#and it feels like the author did proper research on all the chinese details because I did google them

[shirewalker]

mkay y’all here’s some bookish rec!

Shadows of Asphodel by Karen Kincy

it’s a new adult dieselpunk trilogy (with two novellas) set in 1913 and it’s about a half-chinese half-white (you get to know her heritage from her white dad side in book 3 tho) mercenary who fled her homeland and a necromancer she saved in a battlefield as they travel through an europe on the brink of war (WWI tho this is a dieselpunk au and stuff is different). 

there’s romance and steamy times, there’s banter, there’s magic (the Hex is something the Archmanges have concocted to nullify guns and the stuff in hopes to prevent war. jokes on them tho) there’s dieselpunk visuals, ZEPPELINS, time magic, murder plots galore and SWORDS!!

it’s far from perfect but it’s really good! you can read my CR thread(s) on twitter but I suggest only reading the first in case you’re interested (HERE)

[radiojamming]

Hello, I recently watched the Terror and have become utterly fascinated with the history of the Franklin expedition. You seem highly knowledgeable and I was wondering if you had any recommendations for books about the expedition.

!!! Absolutely! :D

WE’RE READY (featuring itty bitty John Hartnell)

So by no means is this list exhaustive. I’ve narrowed it down to the books and publications that I feel are the most helpful in getting to appreciate the full scope of the Expedition, what led up to it, and the results of it (the aftermath is just as interesting as the Expedition itself, which we really only know bits and pieces about). This is also a fabulous list of sources that you should definitely check out! I have it bookmarked on Chrome because I’ve referred back to it so often. :’D

Erebus by Michael Palin - Yeah, that Michael Palin of Monty Python fame. This is Palin’s passion project and one that ended up being a really fun read. It goes through the history of the HMS Erebus from her creation, her voyages, and her tragic end. It’s detailed where it needs to be and lighthearted when appropriate. I feel like it’s a very good introduction into the world of the Royal Navy at the era and a good starting point for any Franklin Expedition research if you’re unfamiliar with it.

James Fitzjames: The Mystery Man of the Franklin Expedition by William Battersby - I think it’s helpful to get to know some of the officers of the Expedition to really appreciate the scope of the people who joined on. James Fitzjames is an incredible figure and Battersby (who passed away a few years ago and is very missed) did a beautiful job of forming his biography. A surprising amount of text is lifted and used in the TV show, sometimes word-for-word (the Chinese sniper story and the cairn walk especially). If you like the show and like Fitzjames’ character, this is vital reading.

Franklin: Tragic Hero of Polar Navigation by Andrew Lambert - Of course, it wouldn’t be the Franklin Expedition without the man himself. This one is a heavier read than the Fitzjames biography, but it’s well worth the time. It covers all of Sir John Franklin’s life, the history of attempts on the Northwest Passage, and his legacy after his death. It’s interesting to read about his public perception, ranging from tragic to a walking joke. If you have the time, this one is worth it.

Captain Francis Crozier: Last Man Standing? by Michael Smith - Good for rounding out the trinity of authority with a fairly cheap Kindle book! I’m actually not finished with reading this one, but so far, I’m impressed. Crozier has always been an interesting figure in the Franklin Expedition, enough that he’s front and center in the TV show. I’m giving it a recommendation mostly because it’s the most thorough biography of him.

Finding Franklin: The Untold Story of a 165-Year Search by Russell A. Potter - If you get into the Expedition proper, you’re going to run into Russell Potter sooner or later, through his blog or otherwise. There are very few books that run through what actually happened once Franklin reached the Arctic (I’m gettin’ there!), but Potter does a darn good job of telling the what-happened-after. This is pretty vital reading, especially for phrases like “human debris”. He’s also one of the few people who has written things about the Peglar Papers!

Unravelling the Franklin Mystery: Inuit Testimony by David Woodman - Oh, this is the heavy hitter. This is the reason why a lot of us are here, whether we know it or not. Woodman is another person you’ll run into eventually in Expedition circles, and he’s highly-respected. This book provides an incredible play-by-play of the steady uncovering of the whereabouts of the Erebus and Terror using local Inuit testimony. The results are magnificent, and I cherish my copy of this book with my whole heart. 

Frozen in Time: The Fate of the Franklin Expedition by Owen Beattie and John Geiger - As several people at the Mystic Symposium said, this book is the gateway drug for a lot of people - myself included. Several copies have a mummified face staring out from the cover, either belonging to John Torrington or John Hartnell. So much of The Terror is based on this book in its entirety - three dead sailors who died before disaster truly struck, lead poisoning through canned food (now mostly disproved, but it was a great explanation for the time!), and the slow, painful fate of those on the Death Hike. Dr. Beattie ran an anthropological study into the remains of the three crew members interred on Beechey Island, finding some of the best mummified human remains ever discovered. Photographs included, it’s a compelling and sometimes chilling (hah!) read that I can’t recommend enough. My poor copy has been stained and dog-eared to death, if it tells you anything.

Fatal Passage: The Story of John Rae, the Arctic Hero Time Forgot by Ken McGoogan - Definitely a good read for those interested in the aftermath and search for the Expedition. John Rae is another amazing figure in the story and is well worth learning about. Both this and Dead Reckoning are great books by McGoogan that I can’t recommend enough. 

Hopefully this helps to get you on your way into the Franklin Expedition wormhole! If anyone else has book recommendations, feel free to add them! These were just the ones I had on hand that I feel were good baseline reading (of course, the library of Franklin stuff goes on foreveeerrrrrr).

[alexatrevino93]

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How To Do A Reiki Self Healing

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[ubehmonster]

The Last Time I Read “The Last Time I Saw Mother”.

The Last Time I Read “The Last Time I Saw Mother”

A Novel by Arlene J. Chai

Among all the locally set literature that I’ve read for the past years, there’s only one that has really captured my heart and adulation. It’s no other than The Last Time I Saw Mother. It is an intricate novel that tells the story of Caridad, an aging woman, who is revisiting her past and uncovering her real origins that have far been buried for nearly a lifetime. I’ve always wanted to pay tribute to this work of art and I’m finally going to do it in critical form.

In order to systematically and most meaningfully achieve this book review, I’m going to use some types of literary criticisms that would best explain the author’s process, writing style, and story essence. It makes the judgment and inspection more effective and a whole lot easier.

Objectively speaking, Arlene’s work is quite different from ordinary novels since it’s not exactly focused on a single person. The book has four main narrators: Caridad, Thelma which she considers her mother, her Tia Emma, and her cousin Ligaya. Each narrator has a different vantage point, experience, and part of the story to tell. They all hold a key to Caridad’s elusive past. Add them all together and Caridad’s origin is complete.

Thelma is not Caridad’s real mother. It’s Emma. Emma gave her youngest child to Thelma and Raoul because she could no longer feed or support her after her husband died of stroke. The way they gradually exposed this was successfully nailed. It was subtle and it wasn’t too abrupt. Although the pacing of the story was a little bit too dispersed in the beginning, it was surely a preparation for the revelations because the incoming stories of Emma, Ligaya, and Raoul are incredibly a lot to take in. Their story is tightly knitted together and like Thelma said when she was about to confess, it’s as if pulling a thread then seeing the entire tapestry cracking loose. I really like this concept. It is unique and interactive, a really great instrument in the storytelling. Seeing through different eyes really allows you to see the bigger picture and create connections between events from previous chapters. Each character’s motivations, hopes, fears, and ambitions fill your mind as you flip through the pages. It’s as if you get reincarnated every time you move through another chapter.  

I did find some few aspects that I didn’t like in her writing. Some ideas in nearby paragraphs weren’t exactly coherent. Each character has a lot to say. I get that. But I feel like some parts of the story still need proper transition. The minor flashbacks were another challenge. They would sometimes be quite longer than expected that I would forget where I really picked off. It may have been done on purpose but I honestly think the flashbacks need more organization in terms of timing and distribution throughout the narrative because it turns the present into tiny little fragments and the real, major flashbacks pushed out further than necessary. They essentially stall too much. Everything else was pretty much well laid out and beautifully described.

It’s also quite reasonable to note one of the literary piece’s major vehicles: history. Most of the novel is actually a revelation of the past if the title and synopsis haven’t already given you a clue. What’s even more impressive is that the main character’s past perfectly coincides with the history of the Philippines. Yes, every single event in each part of the story is influenced by the country’s most memorable wars and regimes. The Marcos dictatorship was a significant topic Caridad enthusiastically reopened when she finally went home to talk to her mother. The lavishness of the family was exquisitely described in some of the pages and it’s really evident that the author really did her research.

The stories of Thelma, Emma, and Ligaya were all set during the hard times of the Japanese Occupation here in the Philippines. Their experiences strategically coincided with the war. Every last detail dotted the pages, ranging from how they escaped Manila when the Japanese started to invade, to how Emma and her family survived living in the hills until Bataan and Corregidor finally fell. Glittering names such as Manuel Quezon, General McArthur, Jose Abad Santos, and Jose Laurel were scattered in the narrative. The novel can be called a chronological compendium hidden in a family drama if one really aspires to.

The inclusion of historical elements added a boost to the imagery and really helped the reader connect with the characters. It even made it seem that they were actually real. The aesthetic that I conjured in my mind reading the narrative made it somewhat familiar and almost “at home”. For this reason, Filipinos of all ages and sizes would love to read this book.

The relationships of the characters and the issues within and outside their social circle are also worth mentioning and perhaps the most notable feature of these social aspects of the novel is the family culture of the characters involved. Extended families are the norm in Filipino culture and it was explicitly shown in the narratives. Caridad’s family is a big one and it becomes even bigger as you meet more of her relatives as the story progresses. The ending even showcased more relatives she barely knows about. They were revealed to be descendants of her true siblings and cousins.

Other traditions that were highlighted included having children immediately after marriage because they are valuable assets as the couple grows old. It is one of the main factors that contribute to extended families. The traditional roles each gender plays in the household were also featured in the novel. Filipina women were the focus here and their experiences give the viewers a blunt view on how they really feel about the struggles of raising a family.

The novel also incorporated other cultures as well. From numerous occupations of the Spaniards and Americans to the Japanese, as well as consecutive migrations of Chinese, the Filipino identity was continuously redefined, challenged, and influenced by these powerful foreign forces.  Arlene wanted to add conflict in all this diversity so she also smoothly inserted the attitudes of Filipinos towards these foreign elements. The hatred of Filipinos towards the Chinese because of economic competition was given light as well as the ever so present fear of the remaining power of the Spaniards in the country. These subtle details were literally the cherry on top in this dark debut of Filipino drama.

To sum it all up, the novel is a brilliant aggregation of Filipina family conflict, local and world history, and multicultural heritage. It offers valuable insight to the bleak state of the country’s basic unit during the 1940’s and it could still have implications to this very day. Although some parts of the writing are a bit uneven, the writing in general is sensual and clear and really heightens the quality of the narratives of each character. Each change in pace fits well with the personality and motivation of the characters and this gives their identity a lot more depth. I highly recommend this to everyone. You won’t get tired of reading it.