Willoyd's Reading 2014

[willoyd]

Under Another Sky: Journeys in Roman Britain by Charlotte Higgins *****

 

The first book of the new year, and what a good start it has proved too! Reading the introduction it becomes clear that the author Charlotte Higgins, currently The Guardian's chief arts writer but with a Classics background, has over the past five or six years developed a particular fascination with Roman Britain, travelling around Britain to visit most of the main sites and finds of the time, including walking the full lengths of both Antonine and Hadrian Walls. This book is, in part, an account of those visits and the stories behind the sites, both of their places in the history of Roman Britain and of their discoveries. To help follow the historical chronology, rather than following her visits in the order she travelled, the chapters each focus on a particular area that relates best to successive periods of that history, so it is more of a historical than travel piece. Thus the opening chapter focuses on Kent and Sussex and the early invasions, moving on to Norfolk with its association with Boudica's uprising, and so on westwards and northwards, until returning to East Anglia and the Saxon Shore forts representing the dying years of the Empire's presence in Britannia.

 

It is however, rather more than that, as the author herself explains:  This book is very far from a comprehensive account of Britain's Roman remains. Instead, I wanted to see what I could learn from an encounter with them. Not to discover what being in Roman Britain was like - for I was convinced of the irrecoverability of the lives of people from the deep past, except as manifestations of the historical imaginations of those who described them. Rather, I wanted to think about what this period means, and has meant, to a British sense of history and identity. I wanted to discover the ways in which the idea of a Roman Britain has resonated in British culture and still forms part of the texture of its landscape.

 

And, given the temporal distance, it rather surprised me how relevant it does appear. This was particularly driven home to me by the section of the York chapter covering the 'ivory bangle lady', a skeleton excavated in the city in the early years of the 20th century. Much more recent work (it is particularly noticeable how much has happened in the past 5-10 years in Roman Britain research) suggests that she was of mixed-race ancestry, possibly from north Africa. The storm of controversy surrounding the suggestion that Roman Britain may have been rather more multicultural than previously thought really underlined to me how important even such distant history can be in comtemporary cultural belief, significantly influencing both sides of the divide.

 

Having never really taken more than a superficial interest in Roman Britain before, I found this book an ideal entry point, vividly bringing the places and the subject alive,  wetting my appetite to learn more about the detail of the period of history, whilst also showing me how relevant it is to us today. I've already started reading another book that has been sat on my shelves for the past year, having been to see one of the authors at the 2012 Ilkley Literature Festival, which I've ever since meant to get around to reading, and am planning to follow up some of the visits the author made! So, whilst I'm as yet undecided to give this a 4* or a 5* rating, this is a read I've certainly enjoyed and found thoroughly rewarding.

 

(Later edit: after giving it a bit of time to settle, this is a solid 5-star read: definitely in the excellent rather than 'just' the very good range, not least for the rather different approach taken. It's quirky and personal enough to provide that extra frisson in reading enjoyment. It may not be as good 'history' as some other books, but that wasn't the author's objective, as she clearly states; as a book it's, at least for me, a thorough success).

Edited January 11, 2014 by willoyd

[Athena]

I'm glad to hear you enjoyed the first book you read in 2014, that's a great start! Nice review .

[willoyd]

The Romans Who Shaped Britain by Sam Moorhead and David Stuttard ****

I went to see David Stuttard give a presentation at the Ilkley Literature Festival last year (2012), and was impressed enough that I bought the book afterwards. It's lingered a bit on my shelves since, but, having just finished Charlotte Higgins's book based on her journeys round Roman Britain, it looked like a good follow-up.

And so it proved. Higgins focuses mainly on the sites and finds, their discoveries, how they fit into the history of Roman Britain, and the impact of the Romans on Britain today. Stuttard and Moorhead's book is a rather more conventional history of Britannia, focusing primarily on the leading individuals and their impact: very much, as the title suggests, a 'great man' (with a few women) approach to the history. Not a lot on the social side here!

From a beginner's perspective the authors strike a good balance: there's enough detail to provide a good overview of the 400 or so years history covered, not so much as to move it more into the realms of the academic. The aim here is obviously to make Roman British history a rattling good read, whilst  ensuring that the history is still sufficiently rigorous. To emphasise the readability, each chapter is preceded by a short prologue, written as a short piece of fiction, designed, presumably, to whet the reader's appetite for the rest of the chapter. Some reviewers have treated this as a stroke of genius; personally, I thought them rather unnecessary, even a little bit twee, but they were only a page or so long, and it all went to make it clear as to what the authors were trying to achieve.

 

As to the history itself, it doesn't break any barriers, conforming to a generally conventional view of the history of these times, and is well referenced to enhance the academic side of things. Sam Moorhead's particular area of expertise is coinage (he is currently Finds Advisor on Iron Age and Roman coins for the Dept of Portable Antiquities and Treasure at the British Museum), and this shows in the text, with regular reference to and interpretation of the numerous finds of coins that have been made in recent years. Indeed, the impression is given that quite a bit of our understanding of the history of Roman Britain is largely based on coin finds. I'm not sufficiently expert to know whether that is the case, or whether it's simply a result of the knowledge specialism of the authorial team, but the interpretations certainly do add to the interest of the book!

Having fairly zipped through its 250 pages or so (not a lot given the amount of history covered), I think I can honestly say that The Romans Who Shaped Britain is thoroughly successful in its objectives, in being both that rattling good read and (at least so it appears) good history. Whether the latter is true or not, the combination of these two books, both the Higgins and the Stuttard-Moorhead volumes, has certainly provided me with an appetite to find out more about what was previously a largely unknown period in my knowledge. I can see some explorations and further reading coming up in the not too distant future!

Edited January 11, 2014 by willoyd

[Athena]

Great review! Personally I know more of the history of general Europe in the days of the Romans, not so much in detail about Britain. I followed Latin and Greek courses when I was at secondary school and they included the history of those people. Your reviews are always interesting to read, you have a way with words.

[Kidsmum]

Hi Willoyd - i picked up a copy of Sacred Hearts  Sarah Dunant this morning in the charity shop, i've just been back to look at your review & pleased to see it was one of your favourite books of the year

[willoyd]

Hi Willoyd - i picked up a copy of Sacred Hearts  Sarah Dunant this morning in the charity shop, i've just been back to look at your review & pleased to see it was one of your favourite books of the year

 

I've just been reading your thread, commented on your purchase, and then come here to find your post!  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do - I think it's likely to see slightly more divergence on opinion than some of her others which are more obviously appealing.  But yes, definitely up there for me!

[willoyd]

Reading update for week ending 17th Jan

A fairly frantic, and exhausting, week at school, so not as much reading done as I would have liked, having only read 150 pages of Nicholas Nickleby since this time last week, mostly on the train commuting or late at night in bed. It's classic Dickens though, and am totally into it. Nickleby has just left Dotheboys School - I hadn't appreciated how little space this part of the book took up, and am wondering where the next 650 or so pages is going to take me!

No books bought this week!

Edited January 17, 2014 by willoyd

[willoyd]

Reading update 30th Jan

No posts, as steadily reading my way through Nicholas Nickleby in between everything else; up to just over 500 pages tonight. Still proving thoroughly enjoyable. The narrative drive may not be quite as strong as in, say, Oliver Twist or Bleak House, but there are some great episodes, and the language and atmosphere is as rich as ever.

After a bit of a hiatus, I succumbed to the temptations of one of my favourite second-hand bookshops in Otley earlier this week to top up on a handful of books that I've had on my wishlist for a while:

The People's Tragedy: The Russian Revolution 1891-1924 by Orlando Figes
Britain Begins by Barry Cunliffe
Patriots and Liberators by Simon Schama

and one bought with the balance on my Waterstone's card:

Roman Britain, A New History by Guy de la Bedoyere

Edited February 1, 2014 by willoyd

[Athena]

I hope you enjoy your new books . I'm glad to hear you're enjoying Nicholas Nickelby, I look forward to read the review when you're done reading it.

[julie]

Good to see you back, Will

 

I was just wondering about you yesterday since I hadn't seen you on in awhile ..

 

Sounds as though you are enjoying Dickens !

[poppyshake]

You have to succumb to bookshop temptation every once in a while ... there would be no bookshops otherwise  

 

Glad you're getting on okay with Nicholas Nickleby. I need to pick it up again one day. I gave it up because Kate was one of those soppy and sentimental Dicken's heroines that make me want to scream  .. perhaps I didn't give her a fair chance  (though I saw an adaptation and she plunged even lower in my esteem )

[willoyd]

You have to succumb to bookshop temptation every once in a while ... there would be no bookshops otherwise  

 

Glad you're getting on okay with Nicholas Nickleby. I need to pick it up again one day. I gave it up because Kate was one of those soppy and sentimental Dicken's heroines that make me want to scream  .. perhaps I didn't give her a fair chance  (though I saw an adaptation and she plunged even lower in my esteem )

 

I'm about two-thirds of the way through and, she doesn't seem overly sentimental to me. Maybe I've become a bit inured, but my notes actually comment that, for once in a while, one of Dickens's heroines actually seems to be fairly 'normal' - yes, a bit of a Victorian maiden, but nowhere near the likes of, say, Dora in David Copperfield (but could anybody be quite as sickly as her?) - and given the levels of harrassment, I'd say her reactions seem pretty reasonable.

Edited February 7, 2014 by willoyd

[willoyd]

The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens *****

Well, it's taken just over three weeks, with plenty of interruptions from relatively inconsequential distractions (like work!), but Nicholas Nickleby finally rolled to a conclusion last night. It's been a bit of an epic, but I wouldn't have missed it for anything (well, almost anything!).

As with many Dickens novels, even if you haven't actually read it (and this wasn't a reread) there is still a certain degree of familiarity. Aside from the Nicklebys, names such as Smike, Wackford Squeers, the Cheeryble brothers, Dotheboys Hall - they are all known well beyond the pages of the book. But, as with so many superficially familiar books, the reality is very different. Just as Wuthering Heights took me completely by surprise with the entire second half (left out in the most famous film version), so I was somewhat taken aback to find that Nicholas departs Dotheboys Hall barely 20% of the way in. After that, we're on much more recognisable Dickens territory - London and Portsmouth, mainly the former. The narrative, however, was completely fresh.

The interesting thing I found though was that, whilst the novel is famous for its campaigning stance on the infamous Yorkshire holiday-less schools where boys were effectively dumped and left to the worst machinations of some pretty brutal individuals (Wackford Squeers is apparently based on a real-life head of a school in Bowes, William Shaw - even down to the initials), a campaign that was so effective that by the mid-19th century these schools were extinct, the vast majority of the book is actually one of his funnier novels. It may not be quite as light as Pickwick Papers, but whilst the main plotline has its fair share of evil, the vast majority of characters have a distinctly comic side, if not entirely so in some cases. As the main villain, Ralph Nickleby is pretty unremitting, as indeed is the minor villain Sir Mulberry Hawk, but even Squeers and his family, especially daughter Fanny, are ridiculed rather more than railed against. There are, however, a well above average collection of comic and/or eccentric characters, the most extreme being the rather gratuitous but no less funny mad suitor next door to Mrs Nickleby, wooing her by throwing cucumbers and various other vegetables over their dividing wall, and getting stuck halfway up Mrs N's chimney!

Dickens is a master of handling a large cast of characters. His best on this front, at least of those I've read, is IMO Bleak House. Nicholas Nickleby doesn't quite match this on a number of fronts: the plot line is rather more straightforward, characters less integrated in places and not quite so rounded, but, given that it's a much earlier effort, it's still a good example of what so many lesser authors can only aspire to. But what does make this stand out, even amongst Dickens's own works, is the huge energy the book exudes. It rattles along at a tremendous lick, galloping from episode to episode, each generating its own atmosphere and vitality. Quite a few of these, in hindsight, add little to the thrust of the narrative (for instance, the whole theatrical aside with the Crummlesses is really just one big, but thoroughly entertaining, diversion), but they do add to its richness, allowing a whole different set of characters to strut their way onto the stage (and the Vincent Crummless troupe creates more than its fair share of entertainment!).

There are, almost inevitably, weaknesses, some not untypical of other Dickens novels. Yes, his story does seem to dive rather idiosyncratically down various blind alleys on occasions; his love-interests are all too often too soppy, irritating and, frankly, rather under developed for my taste - Madeline Bray is a mere cypher compared to much of the rest of the dramatis personae, and even Kate is comparatively forgettable. But what I'm left with is an overwhelming sense of having lived through, rather than merely read, the lives of the characters, and the action of their adventures. Dickens has the ability to suck you in and keep you enthralled, so that even after 3 weeks and over 800 pages, I'm still wanting more, and feel rather lost that it's all over. He is, simply, one of the greatest novelists, and Nicholas Nickleby, whilst not quite matching my own personal favourites (Bleak House, David Copperfield), is up there challenging the very best.

Edited February 4, 2014 by willoyd

[Athena]

Great review ! I'm glad you enjoyed Nicholas Nickelby, it's on my TBR (as are many of Dickens' books).

[willoyd]

Reading update Feb 8th

From one big 'un to another! Started Adrian Desmond and James Moore's biography of Darwin this week - keen to get a few of the challenge books under my belt (and actually rather keen to read the book itself!). About 150 pages in, and whilst the pages aren't turning that fast - there's a lot on each one - it's living well up to expectations. I've got a couple of big train trips this week, so will hopefully be able to get some serious reading completed.

Bought one book this week, at the tail end of the Folio Society's spring sale:

Feudal Society by Marc Bloch

I really like the Annales style of history writing, and this is one of the classics. Hard to get a good one volume copy, so this looks ideal. One to add to the History Doorstoppers list?

Had a very pleasant browse around the bookshop in Salt's Mill earlier in the week. I love the way they lay their books out, laid out on tables - much more tempting than the normal bookshelf standard (which i think the likes of Waterstone's are starting to appreciate given the style of the displays cropping up in the Leeds store). Added a couple of books to my wishlist as a result, including Maria McCann's As Meat is to Salt, and a promising looking history of nursery rhymes, Pop Goes The Weasel. Almost bought up the collection of books about Titus Salt and Saltaire too!

Edited February 8, 2014 by willoyd

[Athena]

The biography of Darwin sounds interesting, I look forward to read the review when you've read the whole book.

 

I hope you enjoy your new book .

[willoyd]

Reading update Feb 15th

The week has, not surprisingly, been dominated by the Darwin biography. A couple of good sessions on long train journeys this week, and am up to page 400 today. It's a big book in every sense of the word, and each page is fairly jammed - not one of your quick reads! Perhaps not the best book to read during term time, but when I am able to settle down, it's definitely worth the effort.

Three books acquired this week:

It's All Greek to Me - Charlotte Higgins (paperback, Book Depository)
A Commonplace Killing - Sian Busby (e-book, Amazon)
High Minds - Simon Heffer (hardback, Waterstones)

The first of these is my wanting to follow up on reading her latest book, Under Another Sky; whilst the second is my book group's choice for next month. The Heffer has been on my wishlist since it came out, and is courtesy of a gift card received at Christmas and a few pounds being knocked off in Waterstones.  With the various loyalty cards, it works out no more expensive than Amazon, in spite of the good deal they are currently offering.  And there's- still enough left on the gift card for another book!  It can wait till a few of these have been read!

Edited February 22, 2014 by willoyd

[Athena]

I'm glad to hear you're enjoying reading about Darwin. I think he was quite a fascinating person. Have fun with your new books !

[Kylie]

Non-fiction Runner-up: The Real Jane Austen – Paula Byrne

 

 

I will have to go back and find your review of this, as I just bought it recently. I'm especially glad now that I bought it given that you think highly of it.

 

I noticed that you have rated The Pursuit of Love as five stars and Love in a Cold Climate as six stars. This bodes well because I have just finished the former and loved it.

[willoyd]

I will have to go back and find your review of this, as I just bought it recently. I'm especially glad now that I bought it given that you think highly of it.

Here you go Kylie: http://www.bookclubforum.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/11098-willoyds-reading-log-2013/?p=366212

 

I noticed that you have rated The Pursuit of Love as five stars and Love in a Cold Climate as six stars. This bodes well because I have just finished the former and loved it.

 

I'll be rereading them this year as part of the English Counties Challenge, and am looking forward to it!

Edited February 16, 2014 by willoyd

[Kylie]

Thanks Willoyd! Great review.

[willoyd]

Reading update Feb 22nd

It's been an awful week at work, and reading has had to go pretty much by the board. If it hadn't been for a pleasant hour spent this morning in my favourite reading position in the south facing bay window of our sitting room, looking out over the street we live on, I'd have been reporting virtually no progress at all on Darwin. As it is, I reached p.500 this morning - having covered the period when Origin of the Species was published - really lively, fascinating stuff. It's half term this week, so I'm hoping/expecting to finish soon and move on. It feels like months, but it's only three weeks on Tuesday. It's just I'm not used to books taking that long (although Nicholas Nickleby did - maybe it's the two books back to back that makes it seem such an extended period?)

A bit of a buying spree in Ilkley yesterday - just fun visiting the charity and book shops as a sigh of relief. Pure retail therapy!

Darwin and the Beagle - Alan Moorehead (hardback, Oxfam)
The Return of the King - William Dalrymple (hardback, Oxfam)
The Almost Nearly Perfect People - Michael Booth (paperback)
The Rosie Project - Graeme Simsion (paperback)
Poetry, The Basics - Jeffrey Wainwright (paperback)

Edited February 22, 2014 by willoyd

[Athena]

Congrats on the new books, I hope you enjoy them ! I hope you get some more time for reading soon. Personally I try to vary reading longer and shorter books, if I read too many long ones back to back I feel like my reading isn't progressing much sometimes.

[willoyd]

Congrats on the new books, I hope you enjoy them ! I hope you get some more time for reading soon. Personally I try to vary reading longer and shorter books, if I read too many long ones back to back I feel like my reading isn't progressing much sometimes.

 

Yes, I usually do as well. It's just that I got a particular urge to read the Darwin book, and one of my main aims this year is to read a few more of the 'doorstoppers' on my shelves!  Also, work goes up and down in a very short space of time: it wasn't so bad when I started and didn't look too bad either.   The next couple of books will definitely be shorter.though!

Edited February 24, 2014 by willoyd

[Marie H]

A bit of a buying spree in Ilkley yesterday - just fun visiting the charity and book shops as a sigh of relief. Pure retail therapy!

The Almost Nearly Perfect People - Michael Booth (paperback)

Yeah, I was interested in that one, but forgot to listen to it on Radio 4's Book of the Week. I'm now in a queue of 3 from the library.  .