So nice to make your acquaintance

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So nice to make your acquaintance

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1InigoMontoya
Modificato: Apr 23, 2007, 7:00 pm

I have just joined this group. I noticed that there wasn't a "newbie" thread, so I thought I might start one -- not just for me, but for whoever might come along.

About me: I'm an Anglophile by birth and domicile. I was born to an American father and an English mother, and am steeped in the cultures of both. A dual citizen, my childhood was in the States (or at whatever American Air Force base my dad was stationed), but I have lived in England for the last 37 years, so I suppose I'm really a Brit at heart.

I love organising things. I was the sort of person who, as a student, would spend hours making revision timetables for exams, and then revise them over and over as I didn't bother with the actual studying. LibraryThing is tailor-made to kick start me into reading again on the realisation of how much I've missed it. It's also a refuge for me from an imploding fandom in which I am involved (never again). I'm doing my best to get back into the more civilised activity of reading with Peter Ackroyd's London: The Biography. I like Peter Ackroyd for his ability to paint the mood of place with words even though he does sometimes bemuse me -- see The House of Doctor Dee.

2miss_read
Apr 24, 2007, 1:51 am

I'm new here, having just been invited to join by Bookbox. Thanks!

I'm another dual citizen - born in the UK, but lived all over the world (mostly in the US) before returning to and settling in the UK. Although my father wasn't American or in the military, it sounds as if we have somewhat similar backgrounds, InigoMontoya.

And, yes, I love organising things as well. I have a feeling most LT members are people with a fondness for organisation and list-making.

3devenish
Apr 24, 2007, 2:31 am

I have also been invited to join this group by Bookbox,which I am delighted to do, I was born in the UK and have lived in Northampton all my life.The town itself is a desert for book-lovers,but has the great advantage of being an excellent point for getting fairly quickly to a great many Book-buying places not too far away.
Anyway I'm always pleased to come across groups devoted to the UK and its residents who are LTers.

4reading_fox
Apr 24, 2007, 4:01 am

Born and bred UKer slowly making my way Northwards after a start in the SouthWest, Guildford, Cambridge and currently domiciled in Manchester. Plenty of Big Box Booksellers, but decent independants are rare upon the ground. I would have expected somewhere as diverese as manchester to have some good ones, but no luck so far....

There are a couple of other UK based LT groups.

5Bookbox
Apr 24, 2007, 4:05 am

Hello - thanks for joining. I'm British but have lived in the US, Middle East, Indonesia and France before returning to live in the UK. My triplets are now 11 and luckily, are all avid readers too!
I'd love to hear peoples' surprise finds and reccomendations away from books pushed at us in chain stores - seems like there are so many gems that get missed.
I enjoy reading a variety of genres but really enjoy books that are well researched so you end up learning interesting stuff as well as being entertained.

6lesezeichen
Apr 24, 2007, 2:37 pm

Thanks bookbox for your invitation and hi to everyone else! Of course I would love to join.

Actually, I am German and I have studied French and Spanish literature at uni but my passion bookwise has always been everything English (and British). Especially the classics (including the corresponding BBC DVDs), but also mysteries and more and more contemporary fiction. I am looking forward to discussing with you!

7sorchah
Apr 24, 2007, 8:12 pm

I'm new by about two minutes. I'm completely american, but I'm worldly.
Hah.

8jonvw Primo messaggio
Apr 24, 2007, 8:52 pm

Hello -- I'm new too. Thanks for creating this group. I'm from the USA, but most of the fiction that I read is from British authors.

9pamelad
Apr 25, 2007, 6:06 am

Thank you for the invitation Bookbox. I'm from Australia - we spell the way the British do. I read many British authors. Two favourites are E F Benson and William Gerhardie.

10aluvalibri
Apr 25, 2007, 7:53 am

Thanks for inviting me, Bookbox!
I feel honoured to be here, as I am neither British nor American nor Australian.
I am an Italian "transplanted" in the US, and I love British literature.
I studied (and graduated in) English lang & lit at the university (this was several decades ago, btw), and my interest in the literature and fiction of English speaking countries has been steadily increasing over the years.
Well, I am happy to be here!

11lisalouhoo
Apr 25, 2007, 3:58 pm

I am from the U.S., but have always had enjoyed anything British: books, movies, comedy. The British just seem to have a better sense of humor, can relate so well to most authors from the U.K. much better than those from the U.S. So many times I have been reading a book, and thought, wow this is really good, very well written, and usually, it has a British author.

12bleuroses
Apr 25, 2007, 8:24 pm

Another Thanks to Bookbox for the invitation!

Born and raised in the US, but I've always loved everything British - Literature/Fiction/Masterpiece Theatre/British Sitcoms/your brilliant use of the language (and of course, your lovely accents!)

Because of LT, I've been even more inspired to read (and reread) more British classics as well as the newly discovered Persephone Press.

13cestovatela
Apr 25, 2007, 10:36 pm

We're a pretty worldly bunch here! I'm American but living in Tokyo for a couple more months at least and I've traveled around a bit. I joined up because my two favorite writers, Kazuo Ishiguro and Virginia Woolf, are Brits.

14Bookbox
Apr 26, 2007, 3:08 am

Hi everyone - what a great international crowd! I also love Kazuo Ishiguro - Remains of the Day is my favourite.

15amancine
Apr 26, 2007, 9:04 am

I am American and woefully un-travelled, but like so many avid readers, have been all over the world through the books I have read.

16mgkbus
Modificato: Apr 26, 2007, 6:57 pm

I am an american of British parents. I have been an anglophile all of my life. My mom's family comes from Bermuda and I've been there more times than I can count.

My literary anglo-love started with Countess Elizabeth Longford's Oxford Book Of Royal Anecdotes, in recent times that is. My fascination of English Culture started with translating "La Mort d'Arthur" when I was 9.

My friends all know about my anglophilic proclivities and often favour me with books they find. My all time favourite two books are "the Queen's Jewels - the personal collection of Elizabeth II" by Leslie Field and from Alison Weir, "Britain's Royal Families : the Complete Genealogy." Yes, they're both non fiction.

other than those, I am also a huge Shakespeare, Isherwood and Wilde fan.

oh, and Dylan Thomas at xmas time, natch

17Oklahoma
Apr 27, 2007, 2:48 am

I have to confess...I'm American. Never been outside the country, But my family is only two generations removed from Ireland/England. We were southern and traditional. My parents raised me on classic english literature, British movies and music.

I read my first Agatha Christie at the age if eight or nine, my first Arthur Conan Doyle at ten. I remain a big fan of both. I also love Dickens, Charlotte and Emily Bronte, Jane Austen, Douglas Adams, and especially Robert Graves.

18Bookbox
Apr 27, 2007, 9:31 am

Hi - welcome on board! It's heart-warming to know how internationally popular British authors are.

19InigoMontoya
Apr 28, 2007, 9:33 am

I'm not sure if it's the done thing (and would be grateful to be put right if not), but I've started an unrelated group called "Go Review That Book!" It's small part game, large part encouragement to write reviews. I thought I'd let you guys know in case any of you might be interested in playing along.

20syllabub
Apr 28, 2007, 2:22 pm

Questo messaggio è stato cancellato dall'autore.

21amandameale
Apr 30, 2007, 9:06 am

Well, I wasn't invited....BUT
I love English literature - it's my favourite and I subscribe to Literary Review (UK) which is my favourite magazine of all time. I'm Australian.

22bleuroses
Apr 30, 2007, 8:59 pm

amadameale, it wouldn't have been the same without you!

23Dasia
Apr 30, 2007, 10:05 pm

I wasn't invited either but I can at least claim to be new here...should probably be cataloguing my untidy stacks of books but it's more interesting to read and post messages. I'm a Canadian married to a Greek; we've lived in several places in Europe (not Britain, alas) as well as Cyprus.

Many of my favourite authors are British, such as Margaret Drabble, Louis de Bernieres and Laurie Graham (love her take on the States in The Future Homemakers of America). I tend to like books set in Britain even if the authors aren't British, for example Three Junes by Julia Glass.

Consider myself lucky to get PBS from the States, which has broadcast so much great British TV starting with the Forsyte Saga (the first one!)

24aluvalibri
Mag 1, 2007, 7:46 am

Welcome, Dasia!!

:-))

25bleuroses
Mag 1, 2007, 10:03 am

#23 Dasia....welcome indeed. Living in Cyprus must be beautiful!

I noticed that you have two books by Mary Webb, one published by Virago Press. There is a group here on Virago Modern Classics that you might find interesting. Also, in a similar vein, there is another group for Persephone Readers.

Here are the two website links to check out:
http://www.virago.co.uk/
http://www.persephonebooks.co.uk/

Looking forward to see you around LT!

26Dasia
Mag 1, 2007, 1:20 pm

Thank you aluvalibri and bleuroses for the welcome. I look forward to meeting booklovers and finding out about books that are new to me. Will check out the links you mentioned, bleuroses.

Yes, Cyprus is beautiful. And so many layers of history on such a small island.

27Bookbox
Mag 2, 2007, 3:51 am

Welcome to all the new members - it's great to see the group growing. Please invite people you think will be interested...

28hsp Primo messaggio
Mag 31, 2007, 9:13 pm

Thank you for inviting me to join, too, bookbox. This forum looks wonderful. I am American, but am an anglophile at heart. The last time I was in England, I felt so at home and relaxed, so unlike how I feel here. The thing I want most in the world is to go book shopping in London :-) Most of the authors I read are British, and my favorite genre is historical fiction, mostly medieval English HF. I write book reveiws and am the distributer for The Historical Novels Society, based out of Devon. That's how I keep myself sane living "across the pond."

29peryodista
Modificato: Giu 2, 2007, 1:51 pm

Many thanks, bookbox, for the invitation. Several of my favorite writers are British. When Ian McEwan came up with Atonement, I was so enthralled by it that most of my friends ended up getting copies for Christmas that year. I've also enjoyed reading Virginia Woolf (both her novels and her commentary), A.S. Byatt, Jeanette Winterson and P.G. Wodehouse.

I've never been to England (the closest was Paris, last year), but I hope to visit in the next few years. I'm Asian, by the way. My parents introduced me to books by E.M. Forster and Jane Austen when I was a teenager. Oh, I also enjoyed some works by Nick Hornby, particularly How to be Good, About a Boy and High Fidelity. Didn't care much for the movie versions of the latter two, though.

30Osbaldistone
Giu 2, 2007, 4:53 pm

Don't want to start another thread - this seems like a good place to ask this question: PBS in the past year or so screened what I believe was a new British production of Charles Dickins's Bleak House. It is about 6 hours long, and I've not watched it.

I'm wondering if anyone familiar with Dickins's work has seen this production and can offer an opinion/critique? I caught it on tape, so an opinion by someone who's up on Dickins might save me 6 hours or might convince me to finallly carve out some time on a weekend.

Os.

31jagmuse
Modificato: Giu 4, 2007, 11:00 pm

Osbaldistone - I'm not a Dickens expert, and I've only just started reading Bleak House, but for what it's worth, I thought the PBS production was EXCELLENT, with lots of great period detail, and based on what I've read so far of the book, fairly close to the book. The acting is wonderful, with lots of familiar British actors in great roles - all the colorful Dickens characters. I'd say that even if it doesn't parallel the book as closely as you'd like, it's worth watching. My two cents anyway!

32hazelk
Giu 3, 2007, 6:16 pm

>31 jagmuse:: Quite agree. The BBC did a great job with the adaptation. It's a favourite Dickens of mine and I knew they'd obviously have to make cuts but the essential spirit and atmosphere of the book was there and the acting was tremendous.

33Osbaldistone
Giu 4, 2007, 3:30 pm

Thanks.

Os.

34literarysarah
Giu 5, 2007, 12:29 pm

I just have to add my voice to the Bleak House recommendation. I loved the book and the BBC/PBS series did an admirable job portraying Dickens's satire as well as the complex plot. It inspired me to dip back into the book (it's been years since I first read it) and it's been an enjoyable rediscovery.

35Grammath
Dic 6, 2007, 9:26 am

Pure bred Brit here, and dyed in the wool Londoner. I get a twitch if I go north of Watford.

36PensiveCat
Dic 6, 2007, 9:35 am

I suffer from acute Anglophilia, but it's the best kind of suffering. I can't get enough of books from Britain, especially anything historical, and have been to London and other parts of England (and Scotland) six times. Would like to make a seventh, but finances and exchange rates being as they are, I'll have to live vicariously through literature and BBCAmerica. I'm American, but my Dad referred to my background as "Scitalian", Scottish and Italian.

37Allie_Mag_79
Modificato: Apr 23, 2008, 12:33 am

I'm an American and I've been attracted to British things ever since I was 7 and I read The Secret Garden. I think it was the concept of 'moors' which especially got to me (it seemed so exotic!). It only grew worse from there - especially when I read the Brontes when I was about 12 (more moors). I really love 19th and early 20th century British novels, British tv, and British movies (Mike Leigh and Powell and Pressburger in particular).

I've never been able to go to the U.K., but I'm hoping to in the next year or so (but it's looking less likely due to our lousy dollar!).

38dreamlikecheese
Apr 22, 2008, 6:12 am

Hi. My name is dreamlikecheese, and I'm an Anglophile.

I was born in the UK (and got citizenship because of it!) but I have lived most of my life in Australia. I've been hooked on all things British ever since I read my first Enid Blyton book. When I was six, I wanted to go to Oxford University (who wants to be a doctor/fire fighter/marine biologist when you could be a student instead...). Truth be told, I'd still like to, but it'll be a few years off, if ever.

Spending a year in England while I was at high school was the nail in the coffin really (grim metaphor)...ever since then I've been determined that I WILL live in England. I hope to be there in about a year's time, once I get this pesky degree out of the way.

I love British books, British TV, Britsh humour, but I will never understand why they like Australian soap operas. Maybe I will discover that after I move.

39AquariusNat
Apr 22, 2008, 11:23 am

Hiya , I'm Natalie ! I discovered this group today when I looked up the "most active" group list and it just screamed at me to take a look ! LOL ! I've lived in Michigan my whole life . But have been an anglophile since falling for all the british bands in the 80s which lead me to watching brit-made movies and finally reading mostly britsh mags and authors ! My faves are Shakespeare , Lord Byron( share his B-Day,"sigh" ) , Anna Maxted , and Sophie Kinsella ! Looking forward to becomming friends with everyone here !

40bookmark123
Apr 23, 2008, 1:52 am

Hi dreamlikecheese.

As an ex-Pom who has lived in Oz for 30 years now, could it be because the sun shines all the time?

41mstrust
Apr 23, 2008, 3:42 pm

Hi- I'm so glad to see some activity on this board again.
#39- I also was led to love all things British by the bands in the 80's! I haven't been to England in 20 years though. We were going to go this fall (my husband has never been overseas) but then, like everyone else, we put it off because of the exchange rate.
Besides the lovely bookshops and historical sites, I have a strong interest in the British theatre and read plays from John Arden,John Osborne and Harold Pinter.

42PacificBlue
Mag 16, 2008, 5:46 am

Hi. I am reasonably new at Librarything also, and joined a few groups a day or so ago. I'm a kiwi but married an Englishman, so have lived in Cambridgeshire for the last seven years. Before that I was quite well travelled, and have worked in NZ, Australia and Ireland previously. My husband and I married halfway - in Hawaii, and I do miss the sunshine and coastlines of down-under, but love the English countryside I live in now.

Most of my childhood and student reading was with British authors, of course, and still continues to be now that I have a five year old daughter.

43aluvalibri
Mag 16, 2008, 7:43 am

Welcome to LT and thanks for joining in, PacificBlue.
I am sure you will love it here, just like we all do.
:-))

44mstrust
Mag 16, 2008, 12:06 pm

Welcome PacificBlue!

45KathiJ
Ott 16, 2008, 6:00 pm

Hi. Haven't been on LT very long but I am really enjoying it. I was going thru "1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die" picking out books I thought I might like. Most of them are by British authors. This group looked like a good place to talk about them, but I'm not sure this group is even active anymore. Anyone out there?

46sqdancer
Ott 16, 2008, 6:11 pm

*waves Hello*

Welcome to LT and welcome to the group!

47beachgirl66
Nov 23, 2008, 11:28 pm

Hello all,
I'm new to this group also...I adore English humor the "jeeves" books, and love a good cup of English Breakfast tea, not sure if that counts! Hoping to make some new friends and perhaps learn a thing or two about British Culture.
Cheers~
Michelle

48haidiw
Dic 3, 2008, 2:05 pm

Hello everyone!

I've joined the group (and indeed the whole site) recently. I love catalogues and I dream of a home library, all neatly organised!

I'm a Finn, but I've lived in England on a few occasions during my late teens and early twenties (=now). I'm also about to finish my MA degree in English, and there lies my reason for looking for a group just like this. (Although I will probably post the same question in another group as well)

I am looking for a particular type of book, but unfortunately what I am looking for isn't listed in library catalogues. My thesis topic is to compare the working class language in Educating Rita by Willy Russell to a similar, new book. Does this ring a bell at all with anyone? I would prefer a play because they obviously rely more on dialogue, but the main requirements are that it has to be by an English author (a Northener if at all possible!) and at least one of the characters has to use working class vocabulary.

Many thanks if you read my post all the way through, and if you can spare five seconds to think about it. If you point me to the right book I will love you forever! :)

Best wishes to everyone in Best of British!
-Heidi

49aluvalibri
Dic 3, 2008, 2:06 pm

Welcome to the group, Heidi, and to the LT family!
:-))

50thorold
Dic 3, 2008, 6:08 pm

>48 haidiw:

Not so easy - I don't think Northern working class language is as fashionable in literary terms, or as well-defined, as it used to be. Depends a bit on how "new" the book has to be. Off the top of my head I can think of a couple of things - if you want a play, what about The history boys? - reasonably new, but the author is quite old and the setting isn't exactly contemporary. Or Reginald Hill's detective stories, where you have some characters talking standard English and others more or less broad Yorkshire (and those of Val McDermid, which are often set in the North-West).

If you want modern plays with northern settings, try searching for dramatists with Bretton Hall in their c.v. (John Godber and co.)

Probably the best thing to do is start with a few Tagmashes here on LibraryThing, e.g.
http://www.librarything.com/tag/fiction%2Cliverpool
http://www.librarything.com/tag/manchester,fiction

- you'll have to filter out all the historical fiction, which is no use to you, of course.

51chrisharpe
Dic 3, 2008, 7:18 pm

#48 Welcome to the group Heidi. How about Trainspotting? Hehehe! There's plenty of northern working class dialogue in there, though the author is of course Scottish.

52haidiw
Dic 6, 2008, 10:26 am

Thank you for your replies!

re: 50, I have actually read History Boys recently, and while it was a brilliant read, I didn't find clear enough social stratification between the characters. I had not even realised I could use the tag search for this purpose: I just checked the subject categories for Educating Rita and found that the only subject was 'comedy', which is of course really quite useless. Anyway I have a whole list of authors to look into now/whenever I can be bothered, so thank you for the tip. :)

I did also find a fair few of Scottish authors, but I'm a bit weary of those because my recent trip to Scotland didn't even begin to convince me that I might be able to make sense of their dialect!
As far as the age of the book is concerned - the very idea of my thesis is to compare old (=1980s) and new, so even early 90s starts to be a bit out of date. I hope I haven't bitten off more than I can chew!

Best regards to you all :)

53bobsbestbooks
Dic 8, 2008, 3:50 pm

Have you considered the plays of Jim Cartwright? He's from Farnworth near Bolton in Lancashire, England. His first play was "Road," but his best work was a play titled" "The Rise and Fall of Little Voice."

You can read about him and his work on Wikipedia here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Voice_(film)

54thorold
Dic 8, 2008, 5:22 pm

...and I always thought Frank Finlay was the only famous person to come from Farnworth.

It's a great film, but the play was from 1992, so it probably counts as far too old as well :-(

55haidiw
Gen 20, 2009, 4:02 pm

Firstly, I must apologise for taking over the thread!

Secondly, after putting together a long list of potentials, based on your recommendations, and others, here's my final choice: Jonathan Larkin with his Paradise Bound, which doesn't turn up in the touchstone search. No, it wasn't on the list (and nobody else on LT has anything by him), but I sat on the floor in a Cambridge book shop for ages and went through just about everything they had, buying a whole stack of potentials and back-ups.

So I just wanted to thank everyone for all the tips, and, indeed, very nice to make your acquaintance!

-Heidi

56Catgwinn
Mar 25, 2009, 8:43 pm

Hello,
I lived in England for several years (1980-1986)...loved it. I lived in Mildenhall in Suffolk, an easy drive from there to Cambridge, Norwich, Bury St Edmunds, Lavenham, Ely/Ely Cathedral, Kings Lynn. A day-trip to London was accomplished by driving part-way, then taking the train into the city. York & Yorkshire were also favorites.

I currently live a mid-size town in North Texas, get my UK 'fix' by reading novels set in the UK and enjoying British films & TV shows. I have lived in, or visited, several different US states, mostly in the American West and the Pacific Coast, plus northern Florida & New Orleans LA. I also spent 18 months living in Yokota, Japan (in the Tokyo metro area) in the late 1960s.

57ashmolean1
Mar 25, 2009, 8:49 pm

I am from the UK and living in Oklahoma...originally from Stamford, Lincs. which is close to Cambridge in US terms i.e. about 1 hours drive away. I love 19th century historical books and all BBC TV...well nearly!

58Catgwinn
Apr 20, 2009, 6:35 pm

#57 ashmolean,
A belated response to your posting....Living in North Texas (just north of the city of Dallas), I 'm somewhat of a neighbor depending upon where you live in Oklahoma.
Kings Lynn in Northwest Norfolk is probably the closest I came to Stamford, when I was in England. Or, Peterborough in Cambridgeshire (went Peterbourough Cathederal). When guests visited us in the UK, they were always surprised when we drove someplace, that places were so close. The terrain and mood could change so much that it felt like we'd driven farther than we had.

59ashmolean1
Mag 2, 2009, 9:40 pm

Nice to meet you. I suppose Dallas is fairly close but we never go there! We live in Bethany, near Yukon. My daughter has just moved back to Stamford, MArket Deeping in fact and will be going there soon. Are you originally from the US?