Wednesday Reading Meme

[osprey_archer]

What I’ve Just Finished Reading

W. E. Johns’ Worrals Down Under, not a strong entry in the series, alas. The plotting is slack and relies on several characters being more than a bit dim, there are no wild animal encounters (surely we all wanted to see Worrals meet a wombat and a kangaroo?), and the portrayal of the Aboriginal Australian characters is arrestingly terrible even in comparison with some of Johns’ other books.

What I’m Reading Now

Capitola’s Peril, the sequel/second half of E.D.E.N. Southworth’s Hidden Hand. Capitola has FOILED the forced marriage of Clara Day by changing places with Clara, allowing Clara to escape while Capitola challenges the villain at the altar! The villain is so taken with Capitola’s piquant spirit that he decides he’ll just have to marry her, instead, but when Capitola refuses his hand he decides to blacken her name all across the countryside… only for Capitola to challenge him to a duel! He responds in deeply insulting terms (Southworth leaves the letter to our imaginations, but clearly he wrote something like “can’t wait for the duel, babe! Time: midnight. Place: your bedroom. Weapon: my penis! Looking forward to giving you satisfaction!”). Then Capitola shoots him in the face with a bunch of dried peas, and under the impression that he is dying, he confesses all his villainy.

I’m also about a third of the way through Felicia Davin’s Thornfruit, but I may not finish it, as the idea of a pairing where one party not only can but indeed can’t help reading the other party’s mind strikes me as a nightmare fuel.

What I Plan to Read Next

Distrait to inform you that whoever is uploading the Worrals books to fadedpage has jumped directly from book 8 to book 11, Worrals Investigates, which strongly suggests to me that we’re not going to get books 9 and 10. Alas, alas! But really we should be grateful that we got as much as we have…

Comments

[rachelmanija]

Dammit! I really wanted the one where Worrals fights a female Nazi in Alaska.

I have a policy of not reading any Johns books set in Australia, but I am still disappointed that there are no wombats or kangaroos.

[osprey_archer]

Oh noooo, now I also really want to read the one where Worrals fights a female Nazi in Alaska... Maybe my supposition is wrong and there is some other reason for the jump to the final book? Or someone else will take up the slack and post #9 and #10? Where there's life there's hope...

I would not have expected that his books set in Australia would be noticeably worse than his books set in Africa but, in fact, this one certainly was. No wildlife AND much more racist.

[troisoiseaux]

E.D.E.N. Southworth is my new answer to "what historical figure would you invite to a dinner party." INCREDIBLE.

[osprey_archer]

E.D.E.N. Southworth was truly living her best writing life and I love that for her.

[landofnowhere]

Wow, Capitola is super badass!

[osprey_archer]

She super is! A true heroine.

[asakiyume]

OMG I'm loving E.D.E.N. Southworth more and more--but especially mediated by YOU. Love your interpolation! I want that in the version I read. Also, GO CAPITOLA!

[osprey_archer]

Capitola is such a badass heroine, a true delight to read about.

[lucymonster]

The plotting is slack and relies on several characters being more than a bit dim, there are no wild animal encounters (surely we all wanted to see Worrals meet a wombat and a kangaroo?), and the portrayal of the Aboriginal Australian characters is arrestingly terrible even in comparison with some of Johns’ other books.

Oh, dear. I probably don’t want to know what a British author born in the 19th century thinks about our Indigenous population, do I? On a lighter note, the lack of kangaroos and wombats is certainly a surprise - I didn’t know any author outside Australia was capable of writing about Australia without at least an appearance from the kangaroos.

[osprey_archer]

It was significantly worse than Johns' portrayal of the native Africans in the previous book, which is quite impressive in "I didn't want to be impressed in this particular direction" sort of way.

Genuinely shocked by the lack of wild animal encounters. Usually Johns leaps at the chance for an animal fight (in the last book Worrals shot a lion!) and, as you say, authors outside Australia always want to get in a kangaroo or two. Maybe Johns couldn't find a good description of kangaroo fighting tactics...

[littlerhymes]

only for Capitola to challenge him to a duel!

I adore her.

[osprey_archer]

Capitola is the heroine we all deserve!

[regshoe]

A Worrals book in Australia with NO wild animal encounters? That is disappointing. :( I hope book 11 is better, if books 9 and 10 remain elusive...

[osprey_archer]

Truly shocked that Johns didn't at least have Worrals fight a crocodile!

[ethelmay]

Worrals 9 and 10 are in the works. They're listed under "bronze" level on pgdpcanada.net. "These e-texts are in the initial stages of proofreading where everyone has a chance to correct any OCR errors which may be found. After going through a number of other phases, the e-text then goes to an experienced volunteer for final assembly (post-processing), after which the e-text is submitted to Project Gutenberg Canada for your enjoyment and download."

591) "Worrals in the Wastelands (1949) [Worrals #9]" by Johns, Capt. W. E. (William Earl) (1893-1968) (en)
213 pages; posted Aug 29th, 2022

561) "Worrals Goes Afoot (1949) [Worrals #10]" by Johns, Capt. W. E. (William Earl) (1893-1968) (en)
183 pages; posted Sep 21st, 2022

[osprey_archer]

Oh, hooray!