interview
May. 21st, 2026 08:30 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
calimacA fellow named G. Connor Salter has been interviewing various authors including Inklings scholars. He's gotten around to me. Here's the result.
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Lewis and Clark book review
May. 20th, 2026 07:41 amcalimacCraig Fehrman, This Vast Enterprise: A New History of Lewis and Clark (Avid Reader Press [Simon & Schuster], 2026)
A new history of Lewis and Clark? As a long-time interested one in that expedition. I had to check this out, and it turned out to be well worth the trouble. Recent writers like Stephen Ambrose and Clay Jenkinson have painted Lewis as a psychological basket case, rendering it ludicrous that he was appointed to command the great western expedition. Fehrman finds a balance between this and the traditional view of Lewis as a great explorer, specifying his weaknesses but also emphasizing his strengths. Some of the other white men staying with the Mandans and Hidatsas over the winter of 1804-5 thought Lewis and Clark completely incompetent at dealing with the Indians; but you don't find that view here, though mistakes are acknowledged. Fehrman accepts without comment that Lewis was a suicide; this is possible but not historically established as certain, though most writers now treat it as if it were.
What makes this history "new" is the viewpoint. Chapters on various chunks of the expedition are told largely from the viewpoint of specified persons; sometimes Lewis or Clark (very different men), but just as often York, Clark's slave - so there's a lot of background information on the practice of slavery in this period - or Sacajawea, the Shoshone woman brought along as a translator. It's no longer necessary to rebut that she "guided Lewis and Clark across the continent," so Fehrman wastes no space on that, while emphasizing how resourceful and useful to the expedition she was. Strangely, though many of the men kept journals, the only subordinate who gets chapters is the lead sergeant, John Ordway.
But there are also chapters from the point of view of Indians, mostly chiefs, whom the explorers met, and this gives of course an entirely different view of the story. Most interesting is one from the view of Wolf Calf, one of the Blackfoot warriors with whom Lewis and a few hunters had an at first wary, then violent, encounter on the Marias River in July 1806. In later years, Wolf Calf left a brief description of the event, which Fehrman has uncovered (and prints in full in an appendix) though most previous scholars were unaware of it, though it had been published. It quite contradicts parts of Lewis's account, but Fehrman has noticed that Lewis was still asleep for much of the early-morning violence and is relying on the testimony of his hunters, who had probably fallen asleep on watch and had good reason to prevaricate.
This careful reading of the journals to observe things that had passed previous writers by is Fehrman's principal value. For instance, it's long been claimed that Sacajawea was close only to Clark among the explorers, but Fehrman finds plenty of evidence that she had friendly and mutually rewarding relations with Lewis and Ordway as well. He also digs up other evidence, not just Wolf Calf's memoir. Clark nicknamed Sacajawea's infant son "Pomp" or "Pompey," and so he is usually called. But Fehrman has interviewed Shoshone women, and declares that "according to Shoshone tradition" his mother had nicknamed him a Shoshone word, Pahmpi, which Clark had adapted into a condescending classical reference. Fehrman gives no further source for this, though his source notes are extensive, so I can't tell if this is an actual tradition, passed down through the generations, or if somebody had just noticed that there was a Shoshone word that sounded like "Pompey" and assumed that was the baby's real nickname.
This book can be rewardingly read by people previously knowing little about the expedition, though they may find the beginning a bit of a slog, as there's four chapters on preparations before they ever set off up the river, and another four before they get to territory unknown to whites. The emphasis is on relations with the Indians, which is the interesting aspect of the early part of the journey, though geographic discoveries later on, which are what most interests me, are not neglected. Overall, an intelligent and rewarding book, and the best account of the expedition alone, as opposed to as part of a biography of Lewis or Clark, since an intelligent abridgment of the journals like Bernard DeVoto's.
A new history of Lewis and Clark? As a long-time interested one in that expedition. I had to check this out, and it turned out to be well worth the trouble. Recent writers like Stephen Ambrose and Clay Jenkinson have painted Lewis as a psychological basket case, rendering it ludicrous that he was appointed to command the great western expedition. Fehrman finds a balance between this and the traditional view of Lewis as a great explorer, specifying his weaknesses but also emphasizing his strengths. Some of the other white men staying with the Mandans and Hidatsas over the winter of 1804-5 thought Lewis and Clark completely incompetent at dealing with the Indians; but you don't find that view here, though mistakes are acknowledged. Fehrman accepts without comment that Lewis was a suicide; this is possible but not historically established as certain, though most writers now treat it as if it were.
What makes this history "new" is the viewpoint. Chapters on various chunks of the expedition are told largely from the viewpoint of specified persons; sometimes Lewis or Clark (very different men), but just as often York, Clark's slave - so there's a lot of background information on the practice of slavery in this period - or Sacajawea, the Shoshone woman brought along as a translator. It's no longer necessary to rebut that she "guided Lewis and Clark across the continent," so Fehrman wastes no space on that, while emphasizing how resourceful and useful to the expedition she was. Strangely, though many of the men kept journals, the only subordinate who gets chapters is the lead sergeant, John Ordway.
But there are also chapters from the point of view of Indians, mostly chiefs, whom the explorers met, and this gives of course an entirely different view of the story. Most interesting is one from the view of Wolf Calf, one of the Blackfoot warriors with whom Lewis and a few hunters had an at first wary, then violent, encounter on the Marias River in July 1806. In later years, Wolf Calf left a brief description of the event, which Fehrman has uncovered (and prints in full in an appendix) though most previous scholars were unaware of it, though it had been published. It quite contradicts parts of Lewis's account, but Fehrman has noticed that Lewis was still asleep for much of the early-morning violence and is relying on the testimony of his hunters, who had probably fallen asleep on watch and had good reason to prevaricate.
This careful reading of the journals to observe things that had passed previous writers by is Fehrman's principal value. For instance, it's long been claimed that Sacajawea was close only to Clark among the explorers, but Fehrman finds plenty of evidence that she had friendly and mutually rewarding relations with Lewis and Ordway as well. He also digs up other evidence, not just Wolf Calf's memoir. Clark nicknamed Sacajawea's infant son "Pomp" or "Pompey," and so he is usually called. But Fehrman has interviewed Shoshone women, and declares that "according to Shoshone tradition" his mother had nicknamed him a Shoshone word, Pahmpi, which Clark had adapted into a condescending classical reference. Fehrman gives no further source for this, though his source notes are extensive, so I can't tell if this is an actual tradition, passed down through the generations, or if somebody had just noticed that there was a Shoshone word that sounded like "Pompey" and assumed that was the baby's real nickname.
This book can be rewardingly read by people previously knowing little about the expedition, though they may find the beginning a bit of a slog, as there's four chapters on preparations before they ever set off up the river, and another four before they get to territory unknown to whites. The emphasis is on relations with the Indians, which is the interesting aspect of the early part of the journey, though geographic discoveries later on, which are what most interests me, are not neglected. Overall, an intelligent and rewarding book, and the best account of the expedition alone, as opposed to as part of a biography of Lewis or Clark, since an intelligent abridgment of the journals like Bernard DeVoto's.
Wow!
May. 19th, 2026 08:48 pmfreyjawI'm now at 272.2 lb so far. That's 67.8 lbs off. I'm stunned.
Dad is walking more with PT. He is grumpier, though. He even yelled at Chris. The hemiplegia frustrates him no end.
I have a frustration of my own. My wonderful laptop died. I stupidly didn't back up all of my games and documents. Now, I lost 18 pages of a story I was writing. May I scream now? (I have a new naptop, but it's not as powerful as my HP Omen.)
Achilles has been demanding more cuddles. He's polite about it.
Dad is walking more with PT. He is grumpier, though. He even yelled at Chris. The hemiplegia frustrates him no end.
I have a frustration of my own. My wonderful laptop died. I stupidly didn't back up all of my games and documents. Now, I lost 18 pages of a story I was writing. May I scream now? (I have a new naptop, but it's not as powerful as my HP Omen.)
Achilles has been demanding more cuddles. He's polite about it.
Recent Reading: A Drop of Corruption
May. 19th, 2026 05:11 pmrocky41_7 posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
booksYesterday, with hours to go until my library hold expired, with another hold not on the horizon before 3 weeks, I finished A Drop of Corruption, the second book in the In the Shadow of the Leviathan series by Robert Jackson Bennett.
Ana and Din are back with another grody and baffling murder. I think the consistency between the first book and the second is very good; if you liked one, you’ll like the other. Bennett maintains the same quality mystery narrative here, dropping believable misleads while feeding out enough information that when Ana makes her breakthrough realizations you can look back and see the path she took.
Bennett’s fantasy world is coming into its own as well. We pick up many months after the end of the last book, so Ana and Din have developed a stronger rapport and working relationship. We are fed more information about the world itself—with some outside perspective, as this book takes place entirely in the nation of Yarrow, which is essentially a satellite state of Khanum, pending full annexation once negotiations with Yarrow’s king complete.
I enjoy how the women are written in these books. Ana and our new, local connection, Malo, are wholly unmoored from concerns about what others think of them. Ana is brash, loud, demanding, and arrogant—except that she’s almost always right. She has a masterful understanding of her own capabilities and weaknesses and she’s not afraid to openly discuss either. She’s also crass, gluttonous, and does not have great personal hygiene habits. And yet, everyone simple handles it, because she’s so good at what she does. I feel it’s rare to see a female character like this.
When it comes to the other women in service to the empire, like Thelenai and the female members of Uhad’s crew from the last book, there is little distinction between them and their male colleagues. A number of fantasy stories have posited that their worlds are gender-equal, but many fall utterly short of showing that beyond having women around. In Bennett’s world, in Khanum, I believe it, in part because the women lack the self-consciousness that comes of being raised in a sexist society.
However, this book is politically confused. It is obvious, even before the author’s note, that Bennett thinks very little of monarchy, and its destructive power is hammered over and over throughout the book. In that closing author’s note, Bennett is highly critical both of real-world leaders behaving like kings, and the glorification of monarchy in fantasy literature. However, the glaring hole in this, to me, is that no commentary is made on the empire. Ana and Din hail from what is nothing more than an elevated monarchy—one where their centuries-old emperor has chosen to extend his power well beyond his initial borders. Now, it makes perfect sense that Ana and Din believe in the good of Khanum. They serve it, they are members of its government. However, Khanum’s pending annexation of Yarrow is posited as almost universally a good thing for Yarrow—indeed, the only character we see strongly opposed to it is easily the most loathsome character in the book. There is criticism also of Yarrow’s practice of slavery, but when Din protests that a potential Khanum retreat from the annexation would leave the slaves of Yarrow to their fate, Ana warns him it is not Khanum’s place to legislate the morality of other places. And yet, over and over and over again for all of human history, empires have believed it was their place to do just that—and violently (Hello, White Man’s Burden).
Perhaps these inconsistencies would be less sharp if we understood more about Khanum and its role in the world. In A Drop of Corruption, we are told the empire no longer conquers with strength of arms—ergo the protracted negotiations with Yarrow. However, that means it did, and even in the last book we saw how the empire treats its cantons, with the utter destruction of Oypat accepted as a reasonable price to maintain the wealth of various noble families. Even if the emperor is only a figurehead, we know that Khanum is tightly bound by the whims and desires of its nobility. It was baffling to me why this is never raised in the political discussions of Yarrow and the annexation.
Moving on, we get new backstory on both Ana and Din here, which bulks their characters out (although Din’s apparent lifelong yearning to join the Legion feels a bit out of left field) and leaves us in a very interesting place for the third book. Ana continues to be a vicious delight and without spoilers, we are finally learning what makes her so unique.
I also had to appreciate the importance the narrative places on civil servants. One of Din’s gripes about life in the Iudex is, essentially, that it is unglamorous and frequently bureaucratic. Yet the narrative champions those who do the day-to-day drudgery of running a country, frequently for no thanks. It takes the garbage men and the post office workers and the teachers and the Social Security Administration clerks to run things, and A Drop of Corruption says these people are important, and the work they do is important, even if it is rarely recognized.
Bennett has hit his stride with this series and I’m curious to see where it goes next.
three things make a post
May. 19th, 2026 02:51 pmredbird*After a mild spring, it suddenly got hot today. Fortunately, we had enough warning that adrian_turtle was able to contact our usual handyman and have him put the air conditioners back in the window, which he did a couple of hours ago. I am staying inside today, because 97F/36C ("feels like" 39/102) is too damned hot for me; I'm glad the handyman was willing to come when he did, rather than early in the day.
*I have been going back and forth with my health insurance company and various people at my psychiatrist's office and the Beth Israel Lahey billing department over a claim that the insurance told me they were denying. The denial letter, with instructions about how to appeal, was dated April 26 and arrived on the 28th, but they haven't sent that to my doctor's office/billing. Meanwhile, billing first told me I don't have an outstanding bill, and then today could find it but said they couldn't do anything as long as it's "pending insurance." Someone at the insurance company suggested I ask the doctor to resubmit with a different code, which seems to have them puzzled. (It was sent in as "doctor's visit, long.") Someone at the insurance company advised me to have the doctor resubmit this with a different code, but when I gave up on billing and sent my doctor a message, she said she didn't know what I want her to do and was forwarding the message to the admin people.
Trying to figure out this insurance mess is why I was on the MyChart website Sunday, and thus led to me getting an overdue mammogram yesterday.
*I mail-ordered a bunch of spices from Penzey's. I'd wanted to get this done sooner so we could take advantage of last weekend's sale, but cattitude reasonably wanted time to look through the spice cabinet. So I assembled an order yesterday, and saw that the most recent politically-themed sale would get me discounts on more things I actually wanted: peppercorns and mustard, rather than their "lemon pepper" seasoning.
Last weekend's sale was loosely immigration themed. The current one is anything starting with I, M, or P, with a promise of a discount on E, A, C, and H in a couple of days to spell out IMPEACH (which is also the current discount code). In any case, we need the pepper and mustard, as well as a variety of things that don't start with those letters, like roast garlic powder and cracked rosemary, which added up to enough for free shipping.
tv review
May. 19th, 2026 10:58 amcalimacI saw a favorable review for Legends, and it was on Netflix, so I could get it. If you like British cop shows, and I know a lot of people do, this is a good one. It's a 6-episode mini-series, so it functions as a really long movie. The heroes of this one are Customs agents, not previously trained at undercover investigations, so they are perhaps a little easier to identify with than the typical pro hacks.
The story is that it's 1990, and Margaret Thatcher has decided to crack down on heroin importations. That's Customs' department, so they set up a training and filtering program to test and train volunteer agents who want something a little more exciting than riffling through suitcases. After a three-week program, they're down to four agents who look qualified to do the work.
"Legends" is Customs' term for cover identities, but only one of the four is destined to go deep undercover. He's maneuvering himself into the position of being the drug dealers' transport guy, who moves the heroin from Pakistan to the UK. Of the other three, one becomes the computer whiz backroom girl, and the remaining two spend most of their time watching over the other batch of drug dealers than the ones the transport guy is working on.
Most of the show jumps back and forth among the agents and their handler, who is played by Steve Coogan in a serious role, though there are flashes of humor in the show here and there. The undercover guy is married with a small daughter - unusual for undercover agents, who are usually unattached - so he has to balance work and family, and being two different guys at once, in an odd and stressful way.
It's a highly dramatic show, and well directed and acted, and I recommend it for those inclined to such drama.
The story is that it's 1990, and Margaret Thatcher has decided to crack down on heroin importations. That's Customs' department, so they set up a training and filtering program to test and train volunteer agents who want something a little more exciting than riffling through suitcases. After a three-week program, they're down to four agents who look qualified to do the work.
"Legends" is Customs' term for cover identities, but only one of the four is destined to go deep undercover. He's maneuvering himself into the position of being the drug dealers' transport guy, who moves the heroin from Pakistan to the UK. Of the other three, one becomes the computer whiz backroom girl, and the remaining two spend most of their time watching over the other batch of drug dealers than the ones the transport guy is working on.
Most of the show jumps back and forth among the agents and their handler, who is played by Steve Coogan in a serious role, though there are flashes of humor in the show here and there. The undercover guy is married with a small daughter - unusual for undercover agents, who are usually unattached - so he has to balance work and family, and being two different guys at once, in an odd and stressful way.
It's a highly dramatic show, and well directed and acted, and I recommend it for those inclined to such drama.
What You Are Looking for Is in the Library
May. 19th, 2026 01:16 pmmarycatelli posting in booksWhat You Are Looking for Is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama
A short-story cycle, with delicate threads weaving it together past the main connection, which is that, in every story, someone comes to the library while troubled at heart.
The librarian gives recommendations for books, one of which is off-the-wall, and also a felted object such as a plane. In each story, the character finds this cryptic, but reads the book.
A short-story cycle, with delicate threads weaving it together past the main connection, which is that, in every story, someone comes to the library while troubled at heart.
The librarian gives recommendations for books, one of which is off-the-wall, and also a felted object such as a plane. In each story, the character finds this cryptic, but reads the book.
life is a highway
May. 18th, 2026 06:21 pmthe_siobhanThe Moving of Dad: The Saga Continues
( Read more... )
***
Saturday night I got woken up in the middle of the night by Lord Brock making a bunch of weird yipping noises I had never heard before. He finally stopped and I fell back asleep.
Sunday morning I was having coffee at my desk and I turned my head to look over at him - and there is a decapitated mouse on the floor.
Said mouse was disposed of immediately. Lord Brock was given treats for his service. I remain concerned about the location of the missing head.
***
House stuff is kinda stalled, both because of being busy with dad stuff and because the weather is refusing to cooperate. Everything I want to do right now requires it to not rain for several days in a row, and the weather just will not do that.
Mind you, I could probably be doing more to start getting rid of all the crap in my house. Maybe I should start reaching out to shelters this week to see what they need and I can cart it over this coming weekend.
( Read more... )
***
Saturday night I got woken up in the middle of the night by Lord Brock making a bunch of weird yipping noises I had never heard before. He finally stopped and I fell back asleep.
Sunday morning I was having coffee at my desk and I turned my head to look over at him - and there is a decapitated mouse on the floor.
Said mouse was disposed of immediately. Lord Brock was given treats for his service. I remain concerned about the location of the missing head.
***
House stuff is kinda stalled, both because of being busy with dad stuff and because the weather is refusing to cooperate. Everything I want to do right now requires it to not rain for several days in a row, and the weather just will not do that.
Mind you, I could probably be doing more to start getting rid of all the crap in my house. Maybe I should start reaching out to shelters this week to see what they need and I can cart it over this coming weekend.
Inspired by
May. 18th, 2026 05:28 pmfirecatA team of narrators did an impeccable podfic of one of my stories! It’s a crossover between Star Trek: The Next Generation and 2001: A Space Odyssey.
[Podfic] Dreamer in the Dark by celli_pods, contributor-sky (deepestbluesky), KtInSunshine, peasina, semperfiona_podfic (semperfiona), sisi_rambles, vexbatch pods (vexbatch), with (poemreads), xia_pods
[Podfic] Dreamer in the Dark by celli_pods, contributor-sky (deepestbluesky), KtInSunshine, peasina, semperfiona_podfic (semperfiona), sisi_rambles, vexbatch pods (vexbatch), with (poemreads), xia_pods
mammogram
May. 18th, 2026 04:24 pmredbirdWhen my doctor told me to get a mammogram, she warned me they were scheduling months in advance. Instead, when I logged on to MyChart yesterday, it offered a lot of appointments in the next few days, including several this afternoon at a nearby location.
I had nothing else planned for this afternoon, so I made an appointment for this afternoon, a convenient trolley ride from home. Unfortunately, it didn't warn me that I would have to climb a couple of flights of stairs, because the building elevator has been out of service since May 4. The mammogram itself was uncomfortable, but not as bad as I had expected. I think the main difference is that it was quicker than last time, which may be because they were using better machinery than the last few times.
I had nothing else planned for this afternoon, so I made an appointment for this afternoon, a convenient trolley ride from home. Unfortunately, it didn't warn me that I would have to climb a couple of flights of stairs, because the building elevator has been out of service since May 4. The mammogram itself was uncomfortable, but not as bad as I had expected. I think the main difference is that it was quicker than last time, which may be because they were using better machinery than the last few times.