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Frederick the Great and Other 18th-C Characters, Discussion Post 31
And in this post:
-![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
luzula is going to tell us about the Jacobites and the '45!
-I'm going to finish reading Nancy Goldstone's book about Maria Theresia and (some of) her children Maria Christina, Maria Carolina, and Marie Antoinette, In the Shadow of the Empress, andselenak is going to tell us all the things wrong with the last four chapters (spoiler: in the first twenty chapters there have been many, MANY things wrong)!
-mildred_of_midgard is going to tell us about Charles XII of Sweden and the Great Northern War
(seriously, how did I get so lucky to have all these people Telling Me Things, this is AWESOME)
-oh, and also there will be Yuletide signups :D
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luzula is going to tell us about the Jacobites and the '45!-I'm going to finish reading Nancy Goldstone's book about Maria Theresia and (some of) her children Maria Christina, Maria Carolina, and Marie Antoinette, In the Shadow of the Empress, and
selenak is going to tell us all the things wrong with the last four chapters (spoiler: in the first twenty chapters there have been many, MANY things wrong)!-
mildred_of_midgard is going to tell us about Charles XII of Sweden and the Great Northern War(seriously, how did I get so lucky to have all these people Telling Me Things, this is AWESOME)
-oh, and also there will be Yuletide signups :D
Misc.
I'm making good progress! Massie really made a whole lot of books that were so dry that my eyes glazed over, into things I'm excited to read!
(seriously, how did I get so lucky to have all these people Telling Me Things, this is AWESOME)
Because you are AWESOME at asking questions that I would not ask!
-oh, and also there will be Yuletide signups :D
Probably not from me, alas. Between my increasingly long reading list in English and the fact that my German is getting closer! but still not there! and my increasing number of hours at work, I think I'm going to be focusing on other things this fall. Alas!
Belated replies from the last post:
-So -- the way she describes future!Louis XVI sure makes him sound like he's ASD (I'd come to that conclusion quite a few pages before she made the armchair diagnosis) but -- the question is (as it always seems to be with her), is this an accurate description or did she just make stuff up to bolster the conclusion she'd already come to?
I mean, based on what I've read, I agree with Selena that it checks out, though I can't diagnose with certainty.
-okay, that description of Naples makes me want to visit
I hated it more than any place I've ever visited, and my partner found it a letdown, but I know people who love it. Maybe we stayed in an especially bad neighborhood (although I was also not a fan of the museum, and also did not find any good neighborhoods in my exploring).
and also, Poland wasn't talked about on this meeting, contrary to popular legend.
Czernin (who came across to me as a big Fritz fan) repeated this legend too.
(Because of what would happen in the next few years, a lot of people assumed that Fritz and Joseph must have hashed it out there,
And Fritz tried selling it this way to Lucchesini in his later years, right?
Lastly: Nancy Goldstone is apparantly as unwilling to believe Fritz praised his Best Enemy after her death as the participants in my poll by only quoting "a new era begins" and letting him "exult", as opposed to quoting the rest of the relevant letter
Lolsob.
I love that, and honestly it would have made her book stronger to put it in. WHY. (She's such a good writer at making history entertaining! AND YET.)
I know! I wish we could form a collaboration in which we tell her what to write and she decides how! (Cause, yeah, my stuff is not that entertaining. :/)
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Naples: well, I loved it, and here is my pic spam to prove it.
And Fritz tried selling it this way to Lucchesini in his later years, right?
Right, and one of the things that make me respect Gustav Volz is that, him being a 100% committed Fritz fan not withstanding, here he attached a footnote saying the King was mistaken here. (He's a bit less polite to Fritz at the other point in the diary where Fritz tries to sell Luccessini not just on the "MT wrote a "Dearest Sister" letter to Pompadour" story, but even on his, Fritz', own "Madame Pompadour to MT" letter which he did publish as an open satire back in the day (as opposed to the earlier bit which was just plain fake news, err, propaganda. There, Volz just states that Arneth's publication of MT's correspondence demonstrates this story is not true.)
Yuletide or lack thereof
But what if I want to learn German, Selena? What then? ;)
In theory, I could give the answer I've given before, which is that this someone could write me a story at any time, outside an exchange, as just demonstrated by raven_aorla and her Fritzian Foursome last weekend! And then you would give the same answer you've given before, which is "But does she read and summarize books for you?" and again I would have to say no. :)
More seriously, I've given up German for three consective Yuletide+RMSE exchanges now, and unless I suddenly get inspired between now and the end of signups, I think I'm going to prioritize German this time. I'm getting closer! And just think: the better my German gets, the less I have to rely on you to read me books. :D (Though there is still the problem of overseas shipping, ugh.)
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although I guess now I know more about Fritz's boyfriends than most peopleOK, that's good that Goldstone wasn't making stuff up about Louis XVI. Because I have to say that everything she said about him did sound very spectrum-y to me. Poor guy.
Interesting, I've never been to Naples myself. One day I shall go and decide which of you and Selena I agree with more :D
Sorry that you're not doing Yuletide! But then again it is probably best for you (if not for us :P ) not to get sucked into some sort of 30k thing again...
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You not knowing things is a feature, not a bug! (For salon, I mean.) There is no way this would have happened without your unique combination of ignorance and broad curiosity. :)
although I guess now I know more about Fritz's boyfriends than most people
YOU DO.
Sorry that you're not doing Yuletide! But then again it is probably best for you (if not for us :P ) not to get sucked into some sort of 30k thing again...
Well, it's going to save you a lot of time, dear beta/co-author! ;)
OK, that's good that Goldstone wasn't making stuff up about Louis XVI.
Lol, I still haven't gotten past chapter 9. But I read 30 pages of German this morning and am hoping to do more after work. If my German gets any better, I'll be able to finish SR! I guess it'll be a toss-up to see what happens first, my German improving or the English translation being released in time for a readalong with you.
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Ha, true! Though I'm rather proud of that fic :D
Heh, I'm not really holding my breath for SR to be released in January or whenever the latest date is. It has met my expectations of a leisurely rollout, given that when we first looked at it it was supposed to come out in 2019...
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Which one? You helped with a lot of them. :P (I know which one you mean, I'm just calling attention to your co-authoring in Yuletide 2019, your beta-ing of 30k in RMSE 2020, and your borderline co-authoring of Yuletide 2020!)
SR: All I want is to not have regional restrictions on the Kindle version of the German edition! Since I don't want to read my pdf scan any more (yay for improved German), it's looking like I'm going to have to buy the Kobo version since Kindle won't let me. Meh.
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Ugh for regional restrictions :(
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That was the one where I started writing a treat for Selena, and then you got inspired, and then I found myself writing another one, and in the end she had 5 gifts totalling 60k words!
Ugh for regional restrictions :(
HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO LEARN GERMAN if all the books I want are either illegal for me to buy or cost twice as much because of shipping and take months to arrive and sometimes disappear en route!
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I have not forgotten! It's just there is A LOT. I'm diligently reading my way through a list of books, and hope to be able to report soon.
Book suggestions for Selena:
Massie's Peter the Great. Because you do such great "forest" summaries, way better than I do! And then I, who have also read it, can come along and supplement your write-up with descriptions of particular "trees" I noticed. :)
Czok's August der Starke und seine Zeit: Kurfürst von Sachsen, König in Polen. Because he's the last major player of the GNW that I haven't read a biography of, and the only thing slower than my German reading speed is international shipping speed.
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YES please! :D
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