Writing is so hard; sometimes the difference between "showing" and "telling" can be very subtle. After all, no matter how much action you "show," you'...moreWriting is so hard; sometimes the difference between "showing" and "telling" can be very subtle. After all, no matter how much action you "show," you're still "telling" it on the page. How do you make your reader believe your "writing/telling" is "experiencing/showing?"
My feeling with Sheen is at this point that there's too much telling going on; it weighs down the story, kind of squashes flat the emotional arc. However, this story hits a personal trifecta with me (history, mystery, medicine) so I am going to give it a little bit more time and see what happens, but it is making me want to re-read (again) The Beacon at Alexandria.
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OK, I'm going to let this one go. There's too many other things I want to try & the story or writing isn't pulling me back to it. (less)
Whether you accept that there was a children's literature (or even a concept of childhood) in antiquity or the middle ages or not, I still appreciated...moreWhether you accept that there was a children's literature (or even a concept of childhood) in antiquity or the middle ages or not, I still appreciated the first several chapters of this book for providing a possible new way to think about reading, writing, and texts for children before the Renaissance. However, I read Perry Nodelman's review just as I was finishing up with the ancient history parts of Lerer's book, and his devastating critique had too much of an effect on me and I never finished the book. However, exploring various critics' response to Lerer's book brought Nodelman's The Hidden Adult to my awareness, and that's the children's literature book I'll read next. (less)
Status: on page 135...and bored silly. I am in a stubborn mood & will finish it, but so far this is my least favorite of the series.
More Recent St...moreStatus: on page 135...and bored silly. I am in a stubborn mood & will finish it, but so far this is my least favorite of the series.
More Recent Status: I made it to the big reveal at the end of the first half of the story and thought, "Oh, for Pete's sake," and closed the book. Possibly I will finish before I read the next book in the series, but possibly I won't.
The final two straws: Philippa's "deduction" that there was a safe behind a piece of art on the wall as proof of her intellectual powers (sorry, no);...moreThe final two straws: Philippa's "deduction" that there was a safe behind a piece of art on the wall as proof of her intellectual powers (sorry, no); and the use of the word & concept "weekend" at least 60 years before weekends existed. (less)
I am only on page 36 and am already pretty frustrated with this, and I may or may not keep reading. This is exactly the type of chatty, sociological s...moreI am only on page 36 and am already pretty frustrated with this, and I may or may not keep reading. This is exactly the type of chatty, sociological survey that I adore, but I also adore proper citations in my non-fiction.
For this book, there's a bibliography, there's a topical index, but there are NO FOOTNOTES. If you tell me that a medieval travel guide used certain phrases, then I want to know what travel guide it was, I don't want to have to pour through the bibliography hoping to stumble across it. If you tell me that most people in England use duvets rather than sheets and blankets, I want to know sales figures that back this up, because I'm over here in the US and this is not necessarily what I see represented in movies, TV shows, and books. And if you're going to tell me that the origin of the phrase "sleep tight" has to do with the sagging ropes in medieval bed frames, you're just wrong, because a search will show that the OED doesn't record that phrase until 1933, and a couple easily-found articles offer an alternate, research-supported theory that you don't even mention in your text.
There are some fascinating pieces of information and interesting suppositions in this book so far, but frankly I am going to have to take everything else in the book with a grain of salt. Boo. (less)
818280 Eh, I have a hard time getting into a romance with a diary. Sooner or later the significant other is going to find it and It Never Ends Well. A...more818280 Eh, I have a hard time getting into a romance with a diary. Sooner or later the significant other is going to find it and It Never Ends Well. At least until the Happily Ever After, I mean. I am not mustering up enthusiasm to finish this, but the Egyptian setting does make me want to re-read Mr Impossible, which of course now I can't find on my shelves. Grrrr. (less)
Read halfway, enough to get a romance fix, then didn't need to pick it up again. I'll probably pick up the first one in the series--maybe I'll read ha...moreRead halfway, enough to get a romance fix, then didn't need to pick it up again. I'll probably pick up the first one in the series--maybe I'll read half that one too. :) (less)
I wish I could remember the article I was reading about people who don't finish books--because I think the theory was that we read a book until we rea...moreI wish I could remember the article I was reading about people who don't finish books--because I think the theory was that we read a book until we reach emotional completion *for ourselves* --which may not be when the written text is finished.
Since then I've been paying attention to WHERE in a book I abandon it. Interestingly, though I really enjoyed the first part of this book, I stopped reading just after Hazel enters the forest and meets the witch.
Was I satisfied because all I needed to know was that Hazel was the type of person to go after a good friend in need despite the consequences? And the actual result of her actions was of lesser importance?
Or did I just get distracted and never get back to it?
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