If there is one thing that Pride and Prejudice, The Secret Garden, and Jane Eyre seem to be teaching me is "Grumpy Buggers Need Love Too". I mentioned this to my wife and she snuggled close, kissed me on my cheek and said, "I love my grumpy man." For a moment a bit of me felt like protesting, but then I remembered how closely I've been identifying and sympathizing with the "grumpy buggers" of these novels. That and the fact that I got snuggles made me forget that I was going to protest at all. It is rather interesting that these novels seem to have that as at least a component of their theme.
It is difficult to look back 100-200 years into the past and figure out why this seemed important enough for some novelists to include. They touch on it a little bit, but it's important to remember we are talking about Victorian, Georgian, Edwardian etc. England and things are very different now and especially here in America. Manners and deference to the social structure were nigh upon holy tenets of the Church and the nation itself. For someone of great "standing" to behave in the ways Darcy and Rochester have in these novels would have been fairly reputation wrecking in many social circles. It likely would have been considered a defect of character and few if any would be sympathetic with them. These novels give the societal "monsters" a face, a third dimension.
We'll get to more of that later. For now, ONWARD to chapters 9-15!
Spring comes to Lowood, which seems as if it should be a good thing but everything is a mixed bag. With the warm sun and the blossoming green all about comes death. Sickness runs rampant to the point that the teachers are too occupied to teach them and so many of the girls run fairly wild through the forest and surrounding lands. If the foreshadowing of a cough and chest pain wasn't enough of a clue darling, wise, gentle Helen dies.
Honestly this was one of the most moving pieces of writing I have ever had the pleasure to read. Charlotte Bronte proves her genius to me by fashioning such a glowing and realistic scene. One of my favorite bits is when Jane's childhood is effectively over. As they say, "Childhood ends the minute you realize you're going to die someday."
"And then my mind made its first earnest effort to comprehend what had been infused into it concerning heaven and hell: and for the first time it recoiled, baffled: and for the first time glancing behind, on each side, and before it, it saw all round an unfathomed gulf: it felt the one point where it stood - the present; all the rest was formless cloud and vacant depth; and it shuddered at the thought of tottering, and plunging amid the chaos."
Her going to visit Helen, the emotional rawness, the small almost weeping conversations, Helen's peace, and the quote that follows just glowed inside me which I didn't expect.
"She Kissed me, and I her, and we both soon slumbered. When I awoke it was day: and unusual movement roused me; I looked up; I was in somebody's arms; the nurse held me; she was carrying me through the passage back to the dormitory. I was not reprimanded for leaving my bed; people had something else to think about; no explanation was afforded then to my many questions; but a day or two afterwards I learned that Miss Temple, on returning to her own room at dawn, had found me laid in a little crib; my face against Helen Burns's shoulder, my arms round her neck. I was asleep, and Helen was - dead."
There's a purity to that ninth chapter that made it good enough as one of the 100BYSRBYD on its own. In reading I had to stop there and bask in that moment. It is so uncharacteristic for a writer, in today's fiction writing universe, to nail that moment so perfectly.
From there we move on and find that the illness sweeping through Lowood brings Brocklehurst under scrutiny and things become much better for the girls as those "who knew how to combine reason with strictness, comfort with economy, compassion with uprightness" took over for the now shamed and questionable parson.
We quickly step over 8 years to find Jane as a teacher at Lowood. Miss Temple leaves the school. Jane realizes that her desire to remain a teacher there follows along with her. She places an advertisement for her services as a teacher/governess and gets a reply from a Mrs. Fairfax at Thornfield hall. Bessie (from Jane's time with the reeds) shows up to catch up and wish her well. She gives a report of the Reeds that says things have turned out there pretty much as everyone paying attention figured it would.
She arrives at Thornfield and meet the wonderfully genial Mrs. Fairfax and Mr. Rochester's ward Adela Varens. "She was quite a child - perhaps seven or eight years old - slightly built, with a pale, small-featured face and a redundancy of hair falling in curls to her waist." It's been a long time since I've had a term bring me such ridiculous amounts of pedantic glee as "a redundancy of hair".
Jane gets bored of the tranquility and decides to go out to deliver a letter for Mrs. Fairfax. Along the way she, unknowingly, meets Mr. Rochester who falls, along with his horse, on a sheet of ice. Later Jane discovers who the man was and, after many days and much business with his tenants in the town about, is introduced to Mr. Rochester. He is grim and sardonic, and treats Adele quite strangely. Well, given the time period he treats everyone strangely.
His back and forth conversation with Jane (4(!) pages of him trying to get her to be open and honest and she trying to be polite and respect his position) was quite entertaining and, as mentioned at the beginning, endeared him to my own little sardonic heart. As a modern reader I immediately saw his gruff peculiarities and assumed there was some painful experience behind it. I wonder if someone in the 1800s reading this for the first time would have. I value honesty, bluntness, and "plain dealing". I would rather someone blow me off entirely than engage in polite, self-effacing, "Do you find the weather ever so intolerable?", make nice and happy...well...BS. But would they, in that archaically polite society, give Rochester the benefit of the doubt or write him off as the lesser of the two Rochester brothers? We saw in Pride and Prejudice how wonderfully everyone regarded D-bag Wickham even after he pulled his little tricks. But, I digress.
In the back and forth Rochester plays with her, calling her a witch who bespelled either the horse or the puddle to turn to ice.
"When you came on me in Hay Lane last night, I thought unaccountably of fairy tales, and had half a mind to demand whether you had bewitched my horse; I am not sure yet. Who are your parents?"
"I have none."
"Nor ever had, I suppose; do you remember them?"
"No."
"I thought not. And so you were waiting for your people while you sat on that stile?"
"For whom, sir?"
"For the men in green: it was a proper moonlight evening for them. Did I break one of your rings, that you spread that damned ice on the causeway?"
(I love Jane's response here)
"The men in green all forsook England a hundred years ago," said I, speaking as seriously as he had done.
It's right there that the writer telegraphs, in the same way as we knew Helen would die, that these two will be together, or at least should be together. Rochester ask if she has any aunts or uncles and she replies in the negative. I couldn't help but think that might bite her in bustle later.
Mrs. Fairfax interrupts his stream of badgering questions to speak of her virtues, to which Rochester replies "Don't trouble yourself to giver her a character...I shall judge for myself. She began by felling my horse." I couldn't help but laugh at that.
Other things happen throughout the chapter that I likely should cover (we discover that Adele may be Rochester's illegitimate child via a Parisian singer/dancer who was happy to take his money and affections and then cheat on him, and there is something to do with an older brother who died leaving Rochester with a fortune it doesn't appear he actually wanted), but what I want to write about in this already long post is the art of Ms. Jane Eyre.
At one point Rochester pretty much dares Jane to show him her art because he doesn't at all believe that what he has seen is hers. It's too good and must have been copied or whatever. She brings her portfolio to him and he begins to assess both Jane and her art. I love this scene in particular for three reasons:
1) Bronte so nails the universal artist struggle. "As I saw them with the spiritual eye, before I attempted to embody them, they were striking; but my hand would not second my fancy, and in each case it had wrought out but a pale portrait of the thing I had conceived."
As a fiction writer I cannot tell you how huge that feeling is. We are doomed, doomed, to be an imperfect filter for the brilliant, bright white ideas that are in our heads. It is so daunting that it has actually kept me from writing on a number of occasions. I cannot relate to you how disappointing and pretty depressing that can be. The reason writers hate re-writes and hate the editing process is because they are time and time again confronted with how imperfect a filter they are. Metaphorically, it's like having a beautiful child and then you're driving and get in a car wreck and your child suffers burns and lacerations and is disfigured. It's your fault that it looks the way it looks and there's nothing you can do about it. But it's still yours. You are still proud of it and introduce it to people, and take care of it, but that feeling that it was your fault that it looks the way it does always lingers. Maybe a bit morbid, but it's fairly accurate to my experience.
2) What the heck would an art therapist have to say about Eyre's paintings?
I'm sure that they are foreshadowing things throughout the novel to come, or give light to her emotional state during her time at Lowood, but DANG.
3) Rochester's reaction to them.
More revealing than what it says about Jane is what it says about Rochester. "Where did you see Latmos? For that is Latmos." he says pointing at one of the paintings. Latmos, in Greek Mythology, is where the Selene, the goddess of the moon, seduced Endymion. (The footnotes actually came in handy here.) Endymion was a shepherd that Selene fell in love with after watching him night after night. She caused him to fall asleep with his eyes open so that she could watch him in his full beauty. She asks Zeus, I think, to make the shepherd immortal. The shepherd then married the glowing celestial beauty and had 50 children with him. After his realization that he sees Latmos, he abruptly sends everyone away. I presume that is foreshadowing of the tale of Adele's mother.
As with Pride and Prejudice I am surprised at how much I'm loving this book and wondering why I disregarded them before. They have proven to me how engaging non-genre fiction can actually be.
In many ways this project of reading the 100BYSRBYD is a bit of a homecoming for me. When I talk to other people who love the books on the list it's like meeting long lost family. Last night I was at "Small Groups" we attend through our church and someone overheard me talking to my wife about Jane Eyre and was curious why I was reading it. I explained and a couple people piped up about different books and authors that should (and are) on the list. One guy went off on Alexandre Dumas and his work The Count of Monte Cristo, to which many in the room said "Oh, I saw the movie of that. It was pretty good." At least three people replied in unison "No. No, no no no. It doesn't even begin to compare." It's so good to find other members of my tribe here on the blog or out in the world. :)
By the by, I did correct my beloved, when she called me her "grumpy man", telling her that the correct term is "crotchety". Oddly enough I was looking online for shillelaghs at the time I was explaining this. I swear it was a coincidence.
Pax,
W
Friday, January 30, 2015
Thursday, January 29, 2015
You Keep Using That Word...
Before I get into this word that, with a wink to Inigo Montoya, does not mean what I think it means I wanted to say a brief thank you to those who have been reading. The first post on my reading of Jane Eyre was the most popular by far, and I thank you.
Last night I was distracted off and on when my wife finally asked me why I kept checking my laptop. I replied that I was checking my Blogger account. She laughed at me giving me a look I know pretty well. I contended that, no, I am not an "attention whore". While the number of views were steadily going up was impressive I maintained that I was looking for comments. I value comments very highly. I crave interaction and the grinding of ideas upon other ideas. If my commentary is way off base, or if there is another way to see what I've read, or even if I'm spot on then I want to hear about it. I never think of myself as the be all end all authority...especially on something I've only just read and haven't ruminated on for at least a decade. I am, thankfully, a perpetual student who is all to familiar with being dead wrong or half right in most instances.
All that to say to those who viewed at all, "Thank You" and to those who commented "Thank very much". Many have +1'd which I greatly appreciate as well. I'm very new to this whole Google Blogger process, however I very much recognize the value of every +1. I thank you. Also, if you look on the right by the picture of my son you can subscribe/follow and I'm sure every edition will make its way to you at least through Google+.
Now, as I was saying... Slattern
Last night I was distracted off and on when my wife finally asked me why I kept checking my laptop. I replied that I was checking my Blogger account. She laughed at me giving me a look I know pretty well. I contended that, no, I am not an "attention whore". While the number of views were steadily going up was impressive I maintained that I was looking for comments. I value comments very highly. I crave interaction and the grinding of ideas upon other ideas. If my commentary is way off base, or if there is another way to see what I've read, or even if I'm spot on then I want to hear about it. I never think of myself as the be all end all authority...especially on something I've only just read and haven't ruminated on for at least a decade. I am, thankfully, a perpetual student who is all to familiar with being dead wrong or half right in most instances.
All that to say to those who viewed at all, "Thank You" and to those who commented "Thank very much". Many have +1'd which I greatly appreciate as well. I'm very new to this whole Google Blogger process, however I very much recognize the value of every +1. I thank you. Also, if you look on the right by the picture of my son you can subscribe/follow and I'm sure every edition will make its way to you at least through Google+.
Now, as I was saying... Slattern
In talking about the Word Nerd side of my journey through the 100BYSRBYD I have to begin with slattern. I've watched quite a lot of BBC films and shows. In all my years of enjoying my severe Anglophilia I had always taken the word "slattern" to be spoken in the same manner and tone as "strumpet" and so have a similar meaning. I used to just "absorb" meaning through examining the tone if spoken and through sentence context if read. It was lazy, I know. Part of the reason I'm doing the whole "Word Nerd" aspect is to correct such defects in my self-education. I've even gone so far as to use the word "slattern" to a girl who was involved in "strumpety" (strumpish?) behavior because I knew she'd take it with a laugh.
So, when Jane arrives in Lowood and they start throwing around the term "strumpet" for children I was understandably shocked and confused. Inigo Montoya immediately popped into mind and I was committed to not being Vizzini. I looked it up in the dictionary. Alright, an online dictionary, but I did go the extra mile to use the OED. By heaven I'd love to have a hard copy of the full OED. That's Hardcore OG Word Nerd right there.
Slattern: (noun) dated A dirty, untidy woman.
Fair enough.
It's only when we Americans get ahold of the word that we make it mean slut/prostitute. We make everything dirty, apparently. A nation of slatterns...in the original sense...although there may be an argument made...never mind.
Oddly this is a far more "cerebral" book than Pride and Prejudice but somehow I'm finding less words per page that I am unfamiliar with. Now it is time to...
Define all the words!
Caviller: One who raises irritating and trivial objections
Bilious: 1. Affected by or associated with nausea or vomiting 2. Spiteful; bad tempered
Captious: Tending to find fault or raise petty objections.
Opprobium: Harsh criticism or censure
Fagging: To work or run errands for a senior pupil.
Convulvulus: A twining plant with trumpet shaped flowers (includes Morning Glories)
Execration: The act of cursing or denouncing
Parterre: A level space in a garden or yard occupied by an ornamental arrangement of flower beds.
Pelisse: A woman's cloak with arm holes or sleeves, reaching to the ankles.
Rushlight: A candle made by dipping the pith of a rush in tallow.
Inanition: Lack of mental or spiritual vigor and enthusiasm or exhaustion cause by a lack of nutrition
Animadversion: Criticism or censure.
Meed: A deserved share or reward.
Expostulation: An expression of protest.
Assiduity: Close or constant attention to what one is doing.
Chilblain: A painful, itching swelling on the skin, typically on the hand or foot, caused by poor circulation in the skin when exposed to the cold.
Exigency: And urgent need or demand
Hebdomadal: Weekly. (LOVE this unnecessarily long word for something so simple.)
Perfidious: Deceitful and untrustworthy.
Tucker: A piece of lace or linen worn in or around the top of a bodice or as an insert at the front of a low cut dress.
Excrescence: A distinct outgrowth on a human or animal body or on a plant, especially one that is the result of a disease or abnormality.
Organ of Veneration: A phrenology term that denotes piety and saintliness.
Fervid: Intensely enthusiastic or passionate, especially to an excessive degree.
Barmecide: Illusory or imaginary and therefore disappointing.
The only other thing I wanted to mention on the "Word Nerd" front was....by heaven she likes semicolons and colons. I've never seen the like in any other I've ever read. I had to remind myself how to process them by reading the sentences out loud, much to the confusion of my three year old son.
Pax,
W
Tuesday, January 27, 2015
Darkness and Questions of Faith (Jane Eyre Chapters 1-8)
I was initially struck by how much thicker of a book Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre is to Pride and Prejudice. It wasn't so much that I didn't realize that there would be some thick books in this series of 100BYSRBYD, but it did give me pause. Had I chosen to I could have blown through Pride and Prejudice in a week. Instead I wanted to take the time to ruminate on it and pace myself so I didn't burn out. Jane Eyre's girthiness made me realize that this project is going to probably take two years at minimum, but more likely 3 or more. Surprisingly that doesn't bother me.
What does bother me is knowing that Tolstoy's War and Peace is coming down the pike and it's even bigger than this book. I literally used that book as a doorstop back when I tried to hork it down after high school. Don't ask me why. My friends were in college, I was working as a grocery bagger and had little mental stimulation so I was feeling bad about myself and...yeah. I got 4 pages in and my brain went numb. It was a particularly warm summer for Alaska and the door to my room had to be kept open somehow. It was either going to be a $9.99 paperweight or a doorstop. I could have used it as a meat tenderizing mallet, now that I think on it.
So...Jane Eyre intimidated me a little bit upon pulling the book from it's Amazon.com box.
The first thing I noticed, when I finally plucked up the courage to begin ingesting the text, was "Holy Carp, this book starts out DARK." By comparison Pride and Prejudice is a ditzy, floofy summer beach read. Seriously, from here on out we'll determine a books darkness and/or heaviness of subject matter on the Bronte/Austen Scale (tm) (Patent Pending). Granted my knowledge of the classics isn't as vast as others, but ,bloody hell, it can't get much more bleak than this. Even Dickens comes off marginally lighter.
The darkness begins at Gateshead with "leafless shrubbery...cold winter wind...sombre clouds...penetrating rain..." Essentially "It was a dark and stormy night" for the literary set. This pall is cast over the whole first 8 chapters and never lets up on the life of the eponymous Jane, who is an orphan sent to live with her uncle who dies soon after and leaves her with an aunt and three cousin who despise her. She is very conscious of her "physical inferiority" to them. Honestly, I thought the Dursleys from Harry Potter were the worst most despicable family in all of fiction. Many people state that the terrible muggle family was based on the horrible families portrayed in the works of Roald Dahl. Other people claim they are Dickensian in origin. I submit that it is here, the the heinous Reed family, that we find a more likely inspiration.
Jane is physically abused by the eldest boy, detested by the sisters, and considered the source of all problems in the house by Mrs. Reed. Within the young Jane lies the heart of a lion, however, that meets the injustices head on with equal ferocity though it gets her in even more trouble. She develops a distinct sense of independence and is fine with being alone and despised...up to a point, naturally. All want to be loved and appreciated at some point and she wonders why all hate her.
She gets sent to "The Red Room" as punishment one night and has a fit that I'm not sure I understand. It's unclear whether what she sees is the result of her mind playing tricks on her or actual events amplified with meaning and dread through the mind of a child.
"Children can feel, but they cannot analyse their feelings; and if the analysis is partially effected in thought, they know not out to express the result of the process in words."
Aunt Reed decides she is too much trouble to keep and an annoyance to her household at best and decides to find a school to send her off to. A man appears named Mr. Brocklehurst who is the patron of Lowood. Aunt Reed, of course, tells him that Jane is a liar and one of the worst sinners she has ever seen in her life. And here is where I being to lose my cool.
I have, what has been called, an "overdeveloped sense of justice". I see how things could be and should be rather than things as they are. Little perceived injustices cause me anxiety and the great injustices of the world give me fits. I've gotten a lot better with age but there was a time where I would think an American Feminist is an idiot and lacked the courage of his/her convictions because they were spending time, energy, and resources in vast amounts for something like protesting for the legal right to breastfeed in public as if that's the greatest threat to women's rights when people within our own country and elsewhere in the world are performing genital mutilation. I still am bothered by the fact that people want to overturn a minor "evil" rather than create resistance for a major evil. There is a better chance for success against a minor evil and success makes us feel like we actually accomplished something, no matter how petty it is, while a greater evil threatens without. Here, I had forgotten the 200 year old notion that the rich and "genteel" were always considered morally right and beyond reproach while the poor were obviously poor because they were sinners and needed to have their souls purified by abuse. (not exactly stated as such...but I trust my meaning is understood).
All that to say, I felt the creeping anxiety and white hot fury of "justice" once again throughout this novel. I cheered Jane as she took these injustices head on. My heart raced and my soul felt the "righteousness" of it burn within me. I mean, come on, who can't cheer at this: (between Jane and Mr. Brocklehurst with the later beginning)
"Do you know where the wicked go after death?"
"They go to hell," was my ready and orthodox answer.
"And what is hell? Can you tell me that?"
"A pit full of fire"
"And should you like to fall into that pit, and to be burning there for ever?"
"No, sir."
"What must you do to avoid it?"
I deliberated a moment: my answer, when it did come, was objectionable: "I must keep in good health and not die."
I mean, that is just a perfect rejoinder that can't help but get a "Go girl!" from someone in the reading audience. When she finally lets loose and rips into Aunt Reed with complete honesty and accuracy I bloody well cheered while reading in bed and that's not something I'm wont to do. My cheering did not last very long, however.
We transition to Lowood and meet the terrible teachers, but for Miss Temple, and are introduced to the horrid conditions there. We are also introduced to Helen, a bright little ray of sunshine who seems to be the opposite to Jane in outlook. While Jane will fight back to those who would punish her, Helen accepts the abuse and points out where the individual was right to correct her. Jane confronts her on this point.
"But I feel this, Helen: I must dislike those who, whatever I do to please them, persist in disliking me; I must resist those who punish me unjustly. It is as natural as that I should love those who show me affection, or submit to punishment when I feel it is deserved."
"Heathens and savage tribes hold that doctrine; but Christians and civilised nations disown it."
The notation I made next to this section is "What?!?!"
(Here is where I make a disclaimer. What follows is steeped in Christian thinking and, as such, may be completely illogical to those who are not Christians. It is written by a Christian struggling with his faith and the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth and is meant for an audience on a similar path. If you continue...you have been advised. I do not expect those outside of the Christian faith to understand, agree, or feel that it applies to them.)
I immediately rejected it as two century old ridiculous claptrap and fell into the fault of regarding our more modern age as so much more "enlightened" on this subject. I found myself oh so very conflicted with this notion that the abusers should go unchallenged, the perpetrators of such horrible treatment should be just allowed to continue, that this book was advocating that these children should just "take it" and accept the system as is.
And then Helen pops off with a quote from Jesus, "Love your enemies; bless them that curse you; do good to those who hate you and despitefully use you."
Well...crap...
When Mr. Brocklehurst comes to the school and says that the children are better off being forced to eat burnt gruel or starve, should have their hair cut short to protect against vanity, and they need only ever wear plain dresses and should receive no comforts at all for the betterment of their souls...when Miss Temple says nothing but nearly laughs at the ridiculous man as his wife and daughters walk in plump, hair beautifully curled, and wearing silks and satins with ridiculous hats, I could only say, "What the freaking heck! Here is a clearly terrible, wicked, inconsistent, hypocritical A-hole! Why is nobody pointing out the hypocrisy to him and putting him in his place?!?!" The darkness and misapplication of scripture is all around and no one does ANYTHING to push against it. And then I remember further words of Christ:
"...do not resist and evil man..." Matthew 5:39
It goes against every justice and consistency loving fiber in my body. I want to smack this man who is doing this to these children. I want to force him to see what he is doing in the light of the same Bible he's using to support their mistreatment. I want him to blatantly admit his own hypocrisy and...dangit...that's not following what my Lord and Savior says to do. It feels SO wrong, but there's a still small space in me that sees that the Lord has called most of us to be Miss Temples and Helens...providing light in the darkness and rest and encouragement for the souls of the weary and mistreated.
I still don't like it. I'm still not fully convinced...but I see the upside down nature of everything Jesus tells us. To those not in the faith it sounds like insanity and enabling the abusers. But I can't deny the spirit of it just the same.
*sigh*
I have a feeling this is going to be quite a soul searching journey, this novel.
Pax,
W
What does bother me is knowing that Tolstoy's War and Peace is coming down the pike and it's even bigger than this book. I literally used that book as a doorstop back when I tried to hork it down after high school. Don't ask me why. My friends were in college, I was working as a grocery bagger and had little mental stimulation so I was feeling bad about myself and...yeah. I got 4 pages in and my brain went numb. It was a particularly warm summer for Alaska and the door to my room had to be kept open somehow. It was either going to be a $9.99 paperweight or a doorstop. I could have used it as a meat tenderizing mallet, now that I think on it.
So...Jane Eyre intimidated me a little bit upon pulling the book from it's Amazon.com box.
The first thing I noticed, when I finally plucked up the courage to begin ingesting the text, was "Holy Carp, this book starts out DARK." By comparison Pride and Prejudice is a ditzy, floofy summer beach read. Seriously, from here on out we'll determine a books darkness and/or heaviness of subject matter on the Bronte/Austen Scale (tm) (Patent Pending). Granted my knowledge of the classics isn't as vast as others, but ,bloody hell, it can't get much more bleak than this. Even Dickens comes off marginally lighter.
The darkness begins at Gateshead with "leafless shrubbery...cold winter wind...sombre clouds...penetrating rain..." Essentially "It was a dark and stormy night" for the literary set. This pall is cast over the whole first 8 chapters and never lets up on the life of the eponymous Jane, who is an orphan sent to live with her uncle who dies soon after and leaves her with an aunt and three cousin who despise her. She is very conscious of her "physical inferiority" to them. Honestly, I thought the Dursleys from Harry Potter were the worst most despicable family in all of fiction. Many people state that the terrible muggle family was based on the horrible families portrayed in the works of Roald Dahl. Other people claim they are Dickensian in origin. I submit that it is here, the the heinous Reed family, that we find a more likely inspiration.
Jane is physically abused by the eldest boy, detested by the sisters, and considered the source of all problems in the house by Mrs. Reed. Within the young Jane lies the heart of a lion, however, that meets the injustices head on with equal ferocity though it gets her in even more trouble. She develops a distinct sense of independence and is fine with being alone and despised...up to a point, naturally. All want to be loved and appreciated at some point and she wonders why all hate her.
She gets sent to "The Red Room" as punishment one night and has a fit that I'm not sure I understand. It's unclear whether what she sees is the result of her mind playing tricks on her or actual events amplified with meaning and dread through the mind of a child.
"Children can feel, but they cannot analyse their feelings; and if the analysis is partially effected in thought, they know not out to express the result of the process in words."
Aunt Reed decides she is too much trouble to keep and an annoyance to her household at best and decides to find a school to send her off to. A man appears named Mr. Brocklehurst who is the patron of Lowood. Aunt Reed, of course, tells him that Jane is a liar and one of the worst sinners she has ever seen in her life. And here is where I being to lose my cool.
I have, what has been called, an "overdeveloped sense of justice". I see how things could be and should be rather than things as they are. Little perceived injustices cause me anxiety and the great injustices of the world give me fits. I've gotten a lot better with age but there was a time where I would think an American Feminist is an idiot and lacked the courage of his/her convictions because they were spending time, energy, and resources in vast amounts for something like protesting for the legal right to breastfeed in public as if that's the greatest threat to women's rights when people within our own country and elsewhere in the world are performing genital mutilation. I still am bothered by the fact that people want to overturn a minor "evil" rather than create resistance for a major evil. There is a better chance for success against a minor evil and success makes us feel like we actually accomplished something, no matter how petty it is, while a greater evil threatens without. Here, I had forgotten the 200 year old notion that the rich and "genteel" were always considered morally right and beyond reproach while the poor were obviously poor because they were sinners and needed to have their souls purified by abuse. (not exactly stated as such...but I trust my meaning is understood).
All that to say, I felt the creeping anxiety and white hot fury of "justice" once again throughout this novel. I cheered Jane as she took these injustices head on. My heart raced and my soul felt the "righteousness" of it burn within me. I mean, come on, who can't cheer at this: (between Jane and Mr. Brocklehurst with the later beginning)
"Do you know where the wicked go after death?"
"They go to hell," was my ready and orthodox answer.
"And what is hell? Can you tell me that?"
"A pit full of fire"
"And should you like to fall into that pit, and to be burning there for ever?"
"No, sir."
"What must you do to avoid it?"
I deliberated a moment: my answer, when it did come, was objectionable: "I must keep in good health and not die."
I mean, that is just a perfect rejoinder that can't help but get a "Go girl!" from someone in the reading audience. When she finally lets loose and rips into Aunt Reed with complete honesty and accuracy I bloody well cheered while reading in bed and that's not something I'm wont to do. My cheering did not last very long, however.
We transition to Lowood and meet the terrible teachers, but for Miss Temple, and are introduced to the horrid conditions there. We are also introduced to Helen, a bright little ray of sunshine who seems to be the opposite to Jane in outlook. While Jane will fight back to those who would punish her, Helen accepts the abuse and points out where the individual was right to correct her. Jane confronts her on this point.
"But I feel this, Helen: I must dislike those who, whatever I do to please them, persist in disliking me; I must resist those who punish me unjustly. It is as natural as that I should love those who show me affection, or submit to punishment when I feel it is deserved."
"Heathens and savage tribes hold that doctrine; but Christians and civilised nations disown it."
The notation I made next to this section is "What?!?!"
(Here is where I make a disclaimer. What follows is steeped in Christian thinking and, as such, may be completely illogical to those who are not Christians. It is written by a Christian struggling with his faith and the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth and is meant for an audience on a similar path. If you continue...you have been advised. I do not expect those outside of the Christian faith to understand, agree, or feel that it applies to them.)
I immediately rejected it as two century old ridiculous claptrap and fell into the fault of regarding our more modern age as so much more "enlightened" on this subject. I found myself oh so very conflicted with this notion that the abusers should go unchallenged, the perpetrators of such horrible treatment should be just allowed to continue, that this book was advocating that these children should just "take it" and accept the system as is.
And then Helen pops off with a quote from Jesus, "Love your enemies; bless them that curse you; do good to those who hate you and despitefully use you."
Well...crap...
When Mr. Brocklehurst comes to the school and says that the children are better off being forced to eat burnt gruel or starve, should have their hair cut short to protect against vanity, and they need only ever wear plain dresses and should receive no comforts at all for the betterment of their souls...when Miss Temple says nothing but nearly laughs at the ridiculous man as his wife and daughters walk in plump, hair beautifully curled, and wearing silks and satins with ridiculous hats, I could only say, "What the freaking heck! Here is a clearly terrible, wicked, inconsistent, hypocritical A-hole! Why is nobody pointing out the hypocrisy to him and putting him in his place?!?!" The darkness and misapplication of scripture is all around and no one does ANYTHING to push against it. And then I remember further words of Christ:
"...do not resist and evil man..." Matthew 5:39
It goes against every justice and consistency loving fiber in my body. I want to smack this man who is doing this to these children. I want to force him to see what he is doing in the light of the same Bible he's using to support their mistreatment. I want him to blatantly admit his own hypocrisy and...dangit...that's not following what my Lord and Savior says to do. It feels SO wrong, but there's a still small space in me that sees that the Lord has called most of us to be Miss Temples and Helens...providing light in the darkness and rest and encouragement for the souls of the weary and mistreated.
I still don't like it. I'm still not fully convinced...but I see the upside down nature of everything Jesus tells us. To those not in the faith it sounds like insanity and enabling the abusers. But I can't deny the spirit of it just the same.
*sigh*
I have a feeling this is going to be quite a soul searching journey, this novel.
Pax,
W
Sunday, January 25, 2015
WIKA: Charlotte Bronte's "Jane Eyre"
My plan had originally been to do my WIKA's (What I Know About) in video form because I normally just write things and it would be good for me to try to speak things...good for me like broccoli and horseradish is good for me. Good...but unpleasant.
At anyrate, that was to be the goal. Until I got to Jane Eyre and I realized I know about a good solid nothing about this novel other than who the author is.
Thanks to free two day shipping through Amazon Prime (plug!) I've had the book for about a week now. I've perused the first few pages of my Penguin Classic edition to find a timeline of the author's life (girl was allergic to marriage, man. It took her 40 years and some change to finally get married. She then died within the year.) and some "academic" writings about Jane Eyre.
Now, I'm an open minded guy. If I wasn't I wouldn't have even started with Pride and Prejudice which is forever vindicated in my opinions. My open mindedness ends when we come to most academic essays on books.
I remember being in an Intro to Lit. class many years ago, and our teacher was fixated on this one particular short story. It was something to do with a murder (?) and one of the guys standing around, the author mentions, was wearing a Hawaiian style shirt with a pattern of blue macaws all over it. Here I am, a freshman in college, and this teacher, a supposedly learned and respected individual, spends two days (no joke) trying to get us to figure out why the writer has this practically nameless character wearing a blue macaw shirt. We all looked at her like she was freaking crazy. Why? Because she was freaking crazy. "There HAS to be a deeper meaning, you guys. Come on! Writers don't just put this stuff in there for no reason. Open your minds! What does it mean!"
I am a writer. I can honestly tell you, we just put things in there for no reason. Why does Simon have messy red hair in my novel The Reliquary? BECAUSE! It's something I saw in my head and I put it in. Why does Cassie switch decades of attire every day? Cause I thought it would be fun to know someone who does that. No...Deeper...Meaning...
Why do I bring this up? Well, because mine eyes didst chance upon the academic essays that made up the introduction of Jane Eyre and it raised my blood to a rolling boil. Apparently there's a part where someone sings a song with the refrain "Poor Orphan Child" and they talk about how the writer is using that as symbolic foreshadowing for when the girl will grow up and find herself alone on the moor.
(imagine the following in my Angry Comic Voice)
Or maybe it's because the main character is a FREAKING ORPHAN!!!
Jonathan Safran Foer was in town a few years ago when his book Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close was our "One City One Book" and he came and did a Q and A to cover the book. One of the first questions was "What is the deeper meaning behind why the man character wears only white clothing." He chuckled a bit and said, "Are you serious?" The person said they were completely serious. Foer then turned to the crowd and asked who else had the same question. Pretty much everyone raised their hands. His reply was quite simple. "What did I tell you was his greatest fear? Nuclear annihilation. And what did I tell you in the first few pages that he learned survived untouched in a nuclear attack? Anything white." I've since read academic articles (well, skimmed before I angrily closed the link) that say there is a MUCH deeper meaning despite the author's protest to the contrary. He bloody TOLD everyone and they don't care.
I swear, so many academics with residencies should do the world a favor and perish rather than publish. I've done my own amount of Lit Analysis, but I always left in the realm of "This was going on in their life around the time of the writing which may inform why this feeling and word choice is used here." That makes complete sense to me. And often times I do find that my issues and childhood remembrances of objects, people and places populate my works, but I'm not playing some sort of peekaboo scavenger hunt with my readers. Gah! @)#U@)#($*@#$
Maybe I should have done this on camera...it might have been entertaining. If you ever meet me and want to start a conversation that would be longer than you enjoy (and consequently might make an embolism burst in my brain) bring up academic lit analysis. Or why I think Episode III is the worst of all Star Wars episodes. I'll watch Jar Jar on endless repeat before I watch Episode III again willingly.
I thoroughly look forward to reading through this monster of a book. It's huge and intimidating casting it's baleful glare at me from my nightstand... I better go cover it up or I won't get any sleep.
Pax,
W
Saturday, January 24, 2015
Dealing with My Own...Pride and Prejudice
I started reading this novel with a certain amount of my own prejudice. As I mentioned before, most of what I knew was patchy at best. What I did know was that Lit. girls, who I do have the utmost respect for (Seriously, vapid cheerleader types have nothing on you ladies.), would rabidly consume every iteration of the movies and mini-series and be reduced to group swooning and fawning. I didn't get it...and as far as the swooning bit, I still don't get it...however...
That being said, I have finished Pride and Prejudice in its entirety and am ready to give my personal verdict on it...in good time.
The final third of the novel is where things really start picking up. Lydia runs off to Brighton, elopes with Wickham which sends everything into a complete tempestuous tizzy, quite naturally. Before the elopement is revealed, Lizzy and her Aunt and Uncle Gardiner visit Pemberley while Darcy is away. Lizzy learns that Darcy is an altogether different fellow when at home, a far more likable person who is quite honorable and generous to all about him regardless of station. She meets his sister and just as she questions her refusal of him the Jerry Springer train wreck that is Lydia Bennet and George Wickham hits.
As the family is dealing with this crisis Mary gives one of my favorite lines, "...we must stem the tide of malice, and pour into the wounded bosoms of each other, the balm of sisterly consolation." (LORD, I love language.)
Mr. Bennet throws down and goes after Wickham. Upon his return Kitty has the ill sense to bring up how much better she would have behaved to which he declares, "And you are never to stir out of doors till you can prove, that you have spent ten minutes of every day in a rational manner."
Things fall as they do, and Wickham and Lydia are...pretty much perfect for each other but the worst sort of people to everyone else, which is evidenced when they happen by Longbourn after the wedding.
Bingley returns to Netherfield with Darcy, and thus begins the renewed courtship of Jane. After the engagement Lady Catherine de Bourgh arrives to dissuade Lizzy from being engaged to Darcy, not that Darcy has asked. Chapter 56, which I refer to as the Clash of the Titans, is by far my favorite part in the novel. Why? Because this is where Mr. Bennet gets paid.
What do I mean by that? I've previously stated that the two characters I identify with the most, and are my favorites, are Darcy and Mr. Bennet. Whether that is because I'm male or not, I'm not sure. One of the elements of this novel is how the Bennet girls fall along a spectrum somewhere between their father, a very rational, logical, honorable man, and their mother who is flighty, fairly ditzy, and overly concerned with appearances and the social ladder. Jane, Elizabeth, and Mary land closer to their father and Lydia and Kitty are rather closer to their mother on this spectrum. It has jumped out at me from the start what kind of a father Mr. Bennet was and how much he tried to instill in his daughters. He was a man, more than just about anything, concerned with their happiness and well being. While Mrs. Bennet just wants to see her daughter's married to anyone at all, Mr. Bennet actually wants to see them married to the right person. As I mentioned, he valued logic and rationality over the social order, and Lizzy's battle of words with Lady Catherine is something I dearly wish Mr. Bennet could have overheard. All his work investing in her paid off right there. When later she agrees to marry Darcy her father is so confused in her acceptance, as he should be given how much Lizzy has kept from everyone. He is at such a loss as to why she would agree that he isn't sure he knows who she is anymore. Mr. Bennet tells her that it's more than just about pretty dresses, assuming that he's misjudged her actions and maybe she is more like her mother than he thought. Thankfully she talks him down from that ledge by revealing more about the situation.
As a dad I can only hope to be there one day to find out that my own daughter actually took to heart everything I've expended so much effort to teach her and it has aided her well.
I was struck so completely, once everything was revealed, by just how honorable Darcy was. I want to leave some surprises for those who may not have read the book, which means glossing over the best bits, but to learn just how far he would go to fix his own mistakes and take care of those he loves was quite wonderful. His ability to admit when he was wrong and grow as a result is more admirable than I can describe. It's something that I have always tried to do once I realized that once a man can honestly admit (And self admit might I add. Someone forcing him to admit he was wrong doesn't work.) when he is wrong and has been wrong...a man can work wonders.
"What did you say of me, that I did not deserve? For, though your accusations were ill founded, formed on mistaken premises, my behavior at the time, had merited the severest reproof. It was unpardonable. I cannot think of it without abhorrence."
Quite predictably Darcy gives my favorite line of the whole novel when asked by Elizabeth when it was that he first fell in love with her.
"I cannot fix on the hour, or the spot, or the look, or the words, which laid the foundation. It is too long ago. I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun."
First of all, dang...that's smooth. Secondly, I know those words to be sincere because they mirror precisely how I felt about the beginnings of love with my wife. Every other girl I dated I knew what I liked, where, when...but with Shelly...Heck, I don't even remember our first meeting because it all just blended together as if she'd always been there.
The closest I can get to a moment where I knew it was love was when she stepped off a plane and I was waiting there for her. This was back in the days when you could actually wait for a person at the arrival gate, in that enchanted world before 9/11. She stepped off and, no joke, everything slowed down and the color drained from everything around except her. There was never any going back after that, and still isn't.
So, overall what do I think of Pride and Prejudice?
Jane Austen is an absolute master of the novel. There is no single writer in all of modern fiction that I think even compares with her...at least in this single work. It isn't merely that it is entertaining and witty, which are all virtues that her work has. The thing that sets her apart, in my mind, is in the understanding of her characters. Not once did I read this novel and think "These people are crazy. There's no one out there like this." Everyone knows a Lizzy, or a Mary, or a Charlotte Lucas, and most people know two or three Lydias. This can be accomplished by other writers by providing a certain archetypal homogenized character development. Austen provides us with strikingly individual and fully realized characters...in 3D, as it were. And the truly amazing thing is that you don't know someone LIKE a Lizzy or a Mary, you know someone who IS a Lizzy, or a Mary.
In my experience the only other author that has had this sort of talent was Dickens. Granted, after I read the other 100BYSRBYD I may add more than a few names to that list, but she still beats out all modern authors I've ever read. Also surprising is how accurate she is in writing her male characters. It's often difficult for an author to create that vivid and true to life personality in a character that is opposite in gender to themselves. Austen is the Gene Kelly of this. It's hard as all get out, but she makes it look easy.
Final Word; There is a reason that this novel still finds a place on our bookshelves 202 years later. It truly is a book you MUST read before you die.
Pax,
W
PS. Please +1 and comment here on your experiences and favorite parts of Pride and Prejudice.
That being said, I have finished Pride and Prejudice in its entirety and am ready to give my personal verdict on it...in good time.
The final third of the novel is where things really start picking up. Lydia runs off to Brighton, elopes with Wickham which sends everything into a complete tempestuous tizzy, quite naturally. Before the elopement is revealed, Lizzy and her Aunt and Uncle Gardiner visit Pemberley while Darcy is away. Lizzy learns that Darcy is an altogether different fellow when at home, a far more likable person who is quite honorable and generous to all about him regardless of station. She meets his sister and just as she questions her refusal of him the Jerry Springer train wreck that is Lydia Bennet and George Wickham hits.
As the family is dealing with this crisis Mary gives one of my favorite lines, "...we must stem the tide of malice, and pour into the wounded bosoms of each other, the balm of sisterly consolation." (LORD, I love language.)
Mr. Bennet throws down and goes after Wickham. Upon his return Kitty has the ill sense to bring up how much better she would have behaved to which he declares, "And you are never to stir out of doors till you can prove, that you have spent ten minutes of every day in a rational manner."
Things fall as they do, and Wickham and Lydia are...pretty much perfect for each other but the worst sort of people to everyone else, which is evidenced when they happen by Longbourn after the wedding.
Bingley returns to Netherfield with Darcy, and thus begins the renewed courtship of Jane. After the engagement Lady Catherine de Bourgh arrives to dissuade Lizzy from being engaged to Darcy, not that Darcy has asked. Chapter 56, which I refer to as the Clash of the Titans, is by far my favorite part in the novel. Why? Because this is where Mr. Bennet gets paid.
What do I mean by that? I've previously stated that the two characters I identify with the most, and are my favorites, are Darcy and Mr. Bennet. Whether that is because I'm male or not, I'm not sure. One of the elements of this novel is how the Bennet girls fall along a spectrum somewhere between their father, a very rational, logical, honorable man, and their mother who is flighty, fairly ditzy, and overly concerned with appearances and the social ladder. Jane, Elizabeth, and Mary land closer to their father and Lydia and Kitty are rather closer to their mother on this spectrum. It has jumped out at me from the start what kind of a father Mr. Bennet was and how much he tried to instill in his daughters. He was a man, more than just about anything, concerned with their happiness and well being. While Mrs. Bennet just wants to see her daughter's married to anyone at all, Mr. Bennet actually wants to see them married to the right person. As I mentioned, he valued logic and rationality over the social order, and Lizzy's battle of words with Lady Catherine is something I dearly wish Mr. Bennet could have overheard. All his work investing in her paid off right there. When later she agrees to marry Darcy her father is so confused in her acceptance, as he should be given how much Lizzy has kept from everyone. He is at such a loss as to why she would agree that he isn't sure he knows who she is anymore. Mr. Bennet tells her that it's more than just about pretty dresses, assuming that he's misjudged her actions and maybe she is more like her mother than he thought. Thankfully she talks him down from that ledge by revealing more about the situation.
As a dad I can only hope to be there one day to find out that my own daughter actually took to heart everything I've expended so much effort to teach her and it has aided her well.
I was struck so completely, once everything was revealed, by just how honorable Darcy was. I want to leave some surprises for those who may not have read the book, which means glossing over the best bits, but to learn just how far he would go to fix his own mistakes and take care of those he loves was quite wonderful. His ability to admit when he was wrong and grow as a result is more admirable than I can describe. It's something that I have always tried to do once I realized that once a man can honestly admit (And self admit might I add. Someone forcing him to admit he was wrong doesn't work.) when he is wrong and has been wrong...a man can work wonders.
"What did you say of me, that I did not deserve? For, though your accusations were ill founded, formed on mistaken premises, my behavior at the time, had merited the severest reproof. It was unpardonable. I cannot think of it without abhorrence."
Quite predictably Darcy gives my favorite line of the whole novel when asked by Elizabeth when it was that he first fell in love with her.
"I cannot fix on the hour, or the spot, or the look, or the words, which laid the foundation. It is too long ago. I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun."
First of all, dang...that's smooth. Secondly, I know those words to be sincere because they mirror precisely how I felt about the beginnings of love with my wife. Every other girl I dated I knew what I liked, where, when...but with Shelly...Heck, I don't even remember our first meeting because it all just blended together as if she'd always been there.
The closest I can get to a moment where I knew it was love was when she stepped off a plane and I was waiting there for her. This was back in the days when you could actually wait for a person at the arrival gate, in that enchanted world before 9/11. She stepped off and, no joke, everything slowed down and the color drained from everything around except her. There was never any going back after that, and still isn't.
So, overall what do I think of Pride and Prejudice?
Jane Austen is an absolute master of the novel. There is no single writer in all of modern fiction that I think even compares with her...at least in this single work. It isn't merely that it is entertaining and witty, which are all virtues that her work has. The thing that sets her apart, in my mind, is in the understanding of her characters. Not once did I read this novel and think "These people are crazy. There's no one out there like this." Everyone knows a Lizzy, or a Mary, or a Charlotte Lucas, and most people know two or three Lydias. This can be accomplished by other writers by providing a certain archetypal homogenized character development. Austen provides us with strikingly individual and fully realized characters...in 3D, as it were. And the truly amazing thing is that you don't know someone LIKE a Lizzy or a Mary, you know someone who IS a Lizzy, or a Mary.
In my experience the only other author that has had this sort of talent was Dickens. Granted, after I read the other 100BYSRBYD I may add more than a few names to that list, but she still beats out all modern authors I've ever read. Also surprising is how accurate she is in writing her male characters. It's often difficult for an author to create that vivid and true to life personality in a character that is opposite in gender to themselves. Austen is the Gene Kelly of this. It's hard as all get out, but she makes it look easy.
Final Word; There is a reason that this novel still finds a place on our bookshelves 202 years later. It truly is a book you MUST read before you die.
Pax,
W
PS. Please +1 and comment here on your experiences and favorite parts of Pride and Prejudice.
Oh, the Language You'll Know...
One of the more interesting effects of reading through the One Hundred Books You Should Read Before You Die, (from now on to be called 100BYSRBYD for the sake of my poor partially crippled hands), is a marked increase in the sophistication of my vocabulary.
I once worked as a cook at a restaurant where one of my co-workers called me "The Professor" because I used larger than normal words and actually thought people would understand them. I'm an unabashed vocab freak. I squealed with delight when I first encountered the word "petrichor" in an episode of Doctor Who. Interestingly I just now had to teach that word to my computer's dictionary. Pretty much proving my point there, aren't I? I actually read the Dictionary for fun and laugh in delight at certain words and their definitions. One of my favorite things in recent days has been finding the "etymology" function in Google searches. The other day my daughter exclaimed, "Papa, I just want to know why everything is named what it's named! Why is and artichoke called an artichoke? Why are blueberries called blueberries?" Naturally I attacked the easiest one first with much laughter.
So, it is without any immediate surprise that I realized how valuable this endeavor of 100BYSRBYD is for my vocabulary. Seriously, you should see the texts that get sent between my wife and I. Our average syllable count per text has likely doubled.
As such, I will now share the new words I have learned since those in the first third.
Solicitude: care or concern for someone or something
Hackneyed: a phrase or idea lacking significance through being overused; unoriginal or trite
Ablution: the act of washing oneself, also a ceremonial act of washing parts of the body or sacred container
Effusion: (in context of the sentence in Pride and Prejudice) the act of talking or writing in an unrestrained or heartfelt way.
Phaeton: a light, four wheeled, open, horse drawn carriage. (2006 Volkswagen named their luxury car the Phaeton)
Conciliating: (archaic in context) to gain (esteem or goodwill)
Inure: accustom someone to something, especially something unpleasant
Remonstrance: a forcefully reproachful protest
Accede: assent or agree to a demand, request, or treaty
Obtrude: impose or force something on someone in an intrusive way
Profligate: recklessly extravagant or wasteful in the use of resources
Disapprobation: strong disapproval, typically on moral grounds
Dilatory: slow to act, or intended to cause delay
Missish: affectedly demure, squeamish, or sentimental.
And finally, I was quite confused by the use of the word "handsome" that was used multiple times to describe certain women throughout the novel. We aren't used to that kind of usage in our society, and at first I wondered if it meant the women were considered slightly masculine in appearance. That didn't make sense since a "handsome woman" was clearly desirable. I took it then as a archaic word used in the same way we would call a woman "pretty" or "beautiful". The archaic meaning is slightly different. Handsome instead means that the woman is striking and imposing in good looks rather than conventionally pretty. As an example, Marilyn Monroe is pretty; Audrey Hepburn is handsome.
If you enjoyed that then you are definitely a part of my particular tribe, and I welcome you. :)
Later today I hope to make my final post on Pride and Prejudice and then begin the week starting in on our next novel, which is Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre.
Pax,
W
I once worked as a cook at a restaurant where one of my co-workers called me "The Professor" because I used larger than normal words and actually thought people would understand them. I'm an unabashed vocab freak. I squealed with delight when I first encountered the word "petrichor" in an episode of Doctor Who. Interestingly I just now had to teach that word to my computer's dictionary. Pretty much proving my point there, aren't I? I actually read the Dictionary for fun and laugh in delight at certain words and their definitions. One of my favorite things in recent days has been finding the "etymology" function in Google searches. The other day my daughter exclaimed, "Papa, I just want to know why everything is named what it's named! Why is and artichoke called an artichoke? Why are blueberries called blueberries?" Naturally I attacked the easiest one first with much laughter.
So, it is without any immediate surprise that I realized how valuable this endeavor of 100BYSRBYD is for my vocabulary. Seriously, you should see the texts that get sent between my wife and I. Our average syllable count per text has likely doubled.
As such, I will now share the new words I have learned since those in the first third.
Solicitude: care or concern for someone or something
Hackneyed: a phrase or idea lacking significance through being overused; unoriginal or trite
Ablution: the act of washing oneself, also a ceremonial act of washing parts of the body or sacred container
Effusion: (in context of the sentence in Pride and Prejudice) the act of talking or writing in an unrestrained or heartfelt way.
Phaeton: a light, four wheeled, open, horse drawn carriage. (2006 Volkswagen named their luxury car the Phaeton)
Conciliating: (archaic in context) to gain (esteem or goodwill)
Inure: accustom someone to something, especially something unpleasant
Remonstrance: a forcefully reproachful protest
Accede: assent or agree to a demand, request, or treaty
Obtrude: impose or force something on someone in an intrusive way
Profligate: recklessly extravagant or wasteful in the use of resources
Disapprobation: strong disapproval, typically on moral grounds
Dilatory: slow to act, or intended to cause delay
Missish: affectedly demure, squeamish, or sentimental.
And finally, I was quite confused by the use of the word "handsome" that was used multiple times to describe certain women throughout the novel. We aren't used to that kind of usage in our society, and at first I wondered if it meant the women were considered slightly masculine in appearance. That didn't make sense since a "handsome woman" was clearly desirable. I took it then as a archaic word used in the same way we would call a woman "pretty" or "beautiful". The archaic meaning is slightly different. Handsome instead means that the woman is striking and imposing in good looks rather than conventionally pretty. As an example, Marilyn Monroe is pretty; Audrey Hepburn is handsome.
If you enjoyed that then you are definitely a part of my particular tribe, and I welcome you. :)
Later today I hope to make my final post on Pride and Prejudice and then begin the week starting in on our next novel, which is Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre.
Pax,
W
Monday, January 19, 2015
In Which We Discover...many things...
This post covers the middle third of Pride and Prejudice, which is chapters 22-42.
There was a lull at the beginning of this third. For a good portion of it I was worried that the best was over, that we were getting to the "boring parts" everyone complains about it classic works and there would be little relief.
It began with Charlotte and Mr. Collins becoming engaged, which led to a few perfectly comical moments to be sure (Mrs. Bennet's complete reversal in her opinion of Mrs. Lucas because of an engagement was particularly guffaw inducing. Apparently now the best of friends has become the most venomous of snakes who has always had her eyes set on Longbourn). Charlotte's complete change of heart about marriage was not too incredibly surprising.
Ms. Bingley's letter arrives and destroys hopes and dreams. I was most impressed with the scene following between the two eldest Bennett girls where Lizzy tries to "defend the honor" of Jane, so to speak. Jane is having nothing to do with speaking ill of Mr. Bingley or his sister, while Elizabeth continues to press that Jane has been abused.
"The more I see of the world the more am I dissatisfied with it; and every day confirms my belief of the inconsistency of all human characters, and of the little dependence that can be placed on the appearance of merit or sense." Amen, sister. I do tend to take Lizzy's "dismal" view of humanity. While Jane refuses to belief it in favor of optimism, "We must not be so ready to fancy ourselves intentionally injured. We must not expect a lively young man to be always so guarded and circumspect. It is very often nothing but our own vanity that deceives us.", but Elizabeth's realism turns out to be more accurate.
The Gardiner's arrive at Longbourn with "new of long sleeves", and take Jane away with them to the city where Jane attempts to see Ms. Bingley, who proves by her actions that Elizabeth was correct. Lizzy joins the Lucas' in visiting the new Mr. and Mrs. Collins and the much talked of, my Mr. Collins, Lady Catherine de Bourgh finally appears.
Austen uses the word "condescension" in it's various forms to describe the demeanor of Lady Catherine many times, and initially I took it in the negative sense, knowing no other. I had to look it up on four different dictionary sites in order to find an decently applicable definition because Austen's is so archaic. In essence here it means to be gracious and involve yourself with others in a way that is lower than your actual station. It is a kindness, not an insult. Many examples of this older definition are given. Lady de Bourgh is often very generous to the poor and takes an involved interest in those of lesser stations and helping to build them up. So far I believe it to be from a good place, mostly because I feel like I'd do the same in that circumstance, but my wife believes her to be more into it because it gives her a "reflected glory". Not critical to the story, but yeah.
I was starting to yawn quite a bit until Darcy showed up, and it was back to the witty back and forth. Again I am struck by how similarly I feel when he explains himself. "I certainly have not the talent which some possess," said Darcy, "of conversing easily with those I have never seen before. I cannot catch their tone of conversation, or appear interested in their concerns, as I often see done." He certainly is an oddity for his time, I'd wager. For me it comes down to a fundamental appreciation of honesty. If I don't know you, I don't know how to talk to you and I'm horrible at faking it. Furthermore I don't WANT to fake it or feign interest. Some of the more enduring pains in my life have been due to mistaking politeness and social obligation from others as actual friendship. I've gotten attached, and gone out of my way for people who just as easily discarded my friendship because they were "just being nice". As a result I'm more than a bit "gun shy". As Darcy says of Elizabeth to her, "We neither of us perform to strangers."
Quickly we get back to "clueless" Lizzy who can't for the life of her understand why Darcy keeps coming around. And then Darcy declares his love...and I pretty much lost all sense of time. I know at one point my two kids were fighting, one might have even needed a diaper change, but it was the weekend so I told my more than understanding wife that "I got to the good stuff" and disappeared out onto the balcony.
Again I relate with Darcy in that awkward profession of love and have been on the receiving end of that "what have I ever done, what signal have I EVER given that would make you think that I was even remotely interested in someone like you" rejection.
And then the letter... I have to admire Austen particularly for how expertly she had drawn out the tension to that point. It is the skill of a master for certain. Although I'm still a little sketchy as to exactly why Darcy and Ms. Bingley pushed Mr. Bingley away from Jane (something to do with the little sisters I'm fairly certain), his explanation of the Wickham issue had me wondering what the 1800's version of the modern vulgar epithet "Douche Bag" would be. I wanted to go back and look again as to why the separation of Bingley and Jane, but I was sucked into the literary vortex so intensely that there was no going back.
"She grew absolutely ashamed of herself. -Of neither Darcy nor Wickham could she think, without feeling that she had been blind, partial, prejudice, absurd."
I'm not exactly sure why Elizabeth's reaction to this information is oh so very satisfying, but it is. I think it may have to do with the fact that modern novels would have played it, "Ok, Wickham's a D-bag, but I'm still right in hating you," which may be accurate to the modern mentality. Despite being proven wrong many still tend to cling to some shred of "rightness". As I say, never underestimate the power of denial...or self delusion.
Elizabeth eventually returns home to Longbourn, meeting her flighty sisters in Meryton where they have a largish banquet ready for them, "And we mean to treat you all," added Lydia; "but you must lend us the money, for we have just spent ours at the shop out there." I can pretty much only sigh every time those two show up. I do love Mary's response to them declaring what fun they had with pointless ridiculous pleasures. "Far be it from me, my dear sister, to depreciate such pleasures. They would doubtless be congenial with the generality of female minds. But I confess they have no charms for me. I should infinitely prefer a book." Story of my life, right there. I need to retain that line for use the next time I'm invited out for shopping and some "FroYo".
Lydia is invited out to Brighton beach (where all the military men are being moved) which drives a hissy fit of a wedge between her and Kitty. I was very impressed with Mr. Bennet (yet again) when he explains why he approves of Lydia's going despite Elizabeth's outrage. "Lydia will never be easy till she has exposed herself in some public place or other, and we can never expect her to do it with so little expense or inconvenience to her family as under the present circumstance." Granted, Elizabeth is more concerned because this behavior is precisely why Jane was separated from Bingley by his friends.
I was sad to read one particular thing. Throughout the novel I've wondered just why Mr. Bennet was married to Mrs. Bennet. I mean, they're so vastly different (He sensible, she...borderline sense...less?) but obviously enjoyed each other enough to have five children. I was hoping for some secret little adoration, some trait that kept one in the other's esteem and admiration. It was really sad to read that she was the wife of his youth when beauty mattered more than other things and now they are merely civil with one another. *sigh* It's probably more realistic to life experience, I'm sure, but I had hoped.
I'll post another "Vocabulary" section in a day or two mostly for myself, but will do a final wrap up next week when I finish the novel.
Pax,
Will
There was a lull at the beginning of this third. For a good portion of it I was worried that the best was over, that we were getting to the "boring parts" everyone complains about it classic works and there would be little relief.
It began with Charlotte and Mr. Collins becoming engaged, which led to a few perfectly comical moments to be sure (Mrs. Bennet's complete reversal in her opinion of Mrs. Lucas because of an engagement was particularly guffaw inducing. Apparently now the best of friends has become the most venomous of snakes who has always had her eyes set on Longbourn). Charlotte's complete change of heart about marriage was not too incredibly surprising.
Ms. Bingley's letter arrives and destroys hopes and dreams. I was most impressed with the scene following between the two eldest Bennett girls where Lizzy tries to "defend the honor" of Jane, so to speak. Jane is having nothing to do with speaking ill of Mr. Bingley or his sister, while Elizabeth continues to press that Jane has been abused.
"The more I see of the world the more am I dissatisfied with it; and every day confirms my belief of the inconsistency of all human characters, and of the little dependence that can be placed on the appearance of merit or sense." Amen, sister. I do tend to take Lizzy's "dismal" view of humanity. While Jane refuses to belief it in favor of optimism, "We must not be so ready to fancy ourselves intentionally injured. We must not expect a lively young man to be always so guarded and circumspect. It is very often nothing but our own vanity that deceives us.", but Elizabeth's realism turns out to be more accurate.
The Gardiner's arrive at Longbourn with "new of long sleeves", and take Jane away with them to the city where Jane attempts to see Ms. Bingley, who proves by her actions that Elizabeth was correct. Lizzy joins the Lucas' in visiting the new Mr. and Mrs. Collins and the much talked of, my Mr. Collins, Lady Catherine de Bourgh finally appears.
Austen uses the word "condescension" in it's various forms to describe the demeanor of Lady Catherine many times, and initially I took it in the negative sense, knowing no other. I had to look it up on four different dictionary sites in order to find an decently applicable definition because Austen's is so archaic. In essence here it means to be gracious and involve yourself with others in a way that is lower than your actual station. It is a kindness, not an insult. Many examples of this older definition are given. Lady de Bourgh is often very generous to the poor and takes an involved interest in those of lesser stations and helping to build them up. So far I believe it to be from a good place, mostly because I feel like I'd do the same in that circumstance, but my wife believes her to be more into it because it gives her a "reflected glory". Not critical to the story, but yeah.
I was starting to yawn quite a bit until Darcy showed up, and it was back to the witty back and forth. Again I am struck by how similarly I feel when he explains himself. "I certainly have not the talent which some possess," said Darcy, "of conversing easily with those I have never seen before. I cannot catch their tone of conversation, or appear interested in their concerns, as I often see done." He certainly is an oddity for his time, I'd wager. For me it comes down to a fundamental appreciation of honesty. If I don't know you, I don't know how to talk to you and I'm horrible at faking it. Furthermore I don't WANT to fake it or feign interest. Some of the more enduring pains in my life have been due to mistaking politeness and social obligation from others as actual friendship. I've gotten attached, and gone out of my way for people who just as easily discarded my friendship because they were "just being nice". As a result I'm more than a bit "gun shy". As Darcy says of Elizabeth to her, "We neither of us perform to strangers."
Quickly we get back to "clueless" Lizzy who can't for the life of her understand why Darcy keeps coming around. And then Darcy declares his love...and I pretty much lost all sense of time. I know at one point my two kids were fighting, one might have even needed a diaper change, but it was the weekend so I told my more than understanding wife that "I got to the good stuff" and disappeared out onto the balcony.
Again I relate with Darcy in that awkward profession of love and have been on the receiving end of that "what have I ever done, what signal have I EVER given that would make you think that I was even remotely interested in someone like you" rejection.
And then the letter... I have to admire Austen particularly for how expertly she had drawn out the tension to that point. It is the skill of a master for certain. Although I'm still a little sketchy as to exactly why Darcy and Ms. Bingley pushed Mr. Bingley away from Jane (something to do with the little sisters I'm fairly certain), his explanation of the Wickham issue had me wondering what the 1800's version of the modern vulgar epithet "Douche Bag" would be. I wanted to go back and look again as to why the separation of Bingley and Jane, but I was sucked into the literary vortex so intensely that there was no going back.
"She grew absolutely ashamed of herself. -Of neither Darcy nor Wickham could she think, without feeling that she had been blind, partial, prejudice, absurd."
I'm not exactly sure why Elizabeth's reaction to this information is oh so very satisfying, but it is. I think it may have to do with the fact that modern novels would have played it, "Ok, Wickham's a D-bag, but I'm still right in hating you," which may be accurate to the modern mentality. Despite being proven wrong many still tend to cling to some shred of "rightness". As I say, never underestimate the power of denial...or self delusion.
Elizabeth eventually returns home to Longbourn, meeting her flighty sisters in Meryton where they have a largish banquet ready for them, "And we mean to treat you all," added Lydia; "but you must lend us the money, for we have just spent ours at the shop out there." I can pretty much only sigh every time those two show up. I do love Mary's response to them declaring what fun they had with pointless ridiculous pleasures. "Far be it from me, my dear sister, to depreciate such pleasures. They would doubtless be congenial with the generality of female minds. But I confess they have no charms for me. I should infinitely prefer a book." Story of my life, right there. I need to retain that line for use the next time I'm invited out for shopping and some "FroYo".
Lydia is invited out to Brighton beach (where all the military men are being moved) which drives a hissy fit of a wedge between her and Kitty. I was very impressed with Mr. Bennet (yet again) when he explains why he approves of Lydia's going despite Elizabeth's outrage. "Lydia will never be easy till she has exposed herself in some public place or other, and we can never expect her to do it with so little expense or inconvenience to her family as under the present circumstance." Granted, Elizabeth is more concerned because this behavior is precisely why Jane was separated from Bingley by his friends.
I was sad to read one particular thing. Throughout the novel I've wondered just why Mr. Bennet was married to Mrs. Bennet. I mean, they're so vastly different (He sensible, she...borderline sense...less?) but obviously enjoyed each other enough to have five children. I was hoping for some secret little adoration, some trait that kept one in the other's esteem and admiration. It was really sad to read that she was the wife of his youth when beauty mattered more than other things and now they are merely civil with one another. *sigh* It's probably more realistic to life experience, I'm sure, but I had hoped.
I'll post another "Vocabulary" section in a day or two mostly for myself, but will do a final wrap up next week when I finish the novel.
Pax,
Will
Tuesday, January 13, 2015
Fav. Quotes Thus Far
Below is a few of my favorite quotes from Pride and Prejudice. I had to pare it down because at times I found whole pages completely delightful. Feel blessed that I have spared you the need to comment "Too long. Didn't read."
On the subject of Mr. Bennet's regard for Mrs. Bennet's "nerves": "You mistake me, my dear. I have a high respect for your nerves. They are my old friends. I have heard you mention them with consideration these twenty years at least."
A description of Mr. Bennet: "Mr. Bennet was so odd a mixture of quick parts, sarcastic humour, reserve, and caprice, that the experience of three and twenty years had been insufficient to make his wife understand his character."
Of Mrs. Bennet: "When she was discontented she fancied herself nervous. The business of her life was to get her daughters married; its solace was visiting and news."
Of Mr. Darcy: "He was the proudest, most disagreeable man in the world, and every body hoped he would never come there again."
By Elizabeth of Mr. Bingely: "He is also handsome," replied Elizabeth, "which a young man ought likewise to be, if he possibly can. His character is thereby complete."
From Charlotte to Elizabeth on the subject of marriage: "When she is secure of him, there will be leisure of falling in love as much as she chuses." "Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance." "...it is better to know as little as possible of the defects of the person with whom you are to pass your life."
Mr. Darcy's thoughts of Elizabeth: "Though he had detected with a critical eye more than one failure of perfect symmetry in her form, he was forced to acknowledge her figure to be light and pleasing."
Mr. Darcy on the fairer sex: "A lady's imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony in a moment."
On the subject of Mr. Hurst: "...and as for Mr. Hurst, by whom Elizabeth sat, he was an insolent man, who lived only to eat, drink, and play at cards, who when he found her prefer a plain dish to a ragout, had nothing to say to her."
Mr. Darcy on humility: "Nothing is more deceitful," said Darcy, "than the appearance of humility. It is often only carelessness of opinion, and sometimes an indirect boast."
The exchanges in general between Mr. Darcy and Miss Elizabeth Bennet are clearly worth the price of entry. Not since "Much Ado About Nothing"s Benedick and Beatrice have I delighted in such biting witty repartee. I hope happily ever after doesn't happen too quickly for them.
Pax,
Will
On the subject of Mr. Bennet's regard for Mrs. Bennet's "nerves": "You mistake me, my dear. I have a high respect for your nerves. They are my old friends. I have heard you mention them with consideration these twenty years at least."
A description of Mr. Bennet: "Mr. Bennet was so odd a mixture of quick parts, sarcastic humour, reserve, and caprice, that the experience of three and twenty years had been insufficient to make his wife understand his character."
Of Mrs. Bennet: "When she was discontented she fancied herself nervous. The business of her life was to get her daughters married; its solace was visiting and news."
Of Mr. Darcy: "He was the proudest, most disagreeable man in the world, and every body hoped he would never come there again."
By Elizabeth of Mr. Bingely: "He is also handsome," replied Elizabeth, "which a young man ought likewise to be, if he possibly can. His character is thereby complete."
From Charlotte to Elizabeth on the subject of marriage: "When she is secure of him, there will be leisure of falling in love as much as she chuses." "Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance." "...it is better to know as little as possible of the defects of the person with whom you are to pass your life."
Mr. Darcy's thoughts of Elizabeth: "Though he had detected with a critical eye more than one failure of perfect symmetry in her form, he was forced to acknowledge her figure to be light and pleasing."
Mr. Darcy on the fairer sex: "A lady's imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony in a moment."
On the subject of Mr. Hurst: "...and as for Mr. Hurst, by whom Elizabeth sat, he was an insolent man, who lived only to eat, drink, and play at cards, who when he found her prefer a plain dish to a ragout, had nothing to say to her."
Mr. Darcy on humility: "Nothing is more deceitful," said Darcy, "than the appearance of humility. It is often only carelessness of opinion, and sometimes an indirect boast."
The exchanges in general between Mr. Darcy and Miss Elizabeth Bennet are clearly worth the price of entry. Not since "Much Ado About Nothing"s Benedick and Beatrice have I delighted in such biting witty repartee. I hope happily ever after doesn't happen too quickly for them.
Pax,
Will
Monday, January 12, 2015
Primus Tertius (or..the First Third)..of Pride and Prejudice.
My wife was amazed at how much I am enjoying Pride and Prejudice. "I don't know", she replied when pressed as to the source of this amazement. "It just doesn't seem like a YOU book."
In the interest of full disclosure my wife, upon first reading many years ago, disliked the book. While traveling for a summer in England during college one of her travel companions (a Lit Chick to the fullest measure, I am told) was aghast at the realization that my wife and never read Jane Austen or either of the Bronte sisters. She read multiple works by the three and found Pride and Prejudice to be her least favorite of the three. "Elizabeth just seemed dumb and floofy", she continued.
I have to admit that at first glance Elizabeth does seem pretty "dumb and floofy", but I'm getting ahead of myself here.
I walked into this novel with half-baked preconceptions (I'd use the word "prejudices" but I don't want to seem too clever) and enough culturally absorbed reference points to fill a snuff box. For the first few chapters I was laughing out loud enough to make my son wonder what was going on and my daughter to scold me for interrupting her schoolwork. So far the wit of this novel is the most enjoyable part.
Mr. Bennet has to be my favorite character with Mr. Darcy being a close second. If you know me personally I doubt that you are shocked by this. My first instinct is to believe it is because they are two of the few prominent male characters, but I think it goes a bit deeper than that.
I feel that in my life I have one foot in each of the characters. Both are caught in a society whose games they only wish to play as minimally as necessary, and are not ones to suffer fools.
Darcy is the younger man with years ahead of him and obviously deeply wounded, but not one to mope about it...though I was one to mope about it and write horrible poetry... I love that his trust and opinion of a person, once violated or earned, is extremely difficult to shift. His biting wit and double meanings of phrases delights me to no end. I know he seems rude, but if I was at a party he'd be the one I'd want to meet and get to know.
Mr. Bennet (who in my mind I see as Tom Wilkinson and was surprised he never played. Real tragedy. He'd be perfect.) I relate to as a father. I love his minimal nonsense outlook on life. I'm sure he adores Mrs. Bennet despite the fact that he calls her on her ridiculous points. I feel the most for him after reading about the entail. Five daughters and once Mr. Bennet dies there is no way to provide for them or his wife. It is honorable that he doesn't complain, openly, about the situation. Were I in that situation I'd be trying to marry my daughters off to anyone who would have them because it is, in fact, a fairly desperate circumstance. He'd be right to have that disposition, but instead he takes time and care. Possibly my favorite exchange is after Elizabeth's refusal to the proposal of Mr. Collins,
"An unhappy alternative is before you, Elizabeth. From this day you must be a stranger to one of your parents. -Your mother will never see you again if you do not marry Mr. Collins, and I will never see you again if you do."
I love that Father's heart that still, in desperate circumstances, wants what is best or his daughter even if it means destitution in the future.
They are both fairly grumpy but capable of great love and so I see them as very similar sides of the same coin...and one I quite like and find in myself.
Mr. Bingley is pretty much an non-entity to me so far. He's there. Jane likes him. Everyone likes him. Meh. Bingley's sister is a bit of a snake. Wickham is clearly the Hugh Grant character of Bridget Jones' Diary.
And that is rather the problem. So much of it I wonder if I'd feel the same if it wasn't for all the cultural osmosis I've involuntarily ingested over the year. That's not to say that I'm not enjoying it. I certainly am and plowing through it at twice my normal rate, looking for spare minutes and a dedicated hour if I can manage it to sneak away to read. I do wonder if that cultural osmosis has tainted my opinion of Elizabeth, because right now I agree with my wife. She's pretty dumb. But then again, given the title, maybe that is the author's intent. She IS perfectly situated in temperament between the level headed and prudent Jane and her two younger sisters, the flighty and crush obsessed Catherine and Lydia. I find myself hoping that we get some more situations with the youngest, the book worm Mary.
My wife delighted me the other day when she told me she got Pride and Prejudice on audiobook for her commutes. I have loved it when, in the past, we happen to be reading the same book. We have some of the best conversations of our married life during those times. Especially during Atlas Shrugged. Those were pretty epic sessions. She did caution me not to get too used to it since she'll certainly not be walking into War and Peace with me. That's fair, says I. I'm a little scared of Tolstoy myself. Pretty sure I'm going to need a wall chart to keep and a "Cliff's Notes" on that one.
I left our young heroines (see...I can't really call Elizabeth a heroine...sigh...maybe my opinion will change) at the end of Chapter 21 where Jane relates to Lizzy the contents of a letter from the young Miss Bingley that indicates the party has left Netherfield and is not likely to return...at which point Mr. Bingley might be engaged to...Darcy's SISTER! (*dun dun dunnnn*)
(Seriously...with a location name like Netherfield...Austen was kind of asking for a novel Zombification. Just sayin'.)
I was truly delighted that quite a number of times this novel sent me running for my Webster's Dictionary. I'm a big word nerd (I've been known to read the dictionary for fun...and laugh while reading it due to a particularly ingenious etymology) so that was quite a treat.
Ductile: Maleable.
Panegyric: A public speech or published text in praise of someone or something.
Laconic: Using very few words
Asperity: Harshness in tone or manner
Eclat: Brilliant display or effect
Hauteur: Haugtiness of manner; disdainful pride
Probity: The quality of having strong moral principles; honesty and decency.
Also I discovered for the first time "&c." at the end of one of the letters. I had never seen that before in all my life and delved into my book of "style" and found that it is one of two abbreviations for Et Cetera.
When the couples were described as "at loo" during one of the evenings Jane was ill at Netherfield I knew I had to be missing something. As an Anglophile and adorer of all things BBC related my only reference for the word "loo" was the lavatory, the water closet, the toilet. I knew that couldn't be it. Apparently "Loo" was a card game in which people gambled for money. Another game discussed was "Vignt Un" (Twenty One in French) which we know today as Blackjack. "Piquet" is similar to Spades or Hearts but played with a deck of 32 cards instead, and "Whist" is one of the root games that spawned what retired women the world over know as Bridge. Apparently "Whist" was one of those "minute to learn, lifetime to master" sort of games. Personally, I love old games like this (seriously. I bought a game called "Funny Bones" primarily because of it's historical legacy as a game played by Romans using knuckle bones) and I may have to see about digging up the ancient rules for it. Also I did some digging and found that the "quadrille" they dance during the ball at Netherfield (that was a "dance of mortification" for Lizzy due to Mr. Collins) is from whence we get Square Dancing here in the good ol' U S of A.
All in all it's been a great read. The whit and the subtle and overt biting comments back and forth are what really keep me going back to the book.
See you all at the next third of the novel.
Yours,
&c.
In the interest of full disclosure my wife, upon first reading many years ago, disliked the book. While traveling for a summer in England during college one of her travel companions (a Lit Chick to the fullest measure, I am told) was aghast at the realization that my wife and never read Jane Austen or either of the Bronte sisters. She read multiple works by the three and found Pride and Prejudice to be her least favorite of the three. "Elizabeth just seemed dumb and floofy", she continued.
I have to admit that at first glance Elizabeth does seem pretty "dumb and floofy", but I'm getting ahead of myself here.
I walked into this novel with half-baked preconceptions (I'd use the word "prejudices" but I don't want to seem too clever) and enough culturally absorbed reference points to fill a snuff box. For the first few chapters I was laughing out loud enough to make my son wonder what was going on and my daughter to scold me for interrupting her schoolwork. So far the wit of this novel is the most enjoyable part.
Mr. Bennet has to be my favorite character with Mr. Darcy being a close second. If you know me personally I doubt that you are shocked by this. My first instinct is to believe it is because they are two of the few prominent male characters, but I think it goes a bit deeper than that.
I feel that in my life I have one foot in each of the characters. Both are caught in a society whose games they only wish to play as minimally as necessary, and are not ones to suffer fools.
Darcy is the younger man with years ahead of him and obviously deeply wounded, but not one to mope about it...though I was one to mope about it and write horrible poetry... I love that his trust and opinion of a person, once violated or earned, is extremely difficult to shift. His biting wit and double meanings of phrases delights me to no end. I know he seems rude, but if I was at a party he'd be the one I'd want to meet and get to know.
Mr. Bennet (who in my mind I see as Tom Wilkinson and was surprised he never played. Real tragedy. He'd be perfect.) I relate to as a father. I love his minimal nonsense outlook on life. I'm sure he adores Mrs. Bennet despite the fact that he calls her on her ridiculous points. I feel the most for him after reading about the entail. Five daughters and once Mr. Bennet dies there is no way to provide for them or his wife. It is honorable that he doesn't complain, openly, about the situation. Were I in that situation I'd be trying to marry my daughters off to anyone who would have them because it is, in fact, a fairly desperate circumstance. He'd be right to have that disposition, but instead he takes time and care. Possibly my favorite exchange is after Elizabeth's refusal to the proposal of Mr. Collins,
"An unhappy alternative is before you, Elizabeth. From this day you must be a stranger to one of your parents. -Your mother will never see you again if you do not marry Mr. Collins, and I will never see you again if you do."
I love that Father's heart that still, in desperate circumstances, wants what is best or his daughter even if it means destitution in the future.
They are both fairly grumpy but capable of great love and so I see them as very similar sides of the same coin...and one I quite like and find in myself.
Mr. Bingley is pretty much an non-entity to me so far. He's there. Jane likes him. Everyone likes him. Meh. Bingley's sister is a bit of a snake. Wickham is clearly the Hugh Grant character of Bridget Jones' Diary.
And that is rather the problem. So much of it I wonder if I'd feel the same if it wasn't for all the cultural osmosis I've involuntarily ingested over the year. That's not to say that I'm not enjoying it. I certainly am and plowing through it at twice my normal rate, looking for spare minutes and a dedicated hour if I can manage it to sneak away to read. I do wonder if that cultural osmosis has tainted my opinion of Elizabeth, because right now I agree with my wife. She's pretty dumb. But then again, given the title, maybe that is the author's intent. She IS perfectly situated in temperament between the level headed and prudent Jane and her two younger sisters, the flighty and crush obsessed Catherine and Lydia. I find myself hoping that we get some more situations with the youngest, the book worm Mary.
My wife delighted me the other day when she told me she got Pride and Prejudice on audiobook for her commutes. I have loved it when, in the past, we happen to be reading the same book. We have some of the best conversations of our married life during those times. Especially during Atlas Shrugged. Those were pretty epic sessions. She did caution me not to get too used to it since she'll certainly not be walking into War and Peace with me. That's fair, says I. I'm a little scared of Tolstoy myself. Pretty sure I'm going to need a wall chart to keep and a "Cliff's Notes" on that one.
I left our young heroines (see...I can't really call Elizabeth a heroine...sigh...maybe my opinion will change) at the end of Chapter 21 where Jane relates to Lizzy the contents of a letter from the young Miss Bingley that indicates the party has left Netherfield and is not likely to return...at which point Mr. Bingley might be engaged to...Darcy's SISTER! (*dun dun dunnnn*)
(Seriously...with a location name like Netherfield...Austen was kind of asking for a novel Zombification. Just sayin'.)
I was truly delighted that quite a number of times this novel sent me running for my Webster's Dictionary. I'm a big word nerd (I've been known to read the dictionary for fun...and laugh while reading it due to a particularly ingenious etymology) so that was quite a treat.
Ductile: Maleable.
Panegyric: A public speech or published text in praise of someone or something.
Laconic: Using very few words
Asperity: Harshness in tone or manner
Eclat: Brilliant display or effect
Hauteur: Haugtiness of manner; disdainful pride
Probity: The quality of having strong moral principles; honesty and decency.
Also I discovered for the first time "&c." at the end of one of the letters. I had never seen that before in all my life and delved into my book of "style" and found that it is one of two abbreviations for Et Cetera.
When the couples were described as "at loo" during one of the evenings Jane was ill at Netherfield I knew I had to be missing something. As an Anglophile and adorer of all things BBC related my only reference for the word "loo" was the lavatory, the water closet, the toilet. I knew that couldn't be it. Apparently "Loo" was a card game in which people gambled for money. Another game discussed was "Vignt Un" (Twenty One in French) which we know today as Blackjack. "Piquet" is similar to Spades or Hearts but played with a deck of 32 cards instead, and "Whist" is one of the root games that spawned what retired women the world over know as Bridge. Apparently "Whist" was one of those "minute to learn, lifetime to master" sort of games. Personally, I love old games like this (seriously. I bought a game called "Funny Bones" primarily because of it's historical legacy as a game played by Romans using knuckle bones) and I may have to see about digging up the ancient rules for it. Also I did some digging and found that the "quadrille" they dance during the ball at Netherfield (that was a "dance of mortification" for Lizzy due to Mr. Collins) is from whence we get Square Dancing here in the good ol' U S of A.
All in all it's been a great read. The whit and the subtle and overt biting comments back and forth are what really keep me going back to the book.
See you all at the next third of the novel.
Yours,
&c.
Thursday, January 8, 2015
Death Looms...So...Read Books
Greetings, dear Reader.
Welcome to my latest personal project: Reading through the 100 books you should read before you die.
The other night I was watching The Equalizer, staring Denzel Washington, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I swear, I could watch that man dispense justice upon the wicked every day of the week. Anyway, his character mentions that his wife was reading the 100 Books You Should Read Before You Die, but didn't make it before she passed.
Now, I've heard of these lists before and perused a few of them, but for some reason it clicked this time. Perhaps it is because I've hit 37 and that whole midlife crisis thing is looming (leave it to me to not want motorcycles or muscle cars but a new shelf full of 100 books),but it sounded like something I should do. In fact it sounds like something 13 year old me would have expected me to have done by now. I'm not sure how long this will take, but I figured I'd go through the list and post my thoughts about each necessary novel.
In the interest of full disclosure I am using THIS list. There are, of course a billion lists out there, but this one seemed to be the most agreed upon. Besides, it's the freaking BBC. Who's going to argue with them on this stuff? Sure, it includes Harry Potter, but it doesn't include Twilight which I have seen on some lists. I won't be going through all 100. As a Creative Writing major I've read 25 of these in their entirety which I will list, with some commentary, here.
Lord of The Rings: By heaven, what a series. Granted he goes ON about butter and beer at one place, but for fantasy nerds this is where life begins.
Harry Potter: If only I could write something as wonderful as that I might die happy.
THE BIBLE: I could probably write quite a few pages about this book, it's impact on society, and myself. The most interesting thing I could say is that many who claim to live by it, and many who claim to despise the religion it is the basis of, have no idea what is in it's pages. It is truly life altering and I encourage you to read it...but start in the New Testament. One of the rare cases where the sequel is better than the original. :)
His Dark Materials: I cannot explain how profoundly wonderful the first book is and then the writer mucks it up by making it a manifesto. It taught me that once your message is your motivation then you won't write well.
Great Expectations: Great Expectations is to me as Pride and Prejudice is to Lit. girls. It genuinely blows my mind every time.
The Hobbit: My first novel I ever read the whole way through. I loved it and then cherished it more because it was forbidden by my parents. I read it to my 7 year old daughter last year and she cried when Thorin dies. Love that child.
Catcher in the Rye: Anyone who praises the main character for sticking it to the man and being rebellious and counts him as a hero...didn't actually read to the end of the book. Seriously, the last three pages must have been added so that teachers could take one look at the book report and tell if they read the book the whole way through or not.
The Great Gatsby: Should alternately be titled "In Which No One Learns Anything and Somebody Dies". I have great difficulty with that book and won't read it again.
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: I had seen the BBC TV version before I'd read the book and love both quite dearly. It was my introduction to comedic novels which set the bar quite high for any that followed.
Alice in Wonderland: Simply a fabulous classic. Very different from any version ever produced. My favorite poem = The Jabberwocky. I once found a copy in an antique shop that had a whole section that had all of the logic games Lewis Caroll created. I went back the next day to find it and it was gone. One of my biggest regrets, that. If anyone finds that book I'll seriously pay you double whatever you paid for it. That's how much I want it.
Chronicles of Narnia: Huge to my childhood. It was more acceptable than LOTR and The Hobbit in my house because C. S. Lewis was verifiably a Christian so the "weird stuff" had a point. I launched in and absorbed it. Best moment ever: The De-Dragonification of Eustace.
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe: Strange to have this as a separate entry on the list, but I'll go with it. Aslan is still to this day my mental picture of God/Jesus. "Tame? Of course he's not tame. But he's good."
Winnie the Pooh: I own a copy of the collected works of A. A. Milne and read them to my daughter last year as well. There is so much good in those stories, it's amazing. They are pretty much incandescent.
The Da Vinci Code: Wish I hadn't. 10/10 for making treasure hunting cool again. 4/10 for style.
Anne of Green Gables: It's where my obsession with redheads began.
Lord of the Flies: It's #1 on my list of greatest novels I've read. It has so many messages and none of them are forced. If you want to hear me ramble, get me started on this one.
Life of Pi: I was enjoying it so much, and then the "moral" of the story hit and I nearly threw it against the wall. There was something more deep that could have been gleaned there, but it seems like the author got to the end and ran out of profound things to say.
Dune: There is something primal in that book that altered the way I see the world. I haven't been able to pinpoint it, but it's foundational to my way of thinking.
On the Road: Although I much prefer Kerouac's Dharma Bums, it's a good one. I've always felt that Dharma was a far more accurate portrayal of everything I love about Jack.
Dracula: Such a good book. I've always loved the days when vampires were threatening and a horror rather than the glittery crush objects we have now.
A Christmas Carol: I just read this over Christmas aloud to my daughter. I'm a big fan.
Charlotte's Web: My daughter has yet to finish the book or movie. I always encourage her to finish things, but I cried, nay wept, when I finished it as a kid. I'm OK with her not finishing this one. :)
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Holmes was my very first hero as a kid. Superman? Pah. Batman? No. Holmes can break you with his intellect. So much cooler than either of those cartoon characters. And he did it without a computer. He WAS the freaking computer, for crying out loud.
Heart of Darkness: One of the greatest treatises on the base level inhumanity of man, how given no rules or parameters for life even the most "cultured and upright" will become a savage and exploit others. Lord of the Flies is pretty much the children's version of this tale.
Hamlet: Again, this one is so tied up in my mental DNA that I cannot imagine a world where I haven't read it.
So, that's the lot and the list of what I have read on this list. Some in the 100 I have read partially so I'll have to push through on those. Moby Dick was rough once he started going on and on about freaking rope. I'm very much looking forward to beginning this journey and hope to write at the very least weekly about what I have read.
Like many, I'm very familiar with how words can change you. It's likely I might be a very different person by the end of it.
Pax,
Will
The other night I was watching The Equalizer, staring Denzel Washington, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I swear, I could watch that man dispense justice upon the wicked every day of the week. Anyway, his character mentions that his wife was reading the 100 Books You Should Read Before You Die, but didn't make it before she passed.
Now, I've heard of these lists before and perused a few of them, but for some reason it clicked this time. Perhaps it is because I've hit 37 and that whole midlife crisis thing is looming (leave it to me to not want motorcycles or muscle cars but a new shelf full of 100 books),but it sounded like something I should do. In fact it sounds like something 13 year old me would have expected me to have done by now. I'm not sure how long this will take, but I figured I'd go through the list and post my thoughts about each necessary novel.
In the interest of full disclosure I am using THIS list. There are, of course a billion lists out there, but this one seemed to be the most agreed upon. Besides, it's the freaking BBC. Who's going to argue with them on this stuff? Sure, it includes Harry Potter, but it doesn't include Twilight which I have seen on some lists. I won't be going through all 100. As a Creative Writing major I've read 25 of these in their entirety which I will list, with some commentary, here.
Lord of The Rings: By heaven, what a series. Granted he goes ON about butter and beer at one place, but for fantasy nerds this is where life begins.
Harry Potter: If only I could write something as wonderful as that I might die happy.
THE BIBLE: I could probably write quite a few pages about this book, it's impact on society, and myself. The most interesting thing I could say is that many who claim to live by it, and many who claim to despise the religion it is the basis of, have no idea what is in it's pages. It is truly life altering and I encourage you to read it...but start in the New Testament. One of the rare cases where the sequel is better than the original. :)
His Dark Materials: I cannot explain how profoundly wonderful the first book is and then the writer mucks it up by making it a manifesto. It taught me that once your message is your motivation then you won't write well.
Great Expectations: Great Expectations is to me as Pride and Prejudice is to Lit. girls. It genuinely blows my mind every time.
The Hobbit: My first novel I ever read the whole way through. I loved it and then cherished it more because it was forbidden by my parents. I read it to my 7 year old daughter last year and she cried when Thorin dies. Love that child.
Catcher in the Rye: Anyone who praises the main character for sticking it to the man and being rebellious and counts him as a hero...didn't actually read to the end of the book. Seriously, the last three pages must have been added so that teachers could take one look at the book report and tell if they read the book the whole way through or not.
The Great Gatsby: Should alternately be titled "In Which No One Learns Anything and Somebody Dies". I have great difficulty with that book and won't read it again.
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: I had seen the BBC TV version before I'd read the book and love both quite dearly. It was my introduction to comedic novels which set the bar quite high for any that followed.
Alice in Wonderland: Simply a fabulous classic. Very different from any version ever produced. My favorite poem = The Jabberwocky. I once found a copy in an antique shop that had a whole section that had all of the logic games Lewis Caroll created. I went back the next day to find it and it was gone. One of my biggest regrets, that. If anyone finds that book I'll seriously pay you double whatever you paid for it. That's how much I want it.
Chronicles of Narnia: Huge to my childhood. It was more acceptable than LOTR and The Hobbit in my house because C. S. Lewis was verifiably a Christian so the "weird stuff" had a point. I launched in and absorbed it. Best moment ever: The De-Dragonification of Eustace.
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe: Strange to have this as a separate entry on the list, but I'll go with it. Aslan is still to this day my mental picture of God/Jesus. "Tame? Of course he's not tame. But he's good."
Winnie the Pooh: I own a copy of the collected works of A. A. Milne and read them to my daughter last year as well. There is so much good in those stories, it's amazing. They are pretty much incandescent.
The Da Vinci Code: Wish I hadn't. 10/10 for making treasure hunting cool again. 4/10 for style.
Anne of Green Gables: It's where my obsession with redheads began.
Lord of the Flies: It's #1 on my list of greatest novels I've read. It has so many messages and none of them are forced. If you want to hear me ramble, get me started on this one.
Life of Pi: I was enjoying it so much, and then the "moral" of the story hit and I nearly threw it against the wall. There was something more deep that could have been gleaned there, but it seems like the author got to the end and ran out of profound things to say.
Dune: There is something primal in that book that altered the way I see the world. I haven't been able to pinpoint it, but it's foundational to my way of thinking.
On the Road: Although I much prefer Kerouac's Dharma Bums, it's a good one. I've always felt that Dharma was a far more accurate portrayal of everything I love about Jack.
Dracula: Such a good book. I've always loved the days when vampires were threatening and a horror rather than the glittery crush objects we have now.
A Christmas Carol: I just read this over Christmas aloud to my daughter. I'm a big fan.
Charlotte's Web: My daughter has yet to finish the book or movie. I always encourage her to finish things, but I cried, nay wept, when I finished it as a kid. I'm OK with her not finishing this one. :)
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Holmes was my very first hero as a kid. Superman? Pah. Batman? No. Holmes can break you with his intellect. So much cooler than either of those cartoon characters. And he did it without a computer. He WAS the freaking computer, for crying out loud.
Heart of Darkness: One of the greatest treatises on the base level inhumanity of man, how given no rules or parameters for life even the most "cultured and upright" will become a savage and exploit others. Lord of the Flies is pretty much the children's version of this tale.
Hamlet: Again, this one is so tied up in my mental DNA that I cannot imagine a world where I haven't read it.
So, that's the lot and the list of what I have read on this list. Some in the 100 I have read partially so I'll have to push through on those. Moby Dick was rough once he started going on and on about freaking rope. I'm very much looking forward to beginning this journey and hope to write at the very least weekly about what I have read.
Like many, I'm very familiar with how words can change you. It's likely I might be a very different person by the end of it.
Pax,
Will
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