Read like a man?

Tara's column is up over at Readers Gab.  I had some thoughts gathered for Smart Bitches Day, but reading her post made my head explode.  I haven't commented yet because I want to gather my thoughts and not spew like a volcano.

ETA:  the Interweb hates me today.  I've tried to post a comment at Readers Gab and at Dear Author, but they aren't going through.

So here's my comment.

I'm perplexed by the comparison of romance/chick lit to action-thrillers for your intelligence factor. The focus of one genre is the relationship, with the action (even in romantic suspense) as the backdrop only; the focus of the other is the action, with any relationship or character development as ancillary. Are you saying that the heroines of action-thrillers are "smarter" because they are detectives? How does the choice of profession, crime-solver vs. copy editor, speak to intelligence? It strikes me as an apples and oranges comparison. Where do heroines like Eve Dallas, Sookie Stackhouse, Lily Bard, Roe Teagarden, Nell Sweeney and Anita Blake (pre-magic coochie) -- all written by women -- fall in your analysis? What about mysteries written by PJ Ryan, Marcia Muller, Deborah Crombie? Science fiction by LM Bujold? Jacqueline Carey? Anne Bishop? I think there are smart heroines written by women and by men. And there are TSTL heroines written by men and by women. Irritating characters are by no means limited to romance and chick lit.

SBD -- Why I heart Miles Vorksigan

What to SBD about? 

Yeah, anybody who has stopped by here often enough knows that I'm a Lois McMaster Bujold fan girl. I'd read her grocery list if she published it. I can admit, however, that some of her work is better than others. Falling Free? Not a favorite. Same with Ethan of Athos. The Hallowed Hunt was good enough, but not nearly as good as The Curse of Chalion. I was reminded today, though, that I became a fangirl because LMB created Miles Vorkosigan.

As I've mentioned before Miles's letter to his ladylove is swoon-worthy to me, second only to Wentworth's letter to Anne. But it's more than that.

Miles is smart, often too smart for his own good. He crosses lines -- usually he's so busy scheming that he doesn't even see the line to begin with. He's physically imperfect in a world that does not tolerate physical imperfection or deformity.

He has grown up in the shadows of two great men, his father and grandfather, one the liberator from invaders and kingmaker to the Vorbarra family, the other a hero of galatic wars, Regent and Prime Minister. Miles admits once that it is all kinds of hubris, but that he would like that someday, just once, his father be noted as important historically not because he was Regent, but because he was Miles Vorkosigan's father. One of LMB's repeated phrases in the Vorkosigan series, even beginning with Miles's parents, is "forward momentum." That's what Miles is all about. Trying and trying again, til he achieves, then figuring out the next thing to do or try.

And for all that he is physically imperfect, Miles is a bit of lady's man. I mean that in the best possible way. He's not a womanizer; he's a man who loves and appreciates women, usually very tall women. And the women in his life always end up the better for his presence -- he never leaves them less. Really, he doesn't leave them at all: after nurturing and encouraging them to grow, they grow beyond him and what he can offer...until he meets his Lady Vorkosigan, that is.

I suppose what I like about Miles is that he seems real, inasmuch as a fictional character can. Meaning that he isn't icon perfect. He messes up royally, picks himself up and moves on. Makes mistakes, fixes them as best he can, and keeps going.

What reminded me of my Miles-love today? I picked up A Civil Campaign to reread on the commute. And I snickered all the way home as I read the dinner scene in which disaster strikes. [Yes, it's funny, no, I'm not losing my mind and I'm not crying. Go back to playing with your gadgets or talking on the cellphone. And don't try to pretend that my giggles are disturbing your phone call at full volume. I'll be getting off at the next stop, so go back to ignoring me, please.] I would share my favorite passages with you, except this post would be pages long. And really, butter bugs and heroines fleeing into the night really need context. :p