Dog Days

[stoutfellow]

Ben and Murphy both need to have their teeth cleaned. Both are old enough that the vet wants bloodwork done first; fortunately, they're also due for their shots, so I can take them each in once for shots and bloodwork, and then later for the teeth-cleaning. I had scheduled the first appointments for today (Murphy) and Friday (Ben), but there's a heat advisory today. It's about a mile walk to the vet, and Murphy has a black coat; I'd be afraid of heat exhaustion or the like. So, I canceled the appointment today in favor of next Monday, and somewhat earlier in the day.

Meanwhile, I'm taking a break from SF/F; I read Billy Budd over the weekend, and I've just started on The Count of Monte Cristo. The film version of Billy Budd was reasonably faithful to the book (taking into account Melville's 19th-century longwindedness, and the need for cinematic justification of the events); I have to say that the only really interesting character was Captain Vere. Budd was too much the angel, Claggart too diabolical, and the others, frankly, too minor. Vere is a decent man caught in an intolerable dilemma, and, given the overall situation, his decision is understandable. Still, I think he put the ship at more risk of mutiny rather than less, and - though he warns the officers against making a decision based on fear - it is only the danger of mutiny that gives any real justification to his rigid interpretation of the Articles.

Monte Cristo looks to be good, lightweight fun so far; I'm just at the point of Dantes' confinement to the Chateau d'If.

Ho hum, time to get ready to go to work.

Comments

[khavrinen.livejournal.com]

If you want to go back to (or would it be "backslide to"?) SF/F when you finish Monte Cristo, you could segue with Barry B. Longyear's It Came From Schenectady (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0595201725/qid=1089652270/sr=12-1/102-1855251-2032936?v=glance&s=books). It is an anthology of his works, in which the title of one of them is based on the protagonist's mis-interpretation of the name Chateau d'If: "The House of If." It's sort of an exploration of the philosophies of imprisonment. I'm also extremely fond of "The Portrait of Baron Negay," in which the baron imprisons an artist and a forger together, and makes the wrong choice as to which to execute and which to set free.

The title of the anthology comes from a joke in the introduction, in which Longyear bemoans the fact that, whenever an SF/F author does an interview, they inevitably get asked, "Where do you get your ideas?" -- to which he now answers, "Schenectady."


Coincidentally, I'm taking a break from SF/F myself at the moment, although Mysteries are more of a lateral move than a step up, literarily speaking.

*Someone* has to speak for the voiceless...(g)

[hornedhopper.livejournal.com]

Is there a medically necessary reason to do the bloodwork and shots at a different time from the dental work? After all, "why waste a perfectly good anesthesia?" If your vet could do it while the Boyz are out, it would sure spare them some distress.

I would share my current reading, but I don't think you'd be terribly interested in mucositis (g). The plot isn't very good, anyway.

[hornedhopper.livejournal.com]

OTOH, I could have *just* read more carefully the first time; then I would have known that the vet wanted bloodwork *for* the tooth cleaning...

[filkferengi]

Which translation of _Monte Cristo_ are you reading? I was fairly fond of the Lowell Blair abridgment; iirc it has 441 pages. _Monte Cristo_ is lots of fun. Remind us when you're done, & we can talk about it in more detail.

[stoutfellow.livejournal.com]

Hmm... I can't find any indication of the translator. It's the Signet Classic edition, unabridged, with an introduction by Robert Wilson.

I'm a little less than halfway through; the Count is in Rome, at the time of Carnival.