Trying to picture aircraft carriers in the 14th century
Yesterday something Squire James said made me suddenly want to read some nice lightweight fiction. I haven’t braved a Tom Clancy novel in a year or two, and it suddenly felt like that was exactly what I wanted to read.
I’m not necessarily a Tom Clancy fan, though I did read a lot of his books while I was a teenager. I think my desire to read one now is a bit like wanting to spend the day eating corn chips in front of a Battlestar Galactica original series marathon. It’s not high art, it’s not particularly edifying, but it is good entertainment once in a while.
The only problem is, I was feeling like reading some Clancy right then and, after poking through my bookshelves on the hope that one of his novels had spontaneously generated itself, I was forced to conclude that I had no Tom Clancy to read. I settled instead of Umberto Eco’s “The Name of the Rose”. Eco is a medievalist and scholar who occasionally writes clever novels that draw on his wide knowledge of things historical and religious.
It struck me that this is probably the first time anyone chose Eco as a substitue for Tom Clancy for anything. I mean, there aren’t even any F-16s! Oh well, I guess I’ll cope. =)
good choice. loved NotR when i read it, such an amazing library in that book, and so great for so many other reasons, not the least of which is its discussion of herasy.