I hope I'm not doing a TAAT. There's a thread about Rupert Campbell-Black on AIBU but I had thought for a while about starting a general Jilly Cooper thread and don't want to ask if I'm BU, hence posting on Chat. I certainly don't mean to BU; please tell me if I am.
I'm at a loose end today as Mr LaM is off doing one of those madly outing hobbies (he's playing chess. I'll put the kettle on for all the stalkers who are bound to charge up**).
I come really, really not to bury Jilly but not to totally praise her either (pace Shakespeare).
I love her books. They are my comfort reading (along with Eva Ibbotson) and I swear I could romp home with the works of JC as a specialist subject on Mastermind (I'd obviously flunk general knowledge). I have had to re-buy three of her books because they fell apart.
And yet, and yet...
She gets away with bloody murder! She's racist, sexist, classist (is that a thing?) and - even worse from my point of view - she's repetitive. For an author that's not good.
She comes up with the same phrases. Eg: "threw up and up and up"; "hit him across the room/parking lot/whatever"; "drenched herself in scent"; "stank like a polecat" etc
When it comes to breastfeeding everything who does it will "whip out a triangular grey tit" and stuff it in their revolting offspring's mouth. Unless they're Janey who's been on holiday and has such lovely suntanned breasts that nobody minds her breastfeeding. Luckily Taggie's breasts didn't drop because she'd never fed a baby.*
The lower classes are fine if they:
a) stay in their place and make amusing malapropisms: "Let's get up a partition!"
b) make a lot of money but keep their hilarious regional accents: "Grite, grite! That 'elps a lot".
If they dare ape their betters they are ghastly, talk "ever so posh laike that" and ask for "a portion of that delicious gateau" and tell dukes they would be "delayted to receive them in their gracious 'ome". And always - if female - wear shirtwaister dresses.
I know! I'm over invested. I should stop reading her if I think all these things.
I enjoy her books. I'm surprised she's hardly ever called out in interviews about her dated views but - hell yes! - I wish was as rich and successful and well-connected.
I just want a gossip. Anybody else?
*I have wondered if this is JC trying to cheer herself up because she couldn't give birth to children; I know she has two children and it sounds as though that's been a great success but maybe occasionally she thinks, "Well, at least I kept my figure".
**Just decided on previewing to change "charge up" to "rock up". Another Jilly-ism.