Things of Interest

I'm always a sucker for a list and Sam Jordison has his list of top ten books where location is everything at the Guardian. And Cherry Potter grouses about women choosing Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice as the fictional man they'd most like to go on a date with. Potter wonders

What message is this Darcy fixation sending to men? On the one hand, women say they want men who are emotionally intelligent, sensitive, flexible, who enjoy sharing equally and are fun to be with. But these same women are swooning over a fictional character who is the epitome of the dominant patriarchal male. No wonder men are confused.

I can understand the appeal of Mr. Darcy: handsome, rich, smart, witty. He'd be an interesting date. The question wasn't what fictional character would you most like to marry. I think Ms. Potter is getting a little too worked up over nothing much. After all, would it be better if most women prefer Heathcliff? Here is a site about the history of punctuation (via Bookninja),!;"--().