A Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver by E.L. Konigsburg
My housemate signed up for a personal reading challenge with fifty-two categories, one for each week of the year. The challenge was designed to expand reading tastes, and at least try authors, genres and books you might not have ever considered. But my housemate altered the challenge to fit her reading, and is making it a bit harder for herself by using books she already owns. It means there is potential for a bit of re-reading in completing the challenge, but I don't really object to that.
This book is for the category: A book that came out the year you were born. As my housemate is not really sure when books "came out," she decided to take the category to mean books with an original copyright date in the year she was born. She checked out lists of books with an original copyright date in the year she was born and comparing those lists to books she owned, either as physical books or e-books, she found A Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver. I fully approved this choice. E.L. Konigsburg is one of my favorite authors, and this book was actually my introduction to her work back when we first read it years ago.
E.L. Konigsburg's books are written for younger readers, I'd say her audience is between 9 and 13 years old, but like all of the best-written children's and young adult books, they appeal to adults as well. This one is no different, in fact, I'd say this one is more enjoyed by adults than children, if only because the book is a bit better with even the general understanding of the history of the characters most adults have. Additionally, the title might be a bit off-putting to children, who may be loath to bust out a dictionary (or even a dictionary application) to determine the meaning of the word miniver. The book, however, rewards its readers, with not only a definition of miniver but a very good story of one of the very great characters in history -- Eleanor of Aquitaine.
It is a book of historical fiction, and other reviews I have read have commented on the less than perfect research on the subject -- a particular point of contention is a mention of Eleanor having potatoes, when historically potatoes were only in the New World at the time, they had not been introduced to wider Europe at the time. But minor points aside, the book is a fun and interesting way to get readers involved in Eleanor's story and interested enough to search out other books on the subject.
A Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver has an unusual take on Eleanor's story, by telling it as she is in Heaven awaiting her second husband's, Henry II of England, arrival from limbo. The story is told in flashbacks from people influential Eleanor's world at the period being discussed. It's not a unique structure, but it is a perfect way to tell Eleanor's story. Eleanor of Aquitaine was an uncommon woman, at any time, but particularly for her time and as such, her story deserves an uncommon telling.
The book is not hard to read, though you may want to have a dictionary handy now and then. The author's own illustrations are complementary to the tale, and make the book a bit more real to readers. It's a fun read, even with the historical inaccuracies. They are completely forgivable, after all, this is a work of historical fiction. On the whole, I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and found it just as good as the first time we shared this book.
One Bear's Opinion: Five cups of decadent spiced hot chocolate in the fanciest cups available
Happy Reading Everyone,
Oliver
Monday, April 27, 2015
Sunday, April 5, 2015
Another Bear's Opinion -- Book Review
A Cellarful of Noise by Brian Epstein
One of my housemates is just about the biggest Beatles fan you can imagine. He has almost every record any of them has made, and some of them several times over. He insists there are good reasons for the duplicates. My other housemate, although accepting of his enthusiasm, appears unconvinced.
Although a voracious Beatles record collector, my housemate does not have the same obsession with Beatles books. He said that you could probably build a house out of Beatles books without ever doubling up on one. So I was a little surprised that he bought this one as an e-book when he saw an email promotion for it.
His reason was that unlike so many Beatles books, this one was written by someone who was really there and it’s contemporary to the time rather than being built on decades of received wisdom. That makes it stand out from the rest.
This memoir of The Beatles’ manager was written in 1964 – a time when anyone would have said that The Beatles had peaked, little knowing they were still on the ascendancy. Brian Epstein writes in an entertaining, conversational manner, avoiding all trace of self-indulgence. Although the book is not merely about his association with The Beatles, he is enough of a professional to know that there’s really only one reason anybody would be interested in reading it. The book therefore opens with The Beatles’ triumphant first tour of the US, before a couple of short chapters on the author’s childhood and upbringing, but he quickly comes back to the topic he knows his audience is most interested in.
Epstein was probably the last honest man in the music business, if not the first. There is hardly a trace of cynicism and one comes away completely convinced that he only had any association with his clients because he completely believed in them as artistes. He also writes with wit and charm. If you told someone that certain passages were written by Stephen Fry, they would probably believe you.
Another bear’s opinion: Four scotch-and-cokes.
Sláinte,
Spencer
One of my housemates is just about the biggest Beatles fan you can imagine. He has almost every record any of them has made, and some of them several times over. He insists there are good reasons for the duplicates. My other housemate, although accepting of his enthusiasm, appears unconvinced.
Although a voracious Beatles record collector, my housemate does not have the same obsession with Beatles books. He said that you could probably build a house out of Beatles books without ever doubling up on one. So I was a little surprised that he bought this one as an e-book when he saw an email promotion for it.
His reason was that unlike so many Beatles books, this one was written by someone who was really there and it’s contemporary to the time rather than being built on decades of received wisdom. That makes it stand out from the rest.
This memoir of The Beatles’ manager was written in 1964 – a time when anyone would have said that The Beatles had peaked, little knowing they were still on the ascendancy. Brian Epstein writes in an entertaining, conversational manner, avoiding all trace of self-indulgence. Although the book is not merely about his association with The Beatles, he is enough of a professional to know that there’s really only one reason anybody would be interested in reading it. The book therefore opens with The Beatles’ triumphant first tour of the US, before a couple of short chapters on the author’s childhood and upbringing, but he quickly comes back to the topic he knows his audience is most interested in.
Epstein was probably the last honest man in the music business, if not the first. There is hardly a trace of cynicism and one comes away completely convinced that he only had any association with his clients because he completely believed in them as artistes. He also writes with wit and charm. If you told someone that certain passages were written by Stephen Fry, they would probably believe you.
Another bear’s opinion: Four scotch-and-cokes.
Sláinte,
Spencer
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