To Each His Dulcinea

"‘Versatility is one of the few human traits which are universally intolerable. You may be good at Greek and good at painting and be popular. You may be good at Greek and good at sport, and be wildly popular. But try all three and you’re a mountebank. Nothing arouses suspicion quicker than genuine, all-round proficiency.’"

Dorothy Dunnett, The Game of Kings, Vintage Books 1st ed.

(Source: fuckyeahlymond)

"You cannot love any one person adequately until you have made friends with the rest of the human race also. Adult love demands qualities which cannot be learned living in a vacuum of resentment."

Dorothy Dunnett (via seeminglysweet)

(via fuckyeahlymond)

star-cunning:

A Polyvore set for Philippa’s time in the Topkapi Harem in Pawn in Frankincense!

This is wonderful. I am researching Islamic architecture for a paper right now and I can’t stop thinking about Philippa’s time in the Topkapi Palace. I miss Pawn in Frankincense.

"However, I do believe in the dealbreaker book. This book so deeply resonates with your soul that if a potential partner finds it risible, any meeting of minds (or body) is all but impossible. Most of us have one or two books that encapsulate all we believe to be skilful and admirable in art and in life. And while we don’t necessarily expect everyone to enjoy them, we do expect our soulmate to. Or at least respect them."

Molly Flat, “Love Me, Love My Books” (via moviesandmusicandbooksohmy)

Oh my God you guys I was already reblogging this for Fuck Yeah Lymond! before I even read the whole article— and then she mentions Dunnett!

(via fuckyeahlymond)

(via fuckyeahlymond)

"Remember, some live all their lives without discovering this truth; that the noblest and most terrible power we possess is the power we have, each of us, over the chance-met, the stranger, the passer-by outside your life and your kin. Speak, she said, as you would write: as if your words were letters of lead, graven there for all time, for which you must take the consequences. And take the consequences."

Dorothy Dunnett, Queens’ Play (via delladilly)

(via fuckyeahlymond)

"Kate, my dear? Haven’t your raspberries been marvellous this year? Come and be licked; I haven’t dined yet."

Francis Crawford of Lymond, The Disorderly Knights by Dorothy Dunnett (via inthetiredspaces)

saltspray:

The beginning of my addiction to Lymond, one of the best characters I’ve ever come across in fiction. He’s delicious.

Miss you, Dorothy. 

Aww shucks, y’all are the best for your outfit approval (Note: this does not include my sister). I stole a long vintage navy blue jacket from my friend once I was downtown DC, and that way I was mixing all the neutrals and it actually kinda worked. Library of Congress-ing was successful and fun, I shall return tomorrow for an actual day of work. I got my researcher-ID, though, which is a helpful government-issued photo ID to have & it will make researching in the Jefferson reading room possible. 

In other news, I poetically finished Checkmate, the last book in the Lymond Chronicles, in the apartment of the friend who gifted them to me. I read the last twenty pages while she was off at a lawyer-dinner-thing, and under her instructions I continued to read even when I wanted to throw the book across the room and give up on life. I made it through, and it was so worth the heartache. What a beautiful series! It feels weird to be done — like I don’t know what to do next. Do I wake up and eat breakfast in the morning? What will my day look like?

Walking to Union Station this morning and watching the sun hit the Capitol Building was cold, but lovely. I want so badly to live in a city. 

"A lie is a broad and spacious and glittering thing, sweeping belief before it from its very grandeur. But the truth fits, like an old man cutting cloth in an attic."

Dorothy Dunnett, Checkmate

"Because subterranean schemes and deception are central to Lymond’s modus operandi, it is revealed only long afterward that the inexcusable had its excuses. ”I have no pretty faults,” as he remarks, ”only, sometimes, a purpose.” The constant interplay between the contradictory sides of his character, and the consequent realignments of our understanding of both him and the story, give ”The Lymond Chronicles” their unusual fascination."

 ANNE MALCOLM in the NY Times