Thread 31 Starmer - September Rain

[DuncinToffee]

Pull up a chair for some friendly chit chat about politics and beyond

Taxes optional but greatly appreciated.

Previous thread
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/5399546-thread-30-starmer-magic-roundabouts?page=40&reply=146834602

Middlemarch was my mum’s favourite book. When her eyesight started to fail she said her biggest regret was that she would never read Middlemarch again. I still have her battered and frequently re-read copy on my bedside table.

I'm fonder of Hardy's poetry than I am of the novels.

Gaskell wrote a biography of Charlotte Brontë. Her own books are brilliant, especially North and South and Mary Barton.

My goddess but the guys have arrived a day early to put up the scaffolding and the music is great but the effing language would certainly effing create hurty effing feels on a few posters.

@SerendipityJane
Yes tenant of wildfell hall is excellent .

Strangely my DM read it and I think it gave her some solace that the issues she faced were age old issues .

OMG - I definitely ‘write’ differently these days!

@BIWI I'd go for a tale of two cities first (dickens )

Knickerless Nickelby ?

Ranerby Budge ?

Great Expectations for Dickens first and it's a great novel, no doubt about it. I also liked Hard Times.

Grate Expectations, by Charles Dikkens the well known Dutch author ?

Maybe I should try W.H. Smith ?

What are you on about jane? Are you quite well?, as they say in old books...

Cheese ingratiatiions? Push the obvious mites away.

Joining in the literature love, my degree was joint honours in Politics and English Literature.

I love Hardy, Dickens, the Brontes, Tolkien and a huge variety of others, I used to read 15 books a week in the school/university holidays. Like you @Piggywaspushed I love Gaskell, @dontcallmelen my grandma had all Georgette Heyer’s books so I started reading them at a very young age and still love them.

I love poetry too.

It’s my desert island book. I need to reread it, it’s been too long.

Have you read Jude the Obscure? I read it once, never again.

The weather is bananas here, sun, followed by torrential rain on a loop. But good weather for curling up and re-reading a classic or two.

Speaking of 'Nanas, I love Zola too.

I have never read that. Maybe I will pay it a visit.

Oh, the puppies in Jude. It must be the most depressing book in the English language.

@BIossomtoes it’s certainly not a feel good read!

Oh. I'm too young for Monty Python. <ducks for cover>

No point mentioning the Spanish Inquisition then.

Not to ruin the English literature lovefest, but I have to say that out of all the things I read for my various A levels back home, what I enjoyed most was the study I made of Dutch language (included both Dutch and Belgian authors) magical realism. Second place goes to French classical drama and the analysis of form and function I did between the 17th century classic dramas Phedre and Le Cid and Jean Anouilh's Antigone. Hardy et al just didn't pique my interest in the same way.

I see we have moved on from my smelling salt comment

I haven't read any of the authors mentioned <scuttles out of thread for now>

Bet you've read some of the Dutch stuff though. I really enjoyed Hugo Raes and Hubert Lampo, also Slauerhoff.

I know that one and bits of Life of Brian. Something about dead parrots? Ministry of Silly Walks? That's it.