Lobelia the adverbially eclectic

Ricarda Huch's The Last Summer (1910): a novella in letters

Wed, 13 May 2026 11:44:33 GMT

I last read this in the 1970s, lauded and loaned by my grandmother, and it is as phenomenal as it was then. It's been haunting my memory on and off and finally I got around to re-reading. <cut> I don't think I have ever read a book that ratchets up the suspense in such a brilliant, understated, foreshadowing, backshadowing, sideshadowing way. The premise is genius: an anarchist insinuates himself into an haut-bourgeois household in Russia sometime before 1910 with the view to [spoiler -- you must read it!]. The anarchist / revolutionary is on principle opposed to everything the bourgeois class stands for but is at the same time drawn into / bewitched by the family's cosmopolitan charm, refined and cultured beauty, and easy-going affection. The individuals are brilliantly drawn; all are told through letters (this is the best epistolary novella I have ever read) and each voice is unique, vivid, complex. This is a miracle of a book, and the ending... omg, the ending. [I am not spoilering! Go and read it!]

To me, a huge extra pleasure derives from Ricarda Huch's wonderful prose in German. I am moderately allergic to 21st-century anglo-ified German and relish, indeed wallow, in the German style of yore. I was in Konjunktiv-heaven in sentences such as the following (both Konjunktiv 1 and 2): "...sei es num, weil keine Gefahr vorhanden sei oder weil ich nicht dafür einstehen könnte, daß ich sie abzuwenden imstande wäre.'

Other wonderful sentences (among a cornucopia of such): 'denn auch der Herrscher ist gebunden, nicht nur der Beherrschte." (not only politically profound but also narratively poignant) Something like 'for the ruler / dominator is bound, not only the ruled / dominated'.

The mother does not want politics to be talked about: "...überhaupt sollte man sie mit politischen Dingen, von denen die Frauen doch ausgeschlossen wären, in Ruhe lassen. Warum sollte sie sich ein Urteil bilden, das sie doch nicht geltend machen könnte?" So before we have a chance to condemn the woman of the house for being uninterested in politics, we get a subtle authorial intervention as to the justified reason; this is, after all, a time of women's rights lobbyists agitating for women's suffrage (their struggles bore fruit when German women got the vote in 1919; Russian women in 1917). Because why indeed should a woman form a political judgement if she couldn't act on it, anyway?

Very interesting historical detail about buying an 'Automobil' and wondering whether one with petrol or one with electricity would be cheaper. And this in 1910! Who knew! (Not I.)

A sample of the beautifully nuanced and occasionally metaphorically effusive (justified by the individual letter writer's temperament) characterisation: "...er ist wie ein schöner Dolch mit kunstvollem Griff und einer mit Edelsteinen buntgeschmückten Scheide, wie sie zuweilen in Museen ausgestellt sind; Lju ist wie de schlichte Bogen des Apollo, der nie fehlende Pfeile entsendet." (something like: '...he s like a handsome dagger with artful handle and a sheath decorated with colourful gems as is sometimes exhibited in museums; Lju is like the simple bow of Apollo that sends out unerring arrows")

A beautiful and resonant Chekhovian novella that gains additional poignancy for us now, knowing that war and communist revolution were to come four and seven years after publication.

This German version of 1910 is available for free via the Gutenberg Project.

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I was here for beta

Sat, 04 Apr 2026 21:23:39 GMT

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verkriechen

Wed, 25 Mar 2026 21:12:06 GMT

Today I just want to curl up under a blanket and hide.

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my indexical crush

Tue, 24 Mar 2026 22:58:36 GMT

Behold my index crush. Look at his charming dimples that only appear at delightfully rare moments! Marvel at his subtle humour and earnest indexicalness! Just look at his adorable hand gestures, side parting and skivvy/brown blazer combo.

Watching this video is soothing to my brain.

https://www.c-span.org/program/book-tv/achieving-the-ideal-index/101682

#seth)_maislin

I just checked AO3. There is Not A Single Fic about this man. Not a one!

ETA: Also that thing he does with his eyebrow, arching one while the other stays horizontal.

ETTA: That video is from many decades ago. That man has two children and a wife. They spent a holiday on an organic farm in Australia. There is too much internet out there for a fourth wall. I must now draw back from this brink.

Nothing stopping me from listening to the dulcet tones of a room full of indexers, though.

ETTTA: I first encountered this indexer via this page https://taxonomist.tripod.com/indexing/wordproblems.html when I was struggling with doing an index using MS Word. It's an irreverent, incredibly detailed and pragmatically helpful page. And the formatting dates it to a Different Time.

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index love

Mon, 23 Mar 2026 17:37:43 GMT

I love an index. I love compiling my own index. I have now got a slight crush on an indexer (who is gloriously nerdy) from watching him at a panel of the American Society of Indexers' 32nd annual conference in Albuquerque in May 2000, talking about 'Achieving the Ideal Index.'

/ runs away

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BOOK REVIEW: Johnny B. Truant, The Artisan Author: The Low-Stress, High-Quality, Fan-Focused Approac

Thu, 26 Feb 2026 15:25:00 GMT

I am a sucker for how-to books so this one sucked me right in. I listened to it on audio. I can't say that the author is the all-time-best at narrating but his voice was adequate.

Positive take-aways: Write what you like, and then find your 'superfans' who also like just that. Don't worry about the rest. I did like being reminded of the art in artisan; that was quite freeing.

A thing that annoyed me or that I found tedious: ( Read more... )Oh look, there is a comma in the sub-title, so this fills one of my 52 book reading challenge prompts of 2026.

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BOOK REVIEW: Friedrich Schlegel, Lucinde (1799)

Thu, 26 Feb 2026 15:19:43 GMT

What even is this, and what did I read? ( Read more... ) This may be my new brand: geschlechtsloses Amphibion. Especially as 'Amphibion', a very weird Greek noun with a neutral grammatical gender 'das' (today's usage is 'die Amphibie', feminine).

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BOOK REVIEW; A Negro Explorer at the North Pole

Mon, 23 Feb 2026 10:58:20 GMT

The middle of this book about the 1908-1909 expedition to the North Pole is a spellbinding read of adventure, peril and arctic beauty. ( Read more... ) ETA: Goodreads issue now fixed.

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ten things to post on this heavensite

Sat, 14 Feb 2026 23:33:28 GMT

Update on things:

Thing One. I am obsessively running finances in order to determine whether I can afford to take early retirement. Werk is underwhelming.

Thing Two: Research which is putatively part of werk is, on the other hand, very whelming. If I didn't have werk, I could devote more time to it.

Thing Three: I am still planning the life of a selfpublished novelist. Another reason to retire.

Thing Four: The sister sends photos of her over-wintering in sunny Egypt every single gloomy January and beyond day. And there goes another reason to retire.

Thing Five: I have written 1,700 words of Dudley/Draco secretary fic omg. If I retired, I could write 17,000 words.

Thing Six: I watched Everest on iplayer. The book by Kracauer was gripping, and so is the movie. Studio sets, though, are studio sets. Still, I should be thankful they didn't expose actors to life-threatening conditions.

Thing Seven: T'older son's wedding looms.

Thing Eight: My own divorce looms.

Thing Nine: The dog is a dog.

Thing Ten: And now I must really to bed.

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Louis/Benedict

Fri, 30 Jan 2026 23:13:15 GMT

Bridgerton OTP Louis/Benedict. I can hazz made icon. (My first in over a decade!)

Note: Canva was hopeless in making this. I made it in powerpoint. Next step: add some text. Tomorrow, maybe.

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Bridgerton s4

Fri, 30 Jan 2026 21:15:51 GMT

Squeeeee! Cut for gleeful spoiler.
( Read more... )
Rare pairs for the win, as ever.

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Why i no hazz sherlock icon?

Sat, 24 Jan 2026 21:29:30 GMT

I've been feeling a teensy bit shit and started watching 'Agatha Christie's Seven Dials' and Detective Martin Freeman reminded me of Dr Watson, and what do you know? I found myself watching the entire first episode of 'Sherlock' and laughing out loud all over again. What a show that was in its heyday, what a ride, what a fandom. The vids! The fics! Wingfic! Asexualfic! (It's when I first discovered asexuality.) Weird and wonderful I-don't-even-know sex fic!

It was a wild fandom. And Freeman/Cumberbatch are an utter joy. Anthea, too! I had forgotten Anthea! Mrs Hudson!! It is only now that I cottoned on to her saying that it's not drugs, it's for medicinal purposes, for her 'hip. LeStrade! That madcap run through Soho streets and the inventive camerawork and use of texting!

Pure glorious joy.

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marking

Tue, 13 Jan 2026 22:05:13 GMT

All this marking. I am so bored. I am now dreaming of early retirement every single day. I have decided to go at age 65 (2 days before UK statutory pension age). This entails a loss of income which is also making me nervous. But not nervous enough to keep going. Not that I've told anyone yet.

Where is my wizened Lobelia Sackville-Baggins icon? Languishing somewhere over in LJ, I guess.

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My motto for 2026

Tue, 06 Jan 2026 22:32:33 GMT

I have decided this year's motto:

Create.

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Some more writing experiments: Regency German-style

Mon, 05 Jan 2026 20:19:24 GMT

Fandom: Regency in Germany, to wit: Franzosenzeit
Characters: Gottlieb and other origs
Extracts from: A literary lady's travel guide (cross-over character from the Travelogue fandom)
No canonical or fanonical characters were harmed in the making of this snippet.

( Under the cut, thou wilt find / writing of the experimental kind )End of cut text.

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BOOK REVIEW: Time to shine, by Rachel Reid

Mon, 05 Jan 2026 12:47:46 GMT

This was very readable. I had high expectations (looking at you, Heated Rivalry) so some disappointment was perhaps inevitable. ( More review )Cross-posted from Goodreads.

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Flexing the writing muscles with some late-night writing experiments

Sun, 04 Jan 2026 23:04:31 GMT

( Writing experimentally with some orig peeps )

That will be all for tonight. 'tis time for bed.

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FICS: Pillion fandom. Crowe/crane fandom.

Sun, 04 Jan 2026 22:34:10 GMT

I posted two fics!

I'll Prick You with My Cactus. (Pillion) Colin & Ray. Ray / cross-over characters. 2k words.
How to flee relationships while holding on to the one key

~~~

The Crane Husband.Yuletide fic. (Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute RPF). Chris Crowe / Walnut the Crane. 2k words.
Once upon a time there was a man and a crane. But was the crane a man? And was the man lost in the feathers of love?

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Vague plannings for 2026

Fri, 02 Jan 2026 22:01:51 GMT

1. Send book proposal to Princeton University Press.
2. Finish revising academic manuscript.
3. Draft a regency romance novel, inspired by my November novel writing month of 2025. (Or, more accurately: scrap 90% of wot i wroted and redo.)
4. Plan for early retirement.
5. Think of my motto for the year (2025's was "luxury").
6. Get window quotes.
7. Get John Lewis kitchen quote.
8. Claim my Henry Moore bid. Finally.
9. Prep for son's wedding.
10. Write fanfiction.

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120 books in 2026?

Fri, 02 Jan 2026 20:48:22 GMT

Once again, I have set 120 books as my reading goal for 2026.

I mean.

Whom am I kidding?

(Last year, I read 234. /runs away)

I do enjoy the permanent confetti on Goodreads, though, which showers one as soon as one has passed the goal.

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My year in books: 2025

Fri, 02 Jan 2026 14:38:40 GMT

* 234 books (absurd)
* 66 by men writers (28%) (a considerable increase from 2019 when I had gone off men writers completely)
* 37 rereads

My categorisations:
* 19 fantasy, 17 SF, 14 Memoir, 24 How-tos
* 56 romance (of which most in the last 10 weeks of the year; I didn't think to parse into m/m, het, contemp, historical, etc but may do anon)
* 14 children's (I didn't do a count of YAs)
* 60 non-fiction (26%)
* 10 landscape theme books: Rainforest (was last year's landscape)
* 1 in Italian, 1 in French, 20 in German, 27 in translation

My reading challenges:
* The 'Something Bookish' Reading Challenge
* The 52 in 52 Challenge
* Rereading challenge
* Diverse Reading
* 12 Books of Holiday Romance
* Exploring Romance
* My own Diversify Your Decades

* I added 10 new countries to my quest of 'reading the world'.

Authors I read most by:
* KJ Charles (mostly rereads)
* AJ Demas (mostly rereads)
* Ursula K. Le Guin (mostly rereads)
* Lisa Henry and JA Rock (the Lords of Bucknall Club series)

Best five:
* Non-fiction:
Ben Rawlence, City of Thorns
Siddharth Kara, Modern Slavery
* Fiction:
Lee Welch, Mr Collins in Love
AJ Demas, The Boy Bride
Robert Jackson Bennett, Leviathan series

This post is brought to you by the comments section of tamaranth where it initially appeared.

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yuletide fic finished!

Wed, 10 Dec 2025 20:31:39 GMT

Phew. As I am travelling from tomorrow and had a paper to write and deliver by yesterday evening, and another paper the week before, that left only today for yuletide, argh.

But I did it! Did research. Wrote 2,402 words of yule fic. All within, let's say, five hours. Ish.

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nano win yay!

Fri, 21 Nov 2025 18:44:17 GMT

I passed the 50k mark! 51,840 words so far!

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nano stats

Tue, 18 Nov 2025 20:39:42 GMT

My nano stats this year! Via TrackBear:

( Read more... )

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regency schmegency

Mon, 17 Nov 2025 10:03:54 GMT

Today I wrote over 2000 words of nano novel before breakfast. Once the pivot has pivoted, the words just flow. Apparently.

Have discovered two good regency moving image inspos: Northanger Abbey (the 2007 version with actually a very sweet and believable Catherine and Henry Tilney) and the Mira Nair-directed Vanity Fair (with Reese Witherspoon as Becky Sharp- how had I not known this existed??).

I had already watched All The Bridgerton and rewatched bits of the BBC Pride and Prejudice (iconic Firth arising from the waters).

I have earmarked Hornblower and Sharpe.

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