|
Georgette Heyer's Regency World | 
 enlarge | Author: Jennifer Kloester
Publisher: Arrow Books Ltd
Category: Book
List Price: £8.99
Buy New: £4.88
You Save: £4.11 (46%)
New (12) Used (2) from £4.88
Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 11334
Media: Paperback
Pages: 400
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.3 x 1.3
ISBN: 0099478722
EAN: 9780099478720
ASIN: 0099478722
Publication Date: February 7, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand New. Shipped from UK Mainland. Delivery is usually 2 - 3 working days from order by Royal Mail, International Delivery is by Airmail.
| |
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
 A helpful but flawed reference July 14, 2008
Helen Hancox (Essex, England)
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is a very helpful reference book to those who read and enjoy the novels of Georgette Heyer. There are descriptions of places, clothing, customs and language which gives more of an insight into the situations in which the novels are set. Almost every point seems to be backed up with reference to one of the Regency Romances so it certainly helps to have read them all to understand these comparisons, not that they are strictly necessary.
What irritated me about it was that she uses Heyer's language throughout - she'll describe someone as "a real top 'o the trees" (for example - not sure if she DOES use that example) rather than "an excellent horse rider and sportsman". Although she supplies the glossary, if you weren't familiar with Heyer's writings you'd need to look up most of the body text of Kloester's text. I can't understand why she didn't use modern language for her modern audience and I found it grated very quickly. It's a book to read in short bursts as a reference, not all the way through.
It also read rather like a thesis to me - continual reference to the primary sources, the novels - sometimes unnecessarily. Lots of the information was helpful but I couldn't help feeling that it needed the language to be more detached from Heyer's own words. It's meant to be a modern reference book, not a Regency one.
 A great read for fans of Regency literature February 7, 2008
SB (Warwickshire, UK)
17 out of 17 found this review helpful
Readers of Regency literature should be delighted to find this informative and well-written book newly available in paperback. Jennifer Kloester has really delved into the heart of the upper echelons of society during the Regency period and her book provides a substantive, yet easy-to-read, account of many different aspects of Regency culture.
Aimed at Heyer fans, with constant references back to characters in Georgette Heyer novels, it's also going to appeal to Austen fans and general readers alike. I found it fascinating to read about the different layers in upper class society and the finer points of etiquette and moral standards. I'd always wondered what the differences were between fops and bucks and dandys, and I had never had any idea at all of what a nonpareil was! It's interesting too to read about the details of the London Season - the most fashionable places to be seen, who would be invited to what, and in particular to read about the most exclusive establishment of Almack's and the highly sought after vouchers for visiting there.
You'll find a wealth of easily accessible information packed into these pages and it's sure to help enhance the enjoyment of all Regency novels, not just Georgette Heyer's. One very small gripe would be that there are the odd occasions in the book where I would have liked a footnote or reference to where the information had come from. An impressively researched and readable reference book.
Excellent, reference and readable July 1, 2006
A. Woodley (New Zealand)
38 out of 38 found this review helpful
As the patroness of two online discussion lists, Janeites, for Jane Austen Fans, and the Georgette Heyer discussion list, I am just the audience who Kloester's is aiming at with this book, and I have to say she absolutely hit the mark! This is an extraodinary book and one which I will be happily recommending.
I get questions all the time from people who want to write Regency novels and are looking for a good overall book to guide them, and from others who want to know more about the REgency and Georgian world which Heyer inhabited for her unique Drawing Room romantic/comedies. Generally I give them an outline of a series of books which they could read which will give them some background, but there has never been a truly comprehensive book which is both academic, readable, spefcific to the period and general enough to cover everything but still give a confident grasp of detail. This book finally does and well done to Kloester for acheiving that.
Her chapter summaries at the start give you a very good idea of the information covered so you are able to go to what you want immediately - chapters include Up and down the social ladder, Town and country, Man's world, Gentle Sex, on the town, Pleasure haunts, Fashionable resorts, Getting about, What to Wear, Shopping, Eat, Drink and be merry, Sporting life, Business and the military, whos who in the Regency includes extremely useful appendixes such as glossary of cant terms, newspapers and magazines, book in heyer, timeline, reading about REgency, where to go next and so forth with some excellent references for easy access - I was also flattered to find my own website in the www addresses so thanks for that too Jennifer.
I was surprised to see a reviewer saying that there was no new information in this. I strongly contest this. Kloester has done more than simply rehash old information, she has provided some new insights for me (I never knew for instance that Rotten Row) was originally Rue de Roi - or street of the King - but she has used her extensive knowledge of Heyer novels to reference items in the REgency.
This is not the sort of book where you can find analysis of Heyer's novels one by one - Hodge's excellent work, the Private World of Georgette Heyer which has just been reissued is definitely the book for that. However you can read about REgency life in here with reference to Heyer's novels.
I would highly recommend this to all Regency fans, those who wish to write a novel, and those who simply wish to understand more in one handy reference book. This is an excellent jumping off point for further reading, but it is also an extremely good book for any fans of the REgency knowledgeable or otherwise. I will definitely be reading anything else Kloester publishes!
A Woodley
A helpful but flawed reference April 3, 2006
Helen Hancox (Essex, England)
13 out of 17 found this review helpful
This is a very helpful reference book to those who read and enjoy the novels of Georgette Heyer. There are descriptions of places, clothing, customs and language which gives more of an insight into the situations in which the novels are set. Almost every point seems to be backed up with reference to one of the Regency Romances so it certainly helps to have read them all to understand these comparisons, not that they are strictly necessary.What irritated me about it was that she uses Heyer's language throughout - she'll describe someone as "a real top 'o the trees" (for example - not sure if she DOES use that example) rather than "an excellent horse rider and sportsman". Although she supplies the glossary, if you weren't familiar with Heyer's writings you'd need to look up most of the body text of Kloester's text. I can't understand why she didn't use modern language for her modern audience and I found it grated very quickly. It's a book to read in short bursts as a reference, not all the way through.
It also read rather like a thesis to me - continual reference to the primary sources, the novels - sometimes unnecessarily. Lots of the information was helpful but I couldn't help feeling that it needed the language to be more detached from Heyer's own words. It's meant to be a modern reference book, not a Regency one.
 A good companion guide February 11, 2006
M. Styles (Northumberland UK)
19 out of 20 found this review helpful
Caution: The Regency World of Georgette Heyer will make you want to reread Georgette Heyer -- in particular Friday's Child and Regency Buck. It is the ideal present for someone who loves Georgette Heyer and is interested in the world she created and the world of the Regency. All manner of things are explained and a very useful guide to cant is included.
An excellent addition to guides about the Regency.
|
|
|
www.pcprotech.co.uk | |
