tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post9091657966151789062..comments2024-03-29T11:36:25.050+00:00Comments on Clothes In Books: To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie WillisClothes In Bookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14680610242823846662noreply@blogger.comBlogger39125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-3247619786758670872023-12-01T15:30:35.694+00:002023-12-01T15:30:35.694+00:00Thanks for visiting, and I really must read more o...Thanks for visiting, and I really must read more of her books!Clothes In Bookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14680610242823846662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-35136542017712761162023-11-28T16:58:14.458+00:002023-11-28T16:58:14.458+00:00She is an American...
"Connie Willis, is an A...She is an American...<br />"Connie Willis, is an American science fiction and fantasy writer." -from her bio.<br /><br />I do agree with the sentiment but it does not really apply here. But why sorcerer's stone instead oh philosopher's...boggles the mind.<br /><br />Back to Willis, I do hope you read her books. They are marvelous.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-31380572808686562762021-08-12T18:00:02.006+01:002021-08-12T18:00:02.006+01:00Thanks for this, exactly the kind of comment I lov...Thanks for this, exactly the kind of comment I love! and yes, I'd missed that about Colleen and of course you are right. I am so impressed that you looked up the birth records, I must do that next time I have a complaint 😉. I would like to read another book by Willis, as there was much I did like - do you have a recommendation?Clothes In Bookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14680610242823846662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-58662847281707603412021-07-19T16:55:36.409+01:002021-07-19T16:55:36.409+01:00I loved this book, and just re-read it for the thi...I loved this book, and just re-read it for the third time. I agree that Willis has a tendency to over-description that makes some of her books a slog (I'm particularly thinking of Passage), but I thought it worked well here.<br /><br />One thing that did jar on me is another issue about names. Not the Irish maid's cousin Sharon, but the maid herself, whose real name is supposed to be Colleen. Colleen as a name was basically non-existent in Ireland in Victorian times -- it's (an anglicized version of) the Irish word for "girl", which would be a bizarre thing for anyone to call their own daughter. Even now, Colleen is very much an Irish-American (Irish-Australian, Irish-British, etc.) name, chosen as a linguistic/cultural link to the Old Country, and not at all common *in* the Old Country.<br /><br />I actually looked up the available civil records for births in Ireland in the 19th Century. I found exactly *one* Colleen born before 1880, which is one more than I was expecting. The same time window had more than 26,000 birth records for "Jane" -- ironic when the characters reflected on how "un-Irish" Jane sounded to them.<br /><br />(This Oirish thing got a lot worse in the much more recent CW novel, Crosstalk, which was pretty painful.)Bean Sproutshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10501916587385940797noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-17447394179193003402017-08-04T20:09:27.443+01:002017-08-04T20:09:27.443+01:00Once is enough!Once is enough!Clothes In Bookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14680610242823846662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-44659210633593319392017-08-04T19:59:01.760+01:002017-08-04T19:59:01.760+01:00Well, it was only once....Well, it was only once....carrpshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16726596939143045758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-34023321761552120232017-08-04T19:57:59.114+01:002017-08-04T19:57:59.114+01:00Lucky you! Occasionally that happens, and very nic...Lucky you! Occasionally that happens, and very nice it is too, but more often I wince a little at what I said in the past...Clothes In Bookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14680610242823846662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-54815070499587418392017-08-03T22:02:00.672+01:002017-08-03T22:02:00.672+01:00My favorite occasion was reading a paper I wrote f...My favorite occasion was reading a paper I wrote for a class at school and being rather impressed with it! I think my brain worked better then.carrpshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16726596939143045758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-10340970139955109742017-08-03T20:42:15.097+01:002017-08-03T20:42:15.097+01:00I re-read things I wrote years ago and am always a...I re-read things I wrote years ago and am always astonished. Sometimes I don't understand what I was talking about, sometimes I wince at what I said or bow I said it.Clothes In Bookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14680610242823846662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-78699087729013862512017-08-03T10:20:17.857+01:002017-08-03T10:20:17.857+01:00Getting older has its bad moments when one realize...Getting older has its bad moments when one realizes one's senses aren't as good.<br /><br />Last week I was going through 20-year-old files. I saw some notes of mine and thought, "What tiny handwriting I had then! I can't read a word of those notes." Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-77276039711760319212017-07-31T19:48:57.431+01:002017-07-31T19:48:57.431+01:00Honestly, I wondered if I needed them!Honestly, I wondered if I needed them!Clothes In Bookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14680610242823846662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-12925657092591842432017-07-30T21:54:28.052+01:002017-07-30T21:54:28.052+01:00Good thing or you'd have needed those supra-tr...Good thing or you'd have needed those supra-translations they have at the opera!carrpshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16726596939143045758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-6218154377890443922017-07-30T21:28:55.660+01:002017-07-30T21:28:55.660+01:00I went to see a play recently, and it featured Sco...I went to see a play recently, and it featured Scottish young women with very strong accents and a lot of dialect words. For the first few minutes I thought 'Oh no, I'm not getting this at all, I'm not going to understand a word.' But surprisingly quickly I got used to it, and loved the play... Clothes In Bookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14680610242823846662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-49260026872447235332017-07-29T06:10:55.789+01:002017-07-29T06:10:55.789+01:00MY two friends are Outlander fiends. One is a ret...MY two friends are Outlander fiends. One is a retired nurse and she relates to the protagonist, also a nurse.<br /><br />I could never understand dialect if it's a lot of the writing. And, in fact, I'm having trouble hearing all of the dialogue in British mysteries on TV or dvd, even Broadchurch because it's hard for me to understand the dialogue if the accents are strong. This is aging. Other friends have this problem and turn on subtitles in English to read the dialogue.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-14017102937131706832017-07-28T23:04:33.814+01:002017-07-28T23:04:33.814+01:00It's a book and series that divides people I t...It's a book and series that divides people I think! The person who lent me the first book couldn't believe that I didn't want to borrow the second, and kept on trying to persuade me for quite a while... Clothes In Bookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14680610242823846662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-7851551761569766422017-07-28T22:28:07.262+01:002017-07-28T22:28:07.262+01:00Yes, my older sister adores the Outlander TV serie...Yes, my older sister adores the Outlander TV series. I think she was thrilled when my genealogical research revealed we really were nearly totally Scottish on our dad's side. My younger sister and I don't get the cable channel that runs the show, so I've never seen it. Never read any of the books either. Looked a bit bodice-ripper-ish to me.carrpshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16726596939143045758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-74250248617048738242017-07-28T21:39:31.361+01:002017-07-28T21:39:31.361+01:00Kathy and Paula: There's room for plenty of mi...Kathy and Paula: There's room for plenty of misunderstandings - and that's despite the fact that nowadays we watch so much of each others's TV that things should be clearer. I can see that 'taking the piss' could be a problem.<br />I remember reading an Outlander book 20 years ago: I wasn't bothered about continuing, but I knew people who loved the books, and then I know people who loved the TV programme too, but I have never seen it.Clothes In Bookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14680610242823846662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-5005931780524152022017-07-28T21:28:22.691+01:002017-07-28T21:28:22.691+01:00Might be worth another try - it does have strange ...Might be worth another try - it does have strange longueurs, but when it is funny it is VERY funny, and there are scenes in it that live with you forever...Clothes In Bookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14680610242823846662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-81700128909563868992017-07-28T17:45:52.917+01:002017-07-28T17:45:52.917+01:00Ha! Yes, sometimes you can figure an expression ou...Ha! Yes, sometimes you can figure an expression out by context. Other times it's like Holy Hell what the heck does THAT mean?<br /><br />Speaking of dialect, I remember watching the TV series made from the All Creatures Great and Small books, and the first few I watched were almost incomprehensible to me. It was my first real exposure to the Yorkshire dialect/accent. But it was surprising quickly my ear got used to it, though.<br /><br />If I read a book in dialect I have to say the dialog silently in my head or I'll never figure out what's what.carrpshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16726596939143045758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-2595229708910703592017-07-28T11:55:33.874+01:002017-07-28T11:55:33.874+01:00I'm not a fan of time travel books, don't ...I'm not a fan of time travel books, don't think I've read any. But the Diana Gabaldon Outlander series is very popular over here. Are they read over there?<br />Two friends are totally wrapped up in these books. One is going on an Outlander trip to Scotland in a few days and the group is visiting areas cited in the series.<br /><br />And on terms and spelling -- it's confusing sometimes to read a book with idioms and words that differ from U.S. language. I've wondered if authors were misspelling or if there is an idiom I don't get.<br /><br />Luckily, a neighbor is from England and I ask him questions about the language. He's good at explaining idioms. "Taking the piss" was one I really didn't get but I did after he explained it. <br /><br />And it depends on the setting of the book and the author. If I read a book in dialect, I'd be lost. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-652263308662941942017-07-27T16:20:20.565+01:002017-07-27T16:20:20.565+01:00Reminds me of The Man Who Folded Himself. A fun bo...Reminds me of The Man Who Folded Himself. A fun book.<br /><br />I started Three Men in a Boat a while ago, put it down, and never picked it up again. I was just booooorrrrrrrrrred. Did it get better?carrpshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16726596939143045758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-83638874923661664072017-07-27T09:29:42.520+01:002017-07-27T09:29:42.520+01:00I know - this is a known problem, and not difficul...I know - this is a known problem, and not difficult to solve: I just wonder why writer and publisher aren't embarrasses.<br />I love historical time travel, but don't worry too much about the rules... so loving the Blinovitvh Rule!Clothes In Bookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14680610242823846662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-57819139562387999372017-07-27T07:30:02.228+01:002017-07-27T07:30:02.228+01:00Hmmm, it looks like this could be another case whe...Hmmm, it looks like this could be another case where an editor would have helped. It's especially ironic because I recall Jerome K Jerome claiming that 3 M3N... was at least partly created by his editor, who cut out lots of travel information and encouraged him to increase the humour content.<br /><br />Modern day Americanisms in what is supposedly a period piece are grating. They're especially galling as having someone proof-read for such would surely be simplicity itself. I've read so many Sherlock Holmes pastiches that were ruined for me because of stuff like this.<br /><br />Time-travel stories do fascinate me, although they also give me a headache. Stephen Baxter's sequel to Well's THE TIME MACHINE was THE TIME SHIPS. Very enjoyable stuff, but the central conceit (each travel in time creates a new universe) means that you feel that you should be keeping some sort of map to remind you where you are. There are some stories of Time Patrol by Poul Anderson, where a futuristic police force has to make sure that no vandalism is done to established history by malign or careless tourists in history. There's all sort of stuff about causality violations and such, but I still remember the script editor of Doctor Who from the early '70s claiming that whenever a potential plot hole emerged from time travel in stories, he introduced a concept called 'The Blinovitch Limitation Effect'. This would be used by the title character whenever someone questioned him about a problem with the plot. This phrase could be trotted out, but someone would burst through a door and interrupt him before he had to explain what the Hell it actually meant!<br /><br />ggaryAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-57077702739936240892017-07-25T10:24:16.746+01:002017-07-25T10:24:16.746+01:00Yes - sometimes you have to be careful before you ...Yes - sometimes you have to be careful before you jump in!Clothes In Bookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14680610242823846662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-18776884943579031722017-07-24T17:42:34.538+01:002017-07-24T17:42:34.538+01:00To say nothing of differences in spelling. I still...To say nothing of differences in spelling. I still remember vividly coming across "kerb" in a book when I was young and being startled that such an obvious error got into the book!carrpshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16726596939143045758noreply@blogger.com