[books 2007] Various
Oct. 26th, 2007 05:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
inulro59. Ysabel by Guy Gavriel Kay
Reading this book was an odd experience. I kept thinking "this isn't all that good" and then noticing that two hours and many pages had gone by without me noticing. I guess I was just disappointed that it isn't Sailing to Sarantium or Lord of Emperors. It's about a teenage boy who gets drawn into a love triangle that has been playing itself out intermittently for 2600 years while on holiday in Provence. It gets extra points for taking place partly in places I visited last year such as the Alyscamps, the ancient cemetery in Arles. The setting is really good - Kay actually stayed in the area to write the book, and it shows.
60. The Black Death and the Transformation of the West by David Herlihy
This is a tiny book - a series of lectures the author made about the Black Death which were collected after his death. I thought I'd read that this was supposed to be really groundbreaking stuff, and didn't think that I'd been keeping up on the research in the area since I stopped being a medievalist. Either it's not, or I've been reading more than I remember, because although interesting, nothing here was that stunning. A lot of it is logical progressions from the conclusions drawn by earlier research.
He touches on evidence for the religious beliefs and understanding of medieval peasants (ie how Christian were they really), which is something I'd have liked to see more on. Herlihy belonged to the school of thought that said nobody really bothered with the peasants and they were still largely ignorant of Christianity before the Black Death. I was taught by John Gilchrist, who was of the opposite school of thought - that all medieval peasants knew the Bible thoroughly. Which I always found a bit un-credible, so I'm always interested in evidence for or against in this argument.
61. Exit Music by Ian Rankin
The final Rebus novel. One of the best, too. I approve.
Reading this book was an odd experience. I kept thinking "this isn't all that good" and then noticing that two hours and many pages had gone by without me noticing. I guess I was just disappointed that it isn't Sailing to Sarantium or Lord of Emperors. It's about a teenage boy who gets drawn into a love triangle that has been playing itself out intermittently for 2600 years while on holiday in Provence. It gets extra points for taking place partly in places I visited last year such as the Alyscamps, the ancient cemetery in Arles. The setting is really good - Kay actually stayed in the area to write the book, and it shows.
60. The Black Death and the Transformation of the West by David Herlihy
This is a tiny book - a series of lectures the author made about the Black Death which were collected after his death. I thought I'd read that this was supposed to be really groundbreaking stuff, and didn't think that I'd been keeping up on the research in the area since I stopped being a medievalist. Either it's not, or I've been reading more than I remember, because although interesting, nothing here was that stunning. A lot of it is logical progressions from the conclusions drawn by earlier research.
He touches on evidence for the religious beliefs and understanding of medieval peasants (ie how Christian were they really), which is something I'd have liked to see more on. Herlihy belonged to the school of thought that said nobody really bothered with the peasants and they were still largely ignorant of Christianity before the Black Death. I was taught by John Gilchrist, who was of the opposite school of thought - that all medieval peasants knew the Bible thoroughly. Which I always found a bit un-credible, so I'm always interested in evidence for or against in this argument.
61. Exit Music by Ian Rankin
The final Rebus novel. One of the best, too. I approve.
