Hidden and revealed...

The purpose of art is to lay bare the questions which have been hidden by the answers. - James Arthur Baldwin, 1924 - 1987

And then, in the same "Quotes of the Day" entry, it was a treat to see James Nicoll: "I don't mind hidden depths but I insist that there be a surface."

Which Torchwood Character Am I?....

Well, we all know which one I'd want to be.( I like flexibility. And rooftops. And long coats. )

Mont Blanc, Cthulhu, and projectile Bics...

I am not in the habit of reading reviews of pens on Amazon. I should do it more. These were ... unexpected.

Little known books...

January 24, 2008: What’s your favorite book that nobody else has heard of? You know, not Little Women or Huckleberry Finn, not the latest best-seller . . . whether they’ve read them or not, everybody “knows” those books. I’m talking about the best book that, when you tell people that you love it, they go, “Huh? Never heard of it?”

I suppose a lot of my favourite books are fairly obscure. It's hard to know... Have other people read the Eugenides books by Megan Whelan Turner, the Macedon universe books of Karin Lowachee, the works of Dorothy Dunnett, Ellen Kushner's Swordspoint and Privilege of the Sword, The Vintner's Luck by Elizabeth Knox, the wonderful books of Mary Doria Russell?

Yes, some people have. In some cases I read them because they were recommended to me. But most of the above I found on my own, and I'd venture to say that they aren't books that have been read by all - even if they've won awards, or been nominated for them. Even though they are so exquisitely good.

Some of my favourite books are those which have been read by everybody, or at least heard of: Jane Eyre, the Bujold novels, the Georgette Heyer novels, the Baroness Orczy novels - that's the Scarlet Pimpernel, for the uninitiated. Precious Bane was once famous, though maybe isn't now. Shellabarger's books were made into movies. Horatio Hornblower is famous, and so is Charles Dickens.

Torchwood: a few more Sleeper comments...

I watched Torchwood 2.02 "Sleeper" again this evening while doing yoga. ( A few brief and random thoughts... )

Doctor Who: En français...

I've been taping Torchwood in French once a week, and Doctor Who once a day. I failed to set my machine properly yesterday, and missed an episode of Doctor Who. I was upset because I thought it would be one of my favourites - "À la croisée des chemins" or "The Parting of the Ways". But I have that one, deliciously intact and beautiful. So I would have expected this morning's episode to be "Un Loup-garou royal" ("Tooth and Claw") if I missed "Une nouvelle Terre" ("New Earth") but no, it was "L'Invasion de Noël" ("The Christmas Invasion").

Fine. But how did they fit "The Christmas Invasion" into a normal one-hour timeslot? They cut, of course. I don't know what else they cut, but they chopped the end of at the point where the Doctor, Rose, and Jackie have just begun to hug. The Doctor's on fine terms with Harriet Jones - no mention of Torchwood, no attack on the Sycorax ship, no sabotaging of her political career.

I rather wish the English version had stopped there, too.

I wonder what episode I missed yesterday.

FIC Torchwood (Drabble) - Words

Title: Words
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Captain Jack Harkness
Challenge: tw100, challenge: banter
Rating: G
Disclaimer: Not mine, no claims, all property of the BBC.
Notes: Spoilers for Doctor Who series 3, "The Last of the Time Lords". Cross-posted to tw100 and to my LJ.

( Words )