Book of old wives tales

The old wives tale is generally considered to be benetts masterpiece. A collection of superstitions, beliefs, and old wives tales from various cultures and eras. This is arnold bennetts tale of the ravages of time and the inevitability of change. The origins of old wives tales and superstitions in our everyday lives. The phrase old wives tale is often used to describe an old cure or piece of wisdom that has been passed down through the generations. First published in 1908, the old wives tale affirms the integrity of ordinary lives as it tells the story of the baines sistersshy, retiring constance and defiant, romantic sophiaover the course of nearly half a century. Peeing on a jellyfish sting alleviates the pain this old wives tale is certainly effective in deterring people from coming too close to jellyfish. This book is available for free download in a number of formats including epub, pdf, azw, mobi and more. Many entries include interesting facts connected to the tale in question, and often, entries will trace the superstition, object, or pattern as it has occurred throughout history.

Includes wedding customs and superstitions and fears about death. Bennett was initially inspired to write the book by a chance encounter in a parisian restaurant. The old wives tale is just an example of how underrated much nineteenthcentury writing is. Is it okay to whack a bibleganglion cyst with a book. Wonderfully balanced writing of the very different lives of sophia and constance. Free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by project gutenberg.

The old wives tale is a novel by arnold bennett, first published in 1908. It is generally regarded as one of bennetts finest works. The old wives tale and millions of other books are available for instant access. Arnold bennetts the old wives tale is a good, but not great, novel about the lives led by two women from a small town in england. His most popular book, the old wives tale, published in 1908, overflows with insights great and small on business, the role of commerce in. Browse the amazon editors picks for the best books of 2019, featuring our favorite reads in more than a dozen categories. Buy the old wives tale by arnold bennett from amazons fiction books store. The old wives tale by arnold bennett an extraordinary story of. The old wives tale that if your ears are ringing, then somebody is talking about you. It covers a period of about 70 years from roughly 1840 to 1905, and is set in burslem and paris.

More than 2,000 years ago, roman philosopher pliny the elder used this old wives tale as an explanation for what doctors know now to be tinnitus, a symptom found in many diseases. Everyday low prices on a huge range of new releases and classic fiction. Old wives tale by arnold bennett, first edition abebooks. My friend lottie moggach gave me the penguin classics edition of this book and the truth is that i never got around to reading it. It captures both the provincial and cosmopolitan worlds that were the basis of both his life and his fiction. He would have been better to title it the tale of two old wives, when he wrote it in 1908, rather than the title chosen, which no one seems to be able to understand. While he writes with both a high degree of realism and historical accuracy there are moments, especially in the opening chapters, that test the readers patience. The tales include treatments for everything from toothaches to toddler misbehavior, and they vary widely in their accuracy.

It takes 7 years to digest a piece of gum this ubiquitous old wives tale probably manifests in the back of your mind each time your gum loses its flavor and there is no trash. Read this book and over 1 million others with a kindle unlimited membership. It deals with the lives of two very different sisters, constance and sophia baines, following their stories from their youth, working in their mothers drapers shop, into old age. The name bible cyst is thought to come from an old practice where you wacked the thing with a big book to get rid of it. Bennett traces the sisters lives from childhood in their fathers drapery shop in provincial bursley. This little book is not only informative, exploring the truths or untruths of old wives tales, but it is also vastly entertaining. First published in 1908, the old wives tale affirms the integrity of ordinary lives as it tells the story of the baines sistersshy. Old home remedy holds that placing a bar of soap between your bedsheets will help prevent leg cramps. The old wives tale by arnold bennett free ebook manybooks. First published in 1908, the old wives tale affirms the integrity of ordinary lives as it tells. Sophias experience of the execution encapsulates what. Arnold bennetts superb old wives tale, wandering from person to person and from scene to. A doctor explains which old wives tales work to fight colds, and why.