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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: Heaven: Books make great gifts because they have whole worlds inside of them
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ArachnidinElmet
Shipmate
# 17346
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Posted
Ooh, Dune. My favourite book for many years. I was given a copy for my 14th birthday, read it over a weekend, and then turned round and read it again. And then used it later on as the subject for a GCSE book review. See, see, it was schoolwork all along, honest ![[Biased]](wink.gif)
Speaking of SF, I've just finished Infernal Devices by KW Jeter. An early steampunk novel, the sentence by sentence writing is really lovely and all the faux Victorian stuff really sets a scene. The plot though, is a complete mess. The main character could almost entirely be lifted out of the story without changing it much and there's a really large chunk of exposition to make up for the clueless hero. Disappointing.
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'If a pleasant, straight-forward life is not possible then one must try to wriggle through by subtle manoeuvres' - Kafka
Posts: 1887 | From: the rhubarb triangle | Registered: Sep 2012
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Jane R
Shipmate
# 331
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Posted
I had the exact opposite experience when reading The Affinity Bridge by George Mann. Great plot, interesting characters... let down by appalling prose style. Reading it was like listening to Les Dawson playing the piano. You'd be reading along happily, thinking 'Yes, this is good' and suddenly, in the middle of an otherwise innocuous sentence, there would be an adjective (or adverb) that *sounded* similar to the right one for that context but was ever-so-slightly wrong.
Halfway through I skipped to the end to find out what happened, because I couldn't stand it any more.
(For non-UK readers: Les Dawson playing the piano )
Posts: 3958 | From: Jorvik | Registered: May 2001
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ArachnidinElmet
Shipmate
# 17346
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Posted
Maybe they should start writing books together?
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'If a pleasant, straight-forward life is not possible then one must try to wriggle through by subtle manoeuvres' - Kafka
Posts: 1887 | From: the rhubarb triangle | Registered: Sep 2012
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Brenda Clough
Shipmate
# 18061
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Posted
I am only slowly climbing out of a deep slough of research, which I must and shall put behind me. I need to read something totally different! But before I shake the Victorians utterly off of my sandals, has anyone read any of the works of Thomas Carlyle? I have read some of his wife's letters, which are great fun, and am hoping to avoid reading the man's own works.
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Science fiction and fantasy writer with a Patreon page
Posts: 6378 | From: Washington DC | Registered: Mar 2014
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venbede
Shipmate
# 16669
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Posted
I found Sartor Resartus deeply depressing because it expressed my deepest fears as to the meaninglessness of life.
It was a relief to turn to Ruskin.
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Man was made for joy and woe;
And when this we rightly know,
Thro' the world we safely go.
Posts: 3201 | From: An historic market town nestling in the folds of Surrey's rolling North Downs, | Registered: Sep 2011
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Brenda Clough
Shipmate
# 18061
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Posted
I do not want to actually read any of his works. Life is too short, and I have miles to go before I sleep. You confirm my feeling. (But how was Ruskin? Anything you recommend?)
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Science fiction and fantasy writer with a Patreon page
Posts: 6378 | From: Washington DC | Registered: Mar 2014
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venbede
Shipmate
# 16669
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Posted
I would strongly recommend the lecture "The Works of Iron" and the fairy story "The King of the Golden River".
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Man was made for joy and woe;
And when this we rightly know,
Thro' the world we safely go.
Posts: 3201 | From: An historic market town nestling in the folds of Surrey's rolling North Downs, | Registered: Sep 2011
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Trudy Scrumptious
BBE Shieldmaiden
# 5647
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Posted
Oh my gosh. These Lymond books. I'm going to need therapy when this is all over.
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Books and things.
I lied. There are no things. Just books.
Posts: 7428 | From: Closer to Paris than I am to Vancouver | Registered: Mar 2004
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Brenda Clough
Shipmate
# 18061
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Posted
You have not read them before? They are huge and fat and unutterably gripping, so reserve a chunk of time to devour them in peace. Otherwise your work and sleep will suffer, because that last volume is a rocket ride.
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Science fiction and fantasy writer with a Patreon page
Posts: 6378 | From: Washington DC | Registered: Mar 2014
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Trudy Scrumptious
BBE Shieldmaiden
# 5647
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Posted
No, this is my first time through. I've been putting them off for awhile because they seemed like a big committment. And yes, they are definitely interfering with both work and sleep (mostly sleep though). I'm just starting the fifth book.
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Books and things.
I lied. There are no things. Just books.
Posts: 7428 | From: Closer to Paris than I am to Vancouver | Registered: Mar 2004
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Huia
Shipmate
# 3473
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Posted
I feel bereft - I've lost my kindle ![[Waterworks]](graemlins/bawling.gif) at a bus stop.
I'm saving madly.
Huia
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Charity gives food from the table, Justice gives a place at the table.
Posts: 10382 | From: Te Wai Pounamu | Registered: Oct 2002
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Sarasa
Shipmate
# 12271
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Posted
Hiia - I feel your pain. I managed to put mine in the washing machine last summer - it didn't like it, though the cover came out looking very clean. Got a new one (the old one was an early make) which I like even beter.
Someone might hand it in - fingers crossed.
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'I guess things didn't go so well tonight, but I'm trying. Lord, I'm trying.' Charlie (Harvey Keitel) in Mean Streets.
Posts: 2035 | From: London | Registered: Jan 2007
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Brenda Clough
Shipmate
# 18061
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Posted
Since your Kindle account is your own (separate from any device) is it endangered when you mislay your device?
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Science fiction and fantasy writer with a Patreon page
Posts: 6378 | From: Washington DC | Registered: Mar 2014
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Jengie jon
Semper Reformanda
# 273
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Posted
On the other hand it might well mean that Amazon are able to link the Kindle back to you. There is advice for UK users at Amazon.
Jengie
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"To violate a persons ability to distinguish fact from fantasy is the epistemological equivalent of rape." Noretta Koertge
Back to my blog
Posts: 20894 | From: city of steel, butterflies and rainbows | Registered: May 2001
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Curiosity killed ...
Ship's Mug
# 11770
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Posted
Can you link your Kindle account to other devices? I can read books on my Kindle account on my smart phone, Kindle and tablet (and they usually manage to start me at the right place.)
You might find a tablet is more use to you.
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Mugs - Keep the Ship afloat
Posts: 13794 | From: outiside the outer ring road | Registered: Aug 2006
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ArachnidinElmet
Shipmate
# 17346
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Posted
Just been totting up my book total for the year. I keep a book diary running from March to February and had been attempting a Personal Best. I made it by 7 books ![[Yipee]](graemlins/spin.gif) Might try and do it again, but that might be asking a bit much without deliberately reading thinner books which is a bit silly.
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'If a pleasant, straight-forward life is not possible then one must try to wriggle through by subtle manoeuvres' - Kafka
Posts: 1887 | From: the rhubarb triangle | Registered: Sep 2012
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Sipech
Shipmate
# 16870
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by ArachnidinElmet:
Just been totting up my book total for the year. I keep a book diary running from March to February and had been attempting a Personal Best. I made it by 7 books
Had to read that twice, as I thought you said "made it to 7 books". That doesn't sound all too impressive unless your reading consists of War and Peace, Summa Theologica, In Search of Lost Time, Clarissa, Church Dogmatics, Ulysses and The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.
I'm just embarking on Crime and Punishment.
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I try to be self-deprecating; I'm just not very good at it.
Twitter: http://twitter.com/TheAlethiophile
Posts: 3791 | From: On the corporate ladder | Registered: Jan 2012
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Sarasa
Shipmate
# 12271
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Posted
Crime and Punishment is one of my favourite books, probably due a re-read, when I get to the end of the pile of books I've got waiting.
I've just finished The Trouble with Sheep and Goats by Joanna Cannon that Jack the Lass mentioned a page or two ago. I like the evocation of the East Midlands int he seventies, a place and time I knew well, and some of the writing and characterisation was top notch. I wasn't too convinced by the way the story was told though.
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'I guess things didn't go so well tonight, but I'm trying. Lord, I'm trying.' Charlie (Harvey Keitel) in Mean Streets.
Posts: 2035 | From: London | Registered: Jan 2007
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ArachnidinElmet
Shipmate
# 17346
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Sipech:
quote:
Originally posted by ArachnidinElmet:
Just been totting up my book total for the year. I keep a book diary running from March to February and had been attempting a Personal Best. I made it by 7 books
Had to read that twice, as I thought you said "made it to 7 books".
![[Smile]](smile.gif) Not quite. I made it up to 80. Other years have been as low as 30-odd, depending on what's going on. Normally I don't go for a particular number but was trying to discipline myself to not leave books unfinished.
I'm reading The Tain at the moment. The Irish legend about a long and bloody war started because a husband and wife fall out over the quality of their respective livestock.
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'If a pleasant, straight-forward life is not possible then one must try to wriggle through by subtle manoeuvres' - Kafka
Posts: 1887 | From: the rhubarb triangle | Registered: Sep 2012
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Trudy Scrumptious
BBE Shieldmaiden
# 5647
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Posted
Coming up to the last few chapters of the last book of the Lymond Chronicles now. I am simultaneously unable to put it down, and trying to slow down so it's not over too soon.
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Books and things.
I lied. There are no things. Just books.
Posts: 7428 | From: Closer to Paris than I am to Vancouver | Registered: Mar 2004
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Brenda Clough
Shipmate
# 18061
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Posted
There are books I specifically save for times of horrific tedium. If I am stuck in bed on chemotherapy, or having to nurse a sick relative for six weeks, or have to travel on business to Las Vegas, I resort to these sure reads, which I am careful to either not begin now or to not reread often. The Lymond books are these. When I am in traction, or have back surgery, I will need all six volumes. (For years I had the Horatio Hornblower books in permanent holding pattern, knowing I would need them some day. Then I spent six weeks in Oregon with the sick relative, and oh! they were marvelous.)
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Science fiction and fantasy writer with a Patreon page
Posts: 6378 | From: Washington DC | Registered: Mar 2014
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Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Trudy Scrumptious:
Coming up to the last few chapters of the last book of the Lymond Chronicles now. I am simultaneously unable to put it down, and trying to slow down so it's not over too soon.
Yes. I tried the House of Niccolo series afterwards, but I couldn't get on with them: Lymond is a charismatic figure and I wanted more of his adventures, not another character's, even if he is an ancestor.
Posts: 25445 | Registered: May 2001
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Brenda Clough
Shipmate
# 18061
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Posted
No, Niccolo is curiously dry. And she has a mystery series, about a boat (Dollybird?) which I could not get into either. Tell you what she did write that is utterly great, however, is King Hereafter -- a Macbeth novel. It is a standalone, not a series, and truly titanic.
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Science fiction and fantasy writer with a Patreon page
Posts: 6378 | From: Washington DC | Registered: Mar 2014
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Trudy Scrumptious
BBE Shieldmaiden
# 5647
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Posted
I've been wanting to read King Hereafter because after twenty years of teaching MacB over and over again I can't count how many times I've thought, "It would be great if someone wrote a really good novel based on this story," and I have high hopes this might be it. I didn't have plans to plunge into Niccolo right after Lymond because I don't think even with the same author I would be able to get as absorbed in a different character for a new series, though I thought I'd keep it on the back burner for when I needed something new and long to start. Disappointed to hear that other Lymond-lovers haven't been grabbed by that series.
I'll probably finish Checkmate tonight and then I'll be wandering around for a few days like I've lost a friend or something.
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Books and things.
I lied. There are no things. Just books.
Posts: 7428 | From: Closer to Paris than I am to Vancouver | Registered: Mar 2004
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Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
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Posted
Yes, say hello to Jerott for me. He was always one of my favourite characters, with Marthe and the Dame de Doubtance not far behind. There is only one Francis Crawford, though.
"King Hereafter" is good and worth reading, though the use of the name "Groa" for his wife may be a bit difficult to get used to. Or so I found it. (Too suggestive of "Groan" and "Gro-bag".)
I ought to read something. I'm not reading anything currently, except the daily Metro, free at all good railway stations. Need to do something about that.
[ 02. March 2016, 20:37: Message edited by: Ariel ]
Posts: 25445 | Registered: May 2001
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Trudy Scrumptious
BBE Shieldmaiden
# 5647
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Posted
Her real name was Gruach, apparently, which sounds like a particularly unpleasant Scottish porridge, so maybe Groa is the least-offensive variation Dunnett could find.
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Books and things.
I lied. There are no things. Just books.
Posts: 7428 | From: Closer to Paris than I am to Vancouver | Registered: Mar 2004
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Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Trudy Scrumptious:
Her real name was Gruach, apparently, which sounds like a particularly unpleasant Scottish porridge, so maybe Groa is the least-offensive variation Dunnett could find.
Gruach is even worse. I could see myself saying it on being faced with a bowl of porridge.
Posts: 25445 | Registered: May 2001
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Brenda Clough
Shipmate
# 18061
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Posted
I had no problems with her name, but then where I come from characters are named Frodo and Bilbo.
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Science fiction and fantasy writer with a Patreon page
Posts: 6378 | From: Washington DC | Registered: Mar 2014
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Trudy Scrumptious
BBE Shieldmaiden
# 5647
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
Yes, say hello to Jerott for me. He was always one of my favourite characters, with Marthe and the Dame de Doubtance not far behind. There is only one Francis Crawford, though.
Jerrott and Marthe both irritate the hell out of me with their ridiculous drama. As a result, after the huge "WTF would any author really DO that 10 pages from the end of the book????" moment in the last chapter, I was fine with the ending and felt no sorrow about it at all.
All the characters I loved survived and had more-or-less happy endings*, so I'm very pleased with how the series worked out.
*I mean, "happy" the qualified sense that anyone who happened to be living in Scotland, or pretty much any European country, in 1558, was likely to get a happy ending.
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Books and things.
I lied. There are no things. Just books.
Posts: 7428 | From: Closer to Paris than I am to Vancouver | Registered: Mar 2004
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Brenda Clough
Shipmate
# 18061
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Posted
Don't know if you're a fan of the Outlander series (they do nothing for me at all) but the author enjoys a rabid fandom and she recommends the Lymond books for people who need more about medieval Scotland.
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Science fiction and fantasy writer with a Patreon page
Posts: 6378 | From: Washington DC | Registered: Mar 2014
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Jack the Lass
Ship's airhead
# 3415
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Sarasa:
I've just finished The Trouble with Sheep and Goats by Joanna Cannon that Jack the Lass mentioned a page or two ago. I like the evocation of the East Midlands int he seventies, a place and time I knew well, and some of the writing and characterisation was top notch. I wasn't too convinced by the way the story was told though.
I'm glad you liked it (albeit qualified liking! ). I personally liked how it was told, from the view of different residents - I seem to get on better by and large with books where there are different perspectives and the picture is built up gradually that way, rather than books entirely from one perspective. The bit that didn't work so well for me was the girls' search for God.
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"My body is a temple - it's big and doesn't move." (Jo Brand)
wiblog blipfoto blog
Posts: 5767 | From: the land of the deep-fried Mars Bar | Registered: Oct 2002
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Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
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Posted
I was never keen on the Scottish settings in the Lymond books: the attraction for me was the Mediterranean. The books are set in the Tudor period, although the Dame is clearly a leftover from medieval days. I'd love to read her backstory.
[ 03. March 2016, 17:01: Message edited by: Ariel ]
Posts: 25445 | Registered: May 2001
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Pigwidgeon
Ship's Owl
# 10192
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Sarasa:
I've just finished The Trouble with Sheep and Goats by Joanna Cannon that Jack the Lass mentioned a page or two ago. I like the evocation of the East Midlands int he seventies, a place and time I knew well, and some of the writing and characterisation was top notch. I wasn't too convinced by the way the story was told though.
I also bought The Trouble with Sheep and Goats based on Jack the Lass's recommendation -- it's in my (very large) collection of to-be-read books.
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"...that is generally a matter for Pigwidgeon, several other consenting adults, a bottle of cheap Gin and the odd giraffe."
~Tortuf
Posts: 9835 | From: Hogwarts | Registered: Aug 2005
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Trudy Scrumptious
BBE Shieldmaiden
# 5647
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Brenda Clough:
Don't know if you're a fan of the Outlander series (they do nothing for me at all) but the author enjoys a rabid fandom and she recommends the Lymond books for people who need more about medieval Scotland.
Nah, I read the first Outlander book but I had no desire to read on. It's funny because I often love time travel but not that particular series.
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Books and things.
I lied. There are no things. Just books.
Posts: 7428 | From: Closer to Paris than I am to Vancouver | Registered: Mar 2004
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Jack the Lass
Ship's airhead
# 3415
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Pigwidgeon:
I also bought The Trouble with Sheep and Goats based on Jack the Lass's recommendation -- it's in my (very large) collection of to-be-read books.
Eek - I feel the weight of responsibility, I hope you like it! (or at least don't hate it! ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif) )
I'm just starting "Madame de Treymes" by Edith Wharton now. I've never read any of her work before, but as this is a short novella it should hopefully be a gentle introduction (and if I don't like it at least it won't take hours I'll never get back again!).
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"My body is a temple - it's big and doesn't move." (Jo Brand)
wiblog blipfoto blog
Posts: 5767 | From: the land of the deep-fried Mars Bar | Registered: Oct 2002
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Brenda Clough
Shipmate
# 18061
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Posted
There is a huge, vast subgenrelet called time travel romance, of which Outlander was the kickoff best-seller (in the same way that Jane Eyre is responsible for all those governess in weird manor novels). They all have essentially the same plot -- a hunky Viking/Scotsman/knight/Moor/whatever is confronted via time travel with a modern female, and they have lots of sex. I discover that this subgenrelet is now broken down into even finer subdivisions, Viking TT, Scots TT, and so on.
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Science fiction and fantasy writer with a Patreon page
Posts: 6378 | From: Washington DC | Registered: Mar 2014
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Sipech
Shipmate
# 16870
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Sarasa:
Crime and Punishment is one of my favourite books, probably due a re-read, when I get to the end of the pile of books I've got waiting.
I'm hating it so far. It's such slow going, the characters haven't been properly introduced and I've no idea what's going on.
When I read The Double, it struck me how Kafka-esque Dostoevsky's writing was, but for the last 2 commutes, I've been reading a letter that was in a single paragraph that spanned multiple pages and which made no sense whatsoever. It wasn't until I got to the end and double-checked the name of the signatory with the character list that I realised it was from his mother. I thought it was the mad ramblings of the main character himself. ![[Projectile]](graemlins/puke2.gif)
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I try to be self-deprecating; I'm just not very good at it.
Twitter: http://twitter.com/TheAlethiophile
Posts: 3791 | From: On the corporate ladder | Registered: Jan 2012
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la vie en rouge
Parisienne
# 10688
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Posted
I think the pleasure one takes in those big chunky Russian novels depends a lot on the translation.
I tried Crime and Punishment a first time and didn’t get on with it at all. I picked it up again later in another translation and loved it.
In a similar vein, The Brothers Karamazov gets my vote for the greatest novel ever written by anyone, but the Penguin translation of it is horrible.
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Rent my holiday home in the South of France
Posts: 3696 | Registered: Nov 2005
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mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by la vie en rouge:
I think the pleasure one takes in those big chunky Russian novels depends a lot on the translation.
I tried Crime and Punishment a first time and didn’t get on with it at all. I picked it up again later in another translation and loved it.
In a similar vein, The Brothers Karamazov gets my vote for the greatest novel ever written by anyone, but the Penguin translation of it is horrible.
Hear, hear! I tried and gave up on Crime and Punishment in three different (bad) translations until I found the Pevear and Volokonsky translation, which sings. They are an amazing team, and I have many of their translations of the Russian classics (and even a collection of the writings of a Russian-born Parisian Orfie saint who smuggled Jews out of occupied France).
I'd say that Brothers Karamazov is my second favorite novel. But then I've only read it 3 times.
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This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001
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Sipech
Shipmate
# 16870
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Posted
Thanks for the recommendation, mousethief.
The version I picked up was published under Wordsworth Classics imprint, translated by Constance Garnett.
I think the only time I've hated a translation of a book was when I read the George Chapman translation of The Iliad, which forced (mangling the language in the process) the text into rhyming couplets.
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I try to be self-deprecating; I'm just not very good at it.
Twitter: http://twitter.com/TheAlethiophile
Posts: 3791 | From: On the corporate ladder | Registered: Jan 2012
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mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
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Posted
Constance Garnett is the absolute worst. She leaves out whole chunks and invents stuff that isn't there, according to what I've read.
P&V are an amazing team. Larissa Volokhonsky is a native Russian speaker. She writes a very rough, word-for-word wooden translation of the text then hands it off to her husband Richard Pevear, a native English speaker. He then turns it into polished prose, and gives it back to V. to check against the Russian. After a few iterations of this they have a beautiful translation.
Most of their Dostoyevsky translations are in Knopf/Everyman editions. Which are lovely works of art in themselves in these days of crappy, easily-broken paperbacks.
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This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001
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Jack the Lass
Ship's airhead
# 3415
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Posted
My friend who has a postgrad qualification in Russian literature is similarly scathing about Constance Garnett. According to her, CG is basically trying to be Jane Austen and translating accordingly, eliminating any sense of Russian style. Wikipedia also notes: "In her translations, she worked quickly, and smoothed over certain small portions for "readability", particularly in her translations of Dostoyevsky. In instances where she did not understand a word or phrase, she omitted that portion." I think your best bet will be to try another translation, rather than give up.
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"My body is a temple - it's big and doesn't move." (Jo Brand)
wiblog blipfoto blog
Posts: 5767 | From: the land of the deep-fried Mars Bar | Registered: Oct 2002
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venbede
Shipmate
# 16669
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Posted
I am fascinated by Dostoyevsky, ever since I read The Idiot as a teenager and found it treated seriously, not to say hysterically, the two subjects of vital importance that could never be discussed in Devon - sex and religion.
I've just re-read it and The Devils in the old Penguin translation by David Magarshack. I think I preferred The Devils.
I managed to get to the end of the Constance Garnett translation of Crime and Punishment a few years ago but found it very slow work although it should be the most approachable.
I'll avoid any further Garnett versions. (Out of copyright translations are freely available as downloads, which I don't think does the original works any favours.)
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Man was made for joy and woe;
And when this we rightly know,
Thro' the world we safely go.
Posts: 3201 | From: An historic market town nestling in the folds of Surrey's rolling North Downs, | Registered: Sep 2011
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Trudy Scrumptious
BBE Shieldmaiden
# 5647
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Posted
I just looked back at the version of Crime and Punishment I read back in 2013 or whenever it was that I was trying to catch up on classics I'd missed, and sure enough Constance Garnett was the translator. Wish I'd been warned in advance as I'd probably have enjoyed it a lot more in a better translation.
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Books and things.
I lied. There are no things. Just books.
Posts: 7428 | From: Closer to Paris than I am to Vancouver | Registered: Mar 2004
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venbede
Shipmate
# 16669
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Posted
I managed the Constance Garnett War and Peace OK.
I guess mousethief’s saint was Saint Maria of Paris, who sounds fascinating. The only saint I know who chain smoked.
I got The Idiot as a teenager in an Edwardian translation by Eva Martin, but recently got the current Penguin translation by David Macduff. La vie en rose hated his Karamazov. I’ve browzed his introduction in a bookshop and he doesn’t think much of Father Zosima.
I wish I’d known mousethief’s recommendation of P&V.
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Man was made for joy and woe;
And when this we rightly know,
Thro' the world we safely go.
Posts: 3201 | From: An historic market town nestling in the folds of Surrey's rolling North Downs, | Registered: Sep 2011
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Sarasa
Shipmate
# 12271
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Posted
I've got the McDuff Crime and Punishment which I think is OK, but as I don't speak RUssian I don't think I'm a good judge. I gave up on Constance Garnett's Anna Karenina as a teenager as every character seemed to be refering to other character's as 'cold fish' and even as a teenager that didn't seem quite the right idiom.
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'I guess things didn't go so well tonight, but I'm trying. Lord, I'm trying.' Charlie (Harvey Keitel) in Mean Streets.
Posts: 2035 | From: London | Registered: Jan 2007
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North East Quine
Curious beastie
# 13049
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Trudy Scrumptious:
Her real name was Gruach, apparently, which sounds like a particularly unpleasant Scottish porridge, so maybe Groa is the least-offensive variation Dunnett could find.
Gruach sounds much better to my ears than Groa, which sounds like a groan. Gruach sounds like the wind in the trees. My friend's cat was called Gruach; I like the sound of it.
One book on Macbeth which I can recommend is "MacBeth a True Story" by Fiona Watson. Watson has written a historical biography of Macbeth, and has filled the gaps in his known history with educated guess work, in italics. It's surprisingly readable.
Posts: 6414 | From: North East Scotland | Registered: Oct 2007
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