Oracne's Brain Radio

TBR Challenge – Change of Plans: Much Ado About Margaret by Madeleine Roux.

October 4:
"He must hypnotise me before the dawn." Very poetic, Mina! A contrast to Van Helsing's "English is not my first language" dialogue which, to me, does not feel realistic most of the time. Did Stoker actually know any Dutch people?

The phonograph diary, as well as Mina's short hand, are contemporary technology but feel a touch science fictional in this novel. I am confused, though, by why Jonathan has to "read" Van Helsing's phonograph diary to her...is it not a voice recording?

October 5:
This chapter has a ton of infodumping. Mina is beginning to show early signs of becoming vampiric. Quincey Morris finally has something useful to do; he's a hunter, and proposes Winchester rifles to fight off Dracula's wolves when they pursue him to Varna.

October 6:
"...I must go. I can tell you now, whilst the sun is coming up; I may not be able again. I know that when the Count wills me I must go. I know that if he tells me to come in secret, I must come by wile; by any device to hoodwink—even Jonathan." Mina is definitely the best character in this book.

Took me a while to get back to this....

Seward drags his friends Godalming, Van Helsing, and Morris along to Renfield, who wants to be set free of the asylum. "I was so much astonished, that the oddness of introducing a madman in an asylum did not strike me at the moment; and, besides, there was a certain dignity in the man's manner, so much of the habit of equality, that I at once made the introduction...." Yikes. Seward doesn't think a madman is equal to other human beings! He's weirded out because Van Helsing speaks to Renfield as to an equal!

Renfield says, "I am not my own master in the matter," which to me implies that Dracula is speaking through him or influencing him. Renfield begs but Seward refuses. Renfield says, "You will, I trust, Dr. Seward, do me the justice to bear in mind, later on, that I did what I could to convince you to-night." Creepy!

Ohhh, Harker, really?! "I am so glad that [Mina] consented to hold back and let us men do the work."

On entering Dracula's premises, Van Helsing says, "In manus tuas, Domine," part of "In manus tuas, Domine, commendo spiritum meum," [Father, into your hands I commit my spirit], supposed to be the last words of Jesus. Side note: a nice setting of this text by Tallis. There are big, flickering shadows and thick coatings of dust, and a foul odor: "It was not alone that it was composed of all the ills of mortality and with the pungent, acrid smell of blood, but it seemed as though corruption had become itself corrupt." Harker keeps thinking he sees Dracula's face in the shadows. A gazillion rats show up, and Godalming uses a whistle to call three terriers to fight them off. After Harker returns home to find Mina sleeping he thinks she appears paler than usual. Dun-dun-dun!

Mina is tired the next day and anxious to know what happened the night before, despite agreeing with her husband that what the men do should be a secret until it's all over. She thinks on her dream of a cold fog that entered her room the night before.

Meanwhile, Harker finds out more on the destinations of Dracula's boxes of dirt; Seward comes to the conclusion that Dracula has been influencing Renfield; and Godalming discovers Dracula has bought a house in Picadilly.

September 26: Jonathan says to Van Helsing, "I mistrusted myself. Doctor, you don't know what it is to doubt everything, even yourself. No, you don't; you couldn't with eyebrows like yours." LOL! Jonathan is very relieved to know he's not insane, that Dracula really is a supernatural threat. Meanwhile, Van Helsing sees the newspaper and knows that a new vampire in preying on children, or so I assume. A "bloofer" one, even.

Meanwhile, Seward is slow on the uptake when Van Helsing is trying to explain that Lucy is now a vampire. Van Helsing waxes eleoquent! "Can you tell me why the tortoise lives more long than generations of men; why the elephant goes on and on till he have seen dynasties; and why the parrot never die only of bite of cat or dog or other complaint?" He also refers to "Indian fakirs," which does not mean what he thinks it means. The whole set piece of them tracking down Lucy, or attempting to do so, is very well-done. Seward is not yet convinced. Possibly, neither was the contemporary reader.

September 27: Vampire Lucy is revealed! Seward really is a scientist, isn't he? Or he plays one on tv. He thinks of alternative explanations very easily.
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I like how Seward's gradual belief is portrayed; his love for Lucy turns into loathing of the creature she's become.

September 28: The next morning, Seward is again doubting the truth of what Van Helsing told him.

September 29: Another set piece, as Van Helsing and Seward bring Godalming (Arthur) and Quincey Morris with them to Lucy's tomb. Because just killing the vampire the night before wasn't dramatic enough. Now we get Sexy Vampire Lucy! And mesmerizing her former lover! And hissing at sight of a crucifix!

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Van Helsing enlists the others to help him fight vampires, and shares Harker's and Mina's diaries with them - the magic of the typewriter! When Mina comes to town, she stays with Seward at the asylum and is totally into his phonograph diary tech; she gets up-to-date on Lucy by listening to it. I love this technical detail: "He accordingly set the phonograph at a slow pace, and I began to typewrite from the beginning of the seventh cylinder. I used manifold, and so took three copies of the diary, just as I had done with all the rest." Meanwhile, Jonathan Harker does detective work about Dracula's arrival in Whitby.

August 19: Renfield awaits his Master.

August 24: Mina travels to Hamburg to take care of Jonathan. "He is only a wreck of himself, and he does not remember anything that has happened to him for a long time past. At least, he wants me to believe so, and I shall never ask." He gives Mina his notebook and she seals it up without looking at it. They marry from his hospital bed. Meanwhile, Lucy writes in her diary, "Last night I seemed to be dreaming again just as I was at Whitby. Perhaps it is the change of air, or getting home again. It is all dark and horrid to me, for I can remember nothing; but I am full of vague fear, and I feel so weak and worn out."

August 25: Lucy hears scratching at the window and has bad dreams. She's pale and her throat hurts. Hmmm.

August 30: Lucy writes to Mina; Arthur has joined her, and they've set a date, September 28. "Arthur says I am getting fat." Fuck you, Arthur! Her tone is way cheerier than her previous diary entries; different audience!

August 31: Arthur writes to Dr. Seward and says "Lucy is ill; that is, she has no special disease, but she looks awful, and is getting worse every day." !!! What happened to getting fat? Was he jollying Lucy along? Lucy's mother has heart disease but has not told Lucy yet. He wants Dr. Seward to have a look at Lucy.

September 1: Arthur telegrams Seward to let him know he has to rush to his father's bedside, so I guess the matter of Lucy is tabled? Or will Seward show up anyway?

September 2: Seward did indeed show up. "I found Miss Westenra in seemingly gay spirits. Her mother was present, and in a few seconds I made up my mind that she was trying all she knew to mislead her mother and prevent her from being anxious. I have no doubt she guesses, if she does not know, what need of caution there is...As soon as the door was closed, however, the mask fell from her face, and she sank down into a chair with a great sigh, and hid her eyes with her hand." Lucy is no fool. Seward notes she is "somewhat bloodless," LOL. She says she sleeps heavily and lethargically with scary dreams...I wonder if they are in fact dreams. I wonder if a contemporary reading would put this together with Dracula having arrived in England?

Seward totally has a crush on Van Helsing. I am in doubt, and so have done the best thing I know of; I have written to my old friend and master, Professor Van Helsing, of Amsterdam, who knows as much about obscure diseases as any one in the world...Van Helsing would, I know, do anything for me for a personal reason, so, no matter on what ground he comes, we must accept his wishes. He is a seemingly arbitrary man, but this is because he knows what he is talking about better than any one else. He is a philosopher and a metaphysician, and one of the most advanced scientists of his day; and he has, I believe, an absolutely open mind. This, with an iron nerve, a temper of the ice-brook, an indomitable resolution, self-command, and toleration exalted from virtues to blessings, and the kindliest and truest heart that beats—these form his equipment for the noble work that he is doing for mankind—work both in theory and practice, for his views are as wide as his all-embracing sympathy.

Van Helsing writes back to Seward to confirm the appointment, and wow some Slash Fodder: "when that time you suck from my wound so swiftly the poison of the gangrene from that knife that our other friend, too nervous, let slip, you did more for him when he wants my aids and you call for them than all his great fortune could do. But it is pleasure added to do for him, your friend; it is to you that I come."

July 27: Lucy "has lost that anæmic look which she had." This made me laugh like Beavis.

July 28: The Demeter is in the midst of a storm and nobody has had enough rest.

July 29: The second mate of the Demeter is missing!

July 30: The Demeter nears England but two more men go missing. "Only self and mate and two hands left to work ship."

August 1: "We seem to be drifting to some terrible doom." Hopefully, things will improve once the remaining Demeter crew offload their cargo. Meanwhile, the old guy speaking Yorkshire dialect. Mr. Swales, is back and has a lengthy rant on the graveyard and which bodies might not be under their tombstones, and which tombstone engravings might be lies...and then he just scampers off. LOL. Mina thinks Lucy is looking well, and she misses Jonathan and is worrying about him.

August 2: Yet one more man missing from the Demeter.

August 3: Wow, scariest Demeter entry yet! And Mina is suspicious of Jonathan's last letter.

August 4: The Demeter plot draws to an end. "If we are wrecked, mayhap this bottle may be found, and those who find it may understand; if not, ... well, then all men shall know that I have been true to my trust." I guess someone must have found it, because it made it into the book....

August 6: "This suspense is getting dreadful," says Mina, and old Mr. Swales might be prophetic: "There's something in that wind and in the hoast beyont that sounds, and looks, and tastes, and smells like death. It's in the air; I feel it comin'. Lord, make me answer cheerful when my call comes!" The coast guard sees the Demeter approaching, "teered mighty strangely." Foreshadowing: your key to quality literature!

Still feeling very grim about dayjob. So trying for five positives.

1. For my Juneteenth reading, I started The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson, and though it's over five hundred pages, with another hundred or so of bibliography, it is not dense or draggy. I got about a hundred pages in, but because it's a heavy book, I won't be carrying it with me, so will probably take a little while to finish. I think using reading glasses will also help, as my progressives are less comfortable with small print.

2. I've ordered a Kobo Nia e-reader because last month, with no fanfare that I saw, Amazon stopped supporting sideloading documents on Kindles, instead making you email them to yourself in some procedure that annoys me. I've had my Paperwhite since 2013 and rely upon it for reading fanfiction and manuscripts for myself and others, which I do via sideloading. I don't actually buy much from them, only things that are unavailable elsewhere or are on special sale. I will continue to use the Paperwhite for things that are inextricably tied to the Evil Empire, at least until it finally gives up the ghost, but otherwise I'm hoping the Kobo will serve as my main e-reader. The Nia had the screen size I wanted, and the lighting is supposed to be adjustable. We shall see. It's supposed to arrive tomorrow.

3. C. and I had a South Philly outing on our sunny Juneteenth afternoon, including outside late lunch with our friend L., who lives in that neighborhood. C. did not find what she was looking for at two hardware stores, but I bought a large container of my preferred detergent and a couple cheap battery-powered emergency lights that I like to keep around for, well, emergencies.

4. This week is supposed to be cloudy and rainy, but it's also fairly cool today and tomorrow, with expected highs of 70 and 67.

5. One of my favorite now-vintage dresses, a stretchy purple velvet, fits Elder Tot and she has claimed it! Hooray!

I've made my themed selections for SuperWendy's T2023 BR Challenge!

January 18 – Starting Over
A Paradigm of Earth by Candas Jane Dorsey. [print]

February 15 – Getaway
A Song for Summer by Eva Ibbotson. [e-book]

March 15 – Baggage
My Father's Ghost by Suzy McKee Charnas. [print]

April 19 – Unusual Historical
Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark. [print, but I also have the e-book]

May 17 – Freebie (Publication date June 6, 2023)
The Dos and Donuts of Love by Adiba Jaigirdar. [e-book, a galley]

June 21 – Love Is Love
The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune. [print]

July 19 – Opposites Attract
A Half-Built Garden by Ruthanna Emrys. [e-book]

August 16 – Tropetastic!
Ocean’s Echo by Everina Maxwell. [I don't own this one, but it's on library hold that will hopefully arrive before August.]

September 20 – New Author
Miss Buncle's Book by D.E. Stevenson. [print]

October 18 – Danger Zone
A Song for a New Day by Sarah Pinsker. [print, but I also have the e-book]

November 15 – Once Upon A Time…
Spear by Nicola Griffith. [e-book]

December 20 – Festive
The Unsolved Case of The Secret Christmas Baby by Hannah Byron. [e-book, a galley]

I've had Barbara Hambly's Magistrates of Hell kicking around on my e-reader since...a really long time. But I didn't read it because I had the third book in that series, Blood Maidens, in print. And I never seemed to want to start Blood Maidens when I was by the shelf with the book; I would only think of it when I saw Magistrates of Hell on my e-reader, and I would think, "Oh, I can't start that, I have to read the print one that comes first." Yesterday, I flung caution to the wind (!!!) and just started reading Magistrates of Hell. And today I found out I can get Blood Maidens as an ebook from my library, so I will read that next, even though I'm reading out of order. Shock! Awe! News at eleven!

I used to read series out of order all the time, because I would find them at the library or used bookstore in random order. This was sometimes very interesting, as when I read the second of Roger Zelazny's Amber books before I read the first one, but didn't realize what I had done until I was on book three.

Then there's Bujold's Vorkosigan series, which except for Shards of Honor I read as it came out, which means I experienced the events out of chronological order for a while, and had the joy of seeing connections across the series and feeling a little zing of realization and recognition each time. (This was before the books started being in chronological order for the most part.)

Anyway. Reader! Gone! Wild!

My library hold on the electronic copy of Richard Adams’ Watership Down came in last night, so I’ve joined in sholio’s re-read: Part One is here. I'm still finishing the first section, but already have enough comments that I thought I would mirror here in my own journal.

Though I haven't read this book in decades, I read it several times in middle school. I've been getting that thing where the words are familiar as I read them, like they made grooves in my mind. I got a strong sense of nostalgia from just the epigraph to the first chapter (Cassandra, in Aeschylus’ “Agamemnon”) and the first sentence. Just the transition from Cassandra: The stench is like a breath from the tomb. to The primroses were over. felt magic, even now. The words in Lapine (rabbit language) are also so very familiar, and I can feel them on my tongue.

As an adult, I’m marveling at how skillfully Adams used omniscient pov. And I had the passing thought that even though he began the book as stories for his daughters, almost all of the characters are male.

I love all the nature description, despite knowing practically nothing about all the different plants and flower’s being described; I might go and look some of them up after this re-read.

I recall being a little scared of Fiver and his prophecies as a kid. Now, as an adult and a writer, I really admire the way his visions shape the plot, and have just realized today that Fiver’s visions might have been an inspiration for some of my own characters, particularly in my (unfinished) novel The Dreamlord War.