In Sense and Sensibility Austen contrasts two sisters and their very different styles of courtship- one, Marianne- all emotion, the other, Elinor- all common sense and decorum. Since this Austen novel is paired with a focus on Allegra who is meteoric, passionate, emotional, and self centred we are encouraged to compare her to Marianne ( who is a secondary character in S&S).
In S&S Marianne falls head over heels for the gallant and adventurous Willoughby. He turns out to be a rat...well, perhaps not a rat, but while he "courted" Marianne when it came down to the crunch other virtues ( wealth, position) had more weight. Marianne, in her depression at Willoughby's betrayal goes out in the rain and becomes ill [but recovers]
Allegra is lesbian and her lover Corinne appears at first as adventurous and impulsive as Allegra but turns out not to be as she seems, we are told. Corinne betrays Allegra; Allegra tells Corinne secrets, stories and Corinne steals them and tries to sell them and fails. [It is speculated that Austen was lesbian as she never married and of course writes stories, and her early manuscripts were rejected.] Allegra discovers Corinne's betrayal. " How dare Corinne write up Allegra's secret stories and send them off to magazines to be published? How dare Corinne write them so poorly that no one wished to take them?"
She leaves in the rain in only a T shirt , drives to her parents and stays in bed for 3 days (compare to Marianne's outing in the rain in S&S) There are secrets revealed in S&S too. Elinor's love interest Edward is secretly attached to Lucy but this secret is revealed by Lucy's sister causing much upset in vaious quarters. In the end though Lucy succumbs to the lure of wealth also and accepts the "better" offer of brother Robert instead, leaving Edward conveniently for Elinor. But what about Marianne? She ends up with Col. Brandon, a nice older man, who cares for her. And what will happen to Allegra? If she leaves Corinne for good who will she end up with.
Fowler in the Austen Book Club is taking situations from not the Austen's main character but secondary ones. "It wasn't Jane Austen's fault that love went bad. You couldn't even say she didn't warn you. Her heroines made out well enough but there were always other characters in the book who didn't finish happily...These were the women to whom you should be paying attention, but you weren't"
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Thursday, April 20, 2006
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Some ideas to ponder
Here are thoughts I have had about the very modern society of the Jane Austen Book Club in contrast with the characters and society of Austen's books, and particularly to begin with, the novel Emma.
Some questions about Emma. What if Emma had not realised her faults and her true affections and not fallen eventually for Knightly, or if Knightly had not been so constant in his affection for Emma and been completely turned away by her foolish and sometimes cruel behavior? Would Emma have remained unmarried, still admiring/loving Knightly from afar? What if Knightly had married Emma's friend?
Jocelyn is unmarried. She had a relationship with Daniel but this was lost and Daniel married her best friend Silvia. Don't you get the feeling Jocelyn still loves Daniel? Silvia and Daniel are separating and the narrator says of Jocelyn " It was occurring to her for the first time that she was losing Daniel too. She'd handed them over, but she'd never given him up. Now, while she was breeding her dogs and dusting her lightbulbs and reading her books, he had packed his bags and moved away."
Breeding. This is an important issue. For Jocelyn as it is for Austen and her character Emma.
" We thought how the dog world must be a great relief to a woman like Jocelyn, a woman with everyone's best interests at heart, a strong matchmaking implulse and an instinct for tidiness. In the kennel, you just picked the sire and dam who seemed most likely to advance the breed through their progeny. You didn't have to ask them. ..." Wouldn't it be nice if love/marriage was this simple? This is Emma as she starts out, the controller, the matchmaker. She "knows" what is best for Harriet, for Mr. Elton, for herself. But of course, like Jocelyn she doesn't really know what is best at all. What Austen points out is that what is necessary is a moral compass of sorts, a love compass. Emma starts without one but gains direction in time. Jocelyn learned but perhaps too late. It isn't just class as Austen makes quite clear ( in my view) in all her books. There is something else that is more important.
An incident of note in the back story of Jocelyn...the picnic with her friends with her mother and Jocelyn makes cruel and cutting remarks to her. This compares to the incident at Box Hill where Emma makes cruel remarks to Miss Bates and Mr. Knightly rebukes her. Daniel rebukes Jocelyn: "That was kind of mean Jocelyn ...After she cooked all that food and all."
...and it is just after this incident that he reveals to Jocelyn that he loves Sylvia not her.
I get the feeling Jocelyn feels she missed her chance. She likes Austen because Austen recreates a world where it is all possible again, where people ALMOST make the wrong choices but are saved and all works out in the end. Is real life like that? Not for some. Does Jocelyn wish she could go back and do things differently? Of course, don't we all? Austen herself was unmarried- like Jocelyn. Did she have the same feeling? Austen didn't breed dogs and dust light bulbs- she wrote books instead.
The choice of who we marry is perhaps one of the most important choices we make. It is no less fraught with false leads in our day and age and society than it was in Austen's day.
But we all have our own private Austen. This is jumping ahead a bit, but reading the comments at the back of the book about Austen and her novels...everyone has a different take. For example ( from Martin Amis) Jane Austen is weirdly capable of keeping everybody busy. The moralists, the Eros and Agape people, the Marxists, the Freudians, the semioticians, the deconstructors- all find an adventure playground in six samey novels about middle class provincials. And for every generation of critics, and readers, her fiction effortlessly renews itself." Jocelyn you see is reading herself into the novel and Fowler who wrote the Book Club is reading herself and her characters into the novel and we read ourselves into it. Which tells me that Austen captured some of the complexity of life in her novels about middle class provincials and that is something!
Some questions about Emma. What if Emma had not realised her faults and her true affections and not fallen eventually for Knightly, or if Knightly had not been so constant in his affection for Emma and been completely turned away by her foolish and sometimes cruel behavior? Would Emma have remained unmarried, still admiring/loving Knightly from afar? What if Knightly had married Emma's friend?
Jocelyn is unmarried. She had a relationship with Daniel but this was lost and Daniel married her best friend Silvia. Don't you get the feeling Jocelyn still loves Daniel? Silvia and Daniel are separating and the narrator says of Jocelyn " It was occurring to her for the first time that she was losing Daniel too. She'd handed them over, but she'd never given him up. Now, while she was breeding her dogs and dusting her lightbulbs and reading her books, he had packed his bags and moved away."
Breeding. This is an important issue. For Jocelyn as it is for Austen and her character Emma.
" We thought how the dog world must be a great relief to a woman like Jocelyn, a woman with everyone's best interests at heart, a strong matchmaking implulse and an instinct for tidiness. In the kennel, you just picked the sire and dam who seemed most likely to advance the breed through their progeny. You didn't have to ask them. ..." Wouldn't it be nice if love/marriage was this simple? This is Emma as she starts out, the controller, the matchmaker. She "knows" what is best for Harriet, for Mr. Elton, for herself. But of course, like Jocelyn she doesn't really know what is best at all. What Austen points out is that what is necessary is a moral compass of sorts, a love compass. Emma starts without one but gains direction in time. Jocelyn learned but perhaps too late. It isn't just class as Austen makes quite clear ( in my view) in all her books. There is something else that is more important.
An incident of note in the back story of Jocelyn...the picnic with her friends with her mother and Jocelyn makes cruel and cutting remarks to her. This compares to the incident at Box Hill where Emma makes cruel remarks to Miss Bates and Mr. Knightly rebukes her. Daniel rebukes Jocelyn: "That was kind of mean Jocelyn ...After she cooked all that food and all."
...and it is just after this incident that he reveals to Jocelyn that he loves Sylvia not her.
I get the feeling Jocelyn feels she missed her chance. She likes Austen because Austen recreates a world where it is all possible again, where people ALMOST make the wrong choices but are saved and all works out in the end. Is real life like that? Not for some. Does Jocelyn wish she could go back and do things differently? Of course, don't we all? Austen herself was unmarried- like Jocelyn. Did she have the same feeling? Austen didn't breed dogs and dust light bulbs- she wrote books instead.
The choice of who we marry is perhaps one of the most important choices we make. It is no less fraught with false leads in our day and age and society than it was in Austen's day.
But we all have our own private Austen. This is jumping ahead a bit, but reading the comments at the back of the book about Austen and her novels...everyone has a different take. For example ( from Martin Amis) Jane Austen is weirdly capable of keeping everybody busy. The moralists, the Eros and Agape people, the Marxists, the Freudians, the semioticians, the deconstructors- all find an adventure playground in six samey novels about middle class provincials. And for every generation of critics, and readers, her fiction effortlessly renews itself." Jocelyn you see is reading herself into the novel and Fowler who wrote the Book Club is reading herself and her characters into the novel and we read ourselves into it. Which tells me that Austen captured some of the complexity of life in her novels about middle class provincials and that is something!
Saturday, April 15, 2006
Emma- My take
I have found the synopses of the Austen books in the back of The Jane Austen Book Club to be woefully insufficient. Here is a full summary but in addition I want to give my take on Emma emphasising the points which I think are most pertinent to The Jane Austen Book Club.
The question in Emma is “What is love”. It is not so much about marriage as it is about "courtship”. How does a woman determine when she is really in love and who she should marry, a “suitable match”. Breeding and class are important ( to Austen) not for themselves but for the personal qualities that came along with them (or should) in her day, and Austen is very pointedly acerbic about those who judge quality solely on the basis of wealth and position and critical of marriage which is not accompanied by a depth of feeling. Emma is also about how blind one can be when it comes to “love” and what “love” really is.
Emma starts out a spoiled, class conscious, prig.
The real evils, indeed, of Emma's situation were the power of having
rather too much her own way, and a disposition to think a little
too well of herself; ... The danger, however, was at present
so unperceived, that they did not by any means rank as misfortunes
with her.
In the book Emma decides to play matchmaker for Harriet and does it- as Austen might say- “very ill”. Marriage and love is a serious business and not to be trifled with and Austen must teach this lesson to her character, Emma. This she does through the character of Knightly. Emma seems oblivious or dismissive of the real currants of feeling swirling around her. She ignores the attentions of Robert Martin to Harriet ( and discourages Harriet’s obvious affection for him) thinking him beneath her friend's station.
Instead she tries to put Harriet in the way of Mr. Elton the new vicar thinking him more “suitable” ( read higher class) even though Harriet doesn’t “love” Mr. Elton. This backfires on Emma as Elton thinks the attention means he has a chance with Emma herself. He doesn't care for Emma but is impressed by her status and wealth, while Harriet has neither. This Emma is unaware of at first.
Emma is susceptible however to the artificial charms and flattery of Frank Churchill the son of a neighbour who doesn’t really care for Emma at all but uses her to mask his secret engagement to Jane Fairfax (granddaughter and niece of a couple of impoverished but respectable ladies of the town.) Instead Emma imagines that Jane is involved in an affair with Jane’s former employer Mr. Dixon, a married man. She is also jealous of her as she rivals Emma in accomplishments.
Emma seems unaware that Mr. Knightly ( her brother-in-law and long time friend of the family) whose concern for Emma is constant, if at times critical, has any interest in her other than fatherly.
Mr. Knightley, in fact, was one of the few people who could see
faults in Emma Woodhouse, and the only one who ever told her of them:
and though this was not particularly agreeable to Emma herself,
she knew it would be so much less so to her father, that she would
not have him really suspect such a circumstance as her not being
thought perfect by every body.
"Emma knows I never flatter her," said Mr. Knightley,
Knightly calls Emma out when her behaviour is below what he expects of her, especially when she is cruel to Jane’s aunt, Miss Bates, a poor- of lower status- but a sweet lady. Meanwhile Harriet mistakes Knightly’s kindness and respect to her as affection, while Emma, finally realising she doesn’t really care for Frank, thinks he might be a match for Harriet, which is far from Harriet’s mind taken as she is now with Knightly. Only when Emma believes Knightly might care for someone else (Harriet, Jane) does she realise her own affection for him. Nothing is as it first appears to Emma. All is surprise.
The knots are all eventually worked out, and we the readers, frustrated at times by Emma’s blindness, see her gradual enlightenment to the virtues of Mr. Knightly and her own fallibility. Harriet marries Robert as she well should, following her true affection, Mr Elton marries some rich lady as materialistic as himself, Frank’s love of Jane can be revealed when his controlling aunt dies and Emma, well, she falls in love with Knightly just when she thinks she has lost his favour. She wouldn’t have been happy with Knightly at the beginning of the book of course but because of the incidents through the book and what she learns about herself and what “suitable” means to her she is a changed woman and is no longer the stuck up, know it all, youngster she was.
So we start out in the Jane Austen Book Club in March at Jocelyn’s discussing Emma.
We are encouraged to compare Jocelyn to the character of Emma. There are things in her relationships that are similar to Austen's Emma and things that contrast.
That's for the next post.
The question in Emma is “What is love”. It is not so much about marriage as it is about "courtship”. How does a woman determine when she is really in love and who she should marry, a “suitable match”. Breeding and class are important ( to Austen) not for themselves but for the personal qualities that came along with them (or should) in her day, and Austen is very pointedly acerbic about those who judge quality solely on the basis of wealth and position and critical of marriage which is not accompanied by a depth of feeling. Emma is also about how blind one can be when it comes to “love” and what “love” really is.
Emma starts out a spoiled, class conscious, prig.
The real evils, indeed, of Emma's situation were the power of having
rather too much her own way, and a disposition to think a little
too well of herself; ... The danger, however, was at present
so unperceived, that they did not by any means rank as misfortunes
with her.
In the book Emma decides to play matchmaker for Harriet and does it- as Austen might say- “very ill”. Marriage and love is a serious business and not to be trifled with and Austen must teach this lesson to her character, Emma. This she does through the character of Knightly. Emma seems oblivious or dismissive of the real currants of feeling swirling around her. She ignores the attentions of Robert Martin to Harriet ( and discourages Harriet’s obvious affection for him) thinking him beneath her friend's station.
Instead she tries to put Harriet in the way of Mr. Elton the new vicar thinking him more “suitable” ( read higher class) even though Harriet doesn’t “love” Mr. Elton. This backfires on Emma as Elton thinks the attention means he has a chance with Emma herself. He doesn't care for Emma but is impressed by her status and wealth, while Harriet has neither. This Emma is unaware of at first.
Emma is susceptible however to the artificial charms and flattery of Frank Churchill the son of a neighbour who doesn’t really care for Emma at all but uses her to mask his secret engagement to Jane Fairfax (granddaughter and niece of a couple of impoverished but respectable ladies of the town.) Instead Emma imagines that Jane is involved in an affair with Jane’s former employer Mr. Dixon, a married man. She is also jealous of her as she rivals Emma in accomplishments.
Emma seems unaware that Mr. Knightly ( her brother-in-law and long time friend of the family) whose concern for Emma is constant, if at times critical, has any interest in her other than fatherly.
Mr. Knightley, in fact, was one of the few people who could see
faults in Emma Woodhouse, and the only one who ever told her of them:
and though this was not particularly agreeable to Emma herself,
she knew it would be so much less so to her father, that she would
not have him really suspect such a circumstance as her not being
thought perfect by every body.
"Emma knows I never flatter her," said Mr. Knightley,
Knightly calls Emma out when her behaviour is below what he expects of her, especially when she is cruel to Jane’s aunt, Miss Bates, a poor- of lower status- but a sweet lady. Meanwhile Harriet mistakes Knightly’s kindness and respect to her as affection, while Emma, finally realising she doesn’t really care for Frank, thinks he might be a match for Harriet, which is far from Harriet’s mind taken as she is now with Knightly. Only when Emma believes Knightly might care for someone else (Harriet, Jane) does she realise her own affection for him. Nothing is as it first appears to Emma. All is surprise.
The knots are all eventually worked out, and we the readers, frustrated at times by Emma’s blindness, see her gradual enlightenment to the virtues of Mr. Knightly and her own fallibility. Harriet marries Robert as she well should, following her true affection, Mr Elton marries some rich lady as materialistic as himself, Frank’s love of Jane can be revealed when his controlling aunt dies and Emma, well, she falls in love with Knightly just when she thinks she has lost his favour. She wouldn’t have been happy with Knightly at the beginning of the book of course but because of the incidents through the book and what she learns about herself and what “suitable” means to her she is a changed woman and is no longer the stuck up, know it all, youngster she was.
So we start out in the Jane Austen Book Club in March at Jocelyn’s discussing Emma.
We are encouraged to compare Jocelyn to the character of Emma. There are things in her relationships that are similar to Austen's Emma and things that contrast.
That's for the next post.
Posting trouble
I seem to be having some trouble getting my posts to appear properly( in IE only- no problem in Foxfire or mozilla based browser) . Trying to sort it out.
Monday, April 03, 2006
Austen online
I realised that I don't have copies of all of Austen's books ( something for me to watch out for at the up-coming book sale!) However, I have discovered that they are on line! Thank you Project Gutenberg! Since it has been a while since I have read Emma or Sense and Sensibility I can refresh my memory with a few keystrokes! Wonderful.
He was not an ill-disposed young man,
unless to be rather cold hearted and rather selfish
is to be ill-disposed:OUCH THAT'S AUSTEN but he was,
in general, well respected; for he conducted himself
with propriety in the discharge of his ordinary duties.
Saturday, April 01, 2006
The Jane Austen Book Club
I like this book. I like it very much. It could fall apart I suppose, but it is quirky, it is holding my interest and it is making me think. First about Emma because that is the book the book club focuses on in the first session ( March -how about that?) but in which we mainly meet the cast of 6 book club characters through the very acerbic "group" narrator and we get some of Jocelyn's and Sylvia's back stories.
I like Fowler's style. There's something very, I don't know, surprising about her prose. She'll be describing something and then throw in something unexpected. Sample:
There were porcelain lamps in the shape of ginger jars, round and oriental and with none of the usual dust on the bulbs because this was Jocelyn's house. The lamps were on timers. When it was sufficiently dark out, at the perfect moment they would snap on all at once like a choir. This hadn't happened yet but we were looking forward to it. Maybe someone would be saying something brilliant.
She can be very funny.
"I think Jane is being ironic here", Prudie suggested..."she has an ironic wit, I think some readers miss that. I am often ironic myself., especially in e-mail. Sometimes my friends ask. Was that a joke?"
"Was that a joke?" Allegra asked. ...
Then further on Jocelyn says "The pretty marry the pretty the ugly marry the ugly...to the detriment of the breed."
"Is that a joke?" Prudie asked
The book is set in California somewhere I believe but the author quotes Robertson Davies. Is there a Canadian connection?
Jocelyn and her dogs, Emma cf dog show Interesting. Nobility and wealth, money and breeding.
I have started April/ Sense and Sensibility but will leave thoughts on that for a later date.
I like Fowler's style. There's something very, I don't know, surprising about her prose. She'll be describing something and then throw in something unexpected. Sample:
There were porcelain lamps in the shape of ginger jars, round and oriental and with none of the usual dust on the bulbs because this was Jocelyn's house. The lamps were on timers. When it was sufficiently dark out, at the perfect moment they would snap on all at once like a choir. This hadn't happened yet but we were looking forward to it. Maybe someone would be saying something brilliant.
She can be very funny.
"I think Jane is being ironic here", Prudie suggested..."she has an ironic wit, I think some readers miss that. I am often ironic myself., especially in e-mail. Sometimes my friends ask. Was that a joke?"
"Was that a joke?" Allegra asked. ...
Then further on Jocelyn says "The pretty marry the pretty the ugly marry the ugly...to the detriment of the breed."
"Is that a joke?" Prudie asked
The book is set in California somewhere I believe but the author quotes Robertson Davies. Is there a Canadian connection?
Jocelyn and her dogs, Emma cf dog show Interesting. Nobility and wealth, money and breeding.
I have started April/ Sense and Sensibility but will leave thoughts on that for a later date.
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Austen awaits
Our next book for my book circle is The Jane Austen Book Club. I hope this book lives up to my hopes and expectations. I wanted to read it because A) I love Jane Austen and it gives me an excuse to delve into Austen again B) it is another "book club" book. Having read Reading Lolita in Tehran I thought it would be a good contrast for discussion. C) the premise of a book club centred on Jane Austen where the participants' relationships are dissected by an Austen-like eye is wonderful. But will Karen Fowler pull it off? I hope she can match Austen but perhaps that is too much to expect. I will be happy if she comes close.
Wright's wrongs
Our LitWits met today and we tore into Richard Wright's Adultery. We didn't tear it apart but rather dove into the questions raised by the author.
On the whole I think we agreed it was a good readable book with much in it to think about. Some thought it better than Clara Callan as I did ( but at least one thought the reverse) The title put some of our members off initially. One member had several alternatives she thought might have been better( "the wages of sin" I think was one ?) but we agreed the adultery event was the central issue of the book with Denise's death only exposing the betrayal. We talked quite a bit about adultery itself. It seemed to be accepted by his colleagues, by the police ( except for the female constable) and by Denise's family. Does this partially absolve Daniel? I felt that it meant that the situation Daniel had to face was made easier for him but that it shouldn't in any way absolve him; he had hurt his wife and daughter seriously no matter what society thought of it.
Would Claire have found out about the affair had Denise not been killed? Would the affair have continued? I thought for sure it would have if Denise had anything to do with it as it was clear she had initiated the affair and had a "thing" for Daniel. And Daniel might have been weak enough to continue with it.
I felt Daniel was very detached through the first half or more of the book and was very self centred until he met Denise's family when perhaps finally he was made aware of the full tragedy of the events in which he was a central figure. But did he feel guilty? Did he really feel how much he had hurt Claire? We thought maybe men feel less seriously about betrayals of this sort and intellectualise it while a a woman's point of view might have had more emotion and obvious pain which Daniel did not seem to express. Was this what the author intended? There was a feeling that that the author is more confident in portraying male characters ( cv Clara Callan ) and I agree as the female characters were sketchily drawn, except for Denise who was fleshed out more toward the end.
My quibble remains. I question the logic, credibility, athleticism? of a 50+ year old man waiting in a car park until past dark for English rain to stop (does it ever stop) and having a "quickie" in the (small, standard shift, rental ) car when a comfortable hotel room awaited them. Necessary for the plot maybe but ....
On the whole I think we agreed it was a good readable book with much in it to think about. Some thought it better than Clara Callan as I did ( but at least one thought the reverse) The title put some of our members off initially. One member had several alternatives she thought might have been better( "the wages of sin" I think was one ?) but we agreed the adultery event was the central issue of the book with Denise's death only exposing the betrayal. We talked quite a bit about adultery itself. It seemed to be accepted by his colleagues, by the police ( except for the female constable) and by Denise's family. Does this partially absolve Daniel? I felt that it meant that the situation Daniel had to face was made easier for him but that it shouldn't in any way absolve him; he had hurt his wife and daughter seriously no matter what society thought of it.
Would Claire have found out about the affair had Denise not been killed? Would the affair have continued? I thought for sure it would have if Denise had anything to do with it as it was clear she had initiated the affair and had a "thing" for Daniel. And Daniel might have been weak enough to continue with it.
I felt Daniel was very detached through the first half or more of the book and was very self centred until he met Denise's family when perhaps finally he was made aware of the full tragedy of the events in which he was a central figure. But did he feel guilty? Did he really feel how much he had hurt Claire? We thought maybe men feel less seriously about betrayals of this sort and intellectualise it while a a woman's point of view might have had more emotion and obvious pain which Daniel did not seem to express. Was this what the author intended? There was a feeling that that the author is more confident in portraying male characters ( cv Clara Callan ) and I agree as the female characters were sketchily drawn, except for Denise who was fleshed out more toward the end.
My quibble remains. I question the logic, credibility, athleticism? of a 50+ year old man waiting in a car park until past dark for English rain to stop (does it ever stop) and having a "quickie" in the (small, standard shift, rental ) car when a comfortable hotel room awaited them. Necessary for the plot maybe but ....
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Books for Life
What stories/myths do I live by? What books have laid down paving stones I have followed in my life, or hope to follow? This was a question asked of herself by my friend "Mamie" in her Meanderings.
I had to think about this quite a bit but it was easier when I thought about the books I like to re-read or that I remember vividly from childhood. They must have meant something for me to be so attached to them. When I reflect on them and think about what they mean to me now this is what I have come up with so far. I'm starting with books from my childhood that I will never forget.
Winnie the Pooh - There are all kinds of folk in the Hundred Acre Wood, they can be quirky but take them as they are, warts and all, and they can be interesting friends.
Mary Poppins - Adults ( parents, guardians, teachers) can seem very stern and expect a lot from you but they have wonderful exciting stuff they can share with you; they love you underneath that crusty exterior. It is important to be disciplined, but there is a place for breaking out and having fun.
The Wind in the Willows: Ah friends. Friends care for and help each other even when they are silly. Nature is nice.
Heidi: Things, places, people that you may not like at first may end up being beloved. Give them a chance. Oh, and warm milk is sweet.
Tom Sawyer: Life is an adventure. Leaving home could be fun. You will survive
The Chronicles of Narnia - Don't be fooled by appearances. Turkish delight is a short lived "sweet" and can't replace the things in life that count. Life is a battle between good and evil and the choices you make are important. Power is tempting but its charm is a mirage. It takes courage to admit your own wrongs and it takes courage of a different sort to forgive others. Family matters.
The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings- Evil must be fought. Life is a hard journey and you often feel as if the side of the angels is losing the battle but one must be brave and go on anyway. We are not alone; many others very different in kind are in the same struggle and we can help them and vice versa.
The Christmas Carol:- It is never too late to remake yourself. Generosity trumps frugality.
The Cosmic Trilogy ( C.S. Lewis again) - Science and God are not incompatible. There would be no science without God.
Well, that's a start. I expect I shall come up with more.
I had to think about this quite a bit but it was easier when I thought about the books I like to re-read or that I remember vividly from childhood. They must have meant something for me to be so attached to them. When I reflect on them and think about what they mean to me now this is what I have come up with so far. I'm starting with books from my childhood that I will never forget.
Winnie the Pooh - There are all kinds of folk in the Hundred Acre Wood, they can be quirky but take them as they are, warts and all, and they can be interesting friends.
Mary Poppins - Adults ( parents, guardians, teachers) can seem very stern and expect a lot from you but they have wonderful exciting stuff they can share with you; they love you underneath that crusty exterior. It is important to be disciplined, but there is a place for breaking out and having fun.
The Wind in the Willows: Ah friends. Friends care for and help each other even when they are silly. Nature is nice.
Heidi: Things, places, people that you may not like at first may end up being beloved. Give them a chance. Oh, and warm milk is sweet.
Tom Sawyer: Life is an adventure. Leaving home could be fun. You will survive
The Chronicles of Narnia - Don't be fooled by appearances. Turkish delight is a short lived "sweet" and can't replace the things in life that count. Life is a battle between good and evil and the choices you make are important. Power is tempting but its charm is a mirage. It takes courage to admit your own wrongs and it takes courage of a different sort to forgive others. Family matters.
The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings- Evil must be fought. Life is a hard journey and you often feel as if the side of the angels is losing the battle but one must be brave and go on anyway. We are not alone; many others very different in kind are in the same struggle and we can help them and vice versa.
The Christmas Carol:- It is never too late to remake yourself. Generosity trumps frugality.
The Cosmic Trilogy ( C.S. Lewis again) - Science and God are not incompatible. There would be no science without God.
Well, that's a start. I expect I shall come up with more.
Sunday, March 19, 2006
Daniel's adultery
This character Wright has created...what to think of him. Self centered or what. Has he yet really felt sorry? Yes, he has said he is sorry, and he is for what it has done to his comfortable life. Yes, he is sorry in a detached kind of way for Denise's mother. The author seems to be trying to show that Denise was the instigator of the affair. As if that absolved Daniel in any way. It doesn't. I do not yet get a sense of "Oh my GOD. What have I done" kind of sorry. The sorry of real guilt and penitence. Only, the "I'd like to fix this up", "Can't we fix this up?", kind of sorry. One has to ask, is this what the author intended or is it just that he failed to convey this, wasn't skilled enough? I haven't finished the book quite yet, but it will be the question I ask myself when I do.
Friday, March 17, 2006
My Library
I've just added "my library" from Bibliophil.org See the button in the left column. I started with recent books discussed in our LitWits book circle. I intend to add more from that list and then add more of my bookshelf and then a wish list. I often hear about a book and say- I'd like to read that- and then forget about it. This way I won't forget! I guess it's my librarian background that makes this "fun" for me. Others might find it tedious and it does take a bit of time but I think readers of this blog may find it interesting to see what I am reading and compare my reviews with other readers of the same books. Not all books are for all readers and after a while I would think that if you see a reader who has similar tastes you could then see what they are reading and be confident that a certain book would suit you.
I chose the bibliophil program over the other jazzier one mainly because it was less commercial but I have to say the other one looked a bit more user friendly.
I chose the bibliophil program over the other jazzier one mainly because it was less commercial but I have to say the other one looked a bit more user friendly.
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Cataloguing!!!
Just found out about this site. Neato. Going to look into this. Oh and now this one too
oh oh,now I have to choose.
oh oh,now I have to choose.
Murder he wrote
I'm into Adultery. Perhaps I should clarify that... I have finally started Richard Wright's book. I have to admit, it has grabbing opening section. I am just into the part where he has to go home and face his family.
I only have a couple of niggling complaints, so far. Is it really believable that Daniel and Denise would have a quickie in the car by the side of the road rather than go back to their more than comfortable hotel room? If you didn't drive every time it rained in the UK you could be almost perpetually parked by the side of the road. Also, would Claire really use the word c___t to describe Denise. If Claire was of my generation ( ie. close to Daniel's age) not likely. Bitch maybe. But maybe I am a bit repressed. Daniel is narrating all this in a very detached and "dead" manner, but that perhaps is purposeful on the part of the author. I'll have to read the rest to see if it has real meaning.
I only have a couple of niggling complaints, so far. Is it really believable that Daniel and Denise would have a quickie in the car by the side of the road rather than go back to their more than comfortable hotel room? If you didn't drive every time it rained in the UK you could be almost perpetually parked by the side of the road. Also, would Claire really use the word c___t to describe Denise. If Claire was of my generation ( ie. close to Daniel's age) not likely. Bitch maybe. But maybe I am a bit repressed. Daniel is narrating all this in a very detached and "dead" manner, but that perhaps is purposeful on the part of the author. I'll have to read the rest to see if it has real meaning.
Sunday, March 05, 2006
Bedside reading
I am wading through Lynne Truss's second comic novella in the Lynne Truss Treasury entitled Tennyson's gift. I think I would like it if I was as knowledgeable as LT is about Tennyson and Dodgeson, Ellen Terry and everyone connected with that circle, which obviously the author is. It would be very witty I am sure if I was in the know. I loved her first one in the anthology which required only a more general knowledge.
I learned something very important, as a writer, though from this... if you write about a rather narrow subject which you know very well, you should make sure you give enough little "handrails" along the way for readers who are subject deficient. Those who are in the know can skip through them but they are invaluable props for us limping along behind.
I had better start Adultery. I should get over my reluctance.
I learned something very important, as a writer, though from this... if you write about a rather narrow subject which you know very well, you should make sure you give enough little "handrails" along the way for readers who are subject deficient. Those who are in the know can skip through them but they are invaluable props for us limping along behind.
I had better start Adultery. I should get over my reluctance.
Sunday, February 26, 2006
Gaspereau Press
I was terribly impressed by Andrew Steeves who came to talk to our University Women's club members about Gaspereau Press. I knew about this local publishing house of course, that is I knew it existed but I didn't know "what it was about" if you know what I mean. I didn't know that the owners/publishers have a real passion for the book as an art object and a penchant for collecting old printing equipment and that they were so ideologically tied to the "art and craft" aspect of book- making, and committed to the idea of a community of writers, publishers, printers etc.
Andrew had a great presentation with a visuals of book making through the ages ( which sounds kind of boring but which wasn't at all) ending with how Gaspereau Press fit into the great publishing tradition. Our writing circle members have decided that a tour of the premises is a must for our group.
Andrew had a great presentation with a visuals of book making through the ages ( which sounds kind of boring but which wasn't at all) ending with how Gaspereau Press fit into the great publishing tradition. Our writing circle members have decided that a tour of the premises is a must for our group.
Train station-writing station
My writing circle meets here on Tuesday. The topic we were to be inspired by was "travel" or "a trip". I have not been inspired. Not by our trip away, not by the contrasting pictures I posted, not by Ami's success ( I really hoped that would get me going) not by my reading, not by anything.
Sitting down to write this I saw the train station photo I posted and I thought ... there is no train at the station. The train station ( ironically full of books!) with the empty tracks is a good metaphor for my writing. My writing station has been vacant. I have not been there, sitting down every day and writing as I did when I had the 50,000 words to do. Then I wrote - what was it?- something like 1700 words a day, every day for 30 days so surely if I sat down an hour or two every day something would come out. And I am sitting now and this idea of the train station just appeared. Maybe if I sit a bit longer something I can use will happen in that magical but unreliable and difficult way that it sometimes does. But if not, what to do. If not then I think I will have to pull out that 50,000 words and go through it to find a segment worth reading. Perhaps the part about Scotland. That involved a trip on the part of my protaganist....hmmm.
Sitting down to write this I saw the train station photo I posted and I thought ... there is no train at the station. The train station ( ironically full of books!) with the empty tracks is a good metaphor for my writing. My writing station has been vacant. I have not been there, sitting down every day and writing as I did when I had the 50,000 words to do. Then I wrote - what was it?- something like 1700 words a day, every day for 30 days so surely if I sat down an hour or two every day something would come out. And I am sitting now and this idea of the train station just appeared. Maybe if I sit a bit longer something I can use will happen in that magical but unreliable and difficult way that it sometimes does. But if not, what to do. If not then I think I will have to pull out that 50,000 words and go through it to find a segment worth reading. Perhaps the part about Scotland. That involved a trip on the part of my protaganist....hmmm.
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Win a library
From Random House! A contest open to Canadian residents only sadly, with the prize one of two libraries of books published in the last ten years, about 30 books. HatTip Ami MacKay
The Birth House Launch
I attended the launch of The Birth House by Ami MacKay at the Acadia cinema theatre the other night. It was a sold-out crowd; I was lucky to get a ticket. Lots of women, several with their babies. I bought two books; one for myself and one for a friend, Junie, who unfortunately couldn't come with me. I was impressed with the visual display Ami had projecting on the screen behind the podium with photos from the era relating to midwifery and the period she was writing about. After being introduced Ami came out glowing pride of course but still the Ami I knew from our writing class. She phoned her mother- who was ill and couldn't attend- using her cell phone when she first came out on stage, and we all said "HI" to her. Nice, different, relaxed. She read several excerpts from the book.
Then afterwards, naturally, she signed copies. There was an older lady ahead of me who said she had been born in "that house" the "birth house". I guess there were quite a few people from the community who had a connection with the house. When it was my turn and I offered my two books for her to autogrpah, Ami remembered me and Junie and asked me what I was up to so I told her I had done Nanowrimo which she applauded. And she asked if our group was still meeting and was happy to hear we were. And she remembered also her promise to come talk to my other writing circle.
It was nice and a bit inspiring. I must take a look at my Nanowrimo manuscript one of these days.
Then afterwards, naturally, she signed copies. There was an older lady ahead of me who said she had been born in "that house" the "birth house". I guess there were quite a few people from the community who had a connection with the house. When it was my turn and I offered my two books for her to autogrpah, Ami remembered me and Junie and asked me what I was up to so I told her I had done Nanowrimo which she applauded. And she asked if our group was still meeting and was happy to hear we were. And she remembered also her promise to come talk to my other writing circle.
It was nice and a bit inspiring. I must take a look at my Nanowrimo manuscript one of these days.
Sea Glass
Our circle met today and talked about Anita Shreve's Sea Glass. Most thought it not a bad book, perhaps emphasizing story over characterization. A notch above a Danielle Steele.
Points raised: the sea glass- symbol of beauty to be found in the unexpected, treasure from trash, symbolic of survival and even transformation in hardship, lives tossed and turned in the sands of time. One of our members brought some sea glass which she placed in a white dish. She had also done a watercolour of bits of sea glass! Wonderful.
Writing style. Most agreed that the different chapters given to each character's voice was a bit choppy and distracting at first but as the characters linked up and the story came together more as a unity this was not minded so much. I thought, as a writer, this was a relatively easy technique to pull off. It would be harder to put in the good narration to bring out the characters motivations and thinking.
Who was the most realistic character? Some thought Vivian ( as I did) , others disagreed absolutely and thought she was the least realistic. The mother, though her voice was small, was universally thought authentic. Honora- some thought her personality was a bit enigmatic , others thought that her character came through clearly from her actions and decisions in the story. Loyal, resourceful, hard working, well liked, compassionate, a woman of her time. McDermott and Alphonse, well portrayed but Sexton was less fleshed out; there was less back story on him.
The time period: Most thought the author did a good job of her research although some thought the mention of the Halifax explosion and some details were a bit forced, didn't seem natural or intrinsic to the story. All thought the details such as recipes and household tips from Honora's mother were dead on. Were the details of labour unrest in New England mills authentic? Probably.
The House: I tried to bring up the role of the house which inspired Anita Shreve's three books- The Pilot's Wife, Fortune's Rocks and Sea Glass but members didn't seem much interested in this. It was of great interest to me, my friend Ami having just written her first novel The Birth House inspired by the house she lived in which had been the house of a midwife in the community.
Next book- Adultery by Richard B. Wright
Points raised: the sea glass- symbol of beauty to be found in the unexpected, treasure from trash, symbolic of survival and even transformation in hardship, lives tossed and turned in the sands of time. One of our members brought some sea glass which she placed in a white dish. She had also done a watercolour of bits of sea glass! Wonderful.
Writing style. Most agreed that the different chapters given to each character's voice was a bit choppy and distracting at first but as the characters linked up and the story came together more as a unity this was not minded so much. I thought, as a writer, this was a relatively easy technique to pull off. It would be harder to put in the good narration to bring out the characters motivations and thinking.
Who was the most realistic character? Some thought Vivian ( as I did) , others disagreed absolutely and thought she was the least realistic. The mother, though her voice was small, was universally thought authentic. Honora- some thought her personality was a bit enigmatic , others thought that her character came through clearly from her actions and decisions in the story. Loyal, resourceful, hard working, well liked, compassionate, a woman of her time. McDermott and Alphonse, well portrayed but Sexton was less fleshed out; there was less back story on him.
The time period: Most thought the author did a good job of her research although some thought the mention of the Halifax explosion and some details were a bit forced, didn't seem natural or intrinsic to the story. All thought the details such as recipes and household tips from Honora's mother were dead on. Were the details of labour unrest in New England mills authentic? Probably.
The House: I tried to bring up the role of the house which inspired Anita Shreve's three books- The Pilot's Wife, Fortune's Rocks and Sea Glass but members didn't seem much interested in this. It was of great interest to me, my friend Ami having just written her first novel The Birth House inspired by the house she lived in which had been the house of a midwife in the community.
Next book- Adultery by Richard B. Wright
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Train Station Library
An allsorts reader JAR has a photo on her blog Daffodil Field of her library in a train station. Compare it to these shots of the Train Station Library in myTown.
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