Tea or Books? #21: children narrators vs adult narrators, and Shakespeare comedies vs tragedies


 
Tea or Books logoShakespeare! That’s right, we’re getting very classy and/or GCSE English in our discussion of his comedies and tragedies – following a fairly haphazard chat about child narrators vs adult narrators. This is what happens when Rachel only tells me the topic we’re going to cover mere moments before we start recording.

We’re always on the look-out for suggestions for future episodes (srsly, we’re running out) – so let us know in the comments if you have any thoughts. You’ll definitely get a name check – unlike poor Faith, whose suggestion of child narrators we forget to properly appreciate. Thanks Faith! I thought Rachel probably hadn’t come up with the topic herself.

Here are the books and authors we talk about in this episode:

The Cazalet Chronicles by Elizabeth Jane Howard
This is Sylvia by Sandy Wilson [NB not the title I said!]
The Old Wive’s Tale by Arnold Bennett
Literary Taste: How to Form It by Arnold Bennett
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
Room by Emma Donoghue
The Great Western Beach by Emma Smith
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
The Go-Between by L.P. Hartley
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
Guard Your Daughters by Diana Tutton
Atonement by Ian McEwan
Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
Adrian Mole series by Sue Townsend
Double Act by Jacqueline Wilson
Enid Blyton
William series by Richmal Crompton
Alfred and Guinevere by James Schuyler
Macbeth by William Shakespeare
Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare
Moliere
Othello by William Shakespeare
Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare
The Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare
As You Like It by William Shakespeare
A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare
Hamlet by William Shakespeare
Titus Andronicus by William Shakespeare
Coriolanus by William Shakespeare
The Winter’s Tale by William Shakespeare

10 thoughts on “Tea or Books? #21: children narrators vs adult narrators, and Shakespeare comedies vs tragedies

  • July 6, 2016 at 8:37 am
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    Have you done “spinsters”in novels?Sorry if i have not been paying attention.

    Reply
      • July 13, 2016 at 11:47 pm
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        We haven’t! Good idea – it could work with widows, perhaps. We will certainly think on’t. Thanks for your suggestions!

        Reply
  • July 6, 2016 at 8:53 am
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    Another idea–can you choose a pile of books that need re issuing but look unlikely?Or authors that are out of fashion?Which “forgotten authors” are in fashion and is this just or are others more “deserving”?

    The perils of buying books online–does one accept stained pages etc?Or are you lucky and never get any flawed copies?

    Culling books–do you ever do this?More photos of your book shelves please.And shopping for books in real life–need to see more of these.But many buy online these days.

    Reply
    • July 13, 2016 at 11:48 pm
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      As long as we can put them into X vs Y pairings, these sound great – and, in fact, we’ll be doing keep vs cull in the next episode. Thanks for the suggestion!

      Reply
  • July 6, 2016 at 8:56 am
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    Finally–books that you bought that were cheap or over priced or damaged and why you bought them.
    And books that you regret buying and cost too much.These could be small features with photos.So quick and easy to produce.

    Reply
    • July 13, 2016 at 11:49 pm
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      I’m not a fan of talking about prices for things like that – so might give this one a miss. But you should totally start your own blog about this if it interests you :)

      Reply
  • July 7, 2016 at 6:46 pm
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    Interesting stuff – child narrators can be so hard to get right. One of the most successful I’ve reads is A Child of All Nations by Irmgard Keun.

    Reply
    • July 13, 2016 at 11:49 pm
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      Oo, don’t know that one. Thanks for the suggestion!

      Reply
  • July 13, 2016 at 2:36 pm
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    Combine spinsters with widows maybe?
    Thought anymore about this?

    Reply

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