nasty November weather - must curl up and read

[openidwouldwork]

Rauhnacht: Kluftingers neuer Fall by Volker Klüpfel/Michael Korbl; I absolutely love the series. I don't usually read whodunnits, but the characters are so very real and lifelike... an exellent read

Sharpe's Battle by Bernard Cornwell; this one is special! SPEECHIFYING!

The autobiography and services of Sir James McGrigor by Sir James McGrigor; India, Egypt, Red Sea, Walcheren, Portugal, Spain, France... all the interesting diseases!

Der Weltensammler by Ilija Trojanow; It's strange: I have little problem reading - and enjoying - real diaries, autobiographies or memoirs of the time this fictional work is set in, but it was a struggle to finish reading this. The prose... not my cuppa. Possibly better if reader on drugs.

Mr. Midshipman Easy by Captain Marryat; An entertaining read, although not quite what I expected... but I suppose they wanted to entice young men into the navy, not scare them away.

Unseen Academicals by Terrry Pratchett; exellent, just exellent. The essence of football. And love Hix.

Jane Austen's Guide to Good Manners by Josephine Ross; Examines the manners of Regncy society by having a look at the correspondence between Jane Austen and one of her nieces as well as Austen's work. A must read for anyone writing (fan)fic in that era.

Sharpe's Sword by Bernard Cornwell; LOSSOW! And Harper, Curtis, Spears, Sharpe in a cavalry charge... what's not to love?

Sharpe's Skirmish by Bernard Cornwell; a booklet directly following Sharpe's Sword

Recollections of the Peninsula by Moyle Sherer; written 7 years later by a romantic Pollyanna seeing events through rose-tinted spectacles. Not for the weak of stomach...

Quote:

But how shall I picture the British soldier going into action ? He is neither heated by brandy, stimulated by the hope of plunder, or inflamed by the headly feelings of revenge ; he does not even indulge in expressions of animosity against his foes; he moves forward, confident of victory, never dreams of the possibility of defeat, and braves death with all the accompanying horrors of laceration and torture, with the most cheerful intrepidity.

...He isn't? He doesn't? He does? ... perhaps Sherer was on drugs. Or something.

Comments

[latin-cat.livejournal.com]

That or incredibly naive.

[rosinarowantree.livejournal.com]

Moyle Sherer: "a gentleman, a scholar, an author, and a most zealous soldier" as Ensign Bell tells us.

I wonder if they had the same publisher....

[openidwouldwork.livejournal.com]

probably... and Bell wrote with even more distance to the events than Sherer (that's the trouble with memoires and (auto)biographies)

[openidwouldwork.livejournal.com]

I think he was walking around in this pretty pink bubble, impervious to RL as experienced by others...

I had to take frequent breaks while reading his "Recollections"... because... it's just...

I bet his fellow officers/his soldiers just loved him (excluding Mr. Bell).

It's also interesting to note that he was send to India during the Peninsular War... but he managed to transfer back; and he managed to miss most major battles...

[latin-cat.livejournal.com]

You can just imagine his superior officers groaning as he walks back in through the door of regimental headquarters in the Peninsula, an absent smile on his face and a suitcase in one hand...

"Hello, everyone! Guess what, I got a transfer back!"

"Oh no! I thought you said you'd got rid of him?"

"I HAD!!"

[openidwouldwork.livejournal.com]

I WANT TO HIT HIM OVER THE HEAD WITH A TURNIP!

[latin-cat.livejournal.com]

*passes you a sack of root vegetables* Be my guest, by all means.