Unpopular Demand
Aug. 12th, 2007 05:41 pmIf I regularly posted, say, every Sunday, running commentary (not necessarily positive) on some or another historical novel (I'm aiming for bargain-basement stuff, here, not your Dorothy Dunnett or Sharon Kay Penman or anything like that), and called it the Sunday Send-Up, how many of you would evince even minimal interest in reading it?
Part of this is, admittedly, the fact that I feel the need to compulsively flap my lips about something on a regular basis, and Thousand-Ships.net is dead and the Slash Cotillion gravy train has stopped running since I've recced about everything I'm going to rec off there; also, the amount of classical mythology fanfic out there is finite. Also, I realize that of course this would only be funny to anyone who had actually read the book, and arguably it would only be funny to me.
Projected titles, at present, include
+ Shogun (James Clavell); this novel is the Moby-Dick to my Captain Ahab)
+ The Revolutionist (Robert Littell) except I just got done with this one in June and I don't know that I really want to read it again so soon)
+ The Emperor series (Conn Iggulden), which I understand are CHOCK-FULL of errors, omissions, and other inaccuracies that will make my classically-trained blood boil)
+ Born With the Century (William Kinsolving), assuming we didn't get rid of our copy; don't even ask
+ Though I prefer to send up straight historical novels rather than historical romances, the oeuvre of Cassie Edwards remains under consideration.
This should last me for the next couple of aeons, at least. But if you've read anything stupendously bad (or, at best, mediocre) and want to recommend it for a hatchet job, feel free to post suggestions.
(Actually, I think a community for this kind of thing might be in order. Pimpin'.)
Part of this is, admittedly, the fact that I feel the need to compulsively flap my lips about something on a regular basis, and Thousand-Ships.net is dead and the Slash Cotillion gravy train has stopped running since I've recced about everything I'm going to rec off there; also, the amount of classical mythology fanfic out there is finite. Also, I realize that of course this would only be funny to anyone who had actually read the book, and arguably it would only be funny to me.
Projected titles, at present, include
+ Shogun (James Clavell); this novel is the Moby-Dick to my Captain Ahab)
+ The Revolutionist (Robert Littell) except I just got done with this one in June and I don't know that I really want to read it again so soon)
+ The Emperor series (Conn Iggulden), which I understand are CHOCK-FULL of errors, omissions, and other inaccuracies that will make my classically-trained blood boil)
+ Born With the Century (William Kinsolving), assuming we didn't get rid of our copy; don't even ask
+ Though I prefer to send up straight historical novels rather than historical romances, the oeuvre of Cassie Edwards remains under consideration.
This should last me for the next couple of aeons, at least. But if you've read anything stupendously bad (or, at best, mediocre) and want to recommend it for a hatchet job, feel free to post suggestions.
(Actually, I think a community for this kind of thing might be in order. Pimpin'.)