#britishliterature — Public Fediverse posts

I read Richard Hughes's novel A High Wind in Jamaica every few years, and just finished reading it again. Many novelists have inimitable voices, Austen, Dickens, Trollope, G. Eliot, etc. but they're consistent from book to book. This novel, though, is absolutely unique even compared to Hughes's three others. It's more like a vision than anything planned out consciously. Wuthering Heights is the only other novel I know that feels like that, although (of course) they're nothing alike. Francine Prose explains more eloquently than I could do (but if you read the NYRB Classics edition skip her introduction at first because it's chock full of spoilers).

Oh, and it's about some children captured by pirates! Highly recommend!

#AHighWindInJamaica #RichardHughes #BritishLiterature #Pirates #FrancineProse #NYRBClassics #Bookstodon

🧵 2/2

This change of mind has come about for a couple of reasons.

In the first place, reading Gabriele Tergit's "Effingers" reminded me of how satisfying a read a well observed family saga can be. I'm pretty sure that Tergit had read both "Buddenbrooks" and the Galsworthy. Previously I read the Thomas Mann, thinking of it as a key work in European literature, but had been inclined to regard the Galsworthy as something that I could afford to pass over -- I admit that a little bit of Virginia Woolf snobbery about "middlebrow" fiction was probably at work here too. But I might just enjoy the Galsworthy!

Then my interest was prompted by this BBC feature on a new television adaptation. It reminded me that a family saga does not have to consist of Mann like novels of ideas to be probing and revelatory.

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20260320-the-story-that-skewered-the-british-class-system

#JohnGalsworthy #ForsyteSaga #Literature #Novels #BritishLiterature #FamilySaga #Books #TwentiethCenturyLiterature

Smith is a master in describing atmospheres, vibes, settings, and reading this felt like I was walking (and seeing, smelling, enjoying, enduring, feeling) London.
It's a pity the characters often felt like stereotypes with not very interesting stories.

NW, Zadie Smith

7/10

#BritishLiterature #NWLondon #ZadieSmith #bookstodon

I don't know how I feel about this. It's short, intense, and complex.
Is it love? Is it lust? Addiction? Helplessness? Or is it just desire in all its mysterious ways?

Well, I liked it.

Box Hill, Adam Mars-Jones

8/10

#boxhill #BritishLiterature #bookstodon

The two novels of Orwell I haven't read are "A Clergyman's Daughter" and "Coming Up for Air".

The former incorporates Orwell's supposedly unsuccessful stab at modernist literary technique; I'm curious to see if it really is a failure.

I know little about the latter, but both the completist and the cultural historian within me want to polish it off anyway.

"Burmese Days" is excellent, and should be pressed into the hands of Niall Ferguson fans and other right wingers inclined to wax lyrical about the British empire.

At some point in the future, I'll post my thoughts on "1984'".

Image: 1943 National Union of Journalists card photo -- Wikimedia Commons -- Public domain.

#GeorgeOrwell #Books #Literature #BritishLiterature #Fiction #AClergymansDaughter #ComingUpForAir #BurmeseDays #1984 #BritishEmpire #Imperialism #RightWing #LiteraryHistory

Orwell's 1936 novel sees Gordon Comstock quit advertisement copywriting to work on his poetry and maintain his integrity in the face of the "money god".

Comstock's rebellion, like that of Winston Smith a decade later, ultimately fails.

In addition to being struck by the parallels between Comstock's life under British capitalism in the 30's and Smith's under Ingsoc in Airstrip One, I was also impressed by Orwell's sharp descriptions of the indignities of genteel poverty.

#Books #KeepTheAspidistraFlying #GeorgeOrwell #BritishLiterature #LiteratureInEnglish #Novels #20thCenturyLiterature

I know that they still read "An Inspector Calls" in English schools, but I suspect that I might be one of very few who wants to read a JB Priestley novel today.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/nov/09/jb-priestley-adventures-of-the-tradesman-of-letters

#BritishLiterature #Books #JBPriestley #20thCenturyLiterature #Fiction #Novels

Let me ask you something unusual:
Have you ever changed your nationality?

This time, I’d like to talk about Kazuo Ishiguro,
the Japanese-born British novelist.

If you're curious, feel free to take a peek 😌
https://introvert-path.com/en/embracing-e/reading-habit/20251012-1/

#NobelPrizeInLiterature #BritishLiterature #JapaneseLiterature
#Bookish #Bookworm #Booklovers #Reading

Original, intriguing, beautiful characters, but strangely unengaging.

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Muriel Spark

6/10

#BritishLiterature #murielspark #britishbooks #bookstodon

#adrianmole #adrianmoletheprostrateyears #suetownsend #bookstagram #booklover #bookworm #bibliophile #tbr #bookish #bookaddict #bookcommunity #instareads #midureads #fiction #humor #comedy #britishliterature #contemporary #youngadult

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜'𝗺 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴: "𝗪𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗧𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗵" 𝗯𝘆 𝗭𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗲 𝗦𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗵 -

Do we need to have a better understanding of immigration, race, and history? Gosh, this read is long overdue for me!

#books #bookreviews #bookworm #readreadread #tbr #tbrpile #tbrlist #quotes #reading #zadiesmith #whiteteeth #immigration #religion #fiction #britishliterature #multiculturalism

@acarsdrama unexpected #AVgeek / #BritishLiterature crossover.. https://live.acarsdrama.com/@acarsdrama/114908682381468315

*Please only add me if you're over twenty-one.
Since the Bio field has such a short character limit, consider this to be my profile/biography.
I don't write about American politics, race, anticapitalism, world affairs (wars, poverty, oppression, etc.), loneliness, bad self-esteem, or anxiety/depression, and will not add those who do so often. The same is true of those who feel it necessary to use obscenities. I am not a modern programmer or gamer, I do not use Linux, and I don't care what social network you use.*

Hello. For the sake of honesty, Georgiana Brummell is not my legal name, but it is what I use. I live in New Jersey and am forty-two years old. Some of my interests include studying dandyism, nineteenth-century English grammar, Upper Received Pronunciation, the Italian language, British history, the Regency, opera, and MS-DOS. I like coffee, tea, wine, cooking, reading, watching nature and historical documentaries, gardening, hot weather, and playing cards and dice. I love opera, particularly singers from the 1940-s and earlier, classical music, from Baroque through early Romantic, and popular music from the 1950's through the 1970's, along with some acoustic recordings. I prefer antique menswear and accessories. I love wit, wordplay, and dry humour without vulgarity. I am happily childfree, am not religious, speak my mind and am against political correctness. I also love cats. I have been totally blind since I was two months old, due to Retinopathy of Prematurity.

This is my journal. Anyone can read or comment, whether or not he is a member.

http://dandylover1.dreamwidth.org

This is my dating post on Mastodon, which is shorter than the one on Dreamwidth. It's somewhat similar to this one, but it contains an explanation of what I am seeking in a partner. If you are or know a genuine dandy, or at least, an intelligent, single, childfree man over sixty, please read the link below and/or pass it on to him.

https://someplace.social/@dandylover1/114966815790206512

If you're on MSN via Escargot I am [email protected].

I am also the administrator of the Old Opera, and Blind and Fine, subreddits.

Interests

#accessibility #AgeGapRelationships #animals #atheism #BeauBrummell #baking #BelCanto #birds #BoardGames #books #BritishHistory #BritishLiterature #cards #cats #ChamberMusic #childfree #ClassicalMusic #coffee #cooking #crafts #dandies #dandyism #dating #documentaries #Dreamwidth #England #food #friends #friendship #gardening #grammar #history #humor #humour #introduction #Italian #MSDOS #nature #NewJersey #NoPolitics #NJ #NVDA #OldMen #OldTimeRadio #opera #operetta #paranormal #parapsychology #plants #QuickBasic #reading #ReceivedPronunciation #Reddit #Regency #RoyalFamily #seniors #SilverFork #singing #singles #suits #tea #theater #theatre #TWBlue #TweeseCake #UpperClass #Windows7 #WindowsXP #wine #AmWriting

*Please only add me if you're over twenty-one.
Since the Bio field has such a short character limit, consider this to be my profile/biography.
I don't write about American politics, race, anticapitalism, world affairs (wars, poverty, oppression, etc.), loneliness, bad self-esteem, or anxiety/depression, and will not add those who do so often. The same is true of those who feel it necessary to use obscenities. I am not a modern programmer or gamer, I do not use Linux, and I don't care what social network you use.*

Hello. For the sake of honesty, Georgiana Brummell is not my legal name, but it is what I use. I live in New Jersey and am forty-two years old. Some of my interests include studying dandyism, nineteenth-century English grammar, Upper Received Pronunciation, the Italian language, British history, the Regency, opera, and MS-DOS. I like coffee, tea, wine, cooking, reading, watching nature and historical documentaries, gardening, hot weather, and playing cards and dice. I love opera, particularly singers from the 1940-s and earlier, classical music, from Baroque through early Romantic, and popular music from the 1950's through the 1970's, along with some acoustic recordings. I prefer antique menswear and accessories. I love wit, wordplay, and dry humour without vulgarity. I am happily childfree, am not religious, speak my mind and am against political correctness. I also love cats. I have been totally blind since I was two months old, due to Retinopathy of Prematurity.

This is my journal. Anyone can read or comment, whether or not he is a member.

http://dandylover1.dreamwidth.org

This is my dating post on Mastodon, which is shorter than the one on Dreamwidth. It's somewhat similar to this one, but it contains an explanation of what I am seeking in a partner. If you are or know a genuine dandy, or at least, an intelligent, single, childfree man over sixty, please read the link below and/or pass it on to him.

https://someplace.social/@dandylover1/114966815790206512

If you're on MSN via Escargot I am [email protected].

I am also the administrator of the Old Opera, and Blind and Fine, subreddits.

Interests

#accessibility #AgeGapRelationships #animals #atheism #BeauBrummell #baking #BelCanto #birds #BoardGames #books #BritishHistory #BritishLiterature #cards #cats #ChamberMusic #childfree #ClassicalMusic #coffee #cooking #crafts #dandies #dandyism #dating #documentaries #Dreamwidth #England #food #friends #friendship #gardening #grammar #history #humor #humour #introduction #Italian #MSDOS #nature #NewJersey #NoPolitics #NJ #NVDA #OldMen #OldTimeRadio #opera #operetta #paranormal #parapsychology #plants #QuickBasic #reading #ReceivedPronunciation #Reddit #Regency #RoyalFamily #seniors #SilverFork #singing #singles #suits #tea #theater #theatre #TWBlue #TweeseCake #UpperClass #Windows7 #WindowsXP #wine #AmWriting

*Please only add me if you're over twenty-one.
Since the Bio field has such a short character limit, consider this to be my profile/biography.
I don't write about American politics, race, anticapitalism, world affairs (wars, poverty, oppression, etc.), loneliness, bad self-esteem, or anxiety/depression, and will not add those who do so often. The same is true of those who feel it necessary to use obscenities. I am not a modern programmer or gamer, I do not use Linux, and I don't care what social network you use.*

Hello. For the sake of honesty, Georgiana Brummell is not my legal name, but it is what I use. I live in New Jersey and am forty-two years old. Some of my interests include studying dandyism, nineteenth-century English grammar, Upper Received Pronunciation, the Italian language, British history, the Regency, opera, and MS-DOS. I like coffee, tea, wine, cooking, reading, watching nature and historical documentaries, gardening, hot weather, and playing cards and dice. I love opera, particularly singers from the 1940-s and earlier, classical music, from Baroque through early Romantic, and popular music from the 1950's through the 1970's, along with some acoustic recordings. I prefer antique menswear and accessories. I love wit, wordplay, and dry humour without vulgarity. I am happily childfree, am not religious, speak my mind and am against political correctness. I also love cats. I have been totally blind since I was two months old, due to Retinopathy of Prematurity.

This is my journal. Anyone can read or comment, whether or not he is a member.

http://dandylover1.dreamwidth.org

This is my dating post on Mastodon, which is shorter than the one on Dreamwidth. It's somewhat similar to this one, but it contains an explanation of what I am seeking in a partner. If you are or know a genuine dandy, or at least, an intelligent, single, childfree man over sixty, please read the link below and/or pass it on to him.

https://someplace.social/@dandylover1/114966815790206512

If you're on MSN via Escargot I am [email protected].

I am also the administrator of the Old Opera, and Blind and Fine, subreddits.

Interests

#accessibility #AgeGapRelationships #animals #atheism #BeauBrummell #baking #BelCanto #birds #BoardGames #books #BritishHistory #BritishLiterature #cards #cats #ChamberMusic #childfree #ClassicalMusic #coffee #cooking #crafts #dandies #dandyism #dating #documentaries #Dreamwidth #England #food #friends #friendship #gardening #grammar #history #humor #humour #introduction #Italian #MSDOS #nature #NewJersey #NoPolitics #NJ #NVDA #OldMen #OldTimeRadio #opera #operetta #paranormal #parapsychology #plants #QuickBasic #reading #ReceivedPronunciation #Reddit #Regency #RoyalFamily #seniors #SilverFork #singing #singles #suits #tea #theater #theatre #TWBlue #TweeseCake #UpperClass #Windows7 #WindowsXP #wine #AmWriting

*Please only add me if you're over twenty-one.
Since the Bio field has such a short character limit, consider this to be my profile/biography.
I don't write about American politics, race, anticapitalism, world affairs (wars, poverty, oppression, etc.), loneliness, bad self-esteem, or anxiety/depression, and will not add those who do so often. The same is true of those who feel it necessary to use obscenities. I am not a modern programmer or gamer, I do not use Linux, and I don't care what social network you use.*

Hello. For the sake of honesty, Georgiana Brummell is not my legal name, but it is what I use. I live in New Jersey and am forty-two years old. Some of my interests include studying dandyism, nineteenth-century English grammar, Upper Received Pronunciation, the Italian language, British history, the Regency, opera, and MS-DOS. I like coffee, tea, wine, cooking, reading, watching nature and historical documentaries, gardening, hot weather, and playing cards and dice. I love opera, particularly singers from the 1940-s and earlier, classical music, from Baroque through early Romantic, and popular music from the 1950's through the 1970's, along with some acoustic recordings. I prefer antique menswear and accessories. I love wit, wordplay, and dry humour without vulgarity. I am happily childfree, am not religious, speak my mind and am against political correctness. I also love cats. I have been totally blind since I was two months old, due to Retinopathy of Prematurity.

This is my journal. Anyone can read or comment, whether or not he is a member.

http://dandylover1.dreamwidth.org

This is my dating post on Mastodon, which is shorter than the one on Dreamwidth. It's somewhat similar to this one, but it contains an explanation of what I am seeking in a partner. If you are or know a genuine dandy, or at least, an intelligent, single, childfree man over sixty, please read the link below and/or pass it on to him.

https://someplace.social/@dandylover1/114966815790206512

If you're on MSN via Escargot I am [email protected].

I am also the administrator of the Old Opera, and Blind and Fine, subreddits.

Interests

#accessibility #AgeGapRelationships #animals #atheism #BeauBrummell #baking #BelCanto #birds #BoardGames #books #BritishHistory #BritishLiterature #cards #cats #ChamberMusic #childfree #ClassicalMusic #coffee #cooking #crafts #dandies #dandyism #dating #documentaries #Dreamwidth #England #food #friends #friendship #gardening #grammar #history #humor #humour #introduction #Italian #MSDOS #nature #NewJersey #NoPolitics #NJ #NVDA #OldMen #OldTimeRadio #opera #operetta #paranormal #parapsychology #plants #QuickBasic #reading #ReceivedPronunciation #Reddit #Regency #RoyalFamily #seniors #SilverFork #singing #singles #suits #tea #theater #theatre #TWBlue #TweeseCake #UpperClass #Windows7 #WindowsXP #wine #AmWriting

🧵 2/2

...Edith Nesbit's "Psammead" series not only engaged me with narrative but also suggested to me, particularly in the second and third books, that "another world is possible".

I am sure that such a suggestion formed part of Nesbit's authorial intention, given that she was a committed socialist and founding member of the Fabian Society.

Fantasy in literature is sometimes criticized as "escapist". Whenever such a label is applied to disparage this or other genres, I respond by conceding that escapism might well be a motive for readers or audiences; I then ask what are they trying to escape from and where are they trying to escape to.

The politics of escapism are by no means straightforwardly quietistic or socially soporific.

#EdithNesbit #Fantasy #Books #Literature #BritishLiterature
#Escapism #ChildrensLiterature #EnglishLiterature

🧵 1/2

"Lord of the Rings" meant much to me in my early adolescence, but I have not reread it since then and have no current plans to do so.

Nevertheless, this piece's claim that LOTR should not be dismissed as simplistic reaction fascinated me.

This fascination stems in part from views I already espoused regarding the political potency of fantasy and magic in the arts and literature.

For example...

https://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/tolkien-against-the-grain/

#LordOfTheRings #Tolkien #Fantasy #Books #Literature #GerryCanavan #BritishLiterature #EnglishLiterature

#3goodthings

1. Enjoyed reading Somerset Maugham's short story "The Book-Bag" while sitting in a diner eating a cheese, pepper, and ham omelette with home fries.

2. In Starbucks, the barista told me how she and her coworkers like to dip madeleines in cold foam. She gave me a free cup so I could try it out. Delicious!

3. Two Kpop groups put out performance videos that I had been wanting to see.

https://c.im/@jemmesedi/114260989795797172

https://youtu.be/XjQKDQK3i9A?si=0j8LtAYHfK3CvUK6

@[email protected] @[email protected] #3GoodThingsToday #ReasonsToBeCheerful #SomersetMaugham #BritishLiterature #ShortStory #TheBookBag #Food #Starbucks #Madeleine #Kpop #izna #Sign #LeSserafim #ComeOver #PerformanceVideo #PV #GirlGroups #StudioChoom #Choom

#3goodthings

1. Enjoyed reading Somerset Maugham's short story "The Book-Bag" while sitting in a diner eating a cheese, pepper, and ham omelette with home fries.

2. In Starbucks, the barista told me how she and her coworkers like to dip madeleines in cold foam. She gave me a free cup so I could try it out. Delicious!

3. Two Kpop groups put out performance videos that I had been wanting to see.

https://c.im/@jemmesedi/114260989795797172

https://youtu.be/XjQKDQK3i9A?si=0j8LtAYHfK3CvUK6

@[email protected] @[email protected] #3GoodThingsToday #ReasonsToBeCheerful #SomersetMaugham #BritishLiterature #ShortStory #TheBookBag #Food #Starbucks #Madeleine #Kpop #izna #Sign #LeSserafim #ComeOver #PerformanceVideo #PV #GirlGroups #StudioChoom #Choom

#3goodthings

1. Enjoyed reading Somerset Maugham's short story "The Book-Bag" while sitting in a diner eating a cheese, pepper, and ham omelette with home fries.

2. In Starbucks, the barista told me how she and her coworkers like to dip madeleines in cold foam. She gave me a free cup so I could try it out. Delicious!

3. Two Kpop groups put out performance videos that I had been wanting to see.

https://c.im/@jemmesedi/114260989795797172

https://youtu.be/XjQKDQK3i9A?si=0j8LtAYHfK3CvUK6

@[email protected] @[email protected] #3GoodThingsToday #ReasonsToBeCheerful #SomersetMaugham #BritishLiterature #ShortStory #TheBookBag #Food #Starbucks #Madeleine #Kpop #izna #Sign #LeSserafim #ComeOver #PerformanceVideo #PV #GirlGroups #StudioChoom #Choom

#3goodthings

1. Enjoyed reading Somerset Maugham's short story "The Book-Bag" while sitting in a diner eating a cheese, pepper, and ham omelette with home fries.

2. In Starbucks, the barista told me how she and her coworkers like to dip madeleines in cold foam. She gave me a free cup so I could try it out. Delicious!

3. Two Kpop groups put out performance videos that I had been wanting to see.

https://c.im/@jemmesedi/114260989795797172

https://youtu.be/XjQKDQK3i9A?si=0j8LtAYHfK3CvUK6

@[email protected] @[email protected] #3GoodThingsToday #ReasonsToBeCheerful #SomersetMaugham #BritishLiterature #ShortStory #TheBookBag #Food #Starbucks #Madeleine #Kpop #izna #Sign #LeSserafim #ComeOver #PerformanceVideo #PV #GirlGroups #StudioChoom #Choom

#3goodthings

1. Enjoyed reading Somerset Maugham's short story "The Book-Bag" while sitting in a diner eating a cheese, pepper, and ham omelette with home fries.

2. In Starbucks, the barista told me how she and her coworkers like to dip madeleines in cold foam. She gave me a free cup so I could try it out. Delicious!

3. Two Kpop groups put out performance videos that I had been wanting to see.

https://c.im/@jemmesedi/114260989795797172

https://youtu.be/XjQKDQK3i9A?si=0j8LtAYHfK3CvUK6

@[email protected] @[email protected] #3GoodThingsToday #ReasonsToBeCheerful #SomersetMaugham #BritishLiterature #ShortStory #TheBookBag #Food #Starbucks #Madeleine #Kpop #izna #Sign #LeSserafim #ComeOver #PerformanceVideo #PV #GirlGroups #StudioChoom #Choom

I am now going to drink tea and read a short story by Somerset Maugham, for whom I think the designation "first rate second rate writer" was originally coined. Then I'll go to bed!

Image: W. Somerset Maugham, photo by Paul Thompson -- Wikimedia Commons -- Public domain

#WSomersetMaugham #BritishLiterature
#ShortStory

I want to grapple more with D.H. Lawrence, in particular "The Rainbow" and "Women in Love".

I've read both but came away puzzled and dissatisfied. What did I miss? I've been nagged by a feeling for years that my inadequacies as a reader have obscured important themes from me. I don't have much time to do unrelated to work rereading, but I do have a hunch that understanding these two works will better my understanding of both my country and myself past and present.

Lawrence's reputation has never fully recovered from the attack mounted on his work by Kate Millett in the 1970 "Sexual Politics". Feminist scholarship following Millett contributed to the supersession of the Leavisite criticism that had championed Lawrence as the heir to the "Great Tradition" of moral seriousness in English literature, and that critical approach withered not only intellectually, but also institutionally as British literature and humanities departments came more and more under the sway of US academia's priorities and values; what place for Lawrence's rainswept reflections on the burdens of class in Britain on a sunny, tech infused Californian campus? Pointing to Lawrence in New Mexico or Australia just feels desperate...

My reading, however, is informed but not determined by what's in favor (note the spelling) in departments of literature. Kate Millett might have hated "Lady Chatterley's Lover", but I have found it a rich source not just for thinking about sex and gender but also language, class, technology, and disability in interwar Britain . I hope that a reread of "The Rainbow" and "Women in Love" will prove similarly rewarding.

#DHLawrence #Books #TheRainbow #WomenInLove #LadyChatterleysLover #BritishLiterature #EnglishLiterature

Image: D H Lawrence in 1921 -- Wikimedia Commons -- Public domain.

I want to grapple more with D.H. Lawrence, in particular "The Rainbow" and "Women in Love".

I've read both but came away puzzled and dissatisfied. What did I miss? I've been nagged by a feeling for years that my inadequacies as a reader have obscured important themes from me. I don't have much time to do unrelated to work rereading, but I do have a hunch that understanding these two works will better my understanding of both my country and myself past and present.

Lawrence's reputation has never fully recovered from the attack mounted on his work by Kate Millett in the 1970 "Sexual Politics". Feminist scholarship following Millett contributed to the supersession of the Leavisite criticism that had championed Lawrence as the heir to the "Great Tradition" of moral seriousness in English literature, and that critical approach withered not only intellectually, but also institutionally as British literature and humanities departments came more and more under the sway of US academia's priorities and values; what place for Lawrence's rainswept reflections on the burdens of class in Britain on a sunny, tech infused Californian campus? Pointing to Lawrence in New Mexico or Australia just feels desperate...

My reading, however, is informed but not determined by what's in favor (note the spelling) in departments of literature. Kate Millett might have hated "Lady Chatterley's Lover", but I have found it a rich source not just for thinking about sex and gender but also language, class, technology, and disability in interwar Britain . I hope that a reread of "The Rainbow" and "Women in Love" will prove similarly rewarding.

#DHLawrence #Books #TheRainbow #WomenInLove #LadyChatterleysLover #BritishLiterature #EnglishLiterature

Image: D H Lawrence in 1921 -- Wikimedia Commons -- Public domain.

🧵 3/4

Nels Abbey, the director of The Black Writers Guild would like to see the curriculum enhanced with “the excellent work of Black British writers” rightly noting that such works would be attuned to students growing up in modern multicultural Britain, a society quite different from the USA of the Great Depression. Frustratingly, instead of naming any specific works from modern multicultural Britain, he then recommends “The Autobiography of Malcolm X”, the life story of an American born a century ago.

I know that just over ten years ago the Tory education secretary Michael Gove expressed dissatisfaction with the assignment of “Of Mice and Men” and urged that students be asked to read works by British authors instead. Although I am not entirely unsympathetic to the claim that British students should have to engage with British literature, I also think that Abbey’s point matters; students should be reading at least one significant work by a British author from a racial or ethnic minority. That requirement would not, of course, preclude the reading of works by authors from other parts of the English speaking world.

But what are those books by minority Britons that are at once valuable and teachable? I’d love to know.

#OfMiceAndMen #GCSEEnglishLiterature #BritishLiterature #BlackBritishWriters #Books

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jan/06/of-mice-and-men-steinbeck-syllabus-gcse-wales-culture-war

🧵 3/4

Nels Abbey, the director of The Black Writers Guild would like to see the curriculum enhanced with “the excellent work of Black British writers” rightly noting that such works would be attuned to students growing up in modern multicultural Britain, a society quite different from the USA of the Great Depression. Frustratingly, instead of naming any specific works from modern multicultural Britain, he then recommends “The Autobiography of Malcolm X”, the life story of an American born a century ago.

I know that just over ten years ago the Tory education secretary Michael Gove expressed dissatisfaction with the assignment of “Of Mice and Men” and urged that students be asked to read works by British authors instead. Although I am not entirely unsympathetic to the claim that British students should have to engage with British literature, I also think that Abbey’s point matters; students should be reading at least one significant work by a British author from a racial or ethnic minority. That requirement would not, of course, preclude the reading of works by authors from other parts of the English speaking world.

But what are those books by minority Britons that are at once valuable and teachable? I’d love to know.

#OfMiceAndMen #GCSEEnglishLiterature #BritishLiterature #BlackBritishWriters #Books

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jan/06/of-mice-and-men-steinbeck-syllabus-gcse-wales-culture-war

🧵 3/4

Nels Abbey, the director of The Black Writers Guild would like to see the curriculum enhanced with “the excellent work of Black British writers” rightly noting that such works would be attuned to students growing up in modern multicultural Britain, a society quite different from the USA of the Great Depression. Frustratingly, instead of naming any specific works from modern multicultural Britain, he then recommends “The Autobiography of Malcolm X”, the life story of an American born a century ago.

I know that just over ten years ago the Tory education secretary Michael Gove expressed dissatisfaction with the assignment of “Of Mice and Men” and urged that students be asked to read works by British authors instead. Although I am not entirely unsympathetic to the claim that British students should have to engage with British literature, I also think that Abbey’s point matters; students should be reading at least one significant work by a British author from a racial or ethnic minority. That requirement would not, of course, preclude the reading of works by authors from other parts of the English speaking world.

But what are those books by minority Britons that are at once valuable and teachable? I’d love to know.

#OfMiceAndMen #GCSEEnglishLiterature #BritishLiterature #BlackBritishWriters #Books

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jan/06/of-mice-and-men-steinbeck-syllabus-gcse-wales-culture-war

🧵 3/4

Nels Abbey, the director of The Black Writers Guild would like to see the curriculum enhanced with “the excellent work of Black British writers” rightly noting that such works would be attuned to students growing up in modern multicultural Britain, a society quite different from the USA of the Great Depression. Frustratingly, instead of naming any specific works from modern multicultural Britain, he then recommends “The Autobiography of Malcolm X”, the life story of an American born a century ago.

I know that just over ten years ago the Tory education secretary Michael Gove expressed dissatisfaction with the assignment of “Of Mice and Men” and urged that students be asked to read works by British authors instead. Although I am not entirely unsympathetic to the claim that British students should have to engage with British literature, I also think that Abbey’s point matters; students should be reading at least one significant work by a British author from a racial or ethnic minority. That requirement would not, of course, preclude the reading of works by authors from other parts of the English speaking world.

But what are those books by minority Britons that are at once valuable and teachable? I’d love to know.

#OfMiceAndMen #GCSEEnglishLiterature #BritishLiterature #BlackBritishWriters #Books

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jan/06/of-mice-and-men-steinbeck-syllabus-gcse-wales-culture-war

🧵 3/4

Nels Abbey, the director of The Black Writers Guild would like to see the curriculum enhanced with “the excellent work of Black British writers” rightly noting that such works would be attuned to students growing up in modern multicultural Britain, a society quite different from the USA of the Great Depression. Frustratingly, instead of naming any specific works from modern multicultural Britain, he then recommends “The Autobiography of Malcolm X”, the life story of an American born a century ago.

I know that just over ten years ago the Tory education secretary Michael Gove expressed dissatisfaction with the assignment of “Of Mice and Men” and urged that students be asked to read works by British authors instead. Although I am not entirely unsympathetic to the claim that British students should have to engage with British literature, I also think that Abbey’s point matters; students should be reading at least one significant work by a British author from a racial or ethnic minority. That requirement would not, of course, preclude the reading of works by authors from other parts of the English speaking world.

But what are those books by minority Britons that are at once valuable and teachable? I’d love to know.

#OfMiceAndMen #GCSEEnglishLiterature #BritishLiterature #BlackBritishWriters #Books

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jan/06/of-mice-and-men-steinbeck-syllabus-gcse-wales-culture-war

*Updated.*
Hello. I joined Friendica in October of 2024, after Facebook closed their Basic Mobile site (not app). I live in New Jersey and am forty-one years old. Some of my interests include studying dandyism, nineteenth-century grammar, Upper Received Pronunciation, British history, and the Regency. I like coffee, tea, wine, nasal snuff, cooking, hot baths, reading British literature, watching nature and historical documentaries, gardening, hot weather, and playing cards and dice. I also love cats. In classical music, I enjoy Baroque through a bit of early Romantic, while in popular, I usually prefer 1950's through 1970's. I love theatre (especially English and Viennese operettas, Edwardian musical comedies), and some Regency/Georgian plays. I prefer antique menswear and accessories. It's my dream to either buy a genuine Edwardian suit or have one commissioned. I love wit, wordplay, and dry humour without vulgarity. My parents are lesbians, and I am a huge gay rights supporter, but I stop short of using singular they and promoting the idea of more than two sexes, though you can certainly lean more towards one while being the other (as I do being a masculine woman), or change from one to the other via hormones, surgery etc. I have been totally blind since I was two months old, due to Retinopathy of Prematurity.

I am happily childfree and am not religious. I hardly ever write about politics. I tend to get along better with people older than I, but I will accept friends twenty-one and over. I have no understanding of chronic illness, anxiety, depression, loneliness, etc. I enjoy hearing about cats, cooking or gardening adventures, antiques, and interesting life stories.

This is my journal. Anyone can read or comment, whether or not he is a member.

dandylover1.dreamwidth.org

#antipolitics #antiquemensware #antiques #BBC #blind #blindness #books #British #Britishliterature #BeauBrummell #cards #cats #childfree #coffee #cooking #classicalmusic #crafts #dandies #dandyism #ClaraNovelloDavies #dice #dinnerparties #documentaries #Dreamwidth #Edwardian #England #English #Eton #Facebook #fashion #food #Friendica #friends #friendship #gayrights #gardening #grammar #highculture #humor #humour #introduction #LordAlvanley #men #MS-DOS #nasalsnuff #nature #NewJersey #NewYork #IvorNovello #oldermen #omnivores #operettas #reading #ReceivedPronunciation #Regency #relationships #seniors #silverfork #singing #singles #tea #theater #theatre #UnitedKingdom #Wales #Windows #writing

*Updated.*
Hello. I joined Friendica in October of 2024, after Facebook closed their Basic Mobile site (not app). I live in New Jersey and am forty-one years old. Some of my interests include studying dandyism, nineteenth-century grammar, Upper Received Pronunciation, British history, and the Regency. I like coffee, tea, wine, nasal snuff, cooking, hot baths, reading British literature, watching nature and historical documentaries, gardening, hot weather, and playing cards and dice. I also love cats. In classical music, I enjoy Baroque through a bit of early Romantic, while in popular, I usually prefer 1950's through 1970's. I love theatre (especially English and Viennese operettas, Edwardian musical comedies), and some Regency/Georgian plays. I prefer antique menswear and accessories. It's my dream to either buy a genuine Edwardian suit or have one commissioned. I love wit, wordplay, and dry humour without vulgarity. My parents are lesbians, and I am a huge gay rights supporter, but I stop short of using singular they and promoting the idea of more than two sexes, though you can certainly lean more towards one while being the other (as I do being a masculine woman), or change from one to the other via hormones, surgery etc. I have been totally blind since I was two months old, due to Retinopathy of Prematurity.

I am happily childfree and am not religious. I hardly ever write about politics. I tend to get along better with people older than I, but I will accept friends twenty-one and over. I have no understanding of chronic illness, anxiety, depression, loneliness, etc. I enjoy hearing about cats, cooking or gardening adventures, antiques, and interesting life stories.

This is my journal. Anyone can read or comment, whether or not he is a member.

dandylover1.dreamwidth.org

#antipolitics #antiquemensware #antiques #BBC #blind #blindness #books #British #Britishliterature #BeauBrummell #cards #cats #childfree #coffee #cooking #classicalmusic #crafts #dandies #dandyism #ClaraNovelloDavies #dice #dinnerparties #documentaries #Dreamwidth #Edwardian #England #English #Eton #Facebook #fashion #food #Friendica #friends #friendship #gayrights #gardening #grammar #highculture #humor #humour #introduction #LordAlvanley #men #MS-DOS #nasalsnuff #nature #NewJersey #NewYork #IvorNovello #oldermen #omnivores #operettas #reading #ReceivedPronunciation #Regency #relationships #seniors #silverfork #singing #singles #tea #theater #theatre #UnitedKingdom #Wales #Windows #writing

*Updated.*
Hello. I joined Friendica in October of 2024, after Facebook closed their Basic Mobile site (not app). I live in New Jersey and am forty-one years old. Some of my interests include studying dandyism, nineteenth-century grammar, Upper Received Pronunciation, British history, and the Regency. I like coffee, tea, wine, nasal snuff, cooking, hot baths, reading British literature, watching nature and historical documentaries, gardening, hot weather, and playing cards and dice. I also love cats. In classical music, I enjoy Baroque through a bit of early Romantic, while in popular, I usually prefer 1950's through 1970's. I love theatre (especially English and Viennese operettas, Edwardian musical comedies), and some Regency/Georgian plays. I prefer antique menswear and accessories. It's my dream to either buy a genuine Edwardian suit or have one commissioned. I love wit, wordplay, and dry humour without vulgarity. My parents are lesbians, and I am a huge gay rights supporter, but I stop short of using singular they and promoting the idea of more than two sexes, though you can certainly lean more towards one while being the other (as I do being a masculine woman), or change from one to the other via hormones, surgery etc. I have been totally blind since I was two months old, due to Retinopathy of Prematurity.

I am happily childfree and am not religious. I hardly ever write about politics. I tend to get along better with people older than I, but I will accept friends twenty-one and over. I have no understanding of chronic illness, anxiety, depression, loneliness, etc. I enjoy hearing about cats, cooking or gardening adventures, antiques, and interesting life stories.

This is my journal. Anyone can read or comment, whether or not he is a member.

dandylover1.dreamwidth.org

#antipolitics #antiquemensware #antiques #BBC #blind #blindness #books #British #Britishliterature #BeauBrummell #cards #cats #childfree #coffee #cooking #classicalmusic #crafts #dandies #dandyism #ClaraNovelloDavies #dice #dinnerparties #documentaries #Dreamwidth #Edwardian #England #English #Eton #Facebook #fashion #food #Friendica #friends #friendship #gayrights #gardening #grammar #highculture #humor #humour #introduction #LordAlvanley #men #MS-DOS #nasalsnuff #nature #NewJersey #NewYork #IvorNovello #oldermen #omnivores #operettas #reading #ReceivedPronunciation #Regency #relationships #seniors #silverfork #singing #singles #tea #theater #theatre #UnitedKingdom #Wales #Windows #writing

*Updated.*
Hello. I joined Friendica in October of 2024, after Facebook closed their Basic Mobile site (not app). I live in New Jersey and am forty-one years old. Some of my interests include studying dandyism, nineteenth-century grammar, Upper Received Pronunciation, British history, and the Regency. I like coffee, tea, wine, nasal snuff, cooking, hot baths, reading British literature, watching nature and historical documentaries, gardening, hot weather, and playing cards and dice. I also love cats. In classical music, I enjoy Baroque through a bit of early Romantic, while in popular, I usually prefer 1950's through 1970's. I love theatre (especially English and Viennese operettas, Edwardian musical comedies), and some Regency/Georgian plays. I prefer antique menswear and accessories. It's my dream to either buy a genuine Edwardian suit or have one commissioned. I love wit, wordplay, and dry humour without vulgarity. My parents are lesbians, and I am a huge gay rights supporter, but I stop short of using singular they and promoting the idea of more than two sexes, though you can certainly lean more towards one while being the other (as I do being a masculine woman), or change from one to the other via hormones, surgery etc. I have been totally blind since I was two months old, due to Retinopathy of Prematurity.

I am happily childfree and am not religious. I hardly ever write about politics. I tend to get along better with people older than I, but I will accept friends twenty-one and over. I have no understanding of chronic illness, anxiety, depression, loneliness, etc. I enjoy hearing about cats, cooking or gardening adventures, antiques, and interesting life stories.

This is my journal. Anyone can read or comment, whether or not he is a member.

dandylover1.dreamwidth.org

#antipolitics #antiquemensware #antiques #BBC #blind #blindness #books #British #Britishliterature #BeauBrummell #cards #cats #childfree #coffee #cooking #classicalmusic #crafts #dandies #dandyism #ClaraNovelloDavies #dice #dinnerparties #documentaries #Dreamwidth #Edwardian #England #English #Eton #Facebook #fashion #food #Friendica #friends #friendship #gayrights #gardening #grammar #highculture #humor #humour #introduction #LordAlvanley #men #MS-DOS #nasalsnuff #nature #NewJersey #NewYork #IvorNovello #oldermen #omnivores #operettas #reading #ReceivedPronunciation #Regency #relationships #seniors #silverfork #singing #singles #tea #theater #theatre #UnitedKingdom #Wales #Windows #writing

Hello. I joined Friendica in October of 2024, after Facebook closed their Basic Mobile site (not app). I live in New Jersey and am forty years old. Some of my interests include studying dandyism, nineteenth-century grammar, Received Pronunciation, and the Regency. I like coffees, teas, and nasal snuffs, and enjoy cooking, reading, nature and historical documentaries, and gardening. I like Baroque through Classical and a bit of early Romantic music. I love theatre (mostly English and Viennese operettas, and some Regency/Georgian plays). I prefer antique menswear and accessories. It's my dream to either buy a genuine Edwardian suit or have one commissioned. I love wit, wordplay, and dry humour without vulgarity. My parents are lesbians, and I am a huge gay rights supporter. I have been totally blind since I was two months old, due to Retinopathy of Prematurity.

I am happily childfree and am not religious. I respect those who are, as long as they don't try to convert me, or base their lives around it. The same is true of vegans. I also have no time for mind games, drama, or political correctness/sugar coating. I tend to get along better with people older than I, but I will accept friends twenty-one and over. I don't have any understanding of chronic illness, anxiety, depression, loneliness, etc. so if you need someone who could help you through those on a personal level, I'm not the one for that. I enjoy hearing about cats, cooking or gardening adventures, antiques, and interesting life stories.

For those who would like to know more about me, this is my journal. Anyone can read or comment, whether or not he is a member. Almost all entries are clean. Anything adult-oriented is always marked as such and is put behind a cut. If you're a straight or bisexual, childfree man, preferably over sixty (forty at the absolute youngest) and are single, you may be interested in my dating post, (link in the About Me post near top of page).

dandylover1.dreamwidth.org

#antiquemensware #antiques #blind #books #Britishliterature #cards #cats #childfree #coffee #cooking #classicalmusic #crafts #dandies #dandyism #dice #dinnerparties #documentaries #Dreamwidth #Edwardian #England #Facebook #Friendica #friends #friendship #gayrights #gardening #grammar #highculture #humor #humour #introduction #men #MS-DOS #nasalsnuff #nature #NewJersey #oldermen #operettas #reading #ReceivedPronunciation #Regency #relationships #seniors #silverfork #singles #tea #theater #theatre #Windows #writing

Joseph Wright of Derby -- Maria and her Dog Silvio -- oil on canvas -- illustrating Sterne's 'Sentimental Journey'. The model was Mrs Richard Bassano. I W.pinxt, 1781 -- Derby Museum and Art Gallery -- Public domain.

I've just finished "A Sentimental Journey". Charming work, half novel, half travel literature, all infused with both a playful flirtatiousness and an irony that can leave the reader guessing yet not frustrated. The Maria episode that comes towards the end of the book and was foreshadowed in "Tristram Shandy" captured the imagination of readers and artists.

>>When we had got within half a league of Moulines, at a little opening in the road leading to a thicket, I discovered poor Maria sitting under a poplar. She was sitting with her elbow in her lap, and her head leaning on one side within her hand:—a small brook ran at the foot of the tree...

She was dress’d in white, and much as my friend described her, except that her hair hung loose, which before was twisted within a silk net.—She had superadded likewise to her jacket, a pale green riband, which fell across her shoulder to the waist; at the end of which hung her pipe.

Her goat had been as faithless as her lover; and she had got a little dog in lieu of him, which she had kept tied by a string to her girdle: as I looked at her dog, she drew him towards her with the string.—“Thou shalt not leave me, Sylvio,” said she.<<

#LaurenceSterne #ASentimentalJourney #BritishLiterature #JosephWright #BritishArt #Art #Literature

𝟭𝟯 𝗗𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗛𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻: "𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗰𝗿𝗲𝘄" 𝗯𝘆 𝗛𝗲𝗻𝗿𝘆 𝗝𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 -

James's novel is no ordinary horror tale, terrifying readers with what is happening beneath the Governess's written words.

#halloween #horror #horrorstory #13DaysOfHalloween #books #bookreviews #bookworm #readreadread #henryjames #theturnofthescrew #victorianliterature #britishliterature #britishhorror

https://buff.ly/4eVUEjM

It's Bad Poetry Day!
We invite you to celebrate this jolly occasion by reading some of the works of Britain's Worst Poet of All Time, William McGonagall of Dundee!
Here's a selection of his works & #biography & a #graphicnovel

#badpoetryday #ScottishLiterature #BritishLiterature

Bertie faces all kinds of threats: aunts, ladies wanting to be engaged, their spurned exes, and money borrowing friends. To top it all, his moustache incurs Jeeves' displeasure!
#bertie #jeevesandwooster #jeeves #humor #comedy #britishliterature #classics #newpurchase #midureads #bookstagram

No matter the day, Jeeves starts his days at work mixing up hangover cures for his employer.
#jeevesandwooster #jeeves #bertie #comedy #humor #britishliterature #classics #newpurchase #midureads #bookstagram #carryonjeeves

No matter the day, Jeeves starts his days at work mixing up hangover cures for his employer.
#jeevesandwooster #jeeves #bertie #comedy #humor #britishliterature #classics #newpurchase #midureads #bookstagram #carryonjeeves

No matter the day, Jeeves starts his days at work mixing up hangover cures for his employer.
#jeevesandwooster #jeeves #bertie #comedy #humor #britishliterature #classics #newpurchase #midureads #bookstagram #carryonjeeves

No matter the day, Jeeves starts his days at work mixing up hangover cures for his employer.
#jeevesandwooster #jeeves #bertie #comedy #humor #britishliterature #classics #newpurchase #midureads #bookstagram #carryonjeeves

Found this way deep in my YouTube "Watch Later" collection. It's a really nice guide to getting started with Charles Dickens including a recommended order for select books from Robert Douglas-Fairhurst. It is inspiring to see someone so passionate about their subject.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aryB10D04jw

Might add these to my 2024 Reading List!

#Books #Bookstodon #CharlesDickens #RobertDouglasFairhurst #PenguinClassics #Literature #BritishLiterature #Victorian #VictorianBritain #ReadingLists @bookstodon

I'm co-editing this proposed collection on non-canonical literature c. 1890-1945, and we're looking for a couple more chapters to round things out, particularly on topics that are diverse, in terms of #BritishLiterature, by race, ethnicity, or geography. Message me and Katie if interested. https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2023/10/10/moderns-and-others-genre-gender-faith-and-form-in-noncanonical-british-literature

#NonCanonicalLiterature
#EnglishLiterature
#EditedCollection
#CfP
#CallForPapers
#ModernistStudies
#Modernism

※ The "#Bellman" from the front cover of #HenryHoliday's illustration to #LewisCarroll’s "#TheHuntingOfTheSnark" (1876).
※ #FatherTime from an English School painting (by an unknown artist, ca. 1610) of "Queen Elizabeth I at old age".

+++ https://snrk.de/time/ +++

#スナーク | #スナーク狩り | #Snark | #Snarkology | #Victodon | #Victodons | #VictorianLit | #VictorianLiterature | #VictorianStudies | #Literature #Litstudies | #EnglishLit | #EnglishLiterature | #BritishLiterature | #BookIllustration

※ The "#Bellman" from the front cover of #HenryHoliday's illustration to #LewisCarroll’s "#TheHuntingOfTheSnark" (1876).
※ #FatherTime from an English School painting (by an unknown artist, ca. 1610) of "Queen Elizabeth I at old age".

+++ https://snrk.de/time/ +++

#スナーク | #スナーク狩り | #Snark | #Snarkology | #Victodon | #Victodons | #VictorianLit | #VictorianLiterature | #VictorianStudies | #Literature #Litstudies | #EnglishLit | #EnglishLiterature | #BritishLiterature | #BookIllustration

※ The "#Bellman" from the front cover of #HenryHoliday's illustration to #LewisCarroll’s "#TheHuntingOfTheSnark" (1876).
※ #FatherTime from an English School painting (by an unknown artist, ca. 1610) of "Queen Elizabeth I at old age".

+++ https://snrk.de/time/ +++

#スナーク | #スナーク狩り | #Snark | #Snarkology | #Victodon | #Victodons | #VictorianLit | #VictorianLiterature | #VictorianStudies | #Literature #Litstudies | #EnglishLit | #EnglishLiterature | #BritishLiterature | #BookIllustration