With the current state of the world so depressing, I find myself turning in my reading to other times.
Geoffrey Chaucer of England takes me back to the 14th century--when England was bustling and the English language was coming into being. The opening chapters paint a delightfully detailed picture of the life of the times, before getting into Chaucer's various works. Probably a book only an English major would enjoy--and I do. I take it in small doses along with my breakfast coffee.
Vanity Fair, set in England during the time of the Napoleonic Wars, is an old favorite of mine and I recently treated myself to the almost 30 hour audio book wonderfully narrated by John Cast. I listen to this while I'm waiting to pick up Josie and in bed at night.And, getting closer to this century, I just read a PDF copy of an as yet unpublished book, set in NC just after the Civil War.And you know what? No matter the time or place, there were reminders of today--from the governmental corruption and mismanagement of Chaucer's London to the money-ruled society of Regency England to the bitterly divided, openly racist folks of the postbellum South.The more things change . . .
