azgrey wrote: All the while TurquoiseB and Share are getting on like the hoopy froods.
reply to azgrey: laughing because I played basketball in grade school and high school and thought this meant that Barry and I shoot hoops together. Yeah, I don't get out enough! As for froods, thought that meant foodies who are also friends. Or maybe foodies who only eat frozen food. Or fresh food. Or fried food. Speaking of fried, I admit the temps here are getting to the share brain. (Did I already say Triguna told me I'm pure pitta?) Heat index of 110 F/38-43 C today. Anyway, googled and found Hitchhiker's Guide reference. Then bragged to a friend who's HG fan that I got called hoopy frood on FFL. That'll show him as he's the one who warned me about FFL (-: to Rick: Thank you for birthday wishes, Rick and fun to see you this morning at Everybody's. Sorry if sweaty. AC in Dome not quite doing its job this morning. I escaped to asana room for part of my program. ________________________________ From: turquoiseb <no_re...@yahoogroups.com> To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com Sent: Thursday, June 28, 2012 7:02 AM Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: RIP Nora ques to Barry --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, merudanda <no_reply@...> wrote: > > And for a moment I rejoice,And believe in transcendent things > That would mould from this muddy earth A spot for the splendid > birth-- may I add from the Whispering Gallery: > Elspeth Morrison wrote with her 'The Dorothy Dunnett Companion', > which provides a comprehensive guide to the minutiae of the art, > culture, manners and science of those times in her historic > novels creating a so called "Dunnett effect": People scour art > galleries looking for pictures of Venetian bankers and Brussels > traders or seek out the Icelandic sagas to broaden their > understanding of an ancient king who was later "framed" > by Shakespeare.... Meru is referring to a book that Dorothy considered her finest, "King Hereafter," which told the story of the historical Macbeth, not the Shakespearean one. As for scouring places for traces of characters in Dunnett novels, I can attest to the truth of that because I used to lead such informal tours for fellow Dunnettophiles in Paris. Dorothy herself never wrote about a place unless she had been there herself. In one of her Lymond novels, there is a race across the rooftops of Blois, France, from the summer palace of the King down to the river. Dorothy not only researched the history of buildings to make sure it was possible, rumor has it that she made much of the rooftop journey herself. Before writing about the Sultan's palace in Istanbul, she went there, but being female was not allowed in. The palace guards noticed her hanging around outside and reported her to the authorities, one of whom happened to be a big fan of her novels. As a result she was invited inside to see the former harem, and could write about it first-hand. She was just that kinda lady. > Dorothy Dunnett looking a little bit like Judith Stein > speaks to "Off The Page" about her childhood and how she > became a writer. > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfemT4mwTgw Great find. Dorothy was a famously nice person. I have a good friend who, having read all of her novels to date in California but having no one to discuss them with, called Lady Dunnett's house, hoping to leave a message with someone there saying how much one fan had appreciated her work and what it meant to her. To my friend's surprise, Dorothy herself answered the phone, and wound up talking with her for over four hours. She was famously in love with Alistair, and we fans were concerned that when he died she'd want to go too, just to be with him. This would have left the second series of novels, The House Of Niccolo, unfinished. But Dorothy hung in there, finished the last book of the series, and then passed away quietly. One story I don't think she told in this interview was about writing the first novel of the Lymond Chronicles. Her husband Alistair supported her efforts as a writer, but wisely didn't ask to read anything, leaving it up to her. This *is* the editor of the most famous news journal in Scotland, The Scotsman, after all, so he was in rather a good position to offer editorial advice. Finally, after a couple of years of writing, she finished "The Game Of Kings" and, with some trepidation, asked her husband to read it. She left him that night sitting in his favorite reading chair, just starting it. She came down the next morning to find him still sitting there, just having finished it, and in tears. He looked up and said, "You have written the best novel I have ever read in my life." > Interestingly her seven lighter detective stories featuring a > bifocal-wearing secret agent in the guise of a portrait-painting > yachtsman, Johnson Johnson, originally published under her > maiden name are not mentioned The Dolly stories. I've read them, and as she says in this interview, they're lighter and more fun than the historical work. > Dorothy Dunnett on the BBC's Desert Island Discs from 1982. > http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p009mks3 > > Do you know that rhinotomy means– the removal of someone's nose by > biting or 'other means' – was a common punishment for adultery in > 15th-century Europe, while an effective hair dye was achieved by > marinating leeches in vinegar inside a lead vessel? No? Read D. > Dunnet, been described as having "a painter's eye for gorgeous > detail" and "a vocabulary that sometimes outstrips the Shorter > Oxford English Dictionary" but IMHO a intriguing deep interest > in music. She's a wonder at finding esoteric details in history that explain our present. Have you ever wondered why wearing "basic black" became associated with nobility or being high-born or wealthy? It's because black was the most expensive dye in the world; only the richest people could afford it. > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, turquoiseb <no_reply@> wrote: > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Share Long sharelong60@ wrote: > > > > > > Oy, I've never even heard of your favorite writers! Which > > > I'm sure sez way more about me than about them (-: > > > > Not really. Chris' books sell well, but he's not as > > well known as many American humorists. Dorothy wrote > > primarily historical fiction, which is not everyone's > > cuppa tea. > > > > > Anyway, I do the same thing. I read/watch stuff over and over. > > > Same with music. Some people don't understand how I can watch > > > a movie over and over once I know the story. Or reread a novel. > > > It's that my enjoyment is derived not only from the story, but > > > also from how it's told. > > > > Exactly. > > > > > And I'm also sensing that my taste is a little more low brow > > > than yours. Vive la difference! > > > > Not necessarily. Chris writes very middlebrow humor, > > with occasional forays into brilliance, such as his > > "Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's > > Childhood Pal." It's one of the most spiritual books > > I've ever read. Really. > > > > As for Dorothy, she was a trip. She was the wife of > > Lord Alistair Dunnett, editor of The Scotsman, and > > real-life model for Ian Fleming's James Bond. She > > only started writing in her late 30s, but developed > > a rather fanatical following, among whom she is > > regarded as the best writer of the English language > > in the 20th century. > > > > It's the mastery thang, as I suggested before. She > > writes the best plots in the world, her history is > > always impeccable (far better than historians'), > > but above all it's about her characters. They're > > like peeling an onion. You think you know them > > when you first meet them, but 2000 pages later > > she can make you gasp and say, "Jesus...I never > > saw that coming. Now I have to go back and read > > the book from the beginning." Suffice it to say > > I have done just that, many times. > > > > > ________________________________ > > > From: turquoiseb no_re...@yahoogroups.com > > > To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com > > > Sent: Wednesday, June 27, 2012 11:16 AM > > > Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: RIP Nora ques to Barry > > > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Share Long <sharelong60@> > wrote: > > > > > > > > Ok, thanks for explaining. So, who IS one of your favorite > > > > writers? I mean, that I might be familiar with given my > > > > limitations, weirdness, Domeness, etc. (-: > > > > > > I'd rather not say, because there are some here who > > > will leap upon them as a way of leaping upon me. But > > > there are a few I've mentioned in the past. For funny, > > > it's hard to beat Christopher Moore. For mastery, > > > Dorothy Dunnett. > > > > > > The bottom line for me when it comes to "Favorite > > > Writers" is the same as for "Favorite Movies or TV." > > > Repeatability. That is, do I want to read it twice, > > > or even more than twice? As much as I liked Nora > > > Ephron, she never met that criterion. The corollary > > > to this criterion is whether the writing in question > > > gets *better* with every reading. For Chris Moore, > > > and for Lady Dunnett, this is always true. > > > > > > > ________________________________ > > > > From: turquoiseb no_re...@yahoogroups.com > > > > To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com > > > > Sent: Wednesday, June 27, 2012 10:40 AM > > > > Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: RIP Nora ques to Barry > > > > > > > > > > > >  > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Share Long <sharelong60@> > wrote: > > > > > > > > > > Ok, Barry, now I'm really confused. You say her writing style > > > > > was superb and she always made you laugh. BUT, she was not > > > > > one of your favorite writers! > > > > > Huh? What am I missing here? > > > > > > > > Many writers, few spots on the "Favorites" list. > > > > > > > > > ________________________________ > > > > > From: turquoiseb no_re...@yahoogroups.com > > > > > To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com > > > > > Sent: Wednesday, June 27, 2012 8:11 AM > > > > > Subject: [FairfieldLife] RIP Nora > > > > > > > > > > Nora Ephron was never one of my favorite writers, but I > > > > > can say of her something I can't say about many others -- > > > > > she always made me laugh. Whether it was in the scripts > > > > > of her movies or in articles for Esquire or the New Yorker > > > > > or Huffington Post, she was a hoot. Her writing style was > > > > > superb, and no matter how serious the subject, it almost > > > > > always seemed to be almost-but-not-quite-concealing-a- > > > > > smile. If you don't know her except as the author of > > > > > "When Harry Met Sally," here are a couple of short > > > > > pieces to hopefully make you smile as well. > > > > > > > > > > Her recent hilarious short parody of Stieg Larsson: > > > > > http://www.newyorker.com/humor/2010/07/05/100705sh_shouts_ephron > > > > > > > > > > Nora's famous slightly longer piece on becoming an heiress: > > > > > > http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/10/11/101011fa_fact_ephron > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
