Tag Archives: books

Miscellany

Hopeless romantic

23 April 2010 – 8:50 am

It’s true, I am a hopeless romantic.  The key word being hopeless.   *le sigh*

This fact was only reinforced as I read My Life in France, by Julia Child.  Loved it.  I loved reading of Paris, marketplaces, and culinary delights (though it made me terribly hungry); I loved reading of clever Valentine’s Day cards, photography, and adventures (misses too).  And I loved reading of tables filled with good food, fine wines, and the company of friends.  

It’s the best of life, my friends …

Of course, I did chuckle a bit toward the end. She wrote of going to their summer home in France for the last time. The people who had made it come alive, were no more; so she traveled with her niece and her family, to hand over the keys and say goodbye. She wrote quite matter-of-factly. C’est la vie!  Therefore, she could not imagine what could possess her niece burst into tears one day. Alors!  I understood fully.

Personally, I like to think us romantics make the world a bit brighter … when we’re not crying, naturally.

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Miscellany

Dickens, what a find!

7 October 2009 – 9:07 am

I went antiquing.  Okay, I went to one antique shop; but it was large, so it was akin to several, without all the driving.  I went searching for presents.  I came away with a present for me.  It’s true.  But it couldn’t be helped.  Just look at these colors!  It’s Fall I tell you – FALL!

dickens

It’s also a People’s Edition of Dickens’ Old Curiosity Shop and Hard Times, published by Estes and Lauriat of Boston, 1882.  So there is that …

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Miscellany

A girl named Jane

6 October 2009 – 7:55 am

“Prejudices, it is well known, are most difficult to eradicate from the heart whose soil has never been loosened or fertilised by education: they grow there, firm as weeds among stones.”
- Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre

October 6, 1847 a book titled “Jane Eyre” was first published in London.  Written under the pseudonym Curer Bell, this coming of age story was an immediate success.  It was such a success that the author was called to the publishing house to make herself known.  So it was that Charlotte Bronte was credited with her work.  A woman of all things!   Of course, this would never do for many critics.  Once they knew ”he” was definitely a she, the book could do no right.  All the same, Charlotte Bronte was greatly admired by many.  She created a powerful work of realism.  She managed to condemn some injustice, while seeming to embrace others.  In doing so, she proves we may hold prejudice unawares; and just because a prejudice holds us back, doesn’t mean it has to keep us down.

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Miscellany

Dare

29 September 2009 – 7:24 am

I’ve been reading Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables.  sigh.  Literary greatness at it’s finest my friends.  Oh sure, there are diatribes of historical back story.  But the prose -  oh the prose!  Hugo has this way of describing characters and everyday moments in such a way that the words dance right off the page and come alive.  It’s so beautifully written I find myself reading bits and pieces over and over, soaking up all it’s goodness.  Which, considering the book counts in at 1432 pages, might not be the best of ideas.  But it can’t be helped. 

Take this piece, for instance; speaking of Paris: 

…It is more than great, it is immense.  Why?  Because it dares. 

To dare; progress is at this price. 

All sublime conquests are, more or less, the rewards of daring.

… Deeds of daring dazzle history, and form one of the guiding lights of man.  The dawn dares when it rises.  To strive, to brave all risks, to persist, to persevere, to be faithful to yourself, to grapple hand to hand with destiny, to surprise defeat by the little terror it inspires, at one time to confront unrighteous power, at another to defy intoxicated triumph, to hold fast, to hold hard – such is the example which the nations need …

And so my hope for you, dear readers, is this – that you would dare.  Dare to love … dare to laugh, and dance, and celebrate … dare not only to dream, but pursue your dreams … dare to stand up for the powerless … dare to read an immense work of literature, for you just never know the great heights it might take you!

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Miscellany

A very well-to-do hobbit …

21 September 2009 – 6:04 am

Oh, it’s a momentous day, my friends … a momentous day.  On this day, in 1937, J.R.R. Tolkien’s ”The Hobbit” was published.  What began as a scribble – “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit” – on a blank page, in a sea of student papers, went on to become one of the world’s best loved stories.  Of course, we owe our gratitude not only to the author, but those friends and acquaintences who encouraged, pushed, prodded and otherwise convinced him to publish.  C.S. Lewis being one.

So to all of you who support writerly-types, thank you!  You are every bit as important as the one who pens the tales.  You are the guardians, the champions of fine story-telling.  If it weren’t for the likes of you, we wouldn’t have the likes of this upon our bookshelves …

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.
Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole,
filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell,
nor yet a dry, bare sandy hole with nothing in it
to sit down on or to eat:
it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.
It had a perfectly round door like a porthole,
painted green,
with a shiny yellow brass knob in the exact middle.
The door opened on to a tube-shaped hall like a tunnel:
a very comfortable tunnel without smoke,
with panelled walls, and floors tiled and carpeted,
provided with polished chairs.

-Excerpt, The Hobbit

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