Day 14: A Non-fictional Authoress
Namely, Lady Antonia Fraser
Namely, Lady Antonia Fraser
Why are all intelligent British women quite so elegant? Isn't she elegant? Her accent is even more elegant. If you watch the Special Features on the Marie Antoinette dvd, you'll see what I mean. And her writing is so elegant too! You would hope that an elegantly spoken woman would write elegantly as well, but non-fiction can be so difficult to make interesting-- to say nothing of making it elegant-- especially when you have to differentiate between the 919247817263714 Marys, Margarets, Catherines, and Annes who lived in the 16th century. But she manages!(I bet hers would be a Blog of Note too, but that's beside the point.)
The point is that, if you want to read anything non-fictional/biographical, immediately dig up something this woman is written. Luckily, you won't have a hard time finding something because she's hugely prolific. (She would have to be, being Harold Pinter's widow and all.) About a month ago, I recommended Erik Larson and his various crime-related non-fiction books that read like novels, and I still stick to that, particularly if you're just getting into the field of non-fiction and are overwhelmed, which is understandable. BUT. If you're into anything historical and romantical and royal and dishy, Antonia Fraser is your girl.
This is the book I mentioned yesterday, which I am currently reading:
Totally brill, you guys. Instead of writing everything we already know about Henry VIII and his subsequent six ill-fated marriages, she focuses on each woman individually without "the rest of the story" in mind as she writes about them. Of course, almost the first half of the book is dedicated to Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn, but considering Henry was married to Catherine for twenty years before he decided to go all infidel on her A, that makes sense. I'm especially excited to learn about Catherine Parr, because she is awesome, and out-lived the king, and was married like four times. Also her wax figure which hangs out at various castles is just lovely. I saw it at Warwick in August 2008:
Totally brill, you guys. Instead of writing everything we already know about Henry VIII and his subsequent six ill-fated marriages, she focuses on each woman individually without "the rest of the story" in mind as she writes about them. Of course, almost the first half of the book is dedicated to Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn, but considering Henry was married to Catherine for twenty years before he decided to go all infidel on her A, that makes sense. I'm especially excited to learn about Catherine Parr, because she is awesome, and out-lived the king, and was married like four times. Also her wax figure which hangs out at various castles is just lovely. I saw it at Warwick in August 2008:
Jane, Kitty, Anne of Cleves, and Katherine. Doesn't Kat look like she's just about to open her mouth and say something very stuffy and British with a little chuckle to herself? Doesn't she just? She could make oversized hats with big feathers come back in a big way, I think.Lady Antonia also wrote this little book which I love just love:
Which book went on to be the sole inspiration for this movie which I also love just love:
Forget the fact that real-Antoinette and Kirsten Dunst-Antoinette look nothing alike, the representation of the woman perfectly comes to life off the pages of that biography. It too is elegant, with all kinds of phrases in French (fittingly), and expressed in such a way that you kind of feel like maybe you are living right there in Versailles. Or maybe you just wish you had been living there right there in Versailles (sans revolution). Lady Antonia makes Antoinette very sympathetic, but not obnoxiously so, which is a really nice representation of her, I think. Probably accurate. Who knows.She's written a total of I don't know how many books. A lot, though. These are among those I plan to read next:
Remember, remember, the fifth of November.
I can't wait to get to the part about du Barry with her red stockings, or at least that's what she wears in the movie of Marie Antoinette and makes me wish I had them too. Let's be honest with ourselves-- the Sun King was pretty good looking, even by today's standards. I wouldn't mind meeting him someday on the other side when I can slap hands with him and ask if he really was the Man in the Iron Mask after all.I hope this was an adequate day 14: a nonfictional-book recommendation. These should keep you busy for a while, at least. Go. Read. Become elegant.
3 comments:
ok. you've sold me. i shall read all of those non-fiction books, because i'm getting into biographies in a huge way due to my history classes that i actually go to.
Thumbs up, man. Love.
you need to give me that picture of the wax wives so i can edit it to be visible.
(PS my verification word below is "giroar" which makes me think of a French person yelling out "ROAR" only like ggiii-rooar! Oui oui!" Hooray for French things.)
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