Reading Dunnett (original) (raw)

DunnettCentral community

at November 29th, 2011 (11:00 pm)

Hi there fellow Dunnett readers, ddsociety, the Dorothy Dunnett Society, has just started up a little community on LJ, dunnettcentral.

In memoriam

at November 9th, 2011 (08:48 pm)

It's ten years today since Dorothy Dunnett died, leaving behind an impressive body of work, and many dedicated readers. She was not only a great writer, but a gracious lady who brought a lot of pleasure to a lot of people. She is sadly missed.

Dorothy Dunnett Society

at September 2nd, 2011 (11:41 am)

You might be interested to know that on 1st September 2011 the Dorothy Dunnett Readers' Association, set up by Dorothy in 2001, was renamed the Dorothy Dunnett Society and has a new website - http://dunnettcentral.org.

Wishful Lymond casting

at May 5th, 2009 (08:30 am)

current mood: contemplative

I've finally forced someone else to start reading Lymond! It's le_russe_satan , and she's already in love with him. Success! She was just saying they should make a movie with some sinfully beautiful actor playing him, and of course I've thought of it too (in spite of not REALLY wanting to share him with the movie world, knowing that they would ruin some of the things and corrupt some of my mental images and make everybody fall in superficial love with him. For instance, I remember when I was the ONLY one who loved Legolas... hmph. He was mine first!)

BUT! If I were forced to pick an actor, and if Peter O'Toole was not young and beautiful at the time of filming, I've sometimes thought I MIGHT be able to settle for J. J. Feild.

What do you think? If you have a different idea, I will need to see support with images, sinfully beautiful images. Please submit them in a sinfully beautiful format.

The Disorderly Knights

at April 4th, 2008 (11:59 am)
current location: Bonn
current song: John Paul Jones - Snake Eyes

I finished The Disorderly Knights about two weeks ago and grace_poppy asked me to post about my thoughts on it.
Since I was on holiday I didn't get around to it earlier.
So, what did I think (besides OMG! the writing of that woman is amazing):

And because I'm already about halfway through Pawn in Frankincense (those books are far too addicting, although I try not to read as fast as my flat mate who is already on page 200 or so in the last book, so it will last a bit longer), another little doubt:

Newbe

at March 15th, 2008 (11:24 am)

current mood: cheerful

Hi everybody, I just joined this community. I've started reading the Chronicles of Lymond and I'm so passionate about these books that I feel the need to share my obsession with other people :) - I read The Game of Kings and Queen's Play and I'm now onto the third book. The books are not easy to read (and English is not my mother-tongue! I'm Italian) but are truly fascinating. At the moment I seem to spend a lot of time thinking about who could play the part of Lymond if a film was ever made. Any idea?

Lymond picspam!

at January 8th, 2008 (07:51 pm)

current mood: artistic

Here are some pictures of people from Lymond's era, in The Game of Kings and Queen's Play.
(No spoilers.)

Reading Dunnett

at October 11th, 2007 (07:06 pm)

Or actually in my case, reading Lymond, as although I've read the Niccolo series, I don't warm to him in the same way as I do to Francis. Partly I think because he reminds me of a friend (the sarcasm, the music). I have now read TLC three times, and am due for a re-read, but have such a huge to read pile that I'm not going to do it this side of Christmas. Perhaps in '08? I think Lymond has a hard shell, but a very soft centre, and the first indication of this is his relationship with Christian, who I really like. Better not give away anymore!

banner

at October 11th, 2007 (02:09 am)

I've made a new banner for the community (finally)! And I posted a link at lymond.

Christian at the wapenshaw

at July 18th, 2007 (09:49 pm)

current mood: blank

Mariotta & Lymond

at July 16th, 2007 (12:24 pm)

Can anyone enlighten me concerning the relationship of Mariotta and Lymond?
Have they known each other before Lymond's escape to London? Because I find it strange that he should

I find it a bit confusing that so much of what happened before the action in this book remains unknown, okay, it's damn intriguing, but sometimes I'm a little bit confused...

Oh, and where are the quotes at the start of each chapter from?
And is there actually some kind of pattern? I mean, does she refer to certain characters with the name of a certain chess piece? (This only just occured to me... I should pay more attention to these things...)

Buccleuch

at July 14th, 2007 (07:26 pm)

current mood: amused

Hee, I love Buccleuch (Wat Scott). You know, he's kind of like a less cheerful Jack Aubrey! Maybe a Jack with a wayward adult son to worry about. He's just always so blustery and bristly. I can picture his face going red and his eyebrows all bristling as he tries to maintain composure while speaking to someone politely, like Sybilla.

Randomness. That's all!

Reading

at July 1st, 2007 (01:31 pm)

By the way, I'm re-reading the book just so I can know what my friends will be reading, in detail, so I can discuss with you and stuff. :D I'm reading this version, Vintage books by Random House, and I'm on p. 145. (This is my 3rd time reading it, and there's loads that I've forgotten.)

Dunnett resources

at June 30th, 2007 (06:45 pm)

current mood: excited

Welcome, new and old Dunnett readers! I hope you'll enjoy discussing The Game of Kings and other books by DD as soon as you read them (read, read, read!!!) Hopefully this will be a community where you can avoid spoilers, those wretched beastly things, but can still enjoy discussing the books and sharing thoughts and stuff. Just be sure to put things under a cut with spoiler warnings when appropriate.

To help you, this is a reposting of links and sources that I posted in my journal. Just be cautious of spoilers. In most cases, there are spoiler warnings, but it would also be good to tell people which book you're on so they can avoid spoilering you.

• lymond is our affiliate community here at LJ for both the Lymond and Niccolo books. It's somewhat small, but the members are knowledgeable and enthusiastic when discussions arise (as is true of all DD readers.) Most people there have read all the Lymond books and many have also read all the Niccolo books, which gives them a different perspective on things, as can be expected. But it also means you can ask them questions that other newbies might not be able to answer. Join it too!
• marzipan is a Yahoo!Group that is very active and incredibly knowledgeable. And incredibly detailed. For instance, the most current discussion is about the grammar of one verb in one sentence of one of the books. The files section is particularly fabulous, full of resources (and the most amazing family tree - for after you've read all of Lymond and Niccolo. Probably my single favorite piece of Dunnettiana ever. I keep printing out and using and losing it. I should just paste a copy inside the cover of each of the books.) And the people there know everything. Really. They're amazing. I believe that marzipan is the original DD fan group, THE fan group, from back in the days when everything was sent out by newsletter (have you heard of letters, children?) so there are some people there who really do know it ALL, patriarchs and matriarchs of the fandom. Respect the marzipan! It really is the best.
• GameofKings is another Yahoo!Group that's more like a book club, where they steadily read through one book at a time and discuss it in microscopic detail. Be warned, though, that it's described as a re-reading of the Lymond chronicles. Most people have already read all the books. DD readers are usually extremely discreet about spoilers, but beware anyway. (Oooh, and in their files, they have a Game of Kings introductory cheat-sheet for newbies. I've downloaded it, in case anyone needs that extra help.)
• Claes is a third Yahoo!Group that's about the Niccolo series, which is sort of a prequel to the Lymond series (but which was written after it, and it's better to read it after Lymond. And then you can read Lymond again to pick up all the things that the Niccolo series explains, and then read Niccolo again when you more fully understand what's going on, and then Lymond again, and...) The group also discusses other Dunnett works, including Lymond, the Dolly (Johnson Johnson) mysteries, King Hereafter (her novel about Macbeth), and even a modern short story, "A Proving Climb" which I personally adore because it's set on the tiny remote Scottish island of St. Kilda, and I've been there! You can download the story in the files section there.
• The Dorothy Dunnett website and Bill's Dunnett Blog (also viewable on LJ as dunnettblog ) are both run by Bill Marshall, one of the great patriarchs of the fandom (and a very nice man. I emailed with him a few times when I ordered the beautiful CD of The Musical Worlds of Niccolo and Lymond.)
• And last but certainly not least - indeed, usually my first stop for information - are the two volumes of The Dorothy Dunnett Companion. You can look up the historic personages who appear in the books, obscure words, foreign language quotations, lines from poetry and songs, battles, political events, traditions, etc. And fear not: they are highly discreet about spoilers.

Now read and enjoy! That's an order!