gdp's Comments

Mark Reads : Mark Reads 'A Hat Full of Sky': Chapter 1, Part I

Mon, 23 Jul 2018 20:54:55 +0000

I know I've read this book (in German) but I don't remember anything about it, except that it involves Tiffany and possibly a hat (?). It'll probably come back to me as we continue, but right now I'm really intrigued by that thing looking for a brain. Creeeeepy...

Mark Reads : Mark Reads 'Monstrous Regiment': Part 23

Sun, 22 Jul 2018 09:33:49 +0000

Remember Jackrum's weirdly specific worry they'd be drugged by prostitutes and left in their underwear? Well, in this section he essentially skips over how he acquired some men's clothing before enlisting, "never you mind how". Without that comment, I'd have expected him to have nicked the clothes from his lazy brothers, but the combination of these two anecdotes sort of implies a connection. Probably not as a prostitute, but it sounds like the young woman Jackrum used to be either tricked some guy with roughly the right shape and size into a clandestine meeting or seized the opportunity when someone made advances on her, then either drugged him or knocked him out (the latter sounds more like Jackrum) and then made off with his clothes.

Mark Reads : Mark Reads 'Monstrous Regiment': Part 16

Sat, 21 Jul 2018 21:50:27 +0000

A bit late, but yes, I left out a "don't" in there. I'm a bit annoyed that we repeatedly get mentions that _all_ the recruits have faces that are "as smooth as a baby's bum" (or something along those lines). Shouldn't there be at least a bit of fuzz for at least one of them? Then again, others have brought up the idea that Blouse, being really shortsighted, simply doesn't notice any facial hair they do have. Alternatively, they might not have facial hair yet due to their age? (Not sure how that works.) And of course I might simply be grumpy out of envy... :/ Sorry I'm only replying now. I didn't want to uncypher any responses until after I'd finished the book to avoid getting spoiled.

Mark Reads : Mark Reads 'Monstrous Regiment': Part 23

Sat, 21 Jul 2018 19:24:22 +0000

Agreed. It's like when they thought of "soldier", they came up with a good and detailed depiction, but when it came to depicting the concept of a soldier that's secretly female their best idea was to merge the soldier with a naked woman in a sexy pose. (With the gendered bits conveniently covered by the title, but left to the viewer's imagination.) Not only is this disgusting and objectifying, it completely goes against the grain of this particular book.

Mark Reads : Mark Reads 'Monstrous Regiment': Part 23

Sat, 21 Jul 2018 18:54:45 +0000

It's a paperback copy I bought just before we started on this book. The Corgi edition published 2004. Also, I only just noticed that before the title page it contains the illustration from the Ankh-Morpork Times of Polly kicking Heinrich into the crown jewels. <3

Mark Reads : Mark Reads 'Monstrous Regiment': Part 23

Sat, 21 Jul 2018 18:46:22 +0000

Yeah, that was another theory. :) However, I figured it conflicted with the one about Jackrum being the Duchess (for some reason I never considered that a mother might recognize her child and not tell anyone) and focused on that one instead.

Mark Reads : Mark Reads 'Monstrous Regiment': Part 23

Thu, 19 Jul 2018 21:22:53 +0000

Gods, that was an amazing book! I feel like I'll have to reread it to decide where to place it on my favourite ranking, but it's probably somewhere in the top ten. :) I'm still not entirely convinced that Vimes needed to be in it (though for the sake of consistency with the rest of the series so far, Ankh-Morpork probably had to get involved), since especially his early sections really distracted from the rest of the book being told from Polly's view. I did like their shared scene in the end, though, and I loved Angua's cameo and the effect she had on Mal. I mean the realization that a sergeant could be openly female, not in a romantic/sexual way, although that's an intriguing idea too. :) With most DW books, I feel that the last two sections tend to be rather weak compared to the rest of the book, but here we definitely end on a high note. And with another twist, too! Other than with G!G!, it's not a belated "the dragon was female all along" realization, but as Mark has experienced, the reveal about Jackrum's backstory completely changes the way you read his character. Not quite "Jackrum is secretly the Duchess" (my ongoing pet theory, for everyone who didn't follow my belated cyphered postings throughout the book), but still immensely satisfying. When Mark mentioned that there the US version had one small but significant change, I immediately guessed that it was probably a shift from "him" to "her" in that exact sentence because (reading the UK version) the pronoun struck me as significant and, like Mark, I was wondering if it was deliberate and meant that Polly recognized Jackrum's identity as a trans man (without having the word for it or even consciously considering the concept). That said, we've seen the same with how Polly thinks of General Froc: using female pronouns when her gender is important and male one when thinking about the role. While that change is annoying (I actually like the ambiguity of the UK version) and I'm glad my version is less persistent about those half-an-onion jokes, in general I feel like the version Mark read is a lot more polished, adding more detail, characterization and world-building, so maybe I'll try to get a copy of that one too... I really liked that while Polly clearly learned from Jackrum, she's decided to do things her own way: Instead of hiding her identity and secretly helping the female recruits without ever letting any of them know they're not alone, she openly confronts the first two that join up, and gives them the choice. She doesn't demand that "these are new times, there's no need to hide" (or anything along those lines), but tells them that if they want to join as men, they certainly can, but they don't have to. Possibly inspired by Angua, she's decided to present herself as both female and a sergeant. I loved the way she intimidated the first person who dared call her "miss". It's very clear she's not going to let anyone disrespect her ever again. The new women's army is not going to be hidden and they're going to change Borogravia from within.

Mark Reads : Mark Reads 'Monstrous Regiment': Part 23

Thu, 19 Jul 2018 20:48:49 +0000

I sort of assumed de Worde handed him the card after the interview while Polly was talking to Otto.

Mark Reads : Mark Reads 'Monstrous Regiment': Part 23

Thu, 19 Jul 2018 20:38:59 +0000

Agreed, the onion joke sucks. Personally, I don't see the point of using half of anything that'll spoil, so I'd either use a full one or leave it out. Naturally, this greatly restricts the amount of available recipes for someone living in a single household who cooks very rarely. (I make an exception for garlic because leaving it out completely changes the taste, but there's also a huge difference between using 2 cloves of garlic and a full bulb.)

Mark Reads : Mark Reads 'Monstrous Regiment': Part 23

Thu, 19 Jul 2018 20:30:33 +0000

Congratulations! Great view on Jackrum, and you're right about the metal vs. the meat. Now I'm curious too.

Mark Reads : Mark Reads 'Monstrous Regiment': Part 23

Thu, 19 Jul 2018 20:16:51 +0000

I don't think Wazzer is the new ruler. It's what I expected too, but "making herself useful" in General Froc's household really doesn't sound like ruling. :) I got the impression that Borogravia is between (forms of) governments right now, but it sounds like the generals might be attempting to fill the void.

Mark Reads : Mark Reads 'Monstrous Regiment': Part 23

Thu, 19 Jul 2018 19:49:48 +0000

I think it's a bit more than "merely" wishing to protect more than her immediate family. Polly decided that if she wants to protect her family, she has to take action before the threat arrives at their home. Last time she went after Paul to bring him home. This time around she's going to make sure he won't have to leave. (Personally, I think she's planning to use Jackrum's list of names to stop the war before it really gets going, either by blackmail or by maneuvering around a bunch of ruperts. While the cutlasses and bow might come in useful, if needed, I feel like their main purpose along with the uniform is to make her look imposing, to make sure she's taken seriously.)

Mark Reads : Mark Reads 'Monstrous Regiment': Part 23

Thu, 19 Jul 2018 19:41:54 +0000

Now that I think of it, Wazzer being a part of Froc's household and in contact with Polly (the mentioned letter) could be immensely useful if Polly is planning to use her list of names to change Borogravia.

Mark Reads : Mark Reads 'Monstrous Regiment': Part 22

Wed, 18 Jul 2018 21:54:20 +0000

For some reason, my copy appears to miss a lot of sentences I only get to experience in the version Mark reads out. I suspect I'm reading an older version as Mark's copy occasionally answers questions I had while reading (like, "wait, was Strappi also sent out of the room?") or highlights some details (such as the interaction between Polly and Prince Heinrich).

Mark Reads : Mark Reads 'Monstrous Regiment': Part 22

Wed, 18 Jul 2018 21:17:17 +0000

If by people you mean Americans, well, there are patriots everywhere who'll defend their country against anyone who dares argue it might have its bad points. At the same time, I doubt there's a single country in the world that doesn't have people who are unhappy about living there.

Mark Reads : Mark Reads 'Monstrous Regiment': Part 21

Sun, 15 Jul 2018 21:37:23 +0000

Granted, I don't have the benefit of having read the rest of the book, but I interpreted her order to be more along the lines of "lay down your weapons and take care of your home and family instead".

Mark Reads : Mark Reads 'Monstrous Regiment': Part 21

Sun, 15 Jul 2018 21:34:25 +0000

Hmm... I read ShireNomad's question as rhethorical, but thank you for the reminder. I certainly had forgotten! :)

Mark Reads : Mark Reads 'Monstrous Regiment': Part 21

Sun, 15 Jul 2018 21:27:29 +0000

Keep in mind that all of these officers believed "they were the only ones". While that might be an exaggeration and some might have suspected one or two of their fellow officers, they certainly believed to be surrounded by men. Speaking up against Nugganatic law would risk outing themselves (as cis women or trans men). That doesn't make their actions right, but a bit more understandable, I feel.

Mark Reads : Mark Reads 'Monstrous Regiment': Part 21

Sun, 15 Jul 2018 19:15:07 +0000

Strangely, I'm not at all shocked by this revelation. Mildly surprised, yes. Shocked, no. The reason for this is that early on I had a theory that I felt was so ridiculous I didn't bother mentioning it in my first comment for this book. You see, when I first started this book in German, the title (literally translating to "The Women's Regiment") alone already spoiled a major twist of the story. So, while I was digging for deeper meaning I came up with a theory for why an author might decide to give away such an important twist. (It was only later that I found out that the spoiler had only been introduced in the translation.) I thought, what if the squad's gender reveal was just a distraction? What if the _real_ twist would be that, while they're all trying to hide their gender, female soldiers are actually very common in the Borogravian army and they just didn't know? However, skipping through the first third of the book, I found no hints that this might be true and eventually gave up. I guess I should have kept reading... *grins* Interestingly, this time around I sort of shelved that theory at unplausible from the get-go and even Jackrum revealing that he'd actually met quite a few female soldiers didn't change my mind. However, I absolutely did not expect the Duchess to take over Wazzer like this. I also didn't believe the Duchess to really have died (as she admitted in her speech).

Mark Reads : Mark Reads 'Monstrous Regiment': Part 18

Wed, 11 Jul 2018 21:01:17 +0000

Well, we've got Susan. :)