tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3690077250072100801.post4830793189361259559..comments2024-02-26T11:04:22.115+13:00Comments on Reid's Reader – A Blog of Book Reviews and Comment.: Something NewNicholas Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05497366104216216952noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3690077250072100801.post-54272077037350624402015-01-12T15:39:10.344+13:002015-01-12T15:39:10.344+13:00and noisome doesn't mean noisy ...and noisome doesn't mean noisy ... Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3690077250072100801.post-14721232795766795792014-09-11T02:44:59.067+12:002014-09-11T02:44:59.067+12:00A longer word with Wells' copy-editor would ha...A longer word with Wells' copy-editor would have been justified. The spelling errors in Wells' text pulled me up sharp several times, and Luther did not nail up those theses in Württemberg (p 34), but in Wittenberg. <br /><br />The bloopers look all the worse when you encounter Wells' tut-tutting little sic next to perfectly good 19th-century English– "I have had opportunity" SIC! (p 42), "Catholicks" SIC! (p 49), "opened for government" SIC! (p 84) "phrenzy" SIC! (p 242) – or legitimate 19th-century German spelling wobbles (Karl/Carl or Völkner/Völckner). William Williams' signature "William Waiapu" does not make the bishop "the owner of geographical space" (p 330): it follows episcopal etiquette since time immemorial, just as the next incumbent will sign his name "Andrew Waiapu".<br /><br />I read Journey to a Hanging on a journey from a funeral, and I enjoyed Wells' discursive empathy for the different characters: the whole book is very much like the discourse at a funeral, with everyone's opinions colliding, helped along by alcohol and tears, ending in the collective sense which the mourners take away with them that life is too complicated for cut-and-dried judgments. We have to grant all the dead their dignity. <br /><br />Journey to a Hanging is a great read and would deserve that award. We could do with more like this too: I would love to see Wells or a similar author tackle the controversial story of Ropata Wahawaha (who claimed the capture of Kereopa Te Rau) in similar vein, exploring the close-up testimony that survives.JB Pigginhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00282440808752045816noreply@blogger.com