Royal Escape from the Topic - for off topic chit chat Showing 251-300 of 2,839

[Susan in Perthshire]

Kim wrote: "Barbara Cartland wrote the same book over and over. All her heroines had heart-shaped faces. She made Harlequin romances seem literary."

Kim you made me laugh out loud! I read a couple of hers when I was about 12 and thought they were atrocious!

[HJ]

Karlyne wrote: "The name doesn't ring any bells with me, but I know that Heyer had a lot of trouble with, if not out-right plagiarism, at least something close to it! I seem to remember that she actually sued Barb..."

I think her solicitors wrote a stiff letter to Barbara Cartland pointing out that she was using phrases and situations completely invented by Heyer and warning her to stop. She did, so no proceedings were issued. (From memory.)

[Jay-me (Janet)]

I may try Alice Chetwynd Ley - I've found some of her books on kindle, and even better (for me anyway) they are on kindle unlimited.

[Susan in Perthshire]

Apparently in her later books, GH always put in a made-up fact or phrase to trip up the would-be plagiarists because she was so fed up of her stuff being offered up wholesale in other people's books. Cartland was apparently the worst offender - entire plots and collections of characters were regurtitated!

[Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽]

Kim wrote: "Barbara Cartland wrote the same book over and over. All her heroines had heart-shaped faces. She made Harlequin romances seem literary."

Yes!! Just change the color of the heroine's hair and presto! new Cartland romance. All of the heroines were lovely, kind, gentle virgins who spoke breathlessly, with lots of ellipses (especially when moved by Twue Wuv); all of the heroes were incredibly handsome reformed rakes. I can't believe I wasted my time with these books when I was young and foolish. The only memorable one I read was a direct take-off of The Prisoner of Zenda, with the sexes switched.

Cartland books almost put me off ellipses for life.

[QNPoohBear]

Tadiana ✩ Night Owl☽ wrote: "Kim wrote: "Barbara Cartland wrote the same book over and over. All her heroines had heart-shaped faces. She made Harlequin romances seem literary."

Yes!! Just change the color of the heroine's hair and presto! new Cartland romance. All of the heroines were lovely, kind, gentle virgins who spoke breathlessly, with lots of ellipses (especially when moved by Twue Wuv); all of the heroes were incredibly handsome reformed rakes."

Actually, Love in the Clouds breaks that mold completely and is a non-Heyer plot copycat. It takes place on the trek to Nepal and in Nepal. The heroine is a bluestocking. The hero is still an alpha hero of the Heyer type but I liked the story and the romance.

[Marissa]

Re Barbara Cartland--we used to play a game in college mumbledy-mumble years ago where we would take turns reading the last three pages of Barbara Cartland novels out loud, leaving out the nouns but raising our eyebrows suggestively as we read. It was quite hilarious.

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂]

I'm back! Horribly jetlagged as the our flights both ways were cheap because they weren't direct (never doing that again!) so I'm a bit groggy!
The world has changed a lot & we had free wi fi most places we went, but other than in Bangkok & the airport at HCMC I found it too bad to use to post. & I dropped my phone in Cambodia & the screen now badly cracked so it was very hard to read my phone after that.
& overall we had a wonderful time although we did get scammed a few times in Bangkok & Vietnam. I'm going to be entering any competitions that give a trip to Laos or Cambodia as a prize!
My special highlight was reading with local school kids at an evening class in Luang Prebang. Their thirst for knowledge was humbling.
Most memorable was the tour we did of the Killing Fields & Prison T-21. Our guide's parents were murdered by the Khmer Rouge. Harrowing.
Happy highlights? Angkor Wat & Halong Bay. Every bit as lovely as the postcards.

[Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽]

Welcome back, Carol! It sounds like an amazing trip!

[Andrea AKA Catsos Person]

Wow Carol! Overall, it sounds as if you had a good trip!

Welcome back!

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂]

Thanks. I'm still so confused. I woke up thinking I was in Vietnam & needed to get up to go on a tour!

& the Rest Home Mum was in "forgot" to forward us a bill & the doctor wants payment. Mum died Boxing day. Unbelievable.

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂]

& I believe it's Thanksgiving, so Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

[Susan in Perthshire]

Welcome back!

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂]

☆ Ｃａｒｏｌ ☆ wrote: "& my kids were home last weekend so I asked how they were intending to vote. Originally we all wanted our flag to change.

My son hates all the new ones so won't be voting in first referendum.
My d..."

The voting papers are here. My husband has changed his mind & is now not going to vote. If he can't have the iconic silver fern on a black background then he doesn't want to change

[Andrea AKA Catsos Person]

Thanks for the update! This is very interesting.

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂]

Andrea (Catsos Person) is a Compulsive eBook Hoarder wrote: "Thanks for the update! This is very interesting."

The waste of money with how poorly this has been handled really gets me - & I was in favour of change.

$63 million could have provided a lot of lunches for school kids who are sent to school hungry.
Library books for our under resourced school libraries
Knocked a bit of a hole in some long surgery waiting lists.

[Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽]

I like the fern with the black and blue background and the Southern Cross. What are most people saying in NZ? Who decided which designs should be the final five?

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂]

Tadiana ✩ Night Owl☽ wrote: "I like the fern with the black and blue background and the Southern Cross. What are most people saying in NZ? Who decided which designs should be the final five?"

Most people in NZ are saying either they don't want change or they wanted the silver fern on a black background. A small number like Red Peak but that is very similar to a firm called Peak Engineering's logo & I would assume we will get sued if that is chosen.

The timing was really off & most people assume John Key (our PM) did it to either cement his own place in history or to try to divert Kiwis from our economic woes. A large number of flag designs were submitted. I will freely admit to being asleep at the wheel & should have checked out the submission process as the public was allowed some input.

I was aghast at most of the final 40. The committee is chaired by one of the least able MPs & the committee didn't include a graphic designer or flag design expert. (My daughter, who is a graphic designer, is pretty fluent on the whole subject!) An example of a committee member is Julie Christie, who produces some of our crappier reality TV. So it's not too surprising that a lot of the designs look like corporate logos.

[Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽]

Interesting to know. I hadn't thought about the corporate logo comparison, but now that you mention it, yes. I was disappointed that there wasn't more variety in the top 40 (I went and looked when I saw your last email). It seemed like an odd assortment. Sorry the process didn't turn out better!

[Hana]

What an amazing trip that must have been, Carol. I am so glad you enjoyed it. I'll be looking for some pictures!!! But no pressure :D

Do you know of any good books on the Khmer Rouge? I am ashamed at how little I know about that harrowing period.

That makes sense about the flag change as political distraction. And the corporate logo style fits right into that scenario. I've noticed a fad among corporations for changing their logos and names as management stops running the company properly. Our local electric company has changed its name and logo at least five times in the the last ten years. Meanwhile the bills keep going up....despite record low gas and oil prices :P

And then there are those 'symbolic' changes. My generally excellent local bank used to be called Toronto Dominion. I liked that. The Canadians generally do a decent job regulating their banks and the name had a sort of grandeur and sweep-of-history quality and made me think fondly of our neighbors to the north.

Natch, they had to change that to TD Bank. Boring, dull logo, but presumably no colonial or foreign residue. Terribly PC. I bet they hired a consulting company for millions!

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂]

Hana wrote: "What an amazing trip that must have been, Carol. I am so glad you enjoyed it. I'll be looking for some pictures!!! But no pressure :D

Do you know of any good books on the Khmer Rouge? I am ashamed..."

Hey Hana! On my "to read" & "to read-local library" shelves I have some titles. I'll review & let everyone know which are the "good reads."

The visit to T-21 & the killing fields were harrowing. I have been to concentration camps in Europe, but you use your imagination more. At the Killing Fields you had to be careful where you walked as bits of clothing, bone & teeth are in the ground & are revealed as the dust shifts. Looking at the tree where guards smashed babies in front of their distraught mothers...it is hard to believe the evil ordinary people can do.

& Cambodians love Kiwis. Apparently (showing my own ignorance here) we were one of the first governments to protest. Since we are generally used to our opinion being irrelevent on the world stage their gratitude was touching - & shaming.

[Hana]

Thank you for digging through your bookshelves for me, Carol. Meanwhile, I just finished The Age of Innocence thanks to your nudges. It was wonderful!!! Edith Wharton is rapidly becoming one of my all-time favorite writers. I can't believe I've let decades go by without discovering her.

[Andrea AKA Catsos Person]

Hana, I read AoI this year too--loved it!

Can you believe it was BOTM for 4 of my GR groups this year?

[Hana]

I love the Age of Innocence quotes you selected, Andrea. Now, me...I totally adored the ending. It had a bittersweet delicacy, a sense of time and opportunity irrevocably lost. I also was floored by the sudden. belated insight into May's character.

[Andrea AKA Catsos Person]

I admit that the ending fit the story but it was jarring to see just how my reading of historical romance influenced my outlook. I was looking for a HEA like a HR-- but I had to realize this was not that kind of book. This book was more complex than a simple HEA ending.

[Abigail]

It’s interesting to have this window onto New Zealand politics; seems like the triumph of style over substance is a global trend in politics! Or maybe we should call it bread and circuses.

[Hana]

Good point, Abigail. I suspect it may even be an outcome of globalization. I've read that Hollywood deliberately dumbs down the dialog and ramps up the action because that translates more easily into international sales. The stripped down, de-localized corporate logos and flags are, perhaps, a way to create a low risk image that is superficially pleasing and inoffensive and--at the core--meaningless.

[Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽]

Hana wrote: "I love the Age of Innocence quotes you selected, Andrea. Now, me...I totally adored the ending. It had a bittersweet delicacy, a sense of time and opportunity irrevocably lost. I also was floored b..."

I have The Age of Innocence on my Kindle and have been meaning to read it for ages. You've motivated me to push it up to the top part of my TBR list.

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂]

Age of Innocence was my favourite new-to-me read of the year. I also loved the Michelle Pfeiffer movie.

[Jay-me (Janet)]

Footsteps in the Dark is reduced on kindle today (UK site)
I might have to get it to start my collection of GH mysteries.

[Susan in Perthshire]

Thank you for the tip Jay-me, just bought it! So rare for GH to be discounted.

[Jay-me (Janet)]

Susan wrote: "Thank you for the tip Jay-me, just bought it! So rare for GH to be discounted."

I have all the GH books that I don't own on my Amazon wishlist, plus I have email reminders from eReaderIQ for GH - so I get emails for any price drops. I can let you know if I get any emails.

[Susan in Perthshire]

Jay-me (Janet) wrote: "Susan wrote: "Thank you for the tip Jay-me, just bought it! So rare for GH to be discounted."

I have all the GH books that I don't own on my Amazon wishlist, plus I have email reminders from eRead..."
That would be great! Ta!

[Critterbee❇]

Six GH KINDLE books on sale at Amazon US, for today only I think! Each title is $1.99. The titles are:

The Unknown Ajax

Bath Tangle

Sylvester: or The Wicked Uncle

A Civil Contract

Sprig Muslin

The Unfinished Clue (Country House Mysteries)

[Jay-me (Janet)]

The Black Moth is on offer for kindle on amazon uk.

[Susan in Perthshire]

Jay-me (Janet) wrote: "The Black Moth is on offer for kindle on amazon uk."

Thank you! Just bought it - I have wanted to read this again for about 20 years!!

[Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽]

You can always find The Black Moth on Gutenberg and other free ebook sites; it's the one GH book old enough to be out of copyright.

[Susan in Perthshire]

Tadiana ✩ Night Owl☽ wrote: "You can always find The Black Moth on Gutenberg and other free ebook sites; it's the one GH book old enough to be out of copyright."

Now you tell me!! Never mind, it was only 93pence!

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂]

☆ Ｃａｒｏｌ ☆ wrote: "
& the Rest Home Mum was in "forgot" to forward us a bill & the doctor wants payment. Mum died..."

Well we are going to ignore this. It looks like the office worker from the Rest Home (not a particularly likeable person)paid this in error & is now trying to recover the money. This surgery (which I don't recall & the bill doesn't give details) was from October 2014, Mum died the following Boxing Day & her estate was settled months ago.

[Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽]

Just for fun, instead of working the last half hour I’ve done some digging into copyright law as it pertains to Georgette Heyer and her novels. ( I do copyright law as part of my legal practice.)

Starting off with U.S. law: anything published before 1978 has a 95 year copyright term (with some exceptions that I won’t get into here). Because of reasons (i.e., legislative whimsy), for several years everything published in 1922 or before has been out of copyright. Starting in just a couple of years, in 2018, all works published in 1923 will lose their copyright. In 2019, we’ll get what was published in 1924, and so on.

Here are the GH works that will be in the public domain in the next 5 years in the US, with their original publication dates:
The Black Moth (1921) – already out of copyright in U.S.
Powder and Patch (1923)
Instead of the Thorn (1923) (contemporary novel)
The Great Roxhythe (1923)
Simon the Coldheart (1925)
These Old Shades (1926)

Short stories:
"A Proposal to Cicely" 4 September 1922 - you can read this at https://janeaustensworld.wordpress.co... (it's cute but very lightweight. I think it's copied straight from tweets, which causes some formatting problems)
"The Bulldog and the Beast" March 1923
"Linckes' Great Case" 2 March 1923

UK copyright law protects copyright for the life of the author plus 70 years. Since Georgette died in 1974, that means all of her works keep their copyrights until 2044 in the UK, when they all lose their copyrights at once. So in 30 years our UK ladies can have a Georgette Heyer party.

A few countries, like Canada, have a life plus 50 years rule, so there the party starts in 2024. See you in about 8 years! (Does Canada have its own Gutenberg website? I might be paying it an illicit visit…)

[Andrea AKA Catsos Person]

Very interesting Tadiana.

[Hana]

Excellent work, Tadiana! Definitely something to look forward to. I like your phrase "legislative whimsy". I shall have to remember it the next time a client asks me "foolish" questions like "why the extra half year?" when I explain that they must take required minimum distributions from their retirement accounts starting at age 70 and 1/2! Those busy, busy little lawmakers all having such fun :P

[Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽]

Legislative whimsy did seem like a very apropos phrase; I'm glad you liked it. :)

I just paid an interesting visit to the Gutenberg Canada website. A couple of interesting things: whoever manages the website is up in arms because the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement that's being negotiated by several countries will, if ratified by Canada, extend their copyright term to life + 70 years (which matches most countries). So the Canadians may not get their early Georgette Heyer after all! Also, although there are a lot of interesting authors who died between 1946 and 1966 whose works you might expect to see on Gutenberg Canada, their catalog is rather limited. It might be worth going to take a look if you're interested, though (even if you don't live in Canada). http://www.gutenberg.ca/

[Hana]

Poor Canada! (and US!) I'll check out Gutenberg Canada--maybe there is some older Canadian literature that would be fun for my Around the World reading tour.

I've been so tempted by the imminent end of Downton Abbey to do one of those ISPN work-arounds so I can watch the UK version and not wait for PBS. Alas. I'm basically too honest. And it's probably a security risk. Drat PBS.

[Hana]

Hmm. *reading Gutenberg Canada* Plenty of other reasons to be against the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement but this is a "novel" one :)

[Abigail]

Thank you so much, Tadiana, for the wonderful work! Looks like some good Dorothy Sayers and Margery Allingham novels should be coming out of copyright soon, too.

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂]

Sayers! Allingham! I'm still a Canadian citizen.Surely that should count for something!

Although I don't know if I could cope with any more books! I'm back at work.They have been inundated with books & with my latest haul I have come with a Kingsolver (for my sister) 2 Mary Stewarts, a Barbara Pym, a Margaret Irwin, an Agatha Christie, Satyricon, a biography of Evita, a Cordon Bleu Cook book & by Duong Thu Huong. All but the last book & the Kingsolver were from the throw out pile. All the Georgette Heyer's have gone - hopefully they weren't thrown out. :( But this tiny op shop has been overwhelmed with books. Among other things we have 5 banana boxes of Harlequin Mills & Boon.

[Abigail]

Oh, Lordy, working in a bookshop would be Christmas all the time for me. We’ll hope the Heyers all found good homes!

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂]

I like your new pic Hana! (if you are still reading)

I'll just thank everyone for a wonderful Georgette Heyer reading year.

I'm looking forward to an equally wonderful Georgette Heyer reading year in 2016.

I've had two wonderful surprises. one of my nephews has come home for a surprise holiday from the UK & my son came home a day early! The reason for my son isn't quite so wonderful - they ran out of materials for his job, but it is great to have him home!

[Karlyne]

Carol ♪ Blinded by the Light ♪ GR Background wrote: "I like your new pic Hana! (if you are still reading)

I'll just thank everyone for a wonderful Georgette Heyer reading year.

I'm looking forward to an equally wonderful Georgette Heyer reading ye..."

Carol, two things: Why are you Blinded by the Light (thanks, I'm singing now), and is your profile picture from your trip?!