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Deborah (162 KP) rated Jane Austen and Food in Books

Dec 21, 2018

Over the years there have been a glut of 'Jane Austen and.....' books. She just far enough away for us to need some explanation of some of the things that her contemporary readers wouldn't have thought twice about and this is one of the things that this book does very well. Confused about service a la Francaise or a la Russe? Think the French Bread at Northanger is like a modern French Stick or not sure why Mrs Grant's Turkey wouldn't keep until Sunday? - this book will certainly help you there!

Of course, it goes a little deeper than that. Only on occasion are we given reference to very specific foodstuffs, so when we do, you can bet there is some greater significance to it. There is also the significance of female characters as 'housekeeper' and what this says about them. Mrs Jennings may at times be a comic character and have lower social origins, but sh is a good housekeeper, in contrast to Mrs Price, who really doesn't know what she is about.

I read this on Kindle and there could have been a little more in terms of proof reading. The book itself ends at about 80% in due to index, bibliography and an extract from another book - I mention it as it came sooner than I expected.

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Phil Leader (619 KP) rated Dragonsdawn (Pern: Dragonriders of Pern, #6) in Books

Nov 12, 2019

The first of the Pern novels that fills in the backstory of the main sequence of books, this tells the tale of the first few years of the colonisation of Pern from a delegation from Earth. They find a lush paradise full of interesting plants and animals and spread out across the warm southern continent. And then the Thread starts to fall...

Teased by the end of The White Dragon, this is a full-blown science fiction novel. The various plot points don't just cover the details of the human habitation and the devastating impact of Thread on an unprepared populace, but also provides dramatic tension in the greed of a small number of the colonists in trying to secure what riches there are on the planet.

This is a more-or-less essential read for anyone who enjoys the Pern novels, so much of the way the later society works, and the dragons themselves, are explained. It is not perfect, however. It is a pretty much by-the-numbers story, with a lot of the outcomes already known and some of the sub plots are superfluous and slow some parts down too much. Also the need to namecheck every Weyr and reference from the original novels is a little tiresome - and unnecessary.

Still, a solid entry on the impressive list of novels that does deliver what it promises.