The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

I'm re-reading Wind in the Willows with the Lit Life podcast group and am especially enjoying the Librivox version by Adrian Praetzellis. If it is a book you haven't liked or understood, I recommend the podcast discussions. I also recommend listening to it the first time around. 

I wouldn't change a thing from my review of ten years ago, but I'd like to add a link to a wonderful article I read recently. It is called "What the Wind Goes Whispering" and is about the book's dual themes of longing for adventure and of the joys of staying at home.

Finally, I'll include a quote on the glories of Badger's home: Rows of spotless plates winked from the shelves of the dresser at the far end of the room, and from the rafters overhead hung hams, bundles of dried herbs, nets of onions, and baskets of eggs. It seemed a place where heroes could fitly feast after victory, where weary harvesters could line up in scores along the table and keep their Harvest Home with mirth and song, or where two or three friends of simple tastes could sit about as they pleased and eat and smoke and talk in comfort and contentment. The ruddy brick floor smiled up at the smoky ceiling; the oaken settles, shiny with long wear, exchanged cheerful glances with each other; plates on the dresser grinned at pots on the shelf, and the merry firelight flickered and played over every thing.

Is this on anyone else's favorites list?

Blessings,

A Man Lay Dead by Ngaio Marsh

Ngaio Marsh (1895-1982) is considered one of the queens of the golden age of detective fiction. Born in New Zealand, she passed her time between NZ and England. She was interested in the arts, especially theater, and helped run a handicraft store in London in the 1930’s. Around this time she wrote her first murder mystery, A Man Lay Dead, the first of 32 books including Inspector Roderick Alleyn.

Honestly, the book did not grab me at first. The murder takes place at a country house party and it was difficult keeping all the guests straight, particularly when they are sometimes referred to by their surnames (Mrs. Wilde) and at other times by their first names (Marjorie). But once the murder occurred, I was invested enough to sort them all out and enjoy Alleyn’s careful detective work. The real culprit took me by surprise which is always a sign of good detective fiction.  

I enjoy British novels for their literary references and Alleyn throws out random quotes that had me scurrying to find their source (Julius Caesar and Just So Stories!) Then there is the dry humor that creeps up on you unaware like the first sentence of chapter four: Nobody got up very early at Frantock on Sunday mornings. Nigel, wandering down to breakfast at half-past nine, found himself alone with the sausages.

I paid special attention to descriptions of the inspector knowing that Marsh would continue to develop his persona in the following novels. He was very tall and lean, his hair was dark, and his eyes grey with corners that turned down. They looked as if they would smile easily, but his mouth didn’t. Later there is a hint that he comes from a wealthy background and that he began in the Diplomatic Service and for private reasons became a policeman. I can’t wait to find out more about him. Marsh looked back on this novel as one of her worst, which can only mean that the sequels will be better. (I actually liked it just fine, although there is mild swearing throughout.)

Anybody else familiar with this author?

Blessings,

What I Read and Watched in April

We've had some busy months and I miss writing leisurely blog posts. In spite of the busyness, I've been able to read a lot on busses and in cars as we've zipped around. Much of what I read was for the Literary Life 2022 challenge:

I read three fiction titles: The Enchanted April was fun though I had a few reservations about it (reviewed here). The Fair Miss Fortune by D. E. Stevenson was also a nice break from some of the heavier books I'm reading (reviewed here). Lastly, I finished Paradiso as part of the 100 Days of Dante challenge. I barely scratched the surface of this classic and hope to revisit it now that I've gotten over my trauma about reading it. 

My three non-fiction titles were: Israel, Palestine and Peace by Amos Oz (reviewed here), Key Principles of Biblical Fasting by Kay Arthur (reviewed here), and The Narnian by Alan Jacobs (reviewed here). 

We didn't have a lot of time for TV or movies, but we watched one episode of The Chosen each week leading up to Easter. My husband hates rom-coms, but I convinced him to watch Finding Normal because Candace Cameron Bure always makes a fluffy movie better. Our son showed us the first three episodes of Hawkeye (a new Marvel series), which would have been wonderfully family friendly except for all the swearing. If you watch a lot of TV it won't bother you, but somehow I don't think that is true for most of my readers. Last of all, I found the movie version of The Enchanted April on YouTube, but did not love it as much as the book.

What about you? Did you read or watch anything you can recommend?

Blessings,

April 23 - World Book Day

On April 23 (St. George’s Day), 1616, Miguel de Cervantes breathed his last, on exactly the same day as the death of William Shakespeare. It was singularly and surely providentially appropriate that the brightest jewels in the golden ages of Spanish and English literature should have taken their respective last bows together. It was also singularly appropriate that these slayers of dragons should have died on the Feast of St. George, true knights as they were, who had wielded their pens like lances in the service of the good, the true, and the beautiful.  

Quoted from Joseph Pearce in Crisis Magazine 1/1/22

(Another reason I like to celebrate World Book Day is that two of my favorite authors were born this week. Charlotte Brontë on the 21st and Elizabeth Goudge on the 24th. Lots of reasons to eat cake!!)

Blessings,

The Narnian by Alan Jacobs

"Without self-forgetfulness there can be no delight."

Alan Jacob's thesis for his biography of  C. S. Lewis, The Narnian.  is, Lewis's mind was above all characterized by a willingness to be enchanted and that it was this openness to enchantment that held together the various strands of his life - his delight in laughter, his willingness to accept a world made by a good and loving God, and his willingness to submit to the charms of a wonderful story... to the point of self-abandonment.

He goes on to show how this theme resonated in all of Lewis's writings, even his non-fiction (such as The Abolition of Man) where Lewis convincingly shows the failure of modern education to reach children's hearts and imaginations.  

Jacobs quotes a 1935 letter from Lewis to Arthur Greeves in which he describes a pampered little boy who nevertheless had been neglected: I often wonder what the present generation of children will grow up like. They have been treated with so much indulgence yet so little affection, with so much science and so little mother-wit. Not a fairy tale nor a nursery rhyme. 

I appreciated Jacobs' thorough overview of Lewis' life and his obvious love for the Lewis canon. I loved little tidbits of information like the fact that Warnie was at Dunkirk and that Jacob's thinks that Lewis's greatest book is English Literature in the Sixteenth Century (a book that hardly anyone has ever heard of.) And I enjoyed his careful explanation of Till We Have Faces, since that is a book that I find intimidating. Lastly, I got a kick out of his connection between the ending of The Last Battle and Dante's Paradiso because I hope to read both of those books this year.  

My biggest quibbles with the book came in chapter 11 where he chides Lewis for not being feminist enough and where he also looked down his nose at several previous biographers. He also assumes a lot about Lewis's relationships that Lewis (and those closest to him) never corroborated.

Still, it was a good book to read on the heels of Volume 2 of Lewis's letters because many of his correspondents came to life in the biography.

If you've read this, what did you think of it? Do you have a favorite C.S. Lewis biography to recommend?

Blessings

The Betsy-Tacy Books by Maud Hart Lovelace

I started the Betsy-Tacy series in 2014, but stopped with the fourth book. I adored these stories about three little girls at the turn of the 20th century. In Book One (Betsy-Tacy), the two friends meet at a birthday party. In Betsy-Tacy and Tib, they incorporate a new friend into their circle. Betsy and Tacy are the dreamers and Tib is the practical one who good-naturedly goes along with their shenanigans. In Book Three, Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill and befriend a Syrian girl; they learn about prejudice, patriotism and religious persecution (a lovely, painless way to introduce these subjects to young children.) Book Four, Betsy and Tacy Go Downtown, was a delight with its literary references and parental wisdom. Betsy is an aspiring writer, but is writing trash (modeled after Victorian sensation novels). Instead of condemning her, her father gives her a library card and lunch money so that she can spend all day Saturday in town, reading the classics. Her trips to town open up a new world to her.

One of my goals for 2022 was to finish the series and I was glad to be able to get the books via digital download from my library. Books Four to Eight (Heaven to Betsy, Betsy in Spite of Herself, Betsy was a Junior, and Betsy and Joe) cover each year of high school. I have to admit, I did not enjoy them as much as the first four because Betsy was so boy crazy. This spills over into Book Nine, Betsy and the Great World. Happily, she comes to her senses in Book Ten, Betsy's Wedding, which was a fantastic conclusion to the series.

Throughout the series, Lovelace draws a lovely picture of small-town girls, the simple pleasures they pursue, their growing pains and, above all, their enduring friendship. I especially appreciate how Lovelace portrayed the girls as normal (not sickeningly sweet) and how she incorporated their hard-earned life lessons without ever being preachy. 

Highly recommended. (Even with the high school episodes!)

Blessings,

Sabbath-Keeping (quote by Pete Scazerro)

On Sabbath I embrace my limits. God is God. He is indispensable. I am his creature. The world continues working fine when I stop…. We stop on Sabbaths because God is on the throne, assuring us the world will not fall apart if we cease our activities…. Ultimately we will die with countless unfinished projects and goals. That’s okay. God is at work taking care of the universe. He manages quite well without us. When we are sleeping, he is working. Every Sabbath reminds us to “be still, and know that he is God.” The core spiritual issue in stopping revolves around trust. Will God take care of us and our concerns if we obey him by stopping to keep the Sabbath?

(from p. 147-148 of Emotionally Healthy Spirituality by Pete Scazerro)

Blessings,