Wednesday Reading Meme

[osprey_archer]

What I’ve Just Finished Reading

Ruth Goodman is always a good time, and her book How to Behave Badly in Elizabeth England: A Guide for Knaves, Fools, Harlots, Cuckolds, Drunkards, Liars, Thieves, and Braggarts is no exception to the rule. It does what it says on the tin, except for “Elizabethan England” read “England from the time of Elizabeth up to the Civil War (with brief excursions before and after),” but I suspect that the publishers believed, correctly, that their title would sell more books.

A fun fact: quoting Shakespeare would have been seen as proof of boorishness, as it showed that you spend time at the theaters down by the bear-baiting pits and the whorehouses, like a COMMONER. I also very much enjoyed the advice manual for young noblemen in service, which begged them to “try not to murder people.” You might think that goes without saying, but nope!

Jacqueline Woodson is also always a good time, although often in a mild to moderately heart-wrenching kind of way. Peace, Locomotion is an epistolary novel, told as a series of letters from a 12-year-old boy (nickname Locomotion) to his younger sister. They’re both in foster care following the death of their parents in a fire a few years ago. A book with sad moments but not overall a sad book; I particularly enjoyed Locomotion’s journey as a poet and his poetry. (There’s a companion novel-in-verse. Woodson is one of the few authors I trust with a novel-in-verse.)

Warning: you will walk out of this book with the song “Locomotion” stuck in your head.

Jane Langton is much more up and down than either Goodman or Woodson, but I’m happy to say Paper Chains is one of the ups. Evelyn has just started college, and the novel alternates between traditional narration and Evelyn’s never-to-be-sent letters to her PHIL 101 professor, on whom she has a swooning freshman crush. A good mix of college hijinks and intellectual discovery. Just kind of stops rather than having a real ending, but it works well for the story, which is very much about beginnings.

What I’m Reading Now

Onward in Gaskell’s Gothic Tales! We just had one of Gaskell’s trademarked “three people of three different faiths get together to deal with a problem, and it’s good for them all!” scenes. (Okay, I’ve only run across this twice in her work, once here and once in North and South, but it’s an unusual recurring theme.)

What I Plan to Read Next

I’ve decided it’s time for another Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. I’ve already read A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch and all three volumes of The Gulag Archipelago. What should I read next?

Comments

[lirazel]

“three people of three different faiths get together to deal with a problem, and it’s good for them all!”

Oooh, that is relevant to my interests!

[osprey_archer]

This particular story is "The Poor Clare," if you want to have a look.

[lirazel]

Thank you!

[troisoiseaux]

I’ve decided it’s time for another Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.

It's a Commitment/hefty read, but In the First Circle is really, really, really good.

[osprey_archer]

I will give it a go! (I think most of Solzhenitsyn's books are pretty long, aside from Ivan Denisovitch.)

The library only has the "restored text," translated by H. T. Willetts, so this may or may not be the specific text you read.

[troisoiseaux]

Yep! This is the "uncensored" version/translation, as some chapters had been cut/details changed when first published in the 1960s.

ETA: this being the 1960s and the Soviet Union, the bits originally excised were, like, discussion of religion.

[asakiyume]

“three people of three different faiths get together to deal with a problem, and it’s good for them all!”

Nice! Genuinely heartwarming.

Jaqueline Woodson + epistolary novel? Sounds great!

[osprey_archer]

Have you read much Jacqueline Woodson? I have a vague memory that you read Brown Girl Dreaming? Or maybe I just think you read Brown Girl Dreaming because I think you would enjoy that book very much, although I think you would also enjoy Locomotion.

[asakiyume]

I have read none! But not out of avoidance, just out of --oh, life, I guess? I have very friendly and approving feelings toward her work based on everything I've heard from friends.

[oracne]

You are reading much more interesting stuff than I am right now. The Woodson sounds great.

[osprey_archer]

If you get too bogged down in your other stuff, you could always sneak in the Woodson. The book (like many of her books) is very short, so a nice break from something that is too dense or boring (but has to be read anyway).

[sovay]

We just had one of Gaskell’s trademarked “three people of three different faiths get together to deal with a problem, and it’s good for them all!” scenes.

Which ones?

[osprey_archer]

The one I just read is in "The Poor Clare," and a Catholic, a Dissenter and an orthodox Anglican are trying to figure out What Do We Do About This Curse.

In the one in North and South, Margaret the orthodox Anglican, her father the dissenter, and a third guy who is, perhaps, a non-believer? (it's been a while since I read this book) - but clearly not so non-believing that he refuses to pray - all pray together, for reasons that I've also forgotten.

[black_bentley]

I really love Ivan Denisovich. It's the only Solzhenitsyn I've read so far, but I've got August 1914 staring at me accusingly from my TBR pile...

[osprey_archer]

I've long meant to read more Solzhenitsyn, but most of his books are SUCH bricks that it's intimidating. However, this time I will be strong!!

[lucymonster]

I love Ruth Goodman! And that tidbit about Shakespeare is so fascinating - the more things change, the more they stay the same. I wonder which of our trashy pop cultural artifacts will go down in history as works of prestigious and sophisticated art.

The only Solzhenitsyn I’ve read is The Gulag Archipelago, so I await your reviews of his other work with interest.

[osprey_archer]

Hundreds of years from now, people on space stations gaze in fascination at the high art of WWE Wrestling.

I surely have a review of A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch floating around... Ah, I see that it is one sentence long, and I pronounced it "excellent." Deep!

[cyphomandra]

I love Paper Chains, it’s one of my faves. It probably helps that I read it the first time just before I started university.

The detail of Shakespeare quotes being a sign of IMMORAL TENDENCIES is fabulous.

[osprey_archer]

You may have been the person who recommended Paper Chains to me! I have a great weakness for university books, and they're a bit thin on the ground so I'm always happy to hear about a new-to-me one.

People who watch that PANDERING CROWD PLEASER Shakespeare are CLEARLY also going to the bear-baiting and then dropping by the visit the whorehouses. It is KNOWN.

[eglantiere]

give The Cancer Ward a try! it's a very neat book, thematically and character work wise.

[osprey_archer]

Oh no, now I've got two Solzhenitsyn recs. But Cancer Ward IS the shorter of the two...

Maybe I'll put them both on hold and see which arrives first.

[nnozomi]

I absolutely adore Paper Chains, and I'm glad it's getting more readers. Among its other interesting points, it manages to be both hilariously funny and touching and also pretty brutally realistic (I'm not sure what the word I want is here...) about things like mental health, social awkwardness and so on. It's a delightful romp but it's not light!

[osprey_archer]

Maybe you were the one who suggested Paper Chains to me? Someone suggested Paper Chains! It was a good suggestion!

[silverusagi]

I also very much enjoyed the advice manual for young noblemen in service, which begged them to “try not to murder people.” You might think that goes without saying, but nope!

Times were different then lol.

[osprey_archer]

Sometimes its just sooooooo tempting to murder a guy.