tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post7004323700427484527..comments2024-03-27T23:53:59.771-04:00Comments on SleuthSayers: Do books change over time, or is it me?Leigh Lundinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921276795499571578noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-42450713502847541182024-01-27T18:25:36.309-05:002024-01-27T18:25:36.309-05:00Actually, in...either This Was Tomorrow or the one...Actually, in...either This Was Tomorrow or the one that comes after it,,.one of the lesser characters - the English mother of Viktor? The half-German anti-hero -endd up living with her English lover. Rosalind? Rosamund? Maybe it was the book before? Anyway....Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14233117974393575177noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-37852119696743366652019-03-08T22:38:09.777-05:002019-03-08T22:38:09.777-05:00Jan, I could probably reconstruct the most importa...Jan, I could probably reconstruct the most important parts of it myself from memory! More practically, if you can't find it online, worldcat.org might turn up library systems that still have copies of the original hardcovers, which had the family tree on the endpages in front, expanding with each new book as the family grew.Liz https://www.blogger.com/profile/13046654618664565296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-47225935340799157872019-03-06T22:48:09.749-05:002019-03-06T22:48:09.749-05:00Does anyone know where I can find the genealogy ch...Does anyone know where I can find the genealogy chart for the Sprague-Day families? Is it available anywhere on-line? So far, I haven't been able to find it. Thanks.Jan Rothnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-8991885530274758372016-12-20T10:25:25.037-05:002016-12-20T10:25:25.037-05:00I'm about to give away my set of Williamsburg ...I'm about to give away my set of Williamsburg novels and am hoping that they will all be available as e-books eventually. I see that Amazon is going to come out with the first two books in Kindle editions in 2017 and am hoping that they are going with the originals and not the bowdlerized versions. I've read a few of the latter and they are really lame. The whole story about Cabot Murray's mother running off with a violinist is completely expunged from the revised versions, and Fitz's musical obsession is attributed to some sort of vague streak of mental illness in his mother. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-61284927656322917502016-12-14T08:55:15.934-05:002016-12-14T08:55:15.934-05:00In response to your comment about Thane failing to...In response to your comment about Thane failing to make mention of Thomas Jefferson's purported children by his slave, Sally Hemings, please note that Sally Hemings was not born until 1773. The scene where the protagonist, Julian Day, enlists Jefferson's help for Tibby takes place in 1775. Hemings would have been two years old at that time. The only children that Jefferson had fathered by 1775 were those born of his wife, Martha Jefferson. The Hemings children were all born many years after Mrs. Jefferson's death in 1782, at which time Sally Hemings was only 9 years old. So Thane's account was accurate, as Jefferson had no enslaved children during the time covered in Dawn's Early Light. Also note that according to the Monticello link you included in your post, historians say that the DNA testng does not conclusively prove that Thomas Jefferson was the father of Sally Hemings' children. Not trying to nitpick here, but there is a growing, dangerous tendency in our current culture to rewrite history, and it is vital that truth and fact, rather than conjecture, are preserved for the future generations of our great nation. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-47824963878969075202012-08-27T20:18:16.137-04:002012-08-27T20:18:16.137-04:00I hate changes such as the wine/champagne you ment...I hate changes such as the wine/champagne you mention (I will have to check my edition but I remember Evadne's reckless gulp of champagne); however, friends I have introduced to Thane recently tend to focus on her (typical of the time) attitude toward slavery. I was afraid that will prevent her from being brought back into print so was pleased to hear the first two books are available in Kindle. Tryst has a ton of fans too - maybe that will be next. <br /><br />I tried to bring in some new fans who were looking for something Downton Abbey-like to read:<br /><br />http://perfectretort.blogspot.com/2012_01_01_archive.htmlCLMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03595294217111602231noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-80692984189819265972012-06-16T19:36:47.828-04:002012-06-16T19:36:47.828-04:00The worst example of this for me was when I reread...The worst example of this for me was when I reread Rex Stout's TOO MANY CLIENTS as an adult. I expect Wolfe to be a misogynist; it's part of his eccentricity. But Archie?<br /><br />In that book there is a promiscuous woman and when Archie goes to question her he finds that her husband has beaten her so badly she can't (or is unwilling) to get out of bed. Archie asks if she needs anything and the husband sarcastically suggests he send her a bottle of champagne (her favorite drink). <br /><br />And Archie sends a bottle, to the husband. That's the one thing he ever did I found unforgivable.Robert Loprestihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08844889305615182897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-46529767922660808402012-06-16T14:19:45.383-04:002012-06-16T14:19:45.383-04:00Liz, I detest bowdlerization, especially when it&#...Liz, I detest bowdlerization, especially when it's done without warning. The editor dumbs-down books, substituting her judgment for ours.<br /><br />Herschel, this gives me a chance to blab about great musicians. In minstrel shows, performers were either blackā¦ or they wore blackface. Black and white vaudevillians traveled together unless forced into segregated quarters in towns they visited.<br /><br />At least one of the blackface characters remains immensely entertaining, even beloved, Al Jolson. What today's people may not realize is that a century ago, Jolson fought on the side of black entertainers to break the color barrier on Broadway. Today's rappers might say Jolson gets a ghetto pass.Leigh Lundinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07921276795499571578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-87014390010082756832012-06-16T13:35:20.368-04:002012-06-16T13:35:20.368-04:00As a followup to my previous comment, I am reminde...As a followup to my previous comment, I am reminded of Mark Twain. Although he preceded the 40's he lived at a time when slavery was still acceptable and blacks were second class citizens, if they were citizens at all. As far as I can tell he was not one that would be in favor of this view. But I remember reading something he had written about the stage shows of the era which included blackface, stereotypical characters and he found them highly entertaining. I am sure he would not write that way today.Herschel Cozinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06097703750150309319noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-65743754089936401542012-06-16T13:13:20.694-04:002012-06-16T13:13:20.694-04:00The views of the 40's and 50's are differe...The views of the 40's and 50's are different from the views of today, even for those of us who condemn slavery, segregation and the like.<br /><br />I am a product of those times. I was not in favor of those unfair laws and customs, but never really gave them much thought. After all, they didn't affect me, and as a teenager the world revolved around me. Only when the civil rights movement became public did I start to take them to heart. Of course, I didn't live in the South. But the South did not have the market cornered on racial prejudice.<br /><br />I guess what I am trying to say is that the writers in those times, even fairminded ones, used a different set of values and would most likely be loath to write like that today.Herschel Cozinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06097703750150309319noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-89657579510270736562012-06-16T12:31:08.785-04:002012-06-16T12:31:08.785-04:00Liz, to a Southerner, Thane wasn't a Southerne...Liz, to a Southerner, Thane wasn't a Southerner. Born in Iowa, moved to New York City when eighteen, and spent later years in Vermont. I guess we Southerners think of a Southerner as farther south than those locations.<br />I agree with you that books change over time, just as we change as readers and writers.Fran Rizerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08655783035179620991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-7961779697919373332012-06-16T10:27:01.687-04:002012-06-16T10:27:01.687-04:00Janice, I could be wrong, but I've never doubt...Janice, I could be wrong, but I've never doubted that Elswyth Thane was a Southerner whose views in the 1940s and 1950s, when she wrote the Williamsburg books, were, if not identical to, very comfortable with those expressed by the characters. I guess I base my hunch on what words she chose to put in the mouths of her most sympathetic characters.Elizabeth Zelvinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13944424094949207841noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-7672304298040177872012-06-16T08:33:01.616-04:002012-06-16T08:33:01.616-04:00You raise an interesting point, Historical accurac...You raise an interesting point, Historical accuracy is tricky in historical novels. Woe betide the writer who errs too much on the side of accuracy- as your example did in reference to attitudes toward slavery and marriage- once views have changed. <br />Today both topics would be treated differently, though I suspect not more accurately, given what we know of 18th and 19th century history. The clever historical novelist reflects contemporary views in historical dress relying on colorful details to convince us that we are 'sometime else'.Janicenoreply@blogger.com