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Recent reading
Nov. 16th, 2016 09:35 pmVredens barn by Sara Lidman (Children of Wrath)
Part 2 in her series on the colonization of northern Sweden. Nobody is actually very angry in this book, so I don't know why the title. Still liking this, it is meandering but that is part of its charm. The depiction of 19th-century pre-industrialization class society is very interesting, particularly as this is in northern Sweden which did not actually have much of an aristocracy. (There is a saying that oaks and nobles don't grow north of Dalälven [the Dal river].) Officials of the crown and wealthy merchants are what we see of the upper class, and farmers, poor crofters and other dependents the lower classes. And the forest industry is making its slow inroads; I'll be interested to see how that goes.
Living the French Revolution and the Age of Napoleon by Suzanne M. Desan (audiobook)
I did not actually know about the French Revolution in detail, so this was really interesting. Recommended! Also the bits about Napoleon. This review will now go on a tangent into fannish introspection, sorry: I am annoyed with myself at the urge to write shippy fic about someone with whom I profoundly disagree politically. Arrrgh. I am aware that this is a bit silly of me--it's not like anyone is going to look at my list of fic and draw the conclusion "oh hey so I guess she approves of authoritarian leaders!". But whyyy do I want to write the pairing then? I mean, I guess I know why: it's one of those pairings with enemies that respect and in some way admire each other even as they argue and disagree a lot. Ah well. I am a bit amused that according to the book, people romanticized Napoleon after his fall, like his return would mean the return of the republic, conveniently forgetting all about his authoritarianism.
Maybe I should try getting into Les Miserables or something instead (the fandom or the book), as long as I am reading 19th-century political stuff anyway. Would I enjoy that, do you think? It seems a huge brick though. Other recs?
Part 2 in her series on the colonization of northern Sweden. Nobody is actually very angry in this book, so I don't know why the title. Still liking this, it is meandering but that is part of its charm. The depiction of 19th-century pre-industrialization class society is very interesting, particularly as this is in northern Sweden which did not actually have much of an aristocracy. (There is a saying that oaks and nobles don't grow north of Dalälven [the Dal river].) Officials of the crown and wealthy merchants are what we see of the upper class, and farmers, poor crofters and other dependents the lower classes. And the forest industry is making its slow inroads; I'll be interested to see how that goes.
Living the French Revolution and the Age of Napoleon by Suzanne M. Desan (audiobook)
I did not actually know about the French Revolution in detail, so this was really interesting. Recommended! Also the bits about Napoleon. This review will now go on a tangent into fannish introspection, sorry: I am annoyed with myself at the urge to write shippy fic about someone with whom I profoundly disagree politically. Arrrgh. I am aware that this is a bit silly of me--it's not like anyone is going to look at my list of fic and draw the conclusion "oh hey so I guess she approves of authoritarian leaders!". But whyyy do I want to write the pairing then? I mean, I guess I know why: it's one of those pairings with enemies that respect and in some way admire each other even as they argue and disagree a lot. Ah well. I am a bit amused that according to the book, people romanticized Napoleon after his fall, like his return would mean the return of the republic, conveniently forgetting all about his authoritarianism.
Maybe I should try getting into Les Miserables or something instead (the fandom or the book), as long as I am reading 19th-century political stuff anyway. Would I enjoy that, do you think? It seems a huge brick though. Other recs?
