regshoe: A stack of brightly-coloured old books (Stack of books)
regshoe ([personal profile] regshoe) wrote2020-10-24 05:49 pm

Recent reading

Maskerade by Terry Pratchett (1995). I decided it was time for a Discworld re-read! This was the first time I'd re-read this one since reading The Phantom of the Opera, of which it's a parody, so there were quite a few more jokes and references to get, which was very enjoyable. And Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg in general are as good as ever, individually and together.

A Social History of the English Countryside by G. E. Mingay (1990). I found this one on archive.org while searching for Oliver Rackham's The History of the Countryside, and thought, hey, that looks relevant to my interests too...! It was indeed very interesting. It's pretty much what it sounds like from the title, and covers all sorts of aspects of life in the English countryside—agricultural work, land ownership and class hierarchies, food, housing, disease and medicine, religion, games, etc. etc.—from the middle ages to the twentieth century. Lots of really interesting stuff in there, including some information on things I was aware of but didn't know a great deal about, like the agricultural depression of the late nineteenth century. It is an overview rather than going into tons of detail about specific things, and there were a couple of places where I felt a bit more detail would have been helpful—but nevertheless, in general it's a very interesting and enjoyable overview.

And, technically, Sir Isumbras at the Ford by D. K. Broster (1918) again. :D It was great fun getting to revisit this one, and having to pay such close attention to the details of the text made for an interesting reading experience. I think the weaknesses were a bit more obvious this time through—it is just a bit contrived and overly-sentimental in places—but overall I still like it a lot, especially Raymonde—reading her first few scenes with the knowledge of what's really going on and how it all goes later on was an especially good bit for re-reading, I thought.
theseatheseatheopensea: Annabelle Hurst from Department S holding a book. (Annabelle.)

[personal profile] theseatheseatheopensea 2020-10-24 05:49 pm (UTC)(link)
Raymonde is the best!! ♥ Hehe, I think I can forgive Broster for some of the overly sentimental stuff in this book, because she's such an excellent character!
theseatheseatheopensea: A drawing of a fox and a magpie hugging. (Fox and magpie.)

[personal profile] theseatheseatheopensea 2020-10-24 06:49 pm (UTC)(link)
Haha yes, and it's kind of impressive that she managed to be good at both lighthearted romances and serious ones, right? And both are enjoyable in different ways! (no spoilers, but stuff like "Ships in the bay" makes me appreciate the range of her writing more, because I feel that her snark is at its best there!)
theseatheseatheopensea: A drawing of a fox and a magpie hugging. (Fox and magpie.)

[personal profile] theseatheseatheopensea 2020-10-24 07:51 pm (UTC)(link)
Yes!! which is why I admire your Very Organised readthrough :D You've got "ships in the bay" coming up next, right?
ohveda: (Default)

[personal profile] ohveda 2020-10-25 08:37 am (UTC)(link)
Ooh. "A Social History of the English Countryside" sounds fascinating. I should check it out. I was chatting family history with my parents last night and found out that some great-grandparents and great-great-grandparents of mine were farm labourers so it would be great to learn about what their lives would have been like.
hyarrowen: (Action Hero)

[personal profile] hyarrowen 2020-10-25 10:51 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm halfway through Sir Isumbras. I liked the adventure bits and the sailing descriptions - very watery and convincing - and unusually, I also liked the kid, enough that I'm having a bit of a break now that he's more or less out of the picture. But it sounds as though it's worth persisting?
hyarrowen: (Action Hero)

[personal profile] hyarrowen 2020-10-26 06:36 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, I haven't met Raymonde yet... I don't think... a lady with a broad and noble brow, though, is that her? I'll take the plunge again this evening. The second sailing sequence is a draw, I'll admit. :)