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The Life of Thomas More
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May 2021 - The Life of Thomas More, by Peter Ackroyd
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Susanna - Censored by GoodReads, Mod #4
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May 05, 2021 03:44PM
Peter Ackroyd's biography of Thomas More is our group read in May 2021. It was published in 1998, and won the James Tait Black Prize for Biography. It seems widely available in a variety of editions.
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Hello and happy Mother's Day to all those who qualify,I am well into Thomas More's life story. I have just finished his writing of Utopia. Imagine my shock when I found that his vision of a perfect society included slaves, but then, I saw that the slaves were prisoners of war which makes it alright. I also saw how far our standards of conduct in school have fallen when reading of Thomas's own education (sorry about the delay in typing, but I had to reference possessive nouns ending in "s." Should it be Thomas's or Thomas'?) Poor Thomas was not allowed to cough, spit, nor scratch himself in class.
Also today, I began the biography of Cromwell. Oliver not his great-great-great- uncle ( vis a vis Oliver's great-great-grandmother Katherine) Thomas with whom we are so familiar. So far,
by Antonia Fraser is well done, but, alas, a bit out of our time frame. Although, Oliver was born in 1599, so, his first 4 years are fair game. I could nominate the first chapter for a July read. In case you think the first chapter would be boring; it includes the first violent encounter between 4-year old Thomas and the 2-year old Prince Charles Stuart.
"Thomas'" is correct. (Had to go ask the resident grammarian why: basically, because it's two syllables.)ETA: Fraser's biography of (Oliver) Cromwell is excellent, though I have not read it in some years.
Susanna - Censored by GoodReads wrote: ""Thomas'" is correct. (Had to go ask the resident grammarian why: basically, because it's two syllables.)Unless you're English, in which case it should be Thomas's. ;)
I've always thought it was spelled Thomas's but pronounced Thomas'
My understanding is that it depends on how the name is pronounced. If it ends in an "ses" sound (i.e. if his name were Thomases), then it's just a possessive without an additional s.
Good god, no wonder I was confused when I tried to write Thomas in the possessive. I should have just said Tom's and been done with it. Was Tom an allowable nickname back then and would the stern Cromwell been upset by the casual reference?
I think so; "Tom" is a pretty old nickname.
I went and looked it up. My source says it originated in the late 14th century.
Thank you Thomas More for a new insult to hurl at someone. And it is in Latin. "Simplicibus et ideotis hominibus," (page 279) it sounds worse than it is but hey it's in Latin, so, the target of the insult won't know any better. Of course it doesn't come close to the 1950 Florida Democratic senate primary where Smathers accused his opponent of the following. ''Are you aware that Claude Pepper is known all over Washington as a shameless extrovert? Not only that, but this man is reliably reported to practice nepotism with his sister-in-law and he has a sister who was once a thespian in wicked New York. Worst of all, it is an established fact that Mr. Pepper, before his marriage, habitually practiced celibacy.'' (H. Raines, New York Times, Feb 24, 1983, "LEGENDARY CAMPAIGN: PEPPER VS. SMATHERS IN '50") I should note that Smathers denies ever saying this.
I believe that's the same race where he accused Pepper of being a "practicing heterosexual."
I'm listening to the More bio on audible (an excellent production) and I'm rather blown away. I love how Ackroyd will mention a small detail (i.e. More kneeling twice a day for his father's blessing) and then dive into it in a big way that illuminates both More and the culture.
