Hay-on-Wye, continued

[catherineldf]

And we're into the napping (Jana) and writing (me) part of the afternoon.
Amongst its other charms, Hay also possesses an ice cream parlor whose ice cream is made from sheep's milk (according to our B&B landlady). We went down and partook this afternoon and it was quite tasty, though I couldn't swear to the sheep's milk part. As with the buses in these parts, apparently you just have to know its there. SIgns and directions and such are not always available. At any rate, I choose to believe it's noncow because then I won't have a migraine tomorrow. Wish me luck on that.

We also went bookshopping in the Castle, which was extraordinarily cold (and staffed by a woman who we had inadvertently bewildered in the laundromat earlier in the day. See note above re: signs and directions). There I found the following bit of fabulousness: The Golden Book of Famous Women by Eleanor Fortescue Brickdale,  the 1919 edition, with all of the color plates and illustrations intact. (The binding's shot but Jana thinks she can do something better). Fortescue Brickdale was one of the later Pre-Raphaelites and I am a huge fan of her work.  A sample (others to be found here):

After that, it was off to a few other book, antique and whatnot sort of stores. Jana's picked up a couple of future binding projects. I've picked up a few books without purty pictures in them (Hani Kunzru's first novel; Jane Austen and Some of Her Contemporaries in a nice leather rebind; an obscure Georgette Heyer, and some other odds and ends.

I have also failed in my second attempt at reading Trollope. This time around it was Barchester Towers, last time it was The Small House at Allingham. What between his yanking the reader out of the story with coy asides and his  unrelenting pounding on the notion that women are naive and/or manipulative dim bulbs, completely susceptible to any wandering religious slimeball, I'm finding him pretty close to unreadable. This is disappointing as I had high hopes from watching the PBS version of The Way We Live Now. For you fans of his work, is it just the Barsetshire books that are like this?

Tomorrow, more roaming and such.

Comments

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

He can be entertaining . . . for fun, you might try Framley Parsonage--and then read what Jo Walton did with it in Tooth and Claw.

[catherineldf.livejournal.com]

Honestly, I didn't like "Tooth and Claw" when I read it so I don't think adding Trollope to the mix would help. :-(((
It seems to be the sort of thing you like if it's the sort of thing you like, and I am just not the audience for either.

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

Yeah, could be. I've a few authors like that--just can't find my way in, though others are very fond.

[marydell.livejournal.com]

I covet your Brickdale book--how wonderful!

I liked the PBS version of TWWLN as well, and so I started the audiobook of The Warden, and my GOD IT'S AWFUL. I only got a bit of the way into it--I was waiting for it to get interesting, or somthing, and then I took a peek at a summary of it, which confirmed my sinking feeling. It seems like a duller, more pious, freak-free Dickens (and I only like a bit of Dickens).

I felt bad about not liking it, because my Dad, of whom I'm quite fond, absolutely adores the whole Barsetshire series. But then I considered that Dad is a scholar of church history, as well as a very devout Catholic, which means that he probably likes Trollope for exactly the reasons I don't, alas.

[catherineldf.livejournal.com]

She did such amazing things with colors! Have you seen Evelyn de Morgan's work? She was one of the Brickdale's contemporaries, also well worth checking out. There's a great book, "Pre-Raphaelite Women Artists" by Jan Marsh, which I heartily recommend.

"More pious, freak-free Dickens" - this is an excellent summation of my experience with Trollope this far. I'm guessing that an enthusiastic interest in the Church of England would help, as you note. Have you read Fanny Trollope (his mother), best known these days for "Domestic Manners of the Americans"? It's an interesting nonfiction travelogue, filled with snarkiness about life on the American frontier. Apparently Trollope disowned her in his autobiography (which may have been revenge for being left behind in England when she took the family overseas). Yay for Victorian dysfunction.

[jean-roberta.livejournal.com]

I'm not familiar with Trollope's writing (will check him when have time), but you might have enjoyed living in the part of London where I lived for most of a year, 1973-74. Trollope was in the local cemetery. I could have danced on his grave. :) Meanwhile, you could compare his style with that of a female descendant of his who writes (Joanna Trollope, I think).

[catherineldf.livejournal.com]

Guessing they're not all that similar (he was very Victorian) but I'll let you know when I finally read down to that part of the stack. :-)

[therinth.livejournal.com]

I loved the colors in this (being a peacock fan) -- and i wiki'd the story of Kate Barlass. How fantastic! Thanks for sharing.

[catherineldf.livejournal.com]

Sure! :-) The story is pretty intense - one the one hand, ouch! On the other, impressive amount of loyalty there.