The Journal of Gaurav Dubey

Reading list changes

2008-04-24T23:48:00.004-05:00

I will be removing the following books from my reading queue and unsorted list:

Medieval Gentlewoman: Life in a Gentry Household in the Later Middle Ages by Ffiona Swabey
The Secret Middle Ages: Discovering the Real Medieval World by Malcolm Jones
The Worlds of Medieval Europe by Clifford R. Backman

Since I've decided that Cauldron will not be medieval fantasy, I see no point in spending time on medieval history right now. I might add one or two books on the topic to my unsorted list later.

I will be adding the following to the head of my reading queue:

Science and Technology in World History: An Introduction by James McClellan
The Secret History of the Sword: Adventures in Ancient Martial Arts by J. Christopher Amberger

I need to learn about the effects of science and technology on history, for which the book by McClellan seems a good place to start. Also, since Cauldron is still going to have swordplay, I need to read a general text on the history of the sword.

Building Cauldron

2008-04-24T21:09:00.028-05:00

My initial plan was for Cauldron to be a medieval fantasy world. However, I have decided that this is clichéd and unoriginal; furthermore, writing a convincing medieval fantasy presents a set of problems that I'd rather avoid. Therefore I've decided to reconstruct Cauldron.

Making medieval fantasy convincing is far more difficult than it appears. The fact is, the medieval world was a much different place than the world we live in today. Our world is relatively comfortable and convenient: modern communications, transport, medicine, science and technology allow us to indulge in a lifestyle unimaginable by somebody from, say, the 14th century. These are things we take for granted, which is why it is incredibly difficult for somebody like me to imagine life in the Middle Ages. The problem goes beyond a world's superficial elements, such as styles of food or clothing, or even the state of science and technology; it is fundamentally difficult to imagine a world where venturing outside one's town is an act fraught with risk and danger. In my opinion, properly wrapping my mind around the Middle Ages would require months, if not years, of historical immersion and research.

It is highly tempting to use magic as a way to solve these problems: with magic, one could create a world that is comparable to ours in comfort and convenience. In my opinion, however, this really wouldn't be very good. Dominic Deegan, a prominent webcomic, does this: the result is something that I can only describe as 'medieval fantasy lite'. Michael Terraciano's fictional world is one where modern conveniences and values are transplanted into a superficially medieval setting: this is highly unconvincing, to say the least. Many of these elements make the world not feel 'medieval' at all: one wonders why the medieval trappings are there in the first place.

There is, however, a more basic problem. I could craft a medieval universe that is scrupulously accurate and unfailingly convincing; however, this would really not be new or interesting at all. Medieval fantasy is overdone: there must be thousands of books written in the genre. Even if I were to do years of research before releasing my story, I would only be joining a throng of other writers. There would be nothing to make my work stand out.

Given this state of affairs, I find myself asking: why medieval? If I were to abandon this requirement, I could create my own setting, with whatever elements I chose to put in. Naturally, I can't just run slipshod, sprinkling pirates and ninjas and dragons all over: there will still be a good amount of research to do. This research will be on empires, history, science, technology, and whatever other topics come into play while building worlds.

How does one go about constructing a world this way? There are several elements that I intend to carry over from the old, medieval setting: these parameters will act as a starting point from which I can build the new world. I'm not going to list them all here; however, a few examples include:

Two humanoid races
Prominent magic
Swords
Dragons
The Super Cauldron Empire

The basic story I plan to write will stay the same; however, the new setting will help me to clear my mind, while freeing me from the constraints of a medieval world.

Reading list changes

2008-03-17T18:45:00.004-05:00

I've been stalled on Kushiel's Dart for months: it's a rather slow book, and I don't have the energy to read it right now (despite all the kinky bits). I think it would be best to read something more relevant to my development on Cauldron: for this reason, I'll be moving Medieval Gentlewoman: Life in a Gentry Household in the Later Middle Ages by Ffiona Swabey to the top of my queue. I need some background on the medieval lifestyle, and this seems like a decent introduction.

I'll also be adding Science and Technology in World History: An Introduction by James McClellan to my unordered list. It's a textbook, and I probably won't read the entire thing, but it seems like a useful resource.

The Dark Tower: The Drawing of the Three

2008-03-17T18:34:00.004-05:00

Since this is the second book in a series, there isn't a lot I want to say about it. I do have a few bullet points:

When Roland stepped through the portal and looked through Eddie's eyes into a new world, it truly conveyed a sense of strangeness and wonder.
Earlier, two of Roland's fingers were bitten off by a strange lobster-like creature: this happened in a moment, completely out of the blue, but it left a profound impression, due to the severe negative impact it had on Roland's ability to fire a gun (a fundamental skill for a gunslinger).
The action scenes were well done, as they were in the previous book: they had a cinematic quality.

I'm not sure what I'll be reading next: I need to prune my reading list. I'll talk about that in a separate post.

A Game of Thrones

2007-12-29T23:59:00.000-06:00

A Game of Thrones is the first book of A Song of Ice and Fire, George R.R. Martin's fantasy novel series. Its grim outlook and focus on social turmoil and intrigue make it rather different than most other fantasy I've read till date.

There are certain distinct features of the author's writing style: Martin drops names and concepts casually throughout the narrative, elaborating them later, once they've had a little time to sink in. This is a good way to build the world gradually; also, it motivates the reader to continue reading, in order to find out what these concepts mean. The author writes each chapter from a different character's point of view: his writing style shifts subtly to suit the character in question, making it childish, sardonic, shallow or solemn as necessary. The author seems to prefer shorter sentences: he doesn't use very many colon- or semi-colon-based compound constructions.

The fictional universe is very well realized: the social structure of the Seven Kingdoms feels highly authentic, with numerous noble houses and several distinct social classes. The Dothraki society is equally compelling: it has a completely alien feel, which is important when designing worlds of this sort. Magic is a subtle, yet pervasive, element of the world: although it doesn't play a major role in the society of the present day, occasional hints (and the presence of dragons and other magical creatures) establish it as one of the forces at play. Other magical elements include dreams: they have extrasensory properties, and are clearly more significant than they initially appear to be. Most of the character names in the Seven Kingdoms appear to be variations on names in real life: although there's a lot of variety, they feel consistent and fit into the medieval atmosphere well. Interestingly, there seemed to be a statistically improbable number of names inspired by comic books: there's Starks and shadowcats, and a character named Uncle Ben. (This is probably complete coincidence, of course.) Also, I found it very amusing that one of the noble houses had as its emblem a 'blackadder' (no space).

The characters are generally very complex. A few of them are pure evil (these are mainly children, disturbingly enough); however, most of them are multi-layered and ambiguous. Unlikable characters who commit questionable deeds are often portrayed in a sympathetic light; on the other hand, characters who appear relatively innocent often end up acting against the protagonists. There is a moral compass, though: the primary protagonists (Eddard Stark and his family) are generally portrayed as being on the side of right.

The atmosphere of the story is pessimistic and foreboding. This has a lot to do with the author's outlook: this fictional world is gritty. Instead of the typically romantic image of dragons and castles and knights in shining armor, the harsh realities of a medieval setting are displayed in all their blood and filth and pain. There is no safety net: bad, bad things can happen to anyone, innocent or guilty, adult or child. It first hits you when an eight-year-old boy is shoved from a high windowsill: he is severely injured and goes into a coma, and is later crippled from the waist down. An innocent butcher's boy is run down and killed; a daughter sees her father beheaded before her very eyes. Clearly the author has no qualms about putting his characters through lots and lots of crap: it takes a type of courage to do this. It's something I need to learn to do: the fact is, although you might sympathize with your characters, they're different than you. They live in an alternate universe, where circumstances are wholly different, resulting in an altered lifestyle, worldview and moral outlook. And in a world with medieval trappings, life is necessarily harsh and often cruel: this is something I need to remember while writing Cauldron.

All in all, this is an incredible book. It opened my eyes to a few of the realities of worldbuilding; furthermore, it is technically proficient, with a gripping plot, complex characters, and strong writing. Next up is The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King.

Reading list changes

2007-12-23T03:58:00.000-06:00

I'm putting The Emotion Machine on hold. It's very, very dry; furthermore, I have other problems with it (which I just wrote about in my previous post). It's part of the reason why my reading has slowed down: I'll be moving it back to my unsorted list for the time being.

Going to the head of my reading list are:

A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King
Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Helix by Eric Brown

Travelling back to India

2007-12-23T03:10:00.000-06:00

I'm going back to India for winter vacation. While I'm there, I'll mainly be doing background preparation for my upcoming Computer Vision/HCI project, in addition to working on Cauldron. Also I'll be studying the Minnesota road code and catching up on my reading.

I've been rather busy these past several weeks, and my reading has ground to a halt. Part of the reason why is that Marvin Minsky's book is really slow and dry. I also have problems with the fact that although he's presenting an interesting model of human consciousness, he doesn't supply any physiological evidence for his claims. It makes it a lot harder to swallow his theories, and as a result I'm a lot less motivated to continue. I've decided to put the book on hold in favor of other books, so that I can keep up my momentum: I'll update my reading list accordingly.

I've completed the second draft of Swordmaster, my first complete short story in the Cauldron universe: I intend to send it to a few friends for critiquing, in addition to showing it to my family. The interesting thing about Swordmaster is that the story idea popped into my head practically fully-formed: after wrangling with the Lisa Cunningham story for several months, having a complete plot just fall into my brain was surprising, to say the least. Nevertheless, I've written two drafts, and I intend to write one or two more before looking at publication options. The story focuses on Briars Henry, one of the primary antagonists: writing from the enemy's point of view is a little unusual, although it lets me do interesting things with the tone and characterization.

I'm also developing a third fictional universe: I'm calling it Shadow Knights for the time being. It's a giant robot story: right now it seems better suited to a video game than it is to straight up literature, which is fine, really. I'm still shuffling a lot of the ideas around, but I think I could create something interesting, given time.

In addition to my fiction work, I'll be doing preparatory work for a combined Computer Vision/HCI project. I'm taking both those courses next semester, and I want to do a substantive project that I can use as material for a paper. I'll be reading several papers in both fields, while looking for interesting project ideas in the region where they intersect. Once I have a few ideas, I'll come up with project and paper outlines, and consult with both the professors involved.

In other news, one of my friends just got married: although I'll be missing the reception by a few hours, I'm going to a lunch hosted by his family in Mumbai the next day. I also plan on visiting a friend of mine whose sister is getting married in Delhi.

I never got around to taking the written driving test here in Minneapolis: it's on my priority list of things to do as soon as I get back. I intend to study the road code while I'm at home: hopefully I'll be able to take driving lessons over the next semester, so that I can get my license before the summer.

Beowulf

2007-11-13T13:49:00.000-06:00

One of the things I noticed about Beowulf is how there are several recurring objects and environmental elements. Rings, mail, swords, mead-halls, treasure: these items are peppered through the narrative, adding to the atmosphere and helping to define the world. This is a technique that I could probably adopt in Cauldron.

The story is morbid: the initial death of Shield Sheafson seems to set the tone for the death and destruction that is to follow. When Grendel appears, he is disgusting: a formless horror, he is never given explicit description. This is a lot more effective, in my opinion, than describing his tentacles and horns and scaly skin in detail: it gives you a sense that he is so horrible that he defies description. This would probably be useful for writing about alien creatures (not because they're horrible, simply because they're different than what we're used to): it's something I should keep in mind when writing both Cauldron and Humansphere.

Battles are not described in blow-by-blow detail: although there is mention of grappling and sword-strokes, the author doesn't bother with specific techniques. Given my emphasis on swordplay in Cauldron, I want to present accurate, detailed action scenes: however, Beowulf demonstrates that the opposite, minimalist approach is also acceptable. (Of course, each style probably has a proper time and place: in any case, I should know the mechanics of swordcraft even if I don't intend to describe it in detail.)

Character interactions are idealized, with almost everybody being formal and respectful: this makes for elegant dialogue. Since Cauldron in intended to be low fantasy, this probably wouldn't work very well in that context; however, it could still apply in formal situations, such as scenes set in the Arlan court.

Overall, I found Beowulf to be rather instructive. Despite being in poetic form rather than prose, it gave me some helpful insights: next, I'll be reading The Emotion Machine by Marvin Minsky.

Reading list additions

2007-11-05T15:48:00.000-06:00

I will be adding The Emotion Machine by Marvin Minsky to the head of my reading queue, after Beowulf (which I'm nearly done with). It is directly relevant to my AI research paper, and seems like a very interesting read. I will also be adding The Society of Mind by the same author to my unsorted list (although I'll probably dip into it to read individual essays over the course of my research).

Reading list changes

2007-10-30T04:05:00.001-05:00

I've decided to move Operating Systems down to a lower position in my queue. It's a big book, and I won't have time to read it during the semester, especially since I need to be devoting time to my AI research paper and my research assistantship. So I'll read it during winter vacation, probably along with other books in my queue as well (so I'll be reading two books at a time).

Reading list additions

2007-10-29T07:33:00.001-05:00

I am inserting the following at the head of my reading queue:

Operating Systems: Design and Implementation by Andrew S Tanenbaum

One of the problems I've been having with my graduate education is a lack of direction: I really have no idea what the heck it is that I want to do. Although I am starting an assistantship this week, apart from that I haven't found grad school to be much different than my undergraduate experience. That's bad -- part of what I'm supposed to be doing right now is finding my own direction and expanding my academic horizons, right? Well, this book is the only thing that is in plain sight right now. I'm really interested in the new wave of virtualization (I've been experimenting with VMware and Virtual PC and I think they're really interesting), and I have some ideas about how to apply it to OS design -- however, for me to do anything meaningful in this field, I have to understand how operating systems are put together. The Tanenbaum text is a classic primer in this area, and so I intend to read it from cover to cover. I've tried reading the MINIX sources on my own, but I really can't comprehend them without a certain amount of guidance: guidance that will be readily available in this book. (I did have it as a course textbook back at UIUC once, but then the professor was a loser who had no idea what he was doing. In any case, I have to be self-taught now: I'm doing this for myself, not to fulfil some course requirement.)

I have a feeling this sort of reading might end up taking precedence over my registered courses: so be it. I'm not here to fret over some crappy homework. In any case, if this sort of reading helps me sign up for courses that are more relevant to my interests, it'll be better use of my time here.

Oh, and also, for a history of a postal system, I will be reading From Franklin to Morse by Richard John, as suggested by my friend Siddhartha Raja.

Incidentally, I am composing this entire post on Microsoft's Windows Live Writer. This software appears to be very slick: it downloaded all the details (and even the visual style) of my blog, and all I had to do was enter my blog URL and login details. It can save local drafts, and even takes care of tagging: very nice. This software strikes me as being unusually streamlined and intuitive by Microsoft standards: I intend to continue using it unless I encounter any major problems.

Reading list changes

2007-10-24T22:32:00.000-05:00

I will be removing the Codex Wallerstein from my reading list: turns out it's only a picture book.

On the other hand, I will be adding a biography of Ed Murrow to my unsorted list: he was a courageous, inspiring figure who championed the cause of truth in a time of suppression and fear. He seems very relevant to my interests, as far as writing Cauldron is concerned.

In addition, I would like to read a history of postal systems (or a history of a specific postal system). I will be adding that to my unsorted list as well.

I will also be moving the following books to my reading queue:

The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King
Sigmund Ringeck's Knightly Art of the Longsword by David Lindholm and Peter Svard
Daughter of the Blood by Anne Bishop
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
A Game Of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
The Hundred Years War: The English in France 1337-1453 by Desmond Seward
Helix by Eric Brown
Medieval Gentlewoman: Life in a Gentry Household in the Later Middle Ages by Fiona Swabey
Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey

Churchill

2007-10-22T18:30:00.000-05:00

I don't have a really long essay to write about Winston Churchill: John Keegan's book is short enough that it serves only as an introduction to the man's life (albeit a well-written and highly readable one). However, there were certain qualities of Churchill's that struck me: foremost of those is his bravery.

Winston Churchill was a man of incredible courage. During his days as a soldier, he exhibited an adventurer's spirit, never shying away from danger, constantly seeking out the excitement and thrill of battle. His love of fighting, however, was tempered by a grim understanding of the terrible realities of war. Later on, when he led Britain as a war president during World War 2, his indomitable spirit and rousing speeches inspired the nation to stand up to its oppressors, never backing down or admitting defeat.

His ambition is inspiring: throughout his life, he did whatever he had to to achieve his goals. Despite being a poor student at school, he managed to get into the Sandhurst academy; later on, in his own time, he saw to his own education through a voracious reading of history. He was possessed of incredible energy: even at an advanced age, he continued making long and frequent journeys as he oversaw the British war effort.

Churchill had his flaws, however; he was stubborn, and made several mistakes throughout his life, often resulting in political disaster. Furthermore, he had his prejudices: his lifelong hatred of Indians strikes particularly close to home. Early personal experiences with Indian soldiers during his tenure as a cavalryman caused him to hold Indians in low regard throughout his life. He was always opposed to Indian independence: a strange view, in my opinion, considering Churchill's participation in two wars fought to ensure freedom from oppression by the Germans. Apart from this issue, there were several others on which his views were considered unpopular or controversial. Although he ended up playing a great role in history, he can never be considered some sort of saint: he was much too flawed for that.

However, despite his flaws, it cannot be denied that Churchill was a colorful, dramatic character, and ultimately a great one. He had his faults, but he can also be an inspiration: this is the sort of character that makes for great literature. When I write the backstory of Cauldron, I need the figures who shape its history to be equally dramatic and fascinating.

Onwards, now, with Beowulf: I will be reading Seamus Heaney's translation. I haven't been maintaining a particularly brisk pace, but as long as I can finish one or two books a month, I should be fine. Work on Cauldron hasn't exactly stagnated, either, so I think I'm in reasonably good shape.

Mobile Suit Gundam 00

2007-10-22T00:13:00.000-05:00

I just discovered that the latest Gundam show, Mobile Suit Gundam 00, has premiered. It's about three episodes in: I decided to download the fansubs, to see what the new show is like.

The Gundam Exia in action.

This is a mecha show, so I suppose I should start with the robots: they're good. The Gundams themselves are pretty interesting to look at, with each one being a different functional variation on the same basic theme. What I really like, however, are the older-fashioned mobile suits being used by the global factions: the designs have a klunky retro look that I find myself liking a lot. It helps that they're all in realistic military colors: furthermore, the different designs are easily distinguishable from one another. None of the non-Gundam robots have a 'Gundam' look at all, in fact: this is a refreshing new aesthetic that I consider to be a good move, especially after Kunio Okawara's mediocre showing in SEED Destiny (where at least half the designs were literally touched-up rehashes of mobile suits from older shows).

A nice sort of chunky-retro mobile suit.

The character designs are pretty much average: some of them are kind of distinctive, but they're basically generic and really not that impressive. Every time the purple-haired Gundam pilot opened his mouth, I was like, "Whoa, that's a dude?" Also, there's this one chap, I believe his name is Katagiri: he has the worst hair in the universe. His hair is so bad I want him to die.

This is a dude.

That's him. I wish for his demise.

The animation's okay, I guess: the same high-gloss, medium-grade digital stuff we've been getting for a while, although the quality's a little better this time around. (Macross Plus is my gold standard for mecha animation: I understand that no TV series is ever going to look that good, but I can dream, right?) It's passable, overall: definitely nicer than the last few shows, although I sincerely hope they don't start reusing the same launch sequence animation and Gundam-flying-towards-the-camera animation again and again, the way they did in the SEED era.

For the first time, a Gundam show is taking place in the AD era, fixing it firmly in our own time and making it more of a future history than previous instalments were. The geopolitical setting is interesting, with three different factions forming around the three orbital elevators that were built in the wake of diminishing fossil fuels. I appreciate how they are depicting real conflicts, such as the current fighting in Sri Lanka and Ireland; on the other hand, I find Celestial Being's approach to solving these conflicts to be, well, infantile. This is a newly-emerged organization that intends to end all war and strife on Earth: however, war is a sensitive and complex thing. Do they truly expect to end decades of war and strife in complex, volatile environments by sauntering in and blowing shit up with their giant fucking robots? (For all of five minutes, even... you'd think ending a war would at least take several months, if not years.) What's more, at the end of episode three, it is announced that the conflict in Ireland has come to an end -- just like that, after 400 years of fighting. Why? I mean, did the Gundam pilots even go there at all?

Given Celestial Being's ambitious undertaking, I find myself hoping for their sake that they have more resources than just four robots, no matter how technically advanced these Gundams might be. Their entrance felt kind of underwhelming: foiling a terrorist attack and destroying a prototype MS are all well and good, but perhaps this should be treated with a little less melodrama. In the show, a lot of people don't seem to take Celestial Being seriously: they should have played that up a little more, in my opinion, as opposed to everybody going on about how these people are going to have some major impact on global civilization. (They might, eventually, but it certainly doesn't seem like it right now, and that should have been how this was treated, with people realizing only later on that Celestial Being mean business.) Either that, or their rollout should have been far more impressive, with scores upon scores of mobile suits deploying across the planet -- then again, that wouldn't fit the franchise's standard format of four or five shiny, brightly-colored Gundams being the center of attention.

The characters have almost no distinguishing characteristics whatsoever, at this point: I can barely remember their names. (There were some lame attempts at characterization, like that beer-drinking chick in the Celestial Being command center, but they'll have to do better than that.) There's this somewhat annoying Chinese-looking chick who seems to pop up all over the place, for no clear reason; many characters have names that leave you scratching your head, like 'Lockon Stratos' and 'Saji Crossroad'. I suppose it's still early: hopefully we'll get some deeper characterization, but the first three episodes covered a lot of different people, all over the place -- I'm not sure how they'll manage it.

The opening and closing songs were okay, I guess: they fit the style established over the past four or five years, in any case. They weren't really gripping or anything, I suppose I've moved on from J-pop to power metal anyhow these days.

Overall, I guess the new show's alright: not great, but probably worth following for a while. It should get better as it goes along -- in any case, it's got to be better than the fetid pile of animated compost that was Gundam SEED Destiny, right?

foobar2000 v0.9.5 beta 1

2007-10-21T02:03:00.001-05:00

I have long been a fan of foobar2000: this lightweight, freeware audio player has a tiny memory footprint, is extremely customizable, and plays pretty much anything. Its main problem used to be that it was somewhat frumpy-looking: with the latest beta, however, that is no longer an issue. foobar2000 v0.9.5 has an incredible new UI customization system, one that could, in my opinion, revolutionize the way people use software.

My current foobar2000 layout

The new system is called UI Elements: it allows you to add and remove interface elements, in order to create any configuration you like. Activating the UI editing mode allows you to modify the program interface directly, through context-menus: you can cut, copy and paste elements, or replace them with other ones. Splitters and tabs are used to partition the interface: splitters are adjustable borders that can be placed either horizontally or vertically, creating cells in which components can be placed. Tab sheets can be used to layer components over each other, with a row of tabs at the top for switching between them. Themes can be imported and exported, with options to export either the entire theme, or only certain aspects like colors or layout; also, there is a sandbox for testing new layouts without affecting the main interface.

Components can be developed using the foobar SDK: this enables further customizability, by allowing you to add your own features. The new version keeps the fully-customizable keyboard shortcuts, which I have always found invaluable; as far as stability is concerned, so far the application hasn't crashed or malfunctioned at all. Everything is as smooth and swift as I remember, including UI Elements: clearly a lot of work has gone into making this feature polished and bug-free. The memory footprint is around 13 MB: I think that's a little larger than in previous versions, but my T60 with its 2 GB of RAM isn't complaining.

I think UI Elements is remarkable: I haven't seen anything like it before. In my opinion, this feature has immense potential: imagine being able to customize Windows Explorer, Thunderbird or TextPad this way -- honestly, I wish every piece of UI-driven software were this easy to customize. I'm not certain whether the foobar2000 developers implemented the system from scratch, or whether they used a pre-existing toolkit: either way, I think it has the potential to become a new interface standard for power users.

How Would You Move Mount Fuji?

2007-10-02T16:15:00.000-05:00

There's not a lot I can think of to say about this book, seeing as how I didn't read it to gain insight into writing. I did take a long time to finish it, since grad school keeps me occupied... I guess it was pretty insightful, should be of some use when I start interviewing for stuff. It gave me some insight into how puzzle interviews work, as well as some general methods for solving logic puzzles... I didn't look at all the answers to the sample puzzles, since I would like to try solving them myself.

Next is Churchill by John Keegan.

Equal Rites

2007-09-05T19:09:00.000-05:00

I've read a fair amount of Terry Pratchett's work, but only one other Discworld novel (The Colour Of Magic). Equal Rites seemed rather different: it had a tighter, more focused plot, and more likeable characters. Pratchett was probably still working out his style at this point; nevertheless, I thought Equal Rites was really good.

This book is witty. Some of Pratchett's other books are relatively subdued (like the Johnny Maxwell books, for instance), but Equal Rites practically fizzes with subtle jokes and clever turns of phrase. Pratchett is fond of presenting the reader with subtly counter-intuitive concepts and imagery, tickling your brain and making you think. The magic system is unique and well-realized, as is the Discworld universe and its culture (although more of the culture is on display in The Colour Of Magic than there is here). One of the things I admire is Pratchett's willingness to make a world that is fundamentally different than ours in multiple ways: he acknowledges the differences involved in living on a disc instead of a globe. He also mentions certain differences caused by the reduced speed of light (although he probably doesn't account for all the changes that should happen; not that that matters in this sort of universe anyway). The entire thing is rather weird, but reasonably internally consistent.

The characters were rather nice. Esk struck me as very cute: the mental image of a little nine-year-old girl wandering around a crowded town square with a staff (causing diverse forms of mayhem) is rather endearing. Granny Weatherwax is a lot more likeable than you'd expect: she may not be well educated, and she may be somewhat eccentric, but she is incredibly good at being a witch, and can easily match the skills of a wizard (unlike a character with a similar role in A Wizard of Earthsea). She is reasonably kind and patient with Esk, and it is clear that she loves and cares for her apprentice.

The plot was tight and linear, making the story feel a lot more focused than The Colour Of Magic. I liked how the resolution of the final crisis hinged on the outcome of the story's central conflict: can there be a female wizard? I did miss the numerous footnotes that peppered the first novel, providing humorous diversions: I suppose they wouldn't really fit with this story's tighter focus on its main plot.

Overall, I rather liked this book: it definitely felt more polished than The Colour Of Magic plotwise, although that book presented a richer view of Discworld's culture. I look forward to reading the rest of the Discworld series: for now, I will be moving on to How Would You Move Mount Fuji? by William Poundstone.

Consider Phlebas

2007-09-03T22:55:00.000-05:00

Although I like to consider myself a fan of science fiction, I really haven't read that much of the genre. What I have read consists mainly of Asimov's work, with a few other books by authors such as Douglas Adams, Arthur C. Clarke and A.E. Van Vogt. Needless to say, I haven't had a whole lot of exposure: so when I started Consider Phlebas, a book that I picked up mainly because of the pretty cover and the good reviews on it, I really didn't know what to expect.

As it happens, I really liked the book. Banks has created a realistic, compelling world, with incredible detail and cultural variety. The main players in this book are the Culture, a group of technological idealists fighting for their right to exist; the Idirans, a tripedal race waging a religious war; and the Changers, genetic remnants of an ancient conflict. However, there are many representatives of other races and subspecies, adding to the atmosphere and giving the book an almost Adams-esque feel at points (primarily during the Damage game in the middle of the story). The environment and technology come across nicely: the FTL model is interesting, and the structures and habitations are awe-inspiring in their scale and grandeur.

In fact, Banks is very good at conveying a sense of awe: he uses the freedom offered by speculative fiction to convey a feeling of wonder, in a way that seems to tap into the original purpose and spirit of science fiction. Spaceships, Orbitals, AIs, even the alien train system featured at the end of the story: several of the objects and artefacts are just really, really big. Speculative fiction is about challenging the imagination: I think I'd do well to remember that.

However, although the setting is grand, the events that take place in it are often disturbing and bleak. There is an episode in the middle of the book where Bora Horza Gobuchul, the main character, is confronted with an island of cannibals, led by a fat, disgusting sadist. Later on, he watches Damage, a card game where emotions become weapons, and lives are literally at stake. Characters die frequently: only three of the protagonists are alive by the end of the story. Throughout the narrative, there seems to be a lingering sense of futility and bleakness: the fact is, if Horza completes his mission, it will only delay the end of the war by a couple of months. His companions are killed off one or two at a time; just before he finally dies, he seems to lose all his identity, in a way that is far more terrifying than death alone would be.

The characters are generally ambiguous, in that although most of them are basically good people, they're hardened: they deal with death a lot, and they're not afraid to deal it out. The character of Kraiklyn is interesting: although he tries to be this commanding, imposing presence, his ineffectualness quickly becomes evident. His eventual death at Horza's hands is honestly kind of pathetic.

That death brings me to another point, one that is very relevant to me: the characters' motivations are not precisely bounded or dictated by logic. Characters often do things for reasons that are not immediately clear or explicitly spelled out. Allegiance doesn't always influence things either: Horza is killed by an Idiran who is supposed to be his ally; he is rescued by Balveda, a Culture agent who happens to be one of his arch-enemies. The lesson here is that instead of agonizing over exactly why a character would do something, it's alright to just have a general sense of it. After all, humans are fuzzy: they don't follow precise logical guidelines in what they think or do.

The action scenes are excellent. There are several: one in particular sticks in my mind. Horza is piloting the spaceship Clear Air Turbulence out of a massive General Systems Vehicle. The author goes into lavish detail about the smoke and debris caused by the fusion engines: the entire sequence feels like the literary equivalent of one of Macross Plus's dogfights, which is incredible.

Overall, I thought this book was extremely well-written. I'd like to read more of the Culture novels at some point: I could certainly take a few tips from this one. It did take me a very long time to finish, mainly because I was enjoying the last days of summer vacation at the time: I think I can maintain a somewhat brisker pace now. I'm already about a hundred pages into Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett.

Reading list changes

2007-08-19T04:01:00.000-05:00

I am moving Collapse, Pride and Prejudice, The Power of Gold and Anna Karenina back to my unsorted list, mainly because I will not be taking them with me to Minneapolis.

Furthermore, I am adding How Would You Move Mount Fuji? by William Poundstone to my reading queue.

I'm halfway through Consider Phlebas. I've been taking it easy over the last few weeks of summer, so it's been going slow. I will be reading more regularly now, although the demands of college will probably restrict my pace.

Transformers

2007-08-17T12:51:00.000-05:00

I have waited a year and a half for this movie. After I finally found out the Indian release date, I counted the days, the hours, and eventually the minutes left till I could see it. And as it happens, it was everything and more than I could possibly have imagined.

The plot was generally tight: almost everything somehow locked into place, and had some relevance. I did think the subplot with the analyst and her hacker friend kind of went nowhere, muddling the flow in the process: although those two ended up helping to contact the Air Force, they could have been dropped, in my opinion. Also, I would have had the Autobots come into the picture in the middle of some sort of crisis, as opposed to after the encounter with Barricade was over. In addition, the hostility between that annoying S7 person (and all of S7) and Sam and Mikaela kind of fizzled, eventually, but that's a minor point. This version of the Transformers mythos is as compelling as the mainline continuities: the fact that no new Transformers will ever be made is tragic. At the same time, the call to survivors in outer space, right at the end, held a strong sense of hope and enduring.

The characterization was spot on for the primary protagonists. Sam and his family were believable and attractive, as was Mikaela. (The latter, in more ways than one...:P) I loved the bond that seemed to form between Sam and Bumblebee: seeing how Bumblebee was helping and protecting Sam endeared both characters to me. Optimus was suitably impressive and heroic: he had a protective, fatherly quality about him, especially when he took Sam and Mikaela on his shoulder to keep them away from Sector 7. I thought some of his dialogue about sacrificing himself could have been better worded, but that's not really a big deal (it might have been to make what he was going to do clearer to the audience). None of the other characters were as well-detailed; however, the characters that received focus more than made up for it. And I did really feel for Jazz when Megatron ripped him apart. (About Jazz: he should have had a higher voice like his G1 counterpart. That deep voice didn't suit him.)

Megatron himself didn't receive as much time on screen as the others, so I didn't feel like he was developed as much as he could have been. But somehow, I don't think we've seen the last of him. Overall, I'm hoping the other characters receive more development in the sequel: I've read that since they will have a higher budget, the Autobots themselves can have more screen time, leading to better characterization.

Interestingly, I got kind of a Beast Wars vibe from the dialogue and chemistry between the Autobots: for obvious reasons, that is a very good thing. (It helps that Ratchet sounded very similar to Rhinox, which could be more than coincidence, since they're both big green medics.) Optimus Prime spent most of the movie without his faceplate: I thought his lips made him look like Optimus Primal, somehow, which was awesome.

The movie was funny. There was a lot of well-executed humor, some of which had nothing to do with robots at all. I didn't mind: it probably made the movie more accessible to general audiences. And besides, the humans characters are as important as the robots, so human humor also has its place.

The visuals were incredible. Transformations, fight scenes, everything was amazing. I liked how the robots had lots of small components that were constantly moving and twitching (like Optimus's 'ears'). Overall, I really like this new visual style. I do think Starscream's aerial battle could have been way cooler, but that's just because I'm in love with Macross Plus. (Presumably, if Starscream were fighting a better opponent, it would be more visually impressive. More to hope for in the sequel...)

The music didn't stand out a whole lot, but I do remember a few of the incidental songs, and the score meshed well with the events on-screen. It's just that the original show had a really nice score, and I kind of wish they could have used themes from it, although I know that wouldn't really have worked.

Overall, the movie left me with a feeling of... awe. Wonder. It was just really amazing: I intend to buy the DVD and soundtrack as soon as I can. The movie left just enough threads unresolved that a sequel would flow naturally from where it left off: I can't wait to see what that's like. I'm hoping this version of the Transformers universe becomes as deep, detailed and varied as the other mainline continuities: I will certainly be following it very closely. And now, even more, I feel the urge to become a successful writer. I want to be involved in things like this: more than ever, I want to be part of the creative process. I've made a lot of progress on some of Cauldron's plot issues: I need to keep the momentum up.

In the meantime, however, I want to watch this movie again. Soon.

Reading list changes

2007-07-29T05:38:00.000-05:00

I'm taking A Game Of Thrones and Narn i Chin Hurin out of my reading queue, and replacing them with Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks and Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett. Why? I dunno, guess I just feel like. The books I'm taking out go back in my unsorted list.

A Wizard of Earthsea

2007-07-29T05:22:00.001-05:00

A Wizard of Earthsea is the first book I have ever read since The Lord of the Rings that truly conveys the grandeur and potential of high fantasy. And unlike that thousand-page tome, Wizard achieves the same level of richness and subtlety with much greater economy of effort. I have always admired short books that feel much larger than they actually are. I don't mean books that drag or are boring -- what I am talking about is books that weave a story of such richness that you can't believe they fit in such a small span. Some of the books that come to mind include Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams, Foundation by Isaac Asimov, and Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling. In my opinion, A Wizard of Earthsea has that same sense of conveying a story that is much larger than the span of its pages.

The first thing I noticed while reading the book is the prose: it flows. There is a distinct rhythm that runs through the sentences and paragraphs, making it very, very pleasurable to read. The style is similar to that of a legend or fable: dialogue is sparse, and every line of it is significant. The speech patterns may not be similar to the way people talk in real life; however, they fit the fantasy setting. Also, the interactions between characters are still distinct and vivid: the dialogue style does not hinder characterization.

Aside from the metered prose, the author makes use of other poetic devices. There are some rather nice examples of consonance: for instance, on page 25, Ogion, Ged's master, says: "I do not know her will, but I know she does not will me well." There are other instances of this, and of other devices: given the overall poetic feel, they add to the texture of the prose without sounding out-of-place.

The sentence constructions were often unfamiliar, because of the somewhat archaic style: this meant that I could not blaze through the book. This is a good thing, since slowing down to absorb each sentence, each word, helped me to better appreciate the texture and subtlety of the writing.

I thought the author was very good at creating different types of atmosphere: for instance, during the incident with gebbeth-Skiorh, the atmosphere was very creepy. Afterwards, the entire period of Ged's stay at the Court of the Terrenon was surreal, with a vague, constant sense of there being something wrong. Later, when Ged and Vetch were sailing alone, there was a strong sense of silence and solitude. The island of Lastland had a feeling of extreme isolation; and once they sailed beyond that place into the open sea, there was a true sense of mystery about what lies beyond the Reaches.

The world of Earthsea was refreshingly unique. In a small space, the author was able to create a detailed universe with many different peoples and cultures. I especially liked how the author created a rich description of the Ninety Isles in a matter of a few lines. Scattered geographical and historical references created a varied, realistic picture of the world; and as I mentioned earlier, the matter of what lay beyond the known borders was a compelling mystery.

I thought the magic system was beautiful and very well realized. I rather liked how the verbal magic was deeply connected with the underlying structure and fabric of the world: it had a feel of thoroughness and internal consistency. (It's interesting: some aspects of this system have been borrowed by a number of different works, like The Amulet of Samarkand, Skulduggery Pleasant, and Eragon. I don't know whether Ursula LeGuin invented the system, or whether it has its roots in mythology: old stories like Rumpelstiltskin suggest the latter. In any case, this system seems rather popular, although I don't think any of the imitations quite capture the grandeur or elegance of the original.)

The story was an intensely personal one. Although the outcome of Ged's quest had potentially far-reaching consequences, it was ultimately the story of one man trying to confront his darkness. There was no Dark Lord or Evil Emperor here: the dark creature that hunted Ged was his own creation. The characters were distinct and varied, and although they were not very finely fleshed out, the fact is that in this sort of story, the protagonist is the one who should receive the most development. Ged was transformed from a proud, haughty boy to a much humbler, less confident adult: this was a drastic transformation, but one that was inevitable and that he brought on himself, making it realistic and believable. He continued to change, gaining some measure of confidence, finding his direction, and eventually overcoming the darkness and becoming whole again. And although he became a quieter, wiser, more inscrutable individual once he became a wizard, he still had the same fears and doubts as anybody else. He also had the same needs and wants: company, friendship, comfort and good food. This made it easier to relate to him as a character.

Some of the other characters were rather interesting as well: Ged's mentor Ogion was truly inscrutable. Clearly he was wise, but he was very silent; he talked to trees and roved aimlessly over the mountains. He was a kind mentor, calm and patient, with no trace whatsoever of haughtiness; however, he seemed truly eccentric, in a way that very few characters of this type are able to pull off convincingly. Some of this was probably due to the contrast with Gensher, archmage of Roke: that character seemed haughtier and somewhat more presumptuous, and his assessment of the situation with Ged's shadow turned out to be completely off the mark. Where Gensher failed, however, Ogion's judgement was correct.

The ending was a little anti-climactic: there was no real fight, Ged and his shadow simply embraced each other. However, I'm willing to accept this: as Ged suffered throughout the book, he slowly came to understand his adversary, and by the end of the story, he was able to come to terms with his darkness. I suppose it could have been made more effective from a narrative standpoint, but it certainly wasn't implausible.

Reading this book has been good for me: it has demonstrated the power and creativity that is possible with high fantasy. The thing is, though, Cauldron is intended to be low fantasy: I'm not sure how much the techniques used in this book would apply there. Nevertheless, it is important for me to know them, because they could come in handy.

Beyond its purpose in my education, however, this book was simply beautiful. Easily one of the best books I have ever read. I look forward to reading more stories of Earthea.

Reading list additions

2007-07-27T07:43:00.000-05:00

I am adding these to my unsorted list:

The Discworld series by Terry Pratchett
Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks
Helix by Eric Brown

I have about forty pages of A Wizard Of Earthsea to go. It's short, but it's not casual reading: the prose is a little heavy, and requires concentration. The advantage is that I am able to absorb the subtle rhythm of the prose.

Reading list changes

2007-07-24T00:17:00.000-05:00

Finishing the final book of one of my favorite fantasy series has left me feeling somewhat empty: I intend to fill the gap by starting other series. I will be moving An Equal Music and the rest of the Canterbury Tales to my unsorted list for now. Heaven knows I'm in no mood to read either of them. My next books will be A Wizard of Earthsea and A Game of Thrones: let's see what I do from there.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

2007-07-23T12:54:00.000-05:00

To tell the truth, I was not terribly excited about the seventh Harry Potter book at first. The main reason for this is probably that I didn't like the sixth book very much. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince felt inferior to the previous books: I thought it lacked the atmospheric feeling that usually pervades Rowling's work. Furthermore, the cliffhanger at the end left me feeling less than satisfied. I realize now, however, that that book was setting up plot threads that would be crucial later. Perhaps book six was less of a self-contained unit than the previous books: it needs to be read together with book seven to be properly appreciated.

But I wasn't really excited about book seven until a few days before we actually bought it. I let my sister read it first; the next day, I was able to finish it by 2 AM.

When I was done, I was flushed with a sense of how magnificent the book was. Apart from being amazing in itself, it did an excellent job of tying up all the threads, and terminating the story that I had started reading in the summer of 2000. The conclusion was incredibly satisfying -- in the moments after I finished the book, I found myself wondering how I could possibly write anything this good.

The style was somewhat removed from that of the first four books: as in the fifth and sixth, there was a distinct lack of joy, accompanied by a constant undercurrent of tension. Also, in this book, there was more of an adult sensibility, what with the romance and swearing and other things. At several places near the beginning, the story dragged a lot: one thing I've noticed about Rowling is that although the other aspects of her writing are stellar, her prose doesn't really stand out. It's robust, but plain and straightforward. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but authors like Douglas Adams have displayed far more control, subtlety and wit in their prose.

That is not to say, however, that there is any crudeness in Rowling's plot. The way in which all the plot elements interlocked and wove together by the end of the story was incredible. I liked how multiple generations of Hogwarts students were represented and involved: Harry's own, then his parents' further back, then Tom Riddle's even earlier, and finally Dumbledore's before all the others. There were interesting narrative patterns: Harry's friends and possessions started to disappear, one by one, until he was left alone with Hermione in the forest, without his broom, his wand, his owl, his mentors, his other best friend... then, however, there came a turning point, when Ron came back, the sword of Gryffindor was acquired, and things started turning their way again. This reversal came to a peak in the final battle, where Harry had the entire school fighting on his side; and finally, during the very last duel, he was the master of the Deathly Hallows. Voldemort went through a reverse process: although he gained power over the course of the book, plunging the entire wizarding world into a sinister state of confusion and subjugation, unknown to him, his Horcruxes were being destroyed one by one; he was not able to kill Harry, and by the end, he had no way to win. His final defeat seemed somewhat pathetic: stripped of all his designs and safeguards, he was defeated by his own short-sightedness and lack of understanding; and it was his own curse that ended up rebounding and killing him.

The final battle, on the grounds of Hogwarts, was intense and well-executed: furthermore, the death-and-destruction problem was handled well, as it was throughout the book. As is to be expected in such times, several of the characters died: beloved, familiar characters whom the audience had come to care for, and had grown fond of. It was tragic, but the protagonists were able to find some joy in other places, other small victories: and in the end, the tragedy of the sacrifices was mingled with the joy of final victory against Voldemort. Rowling was certainly ruthless, however: the death of Colin Creevey was one of those vivid details that stood out, emphasizing the lack of mercy displayed by the Death Eaters, and reinforcing the terrible cost of the battle.

Several of the characters were transformed during the narrative, or shown to have changed in the background: Neville was probably one of the bravest characters in the book, and Kreacher, Percy and even Dudley ended up being redeemed. Dumbledore's character was finally laid completely bare: his motivations, his desires, his past were all revealed, painting a picture of a great man who was, nevertheless, fallible and human. The same thing happened with Professor Snape: in his case, he was completely redeemed. The tragedies and turning points of his life were all brought to light, and the way this was executed, in the Pensieve after he had died at Voldemort's hand, was sad and beautiful.

Come to think of it, I think that description fits the entire book: it was a sad story, but one that ended in joy. The epilogue, set nineteen years afterwards, revealed a happy, peaceful ending for Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and, as far as one can tell, for all wizard-kind.

So ends this story, one of the best I've ever read. I have often been asked what the great appeal of Harry Potter is: it definitely is something to think about. Whatever it is, it made the author one of the richest people on the planet. I think it would be instructive to try to determine what factors led to the Harry Potter series's immense success. (It'll definitely be instructive for me. I want to become a world-famous fantasy writer, after all.)

The first thing that comes to mind is the fact that Harry Potter is a character whom we all feel sympathy for. At the very start of book 1, he is described as an orphan, growing up practically alone, with only his horrible uncle and aunt and cousin for company. On his eleventh birthday, a new world is revealed to him: a wonderful, magical world, hiding behind the mundane one. This is something that I think has a very strong appeal: in my opinion, the act of revealing a hidden magical world attracts our escapist tendencies far more than simply setting a fantasy story in a magical land does.

This is only part of it, though: one of the greatest draws for me, at least, was the friendship and camaraderie between the main characters. This might be more specific to me: I started reading Harry Potter at a time in my life when I was far more of a misfit than I am now. At that point, I don't think I had ever had a close friendship like the one between Harry, Ron and Hermione. Since then, I have been able to form such friendships; however, it is still something I value, and that I try not to take for granted. Even for other people, I think the strong human relationships and emotions in the story were a contributing factor to the series' success.

There was of course the excitement of adventure and suspense; and Rowling knows how to weave a tight, subtle plot, keeping the audience guessing until the very end. I'm sure there are several other reasons why the Harry Potter series has been so popular; however, these are the only ones I can think of right now, and these are the ones I will keep in mind while I'm writing Cauldron.

Overall, I'm happy to have read the series. It is one of the most entertaining, profound, and awesome tales I have ever experienced; and although I always feel a bit emotional when I finish a Harry Potter book and have to wait for the next one, I am especially sad this time, now that the series is done, and there will be no more books. I do know, however, that Rowling is working on a new project, one for younger audiences: a 'political fairy story'. Even if it's for kids, it should be interesting to read.

Most of all, though, finishing this series has inspired me: somehow, no matter what it takes, Cauldron has to be this awesome.

So I guess I'm feeling sad, eager, and driven. Time now to move on to other books, time now to continue with Cauldron: I have a lot of work to do.

Reading Like a Writer

2007-07-21T02:41:00.001-05:00

Francine Prose's book was illuminating. It didn't act as some sort of writing manual or style guide (although it did have a few pointers); rather, it showed me what is possible. It demonstrated the significance and power of the different components of prose.

The author recommends a slow, close reading style, where you examine the significance of every word. It's probably a good thing I'm a slow reader anyway. I sound every word in my head, repeating sentences till they sink in -- I suppose this would be bad for people who need to read fast, but for somebody who plans to write, it seems like an advantage.

The book contained general tips about close reading: it showed me what to look for in other books, using examples from some very skilled authors. There were also a few tips on writing: one point that stands out is that of being economical with words, using only those that are necessary and pruning the rest. The book helped me look a lot more closely at my own writing: I was finally able to start tuning the fragments I have written for my own story.

The author also had some advice on what to read. She included a list of books to start with: I'll probably add them to my reading list as I go along. (This should remedy the deficit of general fiction in the list.)

Overall, reading this book was a valuable experience. When I read the other books in my list, I intend to read them more closely: I think I'll be able to learn a lot more from them.

Now, the next Canterbury Tale; and, as soon as my sister is done, I will start reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It should be interesting to read the next Harry Potter book from more of an analytical standpoint.

Reading list additions

2007-07-19T04:29:00.000-05:00

I am adding the following to my unsorted list:

Sigmund Ringeck's Knightly Art of the Longsword by David Lindholm and Peter Svard
Codex Wallerstein
The Book of Ash series by Mary Gentle

I've realized that I know nothing about how sword fighting works. I figure I should read one or two treatises on the subject if I want to write realistic fight scenes. Also, the series by Mary Gentle (actually a single book, but I don't have time to read a thousand-page tome all at once) is supposed to be a highly realistic alternate history of Medieval Europe.

A note on general literature: at the end of Francine Prose's book, there is a list of books that are useful to read for a developing writer. I'll probably add several (not all) of these to my unsorted list.

Reading list additions

2007-07-16T10:54:00.000-05:00

I am adding the following to my unsorted list:

The Cooperative Gene by Mark Ridley
Oxygen by Nick Lane
The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins
The Blind Watchmaker by Richard Dawkins
The Ancestor's Tale by Richard Dawkins
The Elements of Style by Strunk and White

I need to know some biology for my secondary project, Humansphere. (It will probably be helpful for Cauldron as well.) I don't intend to read the Strunk and White text cover-to-cover, but I should probably have a copy on hand for reference.

Skulduggery Pleasant

2007-07-15T14:04:00.000-05:00

This was a very short book. I blazed through it in a day. Reading at that pace was definitely a break from Decline and Fall. The prose was reasonably easy to read, but I thought it started out kind of rough and stodgy. It did get better later on, though, and I never thought the story was dragging or getting bogged down: there was always something happening to hold my attention. I liked the quiet, dry humour, and the banter between the main characters was fun to read.

The characters were attractive, and I grew to care for and relate to them. The title character, Skulduggery Pleasant, seemed to overturn one or two conventions: in particular, he didn't seem to mind his current condition (that of being an animated skeleton), and he did not seem interested in trying to change it. He had a compelling backstory, a sad one that fleshed him out, so to speak, making him more than just a wisecracking dead detective. Stephanie, the principal protagonist, seemed like a stock character archetype: an oddballish, defiant rebel who doesn't really fit in with the mundane world. However, she did experience a certain amount of character conflict at some points, fleshing her out as well and making her more interesting.

The story was set in the regular world, with a hidden magic subculture. The magic elements of the world were well-realized, I thought, with good internal consistency. The system with separate names for mages reminded me of an almost identical system from The Amulet of Samarkand, but it was executed differently enough that it didn't feel like it had been copied or stolen. During the course of the story, some rather practical questions were asked about elements of the magic world: in particular, Stephanie asked how a skeleton with no flesh and no vocal cords could produce a voice. 'Magic' was the only explanation given, but I found it refreshing that such seemingly mundane issues were brought up: that is a level of detail and realism that I wish to achieve in Cauldron.

I appreciated the sense of tension that built up over the course of the story: one of the things I found lacking in Pawn of Prophecy was a conflict that truly placed the protagonist in a state of major crisis. There was no shortage of crises here: the body count actually went rather high, and although none of the principal protagonists died, there were severe injuries, and overall the book did grow quite dark towards the end. I'm not sure the death-and-destruction problem was handled very well: I would have expected a twelve-year-old to react more strongly than Stephanie did to all the death and destruction taking place. Perhaps it was simply indicative of Stephanie's inner strength, but it still felt a little off.

The plot that led to all these crises was strictly a standard one: evil sorcerer tries to retrieve a fantastic object that will allow him to rule the world/bring back his dark gods. (Now that I think of it, that's actually fairly similar to Pawn of Prophecy.) However, there were enough subplots and plot twists that it didn't feel trite. Although the main villain was kind of one-dimensional, the general moral landscape was somewhat more varied and complex than a simple 'good-versus-evil'-style setup, which is something I can appreciate.

There were a few minor technical problems, including one or two errors of spelling and word choice, and some minor inconsistencies in narrative style. Also, in a few places, I felt like the author was telling when he should have been showing. These problems, combined with the general roughness of the prose, made the book feel less polished and slick than, say, an Artemis Fowl book, or The Amulet of Samarkand.

However, I do think this writer has potential: his fictional world and characters are compelling, and if he takes more care with editing and tuning his prose, I think he could do really well.

Next up is Reading Like a Writer. This is a critically important book for me to read: I hope to gain some insight into the technicalities of writing prose. Also, the book should help me learn more from the other books I intend to read. I don't have as much time for reading as I should like, so I need to use the time available to me as efficiently as possible.

History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (abridged edition)

2007-07-15T03:14:00.001-05:00

The first thing that struck me about the History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire was the rationality and insight displayed by the author. Edward Gibbon is a very clear thinker, and his enlightened writing makes his work a joy to read. He is fair in his assessments, condemning the faults and praising the merits of whomever or whatever he talks about. However, he is not disinterested, and he has opinions that emerge clearly in his writing.

He makes a number of insightful observations, many of which could be very helpful in building the fictional world of Cauldron. He has enlightened views on polytheism, monarchy, education and scholastics; he analyses and relates the reasons for the rise of Christianity, the fall of Paganism, and for many of the other political and social changes that took place. He also relates in great detail the military operations of the Romans and the Barbarians: these anecdotes increase my knowledge of military conflict, and will also be useful when I write Cauldron.

In addition, Gibbon describes the colourful cast of characters that participated in this grand story. Julian, Belisarius, Theodora, Amalasontha, Mahomet, Atilla, Maximin Thrax -- there is plenty of material for inspiration here, as the exploits and personalities of these historical figures will help me flesh out the rulers and generals of Cauldron, making them more realistic and human.

Gibbon's tone is dramatic, sceptical and often ironic, written in easy prose. It is also coloured by a sense of melancholy: a sorrow for the fall and decay of the Roman empire. This is especially touching at the end, when he describes the final conquest of Constantinople by Mahomet II, and surveys the decaying remains of Rome.

But if the story of the fall of Rome is sad, it is also grand and epic. The scale and significance of the history of the Roman empire are reflected by the massive scope of Gibbon's twenty-year work: I am humbled and inspired by the dedication and effort that must have gone into this magnum opus. Later in my life, when I have more time, I intend to read the full, unabridged History at leisure: now, however, I must move on to other books.

Next, I will read Skulduggery Pleasant, and then Reading Like a Writer. (I need a break, so I'll read the next Canterbury Tale afterwards.)

Reading list additions

2007-07-13T03:09:00.000-05:00

One addition to my unsorted list:

The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann (this was recommended to me by a friend)

Also, I will be inserting the following book after Skulduggery Pleasant:

Reading Like a Writer by Francine Prose

I want to read this as soon as possible. I'm realizing that there are a lot of technical aspects to writing that I don't know anything about, and this book seems a good place to start learning. In any case, if all this reading is to do me any good, I need to know how to read books from a writer's perspective, with the right sort of critical eye. For this reason, I want to read this book before I read anything else. (I still intend to take a break from Decline though, which is why I'll read this after I finish Skulduggery Pleasant.)

Fragments

2007-07-12T12:41:00.001-05:00

I've decided to try an experiment. I'll try writing small fragments of story: isolated scenes that may not be strongly fixed in the overall plot. This way, I am developing my writing style a little, and developing story possibilities and ideas without having to worry too much about how they fit into the grand scheme. I can probably reuse these scenes with minor adjustments once I formulate a coherent plot.

I should be careful how I expand and elaborate these scenes. I suppose they could end up stitching together into a continuous narrative; however, I'm not sure how much time I should spend trying to expand them if I don't have a plot to fit them into. I don't want to end up wasting time.

Furthermore, I should practice scrutinizing and editing these fragments. I'm coming to realize that writing prose is like stringing a thousand-stringed guitar: after all the strings have been set on the frame, they need to be tuned and adjusted before they can work in harmony and produce music.

I'm four-fifths of the way through Decline and Fall. I should be done in a few days. Then I'll read a Canterbury tale, and afterwards Skulduggery Pleasant.

Reading list changes

2007-07-05T10:29:00.000-05:00

I could not find copies of Daughter of the Blood, Dragonflight or The Hundred Years War, so I have returned those books to my unsorted list. I have substituted the first with A Wizard of Earthsea, the second with Queen of Sorcery by David Eddings, and the third with Churchill by John Keegan.

I have also replaced Half-Moon Investigations with Skullduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy. Since I've already read a lot of Eoin Colfer's books, I'd rather read a different author so that I can be exposed to more styles.

Finally, I have replaced A Suitable Boy with An Equal Music by the same author. A Suitable Boy is something like a thousand pages long -- not that I'm afraid of reading something that big, it's just that I don't have the time.

Reading list additions

2007-07-05T02:29:00.000-05:00

I am adding several books to my reading queue, so that it is now:

Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Gibbon (currently reading)
Half-Moon Investigations by Eoin Colfer
A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth
Narn i Chin Hurin by Tolkein
The Hundred Years War: The English in France 1337-1453 by Desmond Seward
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Beowulf
Collapse by Jared Diamond
Anna Karenina by Tolstoy
Daughter of the Blood by Anne Bishop
On Writing by Stephen King
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
A Game Of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
The Power of Gold: The History of an Obsession by Peter L Bernstein
A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare
Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey
The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell

Naturally, if I can't find any of these books, they will be replaced by others (and returned to the unsorted list).

It occurs to me that there isn't nearly enough general (non-fantasy) fiction in my list -- I'll have to amend that soon.

In other news, I am almost halfway through Decline. My pace is fairly swift because of the relatively wide spacing between the lines; also, I am skipping the footnotes, since they spoil my flow and slow me down. I'll read them when I read the unabridged version, when I have more time.

Reading list additions

2007-07-02T03:51:00.000-05:00

I am adding these to my unsorted list:

A history of Christianity
Medieval Gentlewoman: Life in a Gentry Household in the Later Middle Ages by Fiona Swabey
The Secret Middle Ages: Discovering the Real Medieval World by Malcolm Jones
The Worlds of Medieval Europe by Clifford R. Backman

I figure that if Cauldron is going to be set in a medieval-style world, I should know as much about the archetype (Medieval Europe) as I can. I'll probably add more books about this topic as I go along. Furthermore, if I want to write about a globe-spanning religion that lasts for thousands of years, I need to learn more about Christianity.

I have decided to read Half-Moon Investigations by Eoin Colfer after Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire; it looks easy enough, since it's short and double-spaced. I think I'm going to need a break after Decline, even with just the abridged version.

Also, I have chosen The Hundred Years War: The English in France 1337-1453 by Desmond Seward as the history of the Hundred Years War that I will read, since it seemed to have the most reviews, and was rated rather high at Amazon. With that, my queue is now:

Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Gibbon (currently reading)
Half-Moon Investigations by Eoin Colfer
A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth
Narn i Chin Hurin by Tolkein
The Hundred Years War: The English in France 1337-1453 by Desmond Seward
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Beowulf
Collapse by Jared Diamond
Anna Karenina by Tolstoy

I'm about one-eighth of the way through Decline; it's slightly dry and dense, but still really good, in my opinion.

The Merchant's Tale

2007-06-29T13:28:00.001-05:00

I actually can't think of that much to say about the Merchant's Tale. Somehow, it didn't seem to stand out like the other Tales; I suppose the knight January's naivete throughout was kind of amusing, and the manner in which May and Damian got around their predicament was funny in a ribald sort of way (not that there's anything wrong with that). The way May explained herself to her husband at the end was actually rather funny because of how ludicrous it was.

The Merchant's story was basically critical of women (as made clear by his tirade in the prologue); this view was contrasted with (and emphasized by) January's initial speech concerning the joys of married life. Marriage seems to be a subject that Chaucer wrote about a lot in the Tales; I'm hoping for a change, personally. Let's see how it goes.

Oh, and one other thing: January, May, and... Damian? It's like there was supposed to be a pattern, but something went very wrong...

Pawn of Prophecy

2007-06-27T14:05:00.000-05:00

Pawn of Prophecy by David Eddings was a solid book -- very well-written, with a lot of work put into developing a realistic, detailed backstory. I look forward to reading the rest of the Belgariad. (I've been misspelling it 'Belgeriad' all this time... ugh.) I do think it had a few problems, some of which might be because the book was the very first in its series; however, I thought it was a really good book, overall.

I'm impressed by the thought and effort that obviously went into creating the fictional universe. The mythology was stirring, and struck an interesting balance between being millennia remote and directly influencing current affairs. The mythology also had a pervasive presence in the world's culture -- and a nicely realized culture it was, with detailed descriptions of the world's economy and history, and of the different countries and the people living in them. The cultures were well-differentiated, and although there was a certain amount of broad stereotyping used to characterize the members of each race, the main characters in the book were generally defined with a fair amount of depth.

Apart from these worldbuilding elements, there were a number of minor details and descriptions that painted a convincing picture of life in a Middle Ages-style society. I rather liked the book's descriptions: they were nice and vivid, and they never broke the flow of the narrative. There were a few really good ones describing the scenery and surroundings during the protagonists' journey; I also liked the action scenes and the physical descriptions of the characters. Interestingly, a lot of attention was paid to the distances between cities, and to the time it took to travel between them. Some of the travel descriptions made me recall memories of travelling as a child. The descriptions of the farm were convincing and believable, and like a lot of the other descriptions, they made me feel as though the author had actually gone to the sort of place being described to see what it was like.

In addition to the physical descriptions, the characters were also vivid and interesting. The main character, Garion, was very realistically portrayed as a rebellious teenager trying to sort through his problems. His Aunt Pol was an imperious lady who could be both strict and kind -- however, she had a few quirks and imperfections that added depth to her character. The storyteller Wolf was distinguished from the 'wise old man' archetype by being mischievous and congenial, with a touch of familial understanding (at least towards Garion). I particularly liked Silk -- his dry wit and sly sense of humor nicely complemented his activities as a spy.

In fact, there was quite a lot of witty banter and subtle humour (especially between the kings and queens during the royal conference held in the second part of the book). Almost all the main characters had their own distinct dialogue style, which further distinguished and defined them, in my opinion. The dialogue was easy enough to read: it was in a plain modern style (occasionally a little too modern for my tastes, although that's just my opinion).

As I have said, I really liked this book; however, it did have some problems. The one that irked me the most was the fact that there was not enough suspense about the true identity of Wolf and Aunt Pol. These two were eventually revealed to be the ancient sorcerors Belgarath and Polgara; however, this was very obvious, almost from the beginning. It would have been a good source of suspense, and an interesting twist, had this been handled better; however, it just felt like a let-down. This happened because of the short expository piece in the beginning of the book that related the history of the gods and of the Orb of Aldur. If this history had been omitted or shortened, or even just interspersed through the narrative instead of being related in the beginning, there could still have been a sense of rich mythology without giving away this crucial plot detail.

Also, throughout most of the book, I didn't really feel like there was a sense of crisis. Perhaps this is because I was watching events unfold from Garion's sheltered perspective: most of the time, there were people protecting him, so that it didn't really feel like he was ever in danger. This did change later on: on a few occasions, he faced danger alone, with nobody to protect him (at least at first). Furthermore, even if there wasn't always a physical crisis, Garion did go through some rough times emotionally; also, the Grolim Asharak was a sinister presence in Garion's mind, one that I thought was handled very well.

Another problem I had was that throughout the book, although Aunt Pol was reluctant to tell Garion anything about who he was or who his parents were, when Wolf finally decided to tell him, it didn't really feel like there had been a significant enough change in Garion's situation for him to learn the truth. This is kind of hard to explain, but I think the revelation would have been appropriate if Garion had gone through more of a life-changing experience. Naturally, getting yanked out of your home and dragged on a quest is life-changing; nevertheless, I don't think Garion changed enough or faced any crises that were major enough to warrant that sort of climactic revelation. I suppose it could just have been a kindness by a doting old man, but I don't think that's very dramatic. It ended up feeling as though it had been tacked on at the end so that it could occur at a climactic moment, the way these revelations usually happen.

Despite these shortcomings, however, I really liked this book. It never dragged, despite being highly descriptive; also, it had a detailed, well-realized fictional universe, and interesting characters with a good amount of depth. I definitely want to continue reading the Belgariad series, and I'm eager to see where the story goes from here. I'm also glad to have read a solid example of straight-up fantasy literature: although it is important for me to read books from a variety of genres, it is books like this one that will train me in the conventions and methods of fantasy fiction. I have realized that in order to write Cauldron, I am going to have to learn how good fantasy novels are written: even if I don't follow those rules, knowing them will allow me to write a better novel. This book is just one step towards knowing the rules, and I intend to take many more.

I'm almost done with the Merchant's Tale; after that, I will start Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Gibbon. That should take me a while, I think: I might remove a history from my queue to balance it out.

Reading list additions

2007-06-26T01:19:00.000-05:00

These are my latest additions to the unsorted list:

The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell
Pompeii by Robert Harris (and other historical fiction by the same author)
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
The Magic of Recluce by L.E. Modesitt, Jr. (and the rest of the Saga of Recluce)
A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin (and the rest of the Song of Ice and Fire series)

I also want to modify my reading queue to better incorporate equal parts of general literature, fantasy and history (or other relevant non-fiction):

Pawn of Prophecy by David Eddings (currently reading)
Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Gibbon
Something light, for a break
A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth
Narn i Chin Hurin by Tolkein
A history of the Hundred Year War
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Beowulf
Collapse by Jared Diamond
Anna Karenina by Tolstoy

I'm a bit less than halfway through Pawn of Prophecy. It's pretty good, and not too hard to read... looks like I'll be starting Gibbon's history within the week. (I will of course be reading the remaining Canterbury Tales between books.)

The Clerk's Tale

2007-06-24T00:56:00.000-05:00

One of the things that struck me about the Clerk's Tale is how similar it was to that of the Man of Law. It had the same basic theme: that of a suffering woman bearing her troubles steadfastly. (It also used the same rhyme scheme.) However, there are important differences that serve to make the Clerk's Tale a much better one, in my opinion.

Griselda, who marries Walter, is depicted as being perfectly steadfast. However, this trait is directly scrutinized and tested, rather than being blandly taken for granted (as it was in the Man of Law's tale). It is also put into direct conflict with Griselda's love for her children: due to Walter's desire to test her steadfastness, she is (apparently) forced to give her children up to die, due to the vow she took before being married that she would not defy or disagree with anything Walter said or did. She accepts this, in each case asking only that she be allowed kiss her child one last time, and that it be buried so as not to be defaced by wild animals. Afterwards, she does not show even a little difference in her behaviour or good cheer.

This steadfastness is not taken for granted: Walter, the husband, finds it unusual. It is also acknowledged that Griselda's unwavering good cheer might have looked like it was caused by cruelty, if it weren't for the fact that Walter knew how much Griselda loved her children.

Eventually, Walter forces Griselda to leave, claiming that he has been given papal permission to marry again. Griselda leaves without complaining -- later, however, she is asked to help prepare the new wife's chambers. It is during these preparations that she asks Walter not to torment his new wife the way he did her, since the new wife is presumably of more tender upbringing and would not be able to bear the torment the way Griselda did. This is when her steadfastness is finally proved to Walter: it is only by strength of will that she was able to bear all of her troubles without complaint. He proceeds to reveal that he is not planning to marry anybody, and that the woman who he said would be his new wife is actually their daughter, who has secretly been alive all along. Griselda swoons for joy, and they live happily from then on.

The tale is followed by a song. The Clerk says that this is to appease the Wife of Bath -- it is actually rather sarcastic, in my opinion. In the song, the Clerk says that no husband should test their wife's patience the way Walter did, because there are no wives like Griselda left anywhere; he then sarcastically encourages wives to disregard their husbands and make their lives miserable. The Clerk is obviously very critical of the viewpoint expressed by the Wife's tales of deception and domination. Neither, however, does he approve of Walter's constant desire to test his wife -- he makes this clear throughout the narrative. Furthermore, near the end, he says that the point of the story is not that wives should be eternally humble, but that people should withstand their troubles with constancy. (This is at odds with the tone of his song -- although it wasn't the point of the story, it is clear that the Clerk would prefer a humble wife to somebody like the wife of Bath.)

Overall, I thought this was a much better story than the Man of Law's tale. However, I find Griselda's character rather disturbing -- in fact, the idea of a person receiving constant torment while continuing to love their tormentor is one that I find absolutely terrifying. I have thought about this before, and the internal pain such an individual would feel is something that I have always found soul-chilling. I would much prefer an imperfect wife who lashed out at injustices and spoke her mind -- in this, I suppose, I must disagree with the Clerk, and side (if only partly) with the Wife of Bath.

Since I am not even halfway through the Canterbury Tales, I have decided that instead of putting the rest of my reading list on hold, I will intersperse the Tales with the other books I read. Because of the archaic English and the unusual poetic style, the Tales are relatively slow reading, and I would like to make progress on the rest of my list, so I will be reading the Tales mainly in the background from now on. Next up is Pawn of Prophecy by David Eddings, part one of the Belgeriad series.

The Summoner's Tale

2007-06-21T12:00:00.000-05:00

Oh my God, that was nasty... ewwwwwwww...

The Friar's Tale

2007-06-20T11:38:00.000-05:00

The Friar's Tale was relatively short, but also very interesting. It was rather dark: the Friar must really not have liked summoners.

In what I consider an unusual turn, the summoner in the story did not fall in fear when he found out his travelling companion was a devil. Nor did the fiend take him immediately: rather, they travelled together for a while, with the summoner treating the devil as a comrade.

The devil, although he would take whatever he could, had a policy: he would only take something away if it were intentionally offered him, with conscious thought and not just with speech. The summoner, on the other hand, would take something away based simply on a man's idle words. In this way, the storyteller demonstrated that even a devil had higher standards than summoners.

Finally, when the summoner tried blackmailing a sick old woman, his lying methods were refuted; and, when the woman cursed the summoner to the devil, the fiend took him away to hell.

Although he was shown to be wicked, the summoner was not a fool. He did make mistakes, however. In particular, he underestimated the devil: he thought he could treat him as a colleague and an equal. It didn't occur to him that the fiend would not hesitate to take him to hell as a prize.

In the end, there wasn't really any underlying theme or idea that the Friar was trying to communicate... apart from the utter wickedness of summoners, which point he got across in blunt and straightforward fashion. I wonder how the Summoner of the party intends to reply.

The Man of Law's Tale

2007-06-20T09:24:00.000-05:00

I didn't like this tale at all. It was all pompous and grave and depressing. The plot was repetitive and contrived, and consisted of one deus ex machina after another. The protagonist, Dame Constance, was insipid and uninteresting in her faultlessness. I didn't like how all the good characters converted to Christianity, while the bad ones remained heathens. The narrative was interspersed with pompous, melodramatic rants condemning the villains and lamenting the protagonist's sorrows in an obnoxiously overbearing manner.

In essence, it was authoritarian claptrap. However, I am of the opinion that it is the character that told a poor tale, and not Chaucer. After all, the authoritarian tone is something you might expect of a Man of Law. In my opinion, Chaucer uses the story as a means of characterization, conveying a vivid picture of the storyteller's personality. I actually thought that was rather clever.

Stylistically, the Man of Law seemed to consciously eschew the flowery descriptions of certain of the pilgrims who went before him. He was rather grave, but pompous as well: the point is, though, Chaucer developed a recognizably distinct style for him, unpalatable though it may have been. I consider that to be very skilled writing. (One style element I did like was the use of an alternative rhyme scheme: apart from further differentiating the Man of Law's style, it had a noticeable effect on the tempo, slowing it down a little to better suit the gravity of the tale.)

While reading the unabridged e-text, I found that this tale is followed directly by that of the Wife of Bath. That is exactly what I expected: Chaucer contrasts the Wife's striking ambiguousness with Constance's insipid, unrealistic perfection. Overall, although the tale was poor in itself, the effect in the end was very satisfying.

So it turns out that Chaucer did not finish the Cook's Tale, or he truncated it, or something: it begins with a description of the main character, and then ends abruptly just as it's starting to get off the ground. Huh, kind of a shame, actually, it sounded really filthy and interesting :P

More self-replication

2007-06-20T02:29:00.001-05:00

It turns out that what I wrote in my last post wasn't a self-modifying program in the sense that most people use the term: that of a program that can modify its instructions in memory while it is still running. My program doesn't do anything that fancy; it simply returns a slightly modified version of itself.

I still think this is an interesting field to play around with, though. I've written another version of the program, this time with the function that is applied to the seed value abstracted away from the replication code:

((lambda (x f y) (list x (list 'quote x) (list 'quote f) (list 'quote ((eval f) y)))) '(lambda (x f y) (list x (list 'quote x) (list 'quote f) (list 'quote ((eval f) y)))) '(lambda (x) (cons (+ 1 (car x)) x)) '(1))

This produces:

((lambda (x f y) (list x (list 'quote x) (list 'quote f) (list 'quote ((eval f) y)))) '(lambda (x f y) (list x (list 'quote x) (list 'quote f) (list 'quote ((eval f) y)))) '(lambda (x) (cons (+ 1 (car x)) x)) '(2 1))

As you can see, this is a horrible mess. Significantly, however, you can use any function you like in this program, and any input for that function. It might be interesting to write a function that assembles and returns instances of this class of programs, with the function and seed value supplied as input parameters.

Again, there isn't anything really useful that this can do; nevertheless, I still think it's interesting as an intellectual curiosity. I did learn a few things while making it, like the rather useful eval function. From here, I'd like to start taking a more serious look at evolutionary programming, as well as a few related areas.

Speaking of which, I did some reading about self-modifying code and genetic programming. The latter, in particular, struck me as being really far out; I'm surprised something like that could work at all. It might be something to look into.

I tried out another Scheme implementation: Gambit-C. This implementation is portable, in that it runs out of a directory, with no installation required. The interpreter is another DOS window interface, like Petite Chez Scheme. It doesn't let you break out of an accidental infinite loop like Chez does, and it doesn't let you exit by closing the window; however, it does have as-you-type bracket pair matching -- a usability feature that is crucial for a language like Scheme. Overall, I thought it was quite all right for when I don't have access to an installed Scheme interpreter.

An interesting sort of self-replicating program

2007-06-19T14:31:00.001-05:00

I racked my brain, and I was not able to come up with a quine in Scheme. After looking it up, I learned that this is how it is defined:

((lambda (x) (list x (list 'quote x))) '(lambda (x) (list x (list 'quote x))))

I was not able to come up with this myself; however, I decided that I wanted to write something similar: a program that modifies itself. After some experimentation, I ended up with this:

((lambda (x y) (list x (list 'quote x) (+ y 1))) '(lambda (x y) (list x (list 'quote x) (+ y 1))) 1)

Entering this program gives you:

((lambda (x y) (list x (list 'quote x) (+ y 1))) '(lambda (x y) (list x (list 'quote x) (+ y 1))) 2)

And entering that gives you:

((lambda (x y) (list x (list 'quote x) (+ y 1))) '(lambda (x y) (list x (list 'quote x) (+ y 1))) 3)

And so on. Naturally, this isn't anything more than a toy program; in the real world, self-modifying code is much more advanced and much more useful. And besides, once I knew the definition of a quine in Scheme, this wasn't that hard to come up with. But I still think it's kind of cool. I'd like to look at some more complex examples of this sort of thing, and write a few more of my own.

The Reeve's Tale

2007-06-19T09:28:00.000-05:00

So it turns out that the edition of the Canterbury Tales that I have been reading is highly abridged: they have left out several of the shorter tales. (I wondered why the book seemed so small.) It so happened that on an accident, I left my copy of this edition at work. I only realized this when the bus was about to leave; fortunately, I had the Project Gutenberg e-text version on my MP3 player. While reading this, I found that what followed the Miller's Tale was not the Wife's Tale, but the Reeve's.

I don't have much to say about the Reeve's Tale, except: nasty. The Reeve must have been really pissed off. He certainly did pay the Miller back.

I'm wondering, though, what should I do now? I can hardly carry my laptop to and from work just to read the omitted Tales; also, printing them out seems a bit of a waste. I suppose I could read them on my MP3 player, but that strikes me as being slightly taxing on my eyes, especially on a shaking bus.

I guess the best thing to do would be to read the e-text version of the Tales at home, and the paper version on the bus. I suppose I might end up reading them slightly out of order, but I don't think that should matter.

The Cook's Tale is up next, let's see what that's like. Chaucer is proving to be nothing if not eclectic.

The Wife of Bath's Tale

2007-06-19T06:29:00.000-05:00

The Wife of Bath's Tale is not as long or involved as the two previous tales; however, I feel like this particular story is not intended to stand alone. Rather, its role is to reflect the personality of its teller, the Wife of Bath. This is the most interesting character I've encountered till now, either in the frame narrative or in the pilgrims' tales.

In my opinion, the Wife is expressing several distinct yet related viewpoints. She starts out with an interesting deconstruction of the social perception of polygamy, and of the evil conventionally associated with sex. She argues that God never specified the number of husbands that is acceptable; also, she points out examples of Biblical figures having several wives. She goes on to argue against society's view of sexuality as being sinful. The arguments that she makes here are compelling: I think it shows some very clear thinking on the author's part.

The Wife then describes instances where she has manipulated her husbands into submission, through deception or other means. She says that she enjoys having sexual relations out of wedlock, simply because she has a voracious appetite; however, she is angry if her husband has done the same thing. She launches into a tirade against husbands who try to restrict and repress their wives, and who complain about the troubles of wives and of married life. In my opinion, her ultimate argument is that wives should have mastery over their husbands; indeed, in the tale that she tells (one set in the time of King Arthur), that is the only means by which the protagonist is eventually able to live a happy married life.

I do not agree with everything that the Wife says. Although I do appreciate her opposition of controlling, repressive husbands, I cannot agree with her use of deception and manipulation to dominate her spouse. She desires freedom, and that I will grant; however, she also desires mastery, and since I believe that marriage should be an equal partnership, I cannot agree with her on this point. In both her own relationship with the clerk Jankin, and in the marriage her tale's protagonist enters into, the partners end up in harmony -- but only after the wife dominates the husband. I would much rather that harmony be achieved through understanding than through submission.

However, I do sympathize with the Wife. I believe she is a rebellious, free spirit (with a great appetite) who was born into a restrictive society -- she is willing to use whatever means are necessary to get what she wants, and she's not afraid to admit it. She is a morally ambiguous character, but also a very strong, well-defined one. I hope to be able to write characters this interesting when I write Cauldron.

As far as the technical view is concerned, I thought the Wife's Prologue dragged a little (so did the Friar, apparently). Then again, the Wife does have a lot to say. Her story really only acts as a postscript to her speech, or as a supplementary example that is used to demonstrate and reinforce the main point.

Oh, and near the end of the story, there is a very compelling speech about how nobility is determined by one's actions and not by one's lineage, and how poverty does not make a person less worthy or noble. It was rather nice, although it did seem disproportionately long, considering that the comment it was in response to was made off-hand and was not really related to the main issue at that point.

I've already started the Merchant's Tale. It seems to be about the same topic as the Wife's story. I'll write about it when I'm done.

Petite Chez Scheme

2007-06-18T10:03:00.000-05:00

So I've decided to go with Petite Chez Scheme for now. It's very nice and lightweight; at the same time, it does have command memory, which enhances its usability. (You can't backspace past a carriage return, though, which is annoying -- maybe there's a way around that.) There was none of that stupid futzing-up that often happens with the directional keys or the backspace key on unusual terminals either. I did have trouble setting a path for it to read files from -- making it read a standard Windows file path was even more of a pain. For now, I've set the shortcut in my Quick Launch to start the program in the folder where I will put all my Scheme files, so that works for now.

I think I might try one or two other packages (I can't imagine they'd be incompatible with each other or anything) to see if there is anything that solves the issues. Despite those issues, however, I think Petite Chez Scheme is very nice and polished. I don't see any problems in using it to learn the language.

Speaking of which, I've just started using the online reference I mentioned earlier. It's quite good: it assumes a reasonable level of programming competency, while still explaining things clearly and well. (At least, that's the impression I got from reading the first chapter.) I intend to continue using it to learn Scheme.

Scheme implementations

2007-06-18T02:22:00.000-05:00

I want to get familiar with Scheme, so I installed the MIT/GNU Scheme implementation. Unfortunately, I can't really get it to work very easily. So I've been looking for an implementation that is easy to use and works well in Windows. After doing some research, I've made a list of a few I'd like to try out:

I'll write later about which, if any, I liked. If I find one that I really like then I probably won't look at the rest. The reason I'm interested in Scheme is that Lisp is supposed to be one of those important languages that everybody should at least try to understand and use; in any case, I'm intrigued by it, because it seems elegant and unusual. I've chosen the Scheme dialect of Lisp because of my fondness for functional languages; also, because it's supposed to be a more academically-oriented dialect, it'll probably have less cruft, making it easier to learn.

I also found an online version of a Scheme reference. This ought to come in handy.

The Miller's Tale

2007-06-16T02:31:00.000-05:00

It was irreverent. I laughed for a very long time. There were some quite nice descriptions. It was basically fluff (or maybe more like a beard than fluff...) That's really all I want to say about the Miller's Tale. (Man, I couldn't stop laughing. Definitely not for the squeamish.)

I do admire, however, how Chaucer switched from one style, one kind of storytelling to another, and told a completely different type of story than the previous one. Clearly he knew how to vary and alter his style as necessary -- definitely very skilled.

The Knight's Tale

2007-06-16T02:24:00.000-05:00

I have decided to comment on each of the Canterbury Tales individually. I will also write a general essay about the book at the end.

The Knight's Tale wasn't very complex or innovative plot-wise: it was actually somewhat simplistic. However, it contained some very well-written descriptions. When Theseus was building the stadium for Palamon and Arcite's big fight, the descriptions of the decorations of the shrines to Venus and Mars were vivid and evocative: they described the different ways in which love and strife, respectively, laid humans low. Furthermore, when Arcite was injured, the description of his injury, of the progression of his sickness, and of his funeral were very moving.

Equally well-written and moving were the speeches: the speech that Arcite made just before he died was touching. Aegeus's consolation, and Theseus' later speech on the inevitability of death, were also touching and eloquent.

Overall, it was a very nice story, but I also found it rather simplistic and overblown. There was a lot of exaggerated narration, and some things didn't make a lot of sense. Why, for instance, were Arcite and Palamon imprisoned in the first place? If they were already nobles, they could hardly have participated with Creon in the overthrow of King Capaneus. And when Theseus found them in Athens again (Arcite having broken his exile, and Palamon having broken free of prison), he wanted them dead; however, when his womenfolk protested, not only did he pardon them, he also decided to organize a huge competition in which they would fight for Emily's hand. (And why did he agree to let either of them marry Emily, anyhow?) Once Arcite died, he was treated like a martyr and a national hero and mourned for years, when he really didn't do that much to deserve the people's adulation. And, heck, did they really have jousts and knights as described in the narrative during the time of Theseus?

As I have just related, there was a lot of stuff that didn't make much sense and that seemed really exaggerated and overblown. However, I get the distinct impression that this was intentional on Chaucer's part. It certainly fit the genre (that of a long-ago tale of honour and knights and chivalry), and it seems like the sort of story a character like the Knight would tell. Reading the next tale reaffirmed this suspicion. (Oh man, more on that later.)

I think I've figured out some of the other stuff

2007-06-15T02:18:00.000-05:00

So I think I understand what a .hrl file is now: it basically contains record type definitions and must be included in the run-once initialization script that creates the tables. I am not certain whether it must also be included in the environment that will be accessing Mnesia itself (the ydata.erl module), but I can figure that out easily enough during development.
The Mnemosyne user's guide demonstrated queries quite well: I should be able to use them in ydata.erl with no major problems.
As for the initialization script: there is a demonstration of that too, in the Mnesia user's guide. It will just be used to create the tables.
I've also seen how to write records into the database. It's a bit complicated, but it shouldn't be too hard to get used to.

I'm not sure how the different components (Mnesia and Yaws) can be integrated into a simple, one-start solution for running YBlog. As of right now, Mnesia and Yaws must be started separately. I suppose embedding Yaws in an Erlang start script could help -- anyhow, it should be fine this way for development, as this sort of concern is more to do with packaging and streamlining the completed product.

The First World War

2007-06-13T11:55:00.000-05:00

The First World War by John Keegan was a very long book. However, it was also very readable. The author writes engaging prose, with an easy-to-comprehend style that only occasionally lapses into slightly long-winded sentence constructions -- nothing that detracts from the book.

The book started with a lengthy discussion of the social, economic and political situation of Europe and the rest of the world at the time the war started -- however, it wasn't dry or boring. The author did not resort to gratuitous melodrama and blood and gore, although he did use a few instances of graphic description that really caused the horrors of the war to sink in. There was an account by a British soldier, Edwin Vaughan, that described the scene during the Third Battle of Ypres. In particular, there was a haunting description of the wounded crawling into shell craters, only to drown in the rain that filled them up. Accounts like this one, as well as the author's own feelings about the war, its reasons, its aftermath and its overall historical significance, ensured that the book was not merely a dry recital of statistics, battles and manoeuvres.

Against the larger-scale backdrop of the movements of armies and the manoeuvring of nations, the author also highlighted the role of key human figures in the conflict. His descriptions of such individuals as Hindenburg, Ludendorff, Haig, Sir John French and Kaiser Wilhelm II lent a distinct personal angle to these historical figures.

Reading this book gave me some insight into one of the major events of the past century. The First World War ended up shaping much of human history since 1918, and a knowledge of it, as well as an understanding of why and how it happened, are important for me to possess if I am to write a history for my fictional universe. On a smaller scale, I also gained some appreciation for the nature of battle: how it is fought, what factors influence it, and what events and circumstances can cause reversals of fortune, turning potential victory into defeat. Naturally, there is a lot more that I need to read: at some point, I will read Keegan's The Second World War. I also intend to find a book about the Hundred Year War, as well as a history of India's freedom struggle. But having read this book, I have a little something I can draw on when planning and writing Cauldron.

At another level, however, the book moved me. I was moved by the massive human losses, especially to the generation of the time that was equivalent, historically, to mine, by the death and despair and weariness of the combatants, and by the chaos that overwhelmed much of Europe and Asia in the aftermath; I was also touched by the friendships and loyalties that were forged during the war, and the bravery of the soldiers who fought in it. The author's descriptions of the graveyards and monuments that were erected after the war's conclusion were especially moving.

The First World War was a horrible event, and one that caused grave misfortune for an entire generation in several countries; however, I am glad that I read this book. Reading it was very important for me, as a writer and as a person.

Next, I will be reading the Canterbury Tales. I'm not sure how long that will take. Initially, I was planning to read the Project Gutenberg e-text I downloaded; however, it will be much more practical for me to read the hard copy that I discovered at home (especially since this version has both the original text and a modern translation). I will write about it when I am done.

Database schema for YBlog

2007-06-10T08:31:00.000-05:00

One feature that makes Mnesia really cool is the ability to store structured data. I will make use of this to store blog posts in structured form. However, it won't be easy.

The reason why is that very few blog posts consist of a single paragraph. There are usually several paragraphs, possibly images, not to mention formatting details. Depending on the structure that Yaws uses, I might need to store a list that is then integrated into the output list using a more complex process_posts() method.

In any case, I will have only one table. It will contain the following fields:

post_id
title
content
time

post_id will be the table key. I'll need to figure out how that works in Mnesia. time will be a simple timestamp. title will probably contain a three-tuple {h2, [], "header"} style entry (unless I decide to make the ehtml formatting something that happens in the yblog module: that can't be done for content, but doing it for title might simplify storage). Depending on Yaws' ehtml parsing rules, I might need to store a list in content. I'll have to see how that works after looking at the Yaws page (I wish it weren't down right now).

Features like comments and tags will need more and more complex tables. I'm leaving those out for the time being.

Ahhh crap

2007-06-10T07:48:00.000-05:00

So it turns out there are several people using the name 'YBlog', in addition to at least one blog platform. I'll have to come up with a new name for my own project. I'll also have to change all the directories and config files, although I suppose that could wait.

In the meantime, I will keep on referring to my own project as 'YBlog', until I come up with a good enough name to replace it with.

This sucks. I liked that name. I suppose this'll be a good workout for my imagination, anyhow... hmm, I guess I'll have to make a new post label and add it to all the old YBlog posts when I finally do come up with a new name.

YBlog's basic file layout is in place

2007-06-10T06:29:00.001-05:00

By that, I mean only that I have the files where they should be. index.yaws is in the default /var/www/yaws directory, and it accesses yblog.erl, an erlang module located in the yblog subdirectory.

That erlang module is currently feeding dummy information to index.yaws. I still need to figure out how to use Mnesia. It's a very scattered, all-over-the-place system, and getting a grip of the entire thing is daunting. I need to sort out my thoughts and figure this thing out.

I suppose there are three things I need to do:

Write the database schema (I'm only going to use one table, for now).
Write an initialization script for the database.
Figure out what the heck an hrl file is and where it goes.

In addition, I suppose I should abstract the dummy content generation out of the main yblog module, and into a separate module that will eventually contain the database access code. I'll check back once I do that and also figure the other stuff out.

In other news, I have about 110 pages of The First World War to finish. I'll post an essay about it once I'm done, in a few days probably (I need to treat these essays as proper writing projects, so that they're coherent, readable, and convey my feelings about the book as effectively as possible -- I'm not completely satisfied with the ones I've written to date).

Reading list additions

2007-06-03T05:03:00.000-05:00

I am making these additions to my unsorted list of books to add to the reading queue:

The Power of Gold: The History of an Obsession by Peter L Bernstein
Collapse by Jared Diamond
The Black Jewels Trilogy by Anne Bishop
A history of the Hundred Year War
On Writing by Stephen King
Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey (and the rest of the Dragonriders of Pern series)
Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey (and the rest of the Kushiel's Legacy series)
A biography of Ghenghis Khan
A biography of Napoleon
A biography of Alexander the Great

I am currently about one-seventh of the way through The First World War. It'll probably take a while, but it's surprisingly easy reading. John Keegan is very skilled and very readable.

index.yaws

2007-06-01T00:42:00.000-05:00

I have written a basic index.yaws file. It makes reference to the following functions in the yblog module:

header()
posts()
footer()

I am assuming here that each of these functions returns structured ehtml. The posts() function, furthermore, will be returning a list that can be fed directly to the out() function. The generation of this list will be handled inside the yblog module. It will involve accessing the database, retrieving every post and title, and recursively generating a list of structured ehtml components. (I'm pretty sure I do not want to store structured ehtml in the database, but let's see.)

Next: I will implement each of these functions in the yblog module. I will create dummy functions that retrieve a pre-created list of posts and titles; then, I will write the functions that assemble this data into a format suitable for index.yaws.

Hmm. I might indeed need to store structured data in the database (given that most posts will probably contain multiple paragraphs, images, etc). The details of how to do this (and whether it's possible) can only be discovered by learning how to use Mnesia. I will write about this, and other developments, in a future post.

The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger

2007-05-31T16:17:00.000-05:00

Wow. This book was awesome. Stephen King's vision is so huge, it blows my mind.

Where to begin. I thought the writing style emphasized the loneliness of the main character. There were long stretches without dialogue, when the gunslinger was by himself. Even when he gained a travelling companion, it was just the two of them: you could feel their solitude. The large tracts of unchanging scenery, in the desert and in the tunnel, added to the effect.

At some points, the author used really beautiful, poetic phrases and metaphors: 'His eyes were red loopholes in the last glow from the fire'; 'Even so do the rest of us; even so the best of us', to quote two.

Clearly, the author was not afraid of writing things that were really disturbing, like Roland literally shooting up an entire town of people, the graphic description of Jake's death in a car accident, the description of the hawk David being killed, and Jake's fatal fall to the river inside the mountain. The author was not afraid to write gruesome, gory scenes; nor was he afraid to let his characters go through horrible things of that sort. That's something I'll have to learn to do (the part about letting your characters go through crap, at least).

The world, as described, was tantalizing. There were scattered bits and pieces of history; also, through dropped hints here and there, the author insinuated a tenuous connection with our world -- at the same time, however, it was unmistakeably alien. And yet it didn't seem exactly like another planet. The sense of the world fading and moving on was pervasive and had a distinct effect on the entire tone of the novel. The author did not define a huge, detailed map of the world: he described only what was necessary, because, with so many universes, a detailed description of this one probably wouldn't be relevant.

The action scenes were vivid and fast-paced. The final scene in the town of Tull seemed like a classic action movie shoot-out; the fight between Cort and Roland was gory and brutal.

The characters were interesting: there was Roland the gunslinger, who honestly seemed like a nice guy, but ended up having to kill the entire population of a town, and was willing to sacrifice a boy he loved for the sake of his final goal, the Dark Tower (even though he felt terrible guilt and self-loathing in this case). There was Jake Chambers, unusually precocious, a boy who was simply afraid to die: this conflicted with his affection for the gunslinger. And then there was the man in black.

This character was probably the most mysterious. Granted, he seemed like an awful person; however, he appeared to have far more depth than simply being a mean sorceror. He seemed to have connections to deep and ancient powers; eventually, he helped gunslinger on his way.

The final revelation of the Dark Tower's nature and scope was so huge, it seems incongruous to consider it in relation to a single man. I am very curious to see how this is treated in the rest of the series.

Other points: I liked how the author created a unique dialect, as well as a set of greetings and formulae. There was a point where he used the word 'silflay' in connection to rabbits, a reference to Watership Down, which was cool.

This book revealed to me just how huge a single author's vision can be, and it inspired me to broaden my own vision. The book was an excellent demonstration of how to slowly reveal hints and clues about a world's history (or for that matter, about a character's past), which is something I will have to think about in connection with my own book. I will definitely be reading the rest of the series: some of the action takes place in New York, and Stephen King is even a character at some points, so I expect it to be mind-bending, in a good way. Next up is The First World War by John Keegan, although I want to take a break for one or two days to work on YBlog.

Jane Eyre

2007-05-29T13:33:00.000-05:00

This was an excellent book. The author displayed such sheer skill in her characterization, in her narration, in her prose, that it was a joy to read. It was certainly hard work -- I'm not used to reading romance literature, and the phraseology was unusual for being both formal and slightly archaic; however, I consider reading the book to have been an entirely enriching experience.

First off, the characters. Some of them seemed slightly sketchy; however, the ones that were important were very well developed. I particularly like how the author revealed a character's important characteristics over time, instead of stating them immediately: this provided an organic, gradually growing picture of the character. I include Rochester, Miss Ingram, St John Rivers, and Helen Burns as examples. St John, in particular, is interesting: different aspects of his personality come to light as his interaction and relationship with Jane changes: I found this very realistic. Furthermore, even though St John saved Jane's life, and was later revealed to be her cousin, he still ended up as an antagonist (although he became friends with her again later on): this change was an interesting display of how, even though Jane owed him a life-debt, she still found his behaviour oppressive and unreasonable. Again, very realistic.

I thought that the critical scenes were narrated very well, with a good sense of heightened drama: furthermore, I loved the way the author narrated scenes of crisis. Two examples spring immediately to mind: one is the wedding, during which it is revealed that Mr Rochester has a mad wife. I find it interesting that Jane is not depicted as falling in a swoon immediately; instead, the entire sequence of events plays out, exposing the mad wife to the public. Jane's feelings are only revealed later, heightening their impending expression: and, when they are expressed, they come out so eloquently and poignantly that they cannot help but make an impression. This timing is very skilful, and again the way this entire thing just drops out of nowhere appears very realistic to me, instead of being contrived.

As for Jane's reaction: I was very impressed with how well the author conveyed emotion and feelings. There is a visceral feel for how lost and uncertain Jane feels after the revelation: initially she is engulfed by a wave of sorrow. Later, when she is calmer, she has a better idea of what to do: but I could feel that initial wave of overwhelming emotion that she felt. I know how that feels, and I could really relate to it.

The expression of emotion is what brings me to my second example: when Jane is wandering penniless around the streets of Morton, her sheer hunger, helplessness and misery are conveyed in an extremely moving way. When, finally, she is rescued, the relief she feels, the relative calmness of her recuperation, and the joy at her recovery also come across very strongly.

The style of the prose was very elaborate: lots of description and colourful metaphors (a lot of the metaphors were actually very vivid and pleasing to imagine). There was a certain rhythm to the author's descriptive prose, with its multi-part, run-on sentences: although it may have dragged a little, it did not seem abrupt or unstructured. I would consider this style the opposite of clipped (I have read stories in a clipped style, by Asimov for instance: that style has its own charm.)

The ending was interesting: I liked how once Jane was back with Rochester, all her old tensions and doubts were washed away: and even though Rochester was maimed, the both of them were still able to find happiness. Rochester's helplessness was again very touching, especially compared with his earlier independence and personal power: however, it did lead to increased understanding between him and Jane. That they found happiness means that later, when Rochester regained his sight, it did not feel like a cop-out.

I find it interesting that neither of the protagonists was particularly attractive physically. In fact, there is a general sensibility where most of the attractive characters are shallow, flippant or otherwise defective internally; whereas the plain characters are more often depicted sympathetically.

This is all I can remember or think about now. Reading this book did not really give me any hints: it's not like I discerned some secret method of narration or characterization that will win me success. However, I feel like I might absorb a little something from it; furthermore, at the very least, this book has demonstrated to me how skilfully crafted a work of fiction can be: it has given me something to work towards, to aim for.

Next up is The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger by Stephen King, and then The First World War by John Keegan. (That adds up to an extra work of general literature, but I figure that's okay -- those histories look fat enough.)

YBlog

2007-05-29T05:00:00.000-05:00

I'm developing a blog platform using Erlang and Yaws. I'm interested to see how an elegant, beautiful, functional language like Erlang could be used for the purpose. Yaws is a web server written in Erlang: it allows Erlang code to be inserted into HTML pages, kind of like pHp, except that Erlang is a much, much cooler language in my opinion. Yaws has been found to have much better performance than Apache in certain tests, which is another motivating factor for this project (assuming I have the skill to properly leverage this higher performance in my code).

I've set up Yaws on an old Compaq machine that I've installed Ubuntu on. I've got it all configured and running, so that I'm ready to start development.

One concern is that linking Erlang to MySQL seems too hard and messy: I'd rather use Mnesia, a database engine bundled with Erlang/OTP (the official distribution of Erlang). The only thing is, this will involve learning Mnemosyne, an Erlang-based query language.

I'll be replicating the Loop, the method that Wordpress uses for generating its pages. (As a matter of fact, I will probably be borrowing a number of design concepts from Wordpress, which I was exposed to while doing my senior thesis project at UIUC.) It'll be a long time before I can get YBlog up to the advanced sort of feature level that blog platforms like Wordpress and Blogspot have: however, I intend to start simple, and add features slowly.

I'll keep posting updates on YBlog development here. My next immediate step will be to lay out an index.yaws file: this will be where the loop is contained. I will abstract all processing away from this file: as much as possible, index.yaws will only make calls to functions in the yblog.erl blog engine. Once I've determined what sort of functions I need, I'll set about implementing them, which will involve learning to use Mnesia and Mnemosyne.

Reading plans

2007-05-28T09:06:00.000-05:00

So I couldn't find a copy of Pride and Prejudice; I decided to read Jane Eyre instead. I'll be done with it soon, and my queue of books to read after that is:

Dark Tower: The Gunslinger by Stephen King
The First World War by John Keegan
Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
Pawn of Prophecy by David Eddings
Anna Karenina by Tolstoy
Something light, for a break
Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Gibbon
Narn i Chin Hurin by Tolkein
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

I'm generally trying to equally intersperse fantasy, general literature, and history. In addition to this queue, there is also a list of books I intend to add to the queue as I go along:

A Midsummer Night's Dream by Shakespeare
A history of Indian independence
A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth
Beowulf
The rest of the Belgeriad series
A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K Le Guin (and the rest of the Earthsea series)
Magyk by Angie Sage (and the rest of the Septimus Heap series)
The rest of the Dark Tower series
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
A history of the Renaissance
A history of the Crusades
A history of the Mughals
The Second World War by John Keegan
A biography of Winston Churchill
My Experiments with Truth by Gandhi
Paul Clifford by Edward Bulwer-Lytton

I expect both these lists will keep growing. I intend to read as many of these books as I can, if not all of them.

I will post my thoughts on Jane Eyre when I'm done with it, probably in a few days.

Romeo and Juliet

2007-05-28T09:02:00.000-05:00

I rather liked the wordplay. Shakespeare is certainly very clever with puns and dirty jokes. I also got a true sense of camaraderie between Romeo and his companions at some points. Of course, the language was beautiful.

I didn't get quite as visceral a feel for the tragedy of the title characters as I would have expected; in particular, I think the fact that the only way the characters could express their emotions was by vocalising them had something to do with it. This is a play, not a novel; therefore, the only way to express deep sorrow (in the text, anyhow) is by having the characters rant on about it. There's no room for external exposition of any sort; everything has to be in the dialogue.

Looking back, another funny thing is, when Romeo hears the bad news about Juliet, he doesn't express major shock: there's no 'What the fuck' moment. He just swings immediately into another plan of action. This isn't necessarily unrealistic, though; he generally seems to be in such an overwrought state of mind that when he hears this, he immediately knows there is only one thing that he wants to do. Then again, he doesn't go through the five standard stages of grief, that being a concept that probably hadn't been invented at that point.

A minor point: it was something of a convenient coincidence that Paris happened to be at the grave when he was; it seems like this was only done so that he could die, thus ending with the 'everybody dies' scenario.

Also, the manner in which Romeo and Juliet died strikes me as reminiscent of the story of Antony and Cleopatra. I'm not certain whether the whole killing-yourself-because-you-think-your-girlfriend's-dead thing was invented by Shakespeare, or whether it was actually part of the history of Antony and Cleopatra. Either way, it makes for an interesting example of Shakespeare reusing a plot element.

From here, I think I will move on to Pride and Prejudice; I will also continue to beat my head against the Canterbury Tales. And I'm honestly not sure what to do with Paul Clifford. Later, I'd like to start a history of World War I.

Starting the Journal

2007-05-28T08:59:00.000-05:00

This is where I intend to write about stuff I want to write about. The first purpose I can think of is to use this journal to document my thoughts about the books I read. I'll probably figure out other things to do with it along the way.