i've just finished reading tipping the velvet and immediately started reading fingersmith...love them! sarah waters is amazing...can't wait to rent the dvd...has anyone read her latest? i imagine it's just as good as the others, haven't purchased it yet...
I used to be an ardent Sarah Waters fan. Tipping the Velvet came first, followed by the first one (words just aren't coming to me right now) A... something, which was great, Affinity, it was called, and then her third one.. Fingersmith - a little more in the spirit of Affinity, more plot twists and generally a bit more exciting.
Then came the Nightwatch. Shallow characters, absolutely zero in terms of plot turns (I had to force myself to finish it, in the desperate hope that the Waters I knew and expected would turn up soon) and overly-long descriptive passages. I get that she has been doing painstaking research into this era and wants to show it, give a sense of the reality of the time, but really, I was just flying over pages, scanning to find the next instance of action or dialogue.
Works as a fictionalised research piece. Fails as a novel.
About to start reading Tipping the Velvet now.... will let you know what I think once I'm done. Have already seen the mini-series. Loved it, wish I'd done it the other way around though... book then dvd....
I read the novel recently and liked it very much. It might just be the best book I have read in the last six months. I think Sarah Waters has a great feel for period detail and language. It's almost like a picaresque novel (especially the middle part). But it's also a coming-of-age story and a historical novel.
I had seen the BBC mini series before reading the book (it made me want to read the novel) and I couldn't get the actresses out of my mind while reading, although the characters in the book are described totally different. And as Sarah Waters said somewhere in an interview, they (the actresses) wouldn't really be confused with boys/ men, especially Rachael Stirling with that girly haircut of hers and her fine features. But I guess you could argue that people weren't really that gender conscious back then and anyone wearing boys' clothes would be automatically (at least initially) perceived as a boy. Also I kind of couldn't stop thinking about Keely Hawes (Kitty) for a while: when she strides on stage, saying "Wha' do you think? Pre'y smart, no' 'alf bad, I'd say..." (in that stage accent of hers, what is it? Faux Cockney?) I also had the song stuck in my head for days.
I would definitely recommend the book for anyone who liked the series and also to everybody else, most certainlyfor fans of period novels, raunchy detail and lesbian themed novels in general.
One last thing: I'm currently reading Sarah Waters' latest novel, The Night Watch, which was shortlisted for the Man Booker prize for fiction last year but didn't win. I purchased it after the long-list came out. Anyway, I started reading it and I couldn't believe they had nominated her. The book was less than gripping, the characters for some reason didn't make me feel for them or with them. * possible spoilers ahead * what I knew beforehand was that the book has three parts (like Tipping the Velvet), and the story is told backwards starting with the chronologically last part. And after the first part (which is really the last part) there wasn't any ending or resolution of sorts and so I stopped reading because I felt cheated. A little later I read Tipping, and I was thrilled. I thought, How can one book by the same author be so good and the other so uninteresting and tedious? I took the book up again, and started fresh. I'm a bit into the second part now, and it still doesn't measure up to Tipping, but I can see how the characters are drawn out more by way of their past. Still, I wonder if that can make up for the unresolved and rather drab ending of the first part. I still don't find it the page turner that the earlier novel turned out to be. I will let you know if that changes soon, if anybody's interested.
I've read all her books and watched the movie/series. I have to say that I didn't find Night Watch any less thrilling. It had a very different feel to it comparing it to the rest of the body of work she had produced but never the less I couldn't put it down. I found the relationship between the two women quite aqurate in way that someone who was rejected, in pain and in need for some effection could easily be missguided and fall blindly in a trap. The ending of course I found amazing, I was mad, but suriprised....All in all a good read for me.
The book that really got me upset (in a good way) was Bittersweet by Nevada Barr....I recomend it. Quite fascinating and such a enchanting cast of characters. I fell in love with Imogene's resolution and Sarah's daintyness :P
I say though, for all things relating to the arts, it's all about tastes and as we Greeks say "gousto".
Maybe you'll find Bittersweet a boring old book...:) Check it out though...
Other books in my collection I adore: Oranges are not the only fruit, Amy on my mind, Girl meets boy, Patience and Sarah....
Thanks to msgulp for putting the book up for discussion. There doesn't seem to be much discussion on the written word (as it appears in a printed and bound fashion) on these forums.
Anyway, there seems to be a movie version in the making. IMDb has a listing for Tipping the Velvet (2009), but there isn't any info available yet. Still I'm wondering what Hollywood could improve over the BBC version. I mean a movie would have to be shorter and hence leave a lot of stuff out. Even the mini series couldn't include everything and it ran for three hours, and won't lesbians everywhere always fondly remember Keely Hawes and Rachael Stirling in the roles of Kitty and Nan? On the upside, there are never enough lesbian movies. So keep it coming.
Tipping the Velvet was the first Srah Waters book I read and it is still my favourite. It is fun, interesting, engaging, gripping with vibrant charcters etc etc. Affinity and fingersmith were fine and Dickensian but I didn't fall in love with any of the characters the way I did with Nan.
With Night Watch, it was as though Sarah Waters was saying "here I am writing a serious book" (not that I don't think her previous books were serious/worthy/whatever). You could say that the lack of brilliance of the characters is supposedly reflecting the lack of brilliance/spirit/colour of life then but it does not make for as an enjoyable read. I don't think Night Watch was a bad book, just not quite what you expected and it seems to take itself too seriously (though it was up for the Booker prize so I suppose it achieved that aim)
I love this book and even though I have read it numerous of times it still dosen't lose its appeal. My only complaint may be a controversial one, I would have liked Kitty and Nan to have got back together at the end. Also am I the only person who loved Diana Chancellor? I must have a thing for mean girls.
The tv series was fun and very campy but Nans accent really annoyed me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BR65woQfLbg
Check out this link, watching TTV will never be the same again, lol
Tipping the Velvet was excellent and series was good but nothing compared to the book. I just finished Fingersmith and enjoyed it alot as well. Fingersmith was written in the perspective of both heroines so it was interesting to go through the same events from both characters. But there was only one love scene. I cant wait to see the series for this.
so wonderful, her books are just so perfectly well written, i enjoyed every single word!!!tipping the velvet is such a fascinating story and i like fingersmith even more.i was so stunned as the story twisted.the tv adaptions are quite nice (you don't get to see such beautiful pictures that often), but still i think there's nothing better than the written word and your own imagination. some things you cant put intoa picture.... If you can't learn to do it well, learn to enjoy doing it badly. (Ashleigh Brilliant)
its been released for years now but its only at this moment of my life that i was able to watch fingersmith and i fell in love with it. i cant wait to get my hands ona copy of the book. its like an addiction. a good one that is! it makes us read! lolz! I miss reading and i wanna go back in those moments of warmth and fuzz when your thoughts go beyond your physicalities. :)
I have all of Sarah Waters' books at home, although I still have to read the last one. I started it, and it just seemed so boring. But I do plan to get through it one day.
For me, the first book I read by Sarah Waters was Fingersmith. And I loved it. It's still one of my favorite books. And the film/series was also brilliant.
I also loved Tipping The Velvet book, but hated the series. It was so much different and really not as good.
I liked Affinity, especially the fact that the ending was a real shocker.
I adore Sarah Water's books; both the novel and mini series of Fingersmith were amazing. I know the TV adaptation of Tipping The Velvet differed to the book but it was still entertaining and rather cheeky which i found a bonus. Affinity for me was bleak and depressing but beautifully written. I was rather disappointed with her latest book: The Night Watch. I just didn't connect with any of the characters, never mind care what happened to them.
I'm such a big fan of Sarah Waters; she's one of my favorite authors. She has such amazing skill in creating interesting and multi-dimensional characters, not to mention how vividly she brings her setting to life. The plot lines and pacing of her novels make it impossible for me to put down once I've started.
I've read them all, in order and I think Affinity is my favorite w/ Tipping a very close second and Fingersmith an even closer third. Truthfully, that order changes up quite a bit. As for The Night Watch, I've got some mixed feelings. The pacing was slow so it was more difficult for me to get into it. Around the middle of the novel I did get drawn in by the characters and the 3 very finely crafted stories and how they intertwined. It was very subtle but because there was no clear payoff for any of the 3 stories, as there are in her previous novels, I was kind of let down. I did re-read the novel again recently, though and without my preconceived expectations, I enjoyed it more the second time around.
I didn't like the BBC version of Tipping. Nan was just so woefully miscast to me that I couldn't begin to get into the movie. Fingersmith, I liked better. I thought it did a good job of capturing the tone of the book. I'll probably want to kick myself later but I'd be kind of curious to see what Hollywood would do with either book. Does anyone know if BBC is planning on doing Affinity?
All artists, if they are to survive, are forced, at last, to tell the whole story.
I really wanted to like that book, and at first I did. However, after Kitty left Nan ( really, who didn't see that coming?) and all that time was spent with Nan lying around feeling sorry for herself, her stint as a "renter", Diana---which just felt forced, and then Florence--again with the forced, I realized I couldn't stand it.
Does anyone know how historically accurate Tipping The Velvet is? Not the details of day-to-day life in London in the 1890s but the bits about lesbian culture at that time. Some of it (especially bits about gatherings of lesbian women) felt like perhaps the author had taken modern western lesbian culture, dropped it into 1890s London, and then changed the physical details to fit the time period, but I could be totally wrong.
Anyone? Brief googling didn't turn up any articles about that.
I am recently taken away with the beauty of no other than Rachel Stirling from Tipping the Velvet. She plays the lead character in the bbc series as Nancy Astley, or otherwise known as Nan King. The series if you do not know is based on the well written and amazing book Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters (I recommend!)
Does anyone else think she is OHMYGODISOBADLYWANTTOKISSHERRIGHTNOW??!
I'm weak at the knees - short hair is so her style!
Here is a picture - she is on the right and looking marvellous!
that Rachel Sterling can indeed get the bizness from me any time she fancies, i mistakenly left her off of my list on another thread of women that i wish 2 be lesbian,like nobody's business!!!,along with Julia Stiles. All i can think 2 say is "dayuuum i wish i wuz ur lover". great actresses,beautiful smiles,rhythmicly smooth deep voices,(covers eyes)yeah.... the force is definately STRONG with them.
i'm not sure if that's my gaydar or my fire alarm ringing but,its hot as hades in here......."ladyj"
Keeley Hawes...to die
Keeley Hawes...to die for...(BBC adaptation)
Sarah Waters - writes so perceptively.
Hope you have all, read Fingersmith and watched the dvd.
tipping the velvet
Im reading her latest now --
She has another book before
She has another book before Night Watch called Affinity...and I read it in a night. Absolutely gripping! Hope they make that one into a movie.
All artists, if they are to survive, are forced, at last, to tell the whole story.
James Baldwin
Nightwatch or whatever
I used to be an ardent Sarah Waters fan. Tipping the Velvet came first, followed by the first one (words just aren't coming to me right now) A... something, which was great, Affinity, it was called, and then her third one.. Fingersmith - a little more in the spirit of Affinity, more plot twists and generally a bit more exciting.
Then came the Nightwatch. Shallow characters, absolutely zero in terms of plot turns (I had to force myself to finish it, in the desperate hope that the Waters I knew and expected would turn up soon) and overly-long descriptive passages. I get that she has been doing painstaking research into this era and wants to show it, give a sense of the reality of the time, but really, I was just flying over pages, scanning to find the next instance of action or dialogue.
Works as a fictionalised research piece. Fails as a novel.
All IMHO.
Good with milk.
Tipping the Velvet
I watched the mini series
I watched the mini series about a month ago and simply LOVED it, I can't wait to get my hands on the book
------------------
"Valentine's Day's coming? Aw crap! I forgot to get a girlfriend again!"- Fry
Tipping the Velvet
I read the novel recently and liked it very much. It might just be the best book I have read in the last six months. I think Sarah Waters has a great feel for period detail and language. It's almost like a picaresque novel (especially the middle part). But it's also a coming-of-age story and a historical novel.
I had seen the BBC mini series before reading the book (it made me want to read the novel) and I couldn't get the actresses out of my mind while reading, although the characters in the book are described totally different. And as Sarah Waters said somewhere in an interview, they (the actresses) wouldn't really be confused with boys/ men, especially Rachael Stirling with that girly haircut of hers and her fine features. But I guess you could argue that people weren't really that gender conscious back then and anyone wearing boys' clothes would be automatically (at least initially) perceived as a boy. Also I kind of couldn't stop thinking about Keely Hawes (Kitty) for a while: when she strides on stage, saying "Wha' do you think? Pre'y smart, no' 'alf bad, I'd say..." (in that stage accent of hers, what is it? Faux Cockney?) I also had the song stuck in my head for days.
I would definitely recommend the book for anyone who liked the series and also to everybody else, most certainlyfor fans of period novels, raunchy detail and lesbian themed novels in general.
One last thing: I'm currently reading Sarah Waters' latest novel, The Night Watch, which was shortlisted for the Man Booker prize for fiction last year but didn't win. I purchased it after the long-list came out. Anyway, I started reading it and I couldn't believe they had nominated her. The book was less than gripping, the characters for some reason didn't make me feel for them or with them. * possible spoilers ahead * what I knew beforehand was that the book has three parts (like Tipping the Velvet), and the story is told backwards starting with the chronologically last part. And after the first part (which is really the last part) there wasn't any ending or resolution of sorts and so I stopped reading because I felt cheated. A little later I read Tipping, and I was thrilled. I thought, How can one book by the same author be so good and the other so uninteresting and tedious? I took the book up again, and started fresh. I'm a bit into the second part now, and it still doesn't measure up to Tipping, but I can see how the characters are drawn out more by way of their past. Still, I wonder if that can make up for the unresolved and rather drab ending of the first part. I still don't find it the page turner that the earlier novel turned out to be. I will let you know if that changes soon, if anybody's interested.
Night Watch
Hello,
I've read all her books and watched the movie/series. I have to say that I didn't find Night Watch any less thrilling. It had a very different feel to it comparing it to the rest of the body of work she had produced but never the less I couldn't put it down. I found the relationship between the two women quite aqurate in way that someone who was rejected, in pain and in need for some effection could easily be missguided and fall blindly in a trap. The ending of course I found amazing, I was mad, but suriprised....All in all a good read for me.
The book that really got me upset (in a good way) was Bittersweet by Nevada Barr....I recomend it. Quite fascinating and such a enchanting cast of characters. I fell in love with Imogene's resolution and Sarah's daintyness :P
I say though, for all things relating to the arts, it's all about tastes and as we Greeks say "gousto".
Maybe you'll find Bittersweet a boring old book...:) Check it out though...
Other books in my collection I adore: Oranges are not the only fruit, Amy on my mind, Girl meets boy, Patience and Sarah....
p.s.
Thanks to msgulp for putting the book up for discussion. There doesn't seem to be much discussion on the written word (as it appears in a printed and bound fashion) on these forums.
Anyway, there seems to be a movie version in the making. IMDb has a listing for Tipping the Velvet (2009), but there isn't any info available yet. Still I'm wondering what Hollywood could improve over the BBC version. I mean a movie would have to be shorter and hence leave a lot of stuff out. Even the mini series couldn't include everything and it ran for three hours, and won't lesbians everywhere always fondly remember Keely Hawes and Rachael Stirling in the roles of Kitty and Nan? On the upside, there are never enough lesbian movies. So keep it coming.
That's all. Promise.
tipping the velvet
Tipping the Velvet was the first Srah Waters book I read and it is still my favourite. It is fun, interesting, engaging, gripping with vibrant charcters etc etc. Affinity and fingersmith were fine and Dickensian but I didn't fall in love with any of the characters the way I did with Nan.
With Night Watch, it was as though Sarah Waters was saying "here I am writing a serious book" (not that I don't think her previous books were serious/worthy/whatever). You could say that the lack of brilliance of the characters is supposedly reflecting the lack of brilliance/spirit/colour of life then but it does not make for as an enjoyable read. I don't think Night Watch was a bad book, just not quite what you expected and it seems to take itself too seriously (though it was up for the Booker prize so I suppose it achieved that aim)
Tipping the Velvet
I love this book and even though I have read it numerous of times it still dosen't lose its appeal. My only complaint may be a controversial one, I would have liked Kitty and Nan to have got back together at the end. Also am I the only person who loved Diana Chancellor? I must have a thing for mean girls.
The tv series was fun and very campy but Nans accent really annoyed me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BR65woQfLbg
Check out this link, watching TTV will never be the same again, lol
____________________________________________________________________________________
I generally avoid temptation unless I can't resist it.Good to know
About me
I HAVENT READ THE BOOK - IT IS NOT AVAILABLE WHERE I LIVE
BUT I WATCHED THE MOVIE................ IT WAS REALLY FAB
her books are simply brillian!!
so wonderful, her books are just so perfectly well written, i enjoyed every single word!!!tipping the velvet is such a fascinating story and i like fingersmith even more.i was so stunned as the story twisted.the tv adaptions are quite nice (you don't get to see such beautiful pictures that often), but still i think there's nothing better than the written word and your own imagination. some things you cant put intoa picture.... If you can't learn to do it well, learn to enjoy doing it badly. (Ashleigh Brilliant)
great story line...
its been released for years now but its only at this moment of my life that i was able to watch fingersmith and i fell in love with it. i cant wait to get my hands ona copy of the book. its like an addiction. a good one that is! it makes us read! lolz! I miss reading and i wanna go back in those moments of warmth and fuzz when your thoughts go beyond your physicalities. :)
I have all of Sarah Waters'
I have all of Sarah Waters' books at home, although I still have to read the last one. I started it, and it just seemed so boring. But I do plan to get through it one day.
For me, the first book I read by Sarah Waters was Fingersmith. And I loved it. It's still one of my favorite books. And the film/series was also brilliant.
I also loved Tipping The Velvet book, but hated the series. It was so much different and really not as good.
I liked Affinity, especially the fact that the ending was a real shocker.
Not a big fan of The Night watch
I adore Sarah Water's books; both the novel and mini series of Fingersmith were amazing. I know the TV adaptation of Tipping The Velvet differed to the book but it was still entertaining and rather cheeky which i found a bonus. Affinity for me was bleak and depressing but beautifully written. I was rather disappointed with her latest book: The Night Watch. I just didn't connect with any of the characters, never mind care what happened to them.
Why don't we eat pudding for breakfast?"
I'm such a big fan of
I'm such a big fan of Sarah Waters; she's one of my favorite authors. She has such amazing skill in creating interesting and multi-dimensional characters, not to mention how vividly she brings her setting to life. The plot lines and pacing of her novels make it impossible for me to put down once I've started.
I've read them all, in order and I think Affinity is my favorite w/ Tipping a very close second and Fingersmith an even closer third. Truthfully, that order changes up quite a bit. As for The Night Watch, I've got some mixed feelings. The pacing was slow so it was more difficult for me to get into it. Around the middle of the novel I did get drawn in by the characters and the 3 very finely crafted stories and how they intertwined. It was very subtle but because there was no clear payoff for any of the 3 stories, as there are in her previous novels, I was kind of let down. I did re-read the novel again recently, though and without my preconceived expectations, I enjoyed it more the second time around.
I didn't like the BBC version of Tipping. Nan was just so woefully miscast to me that I couldn't begin to get into the movie. Fingersmith, I liked better. I thought it did a good job of capturing the tone of the book. I'll probably want to kick myself later but I'd be kind of curious to see what Hollywood would do with either book. Does anyone know if BBC is planning on doing Affinity?
All artists, if they are to survive, are forced, at last, to tell the whole story.
James Baldwin
Hated it...
historical accuracy?
Does anyone know how historically accurate Tipping The Velvet is? Not the details of day-to-day life in London in the 1890s but the bits about lesbian culture at that time. Some of it (especially bits about gatherings of lesbian women) felt like perhaps the author had taken modern western lesbian culture, dropped it into 1890s London, and then changed the physical details to fit the time period, but I could be totally wrong.
Anyone? Brief googling didn't turn up any articles about that.
rachel_lehcar wrote...
[Copied from a duplicate thread]
I am recently taken away with the beauty of no other than Rachel Stirling from Tipping the Velvet. She plays the lead character in the bbc series as Nancy Astley, or otherwise known as Nan King. The series if you do not know is based on the well written and amazing book Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters (I recommend!)
Does anyone else think she is OHMYGODISOBADLYWANTTOKISSHERRIGHTNOW??!
I'm weak at the knees - short hair is so her style!
Here is a picture - she is on the right and looking marvellous!
Arrrl
http://www.rachael-stirling.com/plogger/images/tipping_the_velvet/photo_shoots/image_001.jpg
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?
Thanks Harpy
Thanks for moving it! Haha i'm so stupid.
I am in love with Tipping the Velvet!
Rachel Stirling is more than I can say - drools
just had 2 say..
that Rachel Sterling can indeed get the bizness from me any time she fancies, i mistakenly left her off of my list on another thread of women that i wish 2 be lesbian,like nobody's business!!!,along with Julia Stiles. All i can think 2 say is "dayuuum i wish i wuz ur lover". great actresses,beautiful smiles,rhythmicly smooth deep voices,(covers eyes)yeah.... the force is definately STRONG with them.
i'm not sure if that's my gaydar or my fire alarm ringing but,its hot as hades in here......."ladyj"
sarah waters on the southbank show (UK) june 2008
hi, thought some might be interested in this vodcast of sarah's interview a few weeks ago:
http://www.mediafly.com/Podcasts/Feeds/The_South_Bank_Show
It's mainly Sarah talking about her novels and why she set them in the past. She is working on a new novel set around 1947/48. Can't wait :)