What are you reading right now? (possible RotE spoilers)

[fool-ish]

It's always been never 'look' a gift horse in the mouth around these parts. Stabbing is a little extreme! Not that I'd get too close to any sort of horses mouth...they frighten me. I honestly don't know why because they are beautiful creatures to look at.

['thul]

Horses are ok, but mammoths are nicer.

[fool-ish]

Can't say I've ever seen a mammoth up close, so I'll take your word for that!

['thul]

polar bears are also interesting creatures...

[joost]

'Never look a gift horse in the mouth' is a Dutch expression too (Nooit een gegeven paard in de bek kijken). It has to do with the habit of checking a horse's teeth to see if it's healthy.

[Valarya]

Well joost, to be extra clear... someone would always check the horses teeth in selling/trading to determine how OLD (and also how healthy) the horse was so they could determine if it was being sold at an honest price. The saying came about because, well, if someone gives you a horse as a GIFT it would be rude to check it's teeth... at least in front of the giver. After all, a gift is free; if the recipient did not pay for the horse, then why should he nitpick about its age, health or other features?

Lol

['thul]

Hrulgin are more interesting in that aspect... They're fairly similar to horses in most aspects... though if you start opening the mouth on one to look at its teeth, its prone to bite the hand (or arm) off. (Hrulgin are clawed, fanged, flesh-eating horse-like creatures.)

[Farseer]

Seems I've posted yet another comment that has mysteriously disappeared from up there ^ somewhere!

'Never look a gift horse in the mouth' is a Dutch expression too (Nooit een gegeven paard in de bek kijken). It has to do with the habit of checking a horse's teeth to see if it's healthy.

So interesting how different countries and cultures etc share things, from barely similar right through to almost mirrored and even exact representations. I hate to drag RotE discussion down here but the RotE addict in me can't help but illustrate this with the following: *RotE spoilers*

Spoiler

Well, the way the Skill and the Wit, and also Sa/Odava/Eda/El and possibly even Chranzuli, is depicted in each region for starters...but the former is for the other thread that I am yet to get back to, not this one, and the latter is being discussed here and here as well.

Also the similarities and differences between the games played in both the Mountain Kingdom and the Out Islands (some elements of which we have sort of discussed here), or the similarities and differences between 'The Tale of the Widow and her Son' and 'The Tale of the Boy and the Flying Chair' (I doubt these are the actual titles as I can't remember them properly but they are titles for similar tales or stories told by those in the MK and the SD).

A non-RotE example could be the fact that nearly all, if not all, cultures have a story concerning a great deluge such as is found in connection with Noah's Ark. Hmm, I think I've said this here somewhere before... ...but interesting nonetheless!

As for what I'm reading now, I have advanced somewhat in my re-read of AQ (though I find myself constantly mired in thought at each page turn!) and am also juggling New Moon and Mao's Last Dancer.

[Valarya]

How on earth are you able to juggle several books at once? I've never been able to do that.

I read *a* book and when I'm done with it, move on to the next. If a book isn't captivating me to the point it's the only book I want to read, then I just put it down and never finish it. Lol

That happened to me with Fall of Giants by Ken Follett. I loved his other historical fiction pieces (namly Pillars of the Earth and it's sequel) but this one... I just couldn't get through it.

When I found my mind wandering during chapters and thinking about other books I could read, I knew it was time to put it down, haha.

['thul]

Its surprisingly easy, though some books are on occasion not finished. Just on quick thought these beings could think of five books they are working upon, and that is probably leaving out several others. Re-reads are more easily abandoned than good first-reads.

Focus might shift one day from one book to another.
The real challenge that 'thul have yet to master is reading two books literally at the same time. (not on and off, at the same time.)