Things Learned

Having come across this post by Raewyn while lazing about reading other people's posts when I was supposed to be writing my own, I thought I'd join in on this "things learned in August" link-up, because I have learned a lot of things in August, both important and very non-important.  I am also supremely glad that it will be over tomorrow, so I'm celebrating.  Visit the original post here.

1. I was not meant to join the Daughters of Mary.  I was following my own will in pursuing it, not God's.

2.  You actually have to work to be holy, and you don't get to just choose to not be.  And you can't do anything by yourself but need God's grace if you're going to have any strength at all.  It's like expecting to have energy without ever eating.

3.  Speaking of eating, I also learned that pesto paninis are the best Friday dinner ever. All you do is put provolone, pesto, red onions, tomatoes, avocado, and red or orange bell peppers in a roll and stick it in a buttered pan or panini press until it's browned and melty and beautiful.  Then you eat it.  And it's delicious.

4.  I am super-duper unbelievably lucky to know two people who love literature at least as much as I do, and I am even more blessed to be being paid by one of them to listen to some absolutely lovely literature lectures and write about them.  It's temporary, but it's my first job and a dream job - one I never dreamed of, but a dream job nevertheless.  The other person is subjected to small bursts of email-ranting on Dickinson, Tolkien, Dickens, and the like, and far from objecting, responds in kind.

5.  Speaking of literature, I learned through the aforementioned lectures that Emily Dickinson is basically queen of the poetical universe.  She is definitely my favorite poet now.

6.  Sleeping in is way overrated.  Enough said.

7.  Bringing up authors again, one biggish thing I've learned in August is that spiritual reading is actually...not painful.  I've read a ton of religious books (partly because the only way I can make myself behave remotely well is to constantly remind myself by reading), and the most eye-opening spiritual book I've read this month was definitely The Life of Saint Teresa of Avila -- her autobiography. (Note: I have not read the version in the link and don't know if it's altered or a weird translation or anything, so don't blame me if it is.)  That book is just -- stunning.

8.  I am not cut out for being a stay-at-home daughter.  I have always been an independent person and I always told my mom I'd move out as soon as I turned eighteen.  That's not exactly happening, but I'm still joining a convent as soon as I find one, so hopefully I will still move out when I'm eighteen.  I never had any desire to be a stay-at-home daughter, and having finished school and being "almost grown-up" has just intensified that opinion. 

9.  I love English country dancing/square dancing.  I knew this already, but an impromptu, music-less lesson in the park by one of the girls from church a few weeks ago reminded me.   I don't know what it is about it, but it's so much fun.

10.  I am an autumn girl, and there's nothing I can do about it.  I was born in October, but I always insisted that I liked summer best.  And while I do like summer, it's always tainted by air conditioning and boredom and (up till now) the stress of overdue schoolwork.  The *idea* of summer is still my favorite, but in the real world, fall is best - the part that still above 45 degrees, that is.  I am looking forward to the cooler weather.

Favorite Poetry: Litany for the Feast of the Most Sacred Heart (Part 1)

In honor of the month of the Sacred Heart, I thought I'd post a bit of this very special poem apparently composed for the feast, which, by the way, is this Friday.  It is very long, so I won't post all of it today - I know that you people grow faint of heart at the prospect of very long pieces of writing.  (And I'm not necessarily blaming you - I get the same way sometimes.)  So I shall post some of it now and then the rest on Friday.

As I was writing it out, I was reflecting that non-Catholics or weak Catholics might find it a bit bizarre or over-the-top.  Well --- all I have to say to that is: let no one say that Catholicism is cold, sterile, or repressive. You can't read this and tell me that the religion inspiring it is repressive.
I think it's one of those poems that have to be pondered - I know a priest who made it the subject of his daily meditations, a stanza every day.  That's my favorite kind of poetry.  And its imagery is just perfect.  Agh, just read it already.  More coming on Friday.

Litany for the Feast of the Most Sacred Heart

by Gertrud von Le Fort 

Now I will pray the ardour of the soul as a great litany is

prayed.  Now I will raise the song of praise that is not sung

but loved.  Blood-red secret of all that is:

Holy Heart, divine Heart, almighty Heart.

Be loved, Love, eternal Love, be thou eternally loved.

Hearth in the dark of the frozen world,

Be loved, Love!

Flame-shadow over all the false brightness of the world,

Be loved, Love!

Burning sign in all the false rest of the world;

Lonely Heart, flaming Heart, unquenchable Heart:

Be loved, everlasting Love.

Heart deep as the nights that have no face:

Be loved!

Heart strong as the waves that have no shores:

Be loved!

Heart tender as little children that have no bitterness:

Be everlastingly loved.

Rose from the flower-beds of the invisible,

Rose from the chalice of the humble maiden,

Blossoming rose-bush, in which heaven and earth are entwined,

Be loved, everlasting Love!

Royal Heart in the flowing mantle of Thy blood:

Be loved!

Brother-Heart in the wild mockery of the thorny crown:

Be loved!

Breaking Heart in the stark ornament of Thy death wounds:

Heart dethroned, Heart betrayed, Heart cruelly martyred:

Be loved, everlasting Love, be everlastingly loved.

Heart before whom the mighty find their knees,

We ask Thee for Thy love.

Heart before whom the careless find their tears:

We ask Thee for Thy love.

Herat in whom thieves and murderers yet find forgiveness,

Great Heart, Heart of mercy, Heart of glory, 

We ask Thee for Thy love!

The Great Tolkien Debate

via tumblr

I've spent the last half-hour reading Christopher Tolkien's opinion on the LOTR movies, and then a bunch of comments.  [Note: if you don't want your faith in humanity destroyed, don't read comments.  Ever.]  So now of course I've got to give my opinion.

First, to the commenters (who obviously aren't reading this...): have some respect.  Christopher Tolkien was extremely close to his father and made maps, advised, and acted as his copyist for years.  The man knows what he's talking about.  He's the next-best thing to having Tolkien himself available for criticism.  (Tolkien père would probably have been much more communicative and explanatory, but that's beside the point.)  And Christopher Tolkien is eighty-seven years old.  You can't expect him to be either active in the LOTR phenomenon or accepting of changes to his father's beloved work.

At any rate, in principle I agree with Christopher Tolkien.  There is a great "chasm between the beauty and seriousness of the work, and what it has become."  The changes and many of the choices made by Peter Jackson do make a Tolkien purist, or anyone who understands his vision of his works, cringe.   

However.  First of all, one cannot expect perfection, least of all from Hollywood. Also, there is a huge gap between the culture of the era in which the books were written (and hence Christopher Tolkien's era) and modern culture of the era in which the films are made. I think it would probably be literally impossible to make a film that grasped Tolkien's ideas, was accurate as to characterization and events, was stylistically accurate, and didn't leave anything out.  Peter Jackson is guilty on multiple counts, but he did get some things right - sometimes amazingly right.  Considering what he was up against, he did a fairly good job.  Sometimes.  Agh, I don't know.  It is very confusing.  And I actually haven't even seen The Return of the King.  Anyway, what I wanted to say is that the films, in and of themselves, are gorgeous, glorious works of fantasy.  It's just when you compare them to the books that you run into issues.  But of course, every bookworm knows the maxim that the book is always better than the movie.
 (Note: now I feel a slight bit guilty for my positive-ish review of The Hobbit.)

So yes, Christopher Tolkien is right in condemning the film franchise's deviations, but I think that if you realize that the films are flawed (and make sure you don't get too wrapped up in them), you're fine.

Just in case anyone was wondering, yes, I have had a slight (oh, very slight) relapse into active Tolkien fangirling.  It has to do with reading The Silmarillion and seeing a certain independent film which I shall post about another time.

So, comment and give me your opinion on the LOTR books-vs-movies debate.  I love to discuss these things and hear others' opinions.

Favorite Music

The lovely Elizabeth of The Country Handmaiden recently posted a roundup of her favorite musical artists, and I thought "ooh, I like this idea," and so am copying her.  With permission, of course.

You already know a bit about my musical tastes from my long-neglected Song Saturday series, but I've sort of changed a bit since then.  I think.  Do you ever find that after a while you just get really tired of hearing the same music over and over again?  I do.  And then I take a nice long break from it, and sometimes I start liking it again afterwards.  Sometimes not.  It depends.  (Oh frailty,  thy name is Victoria.)

Cécile Corbel

She's from Brittany in France and sings in many languages, including French, English, Breton, Spanish, and even Turkish.  I'm kind of in awe of her command of languages, and I love her accent.  She's definitely my favorite singer - for now.

I had a really hard time choosing a song to embed here.  "Maybe I should do one in Breton so they can see how intriguing that language is...nah, that might be too weird for an introductory song.  I wish My Lullaby was on Youtube. Should  I do one with a video?  Sometimes music videos actually spoil the effect..."  One of her songs, En La Mar, has a video which I quite like, but I think the song may have some inappropriate lyrics, so I didn't want to do that one.  It's in Spanish, which I cannot say that I speak, so I'm not entirely sure, but I can pick up a few words...I dunno.  I should just ask a Spanish-speaker to tell me.  Anyway, the one I did post, Sweet Song, is one of the first songs of hers that I heard, and every time I hear it I just really want to write a fairy-tale story.  The lyrics suggest it.  Only I've never tried a fairy-story and don't think I'd be good at it.

Some other favorite songs of hers are My Lullaby, C'hoant Dimien, The Great Selkie, and Mary.  Oh, forget it, I like basically all of her songs.

Regina Spektor

You might know her from the film adaptation of Prince Caspian, where her song The Call was used in the last scenes and into the credits.  It's a lovely song, almost certainly her most beautiful.

I do have to put a warning here, though.  Not all her songs are good, by far.  I've come across some with swearing, and one or two with immoral subject-matter.  So just be aware of that if you search her on Youtube or anything.  Once you find the good ones, though, she's an interesting artist.  Very quirky, and her songs never really quite make sense.  She can do pretty amazing things with her voice, and she too has a cool accent - she's Russian-born, Jewish, and lives in New York.  That makes for an intriguing pronunciation.  Oh, and you want to talk about weird music videos?  SHE has WEIRD music videos.

(This song, Eet, is definitely the least-weird music video of hers.)  Other songs of hers that I like are Fidelity, The Calculation, Us, Folding Chair, Time is All Around, and How, for starters.

 Anúna

Anúna is an Irish choral group and is awesome.  (You might remember them from my first Song Saturday.)Besides having gorgeous voices, if you go to their Youtube channel and read the comments you will see how snarky and humorous they are.  That might not be a good thing to everybody, but I really get a kick out of it.

Ahem.  Anyway.  They sing mostly traditional pieces in English, Gaelic, and Latin - often medieval religious texts set to music by Michael McGlynn (the one kneeling down in the picture), or pieces written entirely by him.  Their music is just so peaceful and lovely.

This is The Wild Song, which I like to lie on my bed and listen to with my eyes closed, just imagining out the mental images suggested by the lyrics.  (Don't I have constructive hobbies?) Other good songs are Siuil a Ruin, The Rising of the Sun (Eiri na Griine), Pie Jesu, Greensleeves/Scarborough Fair, Dulaman, etc. etc. etc.  (Sorry, getting a bit bored typing it all out and remembering the names of things!)

Loreena Mckennitt

Unfortunately I must once again put a warning here.  This time it's religion.  Though after research I found that Loreena McKennitt herself doesn't practice any religion, a lot of her songs are very pagan.  So just keep that in mind.  

She sings a lot of poems and old folk songs (or songs based on folk tales), often with unusual instrumental accompaniment such as Eastern instruments or electric guitar.  She also does some Turkish/Middle-Eastern type pieces and, as I mentioned, New Age-y things, which I'm not fond of.

 This is The Highwayman, one of my absolute favorites.  I really don't know why, but I am fascinated by the legend(s) of the Highwayman.  I usually turn away in disgust from "bad boy" heroes, but I find the various incarnations of the highwayman mesmerizing.  Help?

Other favorites are The Lady of Shallot (which I have posted about before), The Bonny Swans, Dante's Prayer (which makes me want to lie on the floor and sob every time I hear it),  and The Mummers' Dance, which hopefully is not pagan.  I can't figure that one out, but I think it's okay.  (Also right now I'm listening to Caravanserai, which is pretty good.)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

I know, it's totally typical to like Mozart.  Why couldn't I like some cool obscure composer?  But, to be honest, I have trouble appreciating classical music (which is shameful), and somehow I've don't have trouble with Mozart.  I always think of him as the Baroque Taylor Swift, which I suppose is highly insulting and probably not true.

Piano Concerto no. 21 is probably my very favorite piece - and since we're doing Victoria Confesses To Being A Snob I will admit that I very much enjoy saying airily, "Oh, yes, my favorite Mozart piece is his Piano Concerto no. 21. Oh, you've never heard of it?  You should look it up."  Yes, bad me.  Sorry.  

My other favorite Mozart pieces are Exsultate Jubilate, Serenade no. 10, Symphony no. 40, Horn Concerto no. 4, and, possibly second favorite of all, Requiem in D minor.  I do not think it's morbid to like requiems.

Well, I do believe that is enough for one post.  I left out strictly religious music, which seems like it shouldn't really be mingled with the common crowd.  That'll have to be its own post someday.

Tell me all about your favorite music, or better yet, do your own post about it!  I love discovering new things.  Also tell me what you think of my selection.  Did you discover something you liked?  Something you disliked? (I'm fine with criticism.)  I'd love to know.

"Do you have joy without a cause, yea, faith without a hope?"

Once again, this is a post which I began some time ago and never finished.  I am no longer writing the essay in question - it has long since been graded, and I got an A, so you should listen to me when I talk about it.

The eponymous White Horse. (via google images)

 
I am continuing my time-honored tradition of procrastinating on English essays by writing about the subject of the essay here on my blog.  (See here, here, here, and here.)  It's like a passive-aggressive reaction or something.  I dunno.

This time the essay - and thus the blog post - is about my favorite epic poem in the history of ever - namely, The Ballad of the White Horse.  What's so great about it, you ask? Well, first and foremost, IT'S CHESTERTON.  I have about as much respect for him as I do for Tolkien, though in rather different ways.  Chesterton's intellect is intimidating, but that doesn't mean he's difficult and boring.  Au contraire.  His writing is the most hilarious, colorful, gorgeous thing that you can imagine.  But anyway, back to the the Ballad.  Just in case you don't really know or "get" what it's about, I'll give you a bit of a synopsis. 

The Ballad of the White Horse is the tale of King Alfred the Great of England and his battle against the Danish invaders in the ninth century.  On a greater scale, however, it is the endless story of the struggle betwixt good and evil, Christian and pagan.  Religion, history, legend, and myth blend seamlessly into an epic poem deserving of the name.

There.  Publishers should totally employ me to write their blurbs.

Really, I hardly know what else to say.  Does that every happen to you, where you like something so much that you don't know what to say about it? Maybe not.

I suppose the best thing is to let it speak for itself.  Here's my favorite part, which also happens to be the most famous, thanks in part to a certain Regina Doman, whose novel The Shadow of the Bear included the first stanza about the Men of the East.  That was actually the way I was introduced to the poem, and as it is quite lovely, it sparked my interest, so thank you, Mrs. Doman.

To give you some background, this is Our Lady speaking to King Alfred in a vision.

"The gates of heaven are lightly locked,

We do not guard our gold,

Men may uproot where worlds begin,

Or read the name of the nameless sin;

But if he fail or if he win

To no good man is told.

"The men of the East may spell the stars,

And times and triumphs mark,

But the men signed of the cross of Christ

Go gaily in the dark.

"The men of the East may search the scrolls

For sure fates and fame,

But the men that drink the blood of God

Go singing to their shame.

"The wise men know what wicked things

Are written on the sky,

They trim sad lamps, they touch sad strings,

Hearing the heavy purple wings,

Where the forgotten seraph kings

Still plot how God shall die.

"The wise men know all evil things

Under the twisted trees,

Where the perverse in pleasure pine

And men are weary of green wine

And sick of crimson seas.

"But you and all the kind of Christ

Are ignorant and brave,

And you have wars you hardly win

And souls you hardly save.

"I tell you naught for your comfort,

Yea, naught for your desire,

Save that the sky grows darker yet

And the sea rises higher.

"Night shall be thrice night over you,

And heaven an iron cope.

Do you have joy without a cause,

Yea, faith without a hope?"

Isn't it just lovely?  Maybe it's just me, but I think it makes you feel very strong and fearless, like you could withstand anything in the strength of the Faith .  I don't know why.  Paradoxes (like "joy without a cause" and "faith without a hope") just really appeal to me.

Now to make this a proper book review.  I give it 5 out of 5 stars, suitable for....erm, anyone who can understand it, really.  In general, I'd say highschool level.

Have you read The Ballad of the White Horse? (If you haven't, go get it now.  You can read it on Project Gutenberg here, if you like.) What did you think of it, if you did read it?  And have you read any of Regina Doman's books?

I SAW THE HOBBIT.

And it was....pretty glorious.  Not perfect, but I am not disappointed in the least.  I don't really know where to start in reviewing it, especially since I feel like by now y'all have heard it all a million times.  Oh! It was also the first time I've seen a 3-D film.  At first it seemed a little weird, with moths flying out at me and stuff, but after a while I got used to it and appreciated it.  It does make things more realistic.  It also makes it easier to *cough* hide unobtrusively from the scary orcs.

This is me when there were orc closeups. Take the glasses off, orcs go bye-bye and there's just a bunch of blurry movements.

 Okay, actually, the orcs weren't as scary as I remember them being in the Lord of the Rings films.  I really did make them nice and blurry a couple times, though - just cause they're so gosh-darn ugly.

Spoilers ahoy and fangirling ahead.  Motorists, proceed with caution.

Speaking of orcs, that is one thing I was not super happy about.  As most of you know, the whole Azog thing was not in the original book.  He was killed, by Dain, I believe, but I guess the producers wanted to have a present and tangible villain.  It makes sense.  I didn't mind for most of the time, but I felt the deviation from the fifteen birds in five fir-trees scene to be dramatic license overkill, just to bulk up the drama.  The pathetic "fight" between Thorin and Azog was just not necessary, and to have Gandalf either heal Thorin or bring him back to life (which it was, I couldn't decide) just doesn't make sense. If he could heal like that, why didn't he heal all those who fell in the Battle of Five Armies, and later, Faramir, Eowyn, and Frodo in The Lord of the Rings?  The only good thing that fiery Azog/Thorin/Bilbo fight scene did was to give Richard Armitage a chance to melt his poor fans with his ability to act pain and dismay with such heartbreaking perfection. All the man has to do is look.
 Also, I wish they had kept the original Hobbit way of calling them goblins instead of orcs.  The "orcs" in The Hobbit are a bit different than the LOTR ones, and anyway I just like the word "goblin."

I didn't realize it while I watching the film, but they really cut a lot of good dialogue.  What happened to "I am Mr. Bilbo Baggins, and I have lost my dwarves, my wizard, and my way?"  That's just one example. Of course, I do understand that as I was not personally consulted by the producers (an insufferable slight, but what can I do?), I cannot blame them for skipping my personal favorites.  They've got a lot of fans to please.  BUT.  They added dialogue, some of which made me laugh, some of which I found quite unnecessary, so why couldn't they keep more of the original dialogue?

The trolls were actually better then I expected, but the...er...use of Bilbo as a handkerchief was just flat-out gross.  I don't know why they had to do that.

One more thing before I'm done complaining.  Radagast.   Though we hear next to nothing about him in the books, I'm sure Tolkien didn't mean for him to be a dirty, mentally unstable kook.  In my mind, Radagast was a clean-shaved, brown-haired, introverted man who just quietly went about the job of being a steward of the forest.  Also, I don't see why he had to meet up with the dwarves.  I was hoping to just see Gandalf go to visit him and talk about wizardy stuff, and I do hope that he's not going to replace Beorn, as Rosamund suggests.

Well, that's all for my complaints.  It looks more extensive than it should be.

I actually didn't mind the little White Council meeting at Rivendell.  Galadriel looked gorgeous and wasn't as creepy as she usually is.  Also, I didn't see the supposed flirtation between her and Gandalf as a flirtation at all, just friendship.  I think it could be interpreted either way.

Another deviation that I actually liked was the insertion of Gollum's split-personality problem into the riddle-game.  I especially enjoyed how he kept telling himself to shut up.  I feel for you, Gollum.  My internal monologues go kinda the same way.  And, I never thought I'd say this, EVER, but his expression when Bilbo's about to smite him was really almost heart-wrenching.   Another thing I loved about the Gollum encounter was the line "if Baggins loses, we eats it whole," accompanied my a matter-of-fact shrug.  And then Bilbo replies, "Eh...fair enough."  I LOVE IT.

That brings me to the Hobbit himself.  Guys.  I don't think they could have found a more perfect actor for the part then Martin Freeman.  He was just Bilbo all over, exactly how I imagined.  Of course, there was a certain act of almost-disloyalty which was not true to the character at all, but that is not Mr. Freeman's fault.  I just can't get over what perfect casting it was.

 

 I'm going to be just be honest here and say that yes, I do find Fili and Kili to be annoyingly attractive.  I like that Kili's not just a pretty face like Legolas, though - his character actually has depth.

Speaking of attractiveness and perfect casting....THORIN.  You knew this was coming, internet.  As a North & South fan, I can't help but be a Thorin fan.  Richard Armitage plays the role to PERFECTION. (Chills-inducing voice, check.  Glowering expression, check.  Regal bearing, check.  Ability to convey volumes with a look, check.  All-round awesomeness, triple-check.) I was a little worried as to how he was going to be transformed into a dwarf, but I had nothing to worry about.  There's an internet meme going around about Thorin's majesticness (which isn't even a word), and I think that just about sums it up. Thorin is majestic.  He's just...gah.  I always loved the character (and would cry at a Certain Tragic Event which will happen in the third movie), and then to bring Mr. Thornton into it was the icing on the cake.  Absolutely perfect icing, too.

Now for my very favorite aspects of the film: the music and the scenery.

They did a lovely job with creating the right atmosphere for each place...can I just live in them all at once, please?  Bag End was so homey and cozy, you could definitely see why Bilbo missed it on his Adventure.  It was the nicest home a hobbit (or a human) could wish for.

Then there's Erebor. (Quick note: wasn't Erebor the Elves' name for Lonely Mountain? Why would Thorin, who hates Elves, use the elvish name for his home?) I've never been able to imagine what the Mountain looked like in Thror's day, so I was uncritical.  And it was breathtaking, as was the astounding amount of gold.  In a story with goblins, elves, wizards, and dragons, the amount of gold was the only thing I couldn't believe.

The sweeping panoramas of plains and mountains and green fields just made me want to book a plane ticket to New Zealand on the spot.  It was beautiful.

Then Rivendell.  Once again, I don't know what to say.  It was just lovely.  All the little waterfalls catching the moonlight and the sunrise...just...ahhh.  The sunrise scene especially was just unbelievably lovely.

And finally, the music.  They included Crack the Plates and, of course, the beloved Misty Mountains song from the book.  I did miss the tra-la-la-lally song from the entrance into Rivendell, but I am not surprised that they omitted it, as it doesn't quite fit with the more solemn portrayal of the Elves in LOTR, and thus with Peter Jackson's portrayal of them.  Once again, if they had consulted me....
There's also the fifteen birds in five fir-trees song that the goblins sing, but since the fifteen birds were stuck in one tree, it wouldn't have made sense.  Also, I'm not sure I really wanted to hear goblins sing.  It might have given me nightmares for life.

I thought that the Crack the Plates song was well done - rowdy enough for a bunch of rather unmannerly dwarves, but with a melody that made it pleasant to listen to.  As a matter of fact, I thought the whole dish-washing scene particularly well-done.

I needn't even say how lovely and perfect the Misty Mountains song was, especially since it would include more squeeing over a certain individual and his voice.  I shall simply say that it was just as I had always imagined it and I can't think how it could possibly be bettered.  That's saying a lot, too, because I've always loved it to bits.  They carried it over instrumentally throughout the film, which I think was a perfect artistic decision, as it conveys the sense of the deep longing and sadness of the dwarves for their lost homeland.  And of course it sounds gorgeous.

I haven't even actually seen all of the three LOTR movies, but when they played the theme Concerning Hobbits I could have cried.  I love that theme.  Howard Shore is wonderful.  The end.

*dies of excessive fangirling*

I think I shall go before I embarrass myself further.  Long story short, the book is always better, but the film was very lovely and OBVIOUSLY good enough to warrant an excessive post such as this.

Oh, wait.  One word of warning before I resume dying.  As you may have noticed, I'm a Tolkien fan.  You're probably a Tolkien fan too, if you've read this far.  However, if by some chance you're not, I will say that the film will not be as bright and shiny and perfect to a non-fan.  The thing is three hours long, people.  My dad, who, unfortunately, is at best a casual fan, was not amused.  So if you're not a fan, consider carefully.  If you are, and you haven't seen it yet, WHAT IN MIDDLE-EARTH ARE YOU WAITING FOR?  Four-and-a-half out of five stars, and I'd say suitable for ages 13 and up.  If you've seen LOTR, you'll be fine.  We didn't take my eleven-year-old sister, and I was glad we didn't.  There's nothing sinful, just what the rating association calls "disturbing images."  LIKE ORCSES.  AND GOLLUMS, PRECIOUS.

*resumes dying*


Editor's note: re-reading this review-ish thing, it is not as good as I at first hoped.  However, I shall not continue to edit it cause life calls.  So sorry if I am at all unintelligible or uninformative.  It's hard to make sense when you're dying of an excess of fangirling.

Appreciating Persuasion

So a couple days ago I got to thinking about Jane Austen's "most mature" novel, Persuasion, and I realized that I've really changed towards the story since I first read it five years ago.  When I first read it, I thought it was a bit boring (FORGIVE ME, I WAS TWELVE) - it’s a  story about an introverted, very-old-to-preteen-me, not necessarily pretty woman whom everyone walks all over and treats like dirt.  Basically, Cinderella with no mice or pumpkins or princes who instantly fall in love with you even though they’ve never seen you before.  Ahem. The film adaptation had none of the wit and sparkle of Pride and Prejudice and very little dialogue between the protagonists.  At the time I also thought both the book and the film to be very passionless and tame.
Now, over the years, I have developed a rule: if one does not appreciate a certain book, one must reread it over and over until he or she learns to appreciate it.  That’s what I did with Jane Eyre - but that’s another post - and that’s what I did with Persuasion.  And finally, on perhaps the third reading, I got it.  I learnt to admire Anne’s faithfulness and patience, got to understand Wentworth’s frustration with her (though for the first half of the book I still mentally shout at him that Anne loves him and he loves Anne and they need to just make it up already), understood the subtle (and the not-so-subtle) humor, appreciated the ongoing references to poetry and it’s effects on the temperament, and finally the book started playing in my head like a film, the way all good books do.  I got so into the “letter scene” that even now I can see it vividly in my imagination, just as I did when I read it.  I think for a while there I started to think that what Miss Austen was describing was happening to me.  My heartbeat quickened and I was in agonies for the few minutes it took to get and read the Captain’s letter.  This is how you know that a book is good.
As for the film, the second time I watched it, I payed more attention to the facial expressions and realized how talented the acting was, nearly everything conveyed in glances and stares.  (Of course, the scene where Anne runs down the streets like a hoyden still makes me want to throw things.)
This is probably going to sound cliché and stuck-up, but I really think Persuasion is just one of those books that takes some maturity and thoughtfulness to appreciate.  I’ll probably get even more out of it if I read it again when I’m more mature myself.
This has been your literary ramble of the day.  You’re welcome.

GUEST POST!

My guest post for Shaylynn's Tolkien Month got published on her blog this morning!  Eeeee!  I'm super excited - this was my first guest post ever, and on Shealynn's Fairy Shop, which is a long-time favorite of mine.  It was one of the very first blogs I ever discovered!  I am honored.

Check it out here, and be sure to read the rest of the Tolkien Month posts as well.

A Ramble-y Post on *The Scarlet Letter*

 People.  This book.  I thought I was going to hate it, but I don't.  It's full of interestingness and ideas and STUFF, which I will now proceed to ramble about.  Oh, and I must put out a major spoiler alert.  Don't say I didn't warn you.  You won't understand what I'm talking about, if you haven't read the book, by the way, because I'm not going to explain who or what I'm discussing.  I have to do that all the time in real life, and I very much dislike it.

First of all, The Scarlet Letter made me very grateful to be a Catholic.  Catholic confession would have been the saving of Dimmesdale!  He wouldn't have had to struggle with all that guilt and hypocrisy, because his sin would have been cleansed by the sacrament of Penance.  But no, he was a Puritan, and so he had to struggle with his guilt and try to avenge it on his own.  I do feel very, very sorry for him, even if he was a spineless jerk most of the time.  But shame is a horrible thing to bear.  It's not even explainable, it's so ghastly.  So I feel for Dimmesdale, and I wish I could hop in a TARDIS or something and bring him a Catholic priest.  (Do TARDISes go to fiction?  I'm not very well-versed in Who-ology.)  I did like that the author had confession (in a general way) be essential to Dimmesdale's redemption.  Hawthorne didn't just have him say "oh, in my heart I'm sorry for this, and that's all it takes so everything's fine now.  Glory hallelujah."  Also, the author didn't make excuses for the sin.  I mean, the whole book is about the consequences of a couple's adultery.

Random point #2: Pearl scares me.  I know she's supposed to be the living incarnation of her parents' sin and their punishment, but the girl is freaky.  You have no idea how relieved I was to find out that she was "humanized by sorrow" and eventually married and had a child.  I would have liked to see what she was like after her "transformation."  Too bad Nathaniel Hawthorne is dead.  A Pearl-centered sequel would have been interesting.

Speaking of weirdness, I was a bit confused by all the mentions of witchcraft.  Did Hawthorne mean to imply that all the flying about in the sky and whatnot actually happened, or was he just giving  the local opinions?  Very strange.

I found the characterization to be very good.  All the characters were three-dimensional: no one was  all good or all bad, yet the division between good and evil was very visible.  Even revengeful old Roger Chillingworth had his sympathetic moment in the beginning of the story, when he admits that he was wrong to marry Hester.   One almost feels sorry for him at that point.

Well, I'd better wrap this up.  It's nearly dinnertime and I'm too hungry to think anymore.  But I shall make this into a proper review by giving The Scarlet Letter 7 stars out of 10, a PG-13 movie-style rating (for mature themes), and recommending the book for readers age fifteen & up.

Note: I did not give the "mature readers"/"ordinary readers" distinction because once a reader is old enough for the mature themes, he/she is already old enough to be comfortable with the style.  Hope that makes sense. 

If you've read The Scarlet Letter, what did you think of it?  (Seton students, my eye is upon you.  I know you've read it because it's required for 11th-grade English, so I am expecting your comments.  Muahaha.)

An Announcement

Dearly beloved, something quite tragic has happened to me.


Somebody has supplanted Mr. Darcy in the right to my fangirl devotedness.

The somebody.

Yes, I have fallen under the spell of the irresistible Mr. Thornton.  I could not help it.  Even when my poor mother said that she had watched the film a long time ago and hated it, I went right ahead and watched it on YouTube, little knowing how I'd be affected.

My dear readers, I shall never be the same again.  I am now one of those strange people who are devoted fans of this intriguing BBC miniseries:

It's a lovely film and I highly recommend it.  It has more conflict and plot than a Jane Austen story, and is more thought-provoking.Perhaps whenever I read the book I shall write about the story with more depth and seriousness - perhaps.  I am currently incapable of more than squee noises.   And I'm sorry that I don't have any pictures up that aren't of Mr. Thornton. *blush*
 

PS - I must leave you with this beautiful theme from the film: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1NCpfvhDf0&feature=related.  Don't worry, it's quite short.  (Too short, in my opinion.)