Yuletide beta -- ISO Brit Picker, pre-Thatcher England

[rthstewart]

I am in the throes of my Yuletide assignment and am finding I really need a Brit-picker, ideally with some feel for pre-Thatcher, 1970s England (with added Oxbridge references and slash subtext).  I know the fandom and the characters well (book and film) -- that's not the problem -- but I think the draft so far reads very American with lots of added "u"'s in words.  I just don't know the idiom, the slang, or the geography.  I'm looking for a gritty, British feel and all that seems to happen is reuse of the words "grimy," "soot," and "exiled to the Siberia of Brixton."    I'm at about 4,500 words and I think it will be up to 6K in the end. 

I looked at the Yuletide beta list and the ones offering for my fandom are all Americans. If you are interested/can help, please drop me a line or comment.  Thanks!

Comments

[adaese.livejournal.com]

I don't admit (at least in public) to being able to remember the 70s. But I did live in Oxford for a few years at the time, as well as studying there later and spending quite a few Christmases in Cambridge.

Soot sounds about right. They were still cleaning it off the Oxford walls through the 80s - it was a revelation, all that marvellous golden stone where it had been almost black.

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

I will let you know! As I explained to inkvoices, this is all espionage, skullduggery, the Cambridge 5 and old establishment set against the decided post-Empire milieu of grubby early 1970s London. I'll see how I do. Thank you for the offer!!

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

Early 70s? Industrial unrest, strikes and walkouts. The 3-day week. General elections in 1970, 1974 and 1974 again.

Colour TV came to Britain (and, indeed, Europe) in 1967, with BBC2. By the early 70s, it was becoming one of the marks of a middle-class household, along with central heating, a freezer, and foreign holidays.

The school leaving age was raised from 15 to 16 sometime in the early 70s. Britain still had proper armed forces, and the remnants of empire - note Guatamela's attempted invasion of British Honduras in 1972 (see Rowland White's "Phoenix Squadron") and the SAS' involvement in Oman the same year (see the same author's "Storm Front".

The Russian threat. Bears and Bisons (um, those are both bombers) over the North Sea, being seen off by Lightnings and Phantoms (both fighters), which had been scrambled to intercept them. Russian "trawlers" sitting off the coast, intercepting communications, scanning radar et cetera.

Blunt wasn't revealed to be the Fourth Man until 1979, so a bit late for you.

Hope this helps! - and do ask for more, although I can't always promise a rapid turnaround.

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

The royal wedding in 1973 (ie Princess Anne to Captain Mark Phillips).

Who will Prince Charles marry?

Bay City Rollers (tartan!)

Glam rock (shiny, platform boots, make-up, big hair - and that was just the guys!)

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much! The visuals and such, I hope I can manage. Thank you for the inspiration. The language, though, I really cannot master and it all comes out so banally American. I have to just accept the fact that I can't get the turns of phrase of Le Carre -- things like traveling by drafty sports car to Ascot, a place famous for horses and women. Or how a character looks for and sees the Cambridge oar above the mantle. Playing snooker and ping pong. Something I did realize after a careful reading where a character is catching a ferry from Liverpool to Dublin was that there would be lots of soldiers. In truth, I'm worrying about this needlessly. I'm not a Brit, can manage only a poor imitation, and my recipient isn't going to care. It's frustrating, though. It goes deeper than the obvious things fic writers try for, like that cars have bonnets and jumpers are sweaters and treacle tart.

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

Made harder by the fact that, in the early 1970s, Americanisms were much less prevalent than they are now.

Far more industry then than now - esp heavy industry. And a lot of it was nationalised - coal mines, car making (partly), electricity supply &c.

[inkvoices]

Can I ask what the fandom is? Or can you PM me with it if you don't want to post it?

I'm English, so there's that *grins*. 1970's isn't my strong point, but I can certainly check the added 'u' words. For slang and idioms I'm better really at later or much earlier eras, but I can probably pick out anything glaringly odd, and I've visited Oxford and Cambridge, so again, whilst it's not my strong point, I have a handle on the geography. Any use?

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

I sent a PM to you via Live Journal! thank you!!

[econopodder.livejournal.com]

Lemme know if I can help. Can advise based on early-80s familiarity with Thatcherism & Cambridge & inches-deep carbon & dirt & soot buildup on ancient stone walls . . .

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

Oh man. I think my brain just broke. I have to remember who else this goes to.... Oh self. You mention this at Thanksgiving and NO TURKEY LEFTOVERS FOR YOU!

Ahem. Thank you!