tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post909089389733317549..comments2024-03-18T10:56:29.768+00:00Comments on Clothes In Books: Dress Down Sunday: Book of 1943, & a Larkin ConnectionClothes In Bookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14680610242823846662noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-34124968335190111432017-02-28T22:27:26.832+00:002017-02-28T22:27:26.832+00:00I had already said I am going to have to read it.....I had already said I am going to have to read it... Hitchcock-ian just adds another layer. And I will be prepared for whatever else is in there.Clothes In Bookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14680610242823846662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-83355226634523034532017-02-28T22:26:19.944+00:002017-02-28T22:26:19.944+00:00Daniel and John - I can understand both your point...Daniel and John - I can understand both your points of view. We can't always predict what will infuriate us and what we can let pass, though this sounds like a particularly bad experience for you Daniel.<br />Now I'm going to have to read this book.<br />John - I think there is a slight difference in UK/US pronunciation, n-you-dist would be normal here. Based on this single instance, I would say Laura is just 'putting on a funny voice' because of the context, saying something slightly risqué, as young people do all over. But I will watch out for it in my future Gladys reading! I agree with you - I hate it when authors do exaggerated comic yokels. Clothes In Bookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14680610242823846662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-5408219415461105702017-02-28T18:47:15.100+00:002017-02-28T18:47:15.100+00:00It's a remarkably good plot. I have to acknowl...It's a remarkably good plot. I have to acknowledge that. I think it started out with my reading it as a deaf person and I think it just all added up due to the kind of mindframe I was in when reading. It would actually have made a very good Hitchcock film, especially given the fates all round... Daniel Milford-Cottamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07387407272852763234noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-47978928283939822562017-02-28T18:31:25.121+00:002017-02-28T18:31:25.121+00:00I'm gay, too, Daniel. I get pissed off and som...I'm gay, too, Daniel. I get pissed off and sometimes incensed about gay bigotry in old books just like you. I'll have to go back and read those sections now to see why none of the "toxic sentiments" stuck in my mind. I guess the plot meant more to me at the time I was reading it.J F Norrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06473487417479127354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-67350182413230525682017-02-27T16:46:41.601+00:002017-02-27T16:46:41.601+00:00Trust me, if you are reading The Echoing Strangers...Trust me, if you are reading The Echoing Strangers as a deaf, gay person, it's really vile stuff. It's actually not so much the eugenics that annoyed me (although when it popped up as a humorous mention, it just felt like one dig too many) as the fact that every few pages there's more horrible stuff about how people who are supposed to be like me are mentally subnormal, perverted, sickening, and/or disgusting, etc. I certainly wasn't expecting any particular sensitivity from this period, but the contempt, negativity and hatred felt quite unrelenting, even as I could acknowledge its being well done as writing.<br /><br />An easy book to appreciate for its quality, but content-wise, a deeply unlikeable read.Daniel Milford-Cottamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07387407272852763234noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-36744434679436820752017-02-27T16:32:01.855+00:002017-02-27T16:32:01.855+00:00I think THE ECHOING STRANGERS is one of her best! ...I think THE ECHOING STRANGERS is one of her best! I obviously find it a lot easier to gloss over all these kind of "toxic sentiments".<br /><br />What's the deal with making fun of the long U sound? That "noodist" slight is what I'm referring to. I see that a lot in British writing, especially in Mitchell's books. Did she have some sort of patrician accent or a hang-up on British received pronunciation? How would you pronounce nudist? To me "noodist" seems perfectly fine where "noo" is pronounced as "new". Not at all an indication of some perceived low life way of talking. Is it properly pronounced "nyou-dist"?<br /><br />This kind of thing bugs me more than any talk of eugenics or racial epithets. Making fun of speech patterns is a snobbish and supercilious way of excluding people and making them an outcast. Ridiculing speech is worse than all other prejudices because it goes beyond just skin color or religion; it implies lack of education and intelligence which seem to be the ultimate insults.J F Norrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06473487417479127354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-7602496816760375542017-02-25T21:01:17.643+00:002017-02-25T21:01:17.643+00:00Yes you are right - and it's horrible when fav...Yes you are right - and it's horrible when favourite authors make the reader wince. I think it is seen as a very right-wing view now, but that wasn't the case in earlier times. The metaphor of the get-out-of-jail-free card is ideal.Clothes In Bookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14680610242823846662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-3402151908493171632017-02-25T00:30:22.732+00:002017-02-25T00:30:22.732+00:00As regards the eugenics question, I've had to ...As regards the eugenics question, I've had to issue a sort of 'get-out-of-jail-free-card' to a number of writers of that vintage, just so I can continue to read them. It was just so widespread, especially amongst people whom one would consider liberal and responsible. It's flinchingly uncomfortable to think about how popular the idea was, and I do sometimes wonder which respectable modern opinions will be considered beyond the pale in the near future.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-20266063316104638682017-02-21T19:57:34.249+00:002017-02-21T19:57:34.249+00:00I went off to look this all up, and the excellent ...I went off to look this all up, and the excellent World Wide Words site has a great item on the two words: http://www.worldwidewords.org/weirdwords/ww-ran2.htmClothes In Bookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14680610242823846662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-78260922902520750442017-02-21T19:56:13.615+00:002017-02-21T19:56:13.615+00:00Oh that is very disappointing. We can make a certa...Oh that is very disappointing. We can make a certain amount of allowance for the times, but beyond the pale is beyond the pale.Clothes In Bookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14680610242823846662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-16335762647472286352017-02-21T14:52:34.659+00:002017-02-21T14:52:34.659+00:00On a brighter note, La Bradley does get a rather s...On a brighter note, La Bradley does get a rather spectacular sounding hat...<br /><br />I find myself incredibly conflicted by it actually because I'm forced to acknowledge there's a lot that's very good about it, but good grief, I think the closest parallel I can come up with is that it was like coming across Enid Blyton's "Three Little Golliwogs" after getting used to her derring-do adventure books or her schoolgirl stories - now I know exactly how Gladys thought about people like me, I'm not so sure I like her any more.Daniel Milford-Cottamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07387407272852763234noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-19285477647107965832017-02-21T03:37:38.647+00:002017-02-21T03:37:38.647+00:00"Rannikaboo" is a term I find a lot in p..."Rannikaboo" is a term I find a lot in pre-WWI westerns, such as Lewis' Wolfville Stories. It evidently means a lively time, a fight, or a threat.<br /><br />Shayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16527241089629026268noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-43290970062593389042017-02-20T20:39:25.316+00:002017-02-20T20:39:25.316+00:00Oh - now I am going to have to read it just to fin...Oh - now I am going to have to read it just to find out, and am going to hate it...Clothes In Bookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14680610242823846662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-48369817278945791032017-02-20T20:38:48.598+00:002017-02-20T20:38:48.598+00:00Interesting is about right. Yes, I wondered if it ...Interesting is about right. Yes, I wondered if it was going to be that easy and when I checked - it was.Clothes In Bookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14680610242823846662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-82211774825107049002017-02-20T20:37:51.345+00:002017-02-20T20:37:51.345+00:00OK it took me a few moments, but I got there! Very...OK it took me a few moments, but I got there! Very funny (and tragic for Ed).Clothes In Bookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14680610242823846662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-75851590756425050452017-02-20T20:20:33.435+00:002017-02-20T20:20:33.435+00:00Fair comment - I think you have a feel for which b...Fair comment - I think you have a feel for which books you will enjoy.Clothes In Bookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14680610242823846662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-81807465666193887722017-02-20T20:19:42.542+00:002017-02-20T20:19:42.542+00:00A bit of a hoot, I think it's fair to say. It ...A bit of a hoot, I think it's fair to say. It used to annoy me that Mitchell's plots left so many loose ends, but I am more tolerant as I get older!Clothes In Bookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14680610242823846662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-46160276138785606982017-02-20T18:04:32.446+00:002017-02-20T18:04:32.446+00:00I think the worst thing about it was that it was R...I think the worst thing about it was that it was REALLY well written, so there were a lot of rather toxic sentiments in lovely prose, and it made it more gruesome.Daniel Milford-Cottamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07387407272852763234noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-70756077285097210162017-02-20T18:03:32.532+00:002017-02-20T18:03:32.532+00:00I recently read a Mitchell book, The Echoing Stran...I recently read a Mitchell book, The Echoing Strangers, that left me utterly shocked for several reasons - it was actually reasonably plotted, there was actual detecting, it made sense.... and also for me I found it remarkably offensive, even allowing for The Period Attitudes - at one point, Mrs Bradley mentions her tracts on eugenics, and rather than the usual flinch and read-on, it brought on a full-body shudder.<br /><br />The Echoing Strangers was the kind of book that if I had read it very early on in my Gladys reading, I would have never gone anywhere near her books ever again. I found it almost unforgivable.Daniel Milford-Cottamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07387407272852763234noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-26637708155787734972017-02-20T04:16:57.458+00:002017-02-20T04:16:57.458+00:00This sounds, er, interesting.
But...cokernut! I c...This sounds, er, interesting.<br /><br />But...cokernut! I came acrosss that in Elizabeth Sanxay Holding book written in the 1940s. It was in a list of different kinds of pies, and I had to google it. If I'd only said it out loud I might have figured it out.carrpshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16726596939143045758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-52535857297377917362017-02-20T03:52:52.454+00:002017-02-20T03:52:52.454+00:00Poor Ed Viper, to be so maligned by Mitchell!Poor Ed Viper, to be so maligned by Mitchell!noirencyclopediahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02843963811822980754noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-90067788123421870882017-02-19T23:13:06.623+00:002017-02-19T23:13:06.623+00:00Although this book does seem to have some very int...Although this book does seem to have some very interesting aspects, I think I will put it lower on my list of books to read by Mitchell. I don't think I would get along well with the weirdness and unexplained questions.TracyKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08303342674824383688noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-82414094168243254822017-02-19T12:48:47.457+00:002017-02-19T12:48:47.457+00:00You put that very well about Mitchell's writin...You put that very well about Mitchell's writing, Moira. She didn't always explain everything, and certainly her plots could be very convoluted. But if you go along for the ride, it can be, as you say, great fun. Hmm....snakes, virgins and dolls...yes, very...interesting. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com