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PaperclipPerfector  1mo ago (text post)   2952 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for September 21, 2025

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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So, what are you reading?

Still on G. Kirilenko and L. Korshunova's What is Personality? Also going through some Gramsci essays.

Just finishing The Thirteen Gun Salute.

I can see why some Aubrey/Maturin enjoyers favourite some of the later books in the series. Its great to follow Maturin after all of the character growth that he's been through and interacting in pragmatic ways with strange fauna that would never be allowed in the modern world. Knowing something of Indonesian and Malaysian culture, its interesting to see them used as a colonial era set piece for the series' usual political skullduggery.

Its also so strange to see colonial European attitudes towards pederasty and homosexuality in practice. I've got no idea if things were actually like that back then, but its pretty interesting to see it woven into the narrative and used as an attack surface for Maturin's intelligence machinations.

Really happy with my time investment in this series.

RSPCA disclaimer - No Sloths or Orangutans were debauched in the writing of this review or the novel itself. At least as far as I know.. there was this one night time scene in the Buddhist temple that wasn't entirely descriptive of what went on.

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