Pagina principaleGruppiConversazioniAltroStatistiche
Cerca nel Sito
Questo sito utilizza i cookies per fornire i nostri servizi, per migliorare le prestazioni, per analisi, e (per gli utenti che accedono senza fare login) per la pubblicità. Usando LibraryThing confermi di aver letto e capito le nostre condizioni di servizio e la politica sulla privacy. Il tuo uso del sito e dei servizi è soggetto a tali politiche e condizioni.

Risultati da Google Ricerca Libri

Fai clic su di un'immagine per andare a Google Ricerca Libri.

William (Virago Modern Classics) di E. H.…
Sto caricando le informazioni...

William (Virago Modern Classics) (originale 1925; edizione 1994)

di E. H. Young (Autore)

UtentiRecensioniPopolaritàMedia votiCitazioni
1614168,468 (3.72)25
He was in the presence of stranger...some one hard and inflexible, who surely had not borne his lovely daughter. For years William and Kate have made a ritual of her birthday. Yet now that their children are adults, this gathering of the family offers Kate little comfort. Their son Walter is quietly dependable, but their daughters do not share their mother's perspective: Dora ridicules Herbert's devotion; the unmarried Janet seeks her liberty; Mary has made a virtue out of scrimping and saving, and Lydia gads in London with no thought for Oliver. Unlike Kate, William acknowledges that marital harmony can be a social illusion. When Lydia's behaviour confirms Kate's worst fears, it is William to whom Lydia turns. As disturbing as his daughter's unhappiness is the difference it reveals between himself and his wife, for William can love without judgement and Kate cannot.… (altro)
Nessuno
Sto caricando le informazioni...

Iscriviti per consentire a LibraryThing di scoprire se ti piacerà questo libro.

Attualmente non vi sono conversazioni su questo libro.

» Vedi le 25 citazioni

Mostra 4 di 4
William, An Englishman by Cicely Mary Hamilton; Great War Theme Read; Persephone; (2 1/2*; currently though I am still mulling it over)

I've just finished William, an Englishman. I did not find it awfully engaging but am glad I read it. I must say that Hamilton's style of writing is quite different.

William & Griselda are young lovers who met at political rallies & meetings. They are against their country going to war but are innocents & unknowledgeable about the world around them. They are only focused on each other & their anti-war meetings, pamphlets, flyers & protesting the war. They attend war rallies and disrupt them, getting themselves drug outside, etc. Other than this they really have no lives.

They decide to marry and take a 3 week honeymoon in the Belgian Ardennes at the behest of a fellow revolutionist who owns a cabin there. They, neither one, speak or understand the French language. Having had a lovely honeymoon, they leave on foot to travel to the train station expecting to return home to England. But on the way the war catches up with them and they are unwittingly captured by the Germans who have taken Belgium. They are separated and both are in deep shock as they neither one know anything about actual war & warfare but only about protesting. The Germans who capture them are not interested in verbal disputing & do as they will with them.

At this point the book goes from being a genial story to becoming rather a horrendous war story about these two young persons, especially William. The couple are not prepared either mentally nor physically for the occurrences of wartime.

I was caught up in the beginning, then came a great bit of what seemed to me to be 'stream of consciousness' to wade through, then back to the war.........

Like I said I am glad I read it and it gave me a different insight into the Great War period of time. Overall I think it was just an okay read for me. I shall have to ponder it over time & see how I truly feel about it. But perhaps that is one of the marks of a good/great book. ( )
2 vota rainpebble | Aug 21, 2014 |
I only discovered E H Young for myself in 2011 – I read Miss Mole, The Misses Mallets and The Vicar’s daughter last year, and have had this novel and two other EH Young novels waiting for me on my tbr for a while. I think might well be my favourite E H Young to date. The novel is set in Radstowe, a fictional town E H Young used in her novels, and was apparently based upon Clifton in Bristol.
William of the title is William Nesbitt, an ageing successful business man, happily married to Kate for many year, they have five grown up children. Mable married to John, Walter married to Violet, Dora married to Herbert, Lydia living in London and married to Oliver, while Janet the youngest remains unmarried and living at home. Kate Nesbitt has her own idea of how her children should live their lives, how they should behave toward their husbands and children; they often unsettle and worry her. William however is a remarkable father, he tries hard to understand his children, but more than that he seems to properly understand that they need to make their own way in the world. That all he can do is support them.
It had been different when they were all young and at school. She had felt then that they were her own, but perhaps she had been mistaken, perhaps she had not known their secret selves, and she remembered, for the first time for years, how she had once found Lydia crying in the nursery and had not been able to find out what her trouble was. It seemed to her that what she had missed then might be evading her still. She had given birth to five bodies and she would always be a stranger to their souls. This was a terrible thought and it would have been more terrible still if she had known that it was William's too.
Lydia seems to stand out from the family – she is loved by them all – although there appears to be a slightly more uneasy relationship with her sister Janet, but it is with William that she has a particularly special relationship. She calls her father “William” always with a touch of easy affectionate humour; she knows absolutely that he will not turn his back on her, no matter what she does. So it is to William that Lydia inevitably turns when she decides to leave her husband Oliver, and go off to live with another man. At this time of course this was a dreadful thing, and could ruin a woman and indeed her whole family socially. Lydia’s behaviour is treated very differently by William and his wife Kate. William is left confused and saddened by his wife’s reaction – this woman with whom he has shared his life for so long.
“He was in the presence of a stranger, someone quicker than himself in this matter, someone hard and inflexible, who surely had not borne his lovely daughter. He knew that for the moment her pain was controlled by her desire for action and her need to have the facts themselves in her grasp, but her hardness against Lydia stiffened him against herself.”
Yet despite their differing perspectives, William continues to care for his wife deeply, his is concerned when she is ill, when Kate travels to Lydia’s new home to confront her daughter, William follows, knowing she will be in distress and confusion and knowing she’ll have need of him. He is a wise and wonderful man, and is really just as interfering as Kate, but in a much gentler way, and his understanding of his children seems almost modern. Kate must come to her own acceptance of the situation, and William understands this too.
William and Kate’s youngest daughter Janet – is a more elusive character – she declares she will not marry, and yet neither William nor the reader quite believes this. William sets out to help his spikey youngest child to find her way in matters of the heart with quiet observation and just a nudge or two in the right direction.
This is such a lovely novel, it is a wonderfully realistic and sharply observed picture of family life and makes me look forward enormously to the two I have waiting for me on my overflowing tbr shelves. ( )
2 vota Heaven-Ali | Aug 27, 2012 |
It had been different when they were all young and at school. She had felt then that they were her own, but perhaps she had been mistaken, perhaps she had not known their secret selves, and she remembered, for the first time for years, how she had once found Lydia crying in the nursery and had not been able to find out what her trouble was. It seemed to her that what she had missed then might be evading her still. She had given birth to five bodies and she would always be a stranger to their souls. This was a terrible thought and it would have been more terrible still if she had known that it was William's too.

William and Kate Nesbitt raised five children; all but the youngest, Janet, have left home to start families of their own. William has a successful career in shipping, and they live comfortably. The extended family often gathers at their home, for Sunday lunch and special occasions like Kate's birthday. William and Kate should be content, happy with the success of their children and ready to resume life as a couple.

But Kate, in particular, struggles with letting go. She's not completely happy with some of the choices her children have made, choices ranging from partners to articles of clothing. She frets constantly, where William is more pragmatic. He understands that children grow up, separate, and forge their own paths. But both William and Kate are sorely tested when their second-youngest daughter Lydia leaves her husband to live with another man. In the early twentieth century, this was simply was. not. done.

Kate is crushed because Lydia confided in William instead of her. She is outraged by Lydia's decision, and cuts off communication. She tries to prevent siblings from contacting Lydia as well. But instead of feeling satisfied, her self-righteousness leaves her feeling miserable. William is equally unhappy, but his feelings are directed more at Kate than Lydia. Who is this woman? Why has she built a wall between herself and her daughter? He is intensely irritated by Kate's petty behavior and her hardened exterior. Meanwhile, Janet is threatening to fly the nest in her own, quiet way. As she asserts her independence both William and Kate try to influence the outcome. Sadly, Kate's efforts seem controlling and shrewish. William remains a confidante, inherently good. Both Lydia and Janet's situations are resolved in the course of the novel, but not without much emotion and pain for William and Kate.

I found this book quite emotional, perhaps because I will soon experience my eldest flying the nest. Like William and Kate, my husband and I often reflect on who our children have become and hope that we continue to be involved in their lives to an appropriate degree. And I could empathize with Kate, whose efforts to forge adult relationships with her children often fell flat. E. H. Yong has a keen eye for mannerisms and foibles, as well as the dynamics of human relationships. In William, she created a very realistic family portrait that remains valid today, even though social norms have changed. ( )
8 vota lauralkeet | Aug 1, 2011 |
This is a lovely book, although perhaps it starts a little slowly. On the first page we meet William Nesbitt as he walks home from work, and perceive immediately how pleasant and likable he is. A successful business man living in Radstowe, an ex-seaman, a man conscious of beauty and of order. But perhaps his most important quality, at least for the story that follows, is revealed in a trivial incident when he notices a little iron gate loose on its hinges. Despite the fact that he likes things working properly, and for his own enjoyment of order he would like the owner to fix it, he does not intervene. He recognises that it is someone else's business, they do not need to do what suits him. Continued ( )
  apenguinaweek | May 11, 2011 |
Mostra 4 di 4
nessuna recensione | aggiungi una recensione

» Aggiungi altri autori

Nome dell'autoreRuoloTipo di autoreOpera?Stato
E. H. Youngautore primariotutte le edizionicalcolato
Bayley, JohnIntroduzioneautore secondarioalcune edizioniconfermato

Appartiene alle Collane Editoriali

Devi effettuare l'accesso per contribuire alle Informazioni generali.
Per maggiori spiegazioni, vedi la pagina di aiuto delle informazioni generali.
Titolo canonico
Dati dalle informazioni generali inglesi. Modifica per tradurlo nella tua lingua.
Titolo originale
Titoli alternativi
Data della prima edizione
Personaggi
Dati dalle informazioni generali inglesi. Modifica per tradurlo nella tua lingua.
Luoghi significativi
Eventi significativi
Film correlati
Epigrafe
Dedica
Incipit
Dati dalle informazioni generali inglesi. Modifica per tradurlo nella tua lingua.
When William Nesbitt stepped out of the old, gabled house in which he carried on his business, he was faced with a view of one of his owm steamboats moored alongside the wharf across the road.
Citazioni
Dati dalle informazioni generali inglesi. Modifica per tradurlo nella tua lingua.
It had been different when they were all young and at school. She had felt then that they were her own, but perhaps she had been mistaken, perhaps she had not known their secret selves, and she remembered, for the first time for years, how she had once found Lydia crying in the nursery and had not been able to find out what her trouble was. It seemed to her that what she had missed then might be evading her still. She had given birth to five bodies and she would always be a stranger to their souls. This was a terrible thought and it would have been more terrible still if she had known that it was William's too.
That was the world's way! It took the thoughtless marriage of the very young for the sacred thing it could not be, and maturer love for reckless passion.
Wilfrid protested, "I was only letting Miss Mole know that this is a
cultured household ... We have Familiar Quotations on our bookshelves and
they save a deal of trouble and hard work."
"If you're hinting that Father hasn't read as much as you have --" ...
"All the same, I'll bet you he hasn't. I don't blame him. He's a busy man.
He's the kind of man Familiar
Quotations was made for, and he'd be a fool if he didn't take advantage of
it."
Ultime parole
Dati dalle informazioni generali inglesi. Modifica per tradurlo nella tua lingua.
(Click per vedere. Attenzione: può contenere anticipazioni.)
Nota di disambiguazione
Redattore editoriale
Elogi
Lingua originale
DDC/MDS Canonico
LCC canonico

Risorse esterne che parlano di questo libro

Wikipedia in inglese

Nessuno

He was in the presence of stranger...some one hard and inflexible, who surely had not borne his lovely daughter. For years William and Kate have made a ritual of her birthday. Yet now that their children are adults, this gathering of the family offers Kate little comfort. Their son Walter is quietly dependable, but their daughters do not share their mother's perspective: Dora ridicules Herbert's devotion; the unmarried Janet seeks her liberty; Mary has made a virtue out of scrimping and saving, and Lydia gads in London with no thought for Oliver. Unlike Kate, William acknowledges that marital harmony can be a social illusion. When Lydia's behaviour confirms Kate's worst fears, it is William to whom Lydia turns. As disturbing as his daughter's unhappiness is the difference it reveals between himself and his wife, for William can love without judgement and Kate cannot.

Non sono state trovate descrizioni di biblioteche

Descrizione del libro
Riassunto haiku

Discussioni correnti

Nessuno

Copertine popolari

Link rapidi

Voto

Media: (3.72)
0.5
1 1
1.5
2 1
2.5
3 3
3.5 2
4 12
4.5 3
5 1

Sei tu?

Diventa un autore di LibraryThing.

 

A proposito di | Contatto | LibraryThing.com | Privacy/Condizioni d'uso | Guida/FAQ | Blog | Negozio | APIs | TinyCat | Biblioteche di personaggi celebri | Recensori in anteprima | Informazioni generali | 203,252,935 libri! | Barra superiore: Sempre visibile