Richard Buckle. Debrett’s U and Non-U Revisited (1978)

     Richard Buckle. Debrett’s U and Non-U Revisited (1978) Continues the discussion started by Nancy Mitford in her Noblesse Oblige. Mitford intended her book as a gentle satire on English class distinctions in the first half of the twentieth century. Buckle seems to take the whole thing seriously, which makes for a lot of unintended humour. There are a few useful nuggets, though: a reminder that in most countries of Europe titles of nobility are regulated by law, for example, and the distinction between the aristocracy and the peerage may have value for writers of historical and romantic fiction, or detective stories set in England. There exists an aristocracy in Canada and the USA as well, of course, and they are as jealous of their class privileges and rights as any anywhere. And like all aristocracies, they use linguistic and other markers to enforce them. Language, manners, and fashion's primary purpose is to mark the boundaries between Us and Them. *½ (2003)

John Jensen. Tonight, Josephine (1981)

     John Jensen. Tonight, Josephine (1981) A series of letters by various historical figures, composed by Jensen with intentions of serious humour and satire. Some of them succeed, most fall more or less flat. *½ (2003)

Willard Anderson, ed. Bridges and Buildings for Model Railroads. (1965)

     Willard Anderson, ed. Bridges and Buildings for Model Railroads. (1965) Another classic from the golden age, when modellers modelled, largely because they had to. Reprints of articles from MRR. This is the pre-styrene age: wood, paper, and metal are the materials used, and the results show that a good modeller can produce superb models with them. This was also a time of pioneering methods, with people like Jack Work showing that a truly prototypical structure was possible. His wood king-post truss bridge is a classic, and several kits have been based on it. Ken Smith shows how to build a through truss with wood and heavy paper, using jigs to make the members. W. Gibson Kennedy builds a Canadian Pacific enclosed water tank; Jim Findley a single stall engine house; Frank Hendren a crossing shanty; and Frank Titman an operating car dumper (and a barge to go with it). Most of these items, or variations of them, are available as laser-cut or styrene kits these days, but it was these people who showed the way, and by doing so raised the expectations of the modellers as well as their skills. Overall, *** (2003)

Theodore Sturgeon. The Worlds of Theodore Sturgeon. (1972)

     Theodore Sturgeon. The Worlds of Theodore Sturgeon. (1972) Nine of Sturgeon’s best. At his best, Sturgeon has the lyricism of Bradbury without the verbosity, and he can make your heart twist. But like all SF writers, he too often descends into bathos and sentimentality, mistaking the combination for tragic grandeur. Still, in these stories those flaws are slight or absent; and his satirical humour and taste for horror shows up well, too.
     In “The Skills of Xanadu” he presents a neat variation on the triumph of Thoreauvian libertarianism; “The Graveyard Reader” doesn’t quite become mawkish in its revelation of a husband’s insight into his wife’s true character after her death. “Shottle Bop” has a well-deserved reputation as a classic in the trickster-tricked mode, but I’ve read it several times before, and it doesn’t wear any better than others of its kind, no matter how skilfully written; it’s really a shaggy dog story, and their attractions wane after a while. The other stories are a little too didactic, especially the ones that sermonise on the human propensity to create terror weapons. Overall, a pleasant enough group of stories. * to *** (2003)

Anne Morice. Murder on French Leave (1972)

     Anne Morice. Murder on French Leave (1972) Actress goes to Paris, gets mixed up in murder prompted by espionage. Her husband is a Scotland yard cop, her cousin is a 16 year-old kid, etc. Silly plot, badly worked out, supposedly witty according to the jacket blurbs, unbelievably long sentences, and a generally cosy we-know-what-we’re-talking-about tone. Morice wrote several other books, but this one is enough for me. (2003)

Colin Dexter. Morse’s Greatest Mystery (1993)

     Colin Dexter. Morse’s Greatest Mystery (1993) Collection of stories; there’s no indication where they were published previously, if at all. Several feature Morse and Lewis, but only a reader familiar with them can fill in the details in the skimpy sketches of characters that carry these names. There’s a pastiche of Sherlock Holmes, very well done, and a not so sly send up of Holmes and Mycroft to boot. One story is set in the USA, and involves a multiple-cross and con game, which the narrator (not quite deservedly) loses. Dexter displays a better than usual British ear for American. The puzzles are well enough conceived in most of the tales, but not so well that one doesn’t want to read the next one in hopes of getting a more satisfying snack. **½ (2003)

E Wynn Williams: Britain’s Story

     E Wynn Williams Britain’s Story (4th revised edition, August 1940) Edited by J L Gill and R F S Baird for use in Ontario schools.
     Jon would have liked this history text. Published at a time when Canada was resolutely British, this school book appears to be aimed at middle-school pupils. The history is told in clear language, the more morbid and disreputable bits are left out, and a slew of generalised judgments and characterisations are delivered with few supporting details. Thus, pupils learn that Pepys was a great diarist, that Newton was a great scientist, and so on. But they aren’t told of the General Strike in England, nor of the Winnipeg massacre in Canada; it seems that “modern” ideas of labour rights, safety, and so on emerged as sensible people arrived at a consensus.
     The bias is monarchist, imperial, and progressive, with a great deal of implicit praise for the way the British Empire was established, and how the British Commonwealth of Nations grew out of it. The book includes chapters showing ways of life at different periods, and how housing, clothing, food, social life and so on changed over the centuries. The authors take it for granted that there has been pretty steady social and political progress since the Renascence, and wonderful technological progress since the 1700s. The progressivist stance seems quaint now; reading the book offers a way of thinking about history that is itself now of historical interest. Neat little line drawings in the text and on the end papers provide some visual pleasure. **½