en-US Thu, 01 May 2025 10:58:00 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg ReadStatus9374775209 Thu, 01 May 2025 10:58:00 -0700 /review/show/7534397159 Silvio111 wants to read Is It Hot in Here? Or Am I Suffering for All Eternity for the Sins I Committed on Earth? by Zach Zimmerman
]]> ReadStatus9374773040 Thu, 01 May 2025 10:57:24 -0700 /review/show/7534395525 Silvio111 is currently reading The Committed by Viet Thanh Nguyen
]]> ReadStatus9370757259 Wed, 30 Apr 2025 11:33:57 -0700 /review/show/7531536020 Silvio111 wants to read Full Tilt: Ireland to India with a Bicycle by Dervla Murphy
]]> ReadStatus9370755938 Wed, 30 Apr 2025 11:33:32 -0700 /review/show/7531535090 Silvio111 wants to read In Ethiopia with a Mule by Dervla Murphy
]]> Review7464119299 Mon, 28 Apr 2025 16:48:26 -0700 /review/show/7464119299 Silvio111 gave 4 stars to Parallel Lives: Five Victorian Marriages (Paperback) by Phyllis Rose
bookshelves: biographies
As I read this book, I struggled with whether this was history or gossip.
Nonetheless, it was very interesting, if challenging to keep all the couples straight:

Jane Welsh and Thomas Carlyle: she never wanted to marry, but having found a stimulating intellectual partner, eventually caved in and married him, at which point they ceased to be intellectual equals and he expected her to serve him. It was unclear whether they actually had a sexless marriage, but I think that was the case as she never wanted to demean herself and he was happy to be served in every other way.

Harriet Taylor and John Stuart Mill: she condescended to marry him, as she was richer and of a higher "lineage" than he, but she admired his principles and his intellect. In this marriage, he was so eager to contribute to equality between the sexes that he allowed her to dominate him, appreciating her guidance to assist him in his writing and political projects. Again, it is not clear if their marriage was sexless, but it was certainly affectionate on both sides.

Catherine Hogarth and Charles Dickens: Alas, he was gung ho until they had 4 children, then he tired of the steadily increasing size of his family (never realizing he bore some responsibility...) and the dullness of his wife and eventually left her for a 16-year old girl.

George Eliot (Marian Evans) and George Henry Lewes: This relationship was the winner, in my opinion. She was older than him and not attractive. After being rejected a couple of times by others, they found each other and for 20 years it was a true meeting of minds. She was 20 years older than he but they adored each other and shared intellectual interests. After years of cohabiting as a non-married couple(because he could not get a divorce), finally they were able to marry but they shunned the social scene that had shunned them when they were a "scandalous" couple.

All in all, a fascinating analysis of the aspirations and disappointments of women in regard to marriage. The author is clearly what I would (approvingly) call a flaming feminist. However, she concludes that Jane Welsh was the true hero of these stories; I disagree. Jane Welsh abandoned her principles about not wanting to become a slave to her husband, but then she wholeheartedly embraced the cheerleader role for her demanding, narcissistic "genius" of a husband, perhaps not out of affection, but just to embody a role.

On the other hand. George Eliot (Marian Evans) truly felt an affection (reciprocated) for her partner. When circumstances would not allow them to marry (this was the mid-1800s), she bravely accepted that to be with the man she loved, she would have to flout the social conventions. Later when they were able to marry, she keenly felt the hypocrisy of friends and family re-accepting her into their circles, but she had no use for that empty convention. It sounds to me like they two of them had the happiest, most authentic relationship.

It is a bit wearying, reading about the travails these couples (well, mostly the women) endured. All this drama just to attempt to live a normal life, pursuing one's passions and exercising one's talents. These stories are quite relevant to us today as well. It made me think about how every time a movie actress had a baby without being married in the last couple of decades, I would think, "Why don't they just get married?" But this book has given me the perspective that a woman has the right to live in her own way without being judged by society. Lots to think about.

]]> ReadStatus9349013190 Thu, 24 Apr 2025 18:23:24 -0700 /review/show/7516504570 Silvio111 wants to read The Land Before Avocado by Richard Glover
]]> ReadStatus9342762181 Wed, 23 Apr 2025 06:55:42 -0700 /review/show/7464119299 Silvio111 started reading Parallel Lives: Five Victorian Marriages by Phyllis Rose
]]> ReadStatus9332671335 Sun, 20 Apr 2025 18:55:03 -0700 /review/show/7505030077 Silvio111 wants to read Jane Austen's Wardrobe by Hilary Davidson
]]> ReadStatus9330957422 Sun, 20 Apr 2025 10:26:37 -0700 /review/show/7503851049 Silvio111 wants to read Fever Beach by Carl Hiaasen
]]> Review7450888138 Tue, 15 Apr 2025 07:56:41 -0700 /review/show/7450888138 Silvio111 gave 4 stars to Othello (Mass Market Paperback) by William Shakespeare
I had to stop reading this because Iago's evil scheming was so dispiriting, I just could not endure worrying about what was going to happen next.

This anxiety is the same reason I am unable to read most of Stephen King's horror novels.

Alas, my skin is thin. ]]>