General reading update/a trip to the library

[regshoe]

Reading has been a bit slow lately, partly because of Yuletide writing (which is going reasonably well so far), partly through lack of opportunity.

I recently finished A Shadow Above: The Fall and Rise of the Raven by Joe Shute, an interesting and somewhat odd natural history. Shute examines the various symbolical and practical relationships people have had, and have now, with the raven, across time and cultures, all in the context of the species's recent improved fortunes and spread back across much of its old range. I hadn't realised quite how far that return had progressed, and some of the descriptions of how numerous they apparently are in some places seemed frankly improbable (they're still only 'very rare vagrants' where I live, sadly), but it was all fascinating and sometimes disturbing. I thought the prose didn't really live up to the subject—something like this really needs to be properly vivid and dramatic, which it wasn't always, and the occasional minor SPAG errors were less easy to ignore because of that—and that Shute missed out quite a bit of the relevant political context in discussing conflict between humans and ravens, but it was still enjoyable. (By far the book's gravest flaw, of course, is that it never mentions Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, despite including a discussion of the raven in historical and current popular culture. Why not???)

However, I went to the library this afternoon, which so far seems like the best of the big public libraries in the various places I've lived in. I found:

• A big book about the traditional knitting styles of fishing communities around Britain, particularly ganseys and similar jumpers, with patterns included. I've wanted to learn to make proper Fair Isle jumpers for ages, and this book will be a great resource—it has not only the instructions but background about the history and context of the clothes. The author apparently made a journey around the coasts gathering knowledge from local knitters as the traditions were dying out in the late twentieth century, and it all looks like fascinating stuff.


• The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole, which I'm sure will be terribly exciting. I think this was one of Catherine Morland's favourites.


• Doreen by Barbara Noble, which I found by the tried and true method of looking along the shelves, seeing a Persephone edition and going 'ooh, those are usually relevant to my interests!'. I have a love-hate relationship with these editions, because on the one hand they're really pretty and well put together, they are usually relevant to my interests and the distinctive style makes them easy to pick out on library and bookshop shelves, but on the other hand they don't have summaries on the covers, which is extremely annoying and means it's always a bit of a gamble picking one up. We shall see how this one goes.


• Waverley by Walter Scott, which I am now thirty pages into. I've read Ivanhoe and Rob Roy, and my general opinion of Scott based on those is that he has an amazing talent for creating really interesting situations and then approaching them from the least interesting possible angle. However, when I remembered what Waverley is about it seemed inevitable that I'd have to read it, and so far the protagonist does seem to be a bit more colourful than those of the other books. He's just got to Scotland, so I await what happens next with some interest. :D


• Two different editions of A Scots Quair by Lewis Grassic Gibbon, which I didn't take out because I already have a copy, but which it was very good to see. I abandoned the trilogy after Sunset Song because I thought it must be impossible to say anything more after such a ridiculously perfect book as that, but actually I probably will get round to reading the other two at some point, so it was good to be reminded of it.

Comments

[ohveda]

How on earth could that book discuss the history of Ravens and not mention the Raven King! As if he's not still King of the North! Are you sure the book wasn't written by Norrell???

That said, I hadn't realised that ravens are increasing in numbers. It would be cool for them to become more common. I don't think I've seen one outside of the Tower of London.

I'm interested to hear what "The Castle of Otranto" is like. It has always sounded like it would be a fun read. Is it a page-turner? Or is it just very very dated?

my general opinion of Scott based on those is that he has an amazing talent for creating really interesting situations and then approaching them from the least interesting possible angle
Oh my God XDDD
I read "Ivanhoe" earlier this year and I was waiting for the boring introductory scenes to end so the plot would get to the good stuff, and then... the book ended. Turns out they weren't introductory scenes at all. That was it! That was the plot!
(Ok. I'll admit there were some fun scenes amidst all the tedious siege stuff. But boy was there a lot of siege stuff.)

[regshoe]

*shakes head sadly* Clearly an anti-Johannite conspiracy.

I've seen them in some not-too-remote parts of the north, and apparently there are a few breeding pairs not very far from London! Still waiting for that huge flock descending like a dark cloud on a bleak winter field as I hurry homewards in my carriage, fearful of what they might portend, though.

Yeah, Ivanhoe was a bit... siege, Saxons v. Normans, ooh, Rebecca's cool... Robin Hood, is he going to be—no, just a cameo, more siege stuff... Rob Roy is much the same, the interesting characters all in the background, including the title character, and I still think Diana should have been the protagonist. I like Edward Waverley so far, however (he's basically the opposite of Keith Windham, which is probably a good thing), and I'm enjoying all the deeply involved period politics and the 'which king?' tension between everyone.

This is making me want to write meta about the relationship between Johannites and Jacobites in the universe of Strange & Norrell. In the absence of one True and Rightful King, would you decide to support a different one instead???

[ohveda]

Your comments are cracking me up XD

But this...
This is making me want to write meta about the relationship between Johannites and Jacobites in the universe of Strange & Norrell.
*gasp* YES. I would read this. I would read this a lot. I have always been intrigued about the relationship between Northern England and Scotland, both in Uskglass' time and afterwards (I mean the union of England and Scotland in 1707 becomes very different when there's a whole kingdom in the North of England that is technically still a separate state). It would be so interesting, politically. And all these claims about Uskglass helping "English magic". What about Scottish magic? How does that fit into things? I WANT TO READ MORE.

[regshoe]

:D

I think, on the one hand, northerners would have less reason to fight for a royal dynasty that had never technically been kings of their country, but on the other hand it's certainly easier to support a True King who's just across the water in France than one who's... ???, and they might be inclined to sympathise with the Scottish Jacobites in the absence of their own king. And there's the political questions—I can't really see supporting the Raven King as either a Whig or a Tory position—and all the religious divisions which basically didn't exist in Uskglass's pre-Reformation time, etc...

And yeah, the question of Scottish magic is a really interesting one! I think we get one line about a Scottish magician in the novel, but there must have been others, and I'd love to know what they thought about John Uskglass. So if I ever manage to write a crossover with Flight of the Heron...

[ohveda]

I can't really see supporting the Raven King as either a Whig or a Tory position
I can't either, but I'm having great fun trying to work out what might have happened. Could there perhaps have been a third political party? One that was very keen to maintain the North of England as a separate country? There were probably times when that seemed like a non-issue and times when it very much became a hot potato.

On a tangent I'm now wondering if, when James II was ousted, there were ever calls for him to be replaced with Uskglass (if people were wild enough to assume that Uskglass could be recalled from wherever he was). I mean, Uskglass had no hereditary claim to the throne like Mary, but he was a legitimate ruler of a large chunk of England.

And now I've gone on another tangent and am thinking about babies in warming pans and, wait, was an actual changeling involved somehow???

Oh man, playing in Clarke's alternate universe is so much fun.

[regshoe]

Well, the Radicals of the early nineteenth century might have approved of him :P and I can see earlier radical groups like the Diggers (or the early Quakers?) doing the same, in view of his whole 'magic belongs to the people' thing in canon. It'd be interesting to speculate on how the issue of Northern independence might interact with other radical concerns and views!

Ooh, now I'm imagining vicious theological arguments going on in the 17th/18th century over whether John Uskglass would convert to Protestantism if he returned, and whether he would in that case be a suitable replacement for James.

And now I've gone on another tangent and am thinking about babies in warming pans and, wait, was an actual changeling involved somehow??? XD

[ohveda]

*slaps forehead* I completely forgot to take Uskglass' religion into account!

It could be argued that seeing as Uskglass disappeared almost 100 years before the reformation began, his views on Protestantism have never actually been ascertained.

My own headcanon is that Uskglass' relationship with religion is a very complex and fluid one (which tends to baffle all the Christians around him). I can see him particularly coming into conflict with organised religion at times when various Bishops and Archbishops happen to start telling him what he must do as ruler of his country. It wouldn't actually surprise me if he had been excommunicated by the Pope, and then brought back into the fold, on more than one occasion. If Uskglass did happen to be excommunicated at the time of his disappearance, it would be easy enough for people to assert that he had been Protestant all along.

[regshoe]

Yeah, I've always thought things between Uskglass and the Church must have been at least a little bit fraught (what was it like early in his reign—how did a medieval Church used to ruling over the religious life of a world where magic was largely dormant react to that?). I love the idea of him being repeatedly excommunicated, lol.

[ohveda]

I suppose the medieval church could see magic in two ways:

Option 1: Pagan and therefore dangerous. The danger to be eliminated by either suppressing magic or by subsuming magic practices into Christian rituals.

Option 2: Supernatural (aka proof of the power of God) and therefore well within the church's remit to control as it sees fit.

In both cases the medieval church would have been rather alarmed to find this new ruler independently encouraging a flowering of English magic and (initially anyway) being all "Jesus who?"

[regshoe]

I think there's some support in the book for option 2, what with those magical heresies, but I can see this being a topic of some argument amongst medieval divines! (oh, the fanfiction possibilities...)

[speakingskies]

Oooh, sounds like an interesting haul! You'll have to update us on Otranto!

I have to admit to having the lingering loathing of Sunset Song that can only be borne of *shudder* having to read it at school, and have never dared either reread or continue on with the rest of the Quair. I'm very aware that I'm viewing it through incredibly tinted glasses at *coughcough* years' distance, so can I ask what it is you like about it? I keep contemplating a reread but can't quite bring myself to.

[regshoe]

Well, it's certainly understandable that you didn't like it then—having to read things for school takes all the fun out of discovering new books. :P

I think what I liked most about Sunset Song was the way it expresses such love and depth of feeling for the traditional way of life that it's mourning, the attachment to the land and the old ways (there's nothing I love more in books than a really good strong sense of place), while at the same time being very clear-sighted about the darker side of that life, the hardships of poverty and the potential for abuse in traditional power structures. I really sympathised with Chris's conflict between her love for the land and her ambition for a different life. I thought the book got a beautiful sense of tragedy in its portrayal of the destruction of that older world, and that's part of why I'm so hesitant to read further—how can you carry on after such an ending?