The neat thing is, it's structured like a labyrinth, trying dead end after dead end until you find the right one. I was happier after I worked that ouThe neat thing is, it's structured like a labyrinth, trying dead end after dead end until you find the right one. I was happier after I worked that out, because it felt like she was doing the thing where you figure out what's the worst thing to happen to $character and do that. And then make it worse....more
If I was Marianna, I'd want to kill Sue and Kit. And having run away, I would not have come back. 'Make something of her', ugh ugh ugh. Apart from thaIf I was Marianna, I'd want to kill Sue and Kit. And having run away, I would not have come back. 'Make something of her', ugh ugh ugh. Apart from that it was fine....more
I didn't like it as much as Visiting Nurse. Like Marianna, I don't like the country. And the typhoid mystery was a bit broadly drawn.I didn't like it as much as Visiting Nurse. Like Marianna, I don't like the country. And the typhoid mystery was a bit broadly drawn....more
I liked the Henry Street details. I was particularly interested in how Sue and Kit graciously favoured the inhabitants of Harlem with the benefits of I liked the Henry Street details. I was particularly interested in how Sue and Kit graciously favoured the inhabitants of Harlem with the benefits of their class and skin colour - and, OK, with Sue's dilemma of marriage versus work. (It makes me *furious* that Connie chose marriage right away versus her dream of being an anaesthesiologist. She would have loved that so much. What a waste.) I thought Sue and Bill's argument was a bit contrived, as if the author was theorising beyond her knowledge of human interaction, but was still very eager to keep the omniscient third thing going....more
Problematic, like you'd expect from its time. But still... it's a nurse novel. If you like nurse novels, you'll like this. I did.Problematic, like you'd expect from its time. But still... it's a nurse novel. If you like nurse novels, you'll like this. I did....more
Surprisingly light and insubstantial - it was like a series of Times articles. Good, though - very good and smart, if a bit too 'literary'.
Anyone who Surprisingly light and insubstantial - it was like a series of Times articles. Good, though - very good and smart, if a bit too 'literary'.
Anyone who thinks it's 'a compelling and heartbreaking story' is, as the author herself noted, distancing themselves from the scary. Understandable, sure, but unhelpful.
I think the movie was a good adaptation, though with the usual film touches like having them all go to see Daisy in her apartment. Imposing a narrative on what's more like a collection of memories than a narrative itself.
Am I distancing myself from the book by being a bit curt with it in this review? Sure. I'm mentally ill myself, I take crazy meds, I identify strongly with the people in this book. There....more
Fantastic, except for the ooky gender issues. The 'young women's role is to be a flirting little tease' type. 'Little black book' made me *very* uncomFantastic, except for the ooky gender issues. The 'young women's role is to be a flirting little tease' type. 'Little black book' made me *very* uncomfortable....more
Here's a speech from Miss Wilson (aka Bill, so frequently slashed with Charlie/Miss Stewart) on the vYou can REALLY tell it was written in 1930, argh.
Here's a speech from Miss Wilson (aka Bill, so frequently slashed with Charlie/Miss Stewart) on the virtues of homemaking:
"Eve's first work when she left the Garden was to be a homemaker. Of that, I am sure. It should be our first work, too. I know that many people talk a lot of nonsense about women being emancipated from such "drudgery." Believe me, girls, the woman who is above tending her husband and children or - if God does not give her those - helping other women who need such help, is a poor creature, developed on one side only. And we are not meant to be that. We are sent into the world to develop as many sides of us as possible. What would you think of a rose that produced petals on one side only? You would say that it was deformed. And woman, when she ties to ignore the human side of life, is deliberately deforming her nature."
Fuck you, Brent-Dyer, you never criticised an old Chaletian who got married and had children right out of school instead of developing her intellect and career of deforming her nature by not developing *that* side of herself, which surely the same God, if any, gave her?
Well, it didn't make an omnivore of me. I had wondered if it would, since some of my friends who were veg*n had changed their minds after reading it. Well, it didn't make an omnivore of me. I had wondered if it would, since some of my friends who were veg*n had changed their minds after reading it. It did make me want to eat more organic vegetables.
He had a good case, and he put it forward very well. The rhetoric got a little thick, some places.
I read some of this book while in the car driving through Australian farmland. The book isn't quite as persuasive outside the US, I think: our agricultural practices aren't quite as bad. We do have factory farms, but not so many feedlots, and no whole state devoted to growing corn. Our cows eat grass. I feel a little like apologising to some of the dairy farmers I met in college who were furious that by my diet I called their ethics into question. OTOH, I think they owe me an apology too, for quizzing me about my dietary practices over dinner, so hey.
Michael Pollan did tend to make some assumptions about his ideological opponents, throwing them all into one camp, e.g. 'the animal rightists', where people believing in animal rights are actually a diverse group with widely divergent opinions. I fully support Michael Pollan's omnivory, I just don't practise it myself, because I don't have the stamina to do the research I'd need to, to satisfy my ethics. Also, I'm a little queasy about eating animal products, after all this time. Yes, I *am* opting out, and on an individual level I think that's OK, just like I think his occasional hunting is OK on an individual level. I'd appreciate the same level of respect from him for my choices as I have for his, but... OK....more
This was actually two stories in one volume. The Mystery was first, and was a rather obvious mystery, but still enjoyable. I'm pondering how Dorcas caThis was actually two stories in one volume. The Mystery was first, and was a rather obvious mystery, but still enjoyable. I'm pondering how Dorcas came to keep that big a secret and still be a 'proper Chalet School girl' without being branded as sly, and I think it's one of those things where these are the kids who were popular, or the popular kids' groupies, in school, and who remained obsessed with their schooldays for the rest of their lives.
Rosalie Way is another character I want to come back to school (along with the Robin) and firebomb the building. So the fuck what if she had a crush on butch (or possibly ftm) Tom?...more
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