War and Peace

Thank you. I've had a look at his website and think I will go for The Sunbird. I shall put it on my Xmas list as I have quite a few novels lined up already.
They are:
The Child in Time by Ian McEwan - for my book club. I haven't read any of his novels before, so don't know what to expect.
Labyrinth by Kate Mosse. I have read Sepulchre which I enjoyed. Both are mighty tomes.
Heart and Soul by Maeve Binchy - I love her books.
Found Wanting by Robert Goddard - I hope it's one of his better ones
Revelation by C J Sansom - I love his books too and this is another tome.
I reckon that little lot should keep me going for some time yet!!

 

I am still only half way through Smith's Rage (Courtneys) and am struggling to persevere, 900 pages of politics is stamina testing.:ywn:

 

My first complete reading of a Stephen King book...
The Green mile.. I have to say I was hooked on the story line and was well impressed. Gets a massive 9/10 from me.
I finished it this morning and then the OH spotted the film version is on TV tonight..!
Five USA at 21:00 Hrs ( 9 oclock )
If the film is true to the book then it will be scarry movie

 

How did you find the movie Capney?

I didn't find it scary myself, no the King movie adaptation I wish I hadn't watched in the dark was Carrie. Frightened the life out of me.

Currently reading Disraeli's "Sybil", set in the times of the Chartist movement. After re-reading North and South by E Gaskell (prompted by my watching the remarkably well produced BBC adaptation starring the rather delicious Richard Armitage ahem), I was looking for a less romantic vision of early Victorian Manchester. Although, I predict the guy gets his girl in the end ( don't they always) there is quite a bit of political expression of views in it, not sure how much of it I agree with, although it would do the country some good if we adopted the final missing Chartist principle of annual elections-that would keep them on their toes somewhat. Other than that it makes an interesting, if vainly overly romantic appeal to return to the Catholic "benevolent abbey" principles.

Quite a good read actually, especially for a former Prime Minister-although maybe I am tarring them with the same brush, unjustly.

I would recommend it if you have any interest in the history of Northern Industrialist cities ( perhaps being a Notherner I have more than most), or the state of the working class in Victorian England-which was diabolical to say the least. The brief passages about the childhood of Devilsdust are heartbeaking at best, and when you go on to the chapter about the bogus claims (assisted by Baptist Hatton's questionable tactics), of the Norman heritage of the wealthy peers depicted in the book you are left with a rather disgusting taste in the mouth.

It is set a little earlier than North and South, but helps to understand some of the glances to the past that are in that book. Tommy-shops and children sent out from the nurse "mothers" with the specific desire to have them lose their lives under the wheels of a carriage are just two of the most unpleasant aspects of "Sybil".

 

"How did you find the movie Capney?

It was compelling viewing Lollipop and comes highly recommended by me.
Interesting view on Disraeli's "Sybil"
I have recently studied How my past family live din the 1870s as part of my research and came up with some horrendous facts and figures regarding the working class people of Kent and the ailments that plagued the families at that time.


Below is a small except of my writings from my family history book:


Our 10 year old Arthur would be up from his bed early on that September day in 1871.
He was not looking forward to a full days work from the moment the sun came up to the moment the sun went down over the downs near his home in Aston Bank. His father, Charles was up before him followed shortly by mother Rebecca.
After shouting " Shake a leg Arthur, time to get up"
She busied herself in the small space which was their kitchen, to fill and position the large kettle nearer the now dying fire, after refuelling the fire with more wood she was making the men of the household a treat for breakfast.
The porridge pot had been slowly warming over night and was now perfect to fill the bellies of her menfolk ready for the heavy days work ahead in ploughing the one acre field that Arthur's work demanded today. She also had to prepare the midday meal for her men. A ploughman's lunch, Cheese, traded from a near neighbour in exchange for some pickled vegetables Rebecca had grown and nurtured in her back garden, for which she was very proud. It supplied a range of vegetables to supplement the restricted dietary range of food that was the stable diet during that period.
Bread, which was purchased from Mr Jones the baker and was delivered yesterday evening by the lad Alfred, she cut into thick chunks to support the chess wedges that Rebecca had now sliced.
The ginger beer was nicely fermented and staying cool in the pantry and would be picked up by the two as they said their good byes to the Mother and wife of the house.
Arthur was not feeling to good today, in fact this was now the third day he felt really bad with aching bones and stuffed up head. Yesterday the local herbalist visited and concocted and bag of unknown substances for Arthur to inhale the fumes once the mixture of herbs had been sweating awhile in a bowl of hot water. There was also the most awful smelling lotion to rub on his chest. " To ease his breathing" she had said. It did that ok thought Arthur. It was very difficult to breath at all with these fumes a lingering. Something like a long dead goose and stale candle wax thought Arthur.
Rebecca in some ways still believed in some of the old remedies, indeed she still kept a snake skin hanging on the door. This skin would be tied around an aching head with black cotton, when the cotton turned white your headache was cured.
The conversation at breakfast was very subdued, Rebecca was concerned about Arthur's health. She was very aware that it would be expensive to call a doctor. Not that they appeared to have much success at curing anything these days. Arthur had been an awkward birth at home, but had survived the crucial first two years of his life and would expect to continue for a good few years yet.
Rebecca was aware that from early times it was the women who are involved in caring for the sick since records began. From medieval times, many orders of nuns were involved in this work.


Copyright R Gipson

 

Half way through Smith's Burning Shore, not very good, a bit Mills and Boone'ish even so it is still better than watching any of the the cr*p on tv.

 

The essence of a lot of stories...boy meets girl.. throw in a bit of action..they fall for each other...you know the rest.
I bit like real life in a way.

 

Very interesting reading Capney. I too have a strong interest in my family history. One part of my family were from the docks of Liverpool, although they were in fact an educated lot and well paid according to the times. Another part were mill workers and their lives were a living hell, the first millworker I can find evidence for started work at five years old in the carding rooms at a mill in Manchester. The rest were all Irish Catholics escaping the deprivation ( some may say social ethnic cleansing) imposed by a too close colonial England. I would be very interested in anything more you may have.

I finished Sybil-as I suspected he got his girl and what's more she got her money back-a bit of a sell out in the end perhaps. I am having a break and re-reading Jane Austen before I have a bash at Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope, and then I am hitting The God Delusion by Prof. Richard Dawkins. I have never read Trollope before so I am looking forward to that.

 

More from my family history book.
Part two as requested by lollipop.
This short story is based on real people from my family tree and facts I have researched during the 1800s.
I have attempted to describe what it was like to live during that period.
There is more if you really want it:gnthb:

After the dissolution of the monasteries, a few hospitals remained, and women worked in them, but they were rarely those who had gone into nursing because of a religious vocation, they were mainly elderly widows, for whom the alternative was starvation, and they were paid a pittance for their work.
Workhouses and parish infirmaries usually employed a matron and occasionally other women, often one of the paupers in the workhouse, to care for the sick.
Rebecca also knew that hospitals were very unhygienic and dangerous places to stay in, so most people preferred to be cared for at home and might hire nurses to look after them there, especially after childbirth. There was no recognized training for nurses, and those who undertook such work had the unwelcome reputation of being drunken, slovenly and incompetent.
"Mother, we are off" Rebecca was startled back to reality and wished her men folk a god faring day and spoke quietly in Arthurs ear as she said her good byes
"Try to take it easy son" Rebecca was prying that the illness was not Tuberculosis, also called TB, consumption or phthisis This was one of the great scourges of the period. The only known relief was to be treated with pure cold air. The rich went to mountainous countries in Europe, The poor went to sanatoriums in the higher parts of England.
Father was aware that Arthur was not to well but is concerned about the possible loss of income from Arthur not working, This would mean that paying of the Tithes that were now due would yet again consume more of the family income than Charles really planned for.
That 10% from his earnings payable to the church was a drain of the family income.
The walk to the farm was not far and Charles pondered how he and the family could manage on a reduced income. With realization that it has
happened before and they had gone through bad times and recovered, he raised his hopes and marched onwards to that one acre field that needed ploughing today.
Arthur felt better in the cool morning air and with a belly full of mothers porridge was ready for the task ahead.

to be continued?

 

The dissolution of the monasteries......you have gone back a long way, and it puts my attempts to trace my ancestors to shame.


Definitely to continue.

 

Part three:


The Tithes paid for the ministers salary and provided for the upkeep of the
church. They could be divided into "great " and "small " tithes.
The great Tithes were the produce of the land, such as grain and wood, and were supposed to go to the rector, who was often in fact a corporate body. The small Tithes comprised everything else, and they went to the minister. For years there had been pressure to pay a monetary lump sum instead of handing over the goods. Charlie did not know at the time but in a few short years there would be an act in 1891 to restrict payment of the tithes to landowners only.
"Morning Charles" said the ploughman. " And a grand one it is ploughman"
says Charles "here is your plough boy for the day"
Our Authur was already preparing the plough and the tackle ready for the days farrows. The horses were already fed and watered and chewing at the bit in anticipation of pulling the heavy plow across that one acre of field.
With a smile and a wave Charlie said "see you later son" and proceeded
to the farm stables where his two horses and cart are stabled, Today he had a regular run of picking up logs from the estate wood yard and dropping them off at the estate workers cottages. It would take all day but he would time his journeys so when midday arrived he could join his son and the ploughman for a meal and catch up on local and national gossip.
Arthur had not been working long. Just a few short months ago he had to
leave the education system at the age of ten. The government had just made education compulsory for children under ten. Whilst Arthur was at school a small weekly fee was payable for those that could afford it, and it was free for the poor.
The morning swiftly passed and with fair weather and willing horses both
the ploughing and the log hauling was going well. Arthur was feeling better as
the day went by. Rebecca would be pleased to see he is recovering from what now appears to be nothing more than a common virus.
There was a large fallen tree by the side of the field where the farm workers would sit for their mid day meal. This tree was their food table, their chair, their discussion forum for the days local and national events.
The first topic of conversation is that the government was considering
passing an act to give all workers extra holidays. These will be known as Bank Holidays.. In fact it was to be during the year of 1871 that the Act was passed.
The Act designated four holidays in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and
five in Scotland. These were Easter Monday, the first Monday in August, the 26th December, and Whit Monday (England, Wales and Northern Ireland) and New Year's Day, Good Friday, the first Monday in May, the first Monday in August, and Christmas Day (Scotland). In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, both Christmas Day and Good Friday were traditional days of rest and Christian worship (as were Sundays) and did not need to be included in the Act.
All three discussed this issue deeply and come to the conclusion that they
really did not see that it would make a big difference to their working lives.
There was always work to be done. Food to buy. Tithes to pay. They had also heard rumours that farming was going through a recession at this time. Food imports were now cheaper then ever because of the improved roads and ever expanding railways. Some of the larger farms were now using the new steam ploughs to increase production. The future was indeed looking different, if not difficult.

To be continued?

 

Anybody what any more of my story, or have you suffered enough?

 

Thats another book now finished and ready to put back on the shelf.
It was by Michael Swanwick titled Bones of the Earth

A strange tale of time travelling paleontologists, both back in time and forward in time. It was possible to travel millions of years in both directions.
And also to meet yourself from your past or future,
Conjures up all sorts of story lines, murder, mystery and paradoxes and naturally some love.

 

agreed never got to W P but Anna Karenin was superb......found it left in a hostel and loved it ...think its bigger than w a p

 

I re-read Northanger Abbey and I am in the middle of Mansfield Park by Jane Austen. I needed a break from reading a whole load of Somerset-Maugham short stories. They're a right set of ol' toe-rags them Crawfords' is. Nice to involve myself with light reading. Barchester Towers was so boring I gave it up after a few chapters I'm afraid.

Plantman-I am glad to find a fellow lover of Anna Karenina, one of the best books I have ever read. Your mentioning it reminded me, I don't know why, of another great book, this time by Emile Zola-L'Assommoir (sp?). An old boyfriend was determined to rid me of my Austen/Bronte fetish at the time and gave it to me to read. He was much better read than I was then. The furthest I went was DHLawrence then. I really enjoyed it.

Next read is The God Delusion. Try to shake off the remnants of my superstitions for once and for all I think.

And I would love to read some more of your work Capney.