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May 2011 Book of the Month: As Meat Loves Salt

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.)
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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 June 9th, 2011, 11:23 am

No, the characters weren't particularly likeable. I don't think we were supposed to like them, were we? One's a murderer and the other's a bit fickle.
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

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Madeleine
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 5859
Joined: August 2008
Currently reading: "The Whitstable Pearl Mystery" by Julie Wassmer
Preferred HF: Plantagenets, Victorian, crime, dual time-frame
Location: Essex/London

Post by Madeleine » Thu June 9th, 2011, 1:11 pm

A bit fickle! At least Jacob is consistent and knows what he wants.
Currently reading "The Whitstable Pearl Mystery" by Julie Wassmer

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 June 9th, 2011, 5:11 pm

Yes, Jacob did know what he wanted, so much so that it was quite an obsession. It was a bit like 'Fatal Attraction'! He was the male equivalent of a 'bunny boiler'.
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

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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
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Post by Margaret » Thu June 9th, 2011, 6:28 pm

He was the male equivalent of a 'bunny boiler'.
What a great expression - I never heard it before!
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

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 June 9th, 2011, 7:17 pm

I think it first started with the film 'Fatal Attraction'where the Glenn Close character boils the daughter's rabbit.
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
Madeleine
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 5859
Joined: August 2008
Currently reading: "The Whitstable Pearl Mystery" by Julie Wassmer
Preferred HF: Plantagenets, Victorian, crime, dual time-frame
Location: Essex/London

Post by Madeleine » Fri June 10th, 2011, 9:32 am

Finally finished this last night - well it was left very open wasn't it? I'd liked to have known what happened to the "colony" ie if they survived, but I think it was always a recipe for disaster - idealism rarely works does it, certainly not in these books anyway! Human nature and competitiveness always seems to take over in the end.

I thought it was well-written but unfortunately the story just wasn't engaging enough for me. I preferred the first part of the book and found the second half a bit tedious, I just felt like I was waiting for the inevitable ructions at the end when everything started to go wrong; even without the landowner wanting them off, the cracks were starting to appear and it wouldn't have been long before it all went pear-shaped.
Currently reading "The Whitstable Pearl Mystery" by Julie Wassmer

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sweetpotatoboy
Bibliophile
Posts: 1641
Joined: August 2008
Location: London, UK

Post by sweetpotatoboy » Fri June 10th, 2011, 10:21 pm

Incidentally, I've just come across mention of a 1975 movie on the Diggers movement called "Winstanley" that was based on a 1961 novel by David Caute called "Comrade Jacob"...

The plot is not the same (it's set in Cornwall for a start) but the Diggers and 'Jacob'. Just made me wonder whether it inspired McCann in some way...

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 » Sat June 11th, 2011, 5:26 pm

I have to say I found the parts to do with the 'diggers' quite interesting. It's made me want to read other books sets round this period in time - they seem a little thin on the ground, although I do have Lindsey Davis' Rebels & Traitors which is a bit of a tome!!! A lot of books are set just after the Civil War or perhaps it's just the ones I've read. :rolleyes:
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
Madeleine
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 5859
Joined: August 2008
Currently reading: "The Whitstable Pearl Mystery" by Julie Wassmer
Preferred HF: Plantagenets, Victorian, crime, dual time-frame
Location: Essex/London

Post by Madeleine » Sat June 11th, 2011, 6:33 pm

It hasn't made me want to read much more about that period! Although I do have McCann's more recent novel, The Wilding, to read - hope it's better than As Meat....which has gone straight into the charity shop bag!
Currently reading "The Whitstable Pearl Mystery" by Julie Wassmer

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 » Sat June 11th, 2011, 6:37 pm

It's totally different, Madeleine, and it's set after the Civil War. It has more of a mystery to 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

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