I recently read Fingersmith by Sarah Waters! I really liked portions of it and only managed to get through other portions of it because I was stuck in a car for 12 hours
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Considering most of the other novels I've read in a Victorian setting (and notably, those are mostly actual Victorian novels, not just books written in the present but set in that past), I really enjoyed it - enough to really want to overlook some of the stuff you pointed out. For some reason, though, Sue going back to Maud at the end didn't strike me as abrupt... so now I want to reread it to see if I can see that, too.
I've always wondered that about the Gentleman, too. >0_o< He just struck me as a little bit off, no matter how you looked at him, though, so perhaps that is just his overall image.
I have Tipping the Velvet and want to read it... from a writing perspective I think it will be interesting to see how much of this is similar and not... and for two, I just want to warn you that I've heard two things about Affinity, if you give that a go
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Eeee! You've read Fingersmith! I wasn't expecting anyone on my friendslist to have actually read it!
Do you have any recommendations for good Victorian novels? It's one of those time periods I'd love to read about more. I'm not sure if I made it very clear in my post, but overall I really enjoyed Fingersmith and I really want to go read more by her. Right now, I have Night Watch sitting on my bookshelf, so that will probably be next.
The fact that Sue went out looking for Maud and found her rather quickly didn't really bother me, actually, especially because I couldn't imagine her doing anything else. I mean, she didn't have anything else (except Dainty, I guess). But I thought that her forgiveness seemed kind of abrupt, especially in light of the fact that Maud had just confessed lying to her about everything. I think mostly I just wanted to read them having to deal with all their issues, so it felt like that whole process was sped through so we could get to the end of the book
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Hee! I believe I found Fingersmith on my own, and only afterward discovered that one of my friends at college had read it, and we kinda squee'ed at each other about it. But I'm really glad you've read it, too~ And now you're asking me about more books to recommend. ZOMG. And hee, it's good that you read a book and like it and ask more questions about it, and about why an author might have done this or that, and know what you did or didn't like about the book... it means you're a good reader, of course!
Good Victorian novels! ...I took a whole class on them and probably didn't like as many as my professor would have hoped. >^^<;; That included your basics by the Bronte sisters. I liked Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope, and oddly enough Bleak House by Dickens. Bleak House completely redeemed Dickens in my head because it includes spontaneous combustion. Unfortunately, those're all very Victorian literature type books, so as for more casual reading, I'm not sure what I can recommend. I'd like to suggest Angels and
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While I'm on a roll with books... GLBT books, huh? I'm still trying to find a lot of good lit, too, but I have a few things to recommend, including Ellen Kushner's Riverside books: Swordspoint, The Fall of the Kings, and Priviledge of the Sword. The Fall of the Kings isn't a direct sequel to Swordspoint, but more like backstory. They are awesome, and I can happily say that everyone I've recommended them to has said favorable things about them afterward. I think you'll enjoy them. Also, Thorne recommended Mary Renault's books about Alexander the Great to me, and what I've read of the Alexander series and one of the others she set in ancient Greece, it's all very good. Liza Dalby's Tale of Murasaki features a Lady Murasaki who shows some interest in the other ladies, which is a pretty big revelation to most people who don't think lesbianism ever existed in Japan until recent times. Also, if you've not read Neil Gaiman's Death: The Time of Your Life, you should. And finally, though I hesitate to recommend something I've not read
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Considering most of the other novels I've read in a Victorian setting (and notably, those are mostly actual Victorian novels, not just books written in the present but set in that past), I really enjoyed it - enough to really want to overlook some of the stuff you pointed out. For some reason, though, Sue going back to Maud at the end didn't strike me as abrupt... so now I want to reread it to see if I can see that, too.
I've always wondered that about the Gentleman, too. >0_o< He just struck me as a little bit off, no matter how you looked at him, though, so perhaps that is just his overall image.
I have Tipping the Velvet and want to read it... from a writing perspective I think it will be interesting to see how much of this is similar and not... and for two, I just want to warn you that I've heard two things about Affinity, if you give that a go ( ... )
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Do you have any recommendations for good Victorian novels? It's one of those time periods I'd love to read about more. I'm not sure if I made it very clear in my post, but overall I really enjoyed Fingersmith and I really want to go read more by her. Right now, I have Night Watch sitting on my bookshelf, so that will probably be next.
The fact that Sue went out looking for Maud and found her rather quickly didn't really bother me, actually, especially because I couldn't imagine her doing anything else. I mean, she didn't have anything else (except Dainty, I guess). But I thought that her forgiveness seemed kind of abrupt, especially in light of the fact that Maud had just confessed lying to her about everything. I think mostly I just wanted to read them having to deal with all their issues, so it felt like that whole process was sped through so we could get to the end of the book ( ... )
Reply
Good Victorian novels! ...I took a whole class on them and probably didn't like as many as my professor would have hoped. >^^<;; That included your basics by the Bronte sisters. I liked Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope, and oddly enough Bleak House by Dickens. Bleak House completely redeemed Dickens in my head because it includes spontaneous combustion. Unfortunately, those're all very Victorian literature type books, so as for more casual reading, I'm not sure what I can recommend. I'd like to suggest Angels and ( ... )
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