What are we reading? 25/09/2023

[scarletnoir]

Having provided reasons for my preferences - these are the books I've been reading recently:

Death of a Lesser God by Vaseem Khan - the fourth in the Persis Wadia series, following the adventures of India's first female detective inspector in 1950; and

The Satapur Moonstone by Sujita Massey - second in the series on 1920s Indian female lawyer and investigator Perveen Mistry.

I may have mentioned the first already; both series continue to entertain and to provide information about the lives of different religious groups and their constraints on women, as well as the relations with the British. In both series, a murder mystery helps the 'medicine' go down! (Actually, I'm only joking - the background information is as interesting as the stories.)

[Gpfr]

I've just finished The March Fallen, the 5th in Volker Kutscher's Gereon Rath series.
The series starts in 1927 and we have now arrived at the burning of the Reichstag and the increasing dominance of Hitler and the Nazis. Rath is a policeman, not a totally admirable or likeable character. His now wife Charly was on the way to becoming a police inspector, but is getting increasingly disillusioned.

[AB76]

Robert wrote: "Bill wrote: "AB76 wrote: "68, not that old then Bill, life begins at 60 so they say. In Strachey's Eminent Victorians he describes Cardinal Newman as an old man at 63, Back then it might have been,..."

some good points by scarlet and this point you mention robert, i had forgotten and is a good indication of trends back in the 1930s

in my family my scientist grandfather read fiction extensively, my other grandfather read political memoirs(he was a labour party member). my dad doesnt read a lot of fiction but is better than most men, all 3 of my brothers read very little or no fiction and are not interested in it.

[AB76]

Gpfr wrote: " I've just finished The March Fallen, the 5th in Volker Kutscher's Gereon Rath series.
The series starts in 1927 and we have now arrived at the..."

i'm enjoying the Babylon Berlin tv adaption of the early Rath books, am on season 2 and its one of the best dramas i have watched for years

[Gpfr]

AB76 wrote: "Gpfr wrote: "The March Fallen, the 5th in Volker Kutscher's Gereon Rath series."

i'm enjoying the Babylon Berlin tv adaption of the early Rath books"

I saw the 1st season, it took me some time to get into it and, as usual, sometimes differences with the book are hard to take.

[Gpfr]

scarletnoir wrote: "It's interesting to see the discussion about women reading more fiction than men - especially as I am therefore not typical - I'm a man, and read fiction almost exclusively (I may give reasons late..."

My son reads mostly fiction, as does the one of my nephews whose reading tastes I know about.

[AB76]

Gpfr wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Gpfr wrote: "The March Fallen, the 5th in Volker Kutscher's Gereon Rath series."

i'm enjoying the Babylon Berlin tv adaption of the early Rath books"

I saw the 1st season, it took me..."

yeah, i guess i am watching it without having read the books, which is rare for me but i tend to be very wary of watching adaptions of books i love as i get older

[AB76]

SouthEaster by Haroldo Conti(1962) has started wonderfully, a world of reeds, water and wind. An aged canecutter and his assistant, on the Parana Delta, a wetland expanse North of Buenos Aires

Just 20 odd pages last night was a wonderful read, some dry humour as well when the aged cancecutter downs sticks and says he is preparing to die. An aged fellow worker wrly comments "well he could do that, just to be awkward"

[Greenfairy]

Scarlet, are you following the RWC?
I've sent you this clip of the Fijian Tam singing, enough to make a Welsh choirmaster shed tears of joy !

https://youtu.be/kqPCvabzVw4?si=DF4xO...

[scarletnoir]

Greenfairy wrote: "Scarlet, are you following the RWC?
I've sent you this clip of the Fijian Tam singing, enough to make a Welsh choirmaster shed tears of joy !

https://youtu.be/kqPCvabzVw4?si=DF4xO..."

Very nice - thanks for that! (I wonder if Bill likes this sort of singing...)
I was a little confused that the soloist didn't seem to be on screen... and as with the current Wales squad, there seemed to be a few 'non-singers', which is probably just as well if they have poor voices or don't know the words.

You may have read about the controversy about the singing of anthems at the current RWC - the anthems were pre-recorded by children's choirs... but the pitch of children's voices is very different to that of adults, and the tempi employed were (usually) far too quick, so that the recorded versions ran well ahead of the crowd and players' efforts. It's been changed - a bit - but is still far from perfect. Best is - get a band with a sympathetic conductor - and a choir - to lead things.

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/r...

As for interest in rugby - I saw my first international in 1961, and from then witnessed my first triple crown in 1963 (Clive Rowlands and David Watkins at half-back - both died this year). First Grand Slam - 1971 - I saw most Wales games, home and away, in that wonderful decade - including the 'grand slam - grand slam' defeat of France in 1978 - the last test played by Phil Bennett and Gareth Edwards. Benny scored two tries and a conversion that day... Edwards got a drop goal. How I got there from my place of work is quite a story (I should have been in Liverpool that day! I'm normally conscientious - but there are limits.) And so it has gone on, though I haven't been to the stadium in Cardiff since COVID.

[[deleted user]]

Reading preferences - I guess I read a complete mixture. In non-fiction, plenty of biography and history, including military history (though now more the strategy than the combat, which used to grip me), and a bit of science (despite doing my last ever science course at 15) just because it’s interesting, and on the other hand plenty of fiction, both classic and contemporary, though by contemporary I don’t really mean the current year’s Booker short list, just anything post WWII. I go for whatever looks enticing in the moment, something that has had a strong review (as on eTLS!) or something that has been sitting on the shelves for years, if not decades. The one change I’ve noticed, at 74, is that I seem to read more love stories. I revel in them.

[AB76]

Russell wrote: "Reading preferences - I guess I read a complete mixture. In non-fiction, plenty of biography and history, including military history (though now more the strategy than the combat, which used to gri..."

i have always balanced fiction and non-fiction, as a history graduate i read a lot of history and subscribe to Past and Present(of which i am a few editions behind, its always a good read)

i read a lot less modern literature than most on here and on the G and i am not, as yet, a re-reader. I dont quite know why, it seems to be very common among booklovers but i guess there is the wonder of the new and the unknown.

as i have aged, i find i'm less into plot and more into characters and novels that dont have to "go" anywhere but i always try and mix up the type of novels i read, rather than go for a line of thrillers, or historical classics or edgy dark novels

[Greenfairy]

I haven't seen The Tigers since pre - lockdown either.

[AB76]

Very disappointed with Train Dreams by Denis Johnson, for a short novel to be so bad is very rare, less space to get it wrong

it started well with the american west, a region i enjoy reading about but then drifted into seedy and sexual tales that didnt have any point, the bizarre "wolf-girl" and a feeling i would rather do something else than read this novel

it had so much i dislike about modern novels that are raved about and i'm astonished this ever got published, it was that bad

[Bill]

scarletnoir wrote: "It's interesting to see the discussion about women reading more fiction than men - especially as I am therefore not typical - I'm a man, and read fiction almost exclusively (I may give reasons late..."

I consider fiction to be an art, an artistically expressed personal vision of some aspect of the world, so I look for something that is aesthetically satisfying and convincingly communicates the world it presents. Aesthetically I look for something that structures and unifies the work as a whole, not a collection of “beautiful sentences”. As far as the world the fiction portrays, it doesn’t need to convince me “this is the way things are”, more like “this is a way things could be understood”.

Unlike @scarletnoir, I never read fiction for information about the real world. If I do read a historical novel, I prefer to know something (preferably quite a bit) about the time, place, and real-life events depicted before submitting myself to an author’s particular version of them.

Do any of the women on this forum read genre Romance fiction? I tend to think of that as the female equivalent to the male indulgence in military history. For the record, I’ve read a few Romance novels from different eras, as well as (male authored) romance comic books and two non-fiction studies: Reading the Romance: Women, Patriarchy, and Popular Culture and Romantic Conventions.

[MK]

Bill wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "It's interesting to see the discussion about women reading more fiction than men - especially as I am therefore not typical - I'm a man, and read fiction almost exclusively (I m..."

I had to check out the book - found that Powells has access to new paperback copies from a remote warehouse at $45/each. Betterworldbooks, meanwhile has several paperback copies for less than $6. I've put a copy in my basket there which only means I'm thinking about it.

[AB76]

Bill wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "It's interesting to see the discussion about women reading more fiction than men - especially as I am therefore not typical - I'm a man, and read fiction almost exclusively (I m..."

i'm generally looking for realism in literature, novels that are focused firmly on the real world, this can lead to reading a lot of grim and serious novels. I like some utopian novels and a smattering of classic sci-fi but thats all.

i share with scarlet an interest in using fiction to look into cultures and other countries in historical moments but always with a firm finger on querying and checking any subjective opinions

as for romance, it can be interesting if it deals with character, psychological issues and loss, seperation etc but very boring when dealing with sex. Nothing wrong with sex ofc but on the page it rarely works and too much of it just gets boring.

i am also very wary of happy endings, i think Forster made a good point that in reality no novels would ever end, until death, like life. A neatly tied up conclusion feels too old fashioned for me, one with a more open ended situation feels more mature and progressive, regardless of when the novel was written

[Robert]

Gpfr wrote: "Hello to all

Not having caught covid up until now, I finally did so. A couple of unpleasant days (not even able to read ... ) but otherwise not too bad. Negative test + end of isolation on Saturda..."

Congrats on meeting and passing covid by.

[CCCubbon]

MK wrote: "I was late getting to my shower last night as I wanted to finish listening to The Secret Hours. I won't say much more here as I know Clue has it on her e-reader. Just this - famili..."I’m stuck with this - thought Part 1 very good but got lost in Part 2 and gave up for now. Does it get better? Should I try again?

[Greenfairy]

Good to see you CC.

[Gpfr]

Robert wrote: "Congrats on meeting and passing covid by..."

Thanks!
I must say that although I didn't have it badly, it's left me rather lacking in energy.

[giveusaclue]

CCCubbon wrote: "MK wrote: "I was late getting to my shower last night as I wanted to finish listening to The Secret Hours. I won't say much more here as I know Clue has it on her e-reader. Just th..."

I do have it but haven't got round to reading it so can't help you, sorry.

Glad you got through covid unscathed Robert. I know I almost felt relieved when I caught it and only felt really bad for 12 hours, then just tired and foggy brained for a week.

[scarletnoir]

Greenfairy wrote: "I haven't seen The Tigers since pre - lockdown either."

Ah - a Leicester fan. My team is the (Llanelli) Scarlets, and I've seen a few epic games between the teams... I've been once since COVID.

[scarletnoir]

Bill wrote: "If I do read a historical novel, I prefer to know something (preferably quite a bit) about the time, place, and real-life events depicted before submitting myself to an author’s particular version of them."

Interesting - as this is precisely one of the reasons (in addition to a possibly unfair assumption of monotony) why I don't read history books: they can present a single POV on the events, often - maybe usually - with a right-wing bias. In order to get a balanced view, it would be necessary to read a significant number of very long books which would take an inordinately long time - unless I was to be satisfied with books that simply confirmed my own prejudices.

I rarely know absolutely nothing about the periods in question, but the introduction to such events in works of fiction provides a starting point for online research where many differing viewpoints can be explored quickly. That suits my temperament.

[Robert]

giveusaclue wrote: "CCCubbon wrote: "MK wrote: "I was late getting to my shower last night as I wanted to finish listening to The Secret Hours. I won't say much more here as I know Clue has it on her ..."

No, I haven't been scathed yet. I'm going to get a booster shot this week in hopes of avoiding it. But kudos to those who have gone through it.

[MK]

CCCubbon wrote: "MK wrote: "I was late getting to my shower last night as I wanted to finish listening to The Secret Hours. I won't say much more here as I know Clue has it on her e-reader. Just th..."

CCC - One of the downsides of listening to a book is that it is nigh impossible to go back to a certain point successfully. But, I'm thinking that the change that bothered you was rather abrupt. However, a cooling off period might work for you. While the book is not being marketed as a Slow Horses prequel, it is such as characters emerge. I don't want to say more than that.

I suggest trying again, though.

[Bill]

scarletnoir wrote: "In order to get a balanced view, it would be necessary to read a significant number of very long books which would take an inordinately long time"

That's pretty much what I consider being interested in (rather than merely curious about) a subject. ("Women are more curious [than men], that’s probably why fiction appeals," Marie-Claire Chappet in the Guardian article you linked to, which made me think of the Bluebeard story.) Who counts the hours spent in an activity one is passionate about?

I wonder how you came to the conclusion that history is presented "often - maybe usually - with a right-wing bias". Did you do any research into this as you did with the gendered reading statements? Certainly, there are historians like Niall Ferguson who seem to enjoy being in the public eye and lauded by the Right, and whose obvious bias - revealed and empathized by their public stances - is sufficient to warn me away from them. But I feel that the majority of historians, rather than those who seek out the limelight, are conscientious reporters of the conclusions to which their research leads them. For me, the first rule of reading history is: don't read any work without detailed endnotes.

[[deleted user]]

Bill wrote: "...For me, the first rule of reading history is: don't read any work without detailed endnotes. "

Yes, and a proper bibliography, which, perhaps a bit quirkily, is what I look at first, to see what generally the writer looks to as authorities, and whether the writer has consulted primary sources, not just secondary works.

[[deleted user]]

The Story of the Stone, by Cao Xueqin, also known as The Dream of the Red Chamber, is an 18th century Chinese novel about a young man named Bao-yu born into a wealthy family in the Imperial orbit. At birth he was discovered to have a mysterious piece of jade - the Stone - in his mouth. He grows up to be a prankster and a bit wild, probably bisexual, certainly cultured in a dilettantish way, knowing and quoting all the old Chinese poetry and composing new verse of his own.

The first, scene-setting volume is mainly about his myriad relations in the extended family, who live in two adjacent and palatial mansions. Only gradually does Bao-yu come to the fore. For 500-plus pages it is an unhurried account of clothes, furnishings, gardens, meals, perfumes, presents, and socializing. More significant events such as the sad death of one young person and then another, the shady dealings of a provincial Governor, and a grand Visitation by the Imperial Concubine (a family member), all pass off at the same easy-going pace.

As for the Stone itself, it hardly features. Eventually it is found to be a good remedial against witchcraft.

The translation by David Hawkes, the former Professor of Chinese at Oxford, is readable in the contemporary manner (“hoick you up” - “knockin’ around” - “you’ve got us all peeing ourselves with curiosity”).

I haven’t decided whether to read the remaining four volumes. I’m interested to find out what makes it a great classic of Chinese literature. On the other hand, each time the story seems about to wake up, we soon drift back to clothes, furnishings, etc. If it’s all going to be in the same undemanding and not very revelatory style I don’t think I need another 2,000 pages of it.

[MK]

I am a sucker for book-related emails (as if I didn't have more than enough to read already). Yesterday's was from the History Press which is one I always scroll through. There I found Caitlin Davies new book (which Amazon doesn't have listed as yet) Private Inquiries - The Secret History of Female Sleuths.

Aah - the glories of the internet. I went searching and found that she is the daughter of Margaret Forster. So I took my copy of off the shelf and will take it with me to Portland later on this week (there are promises of sunshine).

I have also put on my TBR list her - (Notice the 'girl' focus.)

Then today Harward University Press with its October releases dropped into my inbox. Of course this means a couple of 'maybes' for the TBR list - including a new one on the history of the Mason-Dixon line and one on John Hancock titled King Hancock: The Radical Influence of a Moderate Founding Father.

Also of interest there if the paperback edition of When France Fell: The Vichy Crisis and the Fate of the Anglo-American Alliance - Winner of the Society for Military History’s Distinguished Book Award, When France Fell “deftly explains the confused politics and diplomacy that bedeviled the war against the Nazis” (Wall Street Journal).

Nothing like an unending list!

[AB76]

Russell wrote: "The Story of the Stone, by Cao Xueqin, also known as The Dream of the Red Chamber, is an 18th century Chinese novel about a young man named Bao-yu born into a wealthy family in the Imperial orbit. ..."

i enjoyed vol 1 but still havent read the other volumes after a decade, i found it quite bawdy in stages but enjoyable.

[AB76]

Bill wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "In order to get a balanced view, it would be necessary to read a significant number of very long books which would take an inordinately long time"

That's pretty much what I con..."

i seem to find by reading university press history works you avoid the right wing or popular history that dominates the mainstream. it costs more and its a more rigourous read too

popular history isnt all bad but it usually neatly packages too much time into too little pages and leaves you wanting more, though some works of popular history are very good indeed, works by politicians (Hattersley on the Edwardians), for example

and i totally agree Russ and BIll, extensive endnotes, footnotes are vital

[giveusaclue]

scarletnoir wrote: "Bill wrote: "If I do read a historical novel, I prefer to know something (preferably quite a bit) about the time, place, and real-life events depicted before submitting myself to an author’s partic..."

Folks may remember I recommended Allan Massie's Bordeaux crime in the Occupation novels recently, well here is another series he wrote:

https://www.fantasticfiction.com/m/al...
Basically the same story (fairly obviously) but written from the perspective of the three different men. It is a while since I read them but can remember enjoying the series.

[Berkley]

Russell wrote: "The Story of the Stone, by Cao Xueqin, also known as The Dream of the Red Chamber, is an 18th century Chinese novel ...

The first, scene-setting volume is mainly about his myriad relations in the extended family, who live in two adjacent and palatial mansions. Only gradually does Bao-yu come to the fore. For 500-plus pages it is an unhurried account of clothes, furnishings, gardens, meals, perfumes, presents, and socializing. ...


I haven’t decided whether to read the remaining four volumes. I’m interested to find out what makes it a great classic of Chinese literature. On the other hand, each time the story seems about to wake up, we soon drift back to clothes, furnishings, etc. If it’s all going to be in the same undemanding and not very revelatory style I don’t think I need another 2,000 pages of it ."

I'd say try the second volume at least. It's been a little over 20 years since I read it, so the details are a little hazy, but I think that it was somewhere during that one that it seemed to come together for me and by the end of that 2nd volume I was so interested in the characters and all the various goings-on that there was no question of not carrying on to the end.

If I remember, Hawkes died before completing the entire work, so the final book had to be translated by someone else, with a difference in style that was noticeable - or was there a diffference of some kind in the original as well? I can't recall now, will have to look at the introduction to see. I have another English version titled A Dream of Red Mansions, published by someone called Foreign Languages Press out of Beijing, done by the husband and wife team of Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang, but haven't tried it yet.

[[deleted user]]

Thanks, Berkley. just the guidance I was hoping for. I will do as you suggest.

[MK]

I just received this - https://johnsandoe.com/product-catego...

It's fun to see what they recommend. It is usually pretty eclectic and not always new books.

[CCCubbon]

MK wrote: "CCCubbon wrote: "MK wrote: "I was late getting to my shower last night as I wanted to finish listening to The Secret Hours. I won't say much more here as I know Clue has it on her ..."

Thanks MK. I shall go back in due course.
I started to read the latest Galbraith ‘The Restless Grave’ which will take me awhile to finish - always long these books but I find them a kind of comfort read in that they are not demanding and lull me to sleep. I will go back to The Secret Hours when I finish.

I had my covid booster and flu jab yesterday. Flu one a little achy but otherwise fine.

[scarletnoir]

Bill wrote: "I wonder how you came to the conclusion that history is presented "often - maybe usually - with a right-wing bias". Did you do any research into this as you did with the gendered reading statements? "

No - and you are quite right to call me out on that. It is an impression I have, and it may be mistaken; however, academic historians do inhabit usually long-established universities, whose alumni have very often in the UK arrived via the fee-paying so-called 'public schools'. I have no doubt whatsoever that those schools do indeed indoctrinate their pupils with 'conservative' values.

The point about history - as opposed to science - is that academics are free to quote whatever sources they choose. The 'story' they choose to tell is a construct based on selection. No-one can include all the possible evidence in a book, so choices must be made. I may be being cynical, but I suspect that those choices are coloured by the author's current political position. Of course, that choice and the interpretation can be challenged by others with different viewpoints - so long as such exist.

We can see in the UK that the vast majority of newspapers support even now a conservative government in the last stages of exhaustion and putrefaction. The party has run out of ideas, and is seeking some short-term political game by appropriating extremist and tasteless populist tropes. In a more balanced system, these unpleasant individuals would be challenged far more often than they are, but the powers that be have cowed the BBC by appointing party supporters to the top posts and by a relentless campaign of denigration. So - we can see 'history' being rewritten in front of our eyes at the moment. The disasters of the last 13 years are somehow not the fault of the conservative party, but of 'wokery' and 'the blob' - whatever those are.

Are historians different to journalists? Are they more detached, and fairer? I daresay some may well be, but I remain unconvinced given that it is a non-scientific enterprise. There is no litmus test for historical 'truth'.

[scarletnoir]

Bill wrote: "That's pretty much what I consider being interested in (rather than merely curious about) a subject ."

This sounds suspiciously like a distinction without a difference!

I do take the point, though... I am not sufficiently 'interested' in history to read history books; my scepticism about historians (as explained in the previous comment) makes me suspect that I would be reading a partial view. I think it's easy to see how this works in recent 'historical' accounts of Margaret Thatcher's period as Prime Minister. Did she save the UK by curbing the power of the trades unions, or did she destroy much of the manufacturing base in the country? You pays your money, and you takes your choice...

[MK]

CCCubbon wrote: "MK wrote: "CCCubbon wrote: "MK wrote: "I was late getting to my shower last night as I wanted to finish listening to The Secret Hours. I won't say much more here as I know Clue has..."

More power to you. I have given up on fat books. That started with Elizabeth George (who lives locally) whom, I think, could use a good editor with a hefty spine. But that is beside the point, fat books make my arms ache, so I just avoid them.

[Bill]

scarletnoir wrote: " I think it's easy to see how this works in recent 'historical' accounts of Margaret Thatcher's period as Prime Minister."

You were certainly right to use the scare quotes there. I refuse to consider anything that happened in the course of my lifetime as 'history': it all gets filed under 'current events'.

[AB76]

The disaster in Nagorno-Karabakh, where the Armenian population has now fled in the last 2-3 weeks, has made to turn to Vasily Grossman's An Armenian Sketchbook.

Its been on my pile and Armenia has been a country i an interested in but havent read much about, although its political situation since 1989 has always been in focus and in particular the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh(an armenian majority exclave in Azerbaijan)

I havent started reading it yet but its so sad to see that the Armenians have now been cleansed from this land, with Turkeys dreadful leader Erdogun and the Azeri President Aliev, playing a major rule, with Putin also dabbling, via his pathetic peace process

[Bill]

scarletnoir wrote: "Bill wrote: "That's pretty much what I consider being interested in (rather than merely curious about) a subject ."

This sounds suspiciously like a distinction without a difference!"

Curiosity can be satisfied; interest is ongoing and expands as it is fed.

[Berkley]

Russell wrote: "Thanks, Berkley. just the guidance I was hoping for. I will do as you suggest." I look forward to hearing how you find the second volume - and I hope your reading experience is as rewarding as I remember mine being.

[CCCubbon]

MK wrote: "CCCubbon wrote: "MK wrote: "CCCubbon wrote: "MK wrote: "I was late getting to my shower last night as I wanted to finish listening to The Secret Hours. I won't say much more here a..."

Mixed feelings as I would love tobe able to read a print book again. It’s something about holding a book in your hands but no weight in a kindle balanced on the arm of a chair. I can manage short pieces, poems just in a book.
That title should have been The Running Grave
It’s about a cult. The detailed descriptions of how such organisations manipulate people show how much research the author must have done. Of course manipulation doesn’t only happen in cults but may be in any relationship.
How to guard against being manipulated? That’s a tricky one.

[giveusaclue]

Bill wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: " I think it's easy to see how this works in recent 'historical' accounts of Margaret Thatcher's period as Prime Minister."

You were certainly right to use the scare quotes ther..."

My history O level syllabus included things my dad could remember!

[Bill]

giveusaclue wrote: "My history O level syllabus included things my dad could remember!"

I'd call that padding the syllabus with warmed-over news reporting rather than history; it's reminiscent of a 'literature' class that includes recent bestsellers in its assigned reading.

[Bill]

I vaguely recall reading a review of Jon Fosse's Septology novels in NYRB two years ago; recall that the article said that he was mainly known in Europe as a playwright (I have to admit, I occasionally think of this profession as "a defunct institution", as General Sherman said of the Catholic Church).

Thus concludes a full summary of my knowledge of the latest Nobel laureate.

[Berkley]

Bill wrote: "I vaguely recall reading a review of Jon Fosse's Septology novels in NYRB two years ago; recall that the article said that he was mainly known in Europe as a playwright (I have to ad..."

I don't think I'd heard of him at all until now. Looking up his wiki page, I might try Melancholia I, a novel about 19th-century Norwegian artist Lars Hertevig (also previously unkown to me) since I'm reading things from the 1990s and I like the looks of Hertevig's art, after looking at a few online images.

I'm also now curious about Can Xue, who was touted as the favourite a few days ago in the Guardian. I'll have to look up some of the other names mentioned as contenders that I wasn't familiar with later on.

[AB76]

Really enjoying Eminent Victorians by Lytton Strachey(1918), flying through it as its just such a good read and also focuses on a very interesting era for this country and the values and morals that Victorian England created or integrated into so much of our lives, for better and for worse.

I thought his longest essay on Cardinal Manning was a masterpiece of comedy, serious analysis and commentary on the re-emergence of the Catholic church as a pillar of British life from the 1850s. Manning is an interesting character, who i know less about than Cardinal Newman, though Newman plays a prominent role in the essay. The saddest part was Newmans time in Rome where his enquiring mind and intellectual vigour were not welcome among the compliance and rote learning of the Catholic world.

With Florence Nightingale, i found much to like about the essay and a balanced appreciation of a woman who fought so hard in times where women had barely any role in political or social life. Her battles with many stubborn men and her work to improve hospital accomodation and standards were laudable and Strachey made me think a lot more about Ol Flo and her lamp

With Thomas Arnold, the public school and its decay, or supposed decay in the 1830s comes into view and the ideas that Arnold had to change it with a form of muscular christianity , the prefect system and religious morals at the heart of behaviour. Some of his ideas were to become pillars of the system but it seems sports and houses came later, long after his death, rather than in his own time as a headmaster. He died at 46, made me feel old.....clog popping so young...

General Gordon is the last essay i have to read (images of L-Corporal Jones in Dads Army keep flashing through my mind)