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Lissa
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| Posted: Feb 23 2005 at 12:22pm | IP Logged
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The Henty discussion is a subthread woven into other topics...I thought I'd compile all the Henty posts into a new thread of their own, for convenience's sake. —your friendly forum moderator 
alicegunther wrote:
| One thing that was a big disappointment is the GA Henty books. I purchased quite a few of them at the beginning of the year because they seemed to fit in perfectly with the time period we were studying, but they have not gone over well in this house. Two of my children begged me (through tears--I kid you not) to stop reading "For the Temple." I've never had that happen with a read aloud before. |
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Kelly wrote:
Re: Henty and the Middle Ages---
The GA Henty books have not gone over well in our house, either, though I have persistently tried them over the years with different levels of readers. However, I suspect not all GA Henty books are created equal! My children did enjoy-somewhat-"The Cat of Bubastes"...but that's about it. |
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Bridget wrote:
We have a few Henty books that I previewed for anti-Catholic bias. I thought they were a bit boring, but the boys are enjoying them. |
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Mary G. wrote:
Re: G.A. Henty books -- my 15 yos liked these, but he loves history and I think they're written for boys (if that's not too sexist?  ). He also loved "Song of Roland" which he had to read for school (he's in a Catholic high school) -- he read the Dorothy Sayers translation and loved it (we also have the Robert Harrison translation and he said it wasn't as good or clear -- or as lyrical, inmy opinion).
Hope this helps!
Blessings
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MacBeth
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| Posted: Feb 23 2005 at 2:26pm | IP Logged
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Alice and I have mused about WHAT it is that makes Henty so unappealing to us and our families. And it's not just a boy thing--Trip hated Henty, too.  He liked Baldwin's Song of Roland, and does not mind any particualr time period (not do we) but Henty is just a big flop here.
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Willa
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| Posted: Feb 23 2005 at 4:39pm | IP Logged
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Henty books are not very good read-alouds in our house. I tried Cat of Bubastes with my then 6th grader. We finally had to stop. It just dragged on and on and we never seemed to be getting anywhere.
Later on he picked up another one (YOung Carthaginian) and loved it. He's gone on to read over and over again all the ones around the house plus all the ones in our county library system. He's 16 now. He loves history too.
They haven't been that big a hit with any of my other children (so far).
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Willa
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Kelly
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| Posted: Feb 23 2005 at 6:42pm | IP Logged
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MacBeth wrote:
| Alice and I have mused about WHAT it is that makes Henty so unappealing to us and our families." |
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Go figure. On the other hand, our 26 year old German student that lives with us LOVED the Henty books!
Kelly in FL
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Mary Chris
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| Posted: Feb 25 2005 at 7:43am | IP Logged
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Is Jim Weiss making recordings of these books?
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Mary Chris
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| Posted: Feb 25 2005 at 11:50am | IP Logged
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I visited Jim Weiss's web page and he is recording some of these books. He is doing an abridged reading, to make them more enjoyable.
We have not delved into Henty's books. I have been unsure because of conflicting comments about the him. Our Jim Weiss story collection is almost complete, maybe we will try one of these in a few years.
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Blessings, Mary Chris Beardsley
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Kathryn UK
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| Posted: Feb 28 2005 at 6:34am | IP Logged
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The one Henty book I tried to read I couldn't get past the first few pages, and I know without trying that my dd would loathe them.
A much better author of historical fiction, IMO, is Geoffrey Trease. He wrote a large number of books, mainly between the 1930s and 1970s, including a number on unusual topics (Garibaldi, medieval Spain and so on). Unfortunately most of his best books are out of print and not easy to find
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julia s.
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| Posted: March 01 2005 at 9:15am | IP Logged
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Kathryn UK wrote:
A much better author of historical fiction, IMO, is Geoffrey Trease. He wrote a large number of books, mainly between the 1930s and 1970s, including a number on unusual topics (Garibaldi, medieval Spain and so on). Unfortunately most of his best books are out of print and not easy to find |
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Kathryn,
Why do you like Trease better? Is it the writing style or the length of the books? I'm always on a lookout for great history writers. Thanks.
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Kathryn UK
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| Posted: March 01 2005 at 12:37pm | IP Logged
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julia s wrote:
Kathryn,
Why do you like Trease better? Is it the writing style or the length of the books? I'm always on a lookout for great history writers. Thanks. |
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Writing style certainly. I can't comment on Henty's plots as I have never managed to get past his style enough to read one of his books. Trease's books combine an easy to read style (not twaddly, just readable), interesting plots and lots of historical detail. The main characters are often teens, and are mainly boys. There is little, if any, religious content in his books, but neither have I come across anything problematic. There is sometimes a small element of romance; nothing at all graphic, but often the leading protagonists end up marrying and living happily ever after. Great books for older children, but also still appropriate for younger ones. I read a couple to my dd when she was 8 or 9 and she enjoyed them. A few titles I can recommend are:
Cue for Treason - set in Elizabethan England. Two youngsters run away from home (for very different but valid reasons) and fall in with a company of travelling players. They get mixed up in a plot to assassinate the Queen and the theft of a Shakespeare play. Shakespeare appears as a character in the book.
Follow My Black Plume - a teenage boy is sent to Italy on a cultural tour in the charge of a Church of England clergyman. They find themselves in a Rome occupied by Garibaldi and his troops and besieged by the French, and become caught up in the campaign for an independent, unified Italy.
Red Towers of Granada - an young Englishman is sent to Spain in company with a Jewish family to find a remedy for Edward I's sick queen. Lots of information about Spain in the middle ages, and lots of adventure. One character is a wicked monk (who is not wicked because he is a monk, if you get the distinction).
Thunder at Valmy - about the French Revolution, written from the perspective of a young man who is personally caught up in the events and therefore has an insider's view.
Trease carried on writing well into his 90s, and his best writing was in his earlier books. Some of the later ones have interesting topics, though - Russia under Perestroika, and the fall of the Ceaucescu regime in Romania, for example.
To avoid confusion, there is another British author of historical fiction with a similar surname - Henry Treece (with an "e" rather than an "a"). He is also a good author, who wrote mainly about Vikings. His two Viking trilogies are excellent and based on Norse sagas. They are also realistically violent, so I would keep them for older and not too sensitive children.
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julia s.
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| Posted: March 03 2005 at 7:13am | IP Logged
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Thanks Kathryn--
I hope my library carries some of these. They're going on my list today.
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4Real Forums : Across Time and Place
Topic: Henty books
