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The Frozen Thames
In its long history, the river Thames has frozen solid forty times. These are the stories of that frozen river.
So begins this breathtaking and original work, which contains forty vignettes based on events that actually took place each time the historic Thames froze solid. Spanning more than seven centuries—from 1142 to 1895—and illustrated with stunning full-color period...more
So begins this breathtaking and original work, which contains forty vignettes based on events that actually took place each time the historic Thames froze solid. Spanning more than seven centuries—from 1142 to 1895—and illustrated with stunning full-color period...more
Hardcover, 192 pages
Published
March 24th 2009
by Delacorte Press
(first published October 16th 2007)
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3.5
The Frozen Thames was an interesting, unique little read. My first surprise was when the hardback was only the size of my hand. This would make a nice gift. Thick, glossy pages. There are some cute pictures (not as many as I expected though from other reviewers.) This consists of 40 very short stories based on actual events from 1142 and 1895. Some stories I knew from history (Matilda escaping) some were simply cute, other's interesting (ex: commoners waiting for a glimpse of King Henry VIII...more
The Frozen Thames was an interesting, unique little read. My first surprise was when the hardback was only the size of my hand. This would make a nice gift. Thick, glossy pages. There are some cute pictures (not as many as I expected though from other reviewers.) This consists of 40 very short stories based on actual events from 1142 and 1895. Some stories I knew from history (Matilda escaping) some were simply cute, other's interesting (ex: commoners waiting for a glimpse of King Henry VIII...more
Nov 17, 2012
Shonna Froebel
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
canadian,
short-stories
I got this book for Christmas last year and have been reading bits of it slowly since the spring. I finished it off as I was enroute to a readers' advisory seminar where Humphreys was the lunch speaker. It is a fascinating idea done extremely well. She researched all the times the Thames in London froze over between 1142 and 1895 and wrote vignettes for each of those instances. They are short, each 5 pages or less, and interspersed with illustrations. Each one is a engrossing look at a moment in...more
Rating: 3.5* of five
The Book Report: It is a matter of historical record that the Thames, giant river and estuary that drains the heart of Southern England, has frozen solid forty times in the span of record-keeping that we possess. Author Humphreys sets about telling the story of these extraordinary events, one at a time, and in a very compressed and taut way, by giving us brief slices of the lives of people experiencing the once-in-a-lifetime event. Each of these stories is very, very short, a...more
The Book Report: It is a matter of historical record that the Thames, giant river and estuary that drains the heart of Southern England, has frozen solid forty times in the span of record-keeping that we possess. Author Humphreys sets about telling the story of these extraordinary events, one at a time, and in a very compressed and taut way, by giving us brief slices of the lives of people experiencing the once-in-a-lifetime event. Each of these stories is very, very short, a...more
The Thames River was frozen forty times during the period of 1142 - 1895. In this superbly crafted work, the author weaves a rich tapestry of forty stories based upon actual historical events.
Her images are as sharp, vivid and crystalized as the ice that locked the land. Using incredible writing skills, Humphreys paints winterized scenes and then places the characters smack in the middle of the canvas where the reader, gazing from the shore, can feel the cold sting of air as it frosts the nose,...more
Her images are as sharp, vivid and crystalized as the ice that locked the land. Using incredible writing skills, Humphreys paints winterized scenes and then places the characters smack in the middle of the canvas where the reader, gazing from the shore, can feel the cold sting of air as it frosts the nose,...more
This is a very unusual book of vignettes, none of them more than three or four pages, all centered around the forty times in recorded human history that the Thames has frozen. Most of the vignettes are inspired by actual events, which makes them all the more interesting, and the author tells us in a note that she intended the book to be a meditation on ice. The book definitely offers views of ice in all of its incarnations. It acts as a bridge between land masses and classes of people; it create...more
Bound Miami SunPost January 28, 2010
http://miamisunpost.com/themorgue/201... (p17)
If the River was History
Navigating The Thames
John Hood
Okay, the Nile might lead us back to Ancient Egypt, the Yangtze might flow for the future, and the Mississippi will always have Huck and Jim. But of all the world’s great rivers, none has perhaps played as important part in all world events as the River Thames. Forget the fact that it’s only 215 miles long (and not even the longest river in the United Kingdom)....more
http://miamisunpost.com/themorgue/201... (p17)
If the River was History
Navigating The Thames
John Hood
Okay, the Nile might lead us back to Ancient Egypt, the Yangtze might flow for the future, and the Mississippi will always have Huck and Jim. But of all the world’s great rivers, none has perhaps played as important part in all world events as the River Thames. Forget the fact that it’s only 215 miles long (and not even the longest river in the United Kingdom)....more
This year I seem to have discovered the delights of small boutique books and this is yet another one of those. The Frozen Thames is a beautifully written and produced book which focuses on the forty documented times in which the Thames has frozen solid, from 1142 to 1895.
Each of those forty occasions is detailed in one vignette, which captures a small and often poignant moment in time. Helen Humphreys writes with the conciseness and vividness of a poet. The overwhelming images of the book are th...more
Each of those forty occasions is detailed in one vignette, which captures a small and often poignant moment in time. Helen Humphreys writes with the conciseness and vividness of a poet. The overwhelming images of the book are th...more
The river Thames has frozen solid forty times in known history. The Old London Bridge had many arches which slowed the river, allowing the water to freeze in exceptionally cold weather. Frost Fairs were set up in London on the frozen Thames with booths, pubs, and concerts. The Londoners enjoyed skating, and sailing on boats outfitted with wheels. The weather also caused starvation and freezing of animals, birds, and some unfortunate people. Workers who depended on the river for income, such as t...more
2 likes · like · see review
The river Thames, has, in its long life, frozen 40 times. Helen Humphreys (The Lost Garden; Coventry) commemorates these singular events by devoting one brief chapter to each instance in which the river freezes, beginning in 1142, when a frozen Thames helped Matilda flee from her cousin and enemy Stephen, a rival for England’s throne. Humphreys chronicle of the frozen Thames is a memoir of the river at its least river-like state. This is an odd and oddly attractive piece of writing. The only wor...more
Dec 10, 2008
Barbara
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
general-fiction,
non-fiction
My dad sent me this book--fascinating collection of "fictional" vignettes, but based on the historical events and people who experienced the strange and wonderful times when the Thames River was frozen solid. Definitely chilly reading--I dipped into it on small doses--but it was intriguing with glimpses into history and how people lived, in places where you don't really think of "extreme weather conditions."
Starts in 1142 with Empress Maud's escape from siege in Oxford.(Incidentally, the same b...more
Starts in 1142 with Empress Maud's escape from siege in Oxford.(Incidentally, the same b...more
Apr 03, 2013
Eddy Allen
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
arts-and-historical
A groundbreaking, genre-bending new work from one of Canada’s most respected writers.
In its long history, the River Thames has frozen solid forty times. These are the stories of that frozen river.
And so opens one of the most breathtaking and original works being published this season. The Frozen Thames contains forty vignettes based on events that actually took place each time the river froze between 1142 and 1895. Like a photograph captures a moment, etching it forever on the consciousness, so...more
In its long history, the River Thames has frozen solid forty times. These are the stories of that frozen river.
And so opens one of the most breathtaking and original works being published this season. The Frozen Thames contains forty vignettes based on events that actually took place each time the river froze between 1142 and 1895. Like a photograph captures a moment, etching it forever on the consciousness, so...more
Throughout history, the Thames River would freeze up through London (and occasionally beyond). The freezes were sporadic and unpredictable. They would change radically the life of London; bridges and buildings torn apart by ice, Ice Fairs offered opportunities to make unexpected money, ferrymen starving to death because no one required their services, feasts and parties drew the classes together and allowed for secret trysts. Humphreys tries to bring each freeze to the human level by creating a...more
If you are looking for a factual history of times when the Thames froze over you'll need to use one of the books listed in the back of the book. But if you would like a short, chronological feel for reactions by the citizens across the centuries, this is a delightful way to experience the cold, the awe, and the wonder of a river iced over deep enough to work and play on it.
Each "chapter" is only a few pages long, more vingettes that short stories, but each has it's own voice. Although each insta...more
Each "chapter" is only a few pages long, more vingettes that short stories, but each has it's own voice. Although each insta...more
If I recall correctly, I added this book to my TBR list a couple of years ago. It was therefore something of a surprise when I started reading the book and realised that I either had never noticed or had forgotten what the structure of this book was.
Rather than a through narrative following a set of characters, The Frozen Thames is a series of vignettes with each being set at a different year when the winter was so cold that the river Thames froze over. Each of the forty different stories is per...more
Rather than a through narrative following a set of characters, The Frozen Thames is a series of vignettes with each being set at a different year when the winter was so cold that the river Thames froze over. Each of the forty different stories is per...more
The Frozen Thames tells the story of the 40 times that the river Thames has frozen from the 12th century to the 20th century. The book is very short and compact, numbering only 181 pages some of which are illustrations. However, the stories are extremely vivid and deserve a second or even third reading. Each year has a different story which ranges from two to 6 pages depending. The characters are different in each (though I believe there is one overlap) and vary in age, social class, gender, and...more
I probably shouldn't have read this while working out at the gym -- it lends itself more gracefully to moments as still as the frozen river. This is a collection of vignettes, each focusing on how a person's life is changed by the winter's overtaking of the Thames: from royalty to more humble folk ("You cannot be a waterman without water"). They never reached full poignancy for me, despite some vivid imagery and forceful characterization, and I fear the concept just wasn't as powerful as, say, L...more
I am in total awe of Helen Humphreys! This is a very unique and beautifully written book. Humphreys offers short (not more than a few pages each) vignettes that all revolve around historically accurate times that the Thames froze solid. Not only does she pay tribute to British history but to the nature of ice and how it can affect humans. Even though the entries are very brief the reader is overwhelmed by a sense of the time and the emotions of the characters. This is a truly beautifully written...more
An unusual book - I loved the concept, a story for each of the times the Thames froze over between 1142 and 1895. Short vignettes, really, like a snapshot of the time and person. I enjoyed the kaleidoscope of characters Humphreys gave us - from famous folk to carters and thieves. My favorite piece was the 1809 one in which a miller's son rescues a flock of frozen birds by cupping each one in his hands and breathing on them. He rescued 27 rooks, 90 larks, a pheasant and a buzzard hawk. The storie...more
1 like · like · see review
3.5 stars.
Helen Humphreys writes,
Helen Humphreys writes,
This book is intended as a long meditation on the nature of ice. Each story is a story of transformation, as ice itself is the result of a transformative process. Because of climate change, brought on by the buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, we are in danger of losing ice from our world. If ice disappeared, we would not only lose the thing itself and its stabilizing place in the balance of nature, but we would also lose the idea of ice from our cons...more
This is a challenging book to rate because some of it is fabulous and some of it is not. It is a difficult book to write--about 1,000 years of history in short, short stories about each freezing of the Thames. Each one is a different time of history, a different point of view, a character of a different class, age, social role.
That is a lot to take on in a very short book that is barely 200 pages with pictures and a small format. Some of it is beautifully done. Some of it is engrossing, vivid,...more
That is a lot to take on in a very short book that is barely 200 pages with pictures and a small format. Some of it is beautifully done. Some of it is engrossing, vivid,...more
I was a bit wary of this book, though I liked the idea behind it and I already liked Ms. Humphreys' writing. A book of short vignettes spanning 750 years is a difficult task, after all.
I did end up really enjoying this book. It's a quick, breezy read, the writing is good, and there's a lot of interesting information scattered throughout. The only trouble is the combining of more "straight facts" for reference vignettes and the extremely personable ones, or rather, making the facts ones seem more...more
I did end up really enjoying this book. It's a quick, breezy read, the writing is good, and there's a lot of interesting information scattered throughout. The only trouble is the combining of more "straight facts" for reference vignettes and the extremely personable ones, or rather, making the facts ones seem more...more
A beautiful-looking book, with a small trim size, elegant band and high-quality design and photography throughout, and a story that I wouldn't have found so interesting had it not been told to me in such a beautiful book, I don't think. The premise seems so small, so... weird, but it's enchanting: the story of the forty times the river Thames has frozen over solid. In all of recorded history, it's happened just forty times. One place, one situation, one gorgeous little book.
Hm. I have mixed feelings. The language was gorgeous. The vignettes were mostly interesting & even illuminating of the human condition. But 'a meditation on the ice' doesn't tell me what the book means, what it's supposed to say to me. At least, not by using real history.
That is to say, if this were more clearly faithful to history, and/or if the different 'characters' had different Voices, and/or it had some science in it, or if it were actually more fictionalized (not giving the impressio...more
That is to say, if this were more clearly faithful to history, and/or if the different 'characters' had different Voices, and/or it had some science in it, or if it were actually more fictionalized (not giving the impressio...more
The Frozen Thames is a historical view of the 40 times in history that the river Thames has frozen. It is a fictional account of many different view points and gentries - from the King to a publican.
It is a very charming book... my favorite parts were the ones with Frost Fairs upon the icy river.
It would be a great thing to see the Thames freeze, but since the destruction of the London Bridge, the waters move to quickly to freeze.
It is a very charming book... my favorite parts were the ones with Frost Fairs upon the icy river.
It would be a great thing to see the Thames freeze, but since the destruction of the London Bridge, the waters move to quickly to freeze.
I picked this up because the premise sounded interesting--vignettes about the 40 times in history that the Thames River has frozen solid. I was really surprised how much I enjoyed these little stories about how the frozen river affected individual lives across the centuries. I started out writing flash fiction and these are some of the best I've read.
Too bad the Thames will never freeze again. You get a sense from these stories about how powerful such an event was. Would still be today.
Robin All...more
Too bad the Thames will never freeze again. You get a sense from these stories about how powerful such an event was. Would still be today.
Robin All...more
I saw this on the shelf at work and took it home on a whim. It became my bedtime reading for a month while Portland was covered in snow. There is a story for every year that the Thames froze solid- a great variety and surprisingly not gimmicky. Reading one story a night left it in my imagination and some of the images pop up when my mind wanders. Four stars from someone who doesn't even like short stories!
I cannot rate this highly enough. Beautifully and sensitively written collection of vignettes about the times the Thames has frozen over. I had a vested interest in this book as it was part of my research for something I was writing, but it deserves a much wider readership. Brilliant example of a whole world conveyed in a few choice words, lots of conceptual and meditative ideas aptly put.
The Thames froze 40 times in its history. This small, smooth book of fiction devotes a few pages to each event. Some reviewers called them jewels, but I didn't find most of them to be so. There was some beautiful wording, some powerful images, some stories that were memorable - but to my disappointment, I found many of them to be fairly ordinary - too short to make an impact, at least on me.
Delightful quick read. The river Thames has frozen 40 times in recorded history, and for each, the author has written a short vignette, based on true events. Some whimsical, some ironic, some tragic. there are lovely illustrations for each vignette. Compulsive as I am, I had to tally up the years between each freeze and average it out. (It froze every 19.6 yrs, BTW)
Feb 19, 2011
Mrsgaskell
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
bookcrossing,
9-star
The Thames has frozen solid forty times during recorded history. This lovely little book is a collection of forty vignettes based on events that actually happened during each of those times. Some tell of well-known historical personages, others of more common folk. It really was a fascinating glimpse of history, like taking a walk through time on the surface of the frozen river. The illustrations beautifully complement the text.
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Helen Humphreys is the author of four books of poetry, five novels, and one work of creative non-fiction. She was born in Kingston-on-Thames, England, and now lives in Kingston, Ontario with her dog, Hazel.
Her first novel, Leaving Earth(1997), won the 1998 City of Toronto Book Award and was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. Her second novel, Afterimage (2000), won the 2000 Rogers Writers'...more
More about Helen Humphreys...
Her first novel, Leaving Earth(1997), won the 1998 City of Toronto Book Award and was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. Her second novel, Afterimage (2000), won the 2000 Rogers Writers'...more
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“She believes in the words of her fortune teller, but really, anyone could have told her that if you have to stop doing the thing you love, it will kill you.”
—
2 people liked it
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Cute meant exactly that...cute. There was nothing "shallow" in my meaning.
Apr 26, 2013 08:32pm
Apr 27, 2013 10:47am