ljwrites | Entries tagged with daily theme: reading wednesday

Now listening to: The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner, the third book in her The Queen's Thief series. Eugenides is dealing with being the king of a court that hates him and the threat of the Mede Empire hangs in the background, while the royal guard Costas is swept into the middle of it all. So far I don't find this book as suspenseful as the previous ones and the pacing is somewhat lagging. Costas seems way more of a bystander than a protagonist thus far, diminishing my interest in him, though I do enjoy the look into the rigors of guard life and the complexities of court life. It's still an OK listen to cook or commute to.

Now reading: The King of the Light in the East as a Work of Epic Poetry by Hwang Sun-gu. (Kings are a theme of this week I guess?) I'm not much for literary studies unless you count fandom meta, but The King of the Light in the East is crucial research for my WIP in depicting the life of my heroine's second husband Jumong and the rise of his son (her stepson) Yuri. This poem also goes into more detail than any other source about the rivalry and eventual war between Jumong and Song-yang, a local lord that Jumong would eventually prevail over and make his vassal. In my story Song-yang is both my heroine's and Jumong's ex-boyfriend, so he's a pivotal figure in many ways. The poet, Lee Gyubo, also happens to be an ancestor and it feels sometimes like I'm just taking up a family obsession.

The volume by Hwang Sun-gu presents Lee Gyubo's text in the original Hanja (Chinese characters) and the Korean translation, together with a lot of background analysis. In fact, I'm a little past half done and the excerpts have only just started. The background analysis was... mildly helpful? A lot of it consists of frothy praise about how Lee Gyubo's poem is a literary and historical achievement. Which is correct, as far as it goes, but I like less the whiff of empire-worship from the discussions of how Goguryeoh (modern day North Korea + parts of Northeast China) had a vast continental territory etc. etc. It wasn't like super-heavy analysis or anything and I skimmed through a lot of it. Maybe the textual analysis will be more helpful, and if not it'll be a chance to re-read the text of the poem in more depth.

( Rape discussion and super creepy description, why are you talking about frogs that way D: )

Now listening to: I finished the audiobook version of The Queen of Attolia and will be moving on to The King of Attolia once I load the files onto my phone. I enjoy the distinctive fantasy Greek setting and the depth of the characters and drama in this series. Also the narration of the audiobooks by Jeff Woodman really adds to the atmosphere.

Now viewing: Episodes of Star Trek: Discovery with my husband when we sit down to fold the laundry. We're caught up to "Saints of Imperfection" now. Earlier we watched DS9 together this way (rewatch for me) and are both rather nostalgic for that older style of Trek that had a more leisurely narrative and a more ensemble feel, filler episodes and all. Discovery has characters that I care deeply about and raw, emotional storylines, but it's so tightly focused and fast-paced--from narrative to camera shots--that I'm sometimes overwhelmed.

( Mention of kidnap and slavery, ranting about cotton trade and economics. )