I spent the whole day yesterday preparing for high school classes to come in next week and check out historical fiction. The head librarian wanted to pull and display our historical fiction books more prominently on the shelves, so I went through the fiction section turning them outward so the covers could be seen -- sort of the way bookstores display their wares. It sounds simple enough, but I had to examine every shelf to figure out which books fit the bill, and it actually took a surprising amount of time and brainpower.
It also caused us to have some interesting conversations about what constitutes historical fiction. Does a book that looks back at events in the 1990s constitute historical fiction? How about 9/11? Does Nathaniel Hawthorne, writing in the 1800s about Hester Prynne in the 1640s, constitute historical fiction?
We decided "history" had to be at least 20 years before the book was written. So a book written now about 9/11 could be historical fiction, I suppose, but not one written ten years ago. Hawthorne counts, as does Margaret Mitchell's "Gone With the Wind" (written in the 1930s about the 1860s) or Boris Pasternak's "Doctor Zhivago" (written in the 1950s about the events of the 1917 Russian revolution). But Jane Austen or Joseph Conrad, who were writing about events more or less contemporary to their time, are not.
I'm sure we departed from these guidelines at some point or other, considering how many books we pulled, but we tried to stick to them.
You know how I tease Dave for stocking up too much on food? Here's our coffee shelf...
...and here's our snack peanuts. (I'm counting 17 packages there.)
Mind you, we are two people -- and not two growing teenage boys or college athletes. Two middle-aged guys who sit around all day!
Tonic water, anyone? (Plus two in the fridge.)
Here's our pantry drawer. Care for some chocolate bickies? We've got more of those in the fridge, too!
I tease Dave about being a food hoarder, but honestly, the thing is he just doesn't bother to check whether we have something before he buys it again. He's usually ordering groceries online from the living room and he can't be bothered to stand up and look. He figures we'll eat it all eventually. Sometimes I have to tell him, "NO MORE LIMES!" Or something to that effect.
(To be fair, I do eat those chocolate bickies fairly fast. I usually have three or four for dessert every night, and they go quicker than you'd think.)
I just have to remind myself that food is Dave's "love language." He's providing for me. I just wish he'd be a bit more deliberate about it!
(Top photo: Willesden Green, last weekend.)
I remember my stocking up days, when I would pick one thing from the list each week and buy $20 worth, but then I did have four kids at home and a husband. I did always buy extra toilet paper because the kids had friends and sometimes they would bring them home just to show off the wall of toilet paper in the laundry room.
ReplyDeleteI love the Willesden photograph. I looked for more on the internet and found this website with lots of old NW10 area photos: themoones.co.uk. I eat chocolate digestives too but am usually only one packet ahead. I don't stock up quite so much as Dave but sometimes wish I did.
ReplyDeleteWell, I guess I won’t roll my eyes when SG brings home something we already have. How much “Dark & Smoky” do you actually go through in a week? That could be only a week’s worth of tonic water.
ReplyDeleteChocolate brickies? Never heard that term before. In our house, I’m Dave in the ordering, but not in the cooking.
ReplyDeleteDave certainly loves you! I'm the opposite when I order food. If I have one, I don't order another. Late husband was more of a Dave. Less than 5lb of sugar in the house and he worried, even though we didn't get through it quickly.
ReplyDeleteInteresting question, what constitutes historical fiction. I thought it was limited to fiction based on actualfactual events, like Henry's wives, not on time periods. Now I'm rethinking.
I've spent lots of hours thinking about, and sometimes writing about, what historical fiction is and isn't. I year ago I joined several book groups on Facebook, thinking it would (finally) be a good use of Facebook. I've learned that the general population has varied ideas about historical fiction and it's very hard to reach consensus. And there's a huge category of novels that are speculative or alternative historical fiction and I personally don't know how to think of them. Fortunately or unfortunately I think readers "learn" history from novels and that's not always a good thing. How accurate is this history? For example, in my teens I loved the novel Gone With the Wind, and I read it many times--I'm guessing 7 or 8. But as an adult I recognize how my knowledge of Civil War times was skewed by that novel. Now I find that I hate the book and the movie and get involved (way too often) in debates on FB about the value of the book. It's made me wonder if a better term would be "period fiction." My personal criteria are these: to be considered historical, the novel must be about events that occurred at least 50 years in the past and the details must be more or less accurate according to current historical thinking, which is a moving target I know.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Boud. I had never gotten into the question of what constitutes historical fiction either. I guess I just sort of lumped it all into Philippa Gregory territory which is obviously ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteWe pretty much do the same as Dave with the coffee. But we only buy a bunch of it when it goes on BOGO. I thought I "sort of" hoarded but what I do with certain food items is buy a new one when I open the one I have on the shelf. Which isn't really that bad.
I just don't want to run out of things like flour or olive oil although honestly, the world would not come to an end if I did.
We stock up on essentials like soup. It also depends what's on sale. and yes we buy some things just because we like them.
ReplyDeleteI always said that one can never have enough coffee or McVities in the house. It all goes quickly. Never know when a friend might show up and need a coffee/McVities fix! Your pantry cupboard may save a starving passerby!
ReplyDeleteMike gets anxious if we're running out of something & don't have a replacement (I blame the pandemic - before we knew we could just go to a store, but even now it's hard to find some items). I on the other hand have a plan in my head for if I run out. No english muffins? I'll eat oatmeal for breakfast instead. I did accidentally buy a pack of SIX deodorants in 2022 and I still haven't run out. (I ordered them online because I couldn't find "my" brand in the stores.)
ReplyDeleteThose chocolate biscuits sound tempting. A bit of chocolate after a meal is always nice. Mine right at this moment are chocolate mint girl scout cookies.
ReplyDeleteNow you got me thinking about historical fiction. The more I read about it the more I am learning. I think Pam J. has some good points about people "learning" history from fiction and it is something to consider these days with all of the fake stories out there!
ReplyDeleteI don't stock up much now that there are just 2 of us here. I used to cook for a family of seven so we needed a lot more food in the pantry!
I've bought many a book, simply because the cover caught my eye. I dislike having to turn my head sideways and lowered towards the floor to read all the spines looking for something to catch my eye.
ReplyDeleteMy wife tends to be excessive about some of her stocking up purchases. We have two cases of yogurt filling up our fridge. The girls liked the first couple cases but have no yogurted out and so we have two more just taking up space.
Guilty! We're buying stuff at Costco because Safeway keeps raising their damn prices every week. Not paying it! At present we might have more mouth wash or body wash on hand than we actually need, but there is space for it. I buy coffee from Amazon, if you get the 6 pack it's cheaper, so justifiable. I love the coffee shelf.
ReplyDeleteI do sometimes forget what I have and get more, but that's quite a collection. Doesn't coffee go bad after a while? Perhaps you should freeze it. I get mine ground though which probably makes a difference. Dark and smoky, eh? Not sure about the smoky part. An interesting discussion on what constitutes historical fiction. You've made me think! The Book Club book I'm reading "Lady Tan's Circle of Women" would definitely count--written about 1400s in China.
ReplyDeleteWith items like ketchup or mayo, I always have one in use and one on reserve. For things I might have multiples of (like canned chickpeas), I rotate my stock to have the oldest at the front.
ReplyDeleteI never thought about historical fiction that way. I usually just consider it as such if it's about the past. And for me, the best historical fiction has me doing my research (often while reading it) on the actual historical facts. I appreciate when an author includes end notes explaining why they might have altered things here or there or whatever.
When the days of Armageddon come, you'll be glad you have all that stuff! 😄
ReplyDeleteI could not strand to live with a food hoarder. We don't have the space anyway. We might have one new unopened item to replace one that is getting low but that's about it. When China invades us, I now know who to ask to send food parcels to us.
ReplyDeleteAt least you have the gin to go with the tonic! You cannot have too many choccie bikkies, and peanuts are protein. You are much loved.
ReplyDeleteHistorical fiction. If asked I would have said fiction based in a past time. And I would prefer it NOT to be a time when I have been alive as that makes me feel old. So WW2 is historical. The 60s would be recently current!
I understand the drive to buy multiples. I often buy 3 but never more than 3. This results from supply chain shortages and empty store shelves. It does seem like Dave is nesting and making sure your nest is well supplied. Historical fiction is subjective. History interpretation seems to take on regional differences based on the authors belief system and perspective.
ReplyDeleteRiver: It's funny that your wall of toilet paper was a neighborhood attraction!
ReplyDeleteRachel: It's nice to never run out but we have so much stuff in that drawer it's hard to find anything.
Mitchell: I only have one cup in the morning! (Unless it's a weekend, then I have three per day. During the week I have my second two cups at school.)
37P: "Bickies" (or "bikkies") is an English abbreviation for biscuits, meaning cookies. :)
Boud: Yeah, I don't think it has to be based on a specific historical event. I think it merely has to be set in the past.
Pam: Thanks for that thoughtful analysis! For our purposes, we excluded books like Robert Harris' "Fatherland" that proposed alternate histories. We wanted to stick to what really happened or gave an accurate reflection of the time period. I also loved "Gone With the Wind" when I was younger, even as I now realize how problematic it is.
Ms Moon: At least with BOGO you have an excuse. Here we have no BOGO!
Red: At least stuff in cans basically lasts forever. (Or almost.)
Linda Sue: Now you're thinking like Dave! LOL
Bug: I do think the pandemic intensified some people's anxieties about being caught without.
Sharon: Thin Mints are the BEST!
Ellen D: Yes, I would say it should accurately reflect the time period, even if it isn't attached to any specific historical event.
Ed: Oh, that yogurt would drive me crazy! Fridge space is especially scarce for us.
Allison: Yeah, I didn't even talk about deodorant or bar soap. We have RIDICULOUS quantities.
Margaret: I suppose it could go bad but these bags are hermetically sealed, so they're pretty secure.
Kelly: Oh, I love your organization skills! I would do that too if the kitchen were my domain -- which it is not.
Catalyst: That's what Dave says! LOL
Andrew: Every once in a while we float the idea of moving to another apartment, and the thought that we might have less space for food storage is weirdly comforting. Then he won't buy so much, right? (Or should I be afraid?!)
Caro: Well, maybe that's the answer -- the definition varies depending on our own personal histories?!
Susan: Three of anything sounds like plenty to me. The peanut situation is especially ridiculous at the moment!
I wind up with multiples of things. I've got about a dozen bags of coffee in the freezer. I won't have to buy coffee for a year, but when they were selling the stuff 'buy one, get one free' ($6.99 for two bags) I just figure that stocking up makes sense. Perhaps make your own list and tape it to Dave's lap top. NO COFFEE. NO NUTS. ETC.
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