Another excellent piece, Ben. You practice what Emerson preached. I loved the Jabberwocky comparison with O'Brian, though I love O'Brian too. I've read the Aubrey/Maturin series maybe four times... but even now I don't have the foggiest what a coaked double sister block might be. I long ago taught my eyes to glaze briefly at the nautical hardware descriptions before sailing onward through his marvelous prose.
Thanks, Jason! Yes, I do really mean to overcome my O'Brian-aversion one of these days. I can sense excellence through the fog of coaked sister blocks.
Another excellent piece, Ben. You practice what Emerson preached. I loved the Jabberwocky comparison with O'Brian, though I love O'Brian too. I've read the Aubrey/Maturin series maybe four times... but even now I don't have the foggiest what a coaked double sister block might be. I long ago taught my eyes to glaze briefly at the nautical hardware descriptions before sailing onward through his marvelous prose.
Thanks, Jason! Yes, I do really mean to overcome my O'Brian-aversion one of these days. I can sense excellence through the fog of coaked sister blocks.