![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
On to another Sherlock Holmes short story, and again I'm going to discuss this with big spoilers. ( spoiler text )
On to another story, and one that I find personally one of the most disturbing in the entire Holmes canon.
( spoilers )
( spoilers )
Missing baptisms
Aug. 14th, 2024 02:14 pmBack to more work on the Scottish black servants academic journal paper. Now typing up the story of John Ogilvie Glasgow, a servant just outside Dundee. Whose baptism was - like so many others - missing from the ScotlandsPeople indexes. Though in this case it was not so much a case of systemic racism among those compiling the original indexes, but rather the GRO for Scotland and ScotlandsPeople had missed out an entire register of Strathmartine parish baptisms from their computer indexes! Luckily they had the original paper records, and I had traced this one through a separate baptisms index on FindMyPast. ScotlandsPeople were able to email me a digital image.
Dickens on British racism
Jul. 24th, 2023 08:43 pmRather stunned earlier today at the passage I read in Little Dorrit, where Dickens takes a pointed and extended jibe at British xenophobia and racism against foreigners. I’ll have to gather some more thoughts about this, and will probably blog about it in the coming days. It felt so timeless, and so Brexity. Dickens is hardly blameless in racist attitudes. His oft antisemitism is notable. But oh, this was on point.
I finished Yellowface by Rebecca F Kuang a while ago and have been trying to process my thoughts about it. What I say will be slightly spoilery, so if you want to go into the book totally fresh turn away now. But I won't reveal big spoilers.
The book is one of the most gobsmacking I have ever read, with an unreliable narrator, and multiple reveals leading me to think things like OMG or WTF repeatedly. I almost didn't want to keep reading early on, it was so shocking, but it was a real page turner, and I had to know what happened.
At its heart the book is about a case of plagiarism, or just downright literary theft to be blunt. And fundamental to it is the issue of race and racism, including cultural appropriation. However it's also a blistering critique of numerous aspects of the publishing industry, reflections on the writing experience, and a critique of our modern social media driven world.
In many ways reading it is like watching a slow-motion car crash. It's not an easy read. But what it says is so important, and done so very well. It's also a thriller, with unexpected elements. And I would recommend it without question.
I could say more, but that way lies spoilers. And I think going in without knowing too much detail about the plot is best for the reader. It's a fairly short read, but a real rollercoaster ride. So yes, a very uncomfortable book in many ways, but such an important one, and absolutely well worth reading.
The book is one of the most gobsmacking I have ever read, with an unreliable narrator, and multiple reveals leading me to think things like OMG or WTF repeatedly. I almost didn't want to keep reading early on, it was so shocking, but it was a real page turner, and I had to know what happened.
At its heart the book is about a case of plagiarism, or just downright literary theft to be blunt. And fundamental to it is the issue of race and racism, including cultural appropriation. However it's also a blistering critique of numerous aspects of the publishing industry, reflections on the writing experience, and a critique of our modern social media driven world.
In many ways reading it is like watching a slow-motion car crash. It's not an easy read. But what it says is so important, and done so very well. It's also a thriller, with unexpected elements. And I would recommend it without question.
I could say more, but that way lies spoilers. And I think going in without knowing too much detail about the plot is best for the reader. It's a fairly short read, but a real rollercoaster ride. So yes, a very uncomfortable book in many ways, but such an important one, and absolutely well worth reading.
