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pdotb finished reading Night Watch by Terry Pratchett

Terry Pratchett: Night Watch (EBook, 2009, HarperCollins)

Night Watch by Terry Pratchett

One moment, Sir Sam Vimes is in his old patrolman form, chasing a sweet-talking psychopath across the rooftops of Ankh-Morpork. …

pdotb reviewed Night Watch by Terry Pratchett

One moment, Sir Sam Vimes is in his old patrolman form, chasing a sweet-talking psychopath …

I think I finally get it.

4 stars

This is the first of Pratchett's novels that I've read to the end (I've certainly tried at least one before and didn't get anywhere) and I think I understand the attraction. Vimes is a thoroughly decent chap, in a messy world, and Pratchett weaves words of wisdom into a pretty entertaining story. I'm not sure it moved me enough to hoover up the rest of his books, but I at least understand why people like him so much.

pdotb finished reading Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

Jane Austen, Kathleen James-Cavan: Sense and Sensibility (EBook, 2001, Broadview Press)

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen, Kathleen James-Cavan

Jane Austen’s first published novel, Sense and Sensibility, is a witty satire of the sentimental novel, a popular genre in …

pdotb reviewed Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

Jane Austen’s first published novel, Sense and Sensibility, is a witty satire of the sentimental …

Charming

5 stars

Enjoyable story, enlivened by Austen's wonderful turns of phrase.

pdotb commented on Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

Jane Austen’s first published novel, Sense and Sensibility, is a witty satire of the sentimental …

I don't think I'd appreciated before now just how funny Austen could be. Among some highlights:

Mrs. John Dashwood had never been a favourite with any of her husband’s family; but she had had no opportunity, till the present, of shewing them with how little attention to the comfort of other people she could act when occasion required it. (p44).

His manners to them, though calm, were perfectly kind; to Mrs. Jennings, most attentively civil; and on Colonel Brandon’s coming in soon after himself, he eyed him with a curiosity which seemed to say, that he only wanted to know him to be rich, to be equally civil to him. (p240)

Elinor, while she waited in silence and immovable gravity, the conclusion of such folly, could not restrain her eyes from being fixed on him with a look that spoke all the contempt it excited. It was a look, however, …

I don't think I'd appreciated before now just how funny Austen could be. Among some highlights:

Mrs. John Dashwood had never been a favourite with any of her husband’s family; but she had had no opportunity, till the present, of shewing them with how little attention to the comfort of other people she could act when occasion required it. (p44).

His manners to them, though calm, were perfectly kind; to Mrs. Jennings, most attentively civil; and on Colonel Brandon’s coming in soon after himself, he eyed him with a curiosity which seemed to say, that he only wanted to know him to be rich, to be equally civil to him. (p240)

Elinor, while she waited in silence and immovable gravity, the conclusion of such folly, could not restrain her eyes from being fixed on him with a look that spoke all the contempt it excited. It was a look, however, very well bestowed, for it relieved her own feelings, and gave no intelligence to him. (p309)

pdotb quoted The Great Right North by Stéphane Leman-Langlois

Stéphane Leman-Langlois, Aurélie Campana, Samuel Tanner: The Great Right North (Paperback, 2024, McGill-Queen’s University Press)

No rating

In February 2021 the Canadian government published a considerably expanded list of domestic terrorist entities. …

Explicitly named after al Qaeda, the Base essentially fell apart after having been infiltrated by Winnipeg Free Press journalist Ryan Thorpe in 2019. The group made the most basic mistake that gangs involved in clandestine activity can make: it recruited outside its immediate social network. Intrigued by leaflets, Thorpe simply got in touch with the group via its phone number, which quickly led him to the core of the organization -- and eventually to an FBI investigation.

— The Great Right North by Stéphane Leman-Langlois, Aurélie Campana, Samuel Tanner (Page 57)

lol

pdotb quoted The Great Right North by Stéphane Leman-Langlois

No rating

In February 2021 the Canadian government published a considerably expanded list of domestic terrorist entities. …

Content warning canpol, uspol, fascism

Beginning in early 2017 we found that our prospective research participants seemed less reluctant to speak candidly about their adherence to far-right ideas, tactics, and networks.

— The Great Right North by Stéphane Leman-Langlois, Aurélie Campana, Samuel Tanner (Page 17)

Hmm. I wonder what was going on in the world at the time that would have made far-right groups more willing to speak openly...