u/s report, and book report(s)

[mamajoan]

So I had my abdominal ultrasound this morning. It was uneventful, by which I guess I mean that the technician did not leap up screaming "Dear God what is that thing?!" or any such, heh.

But she didn't actually tell me anything that she saw or didn't see; she isn't allowed to do that; a radiologist has to read the films and write a report which will be sent to my doctor. The tech said that my doctor "might" have the report by the end of this week. So I guess we'll just wait and see.

Here's what I learned from the experience: that 45 seconds is approximately the limit of my ability to hold my breath. (The tech repeatedly asked me to take a deep breath and hold it, presumably to keep me from moving so she could look at stuff. I guess they don't bother with that during obstetrical ultrasounds because the baby is in constant motion anyway.) Also, I was so busy this morning getting everyone up and out while remembering not to eat or drink anything, that I forgot to do something very important: namely, put on deodorant. Ugh.

But anyway, the salient point is: no news.

After it was all done, the tech sent me to sit in the waiting room while she made sure that the films, or whatever you call them, would print out properly. But then she forgot about me so I wound up sitting there for a while longer than necessary until she remembered me and came back all apologetic to tell me I could go. Ah well.

I used the time to finish Tears of the Giraffe (the second book in the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series) and get started on a new book: Kindred by Octavia Butler. I can already tell that this one is going to be a difficult read, emotionally speaking. It's about a black woman from the 1970s (when it was written) who unexpectedly finds herself time-traveling to pre-Civil-War Maryland -- i.e., the slavery era. So right there from the summary you can tell that it's not going to be pretty for this chick. I'm cringing already and I've only gotten about forty pages in.

Speaking of what I'm reading, I don't think I mentioned that I finished Water Logic over the weekend. I stayed up late to finish it, which probably I shouldn't do because I need my sleep more than I need to read, heh. But one thing about having Ruthie in daycare is that I now do half of my commute with her in tow (the part where I ride the bus from Isaac's preschool to the subway station in the morning, or vice versa in the evening) so I have about half as much time for reading as I did before. And this particular book does not lend itself well to being read in 5- or 10-minute snatches on the subway. So I stayed up late to finish it all in one go on Saturday night, so as to stop torturing myself over it during the week.

Anyway, the book was excellent and I highly enjoyed it, and it made me want very much to reread its two predecessors, Fire Logic and Earth Logic, also excellent of course. Laurie Marks's writing makes me feel like I should stop bothering to ever write anything, because I could never turn out anything that good. Of course, these days I never get any time to write (except for work) anyway, so that's kind of moot. ;) But I digress.

plaidder wrote in her journal about Water Logic a little while ago, and said that she thought the big plot twist at the end, revealing that the Shaftali were originally Sainnites who migrated over, was kind of a cop-out. I have to respectfully disagree. I felt that that made a lot of sense, both narratively and poetically. It stands to reason that if the Sainnites were coming over in boats ten or twenty years ago, they might have been doing it a hundred or a thousand years ago as well. I thought it really worked in the context of the story and the emotive quality of the strife between the two cultures. And I don't necessarily think that's going to make it any easier to resolve the conflict; after all, people can be awfully resistant to changing/giving up their prejudices, even in the face of overwhelming logical evidence.

Just one other comment about the book. If I recall correctly, Fire Logic starts off with a young Emil arriving in town planning to check out the famous library, but he gets there just in time to see it get burned to the ground by the Sainnites. (It's been a while since I read it, so I could be misremembering here.) That kind of thing really tears at me -- lost opportunities. It was like starting off the book with a kick in the gut. I describe it poorly (my reaction) but suffice to say I might have given up right there if not for how many people had been telling me what a great book it was. ;) In retrospect that was both a good way to introduce the fire theme, and a good way to start off the story, since it was of course a story about awful things happening and people struggling to deal with them, to heal the damage they caused. So I really liked that we get to go back to the library in Water Logic, even if Emil himself doesn't get to see it -- at least we, the readers, get to see it in its glory. That felt like a nice kind of closure.

I don't think I explained this well. Isn't it amazing what an impact fiction can have on you emotionally, in ways you can't even describe? Just words on a page, a story that never really happened. Except, now it did.

That's my deep insight for today. Tune in tomorrow, when I read more of Kindred and divulge the startling revelation that slavery was bad.

Comments

[evil-macaroni.livejournal.com]

I found _Kindred_ to be a kick in the gut. Yes, as it turns out, slavery *was* bad. But it was a good book.

[victoriacatlady.livejournal.com]

I read "Kindred" years ago and never reread it because, as you say, it's emotionally hard to take. However, as I recall, the protagonist does eventually come out of it okay. I know that's sort of a spoiler, but knowing that would have made it easier for me to go through the stress of reading about a modern woman becoming a pre-Civil War slave, so I'm hoping it also helps you.