157. The scale of interconnections between the Ancient world is a perennial fascination of mine, and these two books provide a great look in the trade nexus between Rome, India, China, and the surrounding countries.
159. The prevalence of tankies on the internet has driven a lot of (accurate!) revisionism about the USSR's role in WWII, but I do think it's worth remembering the truth too, which is that the Red Army was an absolutely essential part of winning the war, and performed extraordinarily well.
160. Enjoyed these books, but felt like the ending really undermined the whole thing. Great worldbuilding, but the bigger "political" plot always seemed more coherent than the character plot, and the two don't really intersect in any way that matters. Ending felt very abrupt and random.
161. Bit of an irony, because it's the Narnia book most suited for adaptation as a straight adventure, but it's also the most, uh, "problematic" book in the series, so it'll never happen.
Also the least Jesus-y but it has a moment that affected me personally the most when I read these books.
162. My joke about this is that it's a great introduction to Christianity because after all the wonder and awe of the idea of an all-powerful God who loves you, a sinner, enough to sacrifice His life for yours, even though you don't deserve it, it ends with a girl going to Hell for wearing makeup.
The translator is pretty frank about how much of herself went onto the page, which I appreciate it. Easier to grapple with than just a performance of objectivity.
Comments
Very interesting and enjoyable, though as always you have to wonder how much influence the translation had.
Also the least Jesus-y but it has a moment that affected me personally the most when I read these books.