.  This book recounts her descent into madness with an ailment that was difficult to diagnose, leading to wrong treatments, and discussion of institutionalization for mental illness.

This book made me wonder about Rachel Held Evans' illness and death, as the descriptions of their respective illnesses seemed eerily similar.  If Cahalan's parents hadn't had the dedication, resources, and connections to a network of experts, Cahalan would likely have died.  Cahalan's records of her experiences are understandably muddled, since it was a condition which affected her brain, but it is really fascinating as she pieces it all together from her own memories, medical records, interviews with her treatment team, etc.

She really makes a good case for more thoroughly investigating the underlying causes of mental illness.