Reading, Writing, Working, Playing

The Pilgrim's Progress

jagreensmith@yahoo.com (Jane Greensmith) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 21:08:32 PST

It didn't occur to me to want to read John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress until last year when I finally read Little Women. The March sisters play-act Christian's pilgrimage from the City of Destruction to the Celestial City, and they attempt to shoulder the burdens life deals them with Christian as their model. Only whilst reading Little Women did I fully realize what an impact The Pilgrim's Progress has had on western literature.

Apart from The Bible, until the twentieth century it seems that this book was the most widely owned and repeatedly read books, particularly in America, which was originally settled by the Puritans whose influence on thought and culture is still felt today.

So, with an extra credit from Audible.com, I downloaded an audio version and last month listened to it. Once I got through the rather long convoluted introduction, I found it fairly easy to listen to and follow despite being originally published is 1678. At its heart it is an adventure story peopled by characters whose names give away their role in the story--for example, Christian travels for awhile with someone called Faithful, he fights Giant Despair, and is tempted by Mr. Worldy-Wiseman. Nothing subtle here!

So here's what struck me. Not long into the book, I got a strong feeling of deja vu. It took me until Christian was battling the monster Apollyon, but then the penny dropped and I realized that the tone, style, and especially allegorical/adventure narrative style sounded exactly like that of C.S. Lewis in the Chronicles of Narnia. After I finished The Pilgrim's Progess, I did some Googling and discovered that Lewis's first published allegorical fiction was The Pilgrim's Regress, Lewis's personal revision of John Bunyan's novel. I wasn't able to find any scholarly evidence (not that I honestly looked that hard) suggesting that Lewis knowingly modeled his Narnia books on The Pilgrim's Progress, but to me it's clear that he did.

The other surprise was that there was a second part to the story, in which Christian's wife, Christiana, and children, whom he left when he set forth on his pilgrimage, followed him. I couldn't help but remember the training I received early in my career on making presentations: tell the audience what you're going to tell them, tell them, and then tell them what you told them. It seems that Bunyan, as a preacher, employed this methodology in his fiction, as Christiana and the sons visit all the landmarks that Christian did and either battle with the same obstacles to salvation that they did or are told how valiantly he fought and overcame them. No one reading The Pilgrim's Progress has any chance of missing the point.

After finishing the book, I enjoyed reading the introduction to the Penguin Classics version that I got as a reference should I want to look something up in the future. I particularly liked this passage:

The achievement of Bunyan in The Pilgrim's Progess which gives the work its continuing vitality is the creation, not of allegory, but of myth.

Hearing it read did make me feel as if I was witness to the origin of a myth and not just reading an allegorical sermon. Christian's pilgrimage has transcended story in our culture and become myth.

I'm looking for a reproduction of this map of Christian's pilgrimage, which I think is actually a pretty interesting historical illustration.

Mailbox Monday

jagreensmith@yahoo.com (Jane Greensmith) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 09:55:38 PST

Apart from sharing my latest book haul with fellow readers, what I love about the Mailbox Monday meme is coming up with a suitable image. I love the one I used today--winter is still with us and reading connects us.

Mailbox Monday is is being hosted in January by Alyce at At Home With Books. Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists!

On to my own mailbox...

The Year 1000: What Life Was Like at the Turn of the First Millennium, An Englishman's World, by Robert Lacey and Danny Danziger - I got this for one of my brothers for Xmas. I knew he would love it and I knew he would share it with me when he finished. He did both, and now it's on top of my TBR pile. Thanks, Mark.

From the Amazon book description:
"As the Shadow of the Millennium Descended Across England and Christendom, it seemed as if the world was about to end. Actually, it was Only the Beginning... Welcome to the Year 1000. This is what life was like. How clothes were fastened in a world without buttons; the rudiments of medieval brain surgery; the first millennium's Bill Gates; how dolphins forecasted weather; the recipe for a medieval form of Viagra; body parts a married woman had to forfeit if she committed adultery; the fundamental rules of warfare; how fried and crushed black snails could improve your health, and much more..."

I absolutely love books like this, and it seemed like a good follow on to Bill Bryson's At Home, which I read last year.

Lottery, by Patricia Wood - this is another Xmas gift that has come home to roost on my TBR pile. I got it for my sister-in-law, and she enjoyed it. It's a Forrest Gumpy kind of story about a low IQ person who wins the lottery and deals with the hordes of family/friends who descend upon him.

Wordsworth: A Life, by Juliet Barker - I love bios and bios of authors/poets are my "one weakness." I haven't yet read anything by Barker, but I've heard her bio of the Brontes is superb. I can't wait to sink my teeth into this after I am done with Louisa May Alcott and her crazy father (Eden's Outcasts).

Deluxe How Luxury Lost Its Luster, by Dana Thomas - the same brother to whom I gave The Year 1000 gave me this book for Xmas, probably with the same expectation that I would read it and then lend it to him.

Here's what the Amazon book description said:
"Once luxury was available only to the rarefied and aristocratic world of old money and royalty. It offered a history of tradition, superior quality, and a pampered buying experience. Today, however, luxury is simply a product packaged and sold by multibillion-dollar global corporations focused on growth, visibility, brand awareness, advertising, and, above all, profits. Award-winning journalist Dana Thomas digs deep into the dark side of the luxury industry to uncover all the secrets that Prada, Gucci, and Burberry don’t want us to know. Deluxe is an uncompromising look behind the glossy façade that will enthrall anyone interested in fashion, finance, or culture."

I'm intrigued and am sure I will like it.

Speaking of deluxe...

Molly Brown: Unraveling the Myth, by Kristen Iversen - as a born-and-bred Colorado girl, it's my duty to know more about Molly Brown, Denver's own larger-than-life resident and "the Titanic's most famous survivor." I finally visited her house in Denver last November, and became inspired to read her bio.

Some Tame Gazelle, by Barbara Pym - Maxene, a dear JASNA friend, keeps on telling me to read Barbara Pym. So I got Pym's first novel, Some Tame Gazelle (isn't that a wonderful title!) and aim to get launched on Pym this year.

Jane and the Prisoner of Wool House, by Stephanie Barron - I started reading Barron's Jane Austen mystery series back when they first came out (when there actually weren't many Austenesque novels out there!), and liked the first few but then got bogged down and never returned to them. I won this one on Austenprose and am eager to resume reading the series. Thanks, Laurel Ann, for the giveaway!

Undaunted Courage

jagreensmith@yahoo.com (Jane Greensmith) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 19:39:24 PST

Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West by Stephen Ambrose was everything I had hoped it would be. Inspiring, enthralling, and enriching, I absolutely loved reading about the trip to the Pacific and back that Lewis and Clark made just over 200 years ago.

I only had two issues with the book. First, I felt a bit let down that every aspect of Meriwether Lewis's life was explored in detail, but scarcely any of William Clark's was. To be fair, the title does say that the book is about Lewis, Jefferson, and the West, but since I always think of Lewis & Clark as a duo, I assumed that they would be treated equally.

Second, I used to be an ardent Jeffersonian, but then I started reading bios of Hamilton, Washington, and Adams, and I felt that Ambrose was somewhat unscholarly in his obvious adoration of Jefferson and the corollary slighting of John Adams, my new favorite forefather. We all have our biases, but Ambrose's irked me somewhat.

Once I got over these two slight hurdles, I fell in love with the book, and had to get a copy of the coffee table companion book Lewis & Clark: Voyage of Discovery so I could study the maps and gaze at the photos of landmarks along the journey that still exist today, some even in much the same condition as when L&C first encountered them.

There is no doubt that Lewis's story is a fascinating one and ultimately tragic. Despite his manifold talents and skills as well as the personality that enabled him to lead an expedition safely across an unchartered continent, his personal demons of depression, alcoholism, and self-doubt and self-indulgence drove him to destroy himself and, for a long time, his reputation.

With Lewis, it's difficult not to be overwhelmed by his early and tragic suicide and so overlook the years he spent as Jefferson's companion, secretary, and protege as he prepared for the voyage of discovery that Jefferson shaped with only him in mind. Next to the expedition itself, I found it fascinating to read about how Lewis planned the journey--how he decided what to take, who to take, and when and where to embark. He read extensively in a number of different scientific fields so that he could knowledgeably report on what he and Clark discovered, and Jefferson arranged for him to be tutored by leading experts in many of the fields.

This was truly a wonderful book that gave me a better understanding into the politics and geographic realities and dreams of America shortly after its founding, and it provided a fascinating portrait of a great and tragic American whose influence has been unacknowledged until fairly recently.

Here's a lovely image of Lewis with his dog, Seaman, who made the journey with the Corps of Discovery.

Now, I want to read a bio of William Clark as well as watch the Ken Burns film on Lewis & Clark.

Classics Challenge: George Eliot's Silas Marner

jagreensmith@yahoo.com (Jane Greensmith) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 18:50:16 PST

Katherine at November's Autumn is hosting the Classics Challenge and is posting prompts the 4th of every month. This month she is focusing on classic authors. Turns out she and I both are reading George Eliot. Here's a link to Katherine's post on Eliot, aka Maryann Evans.

Now it's my turn.

My first classic of the year is Silas Marner, by George Eliot. I first read this in tenth grade and didn't really warm up to it. What's to warm up to from the perspective of a 15-year-old girl? The hero of the story is unattractive in form and spirit--he has protruding eyes, is elderly (well, mid-30's, but that's elderly to a teenager, just ask Marianne Dashwood!), miserly, naive, and easily duped. We also read Ethan Frome the same semester and I saw Silas Marner and Ethan Frome as twin losers. Needless to say, Silas Marner was got through and quickly shelved and mostly forgotten.

A few years ago, I picked up the audio version from the library and thoroughly enjoyed it. Most of the details I hadn't remembered, and I found the story of the rebirth of Marner's soul and humanity to be moving, beautiful, and enobling. It didn't hurt that I had discovered Middlemarch in college and counted it among my favorite books when I reread Silas Marner. My admiration for George Eliot predisposed me to give Silas Marner a second chance, and I'm so glad I did.

Now, I'm rereading it again, as part of my George Eliot project (i.e., to read her books in order whilst reading a bio of her life), and it's interesting to see where it fits in the evolution of George Eliot as a novelist. I must say that with Silas Marner, she did set out to tell the story of a most challenging protagonist--even at my more mature vantage point, I have to say that he's still a pretty unattractive person at the outset. I have to believe that Eliot consciously picked an unattractive person for this story--I think the reader has to look on Marner with a certain amount of contempt in order for his redemption at the hand of a child to mean so much and to reflect so well the "man in the mirror," which I think Eliot strives to do.

I've only read the first two chapters, but the backstory has been fully told and Silas is a miserly misanthrope whose life is about to be transformed by grace. I'm really looking forward to reading lit crit about this book as well as what Eliot was trying to do with the story. It's much shorter than the two novels that preceded it (i.e., Adam Bede and The Mill on the Floss), and it's very tightly focused on one man, his soul and the child who saves him from himself rather than being about a family or a village or a way of life.

The Little House Cookbook

jagreensmith@yahoo.com (Jane Greensmith) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 10:32:52 PST

The Little House Cookbook, by Barbara M. Walker, which my darling daughter gave to me for my birthday in November, proved a perfect fireside read. I kept it by my reading chair in the living room, and read bits and pieces of it when I had a chance. It's that kind of book--not to be read like a novel or a bio, but one chock full of interesting tidbits about food, food preparation, and food production on the American farm in the mid-nineteenth century.

I loved the Garth Williams illustrations, one of my favorite aspects of the LH books already, as well as the quotes from the books, which are liberally scattered throughout. It was fun but not surprising how I recognized every quote and picture as an old friend.

I confess that I didn't read every recipe thoroughly, nor did I rush to the kitchen to try my hand at anything. It was enough for me to read the descriptions of how something was prepared, and I really enjoyed the discussion about how modern incarnations will taste different from what Laura and her family tasted because the ingredients are produced differently.

I think the most intriguing recipe I found was the one for chicken pie. My family loves chicken pie and I make one about once a month. This one called for hard-boiled eggs and bacon, but no peas or carrots! Anyone still make chicken pie with hard-boiled eggs? Is it good?

I have an abiding interest in "old-fashioned" food and I'm torn as to whether to shelve this book with my LH collection or my food books, most notably The American Heritage Cookbook and Illustrated History of American Eating & Drinking.

The bibliography at the end was enough to convince me that the author did her homework. According to the foreward, the book was 20 years in the making, and I believe it. Authoritative, well-written, informative, and loving, it is definitely a book worth having and reading by fire.

The Friday Night Knitting Club

jagreensmith@yahoo.com (Jane Greensmith) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 11:24:24 PST

In browsing around GoodReads, I find I am not alone in being disappointed in The Friday Night Knitting Club, by Kate Jacobs. The premise is good--i.e., "everything I know about life I learned from knitting"--and the book is structured tightly to reinforce this point. I enjoyed the NYC setting but in the end, it really was simply a Hallmark version of a Mary Sue story that surprisingly enough didn't get me to shed even one tear during the parts designed to turn on the waterworks full blast.

I call it a Mary Sue story because the main character Georgia is typical Mary Sue - beautiful, creative, talented, nurturing, loving, smart, successful, etc. In other words, boring! Her daughter is the same, and the quirky cast of characters all work out their problems in a feverish worldwind at the end with one big exception which does nothing to redeem this essentially dull book.

Midway through the book I thought about ditching it, but I decided not to as I held out hope that it would redeem itself. Now that's done and I can offer it up on Paperbackswap.com and get something really good in exchange, like Little Dorrit, which I really want to get started on soon.

Austen Birthday Soiree Giveaway

jagreensmith@yahoo.com (Jane Greensmith) — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 12:39:27 PST

I've been remiss in posting the winners of my two giveaways items. My apologies.

Without further ado...

The winner of Intimations of Austen is Ian of We Read to Know We're Not Alone, and the winner of S&S Marvel Comics edition is Courtney of Stiletto Storytime.

Thanks to everyone who visited my blog during the Soiree, whether or not you commented. It was a pleasure to be part of such a wonderful outpouring of affection for one of the world's greatest authors.

Happy Birthday, dear Jane...a gift from John Keats

jagreensmith@yahoo.com (Jane Greensmith) — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 09:30:44 PST

I started reading Austen as a young teenager and by the time I went to college had finished my first time through the six novels, with some of them read multiple times already. When I was a sophomore in college, I took a class on John Keats poetry...that's right, one class on just Keats. I found a new favorite, and because I was still youngish and my brain was still being hardwired, I have forever linked Austen and Keats together. They were sort of the Marilyn Monroe and James Dean of the Regency artistic world. Both possessed huge talents, both were largely unknown during their life, both died relatively young (though Keats died at the heartbreakingly young age of 25), and both are now considered giants of English literature.

Keats' first poem was published in May 1816 in The Examiner. I have never read anything that suggests that Austen read this poem, and considering that she was ill from early 1816 until her death in July 1817, it's probably not likely. Nor, have I ever read that Keats read anything by Austen. Again, given her relative obscurity at the time of her death and his focus on poetry and not novels, I think it highly improbable that he did.

And yet, I believe they would have appreciated each other's work, and not just because I love both of them so much. I find it almost a tragedy that the arcs of their lives were such that they just missed each other.

Keats' deeply introspective, pastoral, and highly imaginative poetry is not unlike Austen's highly-crafted, nuanced, multi-layered stories in that both display a tension between passion and restraint, humility and talent, sense and sensibility.

And so, for my gift to Jane Austen, on this the 236th anniversary of her birthday, I give her John Keat's beautiful poem, When I Have Fears, which was written in 1818 and published posthumously in 1848. I think Austen might have been able to understand the anguish that Keats felt in frantically trying to realize his life's work before he died. I also feel that Austen might've traded her current fame for a few more years on earth. She left so much unfinished.

When I Have Fears
by John Keats

When I have fears that I may cease to be
Before my pen has glean'd my teeming brain,
Before high piled books, in charact'ry,
Hold like rich garners the full-ripen'd grain;
When I behold, upon the night's starr'd face,
Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance,
And think that I may never live to trace
Their shadows, with the magic hand of chance;
And when I feel, fair creature of an hour,
That I shall never look upon thee more,
Never have relish in the faery power
Of unreflecting love!—then on the shore
Of the wide world I stand alone, and think
Till Love and Fame to Nothingness do sink.

In honor of Austen's birthday, I am giving away two books.

1) My own Intimations of Austen, a collection of Austen-inspired short stories.

2) Sense and Sensibility (Marvel Comics) edition, which I reviewed here.

To enter, please leave a comment and email address. For an additional entry, Tweet and let me know. I will collect all entries and do two drawings, with the first winner getting Intimations and the second winner getting S&S Marvel. This is open internationally, so comment and tweet away! Drawing ends on Thursday, December 22 at 8 pm MT.

Please visit the other 31 bloggers, authors and literature enthusiasts, who are participating in this Austen Birthday Soiree, organized by Katherine Cox of November’s Autumn & Maria Grazia of My Jane Austen Book Club.

Participants in Austen’s Birthday Soiree

Sharon Lathan
Giveaway: one copy of Miss Darcy Falls in Love

O! Beauty Unattempted
Giveaway: one copy of Letters of Love & Deception

Austenprose Giveaway: one signed copy of Jane Austen Made Me Do It

SemiTrue Stories
Giveaway: one copy of Mr. Darcy's Little Sister (open internationally)

First Draft Giveaway: one signed copy of My Jane Austen Summer and a package of Lily Berry’s Pink Rose Tea by Bingley’s, Ltd.

Regency Sketches Giveaway: one copy of I was Jane Austen's Best Friend, by Cora Harrison

Brant Flakes Giveaway: A canvas ACCORDING TO JANE tote bag and a pair of A SUMMER IN EUROPE luggage tags

Mesmered’s Blog Giveaway: one copy of Georgiana Darcy’s Diary: Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice continued, by Anna Elliott

The Heroine’s Bookshelf Giveaway: Pride and Prejudice notecards, by Potter Style

vvb32 reads Giveaway: Jane Austen’s Little Instruction Book (Charming Petites), by Jane Austen, edited by Sophia Bedford-Pierce, illustrated by Mullen & Katz, introduction by Barbara Paulding

The Fiction vs. Reality Smackdown Giveaway: 2 Jane Austen candles and 2 signed copies of Definitely Not Mr. Darcy plus drink coasters and tea!

ReginaJeffers’s Blog
Giveaway: one signed copy of Christmas at Pemberley

Alyssa Goodnight Giveaway: one Jane Austen Action figure

Jane Austen in Vermont Giveaway: 2012 calendars from the Wisconsin JASNA Region

Jane Started It! Giveaway: one copy of Young Master Darcy: A Lesson in Honour, by Pamela Aidan; one set of Frederick Wentworth, Captain (Books 1 and 2), by Susan Kaye; two copies of Mercy’s Embrace: So Rough a Course (Book 1), by Laura Hile; one copy of George Knightley, Gentleman (Books 1 and 2), by Barbara Cornthwaite

Choc Lit Authors’ Corner Giveaway: one copy each of Persuade Me and The Importance of Being Emma

Reading, Writing, Working, Playing Giveaway: one copy each of Intimations of Austen and Sense & Sensibility (Marvel Illustrated)

The Jane Austen Film Club Giveaway: a copy of Northanger Abbey DVD starring Felicity Jones and JJ Feild (The winner will choose region 1 or 2 DVD)

El Salón de Té de Jane Giveaway: one copy of the Spanish edition of Sense and Sensibility and one copy of DVD package with adaptations of Jane Austen. (It’s only zone 2, but it’s in Spanish and English ), and one copy of BBC’s Emma with Romola Garai (Blue-ray)

Kaitlin Saunders Giveaway: one copy of A Modern Day Persuasion

One Literature Nut Giveaway: selection of Austenesque Reads

Patrice Sarath Giveaway: one copy of The Unexpected Miss Bennet

Jane Austen Brasil Giveaway: DVD – Sense and Sensibility (1995) – English / Portuguese subtitles

Jane Austen Sequels Giveaway: one mug with one of Jane Odiwe’s illustrations and one copy of Mr. Darcy’s Secret

Stiletto Storytime Giveaway: one copy of Noble Satyr by Lucinda Brant (Regency Romance)

Jennifer W. Becton Giveaway: one copy of the eBook of the Personages of Pride and Prejudice Collection, which contains Charlotte Collins, “Maria Lucas,” and Caroline Bingley. Open internationally.

Urban Girl Takes Vermont Giveaway: a copy of Vera Nazarian’s gift hardcover edition of her inspirational calendar and diary, The Perpetual Calendar of Inspiration

Pemberley Variations Giveaway: one signed copy of Mr. Darcy’s Undoing

AustenAuthors Giveaway: one copy of Georgette Heyer’s Regency World, by Jennifer Kloester

November’s Autumn Giveaway: one $10 B&N Gift-card (US only)

My Jane Austen Book Club Giveaway: A selection of Austenesque reads

Jane Austen in Scarsdale: Or Love, Death, and the SATs

jagreensmith@yahoo.com (Jane Greensmith) — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 10:10:33 PST

I really enjoyed Paula Marantz Cohen's Jane Austen in Boca, a modern-day riff on P&P, when I read it a few years ago and have been meaning to read her Persuasion-inspired modern-day Jane Austen in Scarsdale: Or Love, Death, and the SATs for awhile now. Having just finished a couple of major reading projects (namely Little Women and John Adams), I decided I needed something light, fun, and quick for a change.

I was not disappointed. It was light, fun, and a quick read. Plus, with two kids in high school and one in college, the world of high-expectations high school families, while overdrawn by Cohen for the sake of humor, is one with which I am all too familiar. And, you simply can't go wrong with a Persuasion story--the premise of two people who are perfect for each other coming back together and reconnecting after years of heartache and misunderstanding is a tried and true winner.

The heroine and hero, Anne and Ben, were true to their originals, Anne and Cpt Wentworth, in being the only sane people in a world of crazies and in being lovely, caring, and intelligent. Cohen changed the names enough to make searching for the originals in the new characters a fun game, and I absolutely loved how she handled the William Elliot/Mrs. Clay subplot, which was funny and unexpected.

In a nutshell, Anne is a guidance counselor in a high school and Ben is uncle of a new kid in school. She has a wretched family, and he is engaged. Her family is down on their luck, while he has been fabulously successful since their parting years ago.

Definitely a fun read for a winter's day.

Sense & Sensibility (Marvel Illustrated)

jagreensmith@yahoo.com (Jane Greensmith) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 11:10:27 PST

As part of the Sense & Sensibility Bicentenary Challenge
I set for one of my tasks to read the Marvel Illustrated version of Jane Austen's Sense & Sensibility.

Having read the original earlier in the year, as well as treating myself to rewatching of two of the three adaptations, the story was very fresh in my mind, which means that I was painfully aware when the adapters, Nancy Butler and Sonny Liew, deviated from the original or inserted their interpretation of what I saw as Austen ambiguities in the story.

Overall, I enjoyed the graphic version. The drawings were fun and fresh. Unlike the Northanger Abbey graphic version that I so enjoyed in Gothic Classics: Graphic Classics Volume 14, I didn't think this rendition was superior to other adaptations (video or otherwise). Where it fell down was when the adaptors added their own language, which I found rather wooden.

Again, I think Marianne was a bit over-simplified as a highly emotional self-centered twit instead of a self-absorbed, committed artist, but that's a bias that runs deep on my part. I was also amused that Margaret and Edward once again play-act at piracy; Emma Thompson's fleshing out of Margaret has apparently become part of the canon. They also fiddled with Mrs. Dashwood's perception of Edward's and Elinor's attachment whilst at Norwood, and mucked with the timing and motivation around her staying at and then quitting Norland. They also didn't portray Willoughby rejecting Marianne in London properly--why change a perfectly good scene like that?

Lucy was depicted perfectly, however, and Colonel Brandon definitely had a David Morrissey look about him. And, they allowed Elinor to feel sorry for Willoughby after he visits her at Cleveland while Marianne is ill. I know that many readers cannot forgive Willoughby for his selfish actions in the story, but Elinor does feel sorry for him and I'm glad they didn't cut that part out as others have.

Despite my nit-picking it was as good an adaptation as the two latest film/video versions, and better than the old BBC version. I liked it enough to offer it up for a giveaway on Austen's birthday, December 16...so stay tuned if you would like to win a slightly used copy!

John Adams by David McCullough

jagreensmith@yahoo.com (Jane Greensmith) — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 13:38:32 PST

It seems like I've spent most of 2011 reading this book. Checking back on Good Reads, I find that I added it to my reading stack in April, shortly after I finished the wonderful bio of George Washington by Ron Chernow. I liked McCullough's bio of Adams even more. Superbly written, endlessly interesting, I savored the book and am glad that I read it slowly, getting to know Adams and his remarkable wife, Abigail, over the stretch of many months.

I learned so much about the Adams family, the Revolution and the formation of the United States, the growth of the two-party system, international relations (especially the vacillating relationships with both France and Britain), and life in the late 18th century.

I used to have an extreme bias towards Jefferson, and then I read bios of Hamilton and Washington, which cast him in a much different and less flattering light. I really loved reading about Adams's very complicated relationship with Jefferson, from their days as Revolutionaries to their friendship as fellow ambassadors just after the Revolution to their falling out and political rivalry to their final correspondence in old age. The wonderful thing about reading is having your views shift and mature and develop, and this book altered again my view of Jefferson.

Finally, I absolutely adore Abigail Adams. I am so looking forward First Family: Abigail and John Adams. She was everything admirable--smart, loyal, charming, witty, strong, dependable, loving, and sincere. It is a credit to John Adams that he found and married and made happy such a wife.

Now it's time to rewatch the marvelous HBO mini-series starring Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney. It is based on McCullough's bio and I loved it so much a few years ago when I watched it. I also really want to visit the Adams National Historical Park--I just discovered it doesn't open for the season until April 19, which is unfortunate because I was hoping to go to the Boston area for Spring Break this year.

Congratulations to Suzan!

jagreensmith@yahoo.com (Jane Greensmith) — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 08:38:16 PST

Winner of Lend Me Leave, by Barbara Cornthwaite. Lend Me Leave is the second book in her two-part series in which she tells the story of Austen's Emma from Mr. Knightley's point-of-view. A charming, faithful, loving tribute to my favorite Austen hero.

Enjoy, Suzan!

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand

jagreensmith@yahoo.com (Jane Greensmith) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 12:07:29 PST

I am slowly but surely working my way through my TBR stack. I picked up Major Pettigrew's Last Stand, by Helen Simonson, at one of those depressing Borders closing sales earlier this year, and finally got around to reading it during Thankgiving week. That is, when I wasn't walking in the rain in Tacoma/Seattle or napping or eating.

It was as wonderful as I had hoped and expected. Set in a small English town, it was one those timeless heart-warming stories in which good, decent people overcome everyday obstacles, ennui, and prejudice and find happiness and a renewed joie de vivre. Definitely a feel good book about real people in believeable situations.

Major Pettigrew is a 68-year old widower who lost his beloved wife a few years earlier and finds himself falling in love with a Pakistani woman, herself a widow. I simply adored the Major and Mrs. Ali--lovely people whose priorities, loyalities, and sympathies made them perfect for each other despite the misgivings of their families, friends, and neighbors.

I loved the quirky cast of characters--from the Major's overly ambitious son and his overly American girlfriend to Mrs. Ali's overly intense nephew to the cast of village matrons and their discontented husbands. They were quirky enough to be funny but not so bizarre as to be irritating. I especially liked the little boy, George--sort of like Bertie from the 44 Scotland Street series but without horrible Irene as a mother.

This novel has a lot of the same feel as The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society--bookish, small community oriented, overcoming prejudices, finding happiness in unlikely places. It also sort of reminded me of watching As Time Goes By--funny at times, poignant at times, interesting in a comfortable sort of way. Really, a perfect book for reading during the holidays.

Their Eyes Were Watching God - chapters 1-6

jagreensmith@yahoo.com (Jane Greensmith) — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 11:49:04 PST

I'm participating in a Read-Along of this 20th century classic at Erin Blakemore's blog--Erin is author of The Heroine's Bookshelf, which features a chapter entitled "Faith" on Their Eyes Were Watching God.

Erin came up with a slew of excellent discussion prompts and here's the link to her discussion. Here are my thoughts on Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston, so far.

This book is unlike anything I can remember reading before--the closest is maybe Huck Finn, because of the dialect, but the narrative voice makes them very different types of stories. In reading the first 6 chapters, it didn't occur to me that this was in any way autobiographical. I couldn't imagine Janie as writing her story, though she is adept at telling it--perhaps that's my own prejudices intruding.

Despite the otherness of the world of Their Eyes Were Watching God, I was blown away by the richness of the language and the imagery and poetry of expression. I wasn’t sure that I would like the book, but the storytelling and language really pulled me in.

I marked this passage at the end of chapter 3 as particularly wonderful in words, rhythm, and insight:

So Janie waited a bloom time, and a green time and an orange time. But when the pollen again gilded the sun and sifted down on the world she began to stand around the gate and expect things…She knew that God tore down the old world every morning and built a new one by sun-up. It was wonderful to see it take form with the sun and emerge from the gray dust of its making. The familiar people and things had failed her so she hung over the gate and looked up the road towards way off. She knew now that marriage did not make love. Janie’s first dream was dead, so she became a woman.

I loved the front-porch talk and the mule stories and thought the scene where they give up the mule to the buzzards was so cinematic—loved how the preacher buzzard mirrored the Mayor.

Men and women? Except for Nanny, Daisy is practically the only woman given much air time in Janie’s story, and they didn’t really interact at all. It’s interesting how Janie’s independence shows itself as sullenness or petulance—a very passive/aggressive approach, which reflects just how powerless she feels.

Looking forward to the next section and discussion next Monday.

Giveaway! Book 2 - George Knightley, Esquire "Lend Me Leave"

jagreensmith@yahoo.com (Jane Greensmith) — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 08:43:14 PST

As promised, Barbara Cornthwaite, author of the wonderful George Knightley, Esquire books as offered up her recently published Book 2 in the set, titled Lend Me Leave, as a giveaway.

This giveaway is open to U.S. and Canada only--sorry, my international friends. You can enter by leaving a comment, and you get extra entries in the giveaway if you tweet about the giveaway and let me know. Deadline to enter is Tuesday, November 30 at 8 pm MT.

On to the review...

I really enjoyed the completion of the story as told from Mr. Knightley's point-of-view, although I admit I would rather have read book 2 immediately after finishing book 1. Cornthwaite introduces new characters and storylines and it took me a few chapters to sort out and remember who's who and what's what, but once I did, I could settle back and enjoy the story.

Once again, Mr. K's cat, Madam Duvall stole my heart as surely as Emma stole Mr. Knightley's. I also particularly loved the teasing surface and deep affection and respect that characterized the relationship between the Brothers Knightley. I was convinced completely, not that I have ever had a shred of doubt, of Mr. K's ardent love for Emma and Cornthwaite did a wonderful job in portraying his angst and conflicting emotions as he wrestled with her friendship with the unworthy Frank Churchill. My favorite scene? The ball at which he gallantly danced with Harriet, and is rewarded by Emma for his good deed.

George Knightley, Esquire is a wonderful retelling of Emma--faithful, rich in details, loving in its depiction of the quiet workings of Highbury, and interesting in its approach.

Here's my review of Book 1 in the set, Charity Envieth Not.

Little Women

jagreensmith@yahoo.com (Jane Greensmith) — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 09:38:31 PST

Somehow I never read Little Women as a child and so entered my teen years determined to scorn it for its notorious goody-goody nature. And so the years went by with my scorn for this classic unchecked until recently when I felt the need to experience for myself the world that so many have loved to distraction. I started Little Women as an experiment with the Kindle app on my iphone, reading it whilst waiting at the doctor's office, the hair salon, etc. but soon found myself so caught up in the world of Jo, Amy, Meg, and Beth that I pulled the Penguin Classics version that I won last year down from the shelf and read it for real.

While the goody-goody nature of the book is often cloying, I think the reason for the novel's popularity and longevity lies in the fact that Louisa May Alcott created such a completely intact world that was realistic enough to be inhabitable but whose sharp edges were softened and made comfortable and thoroughly desirable. I have no doubt that if I had read this book as a child, I would have "played" Little Women, fantasized about living within the pages of the novel, become obsessed with it as I did my Anne and Little House books.

Last week on a business trip, I downloaded the 1994 Little Women movie with Winona Ryder as Jo and Susan Sarandon as Marmee. I thoroughly enjoyed it and felt that it captured the spirit of the book as well as all the major plot points, not an easy thing to do with a highly episodic book like this one. I also like how the script incorporated a bit of the Transcentalism that shaped the Alcott household but that is not overtly present in the book itself.

Now that I've finally read Little Women, I was able to read the Little Women chapter in Erin Blakemore's The Heroine's Bookshelf, which explores the trait of ambition and the character Jo. I found Louisa May Alcott's story so sad as compared to the magical world she created in Little Women, but then that is par for the course when it comes to fictional worlds created by beloved authors.

What did I earmark? I didn't want to fold down the corners of the pages of my beautiful copy, so I didn't mark much, but after reading this passage I found a post-it note to mark the page because I thought it so good. Regardless of her motivation as a writer and views of the finished product, Alcott was a talented author, able to balance the pressures of telling a story with speaking out with a strong narrative voice.

..in spite of her [Amy's] American birth and breeding, she possessed that reverence for titles which haunts the best of us,--that unacknowledged loyalty to the early faith in kings which set the most democratic nation under the sun in ferment at the coming of a royal yellow-haired laddie, some years ago, and which still has something to do with the love the young country bears the old,--like that of a big son for an imperious little mother, who held him while she could, and let him go with a farewell scolding when he rebelled.

Ultimately, for me, passages like this are what makes Little Women a classic. Yes, the story of the March girls growing up, shouldering their responsibilities and embracing their roles in society, is inspiring and heart-warming, but LMA's ability to articulate the American experience in all its social contradictions and ambiguity earns Little Women a place on the Classics shelf and reading lists for the future.

Mailbox Monday

jagreensmith@yahoo.com (Jane Greensmith) — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 09:23:10 PST

Welcome to Mailbox Monday. MM is a gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week and explore great book blogs. Warning: MM can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

This month Mailbox Monday is being hosted on Mailbox Monday blog for the meme. You can check that blog to see the complete tour schedule in the left hand sidebar.

I have had a great influx of new books lately, between my birthday and recommendations from fellow bloggers, my mailbox runneth over.

Birthday Swag

Venice: Pure City, by Peter Ackroyd - my brother Mark knows that I love reading about Venice and hope to visit in 2014 for my 30-year anniversary trip with my husband! Plus I'm a big Peter Ackroyd fan, and am really looking forward to diving into this book.

Women Icons of the West: Five Women Who Forged the American Frontier, by Julie Danneberg - my husband heard about this book on Colorado Matters on Colorado Public Radio and knew I would love it as it chronicles the influence of some of my favorite women in history, Molly Brown and Isabella Bird. I hadn't heard of the other three women featured in the book,--namely Clara Brown, Nellie Cashman, and Sarah Winnemucca--so I expect to love this book. It's a slim book, so I should easily go through it during my flight to Toronto tomorrow.

The Little House Cookbook - my daughter Emily knows how much I love the Little House books and after reading Wendy McClure's The Wilder Life, I put this book on my Amazon wish list, and voila...I can now make my own Vanity Cakes. Maybe for Christmas? Maybe a new tradition?

PaperBack Swap

Notes on the State of Virginia, by Thomas Jefferson - I've been reading David McCullough's bio of John Adams for most of the year and was really struck by the friendship of Adams and Jefferson while they were serving in England and France as ambassadors after the Revolution, and Adams read Jefferson's book, so I thought I would too.

Waterloo: June 18, 1815: The Battle for Modern Europe, by Andrew Roberts - ever since I read Thackeray's Vanity Fair last year I've been trying to learn more about Waterloo, and Georgette Heyer's wonderful An Infamous Army earlier this year rekindled that desire. Scouting for good non-fiction books on the battle at Amazon yielded this one. Hope it's good.

Talking About Detective Fiction, by P.D. James - I'v heard about this book for awhile and I love reading about books and genre so I'm expecting it to be delightful.

Jane Austen in Scarsdale, by Paula Marantz Cohen - I really enjoyed her Jane Austen in Boca, which my mom gave me a few years ago, and a fan of Cohen's recently reminded me that I haven't read this Persuasion-inspired Austenesque story. So, with four plane rides over the next 2 weeks, I think this will going to either Toronto or Seattle with me!

George Knightley, Esquire (Book 2 - Lend Me Leave) by Barbara Cornthwaite - the author sent me a review copy that I can finally start this week. Be on the lookout for a giveaway here shortly! I am so looking forward to this continuation of the George Knightley POV story that Cornthwaite started in Book 1 of the set, and which I reviewed here.

Signing up for...A Classics Challenge

jagreensmith@yahoo.com (Jane Greensmith) — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 13:17:16 PST

Katherine Cox of November's Autumn has organized a reading challenge that is right up my alley, and I simply love the graphic she created for it and will be happy to have that gracing my blog for the next year.

The Challenge: Read seven works of Classic Literature in 2012, but only three of the seven may be re-reads.

How Does it Work? A little like a blog hop. Instead of writing a review as you finish each book (of course, you can do that too), visit November's Autumn on the 4th of each month from January 2012 - December 2012.

You will find a prompt, it will be general enough that no matter which Classic you're reading or how far into it, you will be able to answer. There will be a form for everyone to link to their post.

Join the Challenge: Anyone who loves to read classics and has a blog is invited and can join anytime before December 2012.

My Reading List for this Challenge:

Silas Marner - George Eliot
Reread, but I have to in order to read her major works in order!

Tortilla Flat - John Steinbeck
I reacquainted myself with Steinbeck this past summer and found out how much I like his writing.

Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes - Robert Louis Stevenson
I'm a long-time fan of RLS and I learned that Steinbeck's Travels with Charley was inspired by this RLS book.

Barchester Towers - Anthony Trollope
I enjoyed The Warden, which I read about a year ago, and am looking forward to more in the saga.

Romola - George Eliot
Know nothing about this book, other than I am reading all of Eliot and it comes after Silas Marner.

Little Dorrit - Charles Dickens
I really want to watch the BBC mini-series and I can't until I've read the book first. I haven't read much Dickens in recent years, but looking forward to diving into a good London story since I've been reading up on London history a lot lately.

Uncle Tom's Cabin - Harriet Beecher Stowe
I just have to read the book that helped launch the Civil War. Can't believe that I haven't yet. One of the most important books ever written and it will be a nice contrast to my recent rereading of Gone With the Wind.

Thanks, Katherine, for helping me organize the Classics part of my 2012 reading plans. This is equivalent to getting all my Christmas shopping done before Thanksgiving!

Gaskell 20 Questions...19 Answers!

jagreensmith@yahoo.com (Jane Greensmith) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 19:26:43 PST

Back in September, I posted the questions that the Gaskell Society posed in their latest bulletin. Despite having read Jenny Uglow's bio of Gaskell while I was reading most of her major works a couple of years ago, I didn't do very well answering the questions.

Now, after spending some quality time with the bio (the index, that is) and my friend, Google, here are my answers. There's only one left that I haven't uncovered yet.

1. What was the address of Elizabeth Stevenson's London birthplace?

Gaskell was born Elizabeth Stevenson on 29 September 1810, at 93 Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, which was then on the outskirts of London

2. In which month and year did she die?
She died 12 November 1865(1865-11-12) (aged 55) in Holybourne, Hampshire, England

3. What was the second name of Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell's daughter, Julia?

Julia, the fifth living child of Elizabeth and William Gaskell, was christened Julia Bradford Gaskell. Born in 1846 and a favorite of Charlotte Bronte, who once wrote to her Elizabeth, “Could you manage to convey a small kiss to that dear but dangerous little person, Julia? She has surreptitiously possessed herself of a minute fraction of my heart, which has been missing ever since I saw her.”

4. Who was the music teacher to the Gaskell family at Plymouth Grove?

According to Wikipedia, "conductor Charles Hallé also visited Elizabeth Gaskell at Plymouth Grove. Hallé visited the house often, teaching Meta Gaskell how to play the piano."

5. Name 4 other names which appear with ECG in the window of Poets' Corner.

John Bunyon, William Cowper, George Herbert, James R. Lowell

I'm not entirely comfortable with this answer. Wikipedia entry for Poet's Corner says "As floor and wall space began to run out, the decision was taken to install a stained glass memorial window (unveiled in 1994 in memory of Edward Horton Hubbard), and it is here that new names are added in the form of inscribed panes of glass. There is room for 20 names, and currently (early 2010) there are six names on this window, with a new entry (Elizabeth Gaskell) planned for 25 September 2010." Since Gaskell's name was added, there should be 7, but I only found four. The others are described as being on a "Panel on Hubbard memorial window"--those with that designation are Fanny Burney, Robert Herrick, A.E. Housman, Christopher Marlowe, Alexander Pope, and Oscar Wilde.

6. What was the cause of death of ECG's son, William?

Willie died of scarlet fever as an infant during a family holiday in North Wales.

7. Which of ECG's novels finish with these words--"That woman!"?

North and South

I didn't even need to look this one up!

8. In North and South, where is Captain Lennox's regiment stationed?

Corfu, a Greek island in the Ionian Sea...didn't have to look up that one either!

9. What was the name of Aunt Lumb's daughter?

Mary Anne - she was 20 when Elizabeth's mother died and she suggested to her mother that they give the infant a home with them in Knutsford.

10. Which continental city is featured in Dark Night's Work?

Rome - I haven't read this story yet, but it sounds interesting, fraught with conflicting emotions and moral ambiguity Gaskell explores so well.

11. Which publication was Mr Davis reading in The Squire's Story?

Gentleman's Magazine

12. Which word did ECG use to describe the drains at Plymouth Grove?

Horrid - apparently the drains at Plymouth Grove plagued her

13. By what name did William Gaskell call his wife?

Lily

14. Where was ECG when she wished she had a book to write instead of just a letter?

Haven't figured this one out yet? Anyone know this one?

15. What did Lizzie Leigh want her baby to be called?

Anne, same as her mother.

16. Which ECG novel has a link with Winchester?

Sylvia's Lovers - Phillip stays awhile at St. Sepulchre's after he comes back to England, and I think it is modeled Henry de Blois' foundation of St. Cross in Winchester. That's what I gleaned from a Google search that landed me on a copy of Sylvia's Lovers, and that was what the introduction seemed to be saying.

17. Name 3 doctors who appear in ECG's fiction?

Gibson (W&D), Harrison (Mr. Harrison's Confession, 1851), Donaldson (both N&S and W&D)

18. Which surname does ECG use in both Wives and Daughters and The Half Brothers?

Preston - Mr. Preston from Wives and Daughters makes my skin crawl.

19. Which short story by ECG begins with this line -- "Mr and Mrs Openshaw came from Manchester to settle in London."

The Manchester Marriage (1858)- another short story I haven't yet read.

20. Which ECG biographer has recently become the President of The Literary Alliance of Literary Societies?

Jenny Uglow, who wrote a wonderful bio of Gaskell.

Gaskell Journal Announces Joan Leach Memorial Interdisciplinary Victorian Essay Prize

jagreensmith@yahoo.com (Jane Greensmith) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 08:57:03 PDT

This just in via email...

The Gaskell Journal is pleased to inaugurate its Graduate Student Essay Prize in honour of Joan Leach MBE, founder and president of the Gaskell Society.

The essay competition is open to all graduate students currently registered for an MA or PhD in Victorian Studies. Preference will be shown to essays with a clear interdisciplinary focus, i.e. those that consider Elizabeth Gaskell within contemporary Victorian cultural,
aesthetic and scientific debates, or else, through recent critical theory.

Essays that treat Gaskell's work in more traditional ways,but which nonetheless demonstrate a compelling style and focus,are also very much welcomed. In all cases, clarity of argument and expression is paramount.

The winning essay will be published in the 2012 edition of the Gaskell Journal and its author will receive £200 from the Gaskell Society, as well as a year’s free subscription to the Journal.

Essays should be no longer than 7,000 words and not under consideration for publication elsewhere. The closing date for the essay prize is April 30, 2012.

Essays will be judged by members of the Gaskell Journal Editorial Board,
with the final decision being made by the International Editor, Prof. Jill L. Matus.

Please see the Gaskell Journal website for further submission details.

--------------------------------------
Best wishes to all of you Victorian literature scholars. It's so gratifying to see Gaskell being given the recognition she deserves.

Jane Eyre 2011

jagreensmith@yahoo.com (Jane Greensmith) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 09:57:39 PDT

I finally watched this movie last month and thought it powerful, faithful, and way too short. How I wish these actors, this set, this director, this production had yielded a mini-series instead of a 2-hour movie that was really more of an outline of the story than a telling of it.

I felt that the script popped from one key episode to the next in the Jane Eyre story outline, but there wasn't time to explore the subtleties of the story or characters. I actually don't think anyone who didn't know the story could follow what was going on. It seems like it should've been called "Scenes from Jane Eyre" rather than "Jane Eyre."

That said, I really liked the movie. I thought Mia Wasikowska was perfectly cast as Jane. The right combination of quiet determination and passion, moral uprightness and self awareness and depth of feeling. Michael Fassbender as Mr. Rochester was also perfect in my eyes--attractive but definitely not in a conventional way. Gruff, simmering, selfish, manipulative, passionate.

Judi Dench was marvelous as Mrs. Fairfax. I was actually a bit concerned about her in this role. I didn't much care for her as Lady Catherine in P&P from a few years ago, but she played Mrs. Fairfax so well--the faithful servant who knows much and especially how to keep her own counsel, married to the class system, but still compassionate with regards to Jane's predicament.

I never imagined Thornfield as a castle and that's how it appears in the movie, but the interiors were consistent with the world of the novel, and I especially loved the landscape shots.

Catching Up

jagreensmith@yahoo.com (Jane Greensmith) — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 08:19:16 PDT

One might think, based on the rate at which I post new blogs, that my reading life is waning. Not so. Between harvesting the garden, working, hiking in gorgeous Rocky Mt. National Park, making salsa and tomato sauce for the winter, figuring out how to do a photo directory for our church and then doing it, and generally being a parent, the blogging part of my reading life has taken a hit.

To make amends, here's a snapshot of what I've been reading.

I basically have two mysteries series going. Nevada Barr's series on Park Ranger Anna Pigeon and Donna Leon's series on Venice Commissario Guido Brunetti. I recently got my Leon fix with A Sea of Troubles, which was actually quite different from most of the other books in the series that I've read so far in that Brunetti personally had a stake in this one. Mostly taking place on the island of Pellestrina, south of the Lido on the Venetian lagoon, Signorina Elettra, staff secretary and researcher, beomes an integral part of the story and Brunetti's concern for her safety and jealousy of her relationship with other men in the story force him to acknowledge that his feelings for her transcend that of mere work colleagues.

I found the premise, that of a small society (i.e., a fishing village) closing ranks against the outside world, interesting, and I learned a lot about the fishing industry in the Adriatic and nuances of Venetian society, both of which are bonuses on top of another first rate murder mystery yarn from Leon.

This was #11 in the series, and in looking at a list on Amazon listing them in order, I appear to be reading them out of order. I think the next one I'll read is Blood from a Stone, which is #14.

I also recently finished Coming Home, by Rosamunde Pilcher. I loved both The Shell Seekers and September when I read them years ago. I've also read a book of romantic short stories as well as Winter Solstice, which I liked okay. A friend sent it to me as a thank you for a favor, and so I shoved aside all the other books on my TBR shelf and dove into Coming Home. It was wonderful--everything I like about Pilcher captured in this ~1000 pages paperback. The timeframe: 1936-1945; the setting: mostly Cornwall with a bit of London and bit of wartime Ceylon (Sri Lanka); the premise: family drama, with a strong female heroine on her own, growing up, and doing a good job of it.

I've been reading a fair amount of WWII non-fiction lately, so this was a real treat to indulge in a meaty, detail-rich novel with lots of interesting characters. A book to escape into definitely.

In looking for the book image, I found that there was a 2-part video done of the book in 1998, and it's on NetFlix. I know what I'll be watching when I'm done with Larkrise to Candleford.

I also recently finished rereading Gone With the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell. It is the book's 75th anniversary, and I enjoyed Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind: A Bestseller's Odyssey from Atlanta to Hollywood when I read it earlier this year. It was a nostalgic read, definitely, but troubling. Much as I admire Mitchell's writing and storytelling abilities, I can't recommend the book because of its racism. My contention that GWTW is a book about the south of the 1930s not the south of the 1860s holds on this rereading.

I'm also working on finishing up London, by Edward Rutherford, John Adams, by David McCullough, and Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott. I've promised myself I won't start anything new until I finish at least one of these. They are all marvelous. I'm liking Little Women so much more than I expected to. Wish I'd read it as a teenager!

Young Master Darcy: A Lesson in Honour

jagreensmith@yahoo.com (Jane Greensmith) — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 09:38:14 PDT

I had the good fortune to attend the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Jane Austen Society of North America (JASNA) in Ft. Worth, Texas this past weekend, and Sunday morning attended the author book signing where I got to meet Pamela Aidan, one of my absolute favorite Austenesque authors.

I picked up a copy of her latest, Young Master Darcy: A Lesson in Honour, published in 2010. It's a slim book, clocking in at 120 pages, and so I read it on my flight back to Denver.

Reading it was pure pleasure. Aidan is a skilled storyteller, able to weave numerous themes together into a coherent story, and her writing is fluid, precise, and rich with an authentic voice laced with humor and good will.

The story takes place 15 years before Pride and Prejudice, with Darcy as a 13-year old on Christmas holiday from his first term at Eton. In the story, Aidan excavates the roots of those character traits, those virtues as well as shortcomings, that Elizabeth Bennet wrestles to understand in P&P. We see young Master Darcy grappling with the rapidly declining health of his beloved mother, playing with his baby sister, dealing with the increasingly nefarious behavior of George Wickham, responding to the friendly advances of a village maiden, complete with fine eyes and a lively wit, and learning the hard way what it means to be Darcy of Pemberley.

A few years ago I bought a book entitled Jane Austen's Christmas, which was fun to read, but I can honestly say that this is a far better book about Regency Christmas, complete with mummers, groaning tables, and wintertime fun and festivity.

After reading this delightful novella, I came to the realization that these days I am definitely preferring prequels to sequels. In a way, I'm a hopeless romantic, more than willing to let Austen, et al, have the last word and accept that her heroines and heroes did have a happily ever after. What tends to interest me these days is to look at what formed them, to trace the paths they choose that put them on the road to where Austen, et al, commence telling their stories.

I hope that Aidan provides more stories about Darcy's youth--I would love to read about how he came to employ his valet, Fletcher, how he became friends with the incomparable Lord Dyford Brougham, and, of course, how he and Charles Bingley became such inseparable friends.

If you haven't yet read Aidan's wonderful trilogy, Fitzwilliam Darcy: Gentleman, then you've got a wonderful treat in store. Aidan has also contributed a short story, The Riding Habit, to the just-released collection of Austen-inspired stories, Jane Austen Made Me Do It. The Riding Habit is a post-P&P story about Elizabeth's fear of horses and how she and her husband deal with it.

An Infamous Army

jagreensmith@yahoo.com (Jane Greensmith) — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 16:56:29 PDT

I've been reading Georgette Heyer regencies for awhile now. I have read a respectable number, and reread a couple (The Reluctant Widow and Cotillion), but still have a fair number to get through before I can claim to have read them all.

Without a doubt, An Infamous Army is the best of the bunch. I loved the history, I loved the characters (even though Barbara Childe--aka Bab--is not really the kind of heroine I usually like), and I liked how the story ultimately worked out...not your typical romance but definitely not your typical account of the Battle of Waterloo.

I was completely blown away by Heyer's ability to paint such incredibly vivid pictures of the various international troops that converged on Brussells in the days leading up to the battle and the sights, sounds, and smells of them marching off to war and then straggling back.

I also loved experiencing the craft that Heyer displayed in her treatment of the historical characters, in particular the Duke of Wellington. She seamlessly and naturally told his backstory and integrated his documented words into dialogue at parties, during strategy sessions, and on the battlefield.

Colonel Charles Audley was a wonderful hero--practical nature shot through with a silken romantic streak and a clear-eyed sense of self and self-worth. I really enjoyed his relationship with his sister-in law and brother, Lord and Lady Worth, as well as his befriending of the weepy Miss Lucy.

Like Lady Worth, I ultimately warmed up to Barbara Childe, but I did find her extremely annoying for much of the book and feared Col. Audley was throwing himself and his chance for happiness away. It did strike me that Barbara was cut from the same cloth as Scarlett O'Hara and Becky Sharp--charming, selfish, not afraid of scandal, and not afraid of manipulating those weaker than themselves. In An Infamous Army, I feel that Heyer gave Scarlett and Becky the happy ending and a redeeming quality that Margaret Mitchell and William Makepeace Thackerary denied their leading ladies.

I know that I didn't absorb all that An Infamous Army has to offer, and after reading up on the Battle of Waterloo and Wellington, I plan to reread it. In the meantime, I plan to read its prequel, Regency Buck, which has been sitting on my shelf for far too long.

When I was looking for an image of the book, I found a lot I didn't like--they depict a pretty young woman, minimizing the setting, which is smack dab in the middle of an epic battle--until I found the one shown above. I do rather like the Sourcebooks cover, which is the Amazon link I provided, but that image has been over-used lately and I thought might be a bit confusing.

I did listen to it, and because of that, I found the Wikipedia entry for the novel extremely helpful, especially in the early chapters while I was trying to sort out who's who and the various relationships and alliances.

Now, all I want for Christmas is a movie version--how about a mini-series?

Isn't this engraving of the Duchess of Richmond's Ball on the eve of the Battle of Waterloo just wonderful?

Elizabeth Gaskell: 20 Questions Quiz...audience participation requested!

jagreensmith@yahoo.com (Jane Greensmith) — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 21:07:24 PDT

I just received my Autumn Newsletter from the Gaskell Society and opened to find a quiz, which I eagerly took and at which I blushingly did abysmally. I thought I was fairly knowledgeable about Gaskell and well-read with regards to her works, but clearly my memory is not a steeltrap.

I thought it would be fun to post the quiz and see how well others can do. I also vow to read up on Gaskell (again!) so that I can do better on future quizzes. Feel free to provide answers in the comments so I don't have to tax myself by too much Googling! I will post the answers in another post when I feel I have a reasonably good handle on them. Hopefully I can get them all before the answers are in published in the Society's Spring newsletter.

Without further ado...

1. What was the address of Elizabeth Stevenson's London birthplace?
2. In which month and year did she die?
3. What was the second name of Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell's daughter, Julia?
4. Who was the music teacher to the Gaskell family at Plymouth Grove?
5. Name 4 other names which appear with ECG in the window of Poets' Corner.
6. What was the cuase of death of ECG's son, William?
7. Which of ECG's novels finish with these words--"That woman!"?
8. In North and South, where is Captain Lennox's regiment stationed?
9. What was the name of Aunt Lumb's daughter?
10. Which continental city is featured in Dark Night's Work?
11. Which publication was Mr Davis reading in The Squire's Story?
12. Which word did ECG use to describe the drains at Plymouth Grove?
13. By what name did William Gaskell call his wife?
14. Where was ECG when she wished she had a book to write instead of just a letter?
15. What did Lizzie Leigh want her baby to be called?
16. Which ECG novel has a link with Winchester?
17. Name 3 doctors who appear in ECG's fiction?
18. Which surname does ECG used in both Wives and Daughters and The Half Brothers?
19. Which short story by ECG begins with this line -- "Mr and Mrs Openshaw came from Manchester to settle in London."
20. Which ECG biographer has recently become the President of The Literary Alliance of Literary Societies?