Tag Archives: sleepy hollow

Reading Together #18

Another Tuesday, another Reading Together.
You can obviously participate in these questions by either using my translated or the original German version.

As a reminder:

Gemeinsam Lesen” as it is originally called, is a project by German book bloggers Schlunzenbuecher. Each Tuesday you have to answer four questions regarding your current read.

For more information and my old participations take a look at this page: Reading Together.

Without much further ado, let’s take a look at today’s, obviously translated, questions:

1. Which Book are you currently reading and which page are you on?

I’m still reading Washington Irving’s The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent or Sleepy Hollow: Schaurige Erzählungen (Ghastly Tales) a book that I started reading back in 2014. It’s a collection of different essays and stories by Irving.

After a few days of reading I’m now on page 111.

2. What is the first sentence on your current page?

Alles dieß lasse ich als eine reiche Fundgrube hinter mir, welche spätere Erläuterer bearbeiten mögen; auch zweifele ich nicht, daß die Tabaksdose und der »halbvergoldete Becher,« welche ich jetzt an das Tageslicht gebracht habe, später Gegenstände zu Kupferstichen hergeben, und beinahe eben so viele bändereiche Abhandlungen und Streitschriften erzeugen werden, als der Schild des Achilles, oder die weitberühmte Portland-Vase.

or in English:

All this I leave, as a rich mine, to be worked by future commentators, nor do I despair of seeing the tobacco-box, and the “parcel-gilt goblet” which I have thus brought to light the subject of future engravings, and almost as fruitful of voluminous dissertations and disputes as the shield of Achilles or the far-famed Portland Vase.

Thanks internet for providing online reading material…I really wouldn’t have wanted to type and translate that…

3. What do you desperately need to tell about your current book? (Thoughts, Feelings, a Quote, whatever you want!)

Since last week I’ve come across some very interesting essays, one being English Writers on America, another being The Art of Book-Making and the last one being The Boar’s Head Tavern, Eastcheap. All of them have quite interesting points that even seem valid today.

In the first one he talks about English media relying on unreliable sources telling them about the New World (aka America) and this quote stood out to me in regards to the way modern media portrays certain things:

Knowledge is power, and truth is knowledge; whoever, therefore, knowingly propagates a prejudice, wilfully saps the foundation of his country’s strength.
W. Irving: English Writers on America

In The Art of Book-Making he describes a dream sequence were authors act like beggars and put together their own garments by using the works of those that came before them, essentially implying that no work of fiction – or even non-fiction – is new and just made up off thoughts and writings of authors of previous generations.
It’s a fascinating picture of something every writer came across at some point.

The last one deals with being a fan – in this case of Shakespeare – and what fans are willing to do to re-live what their heroes have written or to explore their writings differently. In Irving’s case he recalls a journey to Eastcheap where he wants to visit the tavern described in Henry IV.  Things like that are still done today and not just for books, but also movies and TV shows. It’s even encouraged through provided tours or guides to explore those places yourself. While we were in Bath, e.g. we followed an audio guide to take us to the places of Jane Austen’s life and books in the town – during my commute days I then listened to Northanger Abbey that partly took place in there. We did the same in London, where we followed – amongst others – a Sherlock Holmes audio tour, even if it was more in regards to the first Robert Downey Jr. movie than the actual books. I believe it can be quite interesting to see where the inspiration for a story or movie was taken from and then see how it was changed through the authors eyes.
And I’m pretty sure I read a post about this the other day, but I can’t remember where it was…

If anyone has a clue, let me know!
It wasn’t this one by the Schreibmeer (Writing Ocean, though probably also a pun on schreib mehr/write more, as it’s a page giving you writing advice), but it’s still an interesting (German) read: From Cosplay to self-research the hard way – When authors slip into the roles of their characters.

Another essay that might be interesting to some might be The Broken Heart, about the very true effect of women actually dying from heartbreak.

Seeing as there is quite a lot of stuff for these four available online, I’m pretty sure a lot of people seem to consider them similarly interesting. And I’m pretty sure I have to re-read the early pages to not miss out on other potentially interesting essays.

I also came across the Rip Van Winkle story, which seems to be rather famous, but I can’t say I ever actually heard about it… It does remind me of Schandmaul’s „Reich der Träume“ (Realm of Dreams) though, which I kind of put into a story here: Back from a Dream.
Though I do believe the story of someone disappearing into a dream land for years and returning to find their old life in ruins is quite a common and old concept. Which probably is the reason, why I didn’t care that much for the story itself…

On a different note: I’m pretty sure I can enjoy the essays about life in England/London more, now that I’ve actually visited it. Just like I appreciated the nods to the Gothic culture in Kinder des Judas more, after being more involved in it.

4. Do you have a booky project of the heart or a favourite book where you don’t waste any chances to make it known, because you think everyone should hear about it? Tell us about it!

Uhm…not really…There are books that I occasionally recommend to people, but I wouldn’t call them projects of the heart…that’s more likely to happen with shows, series and comics these days…
Though I did go to my local library to support/advertise the Märchenspinnerei yesterday…

Additional thoughts

Last weekend I send off a translated and lengthened version of  the first part of the Neubrandenwolf for a writing contest. I also wrote down a story for the latest Bücherstadtkurier contest, the one where my story got chosen a couple of years ago, but I haven’t send it to them yet. I’ll probably read through it a couple more times, before daring to do that.

opefully I’ll get some other writing done for The Queen’s Wish or even some of the old stuff lying around … we’ll see…

PoiSonPaiNter

© For the cover, the quote and the banner belong to their rightful owners.

Reading Together #17

Remember when I last told you about the stuff I was reading at the time?
Really? Wow, great memory! That was more than two years ago!
Anyway, since I’m not really happy with the post-count recently I decided to start participating in this activity again, so you’d get at least a post on Tuesdays – I might participate in another one on Fridays as well, we’ll see.

As a reminder:

Gemeinsam Lesen” as it is originally called, is a project by German book bloggers Schlunzenbuecher. It was created by Asaviel and later adopted by Schlunzenbuecher.
Each Tuesday you have to answer four questions regarding your current read.

For more information and my old participations take a look at this page: Reading Together.
Without much further ado, let’s take a look at today’s, obviously translated, questions:

1. Which Book are you currently reading and which page are you on?

Today I decided to pick up Washington Irving’s The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent or Sleepy Hollow: Schaurige Erzählungen (Ghastly Tales) a book that I started reading back in 2014.
It’s a collection of different essays and stories by Irving and I basically only bought it originally to read Sleepy Hollow and decided to actually do so after starting with the Sleepy Hollow TV Show. The story itself is located somewhere in the back of the book, so it’s still a long way to go for me, as I’m still on page 46.
 

2. What is the first sentence on your current page?

Mit dem Gefühle tiefen Bedauerns beobachte ich, wie die literarische Animosität zwischen England und Amerika von Tag zu Tag wächst.

or in English:

It is with feelings of deep regret that I observe the literary
animosity daily growing up between England and America.

Technically I cheated with this one, as the page starts with the title (English Writers on America) and a quote from Milton about Freedom of Speech (the „Methinks“ one), but this one seemed more interesting.

3. What do you desperately need to tell about your current book? (Thoughts, Feelings, a Quote, whatever you want!)

Seeing as it took me years to pick up the book again and my relatively slow progress with it, I wouldn’t be surprised if I put it away again after reading a few stories.
It’s not that they’re not interesting, but they’re a bit complicated and long and – what probably bugs me most – in a horribly small font. It’s exhausting to read, so I don’t get far when I actually do.
I can’t quite remember the previous stories, but I don’t feel like starting from the get go again, so maybe I’ll just skim through them to refresh my memory…

4. Are you planning the Reading Together beforehand or are you answering the questions spontaneously on the day?

Well…as I haven’t participated in two years this one was quite spontaneously done…
Still, if I had the chance to know the fourth question beforehand, I’d use it.
I remember preparing the first three questions more or less beforehand, when I knew which book I’d be reading, so that I only had to add the page number and quote when I’ve done the reading on my way back from work.
Though, I do not plan what I’m going to read on a Tuesday so it could be featured on a Reading Together. Even if I had a few books where I hoped they’d last until Tuesday so I could talk about them. 😀

Additional thoughts

I really hope this’ll get me back into Blogging, but I’m still busy with those pesky stories and life-stuff, so we’ll see if it’ll work.
You can obviously participate in these questions by either using my translated or the original German version.
PoiSonPaiNter
© For the cover, the quote and the banner belong to their rightful owners.

What'cha Watching Wednesday #2

And we continue with the second instalment of What’cha Watching Wednesday.

What am I going to do?

Each Wednesday evening I will publish a post in which I collected the thoughts I had throughout the week while watching the latest or any episode of a series or maybe even a movie.
Depending on how my time allows it, the comment will also be for those that I watched that day.
You’re warned: There will be Spoilers.

Let’s start

Sleepy Hollow – Season Two, Episode 18: Tempus Fugit (Watch Date: 26.02.)

Well, last week I ranted about not liking Katrina’s character development and now she’s dead…
But frankly I care more about how Ichabod will deal with having lost both his wife and his son on the same day, than about their actual passing. In regards to characterization both of them were spent: Henry’s story expired with him turning against Moloch, and her grief was turning Katrina useless.
It’s a pity the writers decided to move her that way, as she would have been a good magical addition to the team, but like this it seemed more like they were going for love-triangle (or square if you include the Headless Horseman).
I really hope they wont turn Abbie and Ichabod into a couple, that would so ruin their chemistry…
Though while getting rid of a stagnating character was a nice turn of events, it also felt a bit rushed and we unfortunately did not stay in the 19th century for long…
It was only a one time deal. 🙁
At least as far as this season goes, who knows what they’ll come up with if the series is renewed for a third season.
Just like Agent Carter, I do hope it will be.
The premise is just too interesting to be dropped…

Marvels Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. – Season Two, Episode 11: Aftershocks (Watch Date:04.03)

So, Agent Carter finished and now the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. are back and I have to say that it was a nice start into the second half of the season.
Not too rushed, but not too slow either, some of the lose ends were brought to a nice conclusion, though I still don’t like that they killed off Trip. Back then it felt like such a wasted death, but with Skye struggling to comprehend her change it gains some meaning.
Bobbie and Mac seem to plan something bigger, might even be Hydra spies, Fitz protects Skye’s secret from Simmons, who seems to be a little too forward with her solution for what happened.
I always liked Fitz and Simmons and their chemistry, but since their separation and the weird re-union, I prefer Fitz on his own. He seems to still have the compassion, Simmons is currently lacking, though I do hope his condition will improve soon, as it is a bit tiring to see him helpless each episode – and yes I know it was a heavy injury, but characterization-wise does it get boring soon.
All in all some interesting developments and nice character development in this episode.

What were you watching?

What episodes or movies did you enjoy throughout the week?
Anything you’d recommend checking out?
Let me know in the comments below!

Final Words

Things have gotten in the way all week, so unlike I anticipated, again only two episodes.
PoiSonPaiNter

What'cha Watching Wednesday

Soo….as I’m following a couple of series and the Reading Together works quite well for keeping track of thoughts regarding my current reads and I kind of did something like this with this post already, I thought, it was high time that I rant a bit about what I’ve seen in the past week in a more appropriate setting.

What am I going to do?

Each Wednesday evening I will publish a post in which I collected the thoughts I had throughout the week while watching the latest or any episode of a series or maybe even a movie.
Depending on how my time allows it, the comment will also be for those that I watched that day.
You’re warned: There will be Spoilers.

Let’s start

Sleepy Hollow – Season Two, Episode 17: Awakening (Watch Date: 19.02.)

I do believe I haven’t mentioned yet that I am watching this series, but tadaa: I do.
It’s a really interesting concept and even though it had me confused more than once throughout the first season, do I still enjoy it.
It has great characters and interesting foes.
Anyway, from the beginning I kind of felt odd about Katrina. She never really fit into the group or at least tried to fit in and her arrogance and stubbornness made her dislikeable to me. Her whole obsession with Henry/Jeremy(, whose own madness is brilliantly portrayed by John Noble, though the portrayal does remind me of his role in Fringe) is just so…annoying…for a lack of a better word. She just doesn’t want to move on and keeps going in circles characterization-wise, up to the point were she drives herself quite mad. I get that she is a mother, but that’s just weird character development.
Though there is one upside to this: A set-switch to the 18th century, with Abbie now being in the wrong period!
Can’t wait for the next episode to see that happening and I just hope it wont just be a one time deal…

Agent Carter – Season One, Episode 8 – Valediction (Watch Date 25.02.)

I can’t believe this season is already over…
When I read last week that the upcoming episode would be the finale I was utterly shocked. It was far too soon to leave Peggy (and Jarvis I feel the need to add him here).
It’s such a fun and great and cool series and Hayley Atwell is just such a beautiful and brilliant actress. James D’Arcy does a great job as well and it’s just such a joy to watch those two interact.
Right after the first episode aired I wanted to watch more and I dearly hope the series will be renewed for another season – and many more after that.
The finale followed the slow narration of the previous episodes, but it is still packed with action and incredible fight scenes. It’s just fun to watch.
I really enjoyed the progress Peggy’s colleagues Thompson and Souza made in regards to their view on her, and even the late chief towards his end (that kind of still doesn’t bother me). Though I have to admit, that I find it confusing that in this series the characterization tables are turned.
Where there is barely any depth to the women in pretty much every show or movie, here the men are portrayed quite shallow. (Hence my apathy regarding Dooley’s passing)
For a series that does so much good in terms of representation (especially for women) this is a bit unfortunate. Still, this might as well have been due to the low amount of episodes, as we did get a few glimpses at the main male side characters‘ actual personalities.
But all in all great series and a great finale.
And I really want to see more of Peggy’s adventures!

What were you watching?

What episodes or movies did you enjoy throughout the week?
Anything you’d recommend checking out?
Let me know in the comments below!

Final Words

I start a new regular thing and I nearly managed to only watch one episode the entire week. Go me! Luckily I couldn’t resist watching the finale of Agent Carter right away, so you get two thought-thingies.
Next week will most likely be more, as I now have to catch up with all the episodes I’ve missed.
PoiSonPaiNter