Sarah
First Line Friday is brought to you by Hoarding Books. Playing along is easy: open the book nearest you and share the first line. Then check out the link to see the other first lines posted this week.
I received a free digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This is exactly the kind of thing I would love to take Eleanor off to London to do. I mean, we'd obviously see many other sights too, but imagine it! Mudlarking! You have to get a special permit and everything, but I can not imagine a better way to spend an afternoon in one of my favorite countries, than searching for lost bits of history. Of course, the chances of finding something rare or centuries-old is slim, but I also think those ordinary bits are just as important - an item dropped by accident, forever lost to the Thames, the owner thinks. Yet the objects discovered sometimes end up memorializing those every-day individuals who crossed the Thames time and again just going about their daily lives.
Obviously I really liked he book.
My only complaint is no fault of the publisher. I prefer my plain old regular Kindle to the Kindle Fire, so the images were all in black and white. Even when viewed this way, they were gorgeous and so much detail was preserved, thanks to the everlasting secret-keeping of the Thames and her mud. I can only imagine how stunning the objects would be in color - or in real life, even better. This is definitely a book to own in physical form, if this subject interests you. Many will probably call it a coffee table book, but this one really is meant to be read. I also found myself Googling more images as I read, and found some neat treasures.
Until I read this book, I did not know 'mudlarking' was a thing, or that it even had this delightful name. I mean, it probably occurred to me at some point in the beginning of my love affair with the UK that the Thames would hold untold windows to the past, and you could easily go down and poke around to see what there is to be found. But aside from that, it is not something I gave much more thought to until this book popped up on a friend's reading shelf over on Goodreads.
The authors are mudlarkers themselves and the book opens by talking about who mudlarkers are and what they do. Each section following this was broken up by the kinds of items found, into categories. First the authors provide context for the items in brief histories of the periods discussed, which is helpful. I found that this way worked quite well, instead of dividing it up by the time periods to which the pieces belonged. The author provides information at the end of the text about how to get involved in mudlarking, as well as associated places to see around London, which I appreciated.
I was also interested to learn that a Thames Museum will be opening in the future. Currently objects found are often displayed in the Museum of London. It is also required that mudlarks must report finds to the authorities on any object three hundred years or older. It is comforting to see some regulation in this; just imagine what treasures might have disappeared into private collections were permits and such not required. Of course, we will never know all that was found by those early mudlarks - those Victorians who still seem to be a step ahead even though they're two hundred years behind us now.
There are so many treasures detailed in this book, I hardly know where to begin. We are treated to an assortment of beautiful objects, some for special occasions and some for daily use. Coins and market tokens are heavily represented here and I loved looking at the various designs - especially the Celtic coins and Hadiran's as well.. Also on display are various children's toys depicting knights, glass beads, clothing pins, clay pipes, and those specially designed Victorian-era hexagonal glass bottles that once contained poisons of many kinds.
The heartbreaking discovery included here was that of the skeleton of a twelve year old girl. Though the details of her short life are lost to history, experts determined that she had suffered from rickets, stunted growth especially evident between the ages of one and two. This poor child suffered from hunger and I want so badly to know more about her. I looked up further information about this discovery and what the area would have looked like when she died. I felt much better in knowing that she was not simply tossed into the river, and that she had been buried there, based on the findings of the research team. You can read more here and here.
I also learned of the floating prisons that once dotted the Thames, and how terrible the conditions were. That information made the discovery of an 18th century ball and chain all the more interesting. The lock was still closed, so what does it mean? Was it tossed carelessly into the river one day when no longer needed? Or did a prisoner attempt an escape, only to drown due to the weight? We will never know.
Highly fascinating and absolutely recommended.
I received a free digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. (In this case, the publisher contacted me by email, and directed me to NetGalley if I was interested.)
Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The importance of this book cannot be overstated. it is a timely look at our relationship with statues dedicated to history. One only has to look at the arguments made against removing confederate statues from public spaces to see the relevance. (Side note: pull all that bullshit down and stick it in a museum, with context, where it belongs. There are no heroes of the confederacy and not a single one of those men should be honored for their actions. They fought to keep slaves and no amount of supposed 'good' they ever did can make up for that fact. Fuck THAT bullshit narrative.)
Anyway.
Addressing this issue of accepting statues at face-value of being accurate representations of a moment in time in our history of war is done quite well within these pages. The author not only looks at how these monuments are written about, talked about, and viewed in the US, but looks at various monuments to the very same war and how they are viewed in countries around the world. In total he discusses 25 different monuments, from the US, to Italy, to Jerusalem, China, and many in between.
The photographs are stunning and for once I was glad to have received the file for my laptop only instead of my Kindle. Even though I hate sitting at my laptop to read, the photos alone were nearly enough to make it worth it. This truly is a book to have a physical copy of to peruse at your leisure. I don't feel it is a book meant to be read quickly or in just a couple of sittings. It will definitely give anyone pause who has visited these sites, and perhaps grapple with how one originally interpreted the monument, compared to its original and intended purpose.
One of the biggest take-aways from this book is the vast difference in how World War II is memorialized. Here in the US, our statues are to honor the heroes and our triumph over true and despicable evil. Yet around the world, monuments are most often dedicated to the victims - such as Italy's Shrine to the Fallen or The A Bomb Dome in Hiroshima. I think this again confirms the fact that the US often equates winning and patriotism - though it must also be remembered that aside from Pearl Harbor, World War II was not fought here. The monuments to the victims and the fallen are most often literally on the site of the atrocities they represent.
Lowe provides much context for the various events being commemorated by each statue. The research is thorough and he writes in an engaging way. He certainly gives the reader a lot to think about - both regarding those he is writing about, and the specific issue in the US regarding confederate monuments still standing.
When we come upon these monuments, either because we've specifically taken a trip to see them or we stumble upon them by accident, we must not stop asking ourselves to look beyond the scenery as it being another pretty picture for photo ops. We have to consider the original intended purpose of the statue, what aspect of history is being told, and whether or not it is actually accurate in its depiction.
Highly recommended.
I am now entering year three of Tackling the TBR. Slowly but surely I have made big strides in getting by TBR under control. When I first started in 2019, my TBR was topping out at over 5,000 books. I don't know that I will ever get below 500, but a #BookDragon can dream!
I will be posting on the 7th, 14th, 21st, and the last day of the month. Feel free to join in if you'd like!
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Announcement: I have added a linky to this post and will do so for future Tackling the TBRs as well. A few people expressed interest in this in one of my 'goals' posts so I thought this would be an easy way for us to all connect. I post weekly, but feel free to do whatever works for you - weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, whatever!
The link will be open the entire week.
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Previous Week's TBR Total: 2,952
Currently Reading
Books Removed from TBR: 7
Books Read
Books DNF-ed: 0
Duplicates Removed: 0
New TBR Total: 2,943
Any of these catch your eye? Have you already read any? Let me know!
Happy Reading!
Sarah
I received a free digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Sarah
Rating ⭐⭐⭐
I appreciate the author's experiences and his willingness to share his struggles of what most would consider deeply personal. Unfortunately the stigma surrounding mental illnesses is still in full effect so this makes it difficult for so many to speak up when they need help. Books like this are important, because it helps others going through these same struggles feel less alone. However, sometimes these books can also end up overwhelming their intentions when they involve many threads and do not all seem to connect in a complete way for the reader.
The author does not shy away from the realities of life as a med student and resident, while dealing with anxiety and depression, while also being a young husband and eventually father. It was frustrating to read about these older physicians often taking out their own anger or issues on residents, or just power-tripping for no reason. That mental strain alone would cause plenty of mental health issues on their own.
I have to say, straight-up, referring to his anxiety and depression as a "gargoyle" really got old quickly. Perhaps we can more quickly get rid of the stigma of mental illness if we simply refer to it as what it is, instead of trying to characterize it differently.
There is a lot going on here and while memoirs can often be kind of scattered at times, this one felt scattered due to the many complex issues all at play at once. The author talks about his religious life as a member of the Church of Latter-day Saints, and we see how that faith kind of ebbs and flows as he gets through med school and goes onto his residency. I am curious about whether or not his faith had anything to do with his reaction or outlook regarding therapy. I do not know a lot about the LDS church and what their stance is on psychiatry, but I wondered if that played a part, as it always seemed to be a negative experience for him - in the brief glimpses we got of that aspect of his dealing with his anxiety and depression. In fact, I would have liked to known more about that avenue, because the discussion of therapy sometimes seemed like an afterthought. There was the issue of meds and them working or not, but nothing in-depth.
This book takes many routes at once, and they don't always converge with one another. At certain points in the book it was definitely about Jones and his struggles with internally dealing with everything. Other times it was about how literally everything outside of him was only making his battles worse.
I guess the picture is disjointed, but when dealing with mental illnesses, that is often the reality, so it does make sense in that regard. Despite my issues with the text I still think this is a valuable contribution to the books and memoirs specifically that deal with such topics.
