Pastries; angst; credit cards; dangerous classicists

[quislibet]

This is a day of manifold vexations which would be vexatious even to relate in any detail; the morning began with going out of my way for pastry which turned out to be mediocre, and from this ill omen things have since progressed to the point of existential angst -- although, I hasten to add, it is not accurate to say that the existential angst was in fact *caused* by the mediocre pastry.

On the plus side, last night I realized I had lost my credit card. This turns out, in the end, to be all right, because I checked my account online, found no untoward activity, and realized that the last place I used it was a local gaming store two weeks ago. I called there, and, after a long pause while the woman working there apparently dug through a mighty stack of abandoned credit cards, learned that my card was there, which I then went and recovered.

I started rereading Donna Tartt's The Secret History today, as I thought it would make a fitting followup to Elizabeth Hand's Waking the Moon; if I can find a copy, I think the modern retelling of Tam Lin by Jane Yolen must be next. (If you're unfamiliar with the books, they all involve perfectly normal young people going off to college, meeting larger-than-life quirky people whom they become obsessed with, and getting sucked into occult conspiracies that involve classicists.)

Comments

[rojagato.livejournal.com]

Cake or death :: pastry or angst

Flag!

[dirtymikesell.livejournal.com]

I don't think there is a correct answer to Pastry or Angst.

Re: Flag!

[quislibet.livejournal.com]

One prefers the pastry, even when mediocre.

And happy birthday, you rascal, you!

Re: Flag!

[dirtymikesell.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[quislibet.livejournal.com]

Mmm. Cake.

[whatifoundthere.livejournal.com]

Eh. Skip Tam Lin, unless the mythic trinity of the novels would be ruined for you otherwise. The first four hundred pages of the novel is made up of students lying around in their dorms wondering what they're going to major in. redmagpie says that the last couple of chapters get kind of interesting as the actual Tam Lin story makes an appearance, but I was bored stupid before I got that far.

[cnoocy]

At my alma mater, upon which Tam Lin is based, the consensus was that it was not a great book, but that the school references were interesting.

[sorceror.livejournal.com]

Which alma mater would that be?

[cnoocy]

Carleton College in Northfield, MN.

[quislibet.livejournal.com]

I've actually read it before, although it has been a decade. It's mainly to fill out the mythic trinity, but I do remember enjoying it. I think the way the supernatural just sort of shows up after a couple hundred pages of mundanity is actually kind of effective. Or something.

[futurenurselady.livejournal.com]

The retelling of Tam Lin is part of a group of retellings. The best one IMHO was Jack of Kinrowan by Charles De Lint. I have a copy if you want to borrow it.

[quislibet.livejournal.com]

Is that the "Jack the Giant Killer" one? If so, I've read it -- much more rollicking fun and much less drearily introspective than a lot of De Lint's work.

oooo

[dirtymikesell.livejournal.com]

those sound like fantastic books. I know what I'm getting myself for my b-day!

thank you!

Re: oooo

[quislibet.livejournal.com]

Well, Tam Lin, I discovered this morning while stopping at Borders to buy it and use the restroom, is out of print. (And the restroom was closed for cleaning.) Waking the Moon is also fairly elderly as fantasy paperbacks go, so it might also be out of print, but you can borrow J.'s copy, I reckon.

The other one should be available.

Re: oooo

[dirtymikesell.livejournal.com]

ahh the brilliance of Amazon has allowed me to find copies of both if I wish.

Re: oooo

[quislibet.livejournal.com]

Hooray for brilliant amazons!

[tuliptoe.livejournal.com]

Oooh! I'll have to try Waking the Moon. I loved The Secret History. I'll go to the library for the Tam Lin retelling. If amberspyglass is right I don't want to buy that one until I've read it. :)

[quislibet.livejournal.com]

Waking the Moon is definitely a flakier novel, and a much more overtly fantasy/supernatural/horror one. But you'll never look at a crescent-moon-shaped necklace on a goddess-worshipper the same way again.

Still, I always think of the three novels together.

[tuliptoe.livejournal.com]

Well sometimes I like flaky! :)

[timquestionmark.livejournal.com]

My fiance is a bit of a Tam Lin-o-phile. She liked and recommended the book and sadly it didn't do much for me. In an amazing coincidence we rented the MOVIE VERSION! last night. I would say that unless you are a fan of CHEESY 70's vaguely arty movies or a completest when it comes to Tam Lin I can't really recommend it

Ok, it is amusing because it has Patsy (Joanna Lumley) from ABFAb in a supporting role.

[quislibet.livejournal.com]

Thanks to google, I see that it bears the alternate title "The Devil's Widow."

Pretty damn star-studded, though, and directed by Roddy McDowell. Wacky.

[entscheidung.livejournal.com]

After I read The Secret History I drove my roommate practically insane by getting rid of all the electric lights in our apartment and buying an absurd number of kerosene lamps. It also inspired me to find a pair of pince nez, which has been far more difficult to find than the lamps.

[maartexx.livejournal.com]

The Secret History was good and creepy. I wish her next book had been as good, and as creepy. Oh well.

Want to read a good, creepy book that does interesting things with language? Random Acts of Senseless Violence by Jack Womack. If you actually read that, tell me what you think, because I can't get anyone else to read it just because it "does interesting things with language."

[sogellag.livejournal.com]

what kind of pastry?

[quislibet.livejournal.com]

It was actually a muffin, meant to be hazelnut, which meant that there was some crunchiness to alleviate the blandness. I went to a French-style bakery near the Aquarium and they didn't actually have any French-style pastries yesterday morning.

Woe.