I don't think she's supposed to be ugly. Rather, frumpy, at least in her opinion. Wears hightop trainers all the time, her suits always have a hem coming undone, etc. And she wants to lose weight, I know.
Mal: Which one you figure tracked us? Zoe: The ugly one, sir. Mal: Could you be more specific?
'Out Of Gas'
We're Literary 2: To Read Makes Our Speaking English Good
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
Amy - Sep 21, 2005 10:54:31 am PDT #9138 of 10002
Because books.
Connie Neil - Sep 21, 2005 11:33:39 am PDT #9139 of 10002
brillig
And she wants to lose weight, I know.
Ah, the great literary shorthand for "woman with issues".
My favorite variant on that is Elizabeth Peter's Vicky Bliss, an art history (I think) Ph.D. who works in a museum, has a world-class thief as a lover, and thrilling adventures all the time. She's blonde, blue-eyed, six-foot with big tits, and she hates it. Her dream is to be petite and to not be stared at all the time.
sumi - Sep 23, 2005 5:01:49 am PDT #9140 of 10002
Art Crawl!!!
I hated the new Elizabeth George. AmyLiz -- did you read the whole thing? Because I couldn't stand that she killed off Helen in that way.
Amy - Sep 23, 2005 5:08:46 am PDT #9141 of 10002
Because books.
A friend spoiled me for the thing you hated, sumi -- I told her to. And I doubt I'm going to get through it -- I'm only a third through now, and so frickin' bored I could scream. I can't make myself care about any of it.
sumi - Sep 23, 2005 5:19:49 am PDT #9142 of 10002
Art Crawl!!!
Well, it just seemed so gratuitous.
Nutty - Sep 23, 2005 5:38:43 am PDT #9143 of 10002
"Mister Spock is on his fanny, sir. Reports heavy damage."
Anybody here read Edith Wharton, much? I'm spoiling for a debate about the Gilded Age, feminism and Citizen Kane, and it is hard to debate myself. Anybody up for it?
Amy - Sep 23, 2005 5:46:19 am PDT #9144 of 10002
Because books.
I love Edith Wharton, but I haven't read the novels in a while, aside from The Age of Innocence.
Nutty - Sep 23, 2005 5:59:45 am PDT #9145 of 10002
"Mister Spock is on his fanny, sir. Reports heavy damage."
I read The Custom of the Country recently, and 50 pages in I said to myself, This is just like Citizen Kane, if Charles Foster Kane had been a woman. (And, really, I think I was right -- the story of Undine Spragg is an exploration of the same myth, but her "pioneering" and "exploration" and "conquest" are all in the drawing-room.
I don't know whether Wharton uses the same language about others of her heroines, but it really struck me. Moreso, it struck me because we're meant to empathize with and pity Kane, and we're meant to worship Dan'l Boone, but even her author means us to despise and loathe Undine.
Amy - Sep 23, 2005 6:08:52 am PDT #9146 of 10002
Because books.
The Custom of the Country is one I haven't read. Sorry!
According my grandmother, we're related to Daniel Boone. I wear no coonskin, though.
Dana - Sep 23, 2005 7:32:51 am PDT #9147 of 10002
I'm terrifically busy with my ennui.
I read Custom of the Country last year, in addition to The Age of Innocence and Ethan Frome. Of course, I've never seen Citizen Kane.