11.25.06
Posted in Childrens, Fiction at 1:50 am by Rosepixie
Poor Eilonwy looses all of her inheritance in a single moment. She does allow her true love o find out how much he truly loves her, which is good, but she does it by inadvertently hurting him incredibly badly. This is not a good day for Eilonwy. It is nice to see her making real character progress, though, since the first two books focused so much on Taran that Eilonwy didn’t get to grow much as a character. She’s a great character, but this is rather the point when I stop liking her so much. Oh well!
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Posted in Fashion, History at 12:46 am by Rosepixie
The chapter on the 1940s covered the importance of practicality and the influence of rationing well, but glossed over the pin-up girls and such. They also mostly showed pictures of fully-clothed women working, which doesn’t give us much of an idea of what what their lingerie actually looked like. I understand there probably aren’t many period pictures of women in lingerie, given the circumstances, but pictures of the garments themselves would have sufficed! It wasn’t that long ago, some must still be around or be easily replicated at this point! Words are good, but it’s hard to picture a garment from just words!
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11.24.06
Posted in Childrens, Fiction at 12:35 am by Rosepixie
Glew is almost the essence of immaturity, like a giant walking baby. His rants of “have you no consideration? no thought for anyone else?” are particularly ironic and infuriating since they come as he is trying to kill one of the companions in a desperate, and wholly ridiculous, attempt to make himself happy. Perhaps most interesting, however, is how he portrays the idea of selfish disregard for others given that thought for others, and selflessness in general, are major themes in primarily this book but also the series as a whole. Eilonwy’s bauble works only when one isn’t thinking of oneself and that discovery is a major part of this book. one of the most important parts of Taran’s character development is his learning to have consideration and think of people besides himself. This book really is the turning point for Taran in that part of his development. Not only is this the book where he first recognizes his love for Eilonwy, but characters like Prince Rhun, Glew and even Llyan teach him to look beyond his first impressions in new ways and Eilonwy’s bauble illuminates the lesson for him (literally). Even the quest itself, to save Eilonwy, is conducive to encouraging Taran to think of others. Every misadventure along the way reinforces this lesson and half-way through the book it’s clear that though he may have a ways to go in his journey of development yet, Taran has become quite a caring, compassionate person. So when Glew accuses Taran and the others of not thinking of anyone else we know that at least as regards Taran he is very wrong. As a kid I was always angry at Glew for those words, dispite having said similar ones to Taran in the first book myself! It’s because by this point I knew that they were far from justified.
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11.19.06
Posted in Fashion, History at 12:13 am by Rosepixie
The 1930s was an important decade for lingerie, it seems. Probably as important as the 1920s. It’s when the idea of letting a woman’s body just be what it is was finally seen as sexy (more or less) and the idea of women having differently sized and shaped bodies, thus requiring different sizes and types of undergarments, was first really explored. Crazy! And all that while no one had any money!
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11.18.06
Posted in Childrens, Fiction at 12:36 am by Rosepixie
I always liked Llyan. She’s amusing. She reminds me of the giant puppy in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. And the best part is that she sticks around and becomes a part of what makes Fflewddur who he is.
What is it with Lloyd Alexander and these stupid double “l”s? Maybe it’s double letters in general and the “l”s just bug me most for some reason. Does Welsh have a lot of double letters? Particularly in names?
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11.16.06
Posted in Fashion, History at 12:33 am by Rosepixie
It seems so strange that the concept of women having different breast types as well as sizes should come as a revelation, but I suppose that if most women’s breasts had been squashed by corsets all the time it really could be a whole new observation. That said, I’m glad that they observed it! I appreciate being able to get bras that fit well (very occasionally and at high prices, which sucks, but still…).
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11.15.06
Posted in Childrens, Fiction at 12:18 am by Rosepixie
Taran made progress in the last book, but at the beginning of this book, when he’s just beginning to recognize that he’s in love with Eilonwy, he really seems to have forgotten it all. Poor Eilonwy is stuck trying to interpret the words and actions of a most confusing and seemingly inconsistent young man who may never have really made sense to her, but has never before been quite this much of a mystery!
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11.14.06
Posted in Childrens, Fiction at 7:15 am by Rosepixie
This book was awesome! Babymouse’s problems are not all solved, nor is everything perfect (I doubt she even learned everything she could have from this series of events), but she did learn some things and grow as a character. This is a really well done story with a wonderfully sweet ending. I can’t wait to read the next one!
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Posted in Fashion, History at 6:12 am by Rosepixie
I found it funny, sad and frustrating that bloomers developed so late partially because men refused to allow women to acknowledge that they had legs by wearing anything resembling pants. How stupid is that? Of course women have legs! What do you suppose is under those skirts? Air? Maybe women glide around on stalks! Or maybe they have tentacles! How ridiculous!
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Posted in Childrens, Fiction at 5:54 am by Rosepixie
This book is positively adorable! The art is so cute and dynamic and completely draws you in. The story is bubbly and energetic and hyper, like a little girl. My favorite thing, though, is how imaginative it is! Babymouse is so creative and the story is just full of that creative, playful spirit. Like Calvin and Hobbes, Babymouse has a rich fantasy life that can suddenly overtake her real life at any moment. She can as easily be a detective as a starship captain, and is as likely to turn into Cinderella as get attacked by a monster from a monster movie! It’s great!
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