tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post7425490096677667844..comments2024-03-25T22:59:30.053+00:00Comments on Desperate Reader: A Civil Contract - Georgette HeyerDesperate Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15708411387912078122noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post-80756893745351931632020-12-31T09:22:57.467+00:002020-12-31T09:22:57.467+00:00I think she disliked writing straight romance so c...I think she disliked writing straight romance so comes up with something a bit more difficult. I love Heyer for the way that we can read this so differently too. When I read it this time I found Adam exasperating, but your points are fair and something I’ll take with me if/when I read the book again. Your view of Julia is kinder than mine, but yes, she gets a fairly raw deal, and again I love Heyer for making her a complex enough character that we can have these different views. Desperate Readerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15708411387912078122noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post-65714945153062890342020-12-30T23:11:36.126+00:002020-12-30T23:11:36.126+00:00Thanks for this very balanced review. I am trying ... Thanks for this very balanced review. I am trying to understand why the book irritated me so much although no one is entirely good or bad in it.<br /><br />The main protagonists behaviour I find understandable but impossible to respect. Adam's losses are enormous in term of status and money but he still had just enough for his sister's portion and his army salary without marrying for money. Jenny gets to marry the man she loves thanks to her father's money although other candidates could have been found, knowing she is benefitting from the misfortune of others. She means not only to share his life and have his children, she wishes to replace his former fiancée (the only person who befriended her at school) in his affection. Both had choices and made healthily self centered ones. Both keep fairly their side of the bargain. I am surprised though at the criticism of Adam and the sympathy for Jenny that I find in most reviews. They entered a marriage of convenience, where love was not on offer. I believe that in such arrangements even fidelity was not expected and Adam is far more considerate of Jenny than she had a right to expect under the circumstances. <br /><br />Adam's former fiancée Julia might be exasperating but as someone who sees her life collapse, has not been educated to deal with real life and gets no support least of all from her family, she evokes more sympathy from me.<br />Julia's husband and Jenny's father are far easier to like, mostly Jenny's father, the only person who seems capable of selfless love in the novel.<br />It seems to me that Heyer criticizes equally the nouveau riches for being ruthless and vulgar and the aristocracy for being incapable. Parents come off worst of all, whether Adam's profligate father or Julia's useless family.<br /><br />I wonder if Heyer disliked writing this novel and if it influenced the treatment of the characters ?Anne C.https://www.blogger.com/profile/15224660660267911912noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post-15544832606044510142020-03-10T11:29:27.774+00:002020-03-10T11:29:27.774+00:00I too would rather know than not know. Is there an...I too would rather know than not know. Is there anything you can do to ameliorate it?<br /><br />Too true about middle age, and it's only going to get worse from here. Thank God for GH and gin.helenhttps://gallimaufry.typepad.com/blog/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post-7440100530711018822020-03-05T10:38:26.648+00:002020-03-05T10:38:26.648+00:00Those are my favourites too, although the more I r...Those are my favourites too, although the more I read her the more depth I think she has (maybe wishful thinking?). She’s not bad when she’s serious, but she had such a gift for comedy and exploiting the absurdity in her plots that she’s hard to beat in that mood. <br /><br />The arthritis thing isn’t news I wanted to hear. It was picked up in an MRI scan to assess what’s wrong with the tendon in my right foot (it’s torn). On the whole I guess it’s better to know now, and without that scan I probably wouldn’t have realised anything about it for the next few years at least. Middle age is a bitch. Desperate Readerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15708411387912078122noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post-67162673913291700702020-03-05T09:42:19.841+00:002020-03-05T09:42:19.841+00:00An Infamous Army is the one I was thinking of.
I...An Infamous Army is the one I was thinking of. <br /><br />I agree what you say about adventure, and most of the ones I enjoy most are those that are slightly silly and involve cross-dressing, highwayman and murder mystery. GH does light-hearted fun (if you consider murder fun) so well that when she does something else it is quite a shock - I seem to remember An Infamous A slightly traumatised me as it wasn't what I was expecting.<br /><br />By the way, I meant to add that I'm so sorry about your diagnosis of arthritis. I hope you're OK.helenhttps://gallimaufry.typepad.com/blog/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post-90792631623524695782020-03-03T15:11:09.701+00:002020-03-03T15:11:09.701+00:00I think there are a couple that describe that ball...I think there are a couple that describe that ball, but non of them are particular favourites (An Infamous Army must) so I cant remember off hand. I think she wrote romances more in the adventure sense , non of them really fit very comfortably into the current role we expect of a romance. She’s also such an interesting set of prejudices and achievements. Desperate Readerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15708411387912078122noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post-2540380736775998322020-03-02T13:47:05.361+00:002020-03-02T13:47:05.361+00:00Bath Tangle is another Heyer which seems to work a...Bath Tangle is another Heyer which seems to work against the conventions of romantic fiction. I wonder if there's a Heyer sub-genre here?<br /><br />Which is the one in which she describes the famous ball at Waterloo? helenhttps://gallimaufry.typepad.com/blog/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post-4329651168756348962020-02-27T22:57:45.347+00:002020-02-27T22:57:45.347+00:00This is why I’m wary of describing Heyer as an ant...This is why I’m wary of describing Heyer as an anti-Semite based on what’s in her books. It’s not clear to me if she’s using slang that fits the period or something more than that. However by 1961 it’s a choice to use that phrase that other writers might not have made. I don’t personally find her prejudices particularly offensive in the context of her writing, but that’s my choice, and I think they do need to be acknowledged. When she uses the phrase in this book she’s specifically talking about what we’d now think of as loan sharks. Adam gets a loan from his bank, Drummond's which had been established in the 18th century, based on the value of his assets in the end. They would certainly have charged a fee for their services if not interest on the loan extended to him. Desperate Readerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15708411387912078122noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post-31079935731372570702020-02-27T21:08:33.699+00:002020-02-27T21:08:33.699+00:00I first read this as a teenager, and was very disa...I first read this as a teenager, and was very disappointed in its rather anti-romantic outlook! <br />Incidentally, in the early 19th century, Christians were banned from lending money with interest, so all banking and money lending was undertaken by Jewish people. Although it sounds objectionable to us now, 'Going to the Jews' was a euphemism for borrowing money, a factual rather than derogatory comment, which Heyer presumably picked up during her extensive research. Michelle Annhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07499490029910905577noreply@blogger.com