to_love_a_rose | Recent Entries

What a dislocation of comfort is comprised in that word "moving!" Such a heap of little nasty things, after you think all is got into the cart: old dredging-boxes, worn-out brushes, gallipots, vials, things that it is impossible the most necessitous person can ever want, but which the women, who preside on these occasions, will not leave behind if it was to save your soul; they'd keep the cart ten minutes to stow in dirty pipes and broken matches, to show their economy. Then you can find nothing you want for many days after you get into your new lodgings. You must comb your hair with your fingers, wash your hands without soap, go about in dirty gaiters. Was I Diogenes, I would not move out of a kilderkin into a hogshead, though the first had had nothing but small beer in it, and the second reeked claret.

~ Charles Lamb

linnybinnypix

A book reads the better which is our own, and has been so long known to us, that we know the topography of its blots, and dog's ears, and can trace the dirt in it to having read it at tea with buttered muffins.

~ Charles Lamb

Comments and credit appreciated but not required.

Please do not claim as your own.

01	02	03

04	05	06

Added to the literary record: Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

I did not set out to read all six of Jane Austen's major works in one year, but somewhere in between Emma and Persuasion, it occurred to me as a possibility, and once I got to Mansfield Park it seemed like the thing to do to finish out the set. Since it wasn't intentional, I can't say I erred in reading Sense and Sensibility last, but I do think that novel suffers from comparison to her later works.

It is still a very good novel, and very engaging. That I finished it in about three days speaks to that. The minor and supporting characters are wonderful. The Ferrars (save Edward) are delightfully horrible, Lucy Steele is hilariously self-interested, Anne Steele is wonderfully insipid. On the flip side, I really felt for Edward and Colonel Brandon, liked Mrs. Dashwood to the point of wishing Eleanor were less critical of her, and genuinely liked Mrs. Jennings and Sir John perhaps more than the narrator even intended. And Willoughby is a great accomplishment; I really felt for him, and wanted to smack him silly at the same time.

Where the novel suffered, ironically, is in the two main characters, especially Eleanor. They were too much made to fit into their respective roles as 'sense' and 'sensibility'. Eleanor especially suffered in her characterization as a result. She was too reserved, too determined to keep a hold on her to feel for her as much as I should have. Marianne did better, but her change of heart in the end hammered the author's point too hard and did a disservice to the character.

Still, I liked it a lot, and it's interesting to have read all six novels in such a short time frame. Having now read so much of her work, I'm tempted to go back and re-read Pride and Prejudice, to see how my perceptions of it have changed. Just...not until 2010. ;)

Added to the literary record: Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell

I liked this more than I thought I would when I bought an antique edition in fair condition at a used book store for a few dollars, figuring that if I didn't like the book, it would at least look interesting on my dresser. I'd say it's not my kind of book, but I've been reading and enjoying so many books lately that I don't consider my kind of book, that I've begun to suspect I don't actually know what my kind of book is.

This was my first exposure to Elizabeth Gaskell (evidence I've been reading too much 18th-19th century literature: my first instinct was to refer to her as "Mrs. Gaskell"). I've been wanting to read North and South for a while, but I've yet to find it in a used bookstore, or in a new bookstore when I'm in a rare new book purchasing mood, or to get it through my swap site. So I'm glad I liked Cranford because now I have more confidence that I'll like North and South, when I finally get hold of it.

Cranford reminded me somewhat of Austen; Gaskell paints on a very small canvas, but works with incredible detail. Of all of Austen's books, I'd say it's most like Emma, in the sense that Emma is a very confined book, both in terms of the characters lives and in terms of where it takes place, as Cranford is. The miniature-like quality of the work and the wonderfully drawn characters, though, is the end of the likeness. Gaskell is generally less biting in her humor than Austen (though she does have her moments, just as Austen has her moments of gentleness), and Cranford has little forward movement in the characters lives and the changes, when they come, happen very slowly while Austen moves at a much quicker pace.

Cranford also managed to make me cry, which Austen has never done. Actually no book has ever done that, except Old Yeller which made me sob like a little girl, but then if Old Yeller doesn't do that to you, you are clearly a spambot and as yet unaware of the fact.

Added to the literary record: Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

I can easily see why Mansfield Park is the least popular of Austen's novels. It's not the Jane Austen of popular imagination—whatever relationship that may bear to reality—certainly. It's not in the style of Pride and Prejudice with the sparkling wit and energy. In Pride and Prejudice the wit is celebrated in the form of Elizabeth Bennet. In Mansfield Park the wit comes in the form of Mary Crawford, ignorant and selfish.

That said, I really liked Mansfield Park. I liked Fanny Price. I respected her, even, for despite her nervous temper, she refused to bend when it mattered most, even with everyone thinking she was doing wrong.

I think if I had gone into Mansfield Park expecting another Pride and Prejudice or Northanger Abbey I would have been disappointed. But I went into it expecting nothing more than a novel about people, and I was completely satisfied. The characters are exquisitely drawn, perhaps more fully than in any of Austen's other novels, and that is really saying something. They all felt so very real, so completely not idealized, that I couldn't help being utterly drawn into them, and their world.

The ending too felt very fitting. A lesser author might have given her readers a more commonplace happy ending—and I can't help a small part of me wishing that ( spoiler )—but I think that as the novel was constructed, nothing else but the ending we were given would have satisfied.

Between [lovers] no subject is finished, no communication is even made, till it has been made at least twenty times over.

~ Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

Added to the 2009 Literary Record: Persuasion by Jane Austen

I think Jane Austen has the most masterfully drawn characters of any writer I've ever read and it really shows in Persuasion when she has such a small canvas to work with. I really liked this book. The characters were brilliant yet understated. It's such a quiet book and the passion in it sneaks up on you. I was not expecting to be as affected by the ending as I was (especially considering I already knew how it ends). It's not my favorite of her books (my heart will always belong to Northanger Abbey first) but I'm tempted to say I like it better than Pride and Prejudice which is saying a lot.

Added to the 2009 literary record: The Sylph by Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire

I would not recommend this book to anyone who isn't either a fan of Georgiana or really into 18th century England, or (preferably) both. I'm both. *g*

The plot is fairly straightforward. Sir William, a gambler, rake, and all around bad guy meets Julia, a naive innocent. He becomes obsessed with her and, realizing that he'll never be able to seduce her, he marries her. He carries her off to London which is a hotbed of vice and sin, promptly becomes bored with her, and utterly neglects her leaving her to the guidance of two women of dubious virtue. She has a few people looking out for her, including her sister Louisa (whom Sir William would not allow to accompany Julia to London) and the title character, her so-called Sylph. Louisa and, most especially, the Sylph give her advice and keep her on the straight and narrow of marital fidelity and financial responsibility (aka not gambling away every shilling you have). Eventually, Sir William's bad behavior leads to his ruin and the virtuous are rewarded while the evil (well, one or two of them) suffer and repent.

Entirely on the basis of its plot and characters, I would rate it very meh.

The value of it is in the details it gives about the life of the upper classes at that time. It's a bit like reading an insiders view of Hollywood or the NYC social scene. Gossip Girls of the 18th century, with more pious characters and floggings.

Not a book that most people would be interested in or like, but I enjoyed it.

I always deserve the best treatment because I never put up with any other.

~ Emma Woodhouse, Emma by Jane Austen

Photos from all over. Comments and credit appreciated but not necessary. Please do not claim as your own.

01	02	03	04	05

06	07	08	09	10

Love and Death
Alfred, Lord Tennyson

What time the mighty moon was gathering light
Love paced the thymy plots of Paradise,
And all about him roll’d his lustrous eyes;
When, turning round a cassia, full in view,
Death, walking all alone beneath a yew,
And talking to himself, first met his sight.
'You must begone,' said Death, 'these walks are mine.'
Love wept and spread his sheeny vans for flight;
Yet ere he parted said, 'This hour is thine:
Thou art the shadow of life, and as the tree
Stands in the sun and shadows all beneath,
So in the light of great eternity
Life eminent creates the shade of death.
The shadow passeth when the tree shall fall,
But I shall reign for ever over all.'

Added to the literary record, 2009: Emma by Jane Austen. Originally published 1815, finished reading September 6, 2009.

I adore the writing of Jane Austen, but I'm afraid Emma will always be my least favorite of her novels. I've yet to figure out why. The writing is, of course, brilliant, and it's so carefully constructed and internally consistent that you cannot help but admire her craftswomanship. I suspect it's the characters, and my total lack of concern for any of them. Perhaps it's because everything works out for everyone, despite their bad behavior. I'm not asking for a morality tale, but the way both Emma and Frank Churchill are allowed to behave so selfishly and act so foolishly and yet never face any real consequences aside from a few days of troubled conscious and anxiety...it's brilliantly ironic and darkly comic writing, but it's not especially fun for me to read, I suppose.

Still, I'm glad I finally read the book. Some parts were very enjoyable, and Austen's writing is always a delight, even when I don't care for the people she's writing about.

2009
1. So Long and Thanks For All The Fish by Douglas Adams
2. Sacrifice Moon by Julie Fortune
3. Mostly Harmless by Douglas Adams
4. The Heart of Valor by Tanya Huff
5. Memory by Lois McMaster Bujold
6. Shakespeare: The World as Stage by Bill Bryson
7. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
8. Faro's Daughter by Georgette Heyer
9. The Nonesuch by Georgette Heyer
10. The Convenient Marriage by Georgette Heyer
11. Bobos in Paradise: The New Upper Class and How They Got There by David Brooks
12. The Code of the Woosters by P.G. Woodhouse
13. The Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby
14. Wives and Daughters: Women and Children in the Georgian Country House by Joanna Martin
15. Evelina by Fanny Burney
16. A Return to Modesty by Wendy Shalit
17. The Toll-Gate by Georgette Heyer
18. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
19. Belinda by Maria Edgeworth
20. Girls Gone Mild by Wendy Shalit
21. Emma by Jane Austen
22. The Sylph by Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire
23. Persuasion by Jane Austen
24. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
25. Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell
26. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
27. Lady Susan by Jane Austen

2010
1. The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy
2. Charity Girl by Georgette Heyer
3. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
4. The Foundling by Georgette Heyer
5. Piccadilly Jim by P.G. Woodhouse
6. Persuasion by Jane Austen
7. North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
8. The Incendiary: The Misadventures of John the Painter, First Modern Terrorist by Jessica Warner
9. The Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby
10. Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson
11. Cotillion by Georgette Heyer
12. She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith
13. The Corinthian by Georgette Heyer
14. Hornblower and the Hotspur by C.S. Forester
15. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

2011
1. A Ship of the Line by C.S. Forester
2. Craze: Gin and Debauchery In An Age of Reason by Jessica Warner
3. Mr. Rosenblum Dreams in English by Natasha Solomons
4. Charles Lamb: Selected Writings edited by J. E. Morpurgo
5. The Expedition of Humphry Clinker by Tobias Smollett
6. The Female Quixote by Charlotte Lennox
7. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
8. Shakespeare Wrote For Money by Nick Hornby
9. Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby
10. Roswell by Sonny Whitelaw and Jennifer Fallon
11. The Making of a Marchioness by Frances Hodgson Burnett
12. Leigh Hunt: Selected Writings edited by David Jesson-Dibley
13. The Brother Gardeners: Botany, Empire & The Birth of an Obsession by Andrea Wulf
14. The Encyclopedia of the Exquisite by Jessica Kerwin Jenkins
15. Agent to the Stars by John Scalzi
16. The Robots of Dawn by Isaac Asimov
17. Valor's Trial by Tanya Huff
18 and 19. Young Miles by Lois McMaster Bujold
20. Diplomatic Immunity by Lois McMaster Bujold
21. A Civil Campaign by Lois McMaster Bujold
22. Cryoburn by Lois McMaster Bujold
23. The Mating Season by P.G. Wodehouse
24. Sad Cyprus by Agatha Christie
25. The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie
26. Gentlemen and Players by Joanne Harris
27. Home to Woefield by Susan Juby
28. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle

Choosing Shoes
by Frida Wolfe

New shoes, new shoes,
Red and pink and blue shoes.
Tell me, what would you choose,
If they'd let us buy?

Buckle shoes, bow shoes,
Pretty pointy-toe shoes,
Strappy, cappy low shoes;
Let's have some to try.

Bright shoes, white shoes,
Dandy-dance-by-night shoes,
Perhaps-a-little-tight shoes,
Like some? So would I.

BUT
Flat shoes, fat shoes,
Stump-along-like-that shoes,
Wipe-them-on-the-mat shoes,
That's the sort they'll buy.

To venerate the simple days
Which lead the seasons by,
Needs but to remember
That from you or me
They may take the trifle
Termed mortality!

To invent existence with a stately air,
Needs but to remember
That the acorn there
Is the egg of forests,
For the upper air!

by Emily Dickinson

Sonnet 29
by William Shakespeare

When in disgrace with Fortune and men's eyes,
I all alone beweep my outcast state,
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries,
And look upon myself and curse my fate,
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featured like him, like him with friends possess'd,
Desiring this man's art, and that man's scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least.
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,
Haply I think on thee, and then my state,
Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate;
For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings
That then I scorn to change my state with kings.

Sonnet 14, Sonnets From the Portuguese
by Elizabeth Barret Browning

If thou must love me, let it be for nought
Except for love's sake only. Do not say
"I love her for her smile her look her way
Of speaking gently, for a trick of thought
That falls in well with mine, and certes brought
A sense of ease on such a day"
For these things in themselves, Beloved, may
Be changed, or change for thee, and love, so wrought,
May be unwrought so. Neither love me for
Thine own dear pity's wiping my cheek dry,
A creature might forget to weep, who bore
Thy comfort long, and lose thy love thereby!
But love me for love's sake, that evermore
Thou may'st love on, through love's eternity.

Nothing like a little poetry on a rainy Saturday morning.

"But now you love a hyacinth. So much the better. You have gained a new source of enjoyment, and it is well to have as many holds upon happiness as possible. Besides, a taste for flowers is always desirable in your sex, as a means of getting you out of doors, and tempting you to more frequent exercise than you would otherwise take. And though the love of a hyacinth may be rather domestic, who can tell, the sentiment once raised, but you may in time come to love a rose?"

~ Henry Tilney, Northanger Abbey

Profile

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags

To Love a Rose

for the love of beauty

Recent Entries

more apropos lamb

the wisdom of elia

small batch of knitting icons

sense and sensibility by jane austen

cranford by elizabeth gaskell

mansfield park by jane austen

warm and cool

persuasion by jane austen

the sylph by georgiana, duchess of devonshire

well when you put it that way...

art in 100x100 pixels

love and death by tennyson

emma by jane austen

a literary record

bright shoes, white shoes, dandy-dance-by-night shoes

to venerate the simple days which lead the seasons by

poetry is like dancing with words

from whence it came

Profile

Links

Expand Cut Tags