What are you reading these days?

I've finished a couple of books in the last week or two, Terry Pratchett's Maskerade, and Willa Cather's Death Comes for the Archbishop. Maskerade was somehow very fresh to me, despite having read more than 10 Discworld books in the last year. Something about Granny Weatherwax's internal conflict felt more real than the personal growth demonstrated in prior books of the Witches series. Agnes is an intriguing character, full of angst and drive, in a completely distinct way from Magrat's self-enforced witchiness. As per usual with this subseries, I found Nanny Ogg to simultaneously feel the most real and carry the majority of the comedy, which I don't say out of distaste for the other major characters, simply appreciation for the immensity of her personality.

Death Comes for the Archbishop was a bit of a gut punch as a follow-up. As a New Mexican, it felt bizarre reading such an accurate portrait of the area. Not just the beauty of the geography, which Cather describes so well as to truly paint pictures, but also the general attitudes of the people who live here, nearly 100 years after the authoring of the novel, and much longer since its setting. It's honestly astonishing someone who didn't spend a significant portion of their life in New Mexico could write such a book.

Nowadays it's rare to see a story that is told from the perspective of a priest who is nearly entirely in the right, even from our progressive viewpoints. The tales of running out the old, abusive priests were simultaneously chilling and delightful. Even more interesting was the number of words given toward the love between Jean and Joseph, especially to the unevenness of that love. The last few chapters were simply the reminiscences of a man who had succeeded in much, with few regrets, who made many friends and righted many wrongs, and despite that peace, it stole the joy from the rest of my day. Few novels illuminate the simple tragedy of mortality so elegantly.

From Abe: Abraham Lincoln in his times

Lincoln and his associates suspected foul play in the [1858 Senate] election results. Because of flexible voter registration laws, tampering with elections was commonplace, especially by manipulating the immigrant vote. Democrats, in particular, were known to "colonize" swing districts with Irish railroad workers who were rapidly naturalized so that they could vote. David Davis, who had high praise for Lincoln's speeches in the Senate race, remarked, "There would be no doubt of Douglas' defeat if it was not from the fact that he is colonizing Irish votes." William Herndon, likewise, was confident that "there is nothing which can well defeat us but the elements, & the wandering roving robbing Irish, who have flooded over the State."

Lincoln, also suspicious of Democratic hijinks, was prepared to fight fire with fire. On October 20, five days after his last debate with Douglas, he wrote the Republican operative Norman Judd saying that while he felt confident about his chances in the election, he feared being "over-run with fraudulent votes to a greater extent than usual." He said he had recently spotted fifteen Irishmen going around with bags (presumably containing money to be used to bribe voters). He wrote Judd: "I have a bare suggestion. When there is a known body of these voters, could not a true man, of the 'detective' class, be introduced among them in disguise, who could, at the nick of time, control their votes? Think this over. It would be a great thing, when this trick is attempted upon us, to have the saddle come up on the other horse."

It's unclear what Lincoln expected this disguised agent to do to control votes, but he seemed ready to go to the limit to defeat Douglas and the Democrats.

As it turned out, he fell victim to the malapportionment of the Illinois legislature. Legislative seats still followed districting based on the 1850 census, before the population explosion that occurred in the northern, largely Republican portion of the state. And so, though Lincoln and the Republicans won the statewide popular vote, the legislature on January 5, 1859, elected Douglas to the Senate by a vote of 54 to 46.

That was then, this is now, I guess?