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Power of a Woman. Memoirs of a turbulent life: Eleanor of Aquitaine by Robert Fripp

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Jemidar
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Power of a Woman. Memoirs of a turbulent life: Eleanor of Aquitaine by Robert Fripp

Post by Jemidar » Tue June 22nd, 2010, 1:20 pm

Can anyone tell me if this book is fiction or non-fiction?

It may sound like a stupid question, but most online book shops have it listed under both so I'm a bit confused and it's really hard to tell by the descriptions they give :confused: .
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Post by boswellbaxter » Tue June 22nd, 2010, 1:54 pm

[quote=""Jemidar""]Can anyone tell me if this book is fiction or non-fiction?

It may sound like a stupid question, but most online book shops have it listed under both so I'm a bit confused and it's really hard to tell by the descriptions they give :confused: .
[/quote]

I'm fairly sure it's fiction, though the author's own website is quite vague about this:

http://robertfripp.ca/index.cfm?Fuseact ... tionID=152
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Jemidar
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Post by Jemidar » Tue June 22nd, 2010, 2:07 pm

[quote=""boswellbaxter""]I'm fairly sure it's fiction, though the author's own website is quite vague about this:

http://robertfripp.ca/index.cfm?Fuseact ... tionID=152[/quote]


Thanks Boswell :) .

I thought that too but one review called it a biography while others referred to it as a memoir. And you're right, the author's website doesn't help much either.
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Post by Elizabeth » Tue June 22nd, 2010, 2:45 pm

It appears to be written in the first person, so unless it's a previously undiscovered autobiography (!) by Eleanor, it must be fiction.
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Ken
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Post by Ken » Tue June 22nd, 2010, 2:50 pm

[quote=""Jemidar""]Can anyone tell me if this book is fiction or non-fiction?

It may sound like a stupid question, but most online book shops have it listed under both so I'm a bit confused and it's really hard to tell by the descriptions they give :confused: .
[/quote]

This site describes it as a 'Fictional Autobiography'! Quote: "Eleanor tells her life story "in her own words," as if she is dictating to a young lady in her household. She reminisces about her past in more or less chronological order, occasionally digressing to remark on another event, or person, or place, of which the current subject reminds her, just as you or I might do in a rambling conversation with a friend."

http://historymedren.about.com/od/ewho/ ... leanor.htm

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Post by Misfit » Tue June 22nd, 2010, 2:55 pm

I looked at this once and seem to recall the author has left some interesting comments on at least one review.
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Post by Jemidar » Tue June 22nd, 2010, 3:33 pm

[quote=""Elizabeth""]It appears to be written in the first person, so unless it's a previously undiscovered autobiography (!) by Eleanor, it must be fiction.[/quote]

Of course! Why didn't I think of that? :p :o :D


[quote=""Ken""]This site describes it as a 'Fictional Autobiography'! Quote: "Eleanor tells her life story "in her own words," as if she is dictating to a young lady in her household. She reminisces about her past in more or less chronological order, occasionally digressing to remark on another event, or person, or place, of which the current subject reminds her, just as you or I might do in a rambling conversation with a friend."

http://historymedren.about.com/od/ewho/ ... leanor.htm[/quote]

Thanks Ken :) . I wonder why so many bookshops are listing under non-fiction?

[quote=""Misfit""]I looked at this once and seem to recall the author has left some interesting comments on at least one review.[/quote]

Oh no! Not sure I'll end up getting it as it's looking less and less like something I want to read. I think I've read more than enough bad Eleanor books lately!! :eek:
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Post by Misfit » Tue June 22nd, 2010, 4:11 pm

If postage to OZ wasn't so expensive I'd loan you my Alan Savage books. But no, I don't want anymore bad Eleanor books either. These days I pretty much write off any book wherein the author and/or author's friends leave nasties on critical reviews on Amazon.
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Post by annis » Tue June 22nd, 2010, 6:54 pm

Though I rather like Fripp's image of Eleanor, extrapolated from a statue commissioned when she was in her forties. Fripp says records say Eleanor had blue eyes, but I haven't seen anything which confirms this. Does anyone know where he would have picked up that information? In my experience medieval chroniclers are annnoyingly reticent about supplying interesting details like eye and hair colour.

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Last edited by annis on Tue June 22nd, 2010, 8:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Michy
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Post by Michy » Tue June 22nd, 2010, 7:52 pm

Maybe it's just conjecture based on the standards of beauty at that time. Eleanor was, I believe, considered beautiful. And if that during that era blue eyes were favored, then he could have concluded that Eleanor probably had blue eyes. Just a thought....

I remember reading somewhere once that she was thought to have auburn hair. I can't recall what the logic was behind that.

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