Crimson Petal and Tin Tin
Oct. 27th, 2011 09:26 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jazzy_daveTUESDAY
Shortest bus journey so far. My trip from Seaford to Teynham today was done in 4 hours. I think I was quite lucky with the arrival of each bus transfer being on time and without much waiting around. Added to the fact that I did not stop for lunch, visits or other distractions, enabled me to do the run in fairly quick time for public bus services.
I did take that 860 page tome by Michael Faber “The Crimson Petal And The White” (Canongate) with me to read, being one of the books bought Monday at the British Heart Foundation charity shop in Brighton. I have reached the fifth chapter just before William Rackham meets Sugar for the first time. I thoroughly enjoyed the BBC dramatisation of the novel and decided to read the book.
The main characters include William Rackham, the unwilling heir to a perfume business; Agnes, William's brittle, long-suffering "mad wife in the attic"; and Sugar, a decidedly unconventional and strong-willed young prostitute whose intense affair with William gives her the opportunity to climb to a higher perch in the rigidly stratified class system of the time. Other characters include Henry Rackham, William's pious brother who wants to be a clergyman and his friend Emmeline Fox, a widow who works in the Rescue Society that tries to reform prostitutes.
The novel is told from the perspective of all of the main characters, and the omniscient , and very postmodern narrator, occasionally addresses the reader directly. There is also a meta-literary aspect, as Sugar is working on her own novel, Henry writes sermons, and Agnes keeps a diary.
The title of the book comes from an 1847 poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson “now Sleeps The Crimson Petal”, the opening line of which is "Now sleeps the crimson petal, now the white".
I actually purchased nine books from the BHF charity shops, but I did not have enough space in my bags to take all of them, so grudgingly left most of them at GC's gaff. Never mind, I thought, I will be back there in two weeks time, as I am Djing again on Guy Fawkes Night.
WEDNESDAY
Cousin has a stonking cold again. Well actually, the symptoms are more like flu as he was running a temperature. I told him to go back to bed, but sometimes stubbornness is his Achilles' heel. Rather than be surrounded by germs I went out to see a film. I watched the 3D version of “The Adventures of Tin Tin”, the latest film directed by Steven Spielberg.
Had lunch at the Leading Light in Faversham beforehand.
Bought two more books from charity shops. Posted some albums and books I sold, and re watched the fantastic Man. City lord it over the other Manchester team in a 6-1 drubbing on Sunday.
The wonderful Gold Label barley wine is back in at the Dover Castle as well!
Shortest bus journey so far. My trip from Seaford to Teynham today was done in 4 hours. I think I was quite lucky with the arrival of each bus transfer being on time and without much waiting around. Added to the fact that I did not stop for lunch, visits or other distractions, enabled me to do the run in fairly quick time for public bus services.
I did take that 860 page tome by Michael Faber “The Crimson Petal And The White” (Canongate) with me to read, being one of the books bought Monday at the British Heart Foundation charity shop in Brighton. I have reached the fifth chapter just before William Rackham meets Sugar for the first time. I thoroughly enjoyed the BBC dramatisation of the novel and decided to read the book.
The main characters include William Rackham, the unwilling heir to a perfume business; Agnes, William's brittle, long-suffering "mad wife in the attic"; and Sugar, a decidedly unconventional and strong-willed young prostitute whose intense affair with William gives her the opportunity to climb to a higher perch in the rigidly stratified class system of the time. Other characters include Henry Rackham, William's pious brother who wants to be a clergyman and his friend Emmeline Fox, a widow who works in the Rescue Society that tries to reform prostitutes.
The novel is told from the perspective of all of the main characters, and the omniscient , and very postmodern narrator, occasionally addresses the reader directly. There is also a meta-literary aspect, as Sugar is working on her own novel, Henry writes sermons, and Agnes keeps a diary.
The title of the book comes from an 1847 poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson “now Sleeps The Crimson Petal”, the opening line of which is "Now sleeps the crimson petal, now the white".
I actually purchased nine books from the BHF charity shops, but I did not have enough space in my bags to take all of them, so grudgingly left most of them at GC's gaff. Never mind, I thought, I will be back there in two weeks time, as I am Djing again on Guy Fawkes Night.
WEDNESDAY
Cousin has a stonking cold again. Well actually, the symptoms are more like flu as he was running a temperature. I told him to go back to bed, but sometimes stubbornness is his Achilles' heel. Rather than be surrounded by germs I went out to see a film. I watched the 3D version of “The Adventures of Tin Tin”, the latest film directed by Steven Spielberg.
Had lunch at the Leading Light in Faversham beforehand.
Bought two more books from charity shops. Posted some albums and books I sold, and re watched the fantastic Man. City lord it over the other Manchester team in a 6-1 drubbing on Sunday.
The wonderful Gold Label barley wine is back in at the Dover Castle as well!
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