featherynscale: Schmendrick the magician from The Last Unicorn (Default)
[personal profile] featherynscale
This post is brought to you by Rabbi Lamed ben Clifford, who suggests that the Tetragrammaton, that most holy name of G-d, might also be pronounced "Yee-Ha,Wa-Hoo!". Sure, man, why not?

Anyway, this post is also a love letter to a book. I'm reading China Mieville's Iron Council right now. Opinion seems to be split on this one, with virtually everyone who talks about it saying either that it's his best book ever and a work of genius, or that it's pretty much dreck and represents a massive decline in his work. So far I'm in the first camp, although I reserve the right to change my mind later. There's a wretched lot of flashback, which I don't like, but also there are trains and golems, which I do like, so on balance I'm pretty delighted with it.

The thing that I most enjoy about Mieville is his tendency to drop in obscure sidelights, giving you just enough information to construct your own stories about what they are and how they work, but not so much information that you know everything about them. Somewhere, there's a land populated by lich aristocracy and living people are relegated to the ghetto; they speak a language of breath, hiss, and handtalk, because the mouths of the liches are stitched. Somewhere else, there's a country ruled by gamblers, where potential laws become stakes in card games, and the winner's laws rule. These are his asides, not even part of the Real Story, but they're rich enough drops to mine in the imagination for hours. Or maybe I just like to be teased.

And this post is also an expression of generalized contentment with the world. Go on about your business. :)

Date: 2007-02-02 06:45 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] adammaker.livejournal.com
Test all those pronunciations out...
You'll know you hit it when you feel/hear the thump in your soul.
-\-
*grin*

Date: 2007-02-02 07:51 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] featherynscale.livejournal.com
Hee. Some days it's one sound, some days another. Some days, any sound will do. Today is one of Those Days. :)

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