What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew: From Fox Hunting to Whist-The Facts of Daily Life in Nineteenth-Century England

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An Easy to Read and Interesting Reference

Fun and Interesting

What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew

Cute but glib--and wrong!

that's what they meant

What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew: From Fox Hunting to Whist-The Facts of Daily Life in Nineteenth-Century England
Daniel Pool
Manufacturer: Touchstone
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Jane Austen: The World of Her Novels

ASIN: 0671882368

Book Description

For every frustrated reader of the great nineteenth-century English novels of Austen, Trollope, Dickens, or the Brontës who has ever wondered whether a duke outranked an earl, when to yell "Tally Ho!" at a fox hunt, or how one landed in "debtor's prison," here is a "delightful reader's companion that lights up the literary dark" (The New York Times).

This fascinating, lively guide clarifies the sometimes bizarre maze of rules, regulations, and customs that governed everyday life in Victorian England. Author Daniel Pool provides countless intriguing details (did you know that the "plums" in Christmas plum pudding were actually raisins?) on the Church of England, sex, Parliament, dinner parties, country house visiting, and a host of other aspects of nineteenth-century English life -- both "upstairs" and "downstairs."

An illuminating glossary gives at a glance the meaning and significance of terms ranging from "ague" to "wainscoting," the specifics of the currency system, and a lively host of other details and curiosities of the day.

Customer Reviews:

An Easy to Read and Interesting Reference.......2007-09-30

If you read Regency or Victorian literature this is a reference you will want close at hand. Both Interesting and fun to read, the author says he wanted to "answer some of the questions that nag any half-curious reader of the great nineteenth-century English novels." He does just that. This book is meant as an overview, or introduction, to the period not an in-depth reference. You will not find lengthy discussions of what Jane Austen might have eaten, but there are several sections on foods and dinner parties.

The book includes a large glossary of terms peculiar to the period. I have found it handy when I've come across an unfamiliar word in a novel and didn't want to stop reading and go research it.

While I feel the book does cover both the Regency and Victorian era fairly well, I believe it can be criticized for spanning too great of a period. Imagine a book attempting to give insight into the entire twentieth century, a period that would include the Wright Brothers and the moon landings and corsets and miniskirts, and many more contrasts. The nineteenth century had many similar contrasts making it difficult to write a single volume cover the entire period.

I recommend two other books for anyone reading Victorian literature, Inside the Victorian Home: A Portrait of Domestic Life in Victorian England and To Marry an English Lord by Gail MacColl and Carol McD. Wallace

Recommendation: Anyone starting down the road of enjoying Regency or Victorian literature should find this a handy reference.

Kyle Pratt

Fun and Interesting.......2007-06-11

What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew: From Fox Hunting to Whist-The Facts of Daily Life in Nineteenth-Century England, by Daniel Pool, is a nice book that is full of fun facts and answers to questions that come about from the reading of some of the great English writers. The book needs to be taken for what it is... entertainment, rather than relied upon as a historical textbook of any kind. I find the book an interesting diversion occasionally, and fun for picking up a bit of the Victorian period. Enjoy. Three stars.

What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew.......2007-05-13

That's a perfect book. If you want to know anything interesting about the 19th century in England, you should read it.I teach English as the second language and it's sometimes too difficult to draw students' attention through the whole lesson. There are many interesting and unknown things, that help students to imagine this time in England. On the other hand, the book is written by clear and easy English so I could not stop reading till I finished.

Cute but glib--and wrong!.......2007-03-30

This is an error-ridden, foolish little book that is just fine for casual consumption but is a terrible place for anyone serious about history to try to learn anything. I write Victorian-set novels, and I really think that books like these are a major problem with my genre as they fool would-be writers into believing that they actually have actually done "research."

*sighs*

Read through George Eliot, Trollope, Austen, Dickens, the Eyres, and Thackeray. Then read articles from popular newspapers and real histories of the period. And then collect fashion plate images and discriptions. Buy copies of Mrs. Beeton and Mayhew. THEN you will have done some research about the 19th c.

that's what they meant.......2007-03-16

i am a dickens, austen, bronte, hardy, wharton, etc. reader. this book relates the conditions of the times and the reasons things were done as they were. eye-opening, fun to read, very informative. even a glossary at the end of the book.

Average customer rating:

Stupid Amazon!
The best book for research in making historical costume
Great Resource Guide
PLEASE READ BEFORE ORDERING THIS!!!
A gorgeous display of high-class 19th century Western clothing fashions

Nineteenth-Century Fashion in Detail
Lucy Johnston
Manufacturer: Victoria and Albert Museum
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Modern | Schools, Periods & Styles | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Textile & Costume | Design & Decorative Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1851774394

Book Description

The latest entry in the successful In Detail series is a lavishly illustrated book celebrating 19th-century fashion. Featuring glorious, specially commissioned color photographs of close-up details alongside accurate line drawings that demonstrate the underlying structure of each garment, the book's 150 pieces capture the opulence and variety of this fascinating era. From the delicate embroidery on ballgowns to the vibrant synthetic colors of crinolines, the major themes of 19th-century fashion are highlighted as never before in a single volume.

“ Perfect for those who want an authentic take on the latest Victorian trend.” -In Style

Customer Reviews:

Stupid Amazon!.......2007-05-08

Don't bother ordering this through Amazon - They're out of stock and haven't been able to get more copies since February. My order keeps being delayed the day that it lists that it's supposed to ship. It's more expensive elsewhere, but at least you've got the option of actually getting it. I broke down and paid double the price listed by Amazon just so that I could stop waiting for it to arrive each month.

I've heard this is a fantastic reference. Now if only I could get a copy!

The best book for research in making historical costume.......2007-02-06

I found this book gives so many fine details of the clothing made in this century. It's a great help for ideas in trimming my own costumes, and shows how it was done in line drawings. The examples are awesome.

Great Resource Guide.......2007-01-12

This book is chock full of close-up photographs which show the details of garments that have been well preserved from the period. Laden with eye-candy for costumers, history buffs, and those who appreciate beautiful things. Readers will be amazed at the fine hand-work and examples of needlework shown on each garment. Not just a beautiful "coffee table" book! Well worth the purchase price!!

PLEASE READ BEFORE ORDERING THIS!!!.......2006-06-15

dear fellow costume and clothing passionate people like myself:

THIS TITLE IS SOLD OUT IN HB FORM FROM THE PUBLISHER. I ORDERED THIS FROM AMAZON IN MARCH 2006. I WAITED A GOOD TWO MONTHS BEFORE I CANCELLED THE ORDER. I THEN TRIED ORDERING IT FROM ECAMPUS AND I WAITED ABOUT A WEEK AFTER THE PROPOSED SHOULD ARRIVE BY DATE AND HAD TO CANCEL FROM THEM TOO, AS THEY ARE UNABLE TO GET THIS TITLE. SO I TURNED TO ANOTHER GREAT COSTUME RESOURCE ONLINE HEDGEHOG HANDWORKS. THIS IS WHAT THE WOMAN FROM THERE TOLD ME: THE PUBLISHER TOTALLY SOLD OUT THIS TITLE. SOLD OUT. THE PUBLISHER WILL NOT PRINT ANY MORE IN HB. PERIOD. THEY ARE SWITCHING TO SC FORMAT. THE NEW SC FORMAT WILL BE SOLD STARTING LATE OCT 2006. SO YOU'D BETTER WATCH FOR IT, AS I ASSUME IT TOO WILL SELL OUT! IF YOU ORDER THIS BOOK, YOU'LL BE HOLDING YOUR BREATH FOR A VERY VERY LONG TIME, AS AMAZON STRINGS YOU ALONG ALL THE WAY. TRY HEDGHOG HANDWORKS, OR EBAY, OR USED. TRY ALSO DIRECT FROM OVER SEAS AT THE V&A MUSEUM SHOP. ONLY ISSUE THERE IS WITH THE EXCHANGE RATE, YOU PAY ALOT MORE FOR THE TITLE. I HOPE THIS GETS READ BY LOTS OF PEOPLE LIKE ME WHO ARE WONDERING WHAT THE DEAL IS WITH GETTING A COPY OF THIS BOOK. I AM JUST KICKING MYSELF I DIDN'T ORDER IT LAST FALL. SIGH.

A gorgeous display of high-class 19th century Western clothing fashions.......2006-05-05

Nineteenth-Century Fashion In Detail is a gorgeous display of high-class 19th century Western clothing fashions. Shirts, dresses, gloves, shoes, and much more; each clothing piece is illustrated with a large full-color photograph, and its history and composition is described at length as befits a fabric work of art. The exquisite embroidery, tailoring, patterns, and other eye-catching details of the sample pieces make Nineteenth-Century Fashion In Detail a superb reference and inspirational sourcebook for clothing designers, costumers, and vintage clothing collectors. Also highly recommended are the companion volumes Historical Fashion in Detail: The 17th and 18th Centuries, and Modern Fashion in Detail.

History of Interior Design and Furniture: From Ancient Egypt to Nineteenth-Century Europe

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History of Interiors
A definitive must for ID Students studying the History
Outstanding Book -Dont miss it
Underwhelming and overpriced
Better for furniture/antiques dealers than designers

History of Interior Design and Furniture: From Ancient Egypt to Nineteenth-Century Europe
Robbie G. Blakemore
Manufacturer: Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0471286761

Book Description

This book is the only current publication of a dedicated history of interiors and furniture. For designers who need stylistic information regarding historic periods, this book is very well organized and thorough. For students, this book offers the possibility of owning a history text without purchasing a general text that makes history only a small part of the information. —Marianne Beecher, Assistant Professor, Iowa State Robbie Blakemore has undertaken a monumental and ambitious project. She has accomplished her goal with zeal and good organization, along with excellent research and scholarship. —Joseph Braswell, Interior Designer, New York City

Customer Reviews:

History of Interiors.......2007-09-14

This book is very helpful for students and professionals seeking to further knowledge on the history of architecture and interior design. Very detailed information.

A definitive must for ID Students studying the History.......2007-01-26

Well, I youre thinking between this and Piles' History of ID then this is a much better book. Each style is explained with great details, and black and white photos and sketches are really helpful, and in the middle of the book is about a dozen of color photos of interiors.
I used this book a lot for my studies of the history of id.
If you're looking for a book full of photos of interiors and fancy words then just don't bother buying it since you wont find them in this book

Outstanding Book -Dont miss it.......2003-06-10

This is an outstanding book, with plenty of pictures - great insider material on furniture and architecture. And I already have a design MA with my own firm.

Underwhelming and overpriced.......2002-02-02

The text of this volume is decent and well organized but in the area that most designers are interested in, visual examples, it is sorely lacking. A very minimal section of color photographs (which jump from Roman to the Renaissance. No sign of the Gothic)and a series of low contrast black and white ones are augmented with a series of uninspired drawings. All of this might still be helpful and useful were it not for the price. There are many volumes on furniture and decor that have come on the market recently which are superior in their content and priced more reasonably.

Better for furniture/antiques dealers than designers.......2001-03-27

This book is a good encyclopedia of the history of interior design going back to ancient era- it catalogues the general overview for each period chronologically, explaining the function and materiality of a space or piece of furniture. The book is particularly nice for classifying particular styles of furniture and may be more suited to an antiques dealer or furniture dealer than a professional interior designer. The major problem i have with the book is that most if not all of the photographs are black and white, and it completely skips the modern era of design, pretty much ending with the turn of the 19th century. No mention of my favorites like Mies van der Rohe or Mr. Wright. This absence somehow makes this book seem incomplete.

My Dream of Heaven: A Nineteenth Century Spiritual Classic (Originally Known as Intra Muros)

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Golden Expectations
My Dream of Heaven
My Dream of Heaven
A View of my future life in heaven
A Book About Comfort, Joy and Hope

My Dream of Heaven: A Nineteenth Century Spiritual Classic (Originally Known as Intra Muros)
Rebecca Rebecca Springer , and Vicki Jamison-Peterson
Manufacturer: Harrison House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

General | Spirituality | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1577944704

Customer Reviews:

Golden Expectations.......2007-07-15

Although it is the author's dream of heaven, it is a beautiful story about how heaven may be and that it is a continuation from our life on earth. We will meet our family and friends and we will all be so happy and praising our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It is a lovely book and produces warm and happy feelings!

My Dream of Heaven.......2007-06-10

This is a most beautiful classic to encourage
us. I have read it three times in the past year.
Easy reading, with things to ponder. This book has been given as
a gift to others, who are ill. It gives them hope.

My Dream of Heaven.......2007-04-07

This book was given to me shortly after I burried my 27 year old son. The book was so comforting and informative that now when I begin missing my son I picture where he is and the complete joy he is experiencing and it makes me smile. I have an entirely different view of passing on from this life to the next and I am almost looking forward to it. I bought 10 more copies of this book and plan to continue passing them out to people that have lost loved ones. Sandy Roberts

A View of my future life in heaven.......2007-03-15

My sister purchased this book for me after our mom passed away from cancer. I love this book. Everytime I would sit down to read it, the most amazing thing would happen. I would be reading and was immediately touch by Jesus. He would come into my room and bless me as I read these beautiful words. I saw myself walking in heaven and seeing Jesus. I recommend anyone who has lost a loved one to read. You will rejoice.!

A Book About Comfort, Joy and Hope.......2007-02-16

In this work we are taken on a journey to Heaven with Rebecca Rutter Springer as she lingers between life and death.Rebecca details her time in this wonderful place, with her family and friends. She tells of the beauty and peace that fill every corner of Heaven; the joy and love that binds every person with their Creator, and the excitement of seeing the untold wonders that every believer in Christ will partake of. I smiled when animals were revealed, for truly I have know that our Creator loves all that He has created and it brought me great peace to know we would be in a place where we could still enjoy the animals.
I have read and enjoyed many books from those who have visited our future home and with each one I have added to my heart the great expectation of the unspeakable joys that await me, and this work has reinforced the knowledge within my spirit of those wonders.
Death hurts, but the comfort of knowing what awaits us or a loved one who is a believer in Christ cushions the blow. If we could only understand death is but a gate-way to an existence where there is no more pain, no more tears and unspeakable joy, that fear would torment us no more. Yes, we would still miss the departing soul but we would know, through works such as this, that their joy is complete and we will see them again.
My Dream of Heaven is a book that will comfort your soul and bring hope for your future. It just doesn't get any better than that.

Nineteenth Century European Art (2nd Edition)

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A treasure trove of art history information

Nineteenth Century European Art (2nd Edition)
Petra Chu
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | History & Criticism | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0131886436

Book Description

This survey explores the history of nineteenth-century European art and visual culture. Focusing primarily on painting and sculpture, it places these two art forms within the larger context of visual culture–including photography, graphic design, architecture, and decorative arts. In turn, all are treated within a broad historical framework to show the connections between visual cultural production and the political, social, and economic order of the time. Topics covered include The Classical Paradigm, Art and Revolutionary Propaganda In France, The Arts under Napoleon and Francisco Goya and Spanish Art at the Turn of the Eighteenth Century. For art enthusiasts, or anyone who wants to learn more about Art History.

Customer Reviews:

A treasure trove of art history information.......2003-01-11

Compiled and written by Petra ten-Doesschate Chu (Professor of Art History, Seton Hall University) Nineteenth-Century European Art is an immense (544 pages), complex, and scholarly coffee-table artbook presenting and studying European art of the 1800's, featuring 550 illustrations (200 in full color) of classic and illuminating works. The reader is treated to an extensive, literate, articulate analysis of the great European artists of the period, including the evolution of their styles, figures, and nudes, the spread of Modernism, and much, much more. Enthusiastically recommended for both community library as well as academic Art History reference collections, Nineteenth-Century European Art is as much fun for the non-specialist general reader to simply browse through, as it is a treasure trove of art history information for the dedicated student.

Ancestry and Narrative in Nineteenth-Century British Literature: Blood Relations from Edgeworth to Hardy (Cambridge Studies in Nineteenth-Century Literature and Culture)

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Ancestry and Narrative in Nineteenth-Century British Literature: Blood Relations from Edgeworth to Hardy (Cambridge Studies in Nineteenth-Century Literature and Culture)
Sophie Gilmartin
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

British | Short Stories | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

United Kingdom | Genealogy | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0521560942

Book Description

This study addresses the question of why ideas of ancestry and kinship were so important in nineteenth-century society, and particularly in the Victorian novel. Sophie Gilmartin discusses what makes people believe that they are part of a certain region, race or nation, and what part is played by superstitious belief, invented traditions and fictions. Gilmartin's study shows that ideas of ancestry and kinship, and the narratives inspired by or invented around them, were of profound significance in the construction of Victorian identity.

Negara: The Theatre State In Nineteenth-Century Bali

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Negara: The Theatre State in Nineteenth Century Bali
""Tis nothing but a Magic Shadow-show"

Negara: The Theatre State In Nineteenth-Century Bali
Clifford Geertz
Manufacturer: Princeton University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Asia | History | Subjects | Books

Indonesia | Asia | History | Subjects | Books

Practical Politics | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0691007780

Book Description

Combining great learning, interpretative originality, analytical sensitivity, and a charismatic prose style, Clifford Geertz has produced a lasting body of work with influence throughout the humanities and social sciences, and remains the foremost anthropologist in America.

His 1980 book Negara analyzed the social organization of Bali before it was colonized by the Dutch in 1906. Here Geertz applied his widely influential method of cultural interpretation to the myths, ceremonies, rituals, and symbols of a precolonial state. He found that the nineteenth-century Balinese state defied easy conceptualization by the familiar models of political theory and the standard Western approaches to understanding politics.

Negara means "country" or "seat of political authority" in Indonesian. In Bali Geertz found negara to be a "theatre state," governed by rituals and symbols rather than by force. The Balinese state did not specialize in tyranny, conquest, or effective administration. Instead, it emphasized spectacle. The elaborate ceremonies and productions the state created were "not means to political ends: they were the ends themselves, they were what the state was for.... Power served pomp, not pomp power." Geertz argued more forcefully in Negara than in any of his other books for the fundamental importance of the culture of politics to a society.

Much of Geertz's previous work--including his world-famous essay on the Balinese cockfight--can be seen as leading up to the full portrait of the "poetics of power" that Negara so vividly depicts.

Customer Reviews:

Negara: The Theatre State in Nineteenth Century Bali.......2003-11-05

Geertz, a social anthropologist at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton University, is a prolific scholar on Balinese and Indonesian political and state organization. "Negara" is a Sanskrit word which originally meant "town"; in Bahasa Indonesia it now signifies nation or realm--the seat of political authority. Its opposite is "desa," the village, place, region, or governed area. Between these two contrasting poles-negara and desa-the classical polity developed. In his search for the "negara," the traditional state of pre-colonial Bali, he casts a wide analytical net over the cultural streams that flowed unchecked in to the archipelago for over 3,000 years from India, China, the Middle East, and Europe. Foreign contact/intervention left a permanent stamp on the island chain in the form of a Hindu civilization on Bali, Chinatowns in Jakarta, and a multiplicity of social structures, economic forms and kinship organizations. Geertz traces the sociological and historical interplay of state formation and dissolution and power and status distribution in 14th to 19th century Bali-an island symbolically caught in a parallel tug of nature between the tranquil Java sea to the north and the treacherous Indian Ocean to the south. Heavy on political theory, this book is more suitable for academicians, history buffs, and college students than for the general reader or the package holiday tourist. Substantiated by critical reviews of the scholarly literature, 130 pages of explanatory footnotes, and a lengthy bibliography, Negara puts forth a persuasive final model of the Balinese state as a distinctive political order. To understand Bali's past, is to understand Bali's present and future.

""Tis nothing but a Magic Shadow-show".......2002-07-31

Bali flits in and out of the Western imagination: Conradian tropic kingdoms, National Geographic star attraction, Mead-Covarrubias-Belo-Geertz himself, tourist paradise (ever-fading). What is Bali all about besides emerald rice terraces, bare breasted beauties, cheap surfing holidays, and tremendously elaborate ceremonies featuring gamelan orchestras and graceful dancers ? Bali is indeed a mystery. If you approach NEGARA with the desire to learn more about this marvelous Indonesian island, you may go away disappointed. There are no Balinese voices in the book; modern Bali is hardly discussed.

NEGARA is an important book, but for those who specialize in the study of Southeast Asian kingdoms, for those who would like to question the standard Western method of studying political power, and for those interested in 19th century Balinese history as interpreted by America's foremost anthropologist, who is rather more known for creative (I'm with him) interpretations than for intensive field work. Geertz' work is going to last a very long time---something that can hardly be said about most anthropological writing. The reason is that he constantly sees things in a different way and can express his vision very clearly. His other books on Indonesia, for example "The Religion of Java", "Islam Observed", "Pedlars and Princes" and "Agricultural Involution" have all been classics for years. His article on the Balinese cockfight is one of the most seminal anthropological pieces ever written.

The Balinese state did not specialize in tyranny, conquest or effective administration. Its emphasis was on "spectacle, toward ceremony, toward the public dramatization of the ruling obsessions of Balinese culture: social inequality and status pride. It was a theatre state..." All the elaborate productions created were "not means to political ends: they wre the ends themselves, they were what the state was for......Power served pomp, not pomp power." (p.13) Geertz spends most of the 136 page book proving this point. [There are also 120 pages of notes.] There are detailed discussions of descent groups, client relationships, three major varieties of village organization aimed at administration, irrigation, and worship, and the connection between court and village. Then follows the scrutiny of ritual, ceremony, and symbols in Geertz' inimitable style. The point must be taken: Balinese society was one of unending rivalry for prestige among very-established levels of hierarchy which were, nonetheless, extremely fluid. The endless reiteration in symbolic, ceremonial terms of a fixed set of relations made up the Balinese theater state.

NEGARA, not a new book, is by now established as a classic text in Anthropology courses, in Religious Studies, Political Science, and Southeast Asian Studies in universities around the world. It portrays a political system that did not conform to the usual Western idea of what political power is all about. Geertz writes that he wanted to write a poetics of power, not a mechanics. He was successful. Readers may wonder if the ability to command and use resources like land, water, timber, or the sea, if the ability to control labor, even if indirectly, if the ability to control power, even if sporadic, do not underlie theater productions in a more definite way. But I think they will have to admit that NEGARA is a powerful politico-historical description that, for once, does not try to twist and mold the data to fit a traditional Western description of a political system. Symbolic action is not at all limited to Indonesian islands. Somebody may yet write a description of the USA as a "Theater State" albeit a very different one from old Bali. NEGARA contains many challenges. It is a great book.

Erin's Daughters in America: Irish Immigrant Women in the Nineteenth Century (The Johns Hopkins University Studies in Historical and Political Science)
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Questionable scholarship

A worthwhile addition to anyone's Irish library

Erin's Daughters in America: Irish Immigrant Women in the Nineteenth Century (The Johns Hopkins University Studies in Historical and Political Science)
Hasia R. Diner
Manufacturer: The Johns Hopkins University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | United States | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
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Emigration & Immigration | Administrative Law | Law | Subjects | Books
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Immigrant Women in the Land of Dollars: Life and Culture on the Lower East Side 1890-1925 (New Feminist Library)

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The Famine Ships: The Irish Exodus to America

Journey of Hope: The Story of Irish Immigration to America

Paddy's Lament, Ireland 1846-1847: Prelude to Hatred

ASIN: 0801828724

Book Description

"The most sensitive treatment of Irish culture... [and] the most complete history we have of the Irish female experience." -- Labor History

Customer Reviews:

Questionable scholarship.......2001-02-22

The second half of the book is clearly superior to the first half. The lack of hard data from prior to and immediately after the Famine seems to lead the author to some curious and questionable conclusions regarding the economic motivation of the Irish women in America. She repeatedly attributes late marriage and spinsterhood to the "traditional" cultural separation of Irish women and men along with the general lack of character of the Irish male. She fails to examine the profound impact of the Famine on women--watching their families and friends starve to death along with forced immigration--and their determination to prevent this from happening again. I found her theories rather determindly sexist.

A worthwhile addition to anyone's Irish library.......2001-01-29

Although at first glance Diner's exhaustive study appears to be fraught with the political correctness and feminist biases that plague so many American academics, in reality _Erin's Daughters_ portrays the story of a gallant group that was able to overcome barriers of poverty, ignorance, and disease to succeed in a New World. The Irish women received no help from the government, from existing charities, or from the Catholic Church, but they were still able to reach the promised land of middle-class America due to their focus on economic goals. The women of Ireland carried their cultural values to America with them, playing a key role in the development of the greatest nation on earth. In order to understand this role, I urge you to read this book.

The Madwoman in the Attic: The Woman Writer and the Nineteenth-Century Literary Imagination, Second Edition (Yale Nota Bene)

Average customer rating:

Another gem.
an excellent, if outdated, book
A Former Student's Opinion
This is just icky
Gibraltor

The Madwoman in the Attic: The Woman Writer and the Nineteenth-Century Literary Imagination, Second Edition (Yale Nota Bene)
Sandra M. Gilbert , and Susan Gubar
Manufacturer: Yale University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Women Writers & Feminist Theory | Books & Reading | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Feminist Theory | Women's Studies | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Women Writers | Women's Studies | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

A Literature of Their Own
Desire and Domestic Fiction: A Political History of the Novel
Feminisms: An Anthology of Literary Theory and Criticism
The Female Malady: Women, Madness, and English Culture, 1890-1980
Wide Sargasso Sea: A Novel (Norton Paperback Fiction)

ASIN: 0300084587

Book Description

This pathbreaking book of feminist criticism is now reissued with a substantial new introduction by Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar that reveals the origins of their revolutionary realization in the 1970s that "the personal was the political, the sexual was the textual.

Customer Reviews:

Another gem........2007-01-01

Could this have been titled "The Misreading of 19th Century Female Novelists"? "The Madwoman" is not an easy read: it's an academic effort and a superb effort at that. But the casual bronteelioteyre fan will be lulled into a sense of familiarity -- "yes, I remember reading that" -- only to discover too late that he / she has completely missed the point of all those famous 19th century novels, at least from the perspective of these two clever, insightful, witty women who somehow came together to write perhaps the definitive feminist view of 19th century female novelists. Taking just one example out of hundreds: after reading their discussion of Jane Austen's "Northanger Abbey," I re-read the novel and couldn't stop laughing at this parody. Even more entertaining was the fact that so many critics panned "Northanger" when it came out, misreading that it was a parody of the entire genre of the romantic (with a small "r") novel of that era.

an excellent, if outdated, book.......2002-02-25

As a former student of Prof. Gubar, I can attest to the importance of this book within feminist literary circles: Gilbert and Gubar, Inc. created a piece of scholarship that transformed the way students of literature read literature. The book's place among feminist literary criticism today attests to the importance of their mission--were it not for Gilbert and Gubar, someone else, perhaps today, would be performing this kind of work. The fact remains, however, that the proliferation of feminist critique, whether from Robyn Wiegman or Lauren Berlant, makes this text an essential primer for feminist criticism, but not as compelling as the works it tacitly bore.

A Former Student's Opinion.......2001-09-28

As a former student of Susan Gubar, I would have to recommend this book to anyone interested in a deeper understading of the novels covered and also finding a different perspective to the traditional critical approaches. As a groundbreaking work, this collection critically looks at and analyzes many different aspects approaching the anxiety of female authorship. This work is truly interesting, and to all of the naysayers, I can vouch that the authors are have a very compelling and informed perspective. The second edition proves that it is a work that will be around for a very long time and that the work will not fall into obscurity, for it is a inspired work of literary criticism. I would recommend this to anyone who seeks a deeper look into the popular women novelists.

This is just icky.......2001-05-25

I apply a very simple standard to literary criticism: Read the critique then reread the original. If the critique improves my appreciation and understanding of the original, then I have spent my time wisely. This book fails that test.

Gilbert & Gubar seem to have little appreciation for the artistry of literary criticism. They seem incapable of writing concise, insightful sentences. They seem to have little appreciation for the rhythms and patterns of English; their sentences read approximately the same way a lopsided trash-can rolls down a hill. There's a lot of noise but not much is actually accomplished. This book cries out for a patient and caring First Year english instructor with a red pen.

Individual chapters seem to have promise, quickly drained by the authors inability to focus, summarise, analyse and bring their subject to life. Their analysis of the Bronte's had the astonishing effect of reducing my interest in these enthralling authors and their works. The Authors insight into the nineteenth century gothic is at best weak. They make much of minor issues and ignore broader themes linking their chosen authors and works.

At its best, reading literary criticism is an electrifying experience, one that inspires you to reach for the nearest great book and savor it as you would fine wine and great food. In the case of the Madwoman in the Attic, it inspires you to regard the library with weariness and a heavy heart. Simply stated, this is book is as tired as Kathy Lee's latest CD and equally awash in mawkish sentiment. I recommend any book by another, better critics - Harold Bloom, Camille Paglia, Cleanth Brooks, T. S. Eliot.

Gibraltor.......2000-12-20

This is a great re-structuring view of Women artists in the Victorian era. Once you've read this, everything looks different and it makes you want to re-visit novels like Jane Eyre and Middlemarch and Sense and Sensibility just to see how much they have changed. Madwomen is a work of creativity as much as criticism. It changes you. Once you have read this, you find yourself in a whole different ocean.

Aestheticism and Sexual Parody 18401940 (Cambridge Studies in Nineteenth-Century Literature and Culture)

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Aestheticism and Sexual Parody 18401940 (Cambridge Studies in Nineteenth-Century Literature and Culture)
Dennis Denisoff
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Parodies | Humor | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Book Description

Aestheticism and Sexual Parody adds a new and important dimension to the concept of parody as a combative strategy by which sexually marginalized groups undermine the status quo. From W. S. Gilbert's drama, and Vernon Lee and Christopher Isherwood's prose to George Du Maurier's cartoons and Max Beerbohm's caricatures, Dennis Denisoff explores the interactions of late nineteenth and twentieth century parody and aestheticism with the texts of canonical authors such as Alfred Tennyson, Walter Pater, Algernon Swinburne, and Oscar Wilde.

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