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Many Happy Returns . . . January 3rd

Jan3

JRR Tolkien, b.1892.

Semicolon: Lost in Middle Earth.

Happy Birthday, Mr. Tolkien! and Happy Birthday, Professor Tolkien!

Thoughts on The Silmarillion by JRR Tolkien.

J.R.R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis: A Literary Friendship and Rivalry by Ethan Gilsdorf. “I had vowed to take Dead Man’s Walk. To sneak into Gothic-trimmed courtyards. To wander beside the shadow of J. R. R. Tolkien, the father of modern fantasy, and listen for remnants of his voice.”

The Lord of the Rings and its prequel, The Hobbit, are probably tied with Les Miserables for my favorite books of all time. I owe a great debt to the hard work and imagination of Professor Tolkien, and today, his birthday, is as good a time as any to express my gratitude for the Lord’s gifting in him.

On the Twelfth Day of Christmas, England, c. 1930

Dec10

The Borrowers Avenged by Mary Norton:

“Oh,” cried Arriety. “I know all about Christmas. My mother’s always talking about it. And the feasts they always had. When she was a girl, there were a lot more borrowers in the house, and that was the time–Christmas time–when she first began to notice my father. The feasts! There were things called raisins and crystal fruit and plum puddings and turkey and something called game pie . . . And the wine they left in glasses! My father used to get it out with a fountain-pen filler. He’d be up a fold in the tablecloth almost before the last human bean had left the room. And my mother began to see what a wonderful borrower he might turn out to be. He bought her a little ring out of something called a cracker, and she wore it as a crown . . . ” She fell silent a moment, remembering that ring. Where was it now? she wondered. She had worn it often herself.

Today’s Gifts:
A song: Joy to the World by Isaac Watts.

A booklist: 100 Magnificent Children’s Books of 2010 at Fuse #8

Birthdays: Actor/director Kenneth Branaugh, b.1960, Emily Dickinson, b.1830, Geroge MacDonald, b.1824, Rumer Godden, b.1907, Mary Norton, b.1903.

A poem: Twas just this time, last year, I died by Emily Dickinson.

On the Seventh Day of Christmas, Nashville, TN, 1828

Dec5

From the biography, American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House by Jon Meacham:

Shortly after nine on the evening of Monday, December 22, three days before Christmas, Rachel [Jackson] suffered an apparent heart attack. It was over. Still, Jackson kept vigil, her flesh turning cold to his touch as he stroked her forehead. With his most awesome responsibilities and burdens at hand she left him. ‘My mind is so disturbed . . . that I can scarcely write, in short my dear friend my heart is nearly broke,’ Jackson told his confidant John Coffee after Rachel’s death.

At one o’clock on Christmas Eve afternoon, by order of the mayor, Nashville’s church bells began ringing in tribute to Rachel, who was to be buried in her garden in the shadow of the Hermitage. The weather had been wet, and the dirt in the garden was soft; the rain made the gravediggers’ task a touch easier as they worked. After a Presbyterian funeral service led by Rachel’s minister, Jackson walked the one hundred fifty paces back to the house. Devastated but determined, he then spoke to the mourners. ‘I am now the President elect of the United States, and in a short time must take my way to the metropolis of my country; and, if it had been God’s will, I would have been grateful for the privilege of taking her to my post of honor and seating her by my side; but Providence knew what was best for her.'”

Today’s Gifts
A song: In the Bleak Midwinter, lyrics by Christian Rossetti, music by Gustav Holst.

A booklist: Biographies of the U.S. Presidents (books I’m planning to read)

A birthday: Christina Rossetti, b.1830.
Walt Disney, b. 1901.

A poem: Love Came Down at Christmas by Christina Rossetti.

On the Sixth Day of Christmas, New York City, 197-

Dec4

Madeleine L’Engle is one of my favorite writers. Her memoir, The Irrational Season, includes a chapter about Christmas in which Madeleine tells the story of one Christmas in her family in which a close relative died and yet Christmas came and the Word was flesh and dwelt among us.

“The chapel is small, and in this smallness, holding Charlotte in my arms, with Lena leaning against me, I began to move into Christmas. The Sisters sang Solemn Vespers for Christmas Eve, and their high, clear voices, moving antiphonally back and forth across the chapel, contained for me the same reality I felt in the strong words of the Kaddish. Then we all gathered around the creche, the children on tiptoe to see the shepherds, the animals, Mary and Joseph and the infant in the crib, the helpless thing containing the brilliance of the galaxies and the shadow of the cross.

It was impossible, but for the moment I was the White Queen, and the loving and beautiful bodies of my grandaughters made it possible for me to believe: they have not been created to be discarded like dross; the baby lying between the ox and the ass affirms the ultimate value of all life.”

This is the irrational season
When love blooms bright and wild.
had Mary been filled with reason
There’d have been no room for the child.

Today’s Gifts
A song: “I understand Christmas as I understand Bach’s Sleepers Awake or Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring. . . When I am able to pray with the mind in the heart, I am joyfully able to affirm the irrationality of Christmas.” ~Madeleine L’Engle

A booklist: A Madeleine L’Engle Annotated Bibliography

A birthday: Rainer Maria Rilke, poet, b.1875.

A poem: Sunset by Rainer Maria Rilke.

The Vicar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith

Sep20

I’ve decided that on Mondays I’m going to revisit the books I read for a course in college called Advanced Reading Survey, taught by the eminent scholar and lovable professor, Dr. Huff. I’m not going to re-read all the books and poems I read for that course, probably more than fifty, but I am going to post to Semicolon the entries in the reading journal that I was required to keep for that class because I think that my entries on these works of literature may be of interest to readers here and because I’m afraid that the thirty year old spiral notebook in which I wrote these entries may fall apart ere long. I may offer my more mature perspective on the books, too, if I remember enough about them to do so.

Author: Oliver Goldsmith was born November 10, 1728, the son of a poor Irish clergyman. He was educated at various borading schools and one of his schoolmasters called him a “stupid, heavy blockhead.” You can read his most famous play, She Stoops to Conquer online. The Vicar of Wakefield, Goldsmith’s novel, is also available here. Said novel starts with this line:

“I was ever of opinion that the honest man who married and brought up a large family did more service than he who continued single and only talked of population.”

This line was written back when populating the world was still considered a service. The book goes on to tell the story of Dr. Primrose, the vicar of Wakefield, and his family and his many troubles.

Goldsmith himself was an unknown literary critic in poor financial straits until he became a protege of Samuel Johnson. Samuel Johnson said of his friend Goldsmith: “Goldsmith, however, was a man, who, whatever he wrote did it better than any other man could do.” High praise, indeed. Goldsmith, however, said of Samuel Johnson: “There is no arguing with Johnson; for when his pistol misses fire, he knocks you down with the butt end of it.“

His association with Samuel Johnson brought Goldsmith recognition but not financial success. When Goldsmith died in 1774, he was in debt for 2000 pounds, a great deal of money in that day.

Characters:
Dr. Primrose–the vicar of Wakefield
Mrs. Primrose–his wife
George, Sophia, Olivia, and Moses–the Primrose children
Mr. Thornhill–a gentleman
Sir William Thornhill–Mr. Thornhill’s uncle
Miss Wilmot–George’s fiancee

Summary:
Dr. Primrose and his family endure various trials and vicissitudes, including the seduction of one daughter, the loss of their fortune, a fire, and the imprisonment of the title character. It’s supposed to be funny, folks.

Quotations:
“Man little knows what calamities are beyond his patience to bear till he tries them . . . As we descend, the objects appear to brighten, unexpected prospects amuse, and the mental eye becomes adapted to its situation.”

“Her own misfortunes engrossed all the pity she once had for those of another, and nothing gave her ease. In company she dreaded contempt and in solitude she only found anxiety.”

More reviews:
Hope at Worthwhile Books on The Vicar of Wakefield: “The language was not singularly beautiful nor were the characters richly developed. In fact, the calamities and coincidences in the book were so unbelievable that I had to force myself to finish it. “

Happy Birthday: Celebrating Joan Aiken

Sep4

Joan Aiken was born on September 4, 1924 in Sussex, England. She grew up in a country village with a mother who “decided that I’d learn more if she taught me herself than if I went away to school” and an American father, Conrad Aiken, who was a Pulitzer-prize winning poet and author himself. Joan’s parents divorced when she was a child, and her mother married another author, Martin Armstrong. Ms. Aiken wrote books for children and adults, and she received the Guardian Award for Children’s Fiction in 1969 and the Mystery Writers’ of America Poe Award in in 1972.

Joan Aiken’s website, created by her daughter Lizza Aiken, is full of treasures, including this bibliography of the over 100 books that Ms. Aiken wrote. I knew of course about The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, her most famous book. And I knew that there were sequels to Willoughby Chase (eleven of them, actually), although I’ve never read them. I also checked out the collection of stories about the Armitage family called The Serial Garden that was published last year, but I never managed to become interested in the stories although I dipped into the book two or three times.

However, I didn’t know that Ms. Aiken was a Jane-ite before Jane Austen was cool. According to the bibliography, Joan Aiken wrote the following sequels to Austen novels:
Lady Catherine’s Necklace, a sequel to Pride and Prejudice.
The Youngest Miss Ward, a sequel to Mansfield Park.
Eliza’s Daughter, a sequel to Sense and Sensibility.
Jane Fairfax, a sequel to Emma.
Emma Watson, a completion of Austen’s unfinished novel fragment, The Watsons.

I must try one of these Austen fan fiction titles by Joan Aiken, if only to see if Ms. Aiken can pull off a feat that many have tried but few have succeeded in accomplishing. I’ve thumbed through a few of the Jane Austen wannabes out there, and even read a couple. But I’ve not been impressed. However, anyone who can write a book like The Wolves of Willoughby Chase surely has a shot at imitating Austen passably well.

Getting back to the website, you can also watch a movie about Joan Aiken and her books from the Puffin Club. I think this film was made back in the time of old 16mm films because it has that scratchy, old timey look and sound, and Ms. Aiken doesn’t look that old to me. And there are games and ecards and screensavers to download and printable bookmarks. Lots of fun fan stuff.

And here’s an interview with Ms. Aiken (before her death in 2001) at Indiebound in which she says a few of her favorite authors are “George Macdonald, E.E. Nesbit, Francis Hodgson Burnett, John Masefield, T.H. White, J.RR. Tolkien, Laurence Houseman, Walter de la Mare, Rudyard Kipling, Kastner, Peter Dickinson, Philippa Pearce, Susan Cooper, Barbara Willard, E. Weatherall (she wrote The Wide Wide World). I could go on and on.” I could agree with every author on that list. I’m especially pleased to see another fan of Barbara Willard, about whom I’ll write a post someday.

Here at Locus Magazine is another interview in which Ms. Aiken disses C.S. Lewis and Narnia. (“My children loved them, but I always thought they were repulsive books, the ‘Narnia’ books. I can’t stand that awful lion!”) Oh, well, no one is perfect.

For today, Happy Birthday to Joan Aiken!

Happy Birthday: Celebrating Elizabeth Borton de Trevino

Sep2

Elizabeth Borton de Trevino, whose historical fiction book I, Juan de Pareja, won the Newbery Medal in 1966, was born on this date in 1904 in Bakersfield, California. She died at the age of 97 on December 2, 2001.

Ms. Borton de Trevino was not Hispanic, but she married a Mexican man and moved with him to his home, Monterrey, Mexico, then to Mexico City, and finally to Cuernavaca. The couple had two sons, and one of the sons, Luis, inspired his mother to write I, Juan de Pareja by telling her the story of the slave of a seventeenth century Spanish artist.

I, Juan de Pareja tells the fictionalized story of Spanish painter Diego Velasquez and his slave and protege, Juanico. Juan posed for one of Velasquez’s most famous paintings, and Velasquez taught Juan to paint even though it was against the law for a slave to learn a profession in seventeenth century Spain. The story itself moves rather slowly and covers a great many years in the life of Velasquez and Juan de Pareja. As the relationship between the two men grows, Velasquez comes to see Juan de Pareja as a friend and an equal instead of a lowly and inferior slave.

Review clips:
Shelley at Book Clutter: “While this was an interesting and somewhat educational children’s novel, I certainly didn’t find it to be a page-turner. I had a hard time imagining a child finding it at all engaging, and thought it was peculiar that the main character is an adult for a very large portion of the book.”

One Librarian’s Book Reviews: “I thought this story was beautiful and terrible. It showed the kinds of extremes slaves felt (at least in Spain) experiencing sometimes the good and sometimes the horrible.”

Sandy at The Newbery Project: “Although I like historical fiction, I’m afraid I was often bored by Juan de Pareja’s narrative, and I frequently wondered just how probable the story was.”

Linda at The Newbery Project: “The writing in this book flowed flawlessly so it was pleasant to read, and it took me only a few days to get through it. That’s fast, as I’m normally a slow reader who gets through one chapter per night if I’m lucky. But I, Juan de Pareja fascinated me and at times I couldn’t put it down despite being tired.”

There you have it–a fine example of mixed reviews. This book might very well be a hard sell for the TV generation, but for that very reason, I considered it a valuable part of our curriculum last year when we were studying Renaissance history. However, I read the book aloud to my children because I knew that they would complain about the slow pace if I required them to read it to themselves. Juanico is a sympathetic character, and the story of how he became a painter and a friend and encourager to the great Velasquez is worth the time and effort, especially for those interested in art and the history of art. Of course, when reading the book it is recommended that you look online to find and view some of the paintings mentioned in the story.

Elizabeth Borton de Trevino wrote three volumes of autobiographical memoir: My Heart Lies South: The Story of my Mexican Marriage, Where the Heart Is, and The Hearthstone of My Heart. I’d like to add at least the first of these to my TBR list. It seems an especially appropriate selection for September, Hispanic Heritage Month.

Elizabeth Borton de Trevino on her family’s reading of Kristin Lavransdattir by Sigrid Undset (good book, by the way):

I got hold of the book first. I sat in a corner with that novel and could not do anything but wash and dress mechnically, eat what was put in my hand, sleep reluctantly, and read, for two weeks. Next, my sister seized the book and she was tended, as I had been, and relieved of every household task and duty until, sighing, she turned the last page. Then my mother said, “All right, girls, take over. It’s my turn.” And she never moved or spoke to a soul until she had finished it. My father did not care. He was rereading, for the tenth enchanted time, the African journals of Frederick Courteney Selous, the great English hunter, and while we were in medieval Norway, he had been far away in darkest Africa, with all the wild forest around him. That is the kind of family we were.

Thanks to Peter Sieruta at Collecting Children’s Books for the quotation.

Happy Birthday: Celebrating Jim Arnosky

Sep1

Jim Arnosky was the first writer of nature books for children that I fell in love with. Oh, I’ve gone on to enjoy others–Joanna Cole, Ruth Heller, Nic Bishop, Gail Gibbons, Anne Rockwell, Jerry Pallotta—but Mr. Arnosky was the first to catch my attention back in my elementary school librarian days. Such fine detailed pencil and pen and ink drawings! And then, in other books, beautiful, realistic paintings that look as if you could reach out and touch the animals depicted! Arnosky includes just enough information for primary age and even beginning middle school naturalists without overwhelming the newbie with too many textual details. The illustrations, however, are full of fascinating detail. If I want to introduce a certain animals or class of animals to my children, I’ll look for a book by Arnosky first (then one by Gail GIbbons, a topic for another day).

Arnosky has several series of books:
Crinkleroot’s Guides include Crinkleroot’s Guide to Knowing Animal Habitats, Crinkleroot’s Guide to Animal Tracking, Crinkleroot’s Guide to Walking in Wild Places, Crinkleroot’s Guide to Knowing the Trees, Crinkleroot’s Guide to Knowing the Birds, Crinkleroot’s Guide to Knowing Butterflies and Moths, and Crinkleroot’s Nature Almanac. Crinkleroot is a little dwarvish man with a long white beard who guides the reader through the wonders and experiences of various aspects of nature, particularly in the forest. Crinkleroot, the nature guide, first appeared in a 1988 title called I Was Born in a Tree and Raised by Bees, a title that I assume encapsulates Mr. Crinkleroot’s autobiography, even though I’ve never seen the book.

Then there are the All About books: All About Frogs, All About Lizards, All About Manatees, All About Alligators, All About Turtles, All About Sharks, etc. I count ten books in this series so far. The books are picture book length, 32 pages, and the text is appropriately preschool/primary level. The series is published by Scholastic and available in both hard cover and paperback although some of the books are out of print.

Another series is called Jim Arnosky’s Nature Notebooks, and it includes the books Shore Walker, Animal Tracker, and Bug Hunter. These are how-to books telling kids how to observe, sketch, and write about wildlife. Like a lot of other Arnosky books, these are as much about the artwork as they are about natural science. If you have a budding young naturalist with a gift for or interest in drawing what he sees, these are the books to encourage that bent. Actually, even “ungifted” children can benefit from keeping a nature journal and at least trying to sketch what they see.

Mr. Arnosky also has a series of “Video Visits,” VHS and DVD adventures in nature with Mr. Arnosky as the host.

Mr. Arnosky’s single titles are just as lovely and evocative as the series books. I especially like Crinkleroot’s 25 Mammals Every Child Should Know and Sketching Outdoors in All Seasons. The titles are self-explanatory.

In visiting Jim Arnosky’s website I found some wonderful resources. First of all you can buy Crinkleroot’s Nature Library on 2 CD’s, all of the Crinkleroot books for $95.00 plus coloring pages for 100 animals every child should know. But if you don’t have the money, you can get the boks at the library (probably) and print the coloring pages straight from the website for free. Wouldn’t the coloring pages make a lovely preschool nature curriculum? Color and read about one animal a day. Then, take a trip out into the wild or to the zoo to see how many of the animals you could see for yourself.

Mr. Arnosky also writes songs, sings and plays the guitar. I haven’t heard any of his songs, but the titles sound like fun: Manatee Morning, Rattlesnake Dance, and Big Jim and the White Legged Moose, for examples.

You can read more about Jim Arnosky, author, artist, and naturalist, in his book Whole Days Outdoors. Jim Arnosky has written and illustrated more than 90 books for children. He lives with his family on a farm in Vermont, and he’s celebrating his 64th birthday today (b.1946).

Author Fiesta: Jim Arnosky. Blogger Cay Gibson gives lots of links and ideas for a month-long celebration of Mr. Arnosky and his work.

Animal Tracks Unit Study.

Jim Arnosky’s WIldlife Journal website, in case you didn’t click on one of the links above.

Mr. Arnoskys new book, Man Gave names to all the Animals (from the song by Bob Dylan) is due out September 7, 2010. Has anyone seen a copy? It sounds like something we will all enjoy.

In Which I Am Born

Jul28

In 1957, the year I was born, Ed Sullivan had Elvis on his show for the third time, showed him only from the waist up, and said: “This is a real decent, fine boy. We’ve never had a pleasanter experience on our show with a big name than we’ve had with you. You’re thoroughly all right.”

Published in 1957:
The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss.
On the Road by Jack Kerouac.
Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak.
On the Beach by Nevil Shute.
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand.
If Death Ever Slept by Rex Stout.
Through Gates of Splendor by Elisabeth Elliot

Movies released in 1957:
Loving You with Elvis Presley.
Jailhouse Rock with Elvis Presley.
The Bridge on the River Kwai with Alec Guinness, which went on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.

On the actual day of my birth an earthquake shook Mexico City and Acapulco. But I doubt if my mom noticed it way out in West Texas.

Also born on July 28th (not 1957): Beatrix Potter, Gerard Manley Hopkins

Last year I wrote a list of lists and a bit of a meditation on the number 52. 52 is an interesting number with lots of associations. It’s a good number for lists, and I used it this year a few times to confine and order my thoughts in certain areas:

52 Ways to Celebrate Independence Day
52 Things That Fascinate Me
Summer Reading: 52 Picks for the Hols

I have several other lists of 52 in the works. I think I’ll stick with 52 (and 12) for lists; it just feels right.

53 is more solitary. It’s prime. In fact, it’s an Eisenstein prime. Whatever that means. And 53 is a self number. 53 is obviously not a number for links and lists and affiliations and organization. 53 is independent and somewhat isolated. It’s unique.

For this year, I’ll enjoy being 53, somewhat solitary, odd, and eccentric. Perhaps I’ll even be reclusive at times, as much as one can be reclusive in a family of ten people. I enjoy alone and different and distinctive and slightly idiosyncratic. 53 is the number of countries in Africa, so I’ll continue to work on my African reading project. But 53 isn’t the number for much else. It stands alone.

But at the same time, I still get to be 52. I still get to make lists and connections and relationships. Life, like numbers, has a rhythm. Pull back and enjoy your individual times of 53-ness, and then be 52 or 12 or whatever age the Lord has given you to be and fill the year with people and books and written words and encouragement and the messiness and joy of relationships.

That’s how I plan to celebrate this next year of becoming what God has for me.

And I might memorize Isaiah 53, a very 53-ish passage of scripture:

1 Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.

3 He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
Like one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

4 Surely he took up our infirmities
and carried our sorrows,
yet we considered him stricken by God,
smitten by him, and afflicted.

5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.

6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before her shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.

8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away.
And who can speak of his descendants?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people he was stricken.

9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth.

10 Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.

11 After the suffering of his soul,
he will see the light of life and be satisfied;
by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,
and he will bear their iniquities.

12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,
and he will divide the spoils with the strong,
because he poured out his life unto death,
and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.

Sunday Salon: Books Read in June, 2010

Jul4

Adult Fiction:
The Laws of Harmony by Judith Hendricks.

Very Good, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse.

So Much For That by Lionel Shriver. Ms. Shriver rants about health care, and tells a pretty good story. Semicolon review here.

Mandala by Pearl S. Buck. Set in India, not China.

Children’s and YA Fiction:
Dolphin Song by Lauren St. John. Semicolon review here.

Cosmic by Frank Cottrell Boyce. Semicolon review here.

The GIrl Who Saw Lions by Berlie Doherty.

Escaping the Tiger by Laura Manivong. Laotian refugees escape to Thailand, then to America. Semicolon review here.

Exposure by Mal Peet. Soccer and celebrity in South America. Semicolon review here.

Claim to Fame by Margaret Peterson Haddix. Would you like to be able to hear anything anyone said about you, anywhere in the world? Semicolon review here.

For the Win by Cory Doctorow. Computer games and organized labor? Semicolon review here.

The Long Way Home by Andrew Klavan. Sequel to The Last Thing I Remember. Semicolon review here.

Countdown by Deborah Wiles. Where were you in 1962? Semicolon review here.

Ice by Sarah Beth Durst.

Princess of Glass by Jessica Day George.

Beautiful by Cindy Martinuson-Coloma. Finalist for the 2010 Christy Award for Young Adult Fiction. Semicolon review here.

Nonfiction:
Get Me Out of Here by Rachel Reiland. Memoir of a woman diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder. Too Freudian for me, but it seemed to work for the author.

Disrupting Grace: A Story of Relinquishment and Healing by Kristin RIchburg. Another memoir, this time about a failed adoption. The adoptee in the story seemed, in my amateur judgement, to have a juvenile version of BPD, but in children it’s called “attachment disorder.” Semicolon review here.

Scratch Beginnings: Me, $25, and the Search for the American Dream by Adam Shepard. Semicolon review here.