Welcome to Litsy!

I 1st heard of this book when researching #Peru for #FoodAndLit but it wouldn't do b/c it's all about France. It is an 18th-c. epistolary novel written by a French woman. The narrator is an Inca “virgin of the sun“ snatched by Spanish conquistadores, then taken by French soldiers to France. Her letters to her Inca fiancé describe France & its mores from the point of view of an outsider - a “Noble Savage“ - uncorrupted by European civilisation.

Not quite, AI, not quite... (prompt "Rousseau's cold remedy bottle")
.......

Of course, many earlier books, especially devotional tracts, had brought tears to the eyes of their readers, but La Nouvelle Héloïse released a flood: "tears," "sweet tears," "tears that are sweet," "delicious tears," "tears of tenderness." One reader sobbed so vehemently that he cured himself of a severe cold.

Rousseau addressed the paradox of his position as a novelist in two prefaces, which explained that novels were bad in themselves because they caused corruption, yet salutary in that they could inspire virtue among those already trapped in a corrupt society.

He also added a further paradox: "This novel is not a novel.
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!!! Cake and eating it!?

(1740)

Hooray for the magic of low expectations! I'd braced myself for a tedious slog, so was pleased to find an unexpectedly engaging story of power and resistance. Pamela's obsession with Virtue doesn't resonate, but as a drama of compulsion and consent, it's surprising how much still works. Of course a lot doesn't work: Pamela is as exasperatingly twee as she is sympathetic, and the hero belongs in prison. But I was prepared for so much worse.

Weekend history geeking.

My #BookSpin read for September is Samuel Richardson's “Pamela“, a book I've eyed with both interest and dread. Pamela is a milestone in the development of the English novel, but it's a work of “conduct literature,“ a genre I associate with stuffy moralizing, running over 700 pages.

And so for the #DoubleSpin the BookSpin Fates have assigned a much shorter stuffless read as my reward for finishing Pamela.

Thanks for hosting, @TheAromaofBooks !

We do not care that we bought the shorts we're wearing at a thrift store during Clinton's second term. Some styles are timeless.

We also do not care that we're posting this on Thursday. Time is a construct, and we can't be expected to keep up with what day it is.

#WDNCW @dabbe

The Latin phrase E Pluribus Unum — Out of Many, One — is our de facto national motto. It was a rallying cry of our founders as they built a single unified nation from a collection of states. It‘s a good reminder of where we need to go.
-Steve Blank

#EPluribusUnum

#JulyJazz

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

So I've just read the play from Mansfield Park 🤓

Short, quick paced, and easy to read, Lovers' Vows is an entertaining little play with some humour. I picked it up to gain a deeper understanding of Mansfield Park, and it will be valuable when thinking about role choices and relationships in the novel. However, I'm not sure the play would linger with me on its own merits.

#JaneAustenThenAndNow @Crinoline_Laphroaig

👏👏👏 You tell him, Captain!

Whether it‘s 1778 or today, no means no. I‘m loving Evelina so much!