words he is an ANTHROPOMORPHIC PERSONIFICATION, and rides a pale horse named Binky. "He long ago gave up using traditional skeletal horses because of the bother of having to stop all the time to wire bits back on." (Mort) Being a skeleton, Death does not really talk per se, but his words enter the listener's head directly, not passing through the ears. He is the only character in Discworld who talks all in SMALL CAPS without quotation marks.Death lives in a very large house with his faithful manservant Albert and his adopted daughter Ysabell. He is not very imaginative with color though, and black is the predominant color in house and garden. Even the broccoli that Death grows is black, tinted with purple. Death has a fondness for cats, but is truly fascinated by human beings. So much so that, in Reaper Man, he is accused of being too human and sent to live among humans by the Auditors of Reality who
make sure that everything in Discworld proceeds according to The Rules. While other species created new deaths, there is chaos among humans, while Death is having a good time as Bill Door, a farmhand. Death eventually returns to his duties and all is well with Discworld.
Death appears in all the Discworld novels except one, and is a fun, friendly, and fascinating character - my favorite in Discworld.
When any of these nondescript individuals put in an appearance, Sherlock Holmes used to beg for the use of the sitting-room and I would retire to my bed-room. He always apologized to me for putting me to this inconvenience. "I have to use this room as a place of business", he said, "and these people are my clients." ( A Study in Scarlet)
useum is now at 239 Baker Street (though the number on the door says 221B - see picture). Numerous letters are written to Holmes at this address every year, and there have been many debates related to the location of this address and the floor plan of the flat - not many fictional addresses can boast of such fame! 
ar is going on, Hastings is thirty and has just returned home from the Front to convalesce after being invalided. He runs into Poirot whom he has encountered before, but their partnership in solving crime begins at Styles.
a friend, certainly more on my wavelength than Poirot. While Hastings is made to look extraordinarily stupid sometimes, this is a ruse that works in making me feel better about my own ability to deduce. Hey, I may not be as smart as Poirot, but I am certainly smarter than that Hastings!It was at Styles that I had met again that strange little man, Hercule Poirot, whom I had first come across in Belgium.
How well I remembered my amazement when I had seen the limping figure with the large moustache coming up the village street.
Hercule Poirot! Since those days he had been my dearest friend; his influence had moulded my life. In company with him, in the hunting down of yet another murderer, I had met my wife, the truest and sweetest companion any man could have had.
read the chapter on analytical reading until you can flawlessly practice it. The rest of the book is not worth the time because the best way to learn once you know how to analytically read is to actually spend 45- minutes to an hour slowly reading through a book and really understanding it. Practice is the best teacher."
grossing read, and perfect for a book discussion group because of the numerous ethical and moral questions it raises."
stablishing investing goals and dividend investing. Says Bargaineering, "If you’re a seasoned dividend investor, this book will only server as a refresher (I finished it in less than two hours). If you are brand new and/or want to know if you are missing any key ideas in the strategy, then I would put this book on your future reading list."
Hamlet's character has been analyzed to bits by scholars, and I'm going to make my case as to why I personally love this character. Hamlet is a very sensitive and emotional young man, but not crazy as he is made out to be sometimes. To see what he is going through, I would like you to put yourself in Hamlet's shoes for a bit.
To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them. To die, to sleep -
No more - and by a sleep to say we end
The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to! 'Tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wished. To die, to sleep -
To sleep - Perchance to dream;
ay, there's the rub,
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause.
Ultimately Hamlet is a very good person, trying to do the right thing, and
Shakespeare brings this out very well indeed. Here is Horatio's final tribute to
Hamlet:
Now cracks a noble heart. Good night, sweet Prince,
And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.
This is a very interesting meme from the Introverted Reader, where the goal is to spotlight one character of interest every week.
My character for this week is Henry Tilney, the leading man in Jane Austen's Northanger A
bbey. While Mr. Knightley from Emma has always been my favorite Austen hero, he is followed very closely by Henry Tilney, and, depending on my mood, I sometimes would rather have Mr. Tilney as a friend and companion over Mr. Knightley.
Henry Tilney is in his mid-twenties and described as "rather tall, had a pleasing countenance, a very intelligent and lively eye, and, if not quite handsome, was very near it." He is witty, clever and can be quite sarcastic. One thing he is not is a typical romantic hero - he not only is not quite handsome, but he also reads gothic novels and knows his muslin. Now can you imagine Mr. Darcy, Captain Wentworth, Colonel Brandon, or Mr. Knightley discussing the Mysteries of Udolpho or a good bargain on a yard of muslin?
This may be one of the reasons that many Austen fans find Tilney not to be as swoonworthy as the other gentlemen listed above. Another, in my opinion, is that while these other heroes fall madly in love with their heroines and struggle with jealousy and repressed passion, we do not see Henry go through this whole spectrum of intense emotions. It was Catherine Morland who first fell in love with Tilney though he soon reciprocated her feelings wholeheartedly. So secure is Tilney of Catherine's feelings that he barely display
s a hint of jealousy at the sight of the odious John Thorpe, and never really has to repress any passion on his part.
All this, however, does not make Tilney any less of a hero than Austen's other men. He is a good brother, devoted to his sister Eleanor, genuinely fond of Catherine and is able to see through her naive and artless behavior and recognize the goodness within. He is aware of the failings of his father the general and his brother the rake, and is able to confront and stand up to his father when necessary. It must be kept in perspective that while Henry Tilney may not have been a good match for Elizabeth Bennet or Anne Elliott, he was perfect for Catherine Morland.
One aspect of Henry Tilney that makes him particularly attractive to me is his sharp wit, and wry humor. After reading Tilney's speech on the usage of the word "nice", who can but think twice before using this word?
"..and this is a nice day, and we are taking a very nice walk, and you are two very nice young ladies. Oh! it is a very nice word indeed! - it does for everything. Originally perhaps it was applied only to express neatness, propriety, delicacy, or refinement; - people were nice in their dress, in their sentiments, or their choice. But now every commendation on every subject is comprised in that one word."
Henry Tilney has sometimes been referred to as cruel for his teasing of Catherine Morland and his sharp remarks. While it is true that we do not really get to understand his true nature as well as we do with other Austen men, I prefer to rely on Eleanor Tilney's high opinion of and regard for her brother, as she is shown to be a very sensible person. Tilney is sensible, caring, and sensitive to the strengths and weaknesses of Catherine. I think I just may choose him over Mr. Darcy and Captain Wentworth as a suitor - again, only Mr. Knightley will give him a run for his money!
And last but not least, I cannot but be impressed by JJ Feild's performance as Henry Tilney in the 2006 version of Northanger Abbey. He is all I imagined Henry to be!
We seek him here, we seek him there,- Sir Percy Blakeney
Those Frenchies seek him everywhere.
Is he in heaven?—Is he in hell?
That demmed, elusive Pimpernel.
The Murder Room by P. D. James
st finished reading "The Murder Room" by P.D. James, and will feature Adam Dalgliesh, her greatest creation, as my character for the week."The library has fifty six rooms, four of them heptagonal, and fifty two more or less square, and of these, there are eight without windows, while twenty eight look outside and sixteen to the interior!
And the four towers each have five rooms with four walls and one with seven...The library is constructed according to a celestial harmony to which various and wonderful meanings can be attributed..."
In the seventeenth century, Rene Descartes opted for reason over a divine source of knowledge. This came to be known as putting Descartes before the source.
Descartes probably wishes he'd never said, "Cogito ergo sum" ("I think, therefore I am"), because it's all anybody ever remembers about him - that and the fact that he said it while sitting inside a bread oven.
A snail was mugged by two turtles. When the police asked him what happened, he said " I don't know. It all happened so fast."The joke is indeed a relevant example of the relativity of one's awareness of time. Good joke or groaner? You decide!
I would like to pass these two awards to the following ten bloggers:
Emidy at Une Parole
Margot Kinberg at Confessions of a Mystery Novelist
Carin at Caroline Bookbinder
Morgan at Smitten with Books
Missy at Missy's Book Nook
Lea Kelley at What Miss Kelley is Reading
Chris and Jess at Park Benches and Bookends
Sumana at Books with a Cup of Coffee
Nancy O at 2010: The Year in Books
Laura at Tattooed Books
My Teaser for today:
"This joke raises the philosophical question, "How could something finite, like six months, possibly be analogous to somethng infinite, like eternity?" Those who ask this question have never lived with a tax accountant."
- from Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar: Understanding Philosophy through Jokes by Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein (page 20).
Sad Cypress by Agatha Christie
Jennifer at Crazy for Books has a book blogger hop going on every Friday. What a great way to visit new blogs and get to meet new bloggers! I look forward to visiting several new blogs this week, and a big thanks to all who made their way here through the Hop!
My 6-year old who is into reading these days is a big fan of Curious George, the mischievous simian, and his many exploits. So I was delighted to read that the Jewish Museum in New York is hosting an exhibit featuring some of the original artwork for the Curious George books from March 14 through August 1, 2010.
My Teaser for today:
"Reginald has a good figure, and is not unworthy the praise you have heard given him, but is still greatly inferior to our friend at Langford. He is less polished, less insinuating than Manwaring, and is comparatively deficient in the power of saying those delightful things which put one in good humour with oneself and all the world."
from Lady Susan by Jane Austen (in the volume Lady Susan/The Watsons/Sanditon, page 56).
Comments: I have been a bit behind with my reading this week, but enjoyed reading Lady Susan very much. It joins Emma and Northanger Abbey as one of my Austen favorites now. What a delightfully wicked character Lady Susan is!
