2001-07-10 - 12:23 p.m.
I finished The Sweet Trade last night. Overall, it's not a bad bit of fiction, though I wish Ms. Garrett had curbed her "Thelma and Louise in the Golden Age of Piracy" theme, particularly toward the end when the sloop Pretty Anne is finally taken. Mary Read was written as too much a victim of fortune and Anne Bonny wasn't anywhere near the bitch she ought to have been. It is insinuated. If you look at the story overall, you can see what wreckage Anne impenitently left in her wake. And, when her decisions have killed everyone in contact with her and she herself is brought to account, she's bailed out and swept away from it all. The reader ought to have a revulsion for her likened to Daisy in The Great Gatsby, but instead Garrett packs her off with well wishes and happy sighs.
It's back to Sabatini for me.
On other topics - I am in the mood to buy my son new toys. He certainly isn't suffering from a lack of them, but now that he's 18 months I feel compelled to supply him with new and interesting things. This urge is all the more difficult to resist since I already have to shop for new safety items for the new house and it's so easy to justify another $15 or $20 for the Little People Circus Train.
The proliferation of AA batteries in children's toys, however, is a deterrent. When Zack discovered an old corn popper toy in the church nursery a few months ago, it took me weeks to find a new one for him to play with at home. Nearby stores carried a newer version with blinking lights and soundtrack when the wheels rolled. Very annoying. Remember the old toy phones with a pull string and large eyes that rolled up and down? They've also become a cacophony of lights and noise. Though I found a battery-free corn popper, I don't think the option exists with the phone. Pity. Zack has enough things that flash and sing and those aren't even his favorite toys. He likes his Pooh Bear and a Peter Rabbit pull toy that my mother gave him for Easter. It's a plush bunny on wooden wheels! When etoys went out of business, I bought him several things to save for Christmas and his birthday, none of which are battery powered. I wonder how long I can keep that up?
