#thehouseofdoors — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #thehouseofdoors, aggregated by home.social.
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Been listening to the well performed youtube audiobooks of #ShortStories that are collected in #WSomersetMaugham's #TheCasuarinaTree (1926).
Four stories listened to so far, not quite in order, and it looks clear that the violence of, and corrosive effects of, #Colonialism was common knowledge in Britain.
Before the Party
P. & O.
The Outstation
The Force of Circumstance
The Yellow Streak
The LetterA novel #TheHouseOfDoors and #TheLetter are both based on a real event.
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CW: Wars, death tolls, refugees 19th century
#TheHouseOfDoors novel has a main character, the narrator, Lesley.
She's in Penang in 1910 and speaks of some #ChineseHistory - the #TaipingRebellion. WP has 20-30 million deaths. But I've seen estimates x5 higher.
As well as the rebellion leader thinking he is the #BrotherOfJesus, the rebellion is lead by the #Hakka, who I've heard refered to as the #NomadClan, or "#GuestPeople who may have offended the Emperor". Whereas they had lead a rebellion! -
#ElderlyRelative is listening to #AudioBook #TheHouseOfDoors by #TanTwanEng.
Hmmm.
Why would the reader/performer of the prologue say "Droenfontein".
Isn't it #Doornfontein?So now I've got ongoing doubts about the performer's faithfulness to the book and the accuracy of any emphasis they make in their speech.
Don't know how much audiobook performers get paid. Maybe it isn't enough to get correct pronounciation happening for unfamilar words?
And where is their editor?
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Commencing the marathon of reading the #Booker long list this year with #TanTwanEng's #TheHouseOfDoors. I was unsure about this seemingly traditional historical novel but was beguiled and left totally satisfied by the end. It's poetic pages hold multiple layers of reflection on love, marriage, betrayal and the nature of writing. @bookstodon
Read the Booker Prize 2023 longlist: an extract from The House of Doors by Tan Twan Eng | The Booker Prizes
https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/features/read-the-booker-prize-2023-longlist-an-extract-from-the-house-of-doors