Nation by Terry Pratchett

Book review, I haven't done one of those for a while.

I've just finished reading Nation by Terry Pratchett, which I read some months after seeing the National Theatre Live version, which I loved by the way.

Nation tells the story of two teenagers thrown together after a storm. Mau is an island boy who returns to who home island to find that he's the only one left, Daphne is a young British girl travelling home whose ship is wrecked by the storm. They don't speak the same language and know nothing about each other.

The book, despite being a Pratchett fan I took a while to warm to, it's a book that I seem to have faded in and out of, I'll enjoy it for a while, then get bored for a while, then back to enjoying it for a while, and so on. It's difficult having seen the live version that I really enjoyed because a character I loved on stage, was nothing like that in the book.

But, the book, opening chapter is very cryptic, you're trying to catch up and work out what's going on, but I think that's intentional, it does grab your interest.

I like Daphne, she's been bought up in a traditional Victorian style way, this is no use to her when she suddenly finds herself shipwrecked. She and Mau eventually learn to communicate, in a roundabout sort of way, and she starts to realise that just because she's been told something is right, doens't necessarily mean that something is.

Eventually more people arrive on the island, building up a bigger character base, giving a bit more interest to the action. The more westerners from the ship that Daphne was travelling on arrive on the island throwing them into chaos.

This book is aimed at children, and handles some pretty big concepts. Mau learns his way around religion and belief, Daphne touches on right and wrong, not just in the simple form of 'it is wrong to lie' but in the form of what is an acceptable form of retaliation when something wrong is done to you. They're big concepts for children to handle, although I actually find them quite interesting. Daphne's morality story more so than Mau's religios story.

As the whole the book was shorter on laughs than I'd expect from Pratchett, but I did enjoy it as a whole.

Tatty Ted - Baby Powder

Guess how I spent my day yesterday? I started this Friday evening and am now nearly finished, all I've got left to do is the white and then all the back stitch to get it finished, which I can probably do today, although that does make me a bit sad, because that will mean that I've done this in a weekend. However, I've got to make sure I save a few stitches for Ben to do, which means that I can't do the back stitching until he's done that. I'm thinking if I leave some in the talcum powder cloud for him to do then I can do all the stitching else where and get it nearly finished before he gets back.

Whole lotta blue!

I think the title of this pretty much describes where I'm up to with Winter's Majesty. It has grown, I can see a massive difference from when I last did an update on it, but it's just so blue, and so fiddly, and generally driving me up the wall a bit, but I keep going because I know it's going to look brilliant when done, and because I'm aware I started on the most fiddly page, which means it can only get easier.

Ben's away this weekend (yet another stag weekend) so I've got another weekend of cross stitch ahead of me, but it won't be on this, or on any of the other kits I've got on the go, because I had a new kit arrive yesterday and I started it last night. I know, I've got three on the go, plus the fact that I've started my Christmas cards already, I really don't need another kit on the go. Add to that the fact that Ben's little sister is about to start a kit as a present for someone and it's her first ever attempt at cross stitch so I'm on call for helping her when needed, I don't need another kit! But I have an excuse, it's a present, we've got friends who are due to have a kid in a couple of months, so the new kit is a christening present for them. Ben ruled out the ones I wanted to get on the principal they were too big (I wanted to do a Cut Thru' by Bothy, but Ben argued that they were too big, and to be fair, I'd never had got it finished in time) and so talked me into something smaller, so we've got a Tatty Ted kit instead, so that's my weekend planned, although I'll have to leave a couple of stitches for Ben, because if we're giving something as a present he likes to have done a couple of stitches as well!

So that's my weekend, make massive in roads into that, currently trying to decide what I fancy watching while I'm stitching, I'm thinking I quite fancy a Buffy weekend, possibly Angel, so I'll have a look later.

Anyway, I've also been remiss in keeping my blog up to date recently, so I'll try to be better in the future.

Hope everyone is having a lovely time!