Welcome to the Historical Fiction Online forums: a friendly place to discuss, review and discover historical fiction.
If this is your first visit, please be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above.
You will have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed.
To start viewing posts, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

January 2010: Ross Poldark by Winston Graham

A monthly discussion on varying themes guided by our members. (Book of the Month discussions through December 2011 can be found in this section too.)
User avatar
boswellbaxter
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 3066
Joined: August 2008
Location: North Carolina
Contact:

January 2010: Ross Poldark by Winston Graham

Post by boswellbaxter » Fri January 1st, 2010, 6:29 am

Discuss Ross Poldark by Winston Graham here.
Susan Higginbotham
Coming in October: The Woodvilles


http://www.susanhigginbotham.com/
http://www.susanhigginbotham.com/blog/

User avatar
MLE (Emily Cotton)
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 3566
Joined: August 2008
Interest in HF: started in childhood with the classics, which, IMHO are HF even if they were contemporary when written.
Favourite HF book: Prince of Foxes, by Samuel Shellabarger
Preferred HF: Currently prefer 1600 and earlier, but I'll read anything that keeps me turning the page.
Location: California Bay Area

Post by MLE (Emily Cotton) » Fri January 1st, 2010, 7:37 am

Got to find out what I did with my copy! I know I have one around here somewhere, it will be fun to re-read and get everyone else's take. I remember that Graham put in all the little details about his place and time that made you feel as though you were there.

User avatar
Margaret
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 2440
Joined: August 2008
Interest in HF: I can't answer this in 100 characters. Sorry.
Favourite HF book: Checkmate, the final novel in the Lymond series
Preferred HF: Literary novels. Late medieval and Renaissance.
Location: Catskill, New York, USA
Contact:

Post by Margaret » Fri January 1st, 2010, 10:03 am

I have to run out and find a copy, too. I had forgotten we were going to read this, but was looking forward to it.
Browse over 5000 historical novel listings (probably well over 5000 by now, but I haven't re-counted lately) and over 700 reviews at www.HistoricalNovels.info

annis
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 4585
Joined: August 2008

Post by annis » Fri January 1st, 2010, 5:24 pm

I've got to hunt down my copy as well- I know it's here somewhere! I bought it and last read it when the TV series came out in the 1970s, though of course the book was a reissue at that stage - it was originally published in 1945. I have the TV series on DVD and rewatch occasionally. It's still excellent and the Cornish scenery is magnificent. When I watched it in the '70s we only had an old black and white TV set, so it was a revelation to see it in colour.

Edit-- Hooray, found it! I discovered that I also still have most of the other books in the series, so it might be the start of a major re-read :)
Last edited by annis on Fri January 1st, 2010, 5:49 pm, edited 2 times in total.

User avatar
Vanessa
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 4378
Joined: August 2008
Currently reading: The Farm at the Edge of the World by Sarah Vaughan
Interest in HF: The first historical novel I read was Katherine by Anya Seton and this sparked off my interest in this genre.
Favourite HF book: Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell!
Preferred HF: Any
Location: North Yorkshire, UK

Post by Vanessa » Wed January 20th, 2010, 9:54 pm

Well, this was a blast from the past for me - a real trip down Memory Lane!! I loved the series in the 1970s which I watched as a teenager. It's amazing how it all came back to me as I was reading the book - the memory is a fantastic thing, quite retentive at times.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book - it's an easy read and told with a sense of humour. I loved all the descriptions of the scenery and the way of life in the 1700s. Ross was such a hero and Demelza was quite a foxy lady but slightly vulnerable too! Some great characterisations and not too much padding to the story. I feel that the series did stay true to the book as I remember it. It was well worth the read and I look forward to reading the rest of the books in the series. I was very sad to turn the last page. Sigh!

Ross Poldark is another contender for the most sexy male character in a book stakes. He's there besides Jamie Fraser, Nathaniel Bonner and Aragorn! :)
currently reading: My Books on Goodreads

Books are mirrors, you only see in them what you already have inside you ~ The Shadow of the Wind

User avatar
MLE (Emily Cotton)
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 3566
Joined: August 2008
Interest in HF: started in childhood with the classics, which, IMHO are HF even if they were contemporary when written.
Favourite HF book: Prince of Foxes, by Samuel Shellabarger
Preferred HF: Currently prefer 1600 and earlier, but I'll read anything that keeps me turning the page.
Location: California Bay Area

Post by MLE (Emily Cotton) » Wed January 20th, 2010, 11:49 pm

Agreed about Ross. So very human, and so very male. Always working out whether he has done his job right, and frustrated that he can't change things faster. I sometimes compare heroes like Ross Poldark and Horatio Hornblower (male creators) to heroes like Francis of Lymond and Jamie Fraser (female creators) as a study in how the genders see each other at their best.
I recognize the other two, but who is Nathaniel Bonner?

User avatar
Vanessa
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 4378
Joined: August 2008
Currently reading: The Farm at the Edge of the World by Sarah Vaughan
Interest in HF: The first historical novel I read was Katherine by Anya Seton and this sparked off my interest in this genre.
Favourite HF book: Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell!
Preferred HF: Any
Location: North Yorkshire, UK

Post by Vanessa » Thu January 21st, 2010, 8:06 am

Nathaniel Bonner is the main male character in Sara Donati's Into the Wilderness series. I read the first one earlier this month and loved it.
currently reading: My Books on Goodreads

Books are mirrors, you only see in them what you already have inside you ~ The Shadow of the Wind

annis
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 4585
Joined: August 2008

Post by annis » Thu January 21st, 2010, 7:23 pm

Bonner is a nod to James Fenimore Cooper's "Leatherstocking Tales". In the "Wilderness" novels he is the son of "Natty" Bumppo who is known as Dan'l "Hawkeye" Bonner in Sara Donati's series, meant as sequels to the "Last of the Mohicans". The series centers around Hawkeye and Cora's son, Nathaniel Bonner.
Last edited by annis on Thu January 21st, 2010, 7:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
Madeleine
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 5860
Joined: August 2008
Currently reading: "Mania" by L J Ross
Preferred HF: Plantagenets, Victorian, crime, dual time-frame
Location: Essex/London

Post by Madeleine » Mon February 22nd, 2010, 12:28 pm

I know I'm a bit behind but I'm halfway through RP now, and quite enjoying it. Poor old Ross has come back to a bit of a mess hasn't he?
Currently reading "Mania" by L J Ross

User avatar
Margaret
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 2440
Joined: August 2008
Interest in HF: I can't answer this in 100 characters. Sorry.
Favourite HF book: Checkmate, the final novel in the Lymond series
Preferred HF: Literary novels. Late medieval and Renaissance.
Location: Catskill, New York, USA
Contact:

Post by Margaret » Tue March 9th, 2010, 4:43 am

At long last, two months late, I was able to clear space in my TBR for this one. What a great read! (I've posted a review at HistoricalNovels.info.) I like the pacing of this. A lot of the novels written more recently veer between breakneck speed and sloooow chunks of backstory. Ross Poldark is nicely paced, not too slow and not too fast, and always moving steadily along, giving readers time to settle into the richness of the setting and the emotions of the characters, while keeping one or more threads of suspense constantly going to keep us turning pages. I really enjoyed the setting, which is so different from settings in England around the same time period, where there is a much greater difference in manners and lifestyle between aristocrats and working class men and women. Even though the class system in Cornwall is unfair - brutal, even - the distinctions between classes are not as strong. The male-female divide is not as sharp, either.
Browse over 5000 historical novel listings (probably well over 5000 by now, but I haven't re-counted lately) and over 700 reviews at www.HistoricalNovels.info

Locked

Return to “Feature of the Month”