Book discussion: more Black Ribbon research

[cleolinda]

ETA: Having a bit of a posting glitch problem, please bear with us.

I have a huge, partially-drafted backlog of books and/or texts I've read and meant to discuss, so let's have a couple now:

Comments

[coyotegoth]

Have you ever read What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew? Also good for Victorian-era research.

[cleolinda]

I think that was my very first Victorian research book, back when I was a wee teenage Cleo. My only problem with that book is that it's covering the whole century in a very short space, and I don't know that it manages to be as clear or thorough at times. It's great for fans of Victorian literature just trying to understand a particular issue, particularly the way it gives examples from those books, though.

[pandora_nervosa]

That was my first research book! Along with the "Writer's Guides to..." series by Writer's Digest. To this day, I still drag that out and read it for the sheer pleasure. There are more intensive ones out there but this one sticks with me because it was my first and after reading so many Victorian-era books, it was nice to really know what certain things cost etc, exactly how wealthy was wealthy.

Loved it.

[krz4dom]

Your icon is cute. King Henry's wives eh?

[litlover12]

"enjoy all that alum in your bread!"

Somewhat OT: This reminded me of a fascinating book called "Beethoven's Hair," which posited that Beethoven died of lead poisoning that he got, IIRC, from his dishes. Not Victorian, of course, but still fascinating.

[cleolinda]

Which also reminds me of the Maybrick poisoning case, in which the guy's poor wife was convicted of poisoning him with, I believe, a patent medicine made up of arsenic and/or strychnine. Patent medicine that he got for himself, and she had no idea what was in it.

Of course, this was the same guy they spun the "Maybrick Ripper diary" hoax around, so the whole thing is layers upon layers of interesting.

[girlthethird]

Oh! I think I saw a documentary about that! I believe they also theorised that the high doses of lead to which he was exposed (I thought it was in the wine?) was also the cause of his hearing loss.

[litlover12]

You may be right about the wine -- it's been a while since I read the book. Or it may have been the wine AND the dishes! It seemed the poor man had a massive amount of lead in his system by the end, if I remember right. Some of those descriptions of his symptoms were pretty gruesome.

[cleolinda]

I seriously want her Consuming Passions and The Invention of Murder now. Thanks, "You Might Also Be Interested In"!

[icprncs]

...ooh. Ooh. Thank YOU!

[darth_snarky]

I'll admit my knowledge of the Victorian home is pretty sketchy, but when people talk about the front parlor (for guests) and the back parlor (for family)--is that maybe similar to the drawing room and parlor difference?

(...My family lives in a very modern Mies Van Der Rohe knockoff, where the main room of the apartment bleeds into the dining room, and that's about it for public entertaining space OR family living room. Victorian houses--and lifestyle--seem so alien yet intriguing.)

Also, this post was really fascinating and educational. Both books are on my to-read list now. Thank you!

[cleolinda]

I will say, the second is basically a compilation of restaurant criticism, rather than a researched book like Flanders'. If that sounds like the kind of thing you like reading anyway, go for it (why not, it's free). I found it fascinating, but even I got a little tired towards the end.

[darth_snarky]

Some food critics are interesting, and I've always enjoyed reading firsthand historical sources. It's always interesting to see what period details get mentioned and which are just accepted/assumed that the reader knows.

(Also, it looks like something I can read off and on with no problem, which, with the amount of class reading I do, is a bonus.)

[cleolinda]

Yeah, I read it on and off over three or four days, rather than a single sitting like I usually aim for. But it's so episodic that you can do that pretty easily.

[londonsparrow]

Can I just say I love when you do these kinds of posts? I know that you have a specific purpose in mind for all your reading but it really also seems like you genuinely love learning new things. "Research" shouldn't be such a foreboding word - it's fun to expand your mind. (/nerd)

[cleolinda]

Hee, yeah. It's absolutely true--I'm trying to be strict with myself and not just read things that I swear are related just because I want to. This is why I'm horribly behind on current fiction, because I'd rather wallow in biographies and social history all day. And then you get into all the other periods of history that I like, and I'm doomed.