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His Conquering Sword, Kate Elliott
There is a lapse of perhaps a half hour between this and the previous book. The plot structure consciously borrowed from earlier literary sources which are interpreted by and help interpret this novel continues. As the jaran subdue still more khaja peoples, we see more varieties of power of, by, for, and over women. The commentary on what it means to be civilized proceeds even more rapidly, with the inclusion of a ke on rhui.
What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew, Daniel Pool
After reading decidedly mixed reviews of this book on r.a.b. and elsewhere, I thought I'd give it a try when I noticed it on the shelf at a b-day party I went to. The idea of the book is appealing: tell us all the things about the 19th century that we read references to in Austen, Trollope and Dickens, but have trouble finding in history books. The idea could be implemented two ways: an anecdotal, trivia heavy work like Panati, with the problems of inadequate research and documentation that seem to inevitably follow; or, a well-researched social and domestic history of the 19th century. Unfortunately, this book is more the former than the latter.
In particular, I object to Pool's failures in the areas of dress, nutrition, disease and education. Pool describes the movement of the waist on dresses downward through the century, stating that it moved from a "high" to a "natural" waist. One wonders what that might mean, other than, closer to what we now consider the waist to be. Pool describes some of the food eaten by the various classes, and states that raw foods, such as salads, were not eaten, as they were considered hard to digest. Over and above issues like raw vegetables are harder to digest than cooked, and the difficulty of getting fresh produce into the city, Pool is clearly ignoring a vast array of salads, only some of which were cooked. Pool's description of diseases include many which are increasingly common today, yet he treats them as largely existing in the past (either because they are now diagnosed differently or, more likely, because by mid 20th century they were nearly non-existent in the U.S. and Britain). While he manages to note the interaction between the Evangelical movement and education in Britain, he swallows the propaganda of the time at face value, and manages to describe the monitorial schools with a more or less straight face. My final complaint is simple: Pool appears to treat Dickens as someone depicting his time period more or less accurately, and only occasionally notes the agenda which Dickens was so clearly pursuing. I found this persistently troubling.
For all its drawbacks, it still made for an interesting read. Don't use it as a reference, but it might make for a nice segue to reading better social and domestic histories of the 19th Century.
An Earthly Crown, Kate Elliott
I read Jaran recently hoping it would be really terrible so I could get rid of it and not read more of the series, which is not complete, and individual volumes of which run to 500 pages. But it was good, so of course I went looking for everything to date, which meant for a while I had books 1, 3 and 4. I finally located book 2 (this one) and it's even better (sigh). There is some lapse of time between the books, and we see a lot of Charles finally. In odd ways, I was strongly reminded of Jack Vance's Space Opera, as again we have a company of performers bringing theater to the savages, altho this time it is done with a lot more intelligence on the part of the players, and so rather than a vehicle for attacking unexamined imperialism, this is a more nuanced look at how cultures clash and influence each other, and some of the unlooked for results of attempting to cushion the blow. Like Pratchett, Elliott is reworking Shakespeare to interesting effect, and indicating that she is doing so to the user, rather than telling her outright. The very different gender roles and morality of the jaran are used to good effect here.
Wyrd Sisters, Terry Pratchett
Where other Discworld novels looked at gender stuff and eschatology, this one runs a riff on Macbeth to explore the relationship of rulers to the land, kinds of magic and power wielded by women in traditional structures. All of this comes together in a nice sidelight on the nature of tyrants and tyranny, and makes for a comparatively (for Pratchett) suspenseful read. I like this one the best so far.
The Colour of Magic, Terry Pratchett
This one ends on a cliff-hanger (heh) which is resolved in The Light Fantastic, which I've already read (heh heh). This book consists for four more or less stand-alone stories involving Twoflower, Rincewind, and their plunge across Discworld. Of the four stories, I thought that The Lure of the Wyrm, the third story, was the weakest. It appears to be a spoof of Anne McCaffery's Dragonflight, altho the title may be a reference to Bram Stoker's Lair of the White Worm (the plot bears no strong resemblance to that novel or the movie rather belatedly based on it, which primarily shares a couple of character names). The Lovecraftian knockoff (title forgotten) was cute, as is the running gag ith Fate and the Lady.
I have completed a read-through of the main series of Little House books. I may continue reading the related books (On the Way Home, West from Home, The First Four Years), or I may branch out into reading Rose Wilder Lane's books written under her own name (The Discovery of Freedom), or sample some Louisa May Alcott (I'd like to find a copy of Work), or read one of the biographical books about Laura and Rose. Or ditch it all in favor of more Terry Pratchett.
These Happy Golden Years, Laura Ingalls Wilder (reread)
In this and other books, Lawyer is used as a title, in much the same way Doctor is now. We see more of Laura's career as a salaried employee: she teaches three terms of school, continues to sew, and keeps the McKee's company on their claim. We see that her schoolhouses are built on the model of many of those teachers in Kaufman's research used. And even in Laura's experience they are identical from case to case (excepting the one in the claim shanty at the Brewster settlement).
Little Town on the Prairie, Laura Ingalls Wilder (reread)
The malnutrition that made Laura and the others so stupid-feeling in the previous book (no gap) pervades the opening of this book; she wants to soak up all the sun (vitamin D?) she can.
We finally see Ma in the garden (Pa gardened in the Big Woods), a task Laura can enjoy. Mary and Ma continue to be outrageously literal and extremely pi about it, seeing little or no difference between poetry and lying. We see corsets, and Ma's attitude to them: Mary and Laura should wear them even at night, to have a good figure. Pa could span her waist with his two hands when they were married (eeek). It is difficult to imagine anyone further from the favorably depicted Uncle of Louisa May Alcott's Eight Cousins and Rose in Bloom.
This one's a bit more foodie again; the Ingalls have vinegar and sugar dressing on their salad, as May liked, mom hated, and I enjoy.
Laura is now fourteen, and has been doing a lot of work on the farm and in the house for a while now; she begins to work for pay sewing shirts.
As the oldest settler, Pa helps organize the county, and is on the school board. He's seen as a leader at various social gatherings, including a spelling bee with the word "mimosaceous", which isn't in the OED (neither is nubia, as an article of clothing, or grecophil). The blackface routine of the last literary society meeting has several points to annoy: clog dancing, a "jew's harp" is placed, the men are described as "darkies", and some of the songs are fairly appalling to contemporary eyes.
Prayer and revival meetings constitute another important social event, with practically mandatory attendance (Nellie says you're an atheist if you don't go). Young men walk young women home from these events, which helps explain in part how all those women teachers from back East, with their prim religious notions managed to meet respectable men in the town and get to know them well enough to marry.
Earlier books do not describe much furniture not built by one of the fathers. The Oleson's had what was clearly a high boy. Now at a birthday party and a Ladies' Aid sociable we get to see the classic Victorian middle-class home, complete with center table in the parlor, chairs along the walls and a photo album. And the ubiquitous crystal-laden lamps hung from the ceiling.
The Long Winter, Laura Ingalls Wilder (reread)
When Laura wants to help hay, where she's desperately needed, Ma doesn't want to let her, as only foreigner women work in the fields -- American woman don't (and corsets help ensure that they can't, I might add). Ma is the kind of person who gives the reader the impression that "civilization" is just one silly idea after another.
When Laura tells Ma and Mary the cattle heads are frozen to the ground, she is not believed -- dismissed as one of her silly notions. Yet when Pa tells the same story, he is believed. Her reality derives from direct experience of the outdoors, just like his, but where that is acceptable in a man (who is to be respected and deferred to), it is not in a young woman. I found this disturbing as a child, and even more so as an adult.
In the story of the superintendant of the trains, the engineer who refused to run the train into the snowbank is blamed by both Laura and Mary for disobeying (a strong indication that Pa and Ma got that point across rather well). Laura blames him for not thinking of a better solution; Mary for just plain not doing as he is told. Neither thinks that the boss might be boss, despite not knowing best. The needed parental attitude (can't have the kids falling into the well), combined with Ma's sacred belief that teachers should never be criticized (a belief shared by Arozina Perkins), have contributed to a generally authoritarian outlook, an outlook Laura only takes pains to escape beginning with her wedding.
We see a storekeeper try to price-gouge, threatened by hungry townspeople. Pa manages to avert violence by pointing out that a boycott after the winter is over would wipe the storekeeper out. Like James Wilder, Pa understands that shopkeepers are dependent upon their customers and their continued goodwill.
When the first train comes through, it has few groceries. Pa and the other townspeople convince the depot agent to break into an "emigrant car" (what's that?), and distribute whatever edibles he finds. Pa feels the railroad owed them. This is similar to his justification of Hi and Docia taking a great deal of railroad equipment for themselves, as only fair treatment of the company which cheated them.
Pa unilaterally pulls a bucket of wheat from behind the wall at the Wilders' feed store and then offers to pay. He does not consider not taking it, even though the Wilders do not want to sell.
By the Shores of Silver Lake, Laura Ingalls Wilder (reread)
There is a gap of a couple of years between the previous book and this one, the longest gap between any of the books. During this gap, Ma has her last baby (so we don't get to see any lying-in period at all), Grace. The family gets scarlet fever, and Mary goes blind. The doctor bills are a burden, but the sale of the farm pays for everything, and the family has accumulated slightly more goods (Pa is up to a rifle, a pistol and a shotgun, now), and Aunt Docia has a job out west for Pa, where he will be able to file a claim under the Homestead Act. Again, the Ingalls do not listen to repeated warnings of a land rush, and nearly miss getting the claim near De Smet that they want.
The book starts with a train ride; Pa has headed out before them. The train and station have a lot of the standard Victorian era red plush upholstery. As other commentators at the time noticed (and complained about), dinners at hotels were utterly silent, and surprisingly swift.
We hear about a young woman who marries at the age of thirteen.
Ma continues to hate Indians, half-breeds, drinking and gambling. She doesn't really approve of horseshoes, either.
I've heard people complain about these books for several reasons: the depiction of Native Americans, the depiction of wolves as dangerous, and Laura's attitude towards and lack of emphasis on Ma (her preference for Pa). This strike me as somewhat bizarre (there is also a complaint directed against the minstrel show in a later book, as Pa wears blackface), as do all complaints directed against books because they accurately portray attitudes of the time. While the Ingalls are clearly part of the move West and hence inimical to Native Americans, we see a range of attitudes towards Native Americans, and we see discussion of these attitudes. These books could be used as the basis for a discussion of how enlightened it was possible to be in that time and place. As for the wolves, they are never depicted as attacking anyone; always small girls are afraid of them, as some girls will fear any large, unfamiliar animal, including fellow humans. As for the lack of description of Ma, this reveals a hasty reading of the books. We see at least as much description of her and her work as Pa, and we hear more about her philosophy, beliefs and ideas than we do about Pa's. Should we disapprovie of the books because Laura doesn't like her Ma? Why? Ma was a walking collection of Victorian prejudices ill-suited to life on the frontier, disapproving of darn near everyone she met, who put a heavy emphasis on obedience whether you understand or not. I don't much care for her either.
My personal objection to the books is that many people read them and believe that the Ingalls are completely independent and provide entirely for themselves. This is trivially untrue and they would be the first to object to this. They know they depend upon neighbors and try to be good neighbors in turn. They depend upon trade and make a point of paying their debts. Their self-reliance is an indication of mostly equal reciprocation -- not complete independence of other humans and civilization in general. On at least one occasion they accept charity from back East. It's worth noting that on one occasion, Pa is disgruntled because they missed an opportunity to lynch a claim jumper who shot the claim owner.
On the Banks of Plum Creek, Laura Ingalls Wilder (reread)
Pa trades his horses, mule and wagon (they have accumulated slightly more, with the birth of the mule) for Mr. Hanson's Farm on Plum Creek. We are told Pa speaks to the Norwegian "loudly and clearly" (talk louder and slower and them furriners can understand you better). We also hear Pa say, "In Wisconsin we lived among Swedes and Germans. In Indian Territory, we lived among the Indians. Now here in Minnesota all the neighbours are Norwegians...I guess our kind of folks is pretty scarce." Apparently the melting pot has not taken hold in this family.
This book nicely illustrates problems the Ingalls will have for years to come: failure to listen to the people in the area who know what's what, and a tendency to discount things that are not like their previous experience as foolish, old or foreign. Mr. Hanson is seen by Pa as no farmer, or why would he have sown so little wheat in such good wheat country. When told about "Grasshopper Weather", Ma concludes it must be some old Norwegian saying.
The foodie tendencies of the Farmer Boy and Little House in the Big Woods have pretty much gone away, to be replaced in this and Little House on the Prairie by extensive description of the outdoors. There is some shift in vocabulary: Ma's "delaine" has become a "challis". I suspect that this dress was a challis, which is a light fabric with a plain weave, made of wool from a delaine merino (specific breed) sheep. The names of fabrics, to the extent given, indicate that Almanzo's mother (who dressed in bombazine, a silk fabric; bombazine makes an appearance in Moby Dick, as an indication of Fabrics Not to Wear when fishing, is mentioned favorably in passing in Henry James' The Europeans, Jane Austen mentions owning a brown bombazine dress in a letter to her sister Cassandra and, finally McGuffey, of McGuffey's readers, wore a suit of black bombazine in an attempt to appear elegant) wore rather better clothes than Caroline Ingalls. Hardly surprising. In Big Woods, the Ingalls had a paper-covered Bible and a picture book about animals. They now also have a novel, Millbank. The author is not supplied, but a Library of Congress search turns up one Mary Jane (Hawes) Holmes, and a web search used to turn up a museum in her hometown with a room devoted to her.
Laura starts school at 7 and Mary at 8.
Little House on the Prairie, Laura Ingalls Wilder (reread)
The family moves out to Indian Territory. In the course of helping Pa build a log house, Ma hurts her ankle. This is just before cut nails became widespread, so nails are still quite expensive and very valuable. The family gets malaria from mosquitos, and they are doctored by a black man, Dr. Tan, doctor to the Indians.
A range of Indians (so Native Americans are called in all these books) and attitudes towards them are displayed. Mrs. Scott repeatedly says that the only good Indian is a dead Indian; Mr. Edwards and Mr. Scott display a good deal of misplaced paranoia towards Native Americans. Mr. Ingalls (Pa) just wants to get along with them, but while he understands they are taking the land away from them, he views it as inevitable and sees no reason why he should not profit from it. Ma despises and fears Indians; they are primarily depicted in the book as entering the house and taking whatever they want: thieves or near thieves. OTOH, they are also depicted as brave warriors, terrible and proud and wild: not quite the Rousseauian Noble Savage, but darn close. It is no wonder this book in particular is censured. But it strikes me as an accurate portrayal of attitudes of the time; presented in conjunction with other information I cannot see how this can be so damaging. Offered by itself, however, it propagates some damaging images and ideas.
One of the odder bits is where Laura (5 or 6 years old) sees an Indian baby and asks Pa to get it for her because she wants it. That might be interpreted as Laura not really thinking of them as people, rather as animals, and she might have one as a pet, regardless of what the parents might think. OTOH, 5 and 6 year olds tend to have a remarkably possessive attitude towards infants anyway, so it probably doesn't mean anything.
While on the prairie, the Ingalls are strictly hunter-gatherer; they leave before they have a chance to get a crop in.
Little House in the Big Woods, Laura Ingalls Wilder (reread)
I'm rereading my way chronologically through the Wilder books, noting how amazingly foodie these books are. The descriptions of preparing for winter are remarkably similar between this and Farmer Boy.
Where Wilders were an agricultural family, the Ingalls are a hunter/gatherer-horticultural family, in part due to environment (less land has been cleared; game abounds). They are much more dependent upon trade: the only textile work depicted is sewing and knitting, so they buy their cloth. It is less clear whether they make their own thread. Garth Williams' illustrations show a spinning wheel, but nowhere is one mentioned in the book and we have no reason to believe Ma knows how to weave or spin. The Ingalls have fewer livestock, smaller barns and need less food to get through the winter because of that, the smaller size of the family, and the youth of their children. They are, not surprisingly, rather poorer: they have a crockery churn with a dash instead of a rocking churn; they must prepare sausage meat with a knife rather than a meat grinder. They are farther from civilization, so they get no newspaper and must entertain themselves in other ways. The new descriptions revolve around smoking meat and the care and feeding of pa's rifle. We do see some of the slow increase in furnishing in the form of Pa carving a shelf for Ma's china shepherdess to stand on -- this increase had proceeded much further in the Wilder household.
The entertainment for this family is Pa's fiddle and a great deal of singing. One of the songs is about a "darkey", so even this book might prove objectionable to some readers.
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This file recreated from The Internet Wayback Machine in January 2002. Copyright Rebecca Allen, 2002.
Created January 31, 1996 Updated January 10, 2002