tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-931981138747432610.post3740459794424329441..comments2024-03-25T09:03:39.020-07:00Comments on The Uncrushable Jersey Dress: Magic in Vienna--1985Betty Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16446092401692468002noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-931981138747432610.post-25653037972124248692021-06-20T13:34:49.075-07:002021-06-20T13:34:49.075-07:00Only £12 weekly! Is that more or less realistic th...Only £12 weekly! Is that more or less realistic than £40? Whichever, I'm happy to see it was changed. <br /><br />B. BaersmaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-931981138747432610.post-91569178754532920892021-06-19T17:37:35.199-07:002021-06-19T17:37:35.199-07:00I just read this one. She only had to give £5 to M...I just read this one. She only had to give £5 to Mrs Sharp, the rent was only £12 per week. I’m thinking there were some changes between editions and the £40 she had in the edition I read was supposed to be more in the one you read.Jeknihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08357414925378881953noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-931981138747432610.post-9924560962257234602021-04-29T13:16:04.235-07:002021-04-29T13:16:04.235-07:00Well, spotted! I never noticed. If she still had r...Well, spotted! I never noticed. If she still had <i>roughly 25£ in her pocket</i>, then the original sum must have been 80£, not 40£.Betty Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12196924805687069270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-931981138747432610.post-14112026934222604912021-04-25T22:26:11.674-07:002021-04-25T22:26:11.674-07:00Ok, can the more mathematically inclined Betties h...Ok, can the more mathematically inclined Betties help tot up the sums in the ending chapter? My skirt is almost entirely inside out and my pencil points are worn to the erasers by now trying to get them straight. Perhaps I missed the explanatory paragraph (as I often do when I am reading when I should be working or doing housework or talking to my family members or whatever). Perhaps it was corrected in other editions.<br />After getting mugged on the bus, Cordelia was left with 40 pounds. "Even the modest tips she had handed out had made alarming inroads into the 40 pounds." So she's down to say 35 £.<br />Then she has to pay 10 pounds to Mrs. Sharp "for putting [her] on the books." 25£.<br />Mrs. Sharp tells her Mrs. Dyson rents rooms for (da dum) 40£ weekly.<br />Mrs. Dyson says her rates are really 50£, but since "yer's a nice young lady, yer can have it fer 40...money in advance." She sticks out her hand and Cordelia takes the money out. <br />"Cordelia tried to cheer herself up ... she had roughly 25£ in her pocket." <br />No, she's 15£ in the red with zilcho in her pocket. Where'd the 40£ for rent come from? Was there a hidden pocket in her purse or suitcase? Did Mrs. Sharp give her an advance (as if)? Oh to have some magically replicating money like that (although more than 40£ would be appreciated)! Oh, to have been a proofreader on Betty's original manuscripts! <br /><br />B. BaersmaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-931981138747432610.post-54414021828840423342015-01-29T08:50:29.298-08:002015-01-29T08:50:29.298-08:00Re the shrimp pink dress - I kept thinking of it a...Re the shrimp pink dress - I kept thinking of it a la Lady Gaga's meat dress. I love me some succulent Gulf shrimp, but the mental images were almost enough to put me off shrimp for a while. Betty Pamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-931981138747432610.post-5502890368158493742015-01-09T19:35:49.379-08:002015-01-09T19:35:49.379-08:00I never really noticed before, but some parents in...I never really noticed before, but some parents in the Great Betty's books DO go away for ages. I could no more imagine that, than fly in the air. Notice I did not say I didn't want to go away when mine were littlies,Just no relatives long-suffering to take up the slack!!!!!!Betty Delnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-931981138747432610.post-81801858240511073212011-05-06T07:55:26.098-07:002011-05-06T07:55:26.098-07:00Betty JoDee -- your t-shirt idea reminds me of a c...Betty JoDee -- your t-shirt idea reminds me of a cartoon in The New Yorker with the couple sitting up in bed and the caption reads: "Is this a reading night or a sex night?"<br /><br />As for <b><i>Magic in Vienna</i></b>, I have no recollection whether I liked it when I read it 25+ years ago, but I didn't like this time, except for the ending. Yes, Eileen is lovely, but Cordelia is way (WAY) too whinging and Charles is nearly comatose. Cordelia and Eileen have more and better dialogue than Charles and Cordelia have. And I'm getting tired of the heroine who takes offense at every single remark thrown her way. She's sensible -- boo hoo. She deserves treats -- "don't pity me, Doctor!" <br /><br />She gets angry with him so much and so often that after a line about how vehemently Cordelia couldn't stand Charles, The Great Betty actually has to stick in a disclaimer about how much she also loved him. In real life, if my BFF said all that about a guy she doesn't know well, chances are she's telling the truth about the hatred and fibbing about the love.<br /><br />Still, it's got a great ending. Pathos, loneliness, a dreary future, all hope is lost, and then Charles shows up. Those iterations of Charles and Cordelia I liked -- the people in the first 180 pages needed more Viennese magic!Magdalenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11551590278859598110noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-931981138747432610.post-80243375641774208582010-10-20T18:29:56.340-07:002010-10-20T18:29:56.340-07:00I'm going with Sal and company (Pa seems incid...I'm going with Sal and company (Pa seems incidental) being under house arrest by the military junta of Brazil until its overthrow in 1985ish--no one could talk about it lest they disappear forever--heehee.<br /><br />Plus, I think that Betty finally got a ward right--usually they're either too old acting or way too young acting--Eileen was both--just right for her age.<br /><br />I think I'm going with the "Let go of me, you--bookworm" for a sleeping t-shirt. When I wear it Professor van der Hertenzoon will know not to buy any evening train tickets for Brighton.Betty JoDeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00552570070311742671noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-931981138747432610.post-69161091199595110302010-10-19T17:57:41.980-07:002010-10-19T17:57:41.980-07:00Don't know if it's the first but it's ...Don't know if it's the first but it's certainly the most heartfelt and creative.Keirahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12334172370385784966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-931981138747432610.post-88419715329192306762010-10-19T03:59:14.227-07:002010-10-19T03:59:14.227-07:00'Let go of me, you--bookworm...'
Love th...'Let go of me, you--bookworm...' <br /><br />Love this retort!!! Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't this the first time a Neels heroine calls the doctor names to his face?Shilpahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13599559156389680287noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-931981138747432610.post-41616638308356006172010-10-18T21:46:41.772-07:002010-10-18T21:46:41.772-07:00I'm with Betty Magdalen. I can't think of...I'm with Betty Magdalen. I can't think of any shade of shrimp pink I'd consider 'pleasing'.Betty Debbiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16446092401692468002noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-931981138747432610.post-45389089906520083802010-10-18T20:35:02.893-07:002010-10-18T20:35:02.893-07:00I think all Neels characters walk a lot, thus burn...I think all Neels characters walk a lot, thus burning off all those calories. (Not to mention that Dawning Realizations are a lot of work.)<br /><br />It's the notion of a pleasing shade of shrimp pink that I'm struggling with.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-931981138747432610.post-19638175025530343802010-10-18T10:20:15.979-07:002010-10-18T10:20:15.979-07:00I know! They practically lived at Sacher's. Y...I know! They practically lived at Sacher's. You'd have to start rolling me down the street...Keirahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12334172370385784966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-931981138747432610.post-22329585263633936612010-10-18T08:54:55.709-07:002010-10-18T08:54:55.709-07:00Betty Barbara here--
Like Betty Keira, I had a har...Betty Barbara here--<br />Like Betty Keira, I had a hard time with the leaving your kid behind for two years part. A Really Hard Time! I kept trying to imagine a situation (in 1985, in South America) where that would be necessary and failed.<br />And Sal's blithe dismissal of Cordelia in London just screamed "Plot Device"; unless we were to believe that Sal was jealous of how close Eileen felt to Cordelia. (And whose fault is that, dear Sal?)<br />I agree- Eileen was a poppet, most of the time, though there were times that she acted a lot younger than 11 (those tantrums!). <br /><br />In answer to other questions--I think of Plum as being a rich, dark reddish purple--so yes, I would find it a pleasing color.<br /><br />And a query of my own--for the number of big, fat cream cakes that everyone ate, how did they not gain weight?? I want the secret!!Barb in Marylandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11374278685536530837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-931981138747432610.post-31537483027866373642010-10-18T05:13:10.107-07:002010-10-18T05:13:10.107-07:00"she watched Nature take Nurture out to the w..."she watched Nature take Nurture out to the woodpile and kick its can." <br /><br />Love it. <br /><br />I'm trying to think of any Neels wherein the step-siblings (or any half-siblings to the heroine) are actually nice. Anyone? Of course all the little darlings that belong to the RDD will automatically become the best half brothers and sisters ever.<br /><br />"An Ideal Wife" doesn't have stepchildren, but Louisa does have a stepmom that she mostly gets along with. I think that might possibly be the best 'step' relationship in Neeldom.Betty Debbiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16446092401692468002noreply@blogger.com