Hanneke’s Reviews > On Wooden Tablets: Apronenia Avitia > Status Update
Hanneke
is on page 79 of 112
How about this recommendation of Apronenia Avitia to her daughter Flavinia. Apronenia seems to be a Machiavellian sort of woman in the 4th century:
“To gently and regularly control a man’s pleasures is to rule his head by ruling his moods. To rule his head is to rule his wealth, property, servants, palace and glory, if not dreams and thoughts. To rule his moods, palaces and glory is better than to rule his dreams.”
— Aug 03, 2022 09:03AM
“To gently and regularly control a man’s pleasures is to rule his head by ruling his moods. To rule his head is to rule his wealth, property, servants, palace and glory, if not dreams and thoughts. To rule his moods, palaces and glory is better than to rule his dreams.”
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Hanneke’s Previous Updates
Hanneke
is on page 42 of 112
Just wanted to show one of the notes of Apronenia Avitia on a wooden tablet:
‘Smells I Hate:
Six smells I hate: the rank stinking of dried-up swamps,
A very small child spitting up mother’s milk on a tunic.
Vipers’ nests.
A he-goat mounting a she-goat.
The bodies of very old men or very old women even when bathed seven times.
Fleece twice plunged into a murex bath.”
And on she goes …
— Jul 20, 2022 04:14AM
‘Smells I Hate:
Six smells I hate: the rank stinking of dried-up swamps,
A very small child spitting up mother’s milk on a tunic.
Vipers’ nests.
A he-goat mounting a she-goat.
The bodies of very old men or very old women even when bathed seven times.
Fleece twice plunged into a murex bath.”
And on she goes …
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Jola
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Aug 03, 2022 11:22AM
How about a full package, moods, palaces, glory and dreams? 😀 Maybe she didn't want to challenge Flavinia with too much at the beginning. By the way, my hunt for this book continues and your five stars are very motivating, dear Hanneke!
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Quite a special book, Jola. Yes, it was indeed hard to find. I got it from the U.K and it cost a whole bunch of money on postage because of Brexit rules.
Dear Hanneke, that's bad news. I used to buy books on eBay UK quite frequently but haven't done that since Brexit. It's not only the postage fees but I'm afraid it takes much longer and you might be required to fill in some extra documents for the customs. I haven't checked that but I'm afraid my presentiment might be true. Maybe books are treated in a special way.
Dear Jola, yes, it is such a pity. I used to buy lots of books at Book Depository in the U.K., but it is now not an option anymore. I do feel a great pity for them because I think they are losing a great many customers. Like I said, I got this novel with great difficulty. It first was delayed at the British custom office and then it arrived in the Netherlands. Subsequently, I got a notice from the Dutch custom office that I had to pay another euro 10,- for import duty. All these extra duties cost about the price of the novel itself. A business like Book Depository should have moved to mainland Europe, as they were selling all over the world and now people just find it too much hassle to order books from them, so I guess they are only servicing readers in the U.K.P.S. I would have sent you the book, but it is one I definitely want to keep myself. I’ll look later if I can find it somewhere for you. There is a French booksite which has millions of books. Later!
Dear Hanneke, I'm so grateful for your news about Book Depository — I was just going to place an order! I promised myself to brutally limit paper book purchases (less and less space in our apartment) and use mainly ebooks but some titles just don't have an electronic version. I had positive experiences with Book Depository in the past also, it was a few years ago though. So sorry to hear there were unpleasant surprises, an extra fee included, when you ordered this book from the UK. It's a bit strange Book Depository doesn't warn potential clients about these fees on their website but then their number would decrease even more, I think. Please, don't worry, dear Hanneke, I will investigate some Polish second-hand bookshops and our auction service, similar to eBay. Hopefully, I will be successful, as there are quite a few options available. Thanks from the bottom of my heart for your offer to help though! 💚💚💚
Dear Jola, I will look up the website of that French booksite and let you know. I put their details somewhere, but I have to look it up.It is such a pity what happened with Book Depository. I can see how they did not want to alert their customers too much. As you know, they never charged postage costs, but now they increased their book prices considerably. I think they are hurting because nowadays I get almost daily an advertisement mail from them, while they hardly ever did that in the past.
Jola, I found the French booksite: Le Village du Livre or Le-Livre.fr Email: serviceclient@le-livre.frI cannot detect if one could communicate in English on their website, but I know that they can communicate in English as I had a very nice email exchange with a lady there. I looked whether they had the novel and I don’t think they do. That last copy was in the U.K., it seems like and I purchased it via AbeBooks. I am so curious if you will find it somewhere. Please let me know!
Dear Hanneke, thanks so much for inspiring my investigation. 🕵️♀️ So sweet of you! I have a few other books I've been hopelessly hunting for for a while and I'll check them also. In the meantime, let's hope UK bookshops will find some way to be more accessible to non-UK readers. I thought about bookshops in the US but the postage costs must be astronomical, I'm afraid.
Jola, yes, so true, the book was available in the U.S., as I saw on the Abebooks website. But, indeed, I never order if the book is only available in the U.S. I once did and the book took forever to arrive. I thought it came by slow boat, took months!
