tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5595702824833504762.post1909008990069966221..comments2024-03-28T12:00:55.653-07:00Comments on FURROWED MIDDLEBROW: CATHERINE AIRD, A Late Phoenix (1971)Furrowed Middlebrowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12065110409019861653noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5595702824833504762.post-50167899927271136702014-08-30T10:33:03.425-07:002014-08-30T10:33:03.425-07:00Love the review, Kaggsy, and thanks for the shout-...Love the review, Kaggsy, and thanks for the shout-out!Furrowed Middlebrowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12065110409019861653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5595702824833504762.post-76795935720139529462014-08-29T22:58:00.010-07:002014-08-29T22:58:00.010-07:00I've finally read and reviewed this Scott - lo...I've finally read and reviewed this Scott - loved it! My review is here: https://kaggsysbookishramblings.wordpress.com/2014/08/30/unearthing-the-past/ and thanks so much for pointing me at this!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5595702824833504762.post-14433037084141724452014-08-12T06:15:20.763-07:002014-08-12T06:15:20.763-07:00I really think you'll enjoy it, Peggy Ann. I ...I really think you'll enjoy it, Peggy Ann. I can't wait to read more of Aird's books myself. I'll look forward to reading your review!Furrowed Middlebrowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12065110409019861653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5595702824833504762.post-23945359248537058252014-08-12T06:12:50.705-07:002014-08-12T06:12:50.705-07:00Sadly, the current Amazon US price for the GGB edi...Sadly, the current Amazon US price for the GGB edition of Exile is $100.00, so my enjoyment of it may have to wait for a reprint. Though admittedly it's a steal compared to some of the Elsie Oxenham's now selling for $300-400! Furrowed Middlebrowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12065110409019861653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5595702824833504762.post-24663970280801074892014-08-11T19:44:15.196-07:002014-08-11T19:44:15.196-07:00I have a couple of her books yet to read. This one...I have a couple of her books yet to read. This one sounds really good and I love the cover!Peggy Annhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00426356514707257708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5595702824833504762.post-26790753267744898882014-08-11T03:03:31.671-07:002014-08-11T03:03:31.671-07:00Oh that's a disaster Scott, you really need th...Oh that's a disaster Scott, you really need the hardback....many of us CS fans consider it one of her best books. The focus on the necessity of continuing to believe in the difference between "Germans" and "Nazis", given when it was written, is quite extraordinary. It also continues throughout her later books, also written during or just post war.Cestinahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03050699324845479257noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5595702824833504762.post-48214740185922669952014-08-10T15:56:15.577-07:002014-08-10T15:56:15.577-07:00Thanks, Cestina. You know, I read Sunset over Soh...Thanks, Cestina. You know, I read Sunset over Soho quite a while back, before my recent obsession with Mitchell, so a re-read is surely in order. I also read The Chalet School in Exile, but I have the edition that I believe was heavily edited when it was reprinted, but is disappointing. But I quite enjoyed it.Furrowed Middlebrowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12065110409019861653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5595702824833504762.post-68241244878078199462014-08-10T15:48:13.090-07:002014-08-10T15:48:13.090-07:00Thanks, Michelle Ann. I can certainly imagine peo...Thanks, Michelle Ann. I can certainly imagine people wanting to forget, but somehow the extent to which they were successful had never quite hit home until I read this novel. So interesting. Oh, and I do have the Dickens novel on my TBR list, but haven't gotten to it yet. So many books...Furrowed Middlebrowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12065110409019861653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5595702824833504762.post-37965177256517033292014-08-10T15:45:41.966-07:002014-08-10T15:45:41.966-07:00Oh, then you may find Aird's novel particularl...Oh, then you may find Aird's novel particularly interesting, Kaggsy. Growing up in the US, memories of the war were obviously quite different than in the UK, so I am more or less just speculating, but you would know firsthand some of the changes Aird is recording. If you read it, do let me know what you think!Furrowed Middlebrowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12065110409019861653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5595702824833504762.post-12585925695460589662014-08-10T15:43:33.219-07:002014-08-10T15:43:33.219-07:00I'm on the lookout for The Religious Body as w...I'm on the lookout for The Religious Body as well. I definitely think Aird is a writer to watch out for. I love mysteries that have more to them than just a whodunit, and this one at least certainly falls into that category.Furrowed Middlebrowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12065110409019861653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5595702824833504762.post-34302787503695462412014-08-09T11:02:58.929-07:002014-08-09T11:02:58.929-07:00For a contemporary wartime mystery try the Great G...For a contemporary wartime mystery try the Great Gladys's Sunset over Soho....(1943)<br /><br />And for a contemporary school story (just for the heck of it...) the rather extraordinary - well the first half anyway - The Chalet School in Exile.<br /><br />I really like Catherine Aird and I'm not sure I've read this one. I shall seek it out.<br /><br />Hope you have a great break Scott.Cestinahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03050699324845479257noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5595702824833504762.post-91926520707897269812014-08-09T00:28:01.607-07:002014-08-09T00:28:01.607-07:00I do agree with you Scott - most people seemed det...I do agree with you Scott - most people seemed determined to forget the war, which on a daily basis was fear of anniliation, hard work, poor food, lack of heating, transport, etc, and a country which was shabby and bankrupt at the end of it. In the late 70s, a new generation who were not there became interested in it. I think the BBC programme 'The World at War' started the interest. Another novel you may be interested in is 'The Fancy' by Monica Dickens. This was written in wartime and covers two areas I have not seen covered elsewhere - factory work, and rabbit breeding, which was encouraged by the government to increase meat supply. Dickens worked in a factory, and seems very knowledgeable about both areas. By the way, 'fancy' in this case is an old word for hobby or interest, in this case rabbit breeding. Michelle Annhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07499490029910905577noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5595702824833504762.post-28368404447729798062014-08-08T10:46:03.576-07:002014-08-08T10:46:03.576-07:00Fascinating review and I think you've picked u...Fascinating review and I think you've picked up on some good points. I am old enough to remember growing up in the 1960s and 1970s and the war *was* still quite fresh in people's memories. Our perspective is very different now but these older works of fiction can give us another view. And this book certainly sounds worth reading if for nothing else than that!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5595702824833504762.post-58152034896894242832014-08-08T09:59:32.627-07:002014-08-08T09:59:32.627-07:00I have always, always liked Aird's novel "...I have always, always liked Aird's novel "The Religious body." THAT is a good if convaluted mystery! This is a new one to me, but since I am reading WWII fiction just now, perhaps I ought to give it a try? Oh, Scott, even though it isn't as long as yours is, now I had to add to my overwhelming list! TomAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com