Read The House of Shattered Wings, by Aliette de Bodard, which involves a character with two fingers eventually missing. A British Science Fiction Association Award and for once a rather impressive horror story taking place in an alternative 1900’s Paris partly destroyed by a war between Houses run by fallen angels. With connections with French occupied Annam. The construct is quite original, with some great characters, if over-prone to introspection. Got through as well Trouble on the Thames, by Victor Bridges (!), a British Library thriller classic I bought when visiting the Alan Turing Institute. A light and short spy story from the 1930’s with amusingly outdated dialogues and postures, a nice way to go through a sleepless night. And received as B’Day present the BD version of Umberto Eco’s Name of the Rose by Milo Manara, a pleasant return to this great book, with fantastic colours and creative miniatures. As usual with Manara, the depiction of the female character is unrealistic and anachronic.
Watched the Korean TV show, Songs of the Bandits, which as a coincidence also involves a character with two fingers eventually missing. While providing an interesting foray into Korean history under Japanese pre-WW II occupation and offering an original scenario among K dramas, with an Eastern Western flavour, the fighting scenes are ridiculous (and gory), while the Japanese occupiers are caricaturesque. The final episode further feels inconclusive.
Made jars and jars of fig jam till early October, as the fig tree was bursting with ripe figs that were mostly escaping marauding birds. As well as more jars of rhubarb jam.
Xi'an's Og 