Ersatz TLS discussion
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Weekly TLS
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What Are We Reading? 21 June 2021
I have finished The Sea by Blai Bonet and recommend it to the TLS, not an easy read at all but a remarkable work of catalan fiction
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(photo of plaque installed in library…)
The library is located just a short distance from Justine’s home of many decades, in the gardens of West Hackney Recreation Ground, Evering Road N16 7QA. Here is a map.
We’ve loaded the library up…
And we’ve inserted a bookmark into each book that points back to our Goodreads Justine Memorial thread, where I’ve posted some details about how this all came about.
(The bookmark is based on a mosaic project at West Hackney Recreation Ground.)
And we laminated an information page that also points visitors back to the Justine Memorial page:
We are hoping to get at least a few visitors – and maybe even some new members – from the Little Library patrons. Time will tell.
On-site installation is happening as we speak! Justine’s flat-mate, a dear friend, and a member or two from her non-virtual bookclubs will attend the unveiling. The plaque hasn’t arrived, the paint may still be wet, but it will be live in just a few hours! I’ll post more photos as soon as I have them.
Ninety-nine percent of the credit for this project goes to one of our dearest TLS friends, who hatched the scheme, scouted and then negotiated the location, collected the books, designed the bookmarks, engaged a carpenter to build the structure, and much more. Another of our dear friends penned the wonderful memorial tribute over on the Justine Memorial thread, a tribute that brought tears to my eyes within the first few sentences. Two other dear friends, along with myself, have contributed clever details, financial support, and cheerleading. All of these people wish to remain anonymous and I hope everyone will respect that request (I'd remain anonymous myself, but wouldn't be able to tell you about this if I did!)
Justine's family and friends are very excited about this venture, and send their thanks and appreciation to all of us here.
Stay tuned, installation photos to follow!
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Because this page is outward-facing, please limit your posts to tributes only, and bring any discussions or chatter back here.
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As mentioned above, I had tears in my eyes immediately, reading this. I didn't realize that in addition to needing a fitting tribute to Justine, we needed a tribute to TLS. Thank you, anon, for providing us with both!
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The Ersatz TLS group is the ever-vital remnant of the Tips, Links and Suggestions discussion group in The Guardian’s Book pages. Posters wrote reviews of the books that they had read, often of a quality to rival professional critics. People popped their heads in to ask for recommendations and were then inundated with branching trees of books. Literature as art, authors as subject, philosophy, the comfort of bookshelves, the clutter of to be read stacks and the comforting quasi-erotic smell of a room full of books, all were subjects of constant discussion. There were frequent posters, flitting shadows of passing visitors, a softly murmuring presence of dwellers/never-posters reading our discussions. If you wanted to get recommendations on Afghani poetry, Yiddish authors, Lesbian playwrights, pre-comic code storylines, Serbian travel writers, what have you, you could be sure that someone amongst the participants could have something to recommend you.
We had PhD students in travel literature, well-known authors, playwrights, poets, caregivers, retirees, doctors, students, partners, politicians, military historians, booksellers, librarians, teachers and people of all forms and fixtures from every area of life and every continent not currently fracturing into massive icy chunks.
Sometimes fights broke out, sometimes feelings were bruised sometimes regular posters dropped out as life intervened, sometimes some flounced off, but the TLS pages remained vibrant and packed full of folks who could share their love for the written word. Under the watchful gaze and gentle stewardship of Claire, Marta, and eventually Sam and Sian a cohesive group of Forest Dwellers coalesced and created a little society. Sometimes a welcoming one, sometimes a brittle one, but a society. Probably we used it as a therapy session too often, but it was a rare niche of general decency on the internet where we Book Lovers could share our thoughts. It was hell on the bank account. You couldn’t get through a week’s column without picking up a half-dozen books that you knew you would someday have to read.
We often referred to each other as Forest Dwellers, as one constant presence termed us (from the Book Savers in Fahrenheit 451. One of the most dependable Book Herders was Justine, who posted under the Interwar moniker. Always smiling, always engaged Justine was the gentle soul of the TLS Forest. Kindness incarnate, Justine rarely showed anything but patience and understanding. Quick to celebrate your bookish enthusiasm, or champion an author no one had yet heard, or to fete an old favorite, Justine was one of the best amongst us. As she wound her way down into retirement after a lifetime teaching, Interwar was the calm center of the TLS Forest. A New Yorker by birth, but a longtime London expat by choice, Justine was able to see discussions from both sides, whether it was pitting The Great American Novel versus The British Fundament, or the foreigner viewpoint versus the native one. Initially interested in works published between WWI and WWII, hence the Interwar user name, Justine’s reading bloomed and branched and meandered and leapt in different directions. From newly published works, to short stories, to long-forgotten geniuses, Justine was one of the most dependable posters for recommendations. One of the more open posters to offer understanding and sympathy. One of the more dependable posters to celebrate her fellow Forest Dwellers. Justine was the chlorophyll of our Forest, she fixed the sunlight and translated it into a gently laughing voice that you could hear in your head as you read her posts. I have no doubt that if we were to hear her voice, it would sound just like the voice we heard in our heads. Much like her photo reflects the face we saw before us as we discussed the latest Colum McCann novel, or discussed the wonder of Grace Paley or unappreciated genius of Rosamund Lehman. When The Guardian chose to put a period upon the TLS discussion sentence, it was only natural that Lisa and Justine would be the leaders of its replacement. They were/are our Den Mothers, our shepherds.
Whether it ever returns or not, the TLS Forest live on our love for literature, and Justine too lives on. All the students who she helped and formed, all the readers whose enthusiasm she kindled, all of us who flocked here as soon as she suggested migrating to Goodreads, all of us owe a happy debt to Justine. Her absence is never not felt, her voice is never not needed, but she remains here with us as an energy and beautiful serenity. As we turn the pages and discover a new love on the printed page, Justine is there sitting alongside us, clapping her hands and saying “Wonderful! I envy you. I wish I could read that for the first time again.” We miss you deeply Justine, but hope to find you again between the pages of that next book.
Lljones wrote: "it is my great pleasure to announce a memorial for our dear Justine"Marvellous! Thanks for the update Lisa.
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"At long last and without further ado, it is my great pleasure to announce a memorial for our dear Justine, being installed today"It is a beautiful, absolutely perfect memorial to inter. I feel this exactly reflects who she was... My thanks to all who've put thoughtful effort into this.
It'd be lovely to see some of the anons either join eTLS, or participate more (if I've guessed right), but I really cannot say anything about this myself as I haven't had much time at all to do so over the past few weeks. It is also the case that, to me, despite all the wonderful people here, it feels so empty without inter. Un seul être vous manque et tout est dépeuplé.
I bought some books for my f-i-l (who lives in Wicklow) only 3 weeks ago. One was fiction: The Hungry Grass, thanks to AB76's strong recommendations, and the other non-fiction: A History of the Bible: The Book and Its Faiths, thanks to Mach and Francis's endorsements. When I made the search on previous comments to check if I was making the right choice, I came across one from inter who said to me she'd try to read it by May, before my f-i-l's birthday, to report further. That really got to me, although not nearly as much as the fitting tribute to her today.
Justine and I corresponded frequently and this extract from one of her last emails sums up what a fair minded, lovely person she was. 9th January 2021
But this is history: the human race descends very quickly into anger, war, conquest, mass murder, enslavement, hate, revenge. The establishment of nations based on the rule of law didn't end that, but it created certain imperfect limits, which we should be trying to build on rather than going backward. Education is part of that, and I support the idea of free education - in small classes, taught to a high standard, and open to all at all levels, as a starter. But this requires a population amenable to education, who value real knowledge and truth, as well as very good teachers. And of course it also requires funding, which depends on popular and political commitment, a willingness to sacrifice for the sake of future generations. At the moment we seem to be racing in the opposite direction on all fronts.
Lljones wrote: "At long last and without further ado, it is my great pleasure to announce a memorial for our dear Justine, being installed today:(photo of plaque installed in library…)
The library is located..."
thats brilliant, wow, well done TLS-ers especially as all this has been done during the third UK lockdown from Jan till now
lovely to see her memory lasting with these ideas...was Budenz her maiden name?
i havent visited london since Jan 2020 but i expect to in July or August, i must make a detour to Hackney
Hushpuppy wrote: ""At long last and without further ado, it is my great pleasure to announce a memorial for our dear Justine, being installed today"It is a beautiful, absolutely perfect memorial to inter. I feel t..."
your F-i-L will love "The Hungry Grass", am glad i inspired your purchase! as a wicklow man,he may find a lot of it very familiar
AB76 wrote: "i have a profusion of foxgloves on the raised section of my garden... i counted 16 foxglove stems this year, almost like a manhattan of foxgloves, impressive sightIt has been an excellent year for foxgloves, and they are impressively tall as well. Earlier in the year, we had a superb display of bluebells in the local woods.
Lljones wrote: "I edited the lovely tribute to Justine a bit for its publication to the general public; I've posted the entire unedited piece below.As mentioned above, I had tears in my eyes immediately, reading..."
That's a lovely tribute Lisa. Well done all those lovely people who contributed to such an apposite tribute to Justine. I especially love the bookmark idea. Such a good way to pass on a remembrance of a treasured friend who loved books.
AlbyBeliever wrote: "Looks beautiful, Lisa!Apologies for the lack of posts recently, everyone; I started a new job a couple of months ago and it's pretty busy. Once I've passed probation and they can't fire me, expec..."
Ahhhh, I loved My Ántonia! I haven't read any other Cathers, so I cannot suggest, but this book has stayed in my memory. I read it as a young woman, in my late 20s, probably soon after I moved to the US. It was a sort of adult successor in my mind to the Little House books. I am primarily a non-fiction reader, so I haven't followed up. At that time, I, as feminist (I still am needless say) searched out books about strong women and Ántonia Shimerda was one such.
Lljones wrote: "Here (in Portland) too... Maybe 107 F or higher on Saturday. Just hoping the power doesn't blow out like it did during last summer's heatwave."I finally drug the old box fan out yesterday, and now it is humming along. If this is as dire as predicted, I'm heading to the basement with library books that are due next week - Bones (all about them) and Martin Rady's The Habsburgs: To Rule the World - neither of which would have been read before having to return them without the prospect of heat.
The above non-fiction has been wasting away on the shelves because I have been indulging myself in lighter stuff, namely, Wicked Uncle (Spotlight, if you are in the UK). I have quite a few Miss Silvers on my shelves, but not this one. I found a copy at one of my two libraries (Aren't I lucky, to have two). It is so old that it has a punch out of the library name - to keep books from wandering in the 'olden days of the 40s and 50s. In any case, it is a great country house mystery with suspects abounding and one of the better Miss Silver books.
Paul wrote: I've read Peré Goriot Old Goriot, and I really enjoyed it.
SydneyH wrote: I was extremely unimpressed with Pere Goriot, I thought it was very trashy.
I’m one of those who enjoyed Père Goriot, especially his two dreadful daughters, and Rastignac when he finally stands up, and not forgetting the potent criminality of Vautrin, but I don’t myself share what seems to be the accepted view that this is his greatest work. I think that among his long novels there are others that are both more engaging and more stirring. My own favourites are Lost Illusions (who would spend an evening with Tompkins from school, said Oscar Wilde, when you could spend it with Lucien de Rubempré?) and Cousin Bette (shameless old roué Baron Hulot and his spirited mistresses, plus a cameo from Napoleon, even if Bette herself becomes a bit of a caricature). Among the novellas, I think Colonel Chabert is a perfect example of Balzac just telling a story. I like the way Paul puts it, that he has a jovial voice. The particular story may be grim but the author himself is all zest-for-life.
SydneyH wrote: I was extremely unimpressed with Pere Goriot, I thought it was very trashy.
I’m one of those who enjoyed Père Goriot, especially his two dreadful daughters, and Rastignac when he finally stands up, and not forgetting the potent criminality of Vautrin, but I don’t myself share what seems to be the accepted view that this is his greatest work. I think that among his long novels there are others that are both more engaging and more stirring. My own favourites are Lost Illusions (who would spend an evening with Tompkins from school, said Oscar Wilde, when you could spend it with Lucien de Rubempré?) and Cousin Bette (shameless old roué Baron Hulot and his spirited mistresses, plus a cameo from Napoleon, even if Bette herself becomes a bit of a caricature). Among the novellas, I think Colonel Chabert is a perfect example of Balzac just telling a story. I like the way Paul puts it, that he has a jovial voice. The particular story may be grim but the author himself is all zest-for-life.
Russell wrote: "Paul wrote: I've read Peré Goriot Old Goriot, and I really enjoyed it.SydneyH wrote: I was extremely unimpressed with Pere Goriot, I thought it was very trashy.
I’m one of those who enjoyed Père..."
I recall the BBC dramatized La Cousine Bette years ago.... I saw it but I didn't exactly enjoy it. I found it very depressing. I remember the characters Satin and Hulot.
I read Balzac's Droll Stories (Contes Drolatiques) as a teen and enjoyed them very much. I own a beautiful old copy with illustrations by Gustave Doré. Interesting picture of medieval France. The most interesting conte-to me, as so unexpected-is set in a period when there was still a form of serfdom in France. The serfs all had the same names: Etienne for the men and Etiennette for the women.
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From just a few minutes ago: Finn is nearly finished; Justine's dear friend Sabine is pleased!
Lljones wrote: "Carpenter Finn still putting final construction together (he was working by candlelight on it last night!), while Justine's friends and neighbors look on.From just a few minutes ago: Finn is n..."
well done carpenter finn, this is really good to see and lovely to see her friends and neighbours as well
Lljones wrote: "I edited the lovely tribute to Justine a bit for its publication to the general public; I've posted the entire unedited piece below.As mentioned above, I had tears in my eyes immediately, reading..."
That's absolutely beautiful, Lisa. It brought a tear to my eye. And the library is a wonderful tribute - congratulations to everyone who brought it together and thank you for all your hard work. It's a lovely reflection of how deeply people felt for Justine.
I think its was the prolific reader and traveler Andy, who recommended Sebastien Japrisots The Lady In the Car with Glasses and a Gun. well i have started this 1967 crime classic and it has me wondering already, a sign of a good crime novelIf it wasnt you Andy, i wonder who it was?
NB> one last comment on the Bonet novel i just finished, its a real tragedy to read a novel with virtually no female presence of note in it. Sometimes a war novel (pre 1960s) might justifiably have this issue (set at sea, in the ranks, submarines) but i have become more sensitive to the omission of the female and the celebration of the masculine in novels written over 50 years ago. Its not healthy and needs acknowledging. I find the masculine obsession of many writers is more jarring in 2021 but it is one thing to write about men and male desires, its another to celebrate those desires and masculinity at the expense of 50% of the population..
Lljones wrote: "At long last and without further ado, it is my great pleasure to announce a memorial for our dear Justine..."
LL, you and the team have done a wonderful job.
LL, you and the team have done a wonderful job.
Sandya wrote: "...I recall the BBC dramatized La Cousine Bette years ago ..."
I never saw it. I'm sorry if it's put you off the book.
You're encouraging me to take another look at Contes Drolatiques. I tried a few years ago but found them a bit too whimsical for my taste.
I never saw it. I'm sorry if it's put you off the book.
You're encouraging me to take another look at Contes Drolatiques. I tried a few years ago but found them a bit too whimsical for my taste.
I liked Old Goriot but would say Lost Illusions and A Harlot High and Low are the Balzac novels I remember enjoying the most. Haven't yet read The Black Sheep, Cousin Bette, or Cousin Pons. Favourite short story, and one of my favourites by anyone, The Atheist's Mass
Lljones wrote: "MK wrote: "Consider this a PSA! I know there are a few here in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) where it looks like we are in hot water this weekend. Cliff Mass - Prof at UW - has just released his late..."I went to care for my sister's cat this afternoon. Her apartment overlooks Puget Sound. As the land heated up, cool breezes ran through the apartment. I may spend tomorrow afternoon with the cat....
Lljones wrote: "At long last and without further ado, it is my great pleasure to announce a memorial for our dear Justine, being installed today:(photo of plaque installed in library…)
The library is located..."
Bravo.
Robert wrote: "Lljones wrote: "MK wrote: "Consider this a PSA! I know there are a few here in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) where it looks like we are in hot water this weekend. Cliff Mass - Prof at UW - has just r..."I didn’t know about Puget Sound and looked at some images, what a beautiful place. Does the snowy mountain that one can see in the photos have a name?
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"what a beautiful place ..."
I inherited some Betty MacDonald books from my mother and Onions in the Stew is about her experiences living on Vashon Island in Puget Sound. I see that one can stay in what was her house:
http://bettymacdonaldfarm.com/index.p...
Robert wrote: "Lljones wrote: "MK wrote: "Consider this a PSA! I know there are a few here in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) where it looks like we are in hot water this weekend. Cliff Mass - Prof at UW - has just r..."sounds like heaven, sea breezes.....or sound breezes...
GpfrIndeed I do like these photos, I could sit happily in that garden room drinking tea and eating forbidden cakes. Betty MacDonald is The Egg and I lady, long time since I read it.
I was interested to note that there are many flowers that live in my garden, too, hydrangeas, tulips, autumn crocus….but we only get little muntjac deer, not much bigger than a cat, not those large moose?
Yesterday AB was writing about the profusion of foxgloves this year and I remembered how poisonous they are. With my dodgy ticker I have to be careful and not touch them with bare hands. The autumn crocus are very poisonous too, mine always seem to flop over not stand tall as in the photo. It is only recently that I learned that hydrangeas can be poisonous too, many a cutting have I taken.
Thank you so much for the link. There are so many beautiful places in this wonderful world of ours. Does anyone have a favourite?
I suppose mine is still Victoria Falls because the rainbows dancing around my head as I looked crept into my heart.
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https://www.theguardian.com/books/202...
Lljones wrote: "I edited the lovely tribute to Justine a bit for its publication to the general public; I've posted the entire unedited piece below.As mentioned above, I had tears in my eyes immediately, reading..."
This is beautiful!!
Thank God this is a generally polite group. I was on the Graun yesterday commenting about something and got trolled by someone calling themselves "Eva Brick". At first, the tone of the poster seemed merely a bit oblique to normal life, no more, but as I responded their responses became ruder, and it was clear they were investing time and effort to make me look stupid. They are in fact the stupid one-life for me has recently got so busy I haven't had any time to read let alone post anything. I do have a review in prep. I turned off my Grauniad account and will probably leave it that way. Some people need to get a life instead of spending hours in their Mum's basement trying to make a real scientist look stupid when they "prolly" don't even have a degree. Sad.The funny part is that the piece being commented on is on mispronunciations. "Eva Brick" asserted with confidence that I must be a person without knowledge of language AFTER I commented that I am a professional editor at this stage in my career and my job is to remove grammatical errors from the writing even of English speaking PhDs. Believe me there are lots.... One doesn't have to be a genius like "Eva Brick" to spot them.
What a moron.
Watch out if "Eva Brick" comes after you.....
Sandya wrote: "Thank God this is a generally polite group. I was on the Graun yesterday commenting about something and got trolled by someone calling themselves "Eva Brick". At first, the tone of the poster seeme..."oh dear the Guardian does have its trolls and they seem to thrive by just bouncing into someones path and just being rude...good plan to AVOID
Rebel Richmond by Stephen Ash (U of N Carolina Press) is a study of Civil War Richmond, using public records, diaries and other accounts for the four years it became the capital of the Confederacy, until its fall in 1865I was a bit wary at the beginning as Ash made clear the book is less about the political confederacy and its elites and more about everday life. Wary, as i feared the loss of a strategic view on the vicissitudes of a frontline city but quickly i realised this is a very valuable study and i purchased in it hardback(rare for me)
I did have another book on Richmond but it seemed like an amateur historian had slapped together some facts and commentary while meandering all over the battle front, my interest in Confederate America is on the civilian lives and the situations they went through, rather than another mass slaughter on a battlefield.
the photos of Richmond in 1865 are haunting, there are many that show most of the city intact too and it looks like a beautiful, many hillsided medium size town
I also have a book on Washington DC during the Civil War, published by NYRB which will be good to compare some time.
For those who might be interested, I am posting here a link to my brother's blog.https://slogger.co.uk
He is a film professional, so his posts are on film, He is also an artist and printmaker and some of his work is there too. He recently asked me to contribute pieces "because a blog is a Harsh Mistress" and needs continual feeding...so several of my book reviews are there too, with illustrations this time.
There are a couple of other pieces I have written too and a series of photos I have been taking of gardens in my neighborhood "Lockdown in Green". I am not much of a photographer, while my brother is a really good one, so receiving his praise for these was really nice! I enjoy plants and the large scale patterns they make when they are allowed to grow unconstrained.
Hopefully they will be therapeutic. I have found walking by gardens to be so.
I found this article quite interesting over on the Guardianhttps://www.theguardian.com/lifeandst.... Has any one here read Christa Wolf's book 'Kassandra'? I thought AB might be interested perhaps
Tam wrote: "I found this article quite interesting over on the Guardianhttps://www.theguardian.com/lifeandst.... Has any one here read Chris..."i have that novel in my pile somewhere, am interested in DDR fiction and have read many novels from the old east germany, interesting article
CCCubbon wrote: "Robert wrote: "Lljones wrote: "MK wrote: "Consider this a PSA! I know there are a few here in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) where it looks like we are in hot water this weekend. Cliff Mass - Prof at ..."I just posted a photo of Mr. Rainier in the gallery. On a good (sunny) day I can see it if I drive east toward town. A nice set of mountains to the west are the Olympics - including the 'Two Brothers' which are snowy in winter. (The photos I found couldn't be copied.)
Crossworders Alert. Here is a link commemorating 125 years of the NY Times Book Review. https://www.nytimes.com/crosswords/ga...
I printed it and may take it with me as it looks like time will be spent in the cooler cellar today and probably tomorrow, too, as it is 74° inside at 8.30 a.m. here. (Celsius is just beyond me.)
MK wrote: "CCCubbon wrote: "Robert wrote: "Lljones wrote: "MK wrote: "Consider this a PSA! I know there are a few here in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) where it looks like we are in hot water this weekend. Clif..."Thanks. Mount Ranier then. The photo made me think thatthe mountain was holding up an umbrella so what an apt name!. Lovely shape. Have you climbed it?
CCCubbon wrote: "MK wrote: "CCCubbon wrote: "Robert wrote: "Lljones wrote: "MK wrote: "Consider this a PSA! I know there are a few here in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) where it looks like we are in hot water this we..."Sorry, no. It's 14,000+ in height. The Mountaineers (Seattle group) and others run courses on tackling mountains and such around here. Here's one - https://www.rmiguides.com/mt-rainier/...
I have stayed at the Lodge at the base, though. I'll stay a flatlander.
Just wondered. Veufveuve would like it. Thought of him as I watch the Wales/Denmark match….
CCCubbon wrote: "Just wondered. Veufveuve would like it. Thought of him as I watch the Wales/Denmark match…."he has been very quiet...along with mach
Berkley wrote: "I liked Old Goriot...Favourite short story, and one of my favourites by anyone, The Atheist's Mass"
I went straight off and read The Atheist’s Mass. It is very fine. It reads like a single thought – long meditated and then struck off in one session.
My copy says that the surgeon Dupuytren was the original for Desplein. Our neighbor here had Dupuytren’s Contracture in both hands, and he earned his living working with tools, so it was serious. In the 1830s the operation to sever the cords must have seemed astonishing.
I went straight off and read The Atheist’s Mass. It is very fine. It reads like a single thought – long meditated and then struck off in one session.
My copy says that the surgeon Dupuytren was the original for Desplein. Our neighbor here had Dupuytren’s Contracture in both hands, and he earned his living working with tools, so it was serious. In the 1830s the operation to sever the cords must have seemed astonishing.
CCCubbon wrote: "Robert wrote: "Lljones wrote: "MK wrote: "Consider this a PSA! I know there are a few here in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) where it looks like we are in hot water this weekend. Cliff Mass - Prof at ..."That big white mountain is Mount Rainier, our not-quite-extinct volcano. My dad, an avid amateur nature photographer, took pictures of Rainier in her many moods-- last night at sunset the mass of the mountain appeared blue, and the snowcaps appeared pink.
Sandya wrote: "AlbyBeliever wrote: "Looks beautiful, Lisa!Apologies for the lack of posts recently, everyone; I started a new job a couple of months ago and it's pretty busy. Once I've passed probation and they..."
Death Comes for the Archbishop is a good novel.
AB76 wrote: " Rebel Richmond by Stephen Ash (U of N Carolina Press) is a study of Civil War Richmond, using public records, diaries and other accounts for the four years it became the capital of the Confederacy..."Reveille in Washington is a study of the capital during the Civil War.
The Pioneering Life of Mary Wortley Montagu. Scientist and Feminist. Jo WillettThis biography of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (1689-1762) was published this year. Nothing is said about the pandemic, but the obvious message is that it is time to properly understand her role in the adoption of inoculation as a medical technology. Lady Mary, eldest daughter of Evelyn Pierrepont, 1st Duke of Kingston was the person who introduced inoculation for smallpox from Turkey to the Western world. As wife to the English Ambassador to the Sublime Porte (the old diplomatic name for the Ottoman Empire) she, unlike previous travelers, all male, had an unique opportunity to see it done in the harems of Turkish women. Herself a smallpox survivor, and living in a period characterized by successive increasingly virulent smallpox epidemics, she saw the potential of inoculation. What she accomplished reverberates to this day and is more relevant than ever. Yet all we hear, especially in the US, is Edward Jenner, Edward Jenner, Edward Jenner. Even in my university immunology courses Lady Mary was not mentioned. What Edward Jenner did was substitute cowpox for smallpox, since immunity to one poxvirus confers immunity to others. A great breakthrough but nowhere near as important as hers. The scientific contributions of women are routinely undervalued.
This is a well written, well researched, accessible biography designed for the general reader not a scholarly audience, but that is the need. I have read and own Lady Mary’s Turkish Embassy Letters and several biographies. They all emphasize her conflict with Alexander Pope, her literary life, and self-imposed exile in Italy in later life. This one, on the other hand, does a good job of describing her life in terms that contemporaries who might not be familiar with the details of aristocratic life and language in the 18th century can relate to. For example, the author talks about clinical trials when discussing Lady Mary’s inoculation of her daughter Mary in London, and data gathering during the early stages of testing this new treatment.
The author casts an interesting light on LMWM’s bust-up with Pope. You see how easy it was, post #MeToo, for a man to destroy a woman’s reputation. The result of this is that today, Lady Mary is just a footnote in Pope Studies. Yet her accomplishment was far, far more transformational than anything Pope ever wrote, said, or did. There was an interesting discussion of several years she spent in Italy with Count Ugolino Palazzi-she was clearly the victim of a conman. I have read her letters on this subject, but it isn’t obvious until put into a modern context. Some things never change….
Lady Mary was a famous feminist and wrote extensively on the disadvantages suffered by the women of her day. In Turkey, she had an extraordinary opportunity to compare cultures and she was scathing about Europe-where unlike Turkey, women had limited rights to their own money. Despite her social position, advantages, and toughness of character, she was taken advantage of a number of times by men: the mess over her Sister Mar’s mental health, the conflict with Pope, Count Palazzi. She knew what she was talking about when she railed against the inequities of marriage, and the limitations of women’s lives. I could wish this bio had more detail on life in Turkey, but overall I can recommend it. It should be essential pandemic reading.
Only reached 100 degrees here in Auburn Saturday. That was quite enough.
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Ersatz TLS
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The Universe Inside You by Brian Clegg. I'm not too far it, but so far it has been explaining aspects of atomic theory/light behaviour and how this applies to the atoms that make up a person. It's very interesting - Clegg has a great way of explaining (to me anyways) quite complex physics stuff.
Michael Connelly - The Poet. Another book I've just started. I generally find Connelly's book to be incredibly readable and this, appears to be so too. So far, a journalist is writing a story into his brothers' recent death, apparently by suicide. His bother was
a police detective in the throws of investigating a particularly gruesome murder.
The Idiot Brain by Dean Burnett is a re-read. I feel somewhat guilty about reading books when I've still got the TBR read mountain to climb. Hmm. What I like about this book is that is that the author describes how the brain does what it does and makes it relatable to the reader. Take memory, for instance. The brain spends a lot of time effectively filtering/prioritising information it receives before it encodes the crucial stuff. It's why we can often (at least I do!) go into a room and forget why we went in there.
Interestingly, I had to change my car last month. The car I had been driving was my very first car and I have been driving it since 2008. The replacement car is a newer version of the one I had, but things are in different places (gear stick closer to the driver seat, seat belt anchor further forward, window buttons further forward etc.) One month later, and I'm still moving my hands and arms to the same places as if I was in the old car. I guess that's years of procedural memory that needs to be altered.
One of my work colleagues was telling me how his bank card was swallowed by an ATM. He has the same PIN for 20 years, but had a memory blank and he said the more he tried to think about the number, the harder it was to recall. Two further attempts and bye-bye card.
I'm going for a walk soon, followed by coffee and reading (if the café I have in mind isn't too busy). The weather in part of the world is cool (13 degrees C) and grey which is fine for walkies. For those of you in a more sweltering climate, I hope you are able to keep cool and safe. I still have to put sunblock on, just in case I end up looking like a lobster later on.