laceblade | Readings

I fail at keeping up with media reviews; here are the things I find worthy of commentary.

The Ozark Trilogy by Suzette Haden Elgin
Responsible of Brightwater lives in a different world, where the kingdoms are mostly named after the states that made up the Ozarks. I found 'the land of Marktwain' to be a bit eye-roll-y.
The population comprising Marktwain arrived in this other world because they were fed up with pollution/etc. of Earth, and they wanted to move somewhere more sensible.

One thing I found mind-boggling is that the author states point-blank that everyone in Marktwain is white. WTF, what happened to all of the people of color?? Did they just decide not to move with everyone else? Were they not allowed to? What the hell? I found this pretty distracting, as it is never explained.

Each kingdom has at least one granny, a matriarchal figure who is capable of performing certain types of magic/spells. Grannies are also highly skilled in the ability of delivering epic tongue-lashings, especially to headstrong men in their kingdoms. The books are almost worth reading just for these epic monologues alone.

I liked the protagonist and her sister. I liked the twist at the end. Overall, this was a fun little trilogy, and I like Elgin's writing style. I think that the first book, Twelve Fair Kingdoms, wasn't really necessary, as it was just an exercise in "Tell instead of show.....ad nauseum."

Free Land by Rose Wilder Lane
Written by Rose before she/her mother started publishing the Little House books.
This story is basically an AU fanfiction about her parents, in which they never marry (lol Rose had mother issues). In some ways, this book addresses the scary/adult issues of living on the prairie a little more directly than the Little House books ever did (going after a claim jumper to string him up), and in some ways it's less so (the Long Winter was a happy time of closeness and warmth!).

My main issue with the book relates to the ending and Rose Wilder Lane's political beliefs. Just in case anyone doesn't want to be spoiled,
The book ends with pseudo!Almanzo's father coming to visit them in Dakota and giving pseudo!Almanzo a ton of money, in order to help him out, get out of debt, get ahead.

In real life, Rose Wilder Lane was a hardcore Libertarian adamantly opposed to things like the New Deal, Social Security, etc. She is considered one of the mothers of the U.S. Liberatarian movement, along with Ayn Rand.

So while this book is about the supposed rugged individuals who eke it out on the prairie by their own strength of will, in the end, the characters get a glimmer of hope because of the class privilege afforded to them by pseudo!Almanzo's parents.

It seems to me that the people who believe one should always "pull yourself up by your own boot straps" rather than accept government handouts are ones who are okay with an easy way out involving a handout from close family/friends/benefactors (much like Rose supported the higher education of various oys whom she 'adopted' during her life). I don't mean that it's easy to accept money from someone else, even if they're your parents, but rather that it's a certain comfort/possibility that some people can count on, and others can't even consider.

It astounds me that people who think that way are incapable of stretching their imaginations just enough to consider a reality in which a person is born into circumstances in which they have no such options or glimmers of hope, and government assistance is necessary to keep a family alive/healthy.

Kuroshitsuji, aka Black Butler, vol. 1 by Yana Toboso
This series is ridiculously popular, and I found the first volume pretty boring. Does anybody know if it gets better?

Santa Olivia by Jacqueline Carey
Read for December's

beer_marmalade. I liked the dystopian future-ness of this book; I liked the protagonist; I liked the use of Catholicism/becoming your own saint/etc. Something about this fell a little flat for me, though. Maybe I just found the boxing boring.

Sunshine by Robin McKinley
I really...didn't like this? I feel like I should, because lots of people cite it as a favorite. The exposition irritated the fuck out of me. And in the end, what happened in this book? Really, nothing, except that Sunshine did a lot of laundry, took a lot of baths, and baked a lot of pastry-type things.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I'd not known about Rose's libertarian tendencies, but it doesn't endear her any further to me. I remember when that book came out about how Rose had edited her mother's books (so that Pa got all the good lines, etc.), and I found it appalling.

re: Sunshine
I remember liking the way the vampire seemed like more than a traditional, two-dimensional, magical sort of person. I also liked that the female protagonist was independent financially and emotionally, which you'd THINK shouldn't be so unusual by now. Or maybe I was just seduced by the thoughts of cinnamon rolls....

There's actually a lot of controversy over the extent to which Rose's hand was present in the Little House books. It's clear that she did at least some editing and made lots of suggestions, but her mother didn't take them all. Also, evidence says she was more heavily involved in the earlier books, with things tapering off in the later books. She's definitely more responsible for the randomass patriotic stuff (i.e., Fourth of July scene in Little Town on the Prairie), and in general helping things start in certain places to set the scene. Like for By the Shores of Silver Lake, I think Laura was adamant that it start with everyone on the train, and Rose was like, lol, no, you need to start on Plum Creek and bridge that shit.

re Sunshine, you're right, it does have those things going for it! I'd much rather give Sunshine to a 14-year-old than Twilight.

A useful piece of the Ozark story to read is "What the EPA Don't Know Won't Hurt Them". It was originally published in 1990, and why it's not included in the 2000 reprint of the Ozark Trilogy i do not know. But this story explains that it was a group of 12 families that moved and the whole thing was highly secret -- it's not like there were calls for people to migrate off-Earth with them. Granted, there's still no logical reason no families of color couldn't have been included.

I have a deep appreciation for the Ozark stories for 2 reasons. One is for the empowerment of older women. I definitely chafe because the grannies are still only empowered within certain stereotypical granny strictures, but still, the grannies are highly visible and have real power, and that's definitely something.

Two is for the fact that it gives a marginalized group intelligence and dignity -- i.e., hillbillies. I especially love the short story i linked above because it gives a logical purpose to the junk piles that aren't uncommon in rural yards.

Thanks for the link! My copies are from the 80s or something (found used), so it was obviously not included.

And yes to both your points. Overall, I'm just really glad I found Suzette Haden Elgin. I've also been reading some of her "How to communicate effectively in the workplace!" books. I have an embarassing love for books like these, with heinous titles like, "Business Relationships That Last!"

I checked my 2000 University of Arkansas Press omnibus reprint and it's not in there. After i commented here Andy got into an argument with me asserting that he "was sure" he'd read it in the book, which is so clearly not the case.

Suzette Haden Elgin is just an amazing person all around. She's

ozarque at LJ, and i highly recommend reading her blog. She's really open and thoughtful about what it's like being an old lady (and i'm pretty sure she uses that term regularly).

Oh my, yes. She quit coming to WisCon just as you were starting. I was always o.O fangirly about her, because she introduced me to the ideas of matching a person's communicative style — something M.J. Hardman talked about in the fab panel last year I'll probably never write down.

I was so grateful she was able to come for WisCon 30. I even managed to hold myself back from going completely fannish all over here!

Suzette aka

ozarque is beyond awesome. Have you read the Native Tongue books?

We read the first for Beer & Marmalade, and I liked it. I own the second two, but have not read them yet!

It seems to me that the people who believe one should always "pull yourself up by your own boot straps" rather than accept government handouts are ones who are okay with an easy way out involving a handout from close family/friends/benefactors (much like Rose supported the higher education of various oys whom she 'adopted' during her life). I don't mean that it's easy to accept money from someone else, even if they're your parents, but rather that it's a certain comfort/possibility that some people can count on, and others can't even consider.

This! During law school, I kept getting into arguments with a friend of mine because he was a Libertarian and really opposed to those sort of programs and yet perfectly fine with his father paying for his rent and everything. And I kept saying, you know, except for social programs and government-provided loans and such, I WOULDN'T BE HERE. Just like you wouldn't be here if daddy couldn't fund your living.

I really...didn't like this? I feel like I should, because lots of people cite it as a favorite. The exposition irritated the fuck out of me.

I didn't like Sunshine either. I was still working at the bookstore when it came out, so I read it early, and then was shocked when everyone just absolutely adored it. It was the first McKinley book I didn't really like, too.

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