lunabee34: (reading by misbegotton)
[personal profile] lunabee34
1. Fiona, indignant at the sexist nomenclature of manholes, coins a new term: themholes.

2. I randomly thought of the time as a toddler when I made a plan to get rid of my dreaded courdoroy pants. I despised courdoroy as a child. In what seemed impeccable logic, I decided that if I just pooped in those pants, they would surely be thrown away, and I would never have to wear them again. I have an incredibly vivid memory of standing in the hallway and triumphantly soiling those pants. Spoiler alert, Gentle Readers: my clever act of rebellion did not elicit the response I was hoping for.

3.

Life Before ManLife Before Man by Margaret Atwood

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The words are beautiful as always, but with the exception of Elizabeth, I don't really like any of the characters. Lesje is washed out and ineffectual, and Nate is a man-baby. I don't think I'm supposed to like Elizabeth, but she's interesting and complicated and ruthless. This is an early book, and I think Atwood's writing has improved since early days.



View all my reviews

Date: 2022-09-21 05:32 pm (UTC)
minoanmiss: A detail of the Ladies in Blue fresco (Default)
From: [personal profile] minoanmiss
I am really impressed that you remember that cunning toddler plan.

I used to deliberately run my pantyhose faster than my mother could buy more.

Date: 2022-09-21 06:38 pm (UTC)
spikedluv: (summer: sunflowers by candi)
From: [personal profile] spikedluv
LOL at both 'themholes' and your early act of rebellion against courdoroy!

Date: 2022-09-21 07:01 pm (UTC)
anagrrl: (Mal oh really)
From: [personal profile] anagrrl
Personholes is de rigueur around these parts. Although this is very exclusive, because what about non-persons who might fall down them? (i.e. raccoons??).

Toddler you clearly learned an important life lesson: Rarely does pooping in one's pants lead to the anticipated outcome.

Date: 2022-09-22 10:16 am (UTC)
anagrrl: (Serious!glasses)
From: [personal profile] anagrrl
It's a harsh, but necessary, lesson.

Date: 2022-09-21 11:01 pm (UTC)
lyr: (Default)
From: [personal profile] lyr
1) As much as I support Fiona's logic, I still get a childish snicker out of "manholes" that I enjoy.

2) Wow. That strategy never occurred to me to get rid of my much-loathed footie pajamas. I just stole a pair of scissors and hacked the feet off.

Date: 2022-09-21 11:09 pm (UTC)
corvidology: ([EMO] CUNNING PLAN)
From: [personal profile] corvidology
I approve! But manholes do make me snigger!

When a cunning plan goes wrong...

Date: 2022-09-21 11:50 pm (UTC)
kore: (Default)
From: [personal profile] kore
This is the basest gossip, but SUPPOSEDLY Life Before Man is a total roman a clef based on life at the House of Anansi Press in the 1970s, and the triangle is based on Atwood (Lesje), her husband at the time (Jim Polk) and her future husband, Graeme Gibson. Elizabeth is supposedly Shirley Gibson, Graeme's first wife, and Chris is her lover who did commit suicide. IIRC Nate (based on Graeme) was the first time Atwood attempted a male narrator ever in her work. Atwood isn't exactly Lesje, she tends to transmogrify herself in her work (Joan in Cat's Eye is clearly an alternate Atwood as a child but also very diff circumstances, &c &c). If Elizabeth is more compelling and vivid than all the other characters, I think it's because Atwood was really interested in her. There! That is your dubious juicy literary gossip for the day.

Date: 2022-09-22 07:59 pm (UTC)
kore: (Default)
From: [personal profile] kore
Nate was SO annoying, and Atwood tends to write men as either dull or wishy-washy good guys and sexy macho assholes, lol. There's always this combative element. I think she deeply resented being stuffed back into "civilization" and sent to conformist city schools in the fifties (who wouldn't).

I LOVE Cat's Eye, it's one of my fave Atwood novels, altho I don't think it got a lot of love. One of the few times she writes about a successful female artist IIRC (there's Joan in Lady Oracle, but the romance writing is a bit of a joke). Then again just woke up, need more coffee. Or wait, isn't there a novelist in Blind Assassin?

Date: 2022-09-22 05:46 am (UTC)
torachan: (Default)
From: [personal profile] torachan
LOL re the pants.

I had quite a few corduroy pants over the years, as it was a pretty popular fabric. I didn't hate them, but I didn't love them, either. The way the ribbing rubs against itself bugs me.

Date: 2022-09-22 12:24 pm (UTC)
china_shop: Close-up of Zhao Yunlan grinning (Default)
From: [personal profile] china_shop
LOL! I feel like "creates an incentive for the wearer to poop their pants" is a good reason to jettison said clothing item!!!

*hearts you, and Fiona too*

Date: 2022-09-22 03:47 pm (UTC)
executrix: (Default)
From: [personal profile] executrix
In Jersey City, the themholes are stamped Teleport but actually you can't.

When I see a "Speed Hump" sign I always wonder, are you boasting or complaining?

Date: 2022-09-22 03:52 pm (UTC)
amejisuto: (Default)
From: [personal profile] amejisuto
Personholes sounds wrong so themholes it is!

See, I liked corduroy but it always chaffed me. You don't see much corduroy nowadays though, I wonder why?

Date: 2022-09-22 04:13 pm (UTC)
nyctanthes: (head tilt)
From: [personal profile] nyctanthes
But do you like Corduroy? (Please say yes. :P)

Date: 2022-09-22 10:31 pm (UTC)
nyctanthes: (Default)
From: [personal profile] nyctanthes

I had no idea there was a band. Definitely the book.

Date: 2022-09-23 11:47 am (UTC)
nyctanthes: (Default)
From: [personal profile] nyctanthes
😂

I was worried this Who's on First would happen with my Corduroy joke, but I said, "Self! Don't overthink it!"

(and oh lord there's another dated reference. :P)

Date: 2022-09-26 12:06 pm (UTC)
duskpeterson: The lowercased letters D and P, joined together (Default)
From: [personal profile] duskpeterson
"Fiona, indignant at the sexist nomenclature of manholes, coins a new term: themholes."

What a wonderful name. :)

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