tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26654079.post469160743804839295..comments2023-05-21T14:46:54.138+01:00Comments on FictionBitch: Looking Back to Look ForwardElizabeth Baineshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17193751871434773972noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26654079.post-85447791961367194262009-09-21T12:25:24.676+01:002009-09-21T12:25:24.676+01:00Exactly, Sheenagh, a point I meant to make (though...Exactly, Sheenagh, a point I meant to make (though I think someone on the Guardian blogs page does make it).Elizabeth Baineshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17193751871434773972noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26654079.post-68022950711660909792009-09-21T12:21:27.641+01:002009-09-21T12:21:27.641+01:00He seems not to have noticed that an awful lot of ...He seems not to have noticed that an awful lot of 19th-century novelists also tended to set books in the recent past, presumably to get a bit of distance from the events. Like it matters anyway...Sheenagh Pughhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02735299981866333316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26654079.post-6937248316922985592009-09-14T10:48:54.349+01:002009-09-14T10:48:54.349+01:00Thsnks for this, Adele. Yes, it is a matter of hor...Thsnks for this, Adele. Yes, it is a matter of horror re history in schools - a matter of real urgency, in fact, I think.<br /><br />I must catch up with you re the Booker shortlist, though!Elizabeth Baineshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17193751871434773972noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26654079.post-50676105677633424382009-09-14T10:37:50.698+01:002009-09-14T10:37:50.698+01:00I am horrified at the disappearance of history as ...I am horrified at the disappearance of history as a subject and see no great problems with historical novels or novels set in the past. Writers should be allowed to set their novels where and when they like! The current shortlist ought, I reckon, to have Brooklyn by Colm Toibin on it, but I've read three of them (Byatt, Waters and Mantel) and enjoyed all of them HUGELY! You can pick holes of course but still, three terrific novels by any standard, I think.adele gerasnoreply@blogger.com