Friday, September 2, 2011
Friday
Today is my friend Jericha's 17th birthday!! And there is a heat advisory until 8PM and yet I still have to go outside in the HEAT and march on the TURF that ADDS 10-20 degrees to the temperature. It's already about 90 F and on the turf it will feel like death. Plus I have a cold so that makes everything more fun. . .
Currently
Book(s):
Master & Commander by Patrick O'Brian
Pages this week: 100
Pages total: 250
Sentences of the Week:
1. "'Oh, oh, oh,' cried Jack, leaping on to a chair. 'A snake!'
'Will these do? asked Stephen. 'They have a hole in them.'
'Is it poisonous?'
'Extremely so. I dare say it will attack you, directly. I have very little doubt of it. Was I to put the silk stockings over my worst stockings, sure the hole would not show: but then, I should stifle with heat. Do not you find it uncommonly hot?'
'Oh, it must be two fathoms long. Tell me, is it really poisonous? On your oath now?'
'If you thrust your hand down its throat as far as its back teeth you may meet a little venom; but not otherwise. Malpolon monspessulanus is a very innocent serpent.'"
Pranks are amusing; especially when the captain is scared for his life and acting like a kitchen-maid who saw a mouse!
2. "I am crazier than shirttails / In the wind, when you’re near, a wind that blows from / The big blue sea, so shiny so deep and so unlike us" - "To You" by Kenneth Koch
Master & Commander by Patrick O'Brian
Pages this week: 100
Pages total: 250
Sentences of the Week:
1. "'Oh, oh, oh,' cried Jack, leaping on to a chair. 'A snake!'
'Will these do? asked Stephen. 'They have a hole in them.'
'Is it poisonous?'
'Extremely so. I dare say it will attack you, directly. I have very little doubt of it. Was I to put the silk stockings over my worst stockings, sure the hole would not show: but then, I should stifle with heat. Do not you find it uncommonly hot?'
'Oh, it must be two fathoms long. Tell me, is it really poisonous? On your oath now?'
'If you thrust your hand down its throat as far as its back teeth you may meet a little venom; but not otherwise. Malpolon monspessulanus is a very innocent serpent.'"
Pranks are amusing; especially when the captain is scared for his life and acting like a kitchen-maid who saw a mouse!
2. "I am crazier than shirttails / In the wind, when you’re near, a wind that blows from / The big blue sea, so shiny so deep and so unlike us" - "To You" by Kenneth Koch
Amused
So this blog is dedicated to some of the things I found amusing or interesting in my adventures in reading Master & Commander by Patrick O'Brian.
In Chapter Five, Stephen Maturin has to help a woman in labor on another ship. The child was born, but I'm not sure if the mother died. This was interesting to me because there was a woman on board a ship and I've heard of the superstition about women being bad luck. It was also interesting because there was a pregnant woman on board.
Still in Chapter Five, James Dillon is talking with Stephen about Jack Aubrey. According to my inferences, James is jealous of Jack because Jack is captain of the Sophie. "I should say 'What's wrong with Jack Aubrey?'" -Stephen Maturin "And perhaps I should reply 'Everything, since he has a command and I have not,'" -James Dillon. Later in the chapter, James apologizes to Stephen for "speak[ing] so rancorously." This is probably the first apology I have found in the book.
I am also amused at all the Latin words that are exchanged when there are people around that should not hear certain things. I have also found French and many medical terms in this book.
In Chapter Six, Jack Aubrey finds a snake on the ship. Stephen plays a prank on him by telling him that the snake is very poisonous. Jack freaks out and then Stephen tells him that the snake is pretty harmless. Ha.
In Chapter Five, Stephen Maturin has to help a woman in labor on another ship. The child was born, but I'm not sure if the mother died. This was interesting to me because there was a woman on board a ship and I've heard of the superstition about women being bad luck. It was also interesting because there was a pregnant woman on board.
Still in Chapter Five, James Dillon is talking with Stephen about Jack Aubrey. According to my inferences, James is jealous of Jack because Jack is captain of the Sophie. "I should say 'What's wrong with Jack Aubrey?'" -Stephen Maturin "And perhaps I should reply 'Everything, since he has a command and I have not,'" -James Dillon. Later in the chapter, James apologizes to Stephen for "speak[ing] so rancorously." This is probably the first apology I have found in the book.
I am also amused at all the Latin words that are exchanged when there are people around that should not hear certain things. I have also found French and many medical terms in this book.
In Chapter Six, Jack Aubrey finds a snake on the ship. Stephen plays a prank on him by telling him that the snake is very poisonous. Jack freaks out and then Stephen tells him that the snake is pretty harmless. Ha.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
More Master & Commander
So I am still reading Master & Commander by Patrick O'Brian and I am having difficulties finding time to read any book whatsoever. I am in the marching band which eats up a lot of my time. On top of that, I have other homework assignments and feline distractions. I have three cats who like to meow a lot asking for my attention. If I do not answer them with a petting session, then they will sit on me and give me the "I'm cute and adorable so pet me now" face. I must comply. You do not ignore these cats. They have claws and teeth and know how to use them.
Anyways, an update about the story. I'm into Chapter Five now and it starts off with the Sophie's log. What was different this time was an entry about a death. A fifteen-year old crew member died from too much grog, which is the only alcohol that the crew has access to. The log made the event sound like something mechanical or normal occurred, it didn't seem human. "Its tone of semi-literate, official, righteous dullness never varied; it spoke of the opening of beef-cask no. 271 and the death of the loblolly-boy in exactly the same voice, and it never deviated into human prose even for the taking of the sloop's first prize." This does not sit right with me. The death of a person should at least show some emotion as if somebody cared that a person died.
The log also reported the sighting of a ship. This ship seemed to be in distress. When the Sophie got close enough to see but still far enough away to be safe from attack, Dr. Stephen Maturin noticed a dead body on deck. Stephen got a telescope, in the book it is referred to as a glass, and was able to identify the cause of death. The person died from the plague. Stephen wanted to go on board the other ship and search for survivors but Captain Jack Aubrey forbade him from boarding the merchant ship. The threat of the plague entering the Sophie was greater than the reward of finding survivors. If the crew had the slightest worry about contracting the plague, then the entire crew would fall apart mentally. The crew would probably starting thinking that every symptom, such as a sneeze, could be diagnosed as the plague. Then the crew would develop illnesses that are all-in-their-head instead of the body physically being ill. It would be similar to the "House" episode "Airborne" where the Asian man on an airplane start reacting to the altitude change and then the other passengers get "sick" because they were panicked and easily suggestible, and everybody who had symptoms (except Mr. Peng the Asian man) was suffering from conversion disorder. Anyways, Jack refuses to let Stephen help the survivors. Stephen is appalled by his lack of compassion even after hearing Jack's tale of potential quarantine at Mahon. The log does not note that Stephen waved his fist at Captain Aubrey. I guess the log is not a 100% truthful record, it also is skewed.
Anyways, an update about the story. I'm into Chapter Five now and it starts off with the Sophie's log. What was different this time was an entry about a death. A fifteen-year old crew member died from too much grog, which is the only alcohol that the crew has access to. The log made the event sound like something mechanical or normal occurred, it didn't seem human. "Its tone of semi-literate, official, righteous dullness never varied; it spoke of the opening of beef-cask no. 271 and the death of the loblolly-boy in exactly the same voice, and it never deviated into human prose even for the taking of the sloop's first prize." This does not sit right with me. The death of a person should at least show some emotion as if somebody cared that a person died.
The log also reported the sighting of a ship. This ship seemed to be in distress. When the Sophie got close enough to see but still far enough away to be safe from attack, Dr. Stephen Maturin noticed a dead body on deck. Stephen got a telescope, in the book it is referred to as a glass, and was able to identify the cause of death. The person died from the plague. Stephen wanted to go on board the other ship and search for survivors but Captain Jack Aubrey forbade him from boarding the merchant ship. The threat of the plague entering the Sophie was greater than the reward of finding survivors. If the crew had the slightest worry about contracting the plague, then the entire crew would fall apart mentally. The crew would probably starting thinking that every symptom, such as a sneeze, could be diagnosed as the plague. Then the crew would develop illnesses that are all-in-their-head instead of the body physically being ill. It would be similar to the "House" episode "Airborne" where the Asian man on an airplane start reacting to the altitude change and then the other passengers get "sick" because they were panicked and easily suggestible, and everybody who had symptoms (except Mr. Peng the Asian man) was suffering from conversion disorder. Anyways, Jack refuses to let Stephen help the survivors. Stephen is appalled by his lack of compassion even after hearing Jack's tale of potential quarantine at Mahon. The log does not note that Stephen waved his fist at Captain Aubrey. I guess the log is not a 100% truthful record, it also is skewed.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
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