Sunday, July 14, 2013

Jacqueline Winspear: Among the Mad

Took it out of the library on a whim when I borrowed the Flynn book, even though I'm not that keen on the Maisie Dobbs series at all. God, she's so annoyingly perfect. This one is about finding a man threatening to commit some sort of act of biological terrorism, including making profiles and so on way before her time. If Maisie Dobbs could be more of a real person, I'd be very grateful plz thx, also the novels don't have to have such an irritating way of attempting to educate you on a Historical Fact, in this case care of the mentally ill in the 1930s.

Right after this I re-read Gaudy Night by Dorothy Sayers, and the contrast between the two  doesn't favour Winspear does it. I also had several thoughts about it that I wanted to write down in the blog but couldn't get computer time so now I've forgotten. I hate my life. But I love Gaudy Night.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I'm reading the Maisie Dobbs series as well, but I am not to the Among the Mad.
I liked your comment that "she's so annoying perfect."
Just thought that was the British attitude in that time period.

bani said...

Thanks for commenting, Brenda! I'm too lax when writing; I should clarify that I mean she is too annoyingly perfect because she has no vices, flaws or faults in any way, in a way that is quite unrealistic both humanly and historically. No class prejudice, no race prejudice, no gender prejudice, no prejudice against sexual orientation. None, never. And to top it all off she never makes an error in judgement either. She has a loving and respectful relationship with her father and also with her mentor, her former employer saw her worth and helped her get an education because they were of such a modern disposition ... I just never see her up against the sort of hardships that women in general and professional women in particular faced in those times. For a more realistic view on the intellectual woman in the 1930s Gaudy Night is actually a perfect book to read.