tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post9176843631678236457..comments2024-03-23T12:38:46.260+00:00Comments on The History Girls: CHARACTER or THE LURE OF POINTY TREE GARDENSMary Hoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06241989732624913706noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-86867296068693401822012-02-04T10:56:25.387+00:002012-02-04T10:56:25.387+00:00Eve's Katie Price/ Louis XIV comment made me l...Eve's Katie Price/ Louis XIV comment made me laugh - quelle horreur! But biographers all do seem to concur that he really was extremely polite to all classes of society, even workmen. Vincent Cronin suggested that his experience of leading men on the battlefield taught him that a word of kindness won him loyalty and affection more effectively than terrifying his men. And he was always a popular monarch. Leslie - I promise not to forget the 'common people'! The Versailles episode is one in a story that features a working class girl from Mansfield more than the Sun King. Thanks v. much for comments.Linda B-Ahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01599899073420595717noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-12606515110040335382012-02-03T20:30:21.470+00:002012-02-03T20:30:21.470+00:00I should have said: 'Do keep remembering the C...I should have said: 'Do keep remembering the Common People,' since you told the story of the woman being flogged, poor thing. I suppose Louis thought he was upholding societal values..his dignity as le grand Monomarche, as 1066 and All That calls him.Leslie Wilsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15105465949970430998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-51394873123547583062012-02-03T20:28:12.386+00:002012-02-03T20:28:12.386+00:00I believe he was quite cruel to La Valliere, too -...I believe he was quite cruel to La Valliere, too - though most of what I know about him does come from Nancy Mitford. Talking of characters feeling real, I think the charm of that book is the way in which she gossips about her subjects, as if they were part of her own social world.<br />I am looking forward enormously to see what you do with Versailles of that period, but please do remember the Common People too?<br />Anyway, I too feel as if my characters were real people, and also as if the things in my novel actually happened, even if I made them up. When I walk along streets where the episodes in my fiction have happened, too, I think: 'Oh, yes, this is where..' rather than 'this is where I imagined..'<br />If they weren't alive to us, as you say, how could they be alive to our readers?<br />Great post!Leslie Wilsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15105465949970430998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-79211011260689118682012-02-03T17:16:20.772+00:002012-02-03T17:16:20.772+00:00Your description of the Sun King's mercurial n...Your description of the Sun King's mercurial nature reminded me of the portrayal of celebs in Hello and other magazines, a sort of royal Jordan/Katie Price! I can imagine some spin doctor has planted to stories of his charm where as the tabloids have unearthed the stories of his cruelty... I'd tend to give more weight to the flogging peasant women than lifting his hat to chamber maids. Nice legs though as you say - love the red stockings.Eve Edwardsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-29498556075038520372012-02-02T16:26:01.232+00:002012-02-02T16:26:01.232+00:00Fascinating and touching post, Linda. Are we not a...Fascinating and touching post, Linda. Are we not always fascinated by people who are capable of inhuman cruelty? (like having the bereaved woman flogged) Does that make their flashes of kindness more alluring?michelle lovrichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01026972300195225090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-6569890274239492572012-02-02T11:50:47.759+00:002012-02-02T11:50:47.759+00:00I agree with you, Adele, it is fascinating (weird,...I agree with you, Adele, it is fascinating (weird, actually!) the extent to which we can convince ourself that fictional characters are real - to the point sometimes of forgetting that they are imagined. Caroline - great points both about meeting major characters repeatedly in source material and about how we get emotionally entangled with our characters - I bet I'm not the only one who sheds a tear from time to time when narrating the fate of my wholly imagined characters. I wonder how much of being a fiction writer is quite simply being extremely good at make believe?<br />Thank you very much, Kate. I am delighted you enjoyed the Time Quake Trilogy and shall certainly look out for your book on Versailles. <br />Katherine - yes, that is absolutely at the heart of good fiction, the pinnochio-like transformation of words on a page into powerful entities that can communicate to readers in the most direct and intimate way. <br />Very many thanks for such interesting comments.<br />P.S. Just seen your comment, Sarah. The Sun King's court is endlessly fascinating. Just to read how Louis organised his day is staggering. He sometimes had 60 men in his bedroom helping him to get dressed; he had many items of furniture made from solid silver...I could go on but I won't. Nancy Mitford's book, THE SUN KING, is a great introduction and is full of good illustrations.Linda B-Ahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01599899073420595717noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-52315896413802334412012-02-02T11:40:50.640+00:002012-02-02T11:40:50.640+00:00I really want to know more about the Sun King. The...I really want to know more about the Sun King. The mixture of charm and arrogance that can lead to such warmth - and such coldness - makes for a wonderful richness of character exploration.Essie Foxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04611324005960689918noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-14801169076556194132012-02-02T10:49:59.837+00:002012-02-02T10:49:59.837+00:00Wow. Wonderful post! And now I terribly want to ...Wow. Wonderful post! And now I terribly want to read your book - and Kate's - and meet the Sun King in person!<br /><br />And it's true that our own characters can surprise us, because if they are honestly thought through, we can suddenly perceive that they would NOT do what we had planned for them - they would do something quite different, or differently - and I love that moment when a creation declares independence!Katherine Langrishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12529700103932422873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-92059960536678537802012-02-02T09:41:44.891+00:002012-02-02T09:41:44.891+00:00Oh I really loved your post. I've just written...Oh I really loved your post. I've just written a book set in the court of the Sun King & I too found him a fascinating yet terrible character (his dogs slept in satin, his dwarves on the floor). And I loved your take on fictional characters. Also, can I say I loved your time travel books and I look forward to this one!Kate Forsythhttp://www.kateforsyth.com.aunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-50355150083460763802012-02-02T09:38:40.236+00:002012-02-02T09:38:40.236+00:00What a fascinating topic, Linda! Real people vs. h...What a fascinating topic, Linda! Real people vs. historical characters... vs real people whom we've made into historical characters! <br /><br />Like you, I've been trying to keep some of my real historical characters in 'long-shots'. (The Emperor Titus and Mark Twain). But because so much is often written about them (or by them), we encounter them again and again in our main sources and often end up enchanted by their personalities. In this way, they worm their way into our books often elbowing aside our protagonists for plenty of close-ups and dialogue. <br /><br />One thing you didn't mention is how we authors often care more about characters in a book we are writing than we do about the real people in our lives. A few years ago a friend asked me why I was so downcast. What could I say? That one of the characters in my WIP was suffering terribly? And I was suffering along with this figment of my imagination? <br /><br />Instead I just told her it was that time of the month.Caroline Lawrencehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07249424644829463560noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-64756070693236712322012-02-02T09:36:56.826+00:002012-02-02T09:36:56.826+00:00I love this post! It's fascinating, isn't ...I love this post! It's fascinating, isn't it, the way we feel the characters we love are REAL. I think that's the very best thing a writer can do: make words into "proper" people we'd know anywhere. And I have a very soft spot for Versailles and will always think of the 'pointy tree garden.' That period is quite fascinating and I am STILL intending to read Hilary Mantel's Place of Greater Safety!adelehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15826710558292792068noreply@blogger.com