curuchamion | Hello world!

Current Mood: bored

Entry tags:

books,
rec

Hello world!

I'm bored. I am extremely bored. I want something new to read - and by "new" I mean "not just another riff on the same old characters and situations I've read before".

So, pretty pretty please, can you rec me things, flist? Your writing or somebody else's, I don't care... but rec me a fic from a fandom I don't read! Or a new-to-me book or book series - my local library probably has it if it isn't online. Or, heck - introduce me to a whole new fandom! I don't really feel like watching movies at the moment, but if you convince me something is awesome enough I might.

General likes and dislikes:

I like friendship stories, adventure stories, mystery stories, stories written for children/teens, teamwork, WWII settings, sailing ships, heroic people, smart people, funny people, loyal people, Scottish people, and people who can act. Also anything written by someone geeking out about something they love - that's always fascinating.

I don't like RPF, slash, excessive shippiness, excessive magic, snark about religion, protagonists who are rude, stupid, evil, mean, or otherwise dislikable, or books that purport to feature knitting or home repair (I nitpick them too much).

Bored of:

* Doctor Who - I'm sorry, but I'm just really not interested right now.
* Stargate SG-1 - My mom won't let me watch it (I have this stupid knack of answering honestly and thoroughly the question "Is there anything objectionable in it?"), so I'm not reading any more till I leave home, it just makes me cranky.
* MacGyver - Frankly, the fun is in the visuals. No offence?

Know the canon but don't read the fic:

* Tolkien - I kind of wish I did, because some of the awesomest people I know are LOTR writers, but I just can't do it.
* Bonanza - I simply have no interest in reading Bonanza fic. There's enough show canon to keep me happy for my lifetime.
* Hogan's Heroes - What I've seen of the fic tends to be extremely Srs Bisness, with much whumpage. Besides, I watch HH for the acting.
* Sherlock Holmes - The thought of Holmes/Watson slash makes me unexpectedly grumpy and militant about asexuality!fail. I don't really like myself when I'm militant, so I don't care to poke through Holmes archives reading summaries.
* Discworld - Okay, I've only read the Guards series (Vimes FTW!), but I don't quite see how fanfic could measure up.
* X-Men - I think I've read basically every comic Chris Claremont has ever written with Wolverine in. Several times. And I'm too picky about characterization to wade through the fic.
* NCIS - The proportion of Duckyfic is so small, why bother?
* Agatha Christie - I'm not fond enough of the canon to want to bother with fic, for the most part.

Tried the canon, didn't like it (not sorted by whether there is fic):

* Mission: Impossible - it stresses me out for some reason.
* The Brady Bunch - just can't stand it.
* Lost in Space - same.
* DC superhero comics - tend to be stupid. I'd read the Dave Cockrum run of "Legion of Super-Heroes" if it were available, though.
* Spider-Man comics - he's a jerk. '90s!Venom is my favorite character, for cryin' out loud!
* Wild Wild West - it just didn't click with me.
* Captain America - I love the concept and some things about the character, but the way he's written is all over the map!
* Georgette Heyer - I liked "The Unknown Ajax", but most of the others I've tried bored me.

I've read all the genfic:

* Sapphire and Steel
* Man from UNCLE
* Swallows and Amazons
* Legend (MOAR PLZ!)
* Star Wars - I've read all the official fic related to the Luke trilogy up to the point where Chewbacca gets killed. After that, I don't care anymore. And I'm not really interested in non-official fic.

There isn't any fic:

* Gilligan's Island
* The Three Investigators. Well, there's official books not by the original author, but they're no good.
* Andre Norton's "Solar Queen" series
* Agatha Christie's Tommy and Tuppence stories (the exception to my cordial dislike of Agatha Christie)

Things I keep meaning to watch:

* The Lion King (everyone's always shocked that I haven't seen it)
* Star Trek: The Next Generation (the pilot has DeForest Kelley and John de Lancie in it, so it shouldn't be too hard to persuade me to give it a shot)
* Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (

eponymous_rose keeps going on about it)
* Three Bites of the Apple (that's research for a fic)
* the TV episode where DMc is a confused baby Time Lord (I've forgotten the name, and it has also morphed into research for a fic)
* all the Doctor Who I haven't seen (except as previously noted I'm bored of storylines I already know about)
* The Dark Knight (I liked Batman Begins, but people tell me TDK is scarier)

I'm sure there's lots of other stuff I've forgotten or never heard of, too. Surprise me! ;-)

Or alternatively, suggest cures for writer's block. I know there are stories you guys want me to finish - the Who/X-Men piece for

clocketpatch, the MFU/MacGyver piece for

lolmac Beth, the Cartoon Adventures of

togsos and Curuchamion...

primsong wants Three!fic and

eponymous_rose wants Legend!fic - and I can't seem to write ANYTHING! I have ideas, I have outlines and scene descriptions, I just can't get words!

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Good LORD, you haven't watched Star Trek TNG yet? That would be my first choice. One caveat: many of the first season episodes are notoriously weak. The show, famously, did not hit its stride until the second season. Lots of fanfic, too, and no need to read the slash.

Other TV show choices:
Babylon 5 -- 5 seasons, one continuous story arc. The show that proved audiences would buy into a multiyear story. Possibly the best SF TV series ever, IMHO. And far less "objectionable" than Stargate. (BTW, don't bother with the fanfic until you've finished canon.)

Blake's 7 -- classic Brit sci-fi; incredible acting, terrible dated special effects, writing that ranges from rubbish to brilliance.

Reading -- try Tamora Pierce if you haven't already. Or Jasper Fforde if you feel like British whimsicality.

ETA: Also, for books, Dorothy Sayers.

Edited 2010-08-03 20:51 (UTC)

*headslap* I knew I was forgetting things! Dorothy Sayers falls into the category of "I've read all the canon several times, can't really imagine the fanfic measuring up".

I've heard people mention Tamora Pierce and Jasper Fforde, but never gotten around to finding out what sort of stuff they write. British whimsicality sounds good... that reminds me, a friend IRL recced me PG Wodehouse recently and I haven't tried it yet.

I hadn't tried Babylon 5 because I don't think much of J. Michael Straczynski's writing in the Marvel comics I've read - he's a bit too flip and cynical for me, usually - but you sound awfully enthusiastic. However... season arcs are awkward things to watch from a library. The very first disc has been apparently been stolen; does that make the rest incomprehensible?

I keep running across people who like Blake's 7. From the scraps of fic I've read, the characters don't sound like anybody I'd like, but I know perfectly well how distorted fic can get; is there a particular starter ep you'd recommend?

As to TNG - the library only has the first six seasons. Aren't there seven? Are there end-of-season cliffies or seasonal story arcs to be aware of? And can you rec me a few episodes to start with?

I'm going to answer the questions separately.

TNG - yes, there are seven seasons. Watch the pilot. I'd like to say "skip the rest of S1", but there are a few episodes that will feed into story arcs, or that I seem to remember being worth watching: "Hide and Q" (any episode with 'Q' means John de Lancie), "DataLore", "11001001", "Too Short a Season", "When the Bough Breaks", "Home Soil", "Coming of Age", "The Arsenal of Freedom", "Conspiracy", and "The Neutral Zone".

But the good stuff really doesn't start till S2. So I would actually say: Watch the pilot, then get S2 and watch, let's see, "The CHild", "A Matter of Honor", "The Measure of a Man", "The Emissary", and "Peak Performance". Absolutely do NOT watch "Up the Long Ladder".

Beyond that -- if you like it, you'll eventually want to get hold of the seventh season, but that's quite a long ways into the future.

Well, libraries being what they are, the pilot wasn't on shelf, so I just checked out what I could find of your S2 recs. (Luckily, I already knew most of the main cast through geekish osmosis, or I would have been thoroughly mixed up!)

I've seen six episodes now: The Child, Q Who (Hide and Q wasn't on shelf either), Datalore, A Matter of Honor, Peak Performance, and 11001001. Not really a lot of material there to base a decision on, as slow-paced as they are compared to TOS... but, okay, I'll stop yanking your chain. ;-) I like it.

(I don't say I love it yet, but that'll come in time. Once a character on a show "clicks" with me, I keep watching. In this case, Riker's my boy - I noticed halfway through my first ep that he's got De Kelley's eyes, and I was sunk. *grin*)

And I really love the theme music. It is awesomeness. :D

Yeah -- once he'd grown the beard (physically and trope-ically), Riker became my 'hook' character too.

Babylon 5: you'll have to watch the whole thing. It won't be incomprehensible, but when something is that well put together, you'll want to give yourself the entire experience.

B5 was Straczynski's complete baby, and he didn't have to write for anyone else's characters in it. I haven't read his Marvel writing, but I can imagine that there would be some key differences. B5 has plenty of dark themes, but the overriding message and the consistent subtext is that heroes are heroes and Good Guys win. There is cynicism, there are bad people, but there's also idealism and heroics. Some characters are flippant, some are not.

Dorothy Sayers: not much fanfic, and it doesn't measure up. How could it?

Blake's 7: as far as I'm concerned, it's all but impossible for any fanfic to even begin to get it right. The characters were so finely wrought that even the professional writers wrote some real clunkers of scripts. The show is very uneven; but at its best, it's brilliant.

For starter episodes, let's see. S2: "Horizon", "Killer", "Gambit", "Star One". S3: "City At the Edge of the World", "Rumours of Death". S4: "Headhunter", "Sand", "Orbit".

*butts in rudely* Seconding both B7 (and PG Wodehouse for that matter - PG Wodehouse!)

I can see why you're suggesting S2 as a starter for Blake's 7, cos S1 moves at a snail's pace, but I do think the very first couple of episodes are worth watching, if not first, at least pretty early on, for set-up explanation, and some rather brilliant 1984 ripping-off. But otherwise *nods a lot* Episodes written by Chris Boucher are usually best, and the Tanith Lee ones are so very weird, but in a good way. (So I'm adding sarcophagus, from S3. ;-D)

I haven't read a lot of fic - although once you've watched some episodes

b7friday puts out weekly ficlet challenges and the results are usually pretty good, and well in keeping with the show.

*butts out again*

Edit: Blake's 7: as far as I'm concerned, it's all but impossible for any fanfic to even begin to get it right. The characters were so finely wrought that even the professional writers wrote some real clunkers of scripts. I am amused at myself now - I agree with you, but this makes me want to write fic just to prove I can do it well!!! :lol:

Edited 2010-08-04 17:08 (UTC)

Okay, I confess, I was in a cranky mood when I wrote that. I have read some truly outstanding B7 fic, but I no longer have the energy to dig through the mountains of dreck in which the gems are buried. It's very difficult for American writers to catch the extraordinary spark of the British wit, and I've run out of room for the Fail -- especially when professional writers in the US get it wrong also. (The Avengers movie, the US pilot for Red Dwarf, the Doctor WHo movie . . . )

Also, I'm usually tolerant of slash and in some cases enjoy it as AU, but B7 slash makes me froth at the mouth. *climbs off soapbox*

And hooray!! Someone else which likes Boucher!

Re S1: when I was introduced to the series, I watched a few 'sample' episodes, then settled in to watch the first four in sequence and get the background. It's amazing just how plodding Terry Nation could be, isn't it?

Edited 2010-08-04 18:35 (UTC)

:lol: No, don't worry. I was amused at myself, because it instantly made me want to write fic, just to be, um, awkward, or something... I haven't found an awful lot of fic yet, but I do like the

b7friday because it's all fun. And for a show that never stopped being fun while yet fundamentally bleak, that's very appropriate. :-)

And, I LOVE Chris Boucher's writing! I was interested in B7 a bit, because, well, Who-fan, but after watching CB's 3 DW episodes, I decided I had to get my hands on B7, just so I could have some more Chris Boucher! :-)

I think ep 4 especially... *nods* I recommended it to someone else who gave up at that point, which is a shame, because it picks up after that! But I do like the first couple of eps, with everyone's intro and the weirdness of episode 1, and finding the Liberator, and Avon and Jenna contemplating running away together... :-D

I just like to count the Terry Nation cliches I knew so well from DW: mutations, raditaion, the pretty girl who's the traitor, the mutant who's good, the squidgy things in underground tunnels... And trying to spot the bits where Chris Boucher had to fill in the gaps a lot. :lol:

Someone else ~~which~~ WHO likes Boucher! ack

I may have to check out the B7Friday comm. I was briefly part of a B7 Rewatch comm, but dropped out when the discussions proved to revolve around reinterpreting every single screen moment through slash goggles, or lauding Nation and dissing Boucher. I learned a lot about good and bad writing, and good and bad acting, from B7 and classic Who, and it just wasn't working for me to interact with folks who apparently couldn't tell the difference. *headwall*

By heaven, you're absolutely right about the Nation clichés . . .

Here's a fun exercise, if you haven't tried it: watch "Genesis of the Daleks", then watch the first B7 episodes. For me, there are scenes in "Genesis" that echo the kind of ideas Nation must have been working with when B7 was in development. (Not the giant killer clams, though.)

There's occasional slash on the comm - I don't think it's possible to find anywhere Blake/Avon free in this fandom, but it tends mainly to fun Vila-Avon fics, and Avon/Cally, and just generally ficlet-challenge nonsense, so I feel fairly at home there.

I had watched nearly all his DW eps before I ever got near B7, so it amused me to count the cliches as they went - Orac got the highest number in one episode, I seem to recall. (And the clams: squidgy things in tunnels.) Yes, people claim a lot of Genesis was down to Robert Holmes (oh, and David Maloney... B7/DW is so incestuous!), but the Terry Nation cliches are much too evident for it too have been more than tweaking. And the clams - squidgy mutated things in tunnels. See Orac. :-D Actually, to be fair, Terry Nation, can be very, very good - he just seems to stop trying at some points. And he's not Chris Boucher. (I want to find out about Star Cops one day, too. It's a crying shame that he doesn't seem to have written anything for TV since.) Also, the thing is, as editor, there's quite a lot of his snarkage and stuff in some of the Nation episodes, particularly towards the end of S1. (There's definitely one where TN's script must have fallen short, because there's suddenly a random sub-plot that is very reminiscent of one element of Image of the Fendahl. It's the one with Julian Glover, and Gan's chip going mad...)

Um... Let's hope

curuchamion doesn't mind us hi-jacking the thread. :-)

'Let's hope curuchamion doesn't mind us hi-jacking the thread.'

See what I said in the original post about listening to people geek out on subjects they love. It's way better than fine. ;-)

:loL: Oh, good, 'cos I can do that!

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Oh, George Selden! Yes! The Cricket in Times Square was the first of several; although the only other one I've read in that series is Tucker's Countryside. He also wrote The Genie of Sutton Place.

I'm Catholic, so Christian fiction is fine unless it's the annoying "Catholics aren't Christians, they're eebil" sort. Have you got individual book titles for the Songs in the Night trilogy and Emerald Ballad series?

I might have read an excerpt from Witch of Blackbird Pond once, but never got around to reading the whole thing. I should do that.

Cricket in Times Square... I must have been about five years old when I first read that! I've read all the sequels too, but the first one is still my favorite. (Also Garth Williams draws the cutest bugs ever.)

I've read all five Borrowers books - I think we own most of them, picked them up secondhand. Spiller's my favorite character.

I might have heard of Logan's Run once. What sort of imagined future? I'm rather fond of post-apocalyptic, less so of dystopic where the Big Bad Government is still on its feet.

I've never read any Bradbury; I'll have to look into that. I do like brilliant sci-fi.

I should really, really read some Poe that isn't in a Reader's Digest Condensed Book (I'm against condensed books on principle, but it was my grandmother's and I was bored! I'll read a lot of things when I'm bored.)

I'm not sure about Nathaniel Hawthorne... The Scarlet Letter was the most slog-riffic book I've ever finished, and I only got through it because I had to read it for school. Is House of the Seven Gables less heavy on the "Boring evil Puritan society is evil and boring and repressed, lather rinse repeat"?

Bradbury writes beautifully, although he tends to be melancholy.

Logan's Run probably has more sex than you'll really like. It's set in a world in which the population is controlled by people submitting to execution at the age of 21.

I find Hawthorne horribly overrated. His accuracy stinks and his characters barely qualify as cardboard; he has all the faults of the typical 19th century white male writer, and none of the virtues. IMHO, of course.

(deleted comment)

Beth has a point, though: I'm not so much with the skipping things. I tend to plow straight through - and sometimes regret it afterwards. o_O

I say - you love children's books and Sherlock Holmes, have you read the Basil of Baker Street series by Eve Titus? It's about a mouse detective named Basil and his sidekick Dr Dawson who live under the floorboards at 221B Baker Street. The Disney cartoon "The Great Mouse Detective" was based on it, but the books are so much better.

And the illustrator, Paul Galdone, draws the world's cutest mice. Seriously adorable!

Just commenting to second "The Witch of Blackbird Pond." I read that book in third grade, liked it so much I "lost" it, then re-read it about 80 bazillion times. I've never seen anybody rec that book before! :D

If you like Holmes then you might enjoy some of Wilkie Collins' mysteries, like The Moonstone, which is supposedly the very first detective-novel.

"Vanity Fair" by Thackery is a big huge book, but easy to read, and very Dickens-ish. The main character isn't a very nice person, but there are lots of other characters, so it's really more of an ensemble story.

That's all I've got, really. I find myself getting increasingly picky, as a reader, and lately it's like nothing can hold my interest. I like fantasy novels, but not if they contan uber-explicit sex or too many dark themes.

Also, PG Wodehouse is fun.

EDIT-O-MATIC: it's far from a cheerful tale, but Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood" is a masterpiece, IMO.

SON OF EDIT: Oops, I missed the part where you said no Agatha Christie.

Edited 2010-08-03 21:17 (UTC)

I think the dislike of evil protagonists knocks out Capote.

I suppose so. But it's a true story, more like "novelized journalism" than pure fiction. The two killers aren't protagonists in the same sense that the hero of a fictional tale is a protagonist.They're the subject of the story, being analyzed and observed by the writer.

But yes, if you're looking to avoid dark themes or violence, it's definitely a no-go. IMHO it's just really excellently written, though. With something like that, it's more about the writing-style than the subject matter.

Edited 2010-08-03 21:30 (UTC)

(deleted comment)

Sadly my library hasn't got Alias Smith and Jones or I'd probably be halfway through it by now... I do like guys with dimples. *g*

It hasn't got Wanted Dead or Alive either. I haven't checked on all the rest yet, but thanks for the recs!

Yes, you NEED to see the Lion King, pronto (I'm a little nuts about that movie... but it's Hamlet with Lions and Mathew Broderick, there's nothing not to love.) The actual fandom and associated fic scare the life out of me though... I'd advise extreme caution if digging beyond canon.

Recs...

TV Shows: Pushing Daisies, if you haven't seen it. Very quirky but it works.

Books: I'm a fan of Nancy Farmer's YA novels. I'm amazed at how different they all are - Stand outs are The Eye, the Ear and the Arm and House of the Scorpion.

While it's true that Wimseyfic doesn't generally measure up to book!canon (heck, even Sayers' own short stories don't measure up to book!canon), there is nonetheless some outstandingly good fic out there. If I could just recommend a few personal favourites, that you might want to dip into, you can decide for yourself if you get enough out of them to want to read more, even though they aren't by DLS herself.

Tell Beauty How She Blasteth (http://tree-and-leaf.livejournal.com/45386.html?style=mine) by

tree_and_leaf. This is the classic Wimseyfic, an AU in which Peter fails to save Harriet in Strong Poison. It's terribly sad and beautifully written, with everyone entirely in character, and with pitch-perfect voices.

The First Year After (http://yuletidetreasure.org/archive/43/thefirst.html) by

nineveh_uk. Harriet gradually learns to forgive Charles for almost getting her hanged. Excellet insights into the characters and, again, wonderful voices.

Scarce Any Man (http://yuletidetreasure.org/archive/39/scarceany.html) by Atalan. A brief moment from Harriet's life with Phil, featuring Harriet's friends, Phil's friends, and Phil himself. This one really does come close to sounding as if sayers had written it herself.

The Principled Affair of the Compromised KC (http://archiveofourown.org/works/101404) by A.J. Hall. Casefic centred around Sir Impey Biggs. This is so good it could be original fic. I went around in a state of depression for weeks after reading this because I knew I'd never write anything so good myself. It's not an attempt at a Sayers pastiche, but it has a similar literary aesthetic.

They came, you know, and told me you were dead (http://archiveofourown.org/works/87705?view_adult=true) by

antisoppist A funny, touching, and quite extraordinarily convincing AU, in which Peter is missing in action in the war, and Helen comes to Talboys to tell Harriet that if she continues to live on her own with a manservant, People Will Talk. Predictable consequences ensue. It's full of marvellous canonical references and has a wonderfully light, witty touch that somehow manages not to wallow in angst while at the same time taking difficult emotions and complex sets of loyalties seriously.

So, if boredom bites, give these a try. If they aren't to your taste, you can always stop reading. If you find you do like them, there are more recs under the lord peter wimsey tag on [Unknown site tag] (there's some slash, but not much, and what there is is only very rarely explicit).

That unknown tag was supposed to be

crack_van.

Hmm... Well, you've seen my reccing sites, and you know I'm mainly a DW obsessive, so apologies if some of him sneak in here - it's hard to keep all of Time, Space and elsewhere out of things. ;-D

Anyway, I thought I'd recommend these two, because, like you, I've never looked for Discworld fic for the same reason, and cannot read LOTR fic. I have two exceptions that are both fairly short and wonderful (and both very cracky):

For LOTR, Primsong's Rivendell International Airport - an AU in which the Fellowship decide to travel to Gondor by plane and need to pass through airport security.

Also The Dalek Invasion of Discworld (Sorry. No Doctor, though, just pepperpots) by Tigerkat. This is short and simple and brilliant and is exactly what it says in the title. Maybe you've already seen it.

As for books, you seem even more selective than me, so I'm not sure I'd dare say a word, save to second again that rec for PG Wodehouse, who is wonderful. Endless variations of a theme. However, I would add that Georgette Heyer does tend to write certain types of books, and if you could say which other ones you read, I can tell if, yes, you'd just be bored with any, or if they both came into certain types, I could recommend some others - I have read them all, many of them more times than I like to admit. But it all depends on which other ones you tried.

As to inspiration, fic-wise - we need

fic_rush back! Does anyone know what's happened with that?

I'll see your Dalek Invasion of Discworld and raise you a Recitation of the Daleks (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4406345/1/The_Recitation_of_the_Daleks) - have you read that? Four meets Arthur Dent, and the Daleks improve upon Vogon poetry. (It is awesome even if you don't know HHGTTG, which I didn't when I first read it.)

Georgette Heyer... let's see. I love "The Unknown Ajax" muchly. "The Corinthian" and "The Nonesuch" would probably have been better not read one right after the other, "The Foundling" was fun until the ditzy title character wore thin, and I never got more than a chapter into "Charity Girl". If I've read any others I've forgotten them.

I'm really not as selective right now as I usually am, because I'm bored stiff and looking for new horizons, literarily speaking. If it's non-depressing, has a high proportion of adventure to romance, and I don't hate the characters, I'm likely to read it right through. Try me! ;-)

I left

studyofrunning a comment asking about the next round of

fic_rush, but I haven't heard back yet... I've joined

ficfinishing as a stopgap. It's not really my style, though, so I'm really looking forward to November's

picowrimo - which has a whole lot in common with Fic_Rush in tone and (lack of) rules, only it's a month long with daily chatter posts. Maybe I'll see you there? *hopeful*

Thanks! :-) I'm always on the lookout for a good crossover (DW is built for them - other shows have to be inventive, DW just has 'The TARDIS lands... :lol:) I liked the stuff about the tea particularly. :-)

Oh, yes, that helps. I@ve been having a bit of a massive re-read to cheer myself up over the past year, and I have to say, I even re-read the detective ones (not anything like as good as the historicals) but I couldn't get into Charity Girl. It was one of the last ones she wrote - I suspect she wasn't all that enthusiastic herself. Belinda was annoying, enough for me to give my copy of The Foundling away (although, I have to say, on re-reading, my assessment was that I must have been mad to do so. :-D) Anyway, you may well like The Talisman Ring (very funny, with smugglers, and a murder - one of my faves of her earlier stories), Devil's Cub and the Toll Gate; also The Convenient Marriage because Horry is a rather lovely heroine. An awful lot of the ones I like are rather comed-of-manners, but if you find those not too dull, my absolute favourite of that type is Cotillion, which is just... *flails about* The Grand Sophy is widely considered her best, and I'm also very fond of Friday's Child and The Quiet Gentleman, and A Civil Contract. But there's no point if you really don't click with an author, I know. For me, she's one of my biggest comfort reads. (And to avoid: the detective stories, especially Penhallow; also Powder and Patch, and Cousin Kate. I mean, they're all right, but...).

Other book recs? Well, someone else mentioned Wilkie Collins - I love his stuff, especially The Moonstone and The Woman in White. Also, Alexandre Dumas's The Three Musketeers (really! It's such fun - oh, and if you like it, check out the 1970s film versions with Michael York, Richard Chamberlain, Oliver Reed, Faye Dunaway, and Spike Millgan, because they capture the not-entirely-serious aspect of the books perfectly. And possibly more so. With swashbuckling and amazing actors. I say pooh to any other version, although I hear the 1990s sequel they made of Twenty Years Later is not anything like as good, but that's pretty usual. ;-D)

For TV, I love all the classic dramas we get (well, when we get them), mostly from the BBC - I think you can usually find them overseas. I don't know how your boredom threshold is for 19th C stuff, but I love the 1996 Persuasion, 2006 Northanger Abbey, Our Mutual Friend, The Way We Live Now, North and South, Bleak House and Little Dorrit and Wives & Daughters (off the top of my head). But you don't mention your opinion on that sort of stuff - you may find it dull as ditchwater. ;-)

I hope

studyofrunning is okay. It's a bit worrying, isn't it? I'll have to check out those, but I just liked fic_rush really... :-)

Edited 2010-08-05 16:23 (UTC)

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