Atchoo, Atchoo, we all fall down

[sienamystic]

There's nothing like getting excited by a new, presumably well-researched book on the Black Death, settling down to read it, and immediately getting smacked with the "Ring Around The Rosy" is *totally* about the Black Death! Never mind that the rhyme's first appearance in print is about five centuries after said Black Death, which means that none of the other collectors of folklore, rhymes, and other children's circle games noticed it, but it was still popular enough to get handed down through the generations. And never mind the fact that there are a bunch of versions of it, most of which are obviously plague-free.

The author of the book is a good one, so I'm hoping that this was just a one-off oopsie. After all, we can't get our docents to stop telling visitors that "Good night, sleep tight" is a reference to rope beds.

In other news, I have perpetrated fic. A short Constantine one, to be exact. I'm just not sure if it's any good. It's sitting on my computer, blinking quietly at me, asking what I want to do with it.

Comments

[decidedly.livejournal.com]

May I ask the book title? If it's the one I'm thinking it is, it's okay. I would have expected more from the author, all things considered.

Re: Constantine fic -- post it! :)

[sienamystic.livejournal.com]

It was indeed Norman Cantor's In The Wake of the Plague, and I have put it aside temporarily in favor of Plagues and Peoples, which is much more densely and dryly written but seems to have just turned the corner and hooked me. I'll go back to the Cantor book, because he did write Inventing the Middle Ages, which is pretty impressive. He deserves at least another chance.

I'll cast another eye over the fic and then post it *g* I'm not an experienced fic'er, so I'll consider this my toe in the water!

[decidedly.livejournal.com]

Ah, you know of which I speak. ;) I think you'll find that Inventing the Middle Ages is far more satisfying. I dunno, I felt Plague wasn't all that interested in its own subject matter, you know what I mean? Sounds absurd, but the feeling plagued me (ha!) for the entire book.

[strawberrykaren.livejournal.com]

Lemme hazard a guess: Cantor's In the Wake of the Plague, right? Yoiks. I read that bit and put the book down. Figured if he was that wrong to start out with, it wasn't worth wasting brain-juice reading the rest of it.

(severus_bracae, on the other hand, brought it to read on our last cruise, and sat on a beautiful Bahamian beach ... reading about the Plague.)

[sienamystic.livejournal.com]

Whang on the crumpet! I started reading and hit that bit and just pulled up lame. I'm attempting Plagues and Peoples now, and sort of enjoying it, although the writing isn't what you would call engaging. The subject matter is what's keeping me going.

There's nothing better than lying on a gorgeous beach reading about plague, because the contrast makes you enjoy the warm sunshine and sound of waves much more. Or something. I may just be making that up. *g*

[strawberrykaren.livejournal.com]

icewolf010 gave me a copy of Cantor's Inventing the Middle Ages for Christmas, and I'm looking forward to reading that. Lately, my attention span (and reading time) is kinda limited, so I've been reading a few stories from the English translation of Boccaccio's De mulieribus claris when I have a chance to sit and read. :-)