Catie’s Comments (group member since Feb 19, 2012)

Catie’s comments from the Mount TBR Reading Challenge 2012 group.

Congrats Hannah!

Well done Misfit - O Frabjous day!
And Bev. Aren't we all wonderful?

Well done Hayes! And all you others who have done so well!

I am late to the party as always but can report that I have read my 25 books and made Pike's Peak. Though I could well hit the next peak up I've decided not to extend my challenge and will take the rest as jam. Ahem, a verse:

The Girl from Penvarris pondered
The Eagle's Fate.
Some Brief Folly or
Were Witches Abroad?

Of those characters in books I read for the challenge so far, Tyrion from A Clash of Kings is probably my favourite so far but I have an inkling that Thomas Cromwell in Wolf Hall which I am currently reading may come out ahead overall.
I've been listening more than reading as I frantically knit ahead of my visit to my three month old grand daughter next week.
When we get back I hope to catch up on other reading including A Tale of Two Cities which got set aside (sorry for that but I will get back to it)

No I can't see them either but the info is great!

Hayes wrote: "From chapter one: Mrs. Southcott had recently attained her five-and-twentieth blessed birthday, ... Even the Cock-lane ghost had been laid only a round dozen of years, ...

Any clues who these two..."

I found some (very full and interesting ) study notes here
http://dickens.stanford.edu/tale/issu...
looks like she was some sort of prophetess and the ghost had been a well known fraud...

I wonder if "large jaw" might mean more that they ate too many pies?

The quote is There were a king with a large jaw and a queen with a plain face, on the throne of England; there were a king with a large jaw and a queen with a fair face on the throne of France.
Google their images and make up your own mind. Neither Louis nor George was an oil painting...

I think more than setting the stage for the unrest, he's also saying, you know that really old famous person - he/she was young then, etc. I don't think historical fiction was a very common thing when Dickens was writing. I know Walter Scott, and Dumas was, I think contemporary, but who else?
Re the influence of the Amer. Revolution on the French yes definitely, I agree. I noticed the jaws of the kings and the faces of the queens too. We're talking George III and Queen Charlotte (Mecklenburg-Strelitz) in the UK and Louis XVI (I think) and Marie Antoinette in France. I suppose MA had more of a reputation as a looker but googling images - I'd be pushed to make that choice.

I bet I can guess. There's a load of references, trying I think, to help Dickens' contemporary audience adjust to the historical setting - that are just whish! over the head of anyone but an expert. I suspect we're not going to solve those without the aid of someone with a properly footnoted students' edition. Has anyone got one? Maybe I'm wrong though and wikipedia can handle that sort of thing these days... I just soldiered past all that but it would be nice to know the answers. I've now read chapter four.

Good point Jeannette! Though after a long day at work in a hot train, I have to tell you it felt like hard work. Not wanting to put anyone off - it is very hard to stay awake in those stuffy commuter trains once the summer weather starts...

You mean like the fancy jersey in the tour de france that goes to the leader each day?
Maybe a virtual fast finisher's t shirt?

oh but very nearly and I had a gap! Don't worry - I won't rush in too fast, just a chapter or two a day for now. Three might sound a lot but it's only 20 pages (of 412) in my old hardback...

I've started! Just read the first three chapters and nothing much has happened so no need for spoiler alerts just yet. Still, I'm under way...

Dawn (& Ron) wrote: "Catie, here is the first book of that Beatrix Potter series "
Fantastic, Dawn thanks for that...

Ooh Beatrix Potter? One of my heroines. I may have to dig that one out and give it a try....

Dawn (& Ron) wrote: "We are still trying to find my hardcover copy but I have checked my Kindle version and book III has chapters 11 - 15 separated out. "

Hi Dawn, I'm not quite sure I follow you - do you mean there's some kind of extra break between parts 10 & 11 other than the normal chapter break?
I don't have that but my kindle copy is part of a complete works so may be different anyway.

Looking forward to my first buddy read!

Hey Jeannette, you missed me off the list for A Tale of Two Cities.
Looking forward to it...

Jeannette wrote: "how does January 2013 sound? "

Sounds good to me. It has the benefit that I can feel virtuous because I have scheduled the read without actually having to do anything about it for absolutely ages...

That never helps. I've actually got it on audio as well but still tend to drift off about quarter of the way through.

I feel for you! That might be too much to ask of any one...