Pirateology
I'm still persevering with the Ballad of Desmond Kale. So far it's still about the difficulties faced in establishing the wool industry in New South Wales, yawn. This, strangely enough, is actually helpful to me in my work at the moment and I arguably could read it during office hours except I can't think of anything I'd like to do less. It's just a bit dull...
I can't work out why it's dull either. It's not as simple as that the characters are unlikeable. There's nothing really wrong with them. Some of them aren't partciularly pleasant, such as Stanton, a flogging magistrate and parson, greedy for land, who seems based on Samue Marsden. The book's quite rude about his pious self-delusions and sadistic pleasure in whipping people. I think it's just a bit ponderous, as if it's reaching to be funny in places but I'm finding it too heavy-handed. It's got "big serious book about Australian History" written all over it. Not that there's anything wrong with that: I'm just not really in the mood at the moment.
For something a bit different, we went to see the second Pirates of the Caribbean movie last week. It was a lot of fun with swashbuckling heroes, slimy sea monsters, lissome wenches and everyone's favourite pirate captain. Unfortunately, even though it was clearly not meant to be taken seriously, I annoyed my Beloved a VERY GREAT DEAL by complaining about the triple barrelled cannons on Davy Jones's ship that rotated 120 degrees after firing and then fired from the next barrel. "They wouldn't work!" I cried "Where are their runners? Who is lighting the flint? When did they load them up? All at once? Jack Aubrey would never allow that much powder to be loose at once in case he blew up the whole ship."
My Beloved very patiently responded by noting that it was A MAGIC SHIP.
I've since agreed to lay off the Patrick O'Brian books for a while.
I can't work out why it's dull either. It's not as simple as that the characters are unlikeable. There's nothing really wrong with them. Some of them aren't partciularly pleasant, such as Stanton, a flogging magistrate and parson, greedy for land, who seems based on Samue Marsden. The book's quite rude about his pious self-delusions and sadistic pleasure in whipping people. I think it's just a bit ponderous, as if it's reaching to be funny in places but I'm finding it too heavy-handed. It's got "big serious book about Australian History" written all over it. Not that there's anything wrong with that: I'm just not really in the mood at the moment.
For something a bit different, we went to see the second Pirates of the Caribbean movie last week. It was a lot of fun with swashbuckling heroes, slimy sea monsters, lissome wenches and everyone's favourite pirate captain. Unfortunately, even though it was clearly not meant to be taken seriously, I annoyed my Beloved a VERY GREAT DEAL by complaining about the triple barrelled cannons on Davy Jones's ship that rotated 120 degrees after firing and then fired from the next barrel. "They wouldn't work!" I cried "Where are their runners? Who is lighting the flint? When did they load them up? All at once? Jack Aubrey would never allow that much powder to be loose at once in case he blew up the whole ship."
My Beloved very patiently responded by noting that it was A MAGIC SHIP.
I've since agreed to lay off the Patrick O'Brian books for a while.
posted by Mary Bennet | 3:47 pm
3 Comments:
Reading Underwater, I had a sneaking suspicion I knew you when I stumbled across your blog. After reading your archives I'm now convinced I do know you.
Hmm, what was my downfall? My appalling proofreading or my limpwristed bleeding heart champagne socialist posturings? or linking to your site.
Oh Magic Schmagic. They might be anemone-encrusted but they're still pirates. There's magic, and then there's throwing logic and historical detail out with the bilge water. Cinema-shouters unite.
We know, deep down, that Jack (Aubrey, not Sparrow) could have sunk that ship without special effects.
But no-one's ever needed to reload in a Hollywood film. I snorted Diet Coke out my nose in Pirates 1 when the redcoats fired off their muskets as if they were AK-47s.
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