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Text and Ritual In Early China Edited by Martin Kern
This was a very lovely collection of essays about the importance of texts, the written word and reading in Han and pre-Han China. It was a fascinating look at primary sources, largely found in archological digs. It contained lots of excepts in Classical Chinese (very good practice) as well as the author's translation. I made copious notes and enjoyed it greatly. I would highly recommend it to anyone whose interested in early Chinese culture and history.
This was a very lovely collection of essays about the importance of texts, the written word and reading in Han and pre-Han China. It was a fascinating look at primary sources, largely found in archological digs. It contained lots of excepts in Classical Chinese (very good practice) as well as the author's translation. I made copious notes and enjoyed it greatly. I would highly recommend it to anyone whose interested in early Chinese culture and history.
Promises Broken: Courtship, Class and Gender in Victorian England
I read this book much earlier in the year but haven't been able to write about it yet, but now as the end of the year approaches and I need to get it all books tallied I thought I'd better. The book looked closely at breach of promise cases, women who sued men for promising to marry them and then breaking off the engagement. . The book was rather dissapointing. The book did have some interesting points, such as the argument that most women bringing these cases were not of the upper classes and the fact that these cases gave women agency, and that the majority of women seemed to have sex as part of their courtship, or after a long courtship, and weren't that hard to convince when it actually came down to it. However, a lot of the evidence seemed to be a bit anaecdotal and she also took examples from other countries (such as Canada on one of the pages I had marked) to back up her arguments. I did learn some interesting things from the book, and the book definitely seemed to support the idea that Victorians had a lot more sex than tradionally assumed. It was a fairly interesting read, but definitely not the best book I've read about Victorian sexuality and gender.
I read this book much earlier in the year but haven't been able to write about it yet, but now as the end of the year approaches and I need to get it all books tallied I thought I'd better. The book looked closely at breach of promise cases, women who sued men for promising to marry them and then breaking off the engagement. . The book was rather dissapointing. The book did have some interesting points, such as the argument that most women bringing these cases were not of the upper classes and the fact that these cases gave women agency, and that the majority of women seemed to have sex as part of their courtship, or after a long courtship, and weren't that hard to convince when it actually came down to it. However, a lot of the evidence seemed to be a bit anaecdotal and she also took examples from other countries (such as Canada on one of the pages I had marked) to back up her arguments. I did learn some interesting things from the book, and the book definitely seemed to support the idea that Victorians had a lot more sex than tradionally assumed. It was a fairly interesting read, but definitely not the best book I've read about Victorian sexuality and gender.
Uncle Silas by Sheridan la Fanu
While it was a little slow I did enjoy this book. It had some rather enjoyable characters and was very atmospheric. There was a doctor who recommended to the young girl that she read, "Confessions of an Opium Eater" which I took to be very good advice and promptly read while finishing. I did feel sorry for the French nurse who just wanted to drink and tell ghost stories. And I found the end to be quite surprising. Enjoyable, but I'm not sure I'll rush out to read any of his other novels.
While it was a little slow I did enjoy this book. It had some rather enjoyable characters and was very atmospheric. There was a doctor who recommended to the young girl that she read, "Confessions of an Opium Eater" which I took to be very good advice and promptly read while finishing. I did feel sorry for the French nurse who just wanted to drink and tell ghost stories. And I found the end to be quite surprising. Enjoyable, but I'm not sure I'll rush out to read any of his other novels.
A very brief review I finished it ages ago and just rememebered that I also read it this year. There were parts of this book that really made me laugh. I also really enjoyed when he was wandering around naked on Oxford Street and by the British Museum. On the whole I don't think it was by any means Wells' best. But still highly enjoyable.
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