#i will also put the golem and the djinni on the list

[fulgursmediaanalysisdrama]

If you're like me you might have read or got read to the Bartimäus trilogy. And if you're even more like me you read it a bunch of times. (I don't remember much about the Ring of Salomon so I'll refrain from commenting on it myself, quotes may happen tho)

And if you're even more like me, you didn't notice how much in this book is jewish coded. Mainly the Czech and the Golems. I, later after finding out about the story of the golem, checked and found out that Stroud openly was heavily inspired by it after visiting Prague. (Also a main featured in the books) That on top of general racism/discrimination allegories, anti imperialist messaging and talking truth to power shit.

That doesn't mean that everything is good tho, or that certain things were handled well. I'll add the links for all quotes I put immediately after them.

"The Bartimaeus books are also, in their own way, as ideologically coded as the adventure stories of Howard and H. Rider Haggard I discussed in the previous post. In particular, they align with the anti-imperialist, anti-capitalist sentiments of the protest left between the 2003 Iraq invasion and Occupy Wall Street protests, their demons and magicians part of a magical class war."

"The representation of Jews in Stroud’s series is intertwined with the books’ politics. On the one hand, Jews are mentioned directly in The Golem’s Eye, the second book of the original trilogy. There we learn that, in its Victorian period, Stroud’s fantasy Britain, ruled by a dictatorial and magical Gladstone, defeated a rival magical empire based in Prague."

"Naturally, the Czech magicians (with a chief minister named Meyrink) used golems. The immense power and off-putting ugliness of these constructs are described wonderfully by Stroud. We learn that these golems were originally created by the Jews of Prague and “the great magician Loew.” In Loew’s time, “the Jewish community” of Prague “supplied the Emperor with most of his money and much of his magic. Forcibly restricted to the crowded alleys of the ghetto, and at once distrusted and relied upon by the rest of Prague society, the Jewish magicians grew powerful for a time.”"

"Such tropes cut across left and right. The 99%-versus-1% politics of Occupy Wall Street and much left-wing activism during the years in which the Bartimaeus books were published often incorporated anti-Jewish slander, a trend which persists."

https://investigationsandfantasies.com/2022/07/18/jews-and-politics-in-the-bartimaeus-series/

(author also talks about rowling + her influence over current age fantasy stories. So here's another link https://investigationsandfantasies.com/2022/07/05/the-occult-jew-pt-8/ I was generally interested in looking up more related to Rowlings and HPs impact on literature/fantasy after finding out that tv tropes lists muggles (as in non magical people being treated differently from non magical folks, often in a belittling or similar way) as a trope. This also exists in Bartimäus as non magicians are called commoners. But you might also know about fantasy that calls them mortals or such)

"But in fact the deepest conflict in the Bartimaeus books isn’t between magician and commoner but between magician and djinni. And I’d say that’s not so much a class system as a colonial one. The wizards exploit the resources and bodies of the djinn they can control. Those djinn are a different race of being from an Other Place, ancient and yet bound to serve their British masters.

It’s notable that Bartimaeus and his magical peers include no leprechauns, elves, ogres, or the other enchanting creatures from European fairy tales. He doesn’t tell many stories about Arthur, Archimedes, Daedalus, Roland, Siegfried, Heracles, or other European heroes of the distant past. Instead, Bartimaeus talks at length about Gilgamesh of Mesopotamia, Solomon of Israel, Ptolemy of Egypt. He speaks of tasks in Uruk (Sumer), Karnak (Egypt), and--when forced to--Jericho (Palestine). The amulet that provides the title for the first book comes from Uzbekistan."

"Despite his books’ picture of British governors exploiting Asian power, Stroud seems to steer away from addressing parallels to real history. In resurrecting the British Empire as a magical superpower, he emphasizes its power over continental Europe and North America only. The Golem’s Eye depicts a Czech immigrant underclass in London, but we never see the Asian, African, and Caribbean minorities of today’s Britain. The Amulet of Samarkand makes a brief mention of weavers in Basra toiling to create a magnificent carpet, but the books aren’t clear about whether their British Empire is contiguous with “all the pink bits” that used to appear on British school maps. Perhaps that past is too recent and too awkward."

http://ozandends.blogspot.com/2007/03/bartimaeus-and-british-empire.html?m=1

"In a modern-day alternate universe, London rules the British Empire and magicians rather than monarchs rule London. That’s been true ever since the great William Gladstone defeated the rival sorcerers of Prague. But the glory days are gone. War with the American colonies is draining patience and resources, the commoners are resentful and the government has become a bureaucracy of second-raters. Magicians procreate, at least professionally, by taking bright young schoolchildren into their homes to train in the magic arts. Arthur Underwood, a magician of middling status and competence, accepts a six-year-old boy named Nathaniel as apprentice. No one knows his last name, because his parents have disappeared after selling him into the service. And no one is ever to know his birth name because that knowledge would give his enemies power over him.

Enemies are a given; there’s no Hogwarts-style collegiality among the guild. Magicians are the most conniving, jealous, duplicitous group of people on earth, even including lawyers and academics. They worship power and the wielding thereof, and seek every chance they can to undercut their rivals. This is according to Bartimaeus, in a footnote.* He should know. Though a spirit of considerable power, he is continually at the beck and call of climbers and posers who can summon him from “the other place” merely by learning his name and the appropriate words. When he’s called to London by an unknown magician who turns out to be a mere kid, it’s only the beginning of five very challenging years."

Here, I felt this was important

"Nathaniel is only twelve when he first summons Bartimaeus (in the passage quoted at the head of this post); when the series ends, he is seventeen. In each volume, he and his djinni must defeat a cabal whose overweening ambition threatens the social order, but Nathaniel himself has ambition to spare. He’s interesting that way. Young fantasy heroes like Harry Potter and Percy Jackson almost always possess an essential decency–though tempted, one senses that they are not corruptible. Nathaniel (who takes the professional name of John Mandrake) is corruptible: not only proud but vengeful, and embittered by the humiliating treatment he receives from his master and other magicians."

"What does paganism have to do with this? There are at least two kinds of “magic.” One kind seeks to control inanimate forces, dramatized by Harry Potter with his wands and spells (and bearing some resemblance to modern science). The other seeks to control personal spirits, and is also known as shamanism or necromancy. That’s the system imagined in Bartimaeus: an unknowable Ultimate Spirit or First Cause has spun off lower manifestations of itself, which in turn generate lower and lower forms, all the way down to rock and clay and the pathetic beings that crawl on it (i.e., us). Though arranged in a hierarchy, spirits (known as “gods,” in other cultures) have no controlling ethic. And, outside of their own personal favorites, they despise humans."

"Dispatching the monster stops the destruction and clears the way for an alliance of magicians and commoners, but there’s no guarantee that the new order will be much improvement on the old. Maybe; maybe not. Nothing has changed but the circumstances."

https://redeemedreader.com/2011/03/among-the-pagans-bartimaeus/ (I don't know how valuable this analysis is ngl. Also I'm running out of time for today)

Adding this not because it features any analysis but just for flavor ngl (and to share some positivity. Any shortcomings the series might have don't make everything positive about it disappear. However little you think it is)

https://www.reddit.com/r/Bartimaeus/comments/nt8uo0/jewish_mythology_in_the_series/

[mysecretfanmoments]

kitt-cath replied to your post “I adore romance novels but there’s this ocean of content and when...”

"You know me well" be David Levithan is a great book about the LGBT+ community, although there isn't that much romance, I really recommend checking it out

sarcastic-catastrophe replied to your post “I adore romance novels but there’s this ocean of content and when...”

I'm not sure (but I'm pretty sure (a true contradiction)) if Ugly Love is a romance but I really enjoyed it! I'm also a sucker for Sarah Dessen (but tbh you won't find something super original)

amagnetism replied to your post “I adore romance novels but there’s this ocean of content and when...”

I'm wracking my brain for romance books I like and coming up short for the same reasons you mentioned. I usually just get my fix for romance as an occasionally good subplot in another genre. :( That said being said, I recommend The Golem and the Jinni by Helen Wrecker, which is historical fiction with a dash of fantasy. Thoughtfully explores the relationship between the title characters and the people in their lives. Read it last year and loved it!

Oooh, thank you guys! :D To be honest I just love books to check out in general so I’m super happy to get these. “The Golem and the Djinni” has been on my list for a while and “You Know Me Well” also sounds great (I love focus on friendship in books too just... people being important to each other & discovering each other). Is Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover? That’s what comes up when I search; it looks good too! 

To be honest it’s not so much that I need something to feel original than that I want it to feel... real? It sounds stupid I guess but sometimes characters feel like the vehicle for a plot and that really puts me off. I want them to convince me they’re more than the trope they play to. PICKY! (but so rewarding when you find something you like)

Anyway---thank you so much! Cx

[cheetahleopard]

Tagged

I was tagged by @frenchibi (THANK YOU)

I tag anyone who wants to do it plus @fragile-euphoria @rumblecoot @milanesa-kardiaca @meadowofstars @eevaeon @ a thousand of my friends I am too tired to tag I’m sorry do as many or as few as you’d like 

Favorite Place: My basement

Relationship Status: Single(and aro af)

Favorite Colour: Blue/Black

Pets: None D= But Julie (dad’s gf) has a cat named Tika

Last song I listened to: Owari no Seraph opening

Favorite TV show: Haikyuu!!

First Fandom: Harry Potter

Hobbies: Um writing mainly

Books I’m currently Reading: The Golem and The Djinni

Favorite book: Ummm *sweats nervously* *dies*

Name: Amber/Avien/Avian

Nickname: Asshole, Saltshaker, Babe, Sweetheart (All my friends have nailed me)

Gender: agenderflux

Sign: Aquarius

Height: 5′ 6″ ish

Sexual Orientation: Aro/Ace

Hogwarts house: Ravenclaw

Favourite colour: see above XD

Favourite animal: Um.....Yes

Time right now: 3:55 pm

Average hours of sleep: Ideally 7-8, currently 3-5

Cat or dog person: Cat but I love both

Favourite fictional character from Harry Potter: Luna

Number of blankets you sleep with: 3-5 (I nest)

Favourite singer or band: Ummmm not really sure

Dream trip: Being QPPs with every character in an HQ!! universe that I go to

Dream job: Psychopathology

When was this blog created: A few months over a year ago

When did your blog reach its peak: Still climbing hopefully

What made you decide to make a tumblr: My fandoms

5 things you’ll find in my bag: Notebooks (at least 3)

Chromebook

Pencils

Books

Headphones+mp3

(see also this post)

5 things you’ll find in my bedroom: An enormous bookshelf  A shrine A bed Alarms Giant painting on my wall

5 things I’ve always wanted to do in life: Publish a novel Go to college Own a house with a private library and a wifi signal Play in marching band Skydive

5 things that make me happy:

Playing in band (Bb Clarinet) Getting feedback for my writing and exchanging ideas with people Haikyuu!! My warm, patient and understanding holy cow family My online friends 5 things I’m currently into: Haikyuu!! (and the wonderful people I’ve met through it) My original stories (which I cannot wait to work on more) Reading Psychology Biochem

5 things on my to-do list: *cringes* my homework My series Baby Flour Many multichaps Start commissions =D

5 things people may not know about me: I am slightly autistic My birthday is today (January 30th) I have no allergies I don’t judge anything It took me three months for me to figure out my cousin and childhood friend are dating even as it was explicitly said to me

Rules: Put your music on “Shuffle” List the first 10 songs Tag 10 people

1: Rise Again- Nightcore 2: Good To Be Alive- Andy Grammer (XD I just love the beat) 3:Tendou’s Song- Haikyuu!! (I have downloaded this so many times) 4: Tu ne mentends pas- Indila 5: You’re so Vain (Carly Simon) 6: Lurk- The Neighborhood 7: XO - Kelsey Ballerini 8: Ghost town/Tag you’re it (Switching Vocals)- Nightcore 9: United States Mashup 2009- DJ Earworm 10: Dibs- Kelsea Ballerini

A - Age: 14 ToDAY B - Biggest fear: not sure C - Current time: 4:20 (this is taking a while XD I love it) D - Drink you last had: Water E - Every day starts with: Alarm after alarm then hw at 4 am F - Favorite song: ummmmmm G - Ghosts, are they real: Yes H - Hometown: Englewood I - In love with: Haikyuu!! And writing J - Jealous of: not sure K - Killed someone: No but I could L - Last time you cried: Panic attack last night M - Middle name: Hanson(after my grandmother) N - Number of siblings: 2(younger sister, I guess plus 3 not-quite-step-brothers) O - One wish: Stop using religion as an excuse for hate crimes P - Person you last called/texted: I’m in a sype group chat Q - Questions you’re always asked: Um Don’t want to list these b/c just annoyance R - Reasons to smile: Fanfiction and fanart exists. Hot chocolate, tea and fluffy blankets. Music, Art, Books, Stories. Stars & the sky. Brilliant people are making brilliant things every day. A small act of kindness from you to a stranger can make all the difference. S - Song last played: Hercules and the Hydra T - Time you woke up: 4 am U - Underwear color: dark blue V- Vacation destination: None really W - Worst habit: Not sure X - X-rays you’ve had: lots for my teeth, mri scans Y - Your favorite food: lasagna or steak I guess Z - Zodiac sign: Aquarius

1. What can’t you sleep without? My phone. Literally I use it as an alarm clock XD And pillows and familiar scents 2. What are your favorite kind of socks? I like the feeling of being comfortable in thigh-highs 3. What’s your favorite snack/meal/drink? Ummmm Yes 4. What’s your favorite kind of weather? I guess slight rain but dim sun 5. What do you like to listen to/do to relax and feel better when you’re upset? I love familiar songs + being alone 6. What’s your favorite store to shop at? Bookstores =D 7. What color do you wear the most? Black probably 8. What’s your favorite (video/board/social/party) game to play? I want to play Mystic Messenger I guess? 9. Any guilty pleasures? Fanfics (GIVE ME ALL THE TROPES) 10. If you could go anywhere (in real life or in fiction), where would it be? HAIKYUU!!VERSE