Category Archives: Book Review

Collective Nouns

This is amazing to me. And officially one of my new favorite things. I was reading my book aloud to a friend and she suddenly stopped me and questioned my use of “a herd of ostriches.” A herd of ostriches didn’t sound right to her. “Shouldn’t it be a flock of ostriches?” she asked. And, always grateful to use an excuse to do research and not write, I went online. And after finding all of these fabulous websites about collective nouns, I’ve discovered that no, it’s definitely a herd of ostriches. They’re only a flock when you refer to them as birds–if that opportunity ever comes up. (One site actually went so far as to call them a pride, but I don’t think I go for that.)

I found three sites to be the most useful. The first is a UK site that seems to be the most serious. Although even they have the “Some That Might Be” section which is a little quirky and funny. The second is a Wikipedia site, and since we all know how I feel about Wikipedia… It’s all right, just not as entertaining as could be because I have misplaced prejudices against it. The site AllSorts.org is the best. All Sorts – a linguistic experiment. You can follow them on Twitter and everyone posts their own ideas to the website. Brilliant! And so fun–all of the random entries are there. “A clot of vampires,” “a brace of dentists,” “a whorde of prostitutes” (just FYI, “whorde” is defined as “an angry mob of slutty chicks… can be seen at shitty concerts or @ a party watching Gilmore Girls” in the Urban Dictionary)….some of them put the old favorite “a murder of crows” to shame.

My absolute favorite, however, and one I’ve never been able to find since, is “a something of models.” Online I found “a bulimia of models,” “a tantrum of models,” “a slouch of models,” but none of those are it (although “slouch of models” is pretty good). It was perfect and I wish I could find it again. Some friends and I were discussing it one day and I’m sure it was in a book. And I think the book was An Exaltation of Larks by James Lipton, but I can’t remember for sure… So frustrating. Although there is another book that looks interesting–A Crash of Rhinoceroses: A Dictionary of Collective Nouns by Rex Collings. It’s written by a British author, however, so I can’t imagine that was the book we would have been discussing. Lipton first wrote his book back in the 60’s or 70’s, and this edition is the updated “ultimate” edition published in 1993. It seems Collings’ book is also published in 1993, so I wonder if one prompted the other? I suppose I’ll just have to read the books myself. Sigh… Yet another excuse to not get writing done. It’s a disease, I tell you…

 

Collective Nouns

Aside Leave a comment
An Exaltation of Larks by James Lipton

A New Book From One of My Favorite Authors.

Romancing Miss Bronte by Juliet Gael book coverAnd a dear friend and mentor of mine as well. Romancing Miss Bronte: A Novel by Juliet Gael.

Apparently, everyone’s raving about it. I don’t have my copy yet, but I’m waiting until I get it signed before I read it. She’s loved Charlotte Brontë forever, and I’m thinking that will make all the difference in this novel. Not to say that her others weren’t fabulous, but it always helps when you’ve researched the snot out of something and are so passionate about it.

Or rather, it helps some authors. I’m not feeling the passion. Read some of my novel out loud to a friend on a road trip and decided it was crap. Ennui and depression (and, admittedly, some hostility) has set in…  We’ll see what happens when I get back.

 

Jesters and Fools in Fiction

When I get tired of reading dense, scholarly tomes about fools, I turn to my collection of books that include jesters and fools in fiction. I’ve found some excellent jesters and fools in fiction, and I’ve found some bad. I tend to really enjoy the older books, but there’s one modern series that really captures what I’d like to do.

My First Forays Into Jesters and Fools in Fiction

I heard about a book called Troubadour by Richard Burns and bought it, then realized there was a first one to the series called Khalindaine, so I made the mistake of buying that one, too. No–I shouldn’t be so cruel. But honestly. Starts with an intriguing scene, then the whole first chapter is plodding through description after description of the river and the palace and the city…

The troubadour shows up at the end of the chapter and makes me laugh, but then the second chapter goes someplace else and proceeds to describe what it looks like. Hey! I want Streetpoet back! At least he gave us some action and funnies! I think I may just have to go through and read his parts only…the rest may put me to sleep. I think the problem is the high fantasy aspect of it. It’s never been my favorite genre. I seem to recall a few other books that my brothers had that were similar. So bogged down in recreating the place and the writer doesn’t focus on character and plot. I’m striving for something different, so those books got put back on the shelf fast.

My Favorite Novels That Include Jesters and Fools in Fiction

As far as fiction goes, the Alan Gordon Medieval Mysteries series is my absolute favorite.  I bought them all. Even placed the most recent on pre-order with Amazon. He is amazingly good at portraying the scene they’ve set up as entertainers; the dialogue is fast and witty (just what you’d expect from jesters); the love story is sweet; and the mysteries themselves aren’t half bad either. They’re stretched a bit thin in places, but what mystery isn’t? I’m not reading it for critical analysis. But he really does a brilliant job.

The Fool Beloved by Jeffery Farnol book cover features jesters and fools in fiction

I’m reading a few others as well–one of my favorites is The Fool Beloved by Jeffrey Farnol. Wow. So over the top I can’t even believe it. It’s like reading a bad Shakespeare play. But I love it. I don’t know why. Really hard to read the super flowery language, so it’s taking me a bit longer than I expected, but I just love seeing it on the end table by the couch. The book was published in 1949 and smells a bit musty–the pages are all uneven along the edges, not smooth like we’re used to–the cover is the 1949 equivalent to a bodice ripper, I’m thinking. All cowering bad guy and gasping maiden and the fool (Bimbo) advancing menacingly with his marotte. Did I mention how much I love it? The murder scene at the beginning is even done like a play. Off stage left we hear the cries and grunts of pain and running footsteps, and then our hero rushes in too late to rescue his friend. Much wailing and gnashing of teeth, and then the vow of vengeance. Most intriguing, wot?