Friday 25 May 2012

Wonderful Victorian websites

Broaden your Victorian horizons by taking a look at these interesting websites:

Girls' Literature and Culture Blog

Dr Michelle Smith from the University of Melbourne writes about what it was like to be a girl in the Victorian and Edwardian era - what you would have read, worn, and done with your time. She's also written a book on the same subject titled Empire in British Girls' Literature and Culture: Imperial Girls, 1880-1915.

According to Smith, "from the nineteenth century [...], women have learned through women's magazines and how they present and construct ideas about women's dress and appearance how to be appropriately feminine". This is such a relevant and controversial theme today, with issues such as eating disorders and the objectification of women permeating media discourse.

Queen Victoria's Online Scrapbook

A fantastic interactive scrapbook of Queen Victoria's life and times, with tons of images (paintings, documents and photographs), detailed facts and even some video clips from later in her reign.

Dickensblog

An assortment of every possible news snippet or website post that relates to Charles Dickens and his work. The fun, informal tone of blogger Gina Dalfonzo's writing invites you right in.

Judging a book by its cover


How important is a book's cover? Let's say you're looking to buy a particular classic. Are you more likely to buy the more expensive one with the beautiful cover, or the one with the lowest price (after all, the content is what matters!)? What do you look prefer: hardcover/softcover? Small print/large print? Illustrated or not?

Tuesday 1 May 2012

A whole new level of fan fiction

If you're a fan of the Sherlock Holmes stories (or any of the countless adaptations), read Jeanette Laredo's insights on the long history of this character's followers here. Talk about taking your literature seriously!