Book Reviews

‘The best moments in reading are when you come across something - a thought, a feeling, a way of looking at things - which you had thought special and particular to you. And now, here it is, set down by someone else, a person you have never met, someone even who is long dead. And it is as if a hand has come out, and taken yours.’ Alan Bennett

“Many a book is like a key to unknown chambers within the castle of one’s own self.” ― Franz Kafka

Wednesday 11 September 2013

Wondrous Words Wednesday (2) - Burial Rites by Hannah Kent



Wondrous Words Wednesday is hosted by BermudaOnion and is a weekly meme where you can share new words that you’ve encountered or spotlight words you love.  
I think this is a great idea! I decided to start taking part in this and highlighting words that are new to me/that I really like/that struck me for some reason..!



This week my words are all from Burial Rites by Hannah Kent (Picador) 


1 vittles (noun) - 'The clerks took what she had to cover her vittles.'

A variation of victual; an obsolete or dialect spelling of victual.
victuals (noun) - food supplies or provisions for human beings



2 rime (noun) - 'Endless days of dark indoors and hateful glances are enough to set a rime on anyone's bones.'

1. A coating of ice, as on grass and trees, formed when extremely cold water droplets freeze almost instantly on a cold surface.
2. A coating, as of mud or slime, likened to a frosty film.

 Also a variant of 'rhyme'.



3 wreath (noun) - '...in the stillness of the room I hear footsteps, awful coming footsteps, coming to blow me out and send my life up away from me in a grey wreath of smoke.'

1 a. A ring or circle of flowers, boughs, or leaves worn on the head, placed on a memorial, or hung as decoration.
   b. A representation of this ring or circlet, as in woodwork.
2 A curling or circular form: a wreath of smoke.

I was familiar with these words to an extent but they all interested me and in each case I discovered something by looking at their definitions.

Definitions from the free dictionary
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2 comments:

  1. bermudaonion11 September 2013 at 12:59

    I'm kind of embarrassed to admit that I knew vittles from watching The Beverly Hillbillies back in the day.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous11 September 2013 at 14:03

    The language in Burial Rites was wonderful - she really made you feel the weather and realise how much it influenced every bit of their way of life.

    ReplyDelete

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