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Showing results for tags 'historical'.
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James Hynes Sparrow My rating: 4 out 5 stars For a nearly eighteen hour long book, this was peculiarly riveting. Even more so when you realise there are hours of the story during which nothing much happens. And yet, those hours draw you in with their vivid descriptions of life at the tavern / brothel which forms the central locale of the novel. They make you care about the various characters, especially the young boy who narrates from old age what it's like to be a nameless slave living on the Spanish fringes of a slowly dying Roman empire. The trundling, closely-observed nature of the general narrative makes any points of conflict stand out all the sharper. And be warned, some incidents may be distressing, especially the one which turns the boy (and I mean, a boy) into a 'wolf'. And under all of this is a pervading sense of uncertainty, of instability, of the idea that a slave is disposable, a possession that might be sold, or damaged, or thrown away on a whim. Having spent all that time building layer upon layer of realism, I thought the ending was a cop-out. Maybe I missed something, but I don't think so. That apart, this was a surprisingly satisfying read. Theo Solomon as narrator helped. A lot. He caught a boy's tone perfectly and managed to differentiate all the other characters (there are many) with conviction.
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Hi all I have been full of work, so of course to escape that i decided to make a new suggestion. I will finally suggest a single book, and although to be honest the author did wrote a "kind of a series" around the same subject, Alexander The Great rise and rule, it can be a stand alone read. The Persian Boy by Mary Renault, tell as the story of a young boy that captured, made an eunuch and sold as a slave to the King of Persia. After Alexander conquering of the Persian Empire, he becomes Alexander servant and lover. I know many in the gay community might already know this book, but I decided to make it my suggestion because this was a book that always stayed in my mind. My parents have a considerable book selection and I read this book when I was a teenager in high school. I am not sure of the details anymore, I think at that time I already new I was gay, but before I found online fiction or GA, it was actually the first book I read that can be considered a gay story, and it was important for me at the time. Hope you guys enjoy it. PS: these entries don't have to be my suggestions only, you can leave another book suggestion of the featured category in the comments.
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If you like hysterical, oh, I mean historical romances then you might like something I've been writing. I started writing it last year but got bogged down in too many other things and wanted to finish The Seashell first. With that book finished I was able to add Souvenir back into my writing rotation. The story is a first person narrative in a diary style similar to Brandon Smiling and that's done purposefully. If you follow Brandon then you might enjoy Souvenir all the more for reasons you might catch as you read this memoir of Lord Cedrick Temple, Duke of Buckingham. I've tried to write this as a period piece with the time period covered being just before and during World War I in England. The language may be a little challenging, but hopefully enjoyable. It's a challenge to write but fun too. So, without any further adieu I bring you:
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This is a snippet of a new story based in wartime London that I plan to post in the spring. It's different from anything that I've tried before, so it would be interesting to get some feedback. “I heard when they dug out Mrs Jones; she had no head,” said Sammy. “Really?” I pulled a face but soon joined him laughing at the poor woman’s misfortune. It was how we coped at the time; we meant no harm. Mrs Jones was a nice lady; she was the green grocer’s wife and she knew my mum. Their house had been hit the day before, killing her and her husband while they were in bed. It took several hours to dig them out of the rubble, and apparently, according to Sammy, she had been decapitated. I don’t know why we laughed, because it wasn’t funny, but I think that it helped us cope with the horrors that we were witnessing every day. There was no room for sadness or compassion. Thousands were dying all around us; people that we knew. Neighbours, relatives, friends, old people, our mates from school, young children and even babies. The bombing was indiscriminate, and when someone we knew was killed, it was a case of rather them than us. We grew up very quickly that year and in more ways than one. We were walking to his house. It was Sunday; my only day off from work, and I had skipped church to meet Sammy at the market. “Where are you going later,” he said and when he turned his head, I caught that sparkle in his eye as it briefly met with mine. It was accompanied by a faint, but telling grin that warned me of his intentions and started a familiar butterflies in my stomach. He lived about a mile from me, but the Germans, had recently cut the journey in half by bombing the milkman’s house at the end of his road. We lost our delivery, but gained a useful, if precarious short cut across a mound of rubble, timber, and broken glass that was once his home. Most of his furniture of any worth had gone, either removed by his family or looters, but the rubble was still littered with personal items that were either too damaged to be of any use or that nobody wanted. The two story house had been reduced to one, and we threaded our way through the remains of what looked like his upstairs bedroom. Underneath, was the living room, where they had found his body, and to one side was the staircase. It was the only part of the house still standing and attached to a small broken section of wall. It looked funny, a staircase going to nowhere, but the stairs often survived along with the chimneys. Please comment.
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Twitter can still be a source of amazing stuff in amongst the dross. Here's a link to the UK National Archives celebrating Pride month by highlighting queer love letters in the National Archive from 1920s and 30s. A fascinating, poignant look into a hidden, queer past. Click through and keep scrolling through the thread.
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The purpose of this thread is to present a photograph of historical significance and invite members to guess who or what is shown in the photo and comment on the historical significance. Ready? Here's the first one...