A speculative mind

  The Vorkosigan series by Lois McMaster Bujold is one that every die-hard science fiction fan should read. It contains a fascinating hero, Miles Vorkosigan, who reminds me a bit of Tyrion Lannister from Game of Thrones . This piqued my curiosity enough to look up which one came first. For the record, Miles came first as The Warrior’s Apprentice was published in 1986 and Game of Thrones was published in 1996. Not that I think George R.R. Martin stole from Bujold. The two characters and situations are unique enough from each other that they are just two fine examples of great character building. Due to an incident during pregnancy, Miles was born with brittle bones and his growth was forever stunted. His body is weak and fragile, but there is nothing wrong with his mind. He was determined to join the Barayaran military and prove himself. Physical realities thwart him from time to time. He gets discouraged, but he doesn’t give up. The world-building by Bujold should be an example...

  As I mentioned last week, I was reading War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. I have now finished it. This classic book is one most people have heard of but I suspect not many today have read.   It should be read. On the one hand, War and Peace is a novel, with romance, intrigue, and a striving for success. On the other hand, in places, it is almost a history textbook.   If you were a history student wishing to learn about Russia’s involvement in the Napoleonic wars, you could do worse than simply reading War and Peace . It is a scholarly work which delves into the causes of the war, and criticizes historians who try to tell us the answers. Tolstoy points out that there are thousands of moving parts that lead to any eventual outcome. French historians blame the Russians for burning Moscow. Russian historians blame the French for burning Moscow. Tolstoy points out that it may well have been accidental, a natural result when you have looters and campers in a city made of wo...

  I have started reading War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. Yes, it is as big and daunting as they say it is. The version I am reading is over 1200 pages. I have read other 1200 page books before. Several in the Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin are in that class, but there are a lot more words per page in this book than there are in a book in the Game of Thrones series. That being said, I find it very readable. That is probably thanks to the translators, who in this case were: Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. I appreciate translators because, well, I don’t speak Russian. When you are reading Russian literature in English, the translator(s) are just as important as the original work. Words and phrases don’t translate directly from one language to another. There are subtle differences of meaning. A given word in one language may have a direct counterpart in another language, but the different cultures may imbue each with slightly different colors of feeling. Also, in d...