[books 2008] various

[inulro]

I've been saving this up for when I'm more articulate & less tired, but on the rare occasions that happens I go out and Do Stuff, so here goes.

44. Vurt by Jeff Noon

I picked this one for Bibliogoths, and now everybody hates me. I haven't read it in 15 years, and I still really like it. It's set in an alternative Manchester that's grounded enough in the real geography to be convincing. There's a few good concepts, and a few amusing ones. Can't believe I missed the Moors murderers reference the first time, but I suppose I hadn't been in Manchester (or the UK) long enough to pick up on it.

45. Going Dutch: How England Plundered Holland's Glory by Lisa Jardine

Didn't I say recently I'm going to end up becoming an expert in the 17th century if I'm not careful?

Jardine was plugging this on Start the Week a while back and made it sound awesome. It's about how close and cross-pollinating the English and Dutch cultures were in the 17th century, and thus is was No Big Deal when William III came over from Holland and took over. I can't resist explanations for culture that nobody really thinks about, so I reserved it at the library.

It's a mixed bag. Given that I find it extremely difficult to give a shit about art history, or the history of the art trade, a lot of it was really tedious, but sprinkled with enough awesome factoids to keep my interest. I'm glad it did, because the last three chapters (science, and interactions between the English & the Dutch in the New World) were exactly My Kind of Thing. There's also three pages describing how Dyrham Park (the nearest big country house to where I live) was built - more identifiably on graft than anywhere else -ie one floor was a bribe from the governor of Jamaica, the stairway from the governor of somewhere else).

The other problem I had with this book is that the argument that English and Dutch cultures were very close at the time (wholly convincing) doesn't for me join up with her other point, that that was the reason why the Glorious Revolution was so conflict-free. Especially given that her first chapter is about what a finely crafted propaganda campaign made the people accept the rule of William and Mary.

Glad I read it; equally glad it came from the library.

46. The Silver Pigs by Lindsey Davis

This is the first of a series of detective novels set in ancient Rome. I wasn't sure what to expect going in to this - at least one of you loves the series, another is ambivalent, and the book was given to me by one of you who really wasn't impressed.

I have to admit it didn't start off well. I thought Davis was trying too hard to be Chandler in classical times; and trying too hard to be witty and sarcastic. However, I was stuck on a train with nothing else but work-related notes to read, so I persevered. By the time I got to Cardiff I was hooked.

It is a bit of a soap opera, and it's probably not very well written, but I ended up really liking the character of Falco, and getting really emotionally invested in the whole thing, and staying up too late on more than one occasion to read it. Trashy, but I thoroughly loved it.

Comments

[inulro.livejournal.com]

She does mention that; it's part of her point that the popular perception of the "glorious revolution" is all about the skillful propaganda rather than reality.