Finished the latest Pendergast adventure with full steam, as usual. :) It's a pity that this year, reading has proceeded at such a sluggish pace. With lackadaisical effort, I managed to finish maybe half of the books I started, lugging through the rest with no vigor whatsoever.
With the one exception being any new Pendergast books that P and C turn out. I read it with visible savory and didn't want it to end.
White Fire is a standalone story in the Pendergast saga. It is Pendergast back in his elements and at his most confident, arrogant, and "douchebaggery-self"! But in a way, I am so glad to see him back to his old self again. I have grown so used to seeing A.P. roughing up the "average John Does" left and right, having his way one way or another. And I had a visible smurk every time phrases like "icy cold blue eyes", "so blond as to be almost white", "black-suitted undertaker" show up. I think I will call White Fire the second book in the "Death Descends on Small Town" series, the first one being, of course, A Still Life of Crows. And the second "DDoST", even more than the first one, has Corrie Swanson smack in the middle of the scene.
White Fire is essentially a Corrie Swanson adventure. Now in her junior year at John Jay, Corrie is well on her way to a promising law career, given that her own foolhardiness does not get in the way. But of course, that's exactly what happens, and up to a point, one starts to realize just how similar Corrie is to A.P. himself: refusing to play by the book, having a formidable perseverence to get what she wants, and a strong sense of justice (though in A.P.'s case, maybe strong to the point of being morbid?). But of course Corrie lacks the resourcefulness, experience and overall tactfulness of A.P., and very predictablly lands herself in deep waters and loads of trouble. And, A.P. of course, follows close on the heels of her misfortune and saves the damsel in distress every time in a timely, and fashionable, cough, fashion. :)
That basically sums the story up. The A.P. saga, maybe for the first time, centers on Pendergast being in the role of a father. And it is really heartwarming seeing him turning ever slightly more "human", at a point in the story, showing emotions that would be next to impossible in previous books. Now, having become a father himself, he's "softened up" quite a bit. :) I eagerly await the next episode, though I'm sure it will be a lot more heart-wrenching than any standalones, because whenever his family is involved, we know in what shape/mood A.P. would get himself into.
★ ★ ★ ☆
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I started keeping a journal again. It has been so long since I have had a good "conversation" with my inner self. And Blogs, and godforbid, Facebook, are no place for such things.
I'm currently reading "Chinese History Revisited" (中國文明的反思-蕭建生). A most revelational book. A bit heavy-duty reading, but this is the second time I checked it out of the library. It's a book I want to peruse instead of browse. I am thinking of translating one of the chapters into English. A most exerting exercise.
