Comments on: The Letters of Dorothy L. Sayers, ed. Barbara Reynolds

By: Alicia Butcher Ehrhardt

Alicia Butcher Ehrhardt — Tue, 06 Feb 2018 13:54:00 +0000

Whereas I adore Harriet, and Harriet and Peter, and understand every word Sayers wrote about their relationship, and sobbed into my hanky. Either you think theirs is THE most romantic relationship between two wonderrful people ever written about, or you don’t. That’s the standard I hold myself to: do it properly. It is no longer common to reference John Donne, but that little bit where Peter is cross because he wanted to buy a Donne letter, only to be told it had been sold – and then finds it’s Harrriet’s gift to him… Several hankies.

By: Wrapping up 2009 « Jenny's Books

Wrapping up 2009 « Jenny's Books — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 01:11:32 +0000

[…] is The Letters of Dorothy Sayers: 1899-1936. In totting up characters, I’ve counted punctuation but not spaces, and I’ve not […]

By: Jenny

Jenny — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 23:37:51 +0000

The letters between Evelyn Waugh and Nancy Mitford are a huge treat, so you might try those. I had NO IDEA DLS’s life was so dramatic!

By: Jenny

Jenny — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 18:17:23 +0000

In reply to litlove. Oh, I've seen those! I swear I saw that book on the sales table every time I've been at the bookshop, and it didn't even register in my brain as proper letters. I don't know why I never looked them up before. That looks right up my alley! Thanks for the recommendation.

By: Jenny

Jenny — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 18:12:07 +0000

In reply to Jessica.

I’m getting a biography of her at the library later today, and I’ll try to get the Truman Capote letters too. I don’t know much about Truman Capote, except that he was Dill – sort of an unfair way to think of a famous American writer in his own right. 😛

By: Jenny

Jenny — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 18:08:32 +0000

In reply to Nymeth.

How cool! I want your job!

My thing about mysteries is that I’m reluctant to start reading a series of detective novels. I can’t commit! I think I’d read more mysteries if more of them were standalones.

By: Jenny

Jenny — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 18:05:25 +0000

In reply to Mum. I'm concerned, with other letters, I won't enjoy them as much because I don't know anything about the people writing them. Plus, with a lot of books of letters, they don't have the back-and-forth thing which makes the Browning letters so entrancing.

By: litlove

litlove — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 16:36:41 +0000

I loved this and sniggered my way through from start to finish. I did know some details of her life (disastrous relationships and that mad relation to motherhood) but not in anything like this detail – which was most satisfying to read. I cheered when she killed John Cournos off in fictional form – far more style and panache than transposing their affair into a novel (so yah boo to him). I will admit I have never read a book of letters, because I am not good with that sort of thing, BUT apparently the Mitford sisters’ letters that were published last year (-ish?) are supposed to be wonderful.

By: Jessica

Jessica — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 01:28:53 +0000

This sounds fascinating!!!! Now I want to read Dorothy Sayers works and find out all about her. As for letters, I would recommend “Too Brief a Treat: The Letters of Truman Capote”. Seriously intriguing.

By: Nymeth

Nymeth — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 19:09:44 +0000

Oooh, that Van Gogh site IS awesome! I just got a job cataloguing and annotating a local writer’s letters at a museum, and I think I’m going to use it as a model of what we could do 😀

I love that quote about mysteries. I’m new to them, but I’m quickly realizing that that’s my favourite kind.