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Tipping the Velvet
September 2012
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Tipping the Velvet: Chapters One through Six
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Honestly I read this book a few years ago. I saw the movie first so I was excited to read it. When I originally started however, I didn't get far before I just put it down. Somehow I feel like my level of intellect wasn't quite where it needed to be at the time. I picked it up again, restarted it and couldn't put it down! I can't even recall exactly what it was they made me stop. I feel like it starts with a comfortable amount of setup without droning on too much and losing the reader.
SPOILERS FOR CHAPTER ONEI saw the movie a few months ago and enjoyed it, particularly the beginning and the end. I've been meaning to get the book but hadn't yet, so this was just the push I needed to do it.
I just finished the first chapter and have been truly pulled into Nan's world. I'm finding book!Nan to be much more likeable than movie!Nan was to me. The description of her feelings when thinking about Kitty Butler are so reminiscent of my own first-crush feelings that I'm feeling right at home in her mind at the moment, if that makes sense.
I found the part where she talks to her sister, Alice, about her feelings hard to read. I think we've all had that moment when we were sharing our innermost thoughts with someone we love and trust who turns out to be less than supportive, and how painful that is when it's something as intrinsic to our being as orientation.
I'm at the middle of chapter 3. I am really enjoying the book so far.I too (as Jody mentioned) found myself remembering my first-crush feelings when Nan describes her feelings for Kitty Butler.
I searched all yesterday to find the only copy in town for sale at chapters. I went home and read the first four chapter I couldn't put it down.It moved me a great deal, I feel so relatable to Nan and I didn't realize it till this morning but when Nan was telling Alice her feelings for Kitty I was telling my longest BFF my girl drama...something until last night she never knew about.
I was really sad when I read the part in chapter 5 I think about the drunken guy who called them 'Toms' and how different kitty has been since then.
I started reading this book early last year but I only got the first three chapters read before I gave it up. I didn't get much time to read it and when I did have the time I just wasn't invested in it enough to keep reading. Now that I've started it again, however, I'm actually taking the time to read it properly and I'm enjoying it a great deal more than I did before.
I am realllllllly enjoying this book! I too am finding it hard to put down! I've been missing out on a few hours of sleep this week because of it!I'm finding it really interesting when Nan says she finds Kitty more attractive when she is dressed as a man, or even when Nan herself dresses as a man. It's neat how the author is not only playing with sexual orientation but also gender within this book. It is also cool to see Waters incorporate some contemporary themes and issues that gay people face into the historical Victorian setting.
That's my two cents for now! Hope you are all enjoying it as much as I am!
I've been putting off reading the novel for years because of the period it is set in, and because I had heard that Waters writes in the Victorian style. Now that I am finally reading it, I must admit that her style off-put me at first, but I have gotten used to it.I'm intrigued by how Nan has discovered her masculine side, particularly when she first wears her male costume. I think in today's world, where clothing for a gender is less restrictive, we may forget the freedom of expression one can first feel when wearing something that we may not yet recognize that we identify with. It's a powerful, albeit small, scene.
I guess I'll start by disclaiming that this is a reread for me. Possibly a fourth? I adore this book, it's one of my favourites. I went to hear Sarah Waters speak about The Little Stranger and the backlash she'd had from the lesbian community because it wasn't a lesbian story (and very happily got my copy of TTV signed into the bargain). Really interesting speaker, very lovely person.I think TTV remains one of my favourites because Nan is such a sympathetic character. I suspect there would be few people who could not see in themselves that first glimmer of self-awareness when she first lays eyes on Kitty, or the pangs of their very first painful crush. And Waters has such a wonderful ability to immerse you in the story. I often get so engrossed I swear I catch a whiff of the grease paint and the gas lamps.
The first six chapters almost takes you through to the end of part one. It's the lovely, warm feeling of Nan's self-discovery. I think I smile all the way through it, she's so beautifully innocent and in love with life, and Kitty.
I only wish there were more amazing lesbian period books to read, outside of Waters. There are some (Wildthorn by Jane Eagland springs to mind) but they lack the depth and sheer beauty of Water's. If anyone has any recs I'd be stoked.
So I must admit, it took a while for me to really get "into" this book, although I know it's simply because I jumped right into it after finishing another book that I had been very, very enamored with. I think this happens sometimes, and has nothing to do with the new book--our minds are just still lost in the world of our last book and it's hard to readjust.But thankfully I'm past that and fully immersed in the music halls of London now. I agree with what a lot of people have said here about how this book deals not just with sexuality but with gender--it's one of my favorite parts. I love how turned on Nan gets by both Kitty's masculine and feminine roles, and also the way she feels about herself taking on a masculine role--it's just all so good!
Alice's reaction was indeed heartbreaking, but I have the feeling that there's no one I'm going to be more disappointed by than Kitty herself.
I think there were two bits that really stood out for me in chapters 1-6. The first was on the Saturday night when she went to see Kitty perform with her family after a week of watching her on her own. It is so wonderfully written that I truly felt the sadness and disappointment when Nan realises that Kitty was looking for her in the box and she wasn't there. The second, as many people have already said, is when she puts on the masculine clothes for the first time, even more so when she puts on the suit especially tailored for her but they think she looks too much like a boy and she is disappointed at having to have her suit altered so she looks like a girl in boy's clothes.
I love Sarah Waters "Fingersmith" but I didn't read or watch Tipping the Velvet. So I buy the book as digital version for my kindle.The first six chapters from the book was nice and good to read. Nan at this point is a very young innocent and green woman who found her first love and live in a big city with. It was nice to read how proud Nan was to be part of Kitty and her world, how she write to her folks. She loves Kitty more in her butch version I thing, which is kind of intresting.
I don't really like Kitty at all. For me, she is to much a .... player.
So look what is happend next ...
I read Tipping the Velvet a few years ago after falling in love with the film. I actually liked the book better even though I've rewatched the film a few times since I havn't reread the book! I think the time has come
I just finished the first six chapters and I'm really enjoying the book. As much as I like the book I'm not overly crazy about Nan herself. I just want to smack her and say "Wake Up!". I know it's her first love and all, but we all know there's no way it's going to end well with all those foreboding clues every couple pages. I also don't like the way she's treating her family. Her parents haven't done a thing wrong and even though Alice couldn't accept the truth, I think of you bring the time period the book is set in, her reaction was pretty damn good.
Some one earlier said they thought Kitty was a player which made me wonder because I never thought of her like that. I'm starting to think that maybe Kitty isn't so much of a player as she is a person who was experienced. I kinda liked her character flaws and all UNTIL their first love scene where she's didn't reciprocate. Nan should of walked out right then and there love or no love.
As a side note if you guys are interested in knowing about the billion or so references or people on the book. There's a website called bookdrum.com. If you search tipping the velvet you'll see that someone gave a page by page break down of EVERY LITTLE REFERENCE OR PERSON mentioned. I followed it for about ten pages before I gave up, but I'm sure someone will find it useful.
Accordingly, use this space to discuss the first six chapters of the book, if you are already in a position to do so. I repeat: this is not a strict timetable; if you have not read the first six chapters, there is no reason to despair. Use this space if you can; if not, feel free to join in at the end of the month, or whenever you can. At the beginning of next week, I'll post another thread for the following six chapters.
I myself am just cracking open the spine so I don't have many deep questions or thoughts to start off the discussion!
But my general feelings when I start a book involve how quickly I'm able to sink into it. Sometimes it takes me awhile to really get used to the book, either because of the style or the plot. My relationship with the characters feels like a slowly building love affair. Sometimes it hooks me right away; I know that I love these people and these places from the first moment.
How enraptured--or not--in Sarah Waters' world are you at this point, through the first 150 pages?