Reading Miss Read

This is not an official challenge – at least for now. My cousin MLB is starting a "personal challenge" to read the "Miss Read" books. You can find her post about the books here.

I read the first three books in the Fairacre series several years ago, and always thought I'd continue with the others, but somehow just never got back to them. I think I've got several more stored around here somewhere, in one of these massive "to be read" piles, so I just might dig one out and give it a try. It should be fun – there are no rules and no schedule to follow. As Cuzzie says:

I am going to challenge myself to begin the Miss Read books and see how far I go. If anyone would care to join me just let me know. There are no rules – rules aren't fun – just choose a book and have a go.

So if you want to join in, just let her know at Boyett-Brinkley.

Pulitzer Prizes

This year's Pulitzer Prize winners have been announced, and the fiction award has gone to Junot Diaz for his novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. Probably not a book I'm likely to read, but I love the title. One of the other finalists might be interesting, however – Lore Segal's Shakespeare's Kitchen sounds like something to explore.

There were two award winners in the Poetry category this year – Robert Hass for Time and Materials, and Philip Schultz for Failure. Also, a special honorary award (or "citation," actually) was given to Bob Dylan "for his profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power." How appropriate for National Poetry Month.

Review: Emma

Written by Jane Austen
Published by Penguin Books, 1996, 474 pp.
Eponymous Reading Challenge

Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition, seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence; and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her.

She was the youngest of the two daughters of a most affectionate, indulgent father; and had, in consequence of her sister's marriage, been mistress of his house from a very early period. Her mother had died too long ago for her to have more than an indistinct remembrance of her caresses . . . .

The real evils, indeed, of Emma's situation were the power of having rather too much her own way, and a disposition to think a little too well of herself; these were the disadvantages which threatened alloy to her many enjoyments. The danger, however, was at present so unperceived, that they did not by any means rank as misfortunes with her. [p.7]

We all hate to admit when we're wrong about something, so I'm not happy to have to say I guess television isn't the complete waste of time I was beginning to think it is. Just when I'm ready to slap the "vast wasteland" sticker across the screen, PBS comes up with something like the Complete Jane Austen series they've been showing this spring. All my ranting and raving down the drain. Because without the PBS shows, I might never have had the pleasure of rediscovering Jane Austen's books.

Before I started reading Emma for the Eponymous Reading Challenge, I had read only one other Austen novel. In high school, I read Pride and Prejudice for senior English class, and had a terrible time with it. I'm not sure why. I had read other 19th century English novelists and enjoyed them. In fact, I was already a real Brontë enthusiast. So it seems like Austen would have been an instant hit with my teenaged self. But that was not the case. I found the doings of the Bennett girls and their families, friends, and foes indescribably silly and mind-numbingly tedious. By the end of the book, I was ready to throttle the entire lot of them, along with the teacher who was putting me through the horrendous ordeal.

Well, confession is good for the soul, right? In the immortal words of Bugs Bunny: What a maroon! But now I've come to my senses, and fallen in love with Miss Austen and her books, as any normal Anglophiliac bookworm should do.

Jane Austen published Emma late in 1815 (it's dated 1816), when she was 40 years old. It followed the earlier novels, Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, and Mansfield Park. None of them were published under her own name. After she died in July 1817, her brother Henry oversaw the publication of two more books, Persuasion and Northanger Abbey, which were brought out together in December 1817. Henry included a "Biographical Notice," for the first time identifying Jane as the author of all the books. Since then, Jane Austen's novels have never been out of print.

Emma tells the story of Miss Emma Woodhouse, a young gentlewoman who lives with her widowed father at Hartfield, in the small English town of Highbury. As the book begins, Emma's governess and friend, Miss Taylor, has married a neighbor, Mr. Weston, and gone off to live on his estate, leaving Emma to her own devices. And since she fancies herself an expert matchmaker (she predicted the match between Miss Taylor and Mr. Weston, after all), Emma soon gets herself into hot water.

In spite of the warnings of her friend Mr. Knightley, Emma befriends Miss Harriet Smith, a poor but genteel young woman of unknown parentage. Harriet looks up to Emma and is ready to agree to anything she suggests. And very soon, this worship on Harriet's part coupled with Emma's love of matchmaking and meddling in the affairs of others lead to near-disastrous consequences. Emma's attempts to influence Harriet's love life nearly ruin the poor girl's one real chance at happiness, and set up a few romantic mishaps in Emma's own life.

Emma is said to be one of Austen's most openly satirical works, and humor certainly plays a major role. So although circumstances may seem precarious at times, in the end everything is very neatly and satisfactorily worked out. And along the way, we're introduced to many other entertaining characters. There's Mr. Elton, the town's attractive and eligible Vicar; Frank Churchill, the even more attractive and eligible son of Mr. Weston – Frank has been adopted by a wealthy aunt and has taken her name; Miss Bates, a sweet and well-loved but constantly chattering woman who Emma finds most annoying; and Jane Fairfax, the beautiful but penniless orphaned niece of Miss Bates. To name a few. In fact, this is one novel in which the plot really does seem less important than the characters themselves.

Jane Austen's novels are not for everyone, of course. Not a lot of action, and the language takes a bit of work if you're not familiar with 19th century styles. But if you want a witty, beautifully written comedy of manners, Emma is a book you'll treasure.

Random Photo Monday: In Old San Antone

Thought I'd just put up a few photos from our last trip to San Antonio TX, back in 2006. My home town. Strange to be playing tourist in a place I once knew so intimately.


The first two were taken on the Riverwalk, which is a really lovely, colorful place to spend an afternoon or have a great meal - many restaurants and bistros to choose from. Also art galleries, shops, and historic sites. Nothing like it was when I was growing up in SA, back in the Dark Ages. Back then, the "river" was mostly just a large drainage ditch meandering through the middle of downtown. But after many years and many civic improvement campaigns, San Antonio is now the Venice of the Southwest! Who would have thunk it? Just shows what a winning basketball franchise can do for a town (Go, Spurs!).

The third photo is a shot of part of the old Main Library in downtown SA. At the time we took the picture, the library was all closed up – not sure what they've got planned for it or if it's still there today. Note the window-unit air conditioning and the fallout shelter sign. The quote carved above the door is from William Ellery Channing and reads: "In the best books great men talk to us, give us their most precious thoughts, and pour their souls into ours."

It was a great old building and an excellent library, and I spent many hours there, doing research for school projects and papers. They also had a surprisingly good selection of old phonograph records – I heard Woody Guthrie, Leadbelly, and Ma Rainey for the first time on recordings borrowed from their collection. Wonderful place.

The Sunday Salon: On a Gloomy Sunday

Suddenly, spring has gone away. It was gray and rainy and cold, all day. Even the forsythia looked dim and lifeless. Very depressing, especially for a day in April. Plus, all the cherry trees are shedding their blossoms now, and the drizzle is plastering them all over cars and sidewalks. Like flat pink snow. Very messy. And very depressing – but I think I mentioned that already.

I am very much affected by the weather and the amount of sunlight I get (yes, I know – sensitive plant and all that), so these dark, dreary days always get me down. And for some reason, it seems even worse when they happen on a Sunday – somehow I feel that Sundays should be endlessly bright, happy, and filled with amusing activities to provide amusing anecdotes for amusing blog posts.

Well, there won't be any of that today, folks. But I did manage to get a little reading done. Finished up my latest "cozy" mystery novel – Mrs. Malory and the Silent Killer, by Hazel Holt. I started reading the Mrs. Malory mysteries back in the 1990s, mainly just because Hazel Holt had been Barbara Pym's friend and colleague, and later her literary executor. But the books turned out to be so enjoyable that I've stuck with them and now have read almost the whole series (hope to get the rest of them read this year). They are indeed a charming portrait of English village life (I must be quoting someone there, but at the moment I don't remember who).

Also read a bit of Chatterton, by Peter Ackroyd. I'm reading it for a couple of challenges, and so far it seems very entertaining. But I don't know about "unputdownable," which is what the jacket flap claims for it. I've actually put it down several times in the last week.

And that reminds me – aren't book jacket blurbs a wonderful study? The flap also calls Chatterton "ceaselessly entertaining, dazzlingly clever." Well, that's a good all-purpose blurb, if I ever heard one. Put that together with something like "absolute rubbish, not worth the paper" and you've got yourself covered, review-wise, with hardly any effort at all.

Oh, and I started reading Susan Cooper's The Dark Is Rising, my second book for the Once Upon a Time II Challenge. (The first was her Over Sea, Under Stone - you can read my report on that one here.) Haven't gotten far enough into this one to tell much about it. But a few lines, early on, make me think it's a book to match my mood tonight:

"The Walker is abroad," he said again. "And this night will be bad, and tomorrow will be beyond imagining." [p.8]

Well, things may not be so bad as to be "beyond imagining." After all, the second half of "Sense and Sensibility" is on PBS tonight. But if this rain doesn't let up, we're in for a very gloomy Monday, whether the Walker is abroad or not.

Booking Through Thursday: Lit-Ra-Chur

This week's BTT topic:
When somebody mentions “literature,” what’s the first thing you think of? (Dickens? Tolstoy? Shakespeare?)
Do you read “literature” (however you define it) for pleasure? Or is it something that you read only when you must?

OK, I have to admit the first thing I think of when I hear the term is Julie Walters in the film "Educating Rita": "I want to study LIT-ra-tyur."

Wow, this is one of those questions I could mull over for days and still not come up with a satisfactory answer. I suppose I do make a distinction between "literary" reading and, say, reading the L.L. Bean catalog. But to me, these days, books are books. And whether it's Dickens or Dr. Seuss, I read purely for pleasure.

Review: Over Sea, Under Stone

Written by Susan Cooper
Published by Aladdin Paperbacks, 2000; 196 pp.
Originally published by Jonathan Cape (London), 1965
Once Upon a Time II Challenge

Ever since he had learned to read, Barney's greatest heroes had been King Arthur and his knights. In his dreams he fought imaginary battles as a member of the Round Table, rescuing fair ladies and slaying false knights. He had been longing to come to the West Country; it gave him a strange feeling that he would in some way be coming home. [p. 4]

In Over Sea, Under Stone, Susan Cooper's fantasy novel for young readers, the Drew children – Simon, Jane, and Barney (short for Barnabas) – along with their father and mother, have come to Cornwall to spend their vacation in the seaside village of Trewissick. They're staying with their Great-Uncle Merry in his mysterious Grey House. Soon after arrival, while the grownups are off tending to their grownup business, the three kids are left to explore their new surroundings. After uncovering a hidden entrance to the attic, they find an old manuscript that looks like a treasure map. And that's when the adventure begins.

The manuscript turns out to be the key to the hiding place of an ancient artifact from King Arthur's court. And soon the three youngsters, along with their enigmatic great uncle, are caught up in the ages-old legend of Arthur's battle for Good against Evil. There are enemies in the village who are also searching for the object, and will go to any lengths to get it. Not wanting to give too much of the plot away, I'll just say that the three Drew kids end up vanquishing the forces of darkness, at least for the time being (well, you knew they would), and almost uncover the secret of their Great-Uncle Merry's true identity.

This is the first book in Cooper's The Dark Is Rising sequence of five novels (named for the second novel in the series), and I understand that it's very different from the other four. It actually reads more like a mystery novel than fantasy. For one thing, at first glance anyway, it doesn't have a lot of the trappings of traditional fantasies – no fairies, demons, dragons, magic, witches or wizards – although some of those things are hinted at. And it's set in modern-day England (well, fairly modern), but it has a timeless quality that I found very appealing – thankfully, there are no cell phones, instant messaging, or computer games to distract the Drews from their quest.

I've been intending to read this book for years , and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I can see why it's been a favorite of kids and adults alike, ever since it appeared 30-odd years ago. The story is exciting, with lots of twists and turns and near-disasters. The characters are well-developed, and the action is mostly plausible, given the fact that we're dealing with a cosmic fight between the forces of light and darkness. I can't wait to get started on the next title in the series.

And since this was such a fast read, I've decided to take on one of the other "quests" in the Once Upon a Time Challenge. My update post is here.