Who Betrays Elizabeth Bennet?: Further Puzzles in Classic Fiction
Registered by 
GoryDetails
of Nashua, New Hampshire USA on 3/13/2009
This Book is Currently in the Wild!
GoryDetails of Nashua, New Hampshire USA on 3/13/2009 This Book is Currently in the Wild!
1 journaler for this copy...
I'd enjoyed one of Sutherland's previous books of minor literary puzzles (see here). I can't recall where I got this trade paperback, but I'm enjoying the interesting takes on the (often unexpected) questions that the author poses.
The title question here was intriguing because I couldn't for the life of me imagine what he meant by a betrayal of Elizabeth Bennet; turns out he's referring to the rumor about her betrothal to Darcy, and wonders who spilled the gaff. While that's not the most interesting of the questions here, the way in which Sutherland debates it, and the comments he includes from others who've discussed the point with him, is very entertaining.
Among my favorite entries here: "Heathcliff's toothbrush," which opens with a discussion about earthworm-crushing metaphors (!) and eventually gets to tooth-grinding and thence to possible explanations for Heathcliff's gleaming teeth, which strike Sutherland as unlikely given his impoverished childhood and stableboy habits. I couldn't help thinking that Sutherland's tongue must have been farther in cheek than usual on this one {grin}. And the next entry is also tooth-related: does Carker (of Dombey and Son, known for his toothy feline smile) have false teeth?
Another thing I like about these books is the way they add to my want-to-read list; not only have I been tempted to find some of the books dealt with directly, but often a side remark will catch my interest. In the "What are Mr Hale's 'doubts'" section, Sutherland describes the Victorian fondness for novels about "the 'agony' of religious uncertainty", and mentions Margaret Maison's "delightfully entitled" Search Your Soul, Eustace!, which I now covet madly.
Middlemarch is a long-time favorite of mine, so I was embarrassed to find that I had not noticed that sometimes Eliot described the rows of trees at Casaubon's house as elms and at other times as limes. And I found it amusing that Sutherland decided to blame Dorothea's wandering eye for confusing limes and elms, rather than catching the author in an error!
[Subsequent to reading this book I've found more of Sutherland's literary-mystery books, including this two-in-one edition, Is Heathcliff a Murderer? Puzzles in Nineteenth-Century Fiction / Can Jane Eyre Be Happy? More Puzzles in Classic Fiction. Great fun!]
The title question here was intriguing because I couldn't for the life of me imagine what he meant by a betrayal of Elizabeth Bennet; turns out he's referring to the rumor about her betrothal to Darcy, and wonders who spilled the gaff. While that's not the most interesting of the questions here, the way in which Sutherland debates it, and the comments he includes from others who've discussed the point with him, is very entertaining.
Among my favorite entries here: "Heathcliff's toothbrush," which opens with a discussion about earthworm-crushing metaphors (!) and eventually gets to tooth-grinding and thence to possible explanations for Heathcliff's gleaming teeth, which strike Sutherland as unlikely given his impoverished childhood and stableboy habits. I couldn't help thinking that Sutherland's tongue must have been farther in cheek than usual on this one {grin}. And the next entry is also tooth-related: does Carker (of Dombey and Son, known for his toothy feline smile) have false teeth?
Another thing I like about these books is the way they add to my want-to-read list; not only have I been tempted to find some of the books dealt with directly, but often a side remark will catch my interest. In the "What are Mr Hale's 'doubts'" section, Sutherland describes the Victorian fondness for novels about "the 'agony' of religious uncertainty", and mentions Margaret Maison's "delightfully entitled" Search Your Soul, Eustace!, which I now covet madly.
Middlemarch is a long-time favorite of mine, so I was embarrassed to find that I had not noticed that sometimes Eliot described the rows of trees at Casaubon's house as elms and at other times as limes. And I found it amusing that Sutherland decided to blame Dorothea's wandering eye for confusing limes and elms, rather than catching the author in an error!
[Subsequent to reading this book I've found more of Sutherland's literary-mystery books, including this two-in-one edition, Is Heathcliff a Murderer? Puzzles in Nineteenth-Century Fiction / Can Jane Eyre Be Happy? More Puzzles in Classic Fiction. Great fun!]
Journal Entry 2 by GoryDetails at Little Free Library, Osgood Rd. in Milford, New Hampshire USA on Sunday, April 2, 2023
GoryDetails at Little Free Library, Osgood Rd. in Milford, New Hampshire USA on Sunday, April 2, 2023
Released 1 yr ago (4/2/2023 UTC) at Little Free Library, Osgood Rd. in Milford, New Hampshire USA
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
I've had this one on my keeper shelves for some years now, and think it's time it went traveling. I left it in the Little Free Library on this bright, cool day; hope someone enjoys it![See other recent releases in NH here.]
*** Released for the 2023 Never Judge a Book By Its Cover challenge, for the who/what/when/where/why theme. **
