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To be clear, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with Emily Wilson's review of the Odyssey, or movie reviews in general, or really anything at all. Just musing on a piece of the puzzle that makes film reviews a bit more challenging to write, and perhaps to read, than other kinds of reviews. (end)

And I as the reader can't as easily go back to a movie and see what I think of the critic's point as I can with a book. I have to get a bunch of technology involved, navigate to the scene in question, or even just watch the whole thing again. So it's kind of a different jam, all told. (4/x)

they're going on, at best, whatever notes they were able to take, and more likely just memory. Even with a movie that you can watch and rewatch, you can't put the experience of the thing right into the review the way you can with quoting a book. There's an extra layer of interpretation, there. (3/x)

their point, and for me to go grab the book and quickly re-read a bit of it to see if I agree with them. But if somebody is writing a review of a movie that's still in theaters, and they aren't the sort of professional critic who gets a review copy to watch and rewatch at home, (2/x)

The Odyssey review discourse yesterday got me thinking about movie reviews and critiques more generally. They often feel less "solid" to me, for lack of a better term, than book reviews do. With a book review, it's pretty straightforward for the author to go grab some quotes to illustrate (1/x)

And if that friend happens to be a librarian, well. You've just hit the jackpot, because their info networks make them like half to 2/3 of any given enthusiast.

I used to fence in college; can confirm it's a lot of fun!

The battle scenes struck a really interesting balance between "this kicks so much ass" and "I am uncomfortable with how that guy just died." The sack of Troy had both elements in spades, and the fight with Polyphemus really had me feeling pity for the cyclops.

Wife and I went out and saw the Odyssey the other night. Really enjoyed it; I found Agamemnon's visual design particularly striking and effective. He felt alien to the modern world in a way that reminded me of scenes from The Green Knight.

And what a delightfully strange and unusual setting! Somewhere between Lemon the giant centipede and the mechanical storyteller with a microphone for a head, I was totally aboard with whatever was going to happen next. Good, clean prose, too, with a lot of heart and fondness for the characters.

Last for today is "The Barbarian at Dream's End" by @stevewestenra.bsky.social . This was another one where the setting was sketched out at just about the right level of detail for me: not so little that I was lost, but not so much that I felt like I was reading an RPG manual.

I liked the prose, too, in particular the narrative device of "the storyteller is dictating this to a scribe." It generated some fun moments in here with the scribe dutifully taking down everything Varika says. More generally, it's a device that has a ton of potentially interesting stories in it.

Second was "Suplex and Sorcery" by @breadsonja.bsky.social. I'm not a wrestling fan, so I wasn't sure how well sword + sorcery + plus rasslin' would land for me. But I liked spending time with Varika, enjoyed cheering her on, and overall found it to be quick-moving and merry read.

Overall, it left me at about the right level of wanting more of the setting and backstory. Fun characters, an engaging set of mysteries to ponder, and a very weird ending that I didn't expect but that I think I liked. It's stuck with me, at any rate. Lovely prose, too.

Some thoughts on a few recent reads! First up, "The Cautious Traveler's Guide to the Wasteland" by Sarah Brooks. The premise is that, for mystery reasons, there has formed a vast and terrifying Wasteland between Beijing and Moscow, and it can only be crossed by a sort of fortified train.

... in particular "The Dragonstone," "Dragondoom," "The Voyage of the Fox Rider," and "The Eye of the Hunter." Man, I can remember the end of that one messing me up. "Caverns of Socrates" wasn't Mithgar, but I remember it being strange and intriguing in a Michael Crichton vein.

Wait wait! I double-checked and it turns out Dennis L. McKiernan is still kicking at 94; I was ALL ABOUT his books as a youth. The Mithgar books are big fun fantasy, and they've got some standout moments...

Team Almost There: Becky Chambers (3/5) T. Kingfisher (3/5) Patrick Rothfuss (4/5) Ron Chernow (3/5)

Five living authors that you've read five books by them. Stephen King Marie Brennan K.J. Parker Orson Scott Card George R. R. Martin I had to dig way back into high school for Card; there were several more recent writers that I've been enjoying, but only gotten to 3 or 4 of their books.

I like the game, here, but I double like it because it's edited by John Green so I imagine all the comments in his voice. Imagine him saying "you smusher you." Delightful!