tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post8736480126744891824..comments2024-03-29T03:04:00.853-05:00Comments on Wuthering <br>Expectations: An example of something happening, from Osborne Russell's Journal of a TrapperAmateur Reader (Tom)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-89115112649700107322009-10-25T13:18:24.484-05:002009-10-25T13:18:24.484-05:00Right, there are so many great firsthand travel an...Right, there are so many great firsthand travel and adventure books. I haven't read the Philbrick book, but Owen Chase's own account of that boat journey is incredible. William Bligh's, too. Be sure to take a look at bibliographing nicole's <a href="http://www.bibliographing.com/2009/03/06/let-us-goe-ashoare/" rel="nofollow">seafaring roundup</a>.<br /><br />Like 18th and 19th century seafaring, Western America seems to have more than its share of classic accounts - Lewis & Clark, Alexander McKenzie, Richard Henry Dana, all of the assorted literary cowboys and lawmen and mountain men, not to mention Mark Twain.<br /><br />And I have not even gotten to the Arctic and Antarctic expeditions - I hope to, someday. Shackleton, Nansen, <i>The Worst Journey in the World</i>.<br /><br />Michael5000, are you sure you want me in the comments there? The tone right now seems to be one of, how to say, glib dismissal? I mean, there's no need to like <i>Wuthering Heights</i>, but some of the people over there ain't reading it right. I guess this'll all come up this week, since it's Anti-Sympathetic Character week at Wuthering Expectations.<br /><br />I did write about <i>The Scarler Letter</i>, from a rather different point of view, <a href="http://wutheringexpectations.blogspot.com/2009/06/why-am-i-supposed-to-hate-scarlet.html" rel="nofollow">here</a> and <a href="http://wutheringexpectations.blogspot.com/2009/06/but-here-tale-has-surely-lapsed-into.html" rel="nofollow">here</a>. Short answer: forget plot, forget realism, forget rounded characters. Keep an eye on the witch.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-70422895103100736712009-10-24T10:15:56.597-05:002009-10-24T10:15:56.597-05:00Thanks for taking me seriously. Of course, I am g...Thanks for taking me seriously. Of course, I am genuinely interested in root foods, but I'm always surprised when others support my little obession/dissertation. Cheers.Sparkling Squirrelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10899640164757220074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-90491714369674083262009-10-24T08:49:31.301-05:002009-10-24T08:49:31.301-05:00Odd to see Parkman mentioned... just thinking of h...Odd to see Parkman mentioned... just thinking of him and my extreme pleasure in reading Oregon Trial long ago this am whilst reading "Following the Sea", a Nova Scotia whaleman's account of his years on various whalers out of Mass.<br /><br />I'm thinking that Michael5000 might be referring to Shackleton (captured also in "Endurance"). <br /><br />Have become infatuated with 19th cent accounts on the sea, including "In the Heart of the Sea", an account of the whaleship Essex being rammed and sunk by a whale and the trials of whalemen forced to survive on the carcasses of each other (incident was model for Moby Dick).<br /><br />For my money, these first-hand accounts are great reading.Editorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07788045691299129641noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-66586622852192117052009-10-24T00:01:38.134-05:002009-10-24T00:01:38.134-05:00This reminds me a bit of the Stapleton journals fr...This reminds me a bit of the Stapleton journals from his failed Antarctic expedition. In situations where you wouldn't necessarily expect anyone to bother trying -- ship just sunk in the pack ice, just got all shot up 250 miles from the nearest neighbor -- they just get up and start walking. Folks were pretty tough back then. (Alternative explanation: the incredibly lucky people were the ones who survived to write amazing accounts.)<br /><br />ALSO: Sorry to slap down a link for you again, but I've got <a href="http://michael5000.blogspot.com/2009/10/reading-list-scarlet-letter.html" rel="nofollow">a post going on The Scarlet Letter</a> and would be interested in your thoughts -- you seem to know your way around the 19th Century about a million times better than I do.Michael5000https://www.blogger.com/profile/10148584819327475239noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-17402314895106483722009-10-23T21:11:47.416-05:002009-10-23T21:11:47.416-05:00If any of the readers find this sort of book inter...If any of the readers find this sort of book interesting, there are quite a number of autobiographies by mountain men that are equally breathtaking. Their life was a day to day adventure beyond what most folks could endure. A short list would include stories by Hugh Glass, Jedidiah Smith, Joseph Walker and on and on. Of course, one must always remember that these fellows may have been prone to stretch the truth a bit.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-17903407233995690572009-10-23T17:08:47.328-05:002009-10-23T17:08:47.328-05:00Yes. But he's not what you would call specific...Yes. But he's not what you would call <i>specifically</i> knowledgeable. Near Jackson's Hole:<br /><br />"the valley produce a luxuriant growth of vegetation among which wild flax and a species of onion are abundant" (18).<br /><br />The most detailed mention of roots:<br /><br />"Our Camp Kettles had not been greased for some time: as we were continually boiling thistle roots in them during the day" (9).<br /><br />He says, same page, his party lived on roots for ten days before their hunters killed two grizzly bears.<br /><br />There are a few other, more general references. Searchable, barely readable, text <a href="http://www.xmission.com/~drudy/mtman/html/ruslintr.html" rel="nofollow">here</a>.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-68439000635203234862009-10-23T15:22:17.576-05:002009-10-23T15:22:17.576-05:00Russell mention any plant foods? Tasty roots?Russell mention any plant foods? Tasty roots?Sparkling Squirrelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10899640164757220074noreply@blogger.com