I enjoyed the video on the decline of literacy—“The Elite College Students Who Can’t Read Books”—and it reminded me that we’d touched on the subject briefly at the last monthly meeting of our local library’s book club at the end of September. Our ‘assignment’ for that meeting had been to come prepared to discuss the novels we’d studied in high school.
I was surprised to see how few books some people said they could remember, though it could be that they just hadn’t applied their minds and memories to the task, or weren’t as curious as I was to see how many titles they could recall. “The Catcher in the Rye”, “Lord of the Flies”, and “To Kill a Mockingbird” were the only novels I’d studied in high school that any of the others had read. Otherwise, no one else had been assigned “Great Expectations”, “The Mayor of Casterbridge”, “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”, “A Farewell to Arms”, “The Moon is Down”, “The Pearl”, “Dr. Zhivago”, “Wuthering Heights”, or “A Separate Peace”, to name the books I could recall; I’m sure there are others. It also seems there’s been a decline in the study of Shakespeare.
I was also struck by the fact that no one seemed to have fallen in love with a particular book or author as a result of studying them in high school, though obviously their presence at the meeting was evidence of their affection for reading. One young fellow said his teacher had destroyed any interest he may ever have had in “The Old Man and the Sea”. Some people also made the same point the video had; i.e., that the study of English in high school had become a matter of high scores on literacy tests, rather than a true appreciation of writers and their fiction.
Spats--short for spatterdashes--are a type of cloth or leather footwear accessory, popular from the 19th to the early 20th century, covering the ankle and instep and intended to protect one's shoes from the ravages of rain, mud, and horse apples.
“Dress in the Age of Jane Austen: Regency Fashion” really caught my eye when you mentioned it in your recent video on “Mansfield Park”, and I ordered a copy that same morning. I’ve always had good luck dealing with Alibris Books, and they sent me a notice that very afternoon advising me my copy was on its way. Although I had purchased a book described as “Used—Very Good”, what I actually received was an apparently unread copy still sealed in its original plastic cover.
I was a little worried I might have spent good money on a pretty-picture coffee table book, but Hilary Davidson’s text is dense and packed with information as well as photos and illustrations. Christmas is coming and I may order another copy as a gift. Some years ago, my elder daughter painstakingly hand-stitched her own Regency-style gown, and it turned out pretty well. Her current project is a woman’s dress of the Tudor period.
Admiral Lord Nelson and Emma, Lady Hamilton have been discussed several times in previous newsletters over the past months, and I can’t help but add one more mention of them considering that today, October 21, 2024, is the 219th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar, in which Lord Nelson defeated the combined fleets of France and Spain in the waters off Cadiz and so freed Great Britain from the threat of invasion by the armies of Napoleon.
Lord Nelson was struck by a musket ball aboard his flagship, H.M.S Victory, at the height of the battle, and was taken below decks to be treated. His wound proved to be fatal, however, and the log of the Victory recorded the following entry: “Partial firing continued until 4:40 [pm], when a Victory having been reported to the Right Honourable Lord Viscount Nelson, and Commander-in-Chief, he then died of his wound.”
Last witness by Jilliane Hoffman
I enjoyed the video on the decline of literacy—“The Elite College Students Who Can’t Read Books”—and it reminded me that we’d touched on the subject briefly at the last monthly meeting of our local library’s book club at the end of September. Our ‘assignment’ for that meeting had been to come prepared to discuss the novels we’d studied in high school.
I was surprised to see how few books some people said they could remember, though it could be that they just hadn’t applied their minds and memories to the task, or weren’t as curious as I was to see how many titles they could recall. “The Catcher in the Rye”, “Lord of the Flies”, and “To Kill a Mockingbird” were the only novels I’d studied in high school that any of the others had read. Otherwise, no one else had been assigned “Great Expectations”, “The Mayor of Casterbridge”, “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”, “A Farewell to Arms”, “The Moon is Down”, “The Pearl”, “Dr. Zhivago”, “Wuthering Heights”, or “A Separate Peace”, to name the books I could recall; I’m sure there are others. It also seems there’s been a decline in the study of Shakespeare.
I was also struck by the fact that no one seemed to have fallen in love with a particular book or author as a result of studying them in high school, though obviously their presence at the meeting was evidence of their affection for reading. One young fellow said his teacher had destroyed any interest he may ever have had in “The Old Man and the Sea”. Some people also made the same point the video had; i.e., that the study of English in high school had become a matter of high scores on literacy tests, rather than a true appreciation of writers and their fiction.
Spats--short for spatterdashes--are a type of cloth or leather footwear accessory, popular from the 19th to the early 20th century, covering the ankle and instep and intended to protect one's shoes from the ravages of rain, mud, and horse apples.
“Dress in the Age of Jane Austen: Regency Fashion” really caught my eye when you mentioned it in your recent video on “Mansfield Park”, and I ordered a copy that same morning. I’ve always had good luck dealing with Alibris Books, and they sent me a notice that very afternoon advising me my copy was on its way. Although I had purchased a book described as “Used—Very Good”, what I actually received was an apparently unread copy still sealed in its original plastic cover.
I was a little worried I might have spent good money on a pretty-picture coffee table book, but Hilary Davidson’s text is dense and packed with information as well as photos and illustrations. Christmas is coming and I may order another copy as a gift. Some years ago, my elder daughter painstakingly hand-stitched her own Regency-style gown, and it turned out pretty well. Her current project is a woman’s dress of the Tudor period.
Admiral Lord Nelson and Emma, Lady Hamilton have been discussed several times in previous newsletters over the past months, and I can’t help but add one more mention of them considering that today, October 21, 2024, is the 219th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar, in which Lord Nelson defeated the combined fleets of France and Spain in the waters off Cadiz and so freed Great Britain from the threat of invasion by the armies of Napoleon.
Lord Nelson was struck by a musket ball aboard his flagship, H.M.S Victory, at the height of the battle, and was taken below decks to be treated. His wound proved to be fatal, however, and the log of the Victory recorded the following entry: “Partial firing continued until 4:40 [pm], when a Victory having been reported to the Right Honourable Lord Viscount Nelson, and Commander-in-Chief, he then died of his wound.”