Bleak. It's one thing to take the romance out of the story, but you gotta have something left other than wet socks and muddy boots. Still, I kept askiBleak. It's one thing to take the romance out of the story, but you gotta have something left other than wet socks and muddy boots. Still, I kept asking myself what my grandmother would've thought about this one....more
I only read the intro and the chapter on the Bentivoglioes losing Bologna, but very well written and might come back and read more, later, should timeI only read the intro and the chapter on the Bentivoglioes losing Bologna, but very well written and might come back and read more, later, should time allow...more
I skipped a lot of the back half of this because I'm really only interested in early Italian theatre: Ariosto, Ruzante, Aretino. But this was very useI skipped a lot of the back half of this because I'm really only interested in early Italian theatre: Ariosto, Ruzante, Aretino. But this was very useful, took a ton of notes. And makes a point of going beyond the literary examination of the surviving scripts to ask questions and propose scenarios for how these plays were staged. Commedia dell'arte sounds interesting but I caught myself skimming and realized it was time to move on....more
Great resource on the poet, but the poems...? A very prosaic (?) translation, and so I guess I came away understanding the content, but I feel like thGreat resource on the poet, but the poems...? A very prosaic (?) translation, and so I guess I came away understanding the content, but I feel like these poems were supposed to bite, and that just isn't there. ...more
Better than the rush job that was the second book in this series, but still not Welsh's finest hour. A bit more pulpy than previous efforts, but with Better than the rush job that was the second book in this series, but still not Welsh's finest hour. A bit more pulpy than previous efforts, but with a convoluted and low effort ending in which good guys and bad guys are screaming their motivations and machinations at one another. And even then there's still need for a followup email outlining it all.
Welsh is great at creating characters who are war with themselves but who are fun to spend time with. His Ray Lennox is one of his better protagonists, and Resolution is interesting in that he seems to have made progress on himself from previous efforts. And it is fun to just hang around with him in Brighton: I'd've loved to see more of him and George scamming companies into buying their security systems. Alas...
One final note, unless I missed it, there are no cameos from any of Welsh's other novels, which is a shame because I always look forward to them. Though one of his previous books does get mentioned in a very out of context way at the novel's climax, and I guess that's amusing.
Overall this one just felt a bit low effort....more
Very interesting look at the power sharing arrangement between Isabella and Francesco, going against the perceived notion that Francesco was an oafishVery interesting look at the power sharing arrangement between Isabella and Francesco, going against the perceived notion that Francesco was an oafish simpleton who went with the wind, and that Isabella either never had any real power, was constrained to the realm of art/soft power, or lost her status when Gonzaga began his affair with Lucrezia Borgia. ...more
What foolish folk, the men of Erl, who walk the fields we know! In Erl that had sighed for magic there was indeed magic now. The pigeon-loft and old lWhat foolish folk, the men of Erl, who walk the fields we know! In Erl that had sighed for magic there was indeed magic now. The pigeon-loft and old lumber-lofts over stables were all full of trolls, the ways were full of their antics, and lights bobbed up and down the street at night long after traffic was home. For the will-o'-the-wisps would go dancing along the gutters, and had made their homes round the soft edges of duck-ponds and in green-black patches of moss that grew upon oldest thatch. And nothing seemed the same in the old village....more
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