"Romancing Miss Bronte"

As "Jane Eyre" is one of my all-time favorite and often-read books, I have read a lot about the lives of Charlotte Bronte and her sisters and brother as well. I read Elizabeth Gaskell's biography of Charlotte, as well as later books and articles and at least one fictionalized version of her life. I have just completed another fictionalized version: "Romancing Miss Bronte" (Ballantine, 2010), by Juliet Gael. Although it sometimes veers a little into the "romance novel" genre, and has touches of the portentous and overwrought style you might expect in that genre, it is generally well-written. It recaps the sad but compelling story of the very bright children of a parson in the small, isolated town of Haworth on the Yorkshire moors, the precocious fantasy stories they write together, the diseases that take them one by one, the difficult path to publication by the three surviving sisters, and finally the late marriage to a curate by the sole surviving sister, Charlotte. Where the book is strong is in its exploration of Charlotte's psyche. An enjoyable if often sad read.

Reading Engages the Senses

In my 6/18/10 post, I quoted Thomas Newkirk as saying that memorizing literature helps readers "taste" the words. This reminds me of one reason I love reading in print rather than online: Old-fashioned print engages the senses. Sight of course is primary, but not just for understanding the words. The way the book looks (size, shape, color, cover art, etc.), the way the pages look (layout, margins, etc.), the way the font looks, the size of the print, illustrations: all are part of the reading experience. Sound enters with the whisper or crackle of pages turning, and with the satisfying sound the book makes when set on a table, or when pulled from the shelf. Touch: Is the cover embossed? smooth? made of paper or fabric? Is the binding sewn or pasted? Are the pages thin or thick? How heavy is the book? How does it feel when held in the hand? Smell: All books have distinctive scents, especially very old and very new ones; those scents are part of the reading experience as well. All of this is lost when reading online....

In Praise of "Slow Reading"

An AP news story yesterday ("NH Professor Pushes for Return to Slow Reading," by Holly Ramer, June 17, 2010) describes the "Slow Reading" movement, which now has many proponents, and focuses on one professor's efforts. Professor Thomas Newkirk of the University of New Hampshire says that "students have told him they've become accustomed to flitting from page to page online and that they have trouble concentrating while reading printed books." To help counter this problem, Newkirk "is encouraging schools from elementary through college to return to old strategies such as reading aloud and memorization...to help students truly 'taste' the words." I am, as you might guess, very much in support of this movement. As I was reading this article, my thoughts flashed back to my beloved 8th grade teacher, Mr. George Fisher, and how he would have us memorize poems. Sometimes we resisted this assignment, but we enjoyed it too, and felt proud of being able to recite the poems. Learning a poem "by heart" does indeed, as Newkirk says, promote "tasting" the words. One poem that Mr. Fisher had us memorize that sticks in my mind still, although I can no longer recite more than a few lines, is "The Brook," by Alfred Lord Tennyson. "I slip, I slide, I gloom, I glide.../For men may come and men may go/But I go on forever."

"The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake"

"The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake" (Doubleday, 2010), by Aimee Bender, tells the story of a young girl, Rose, who discovers she can taste the emotions of the person who made the food she is eating. Emailing with my friend C., I discovered that we each, independently, had read reviews of this novel and were resisting reading it because it sounded gimmicky. I, however, had seen it in the library and something made me pick it up anyway, thinking I could always stop reading it if I didn't like it. To my surprise, I found the book entrancing, thoughtful, sensitive, and beautifully written. The "gimmick" of the story, Rose's ability to taste emotions in food, is really only a fresh way to explore the feelings of a young girl growing up in a family where there is much love and support but also much sadness and many secrets. Rose's father is loving but has trouble communicating, her mother is devoted but dissatisfied and vague, and her older brother is a genius who lives in his own little world of the imagination. Each character is quirky and complex, and often baffled by her or his life. I grew quite attached to Rose and her family, and was touched by the surprising, bittersweet ending. I have now pressed this book on C., and would like to press it on you as well.

"Major Pettigrew's Last Stand"

"Major Pettigrew's Last Stand" (Random House, 2010). Isn't that a great title? I know that I often post negative or mixed "reviews" of novels here, but today I wholeheartedly recommend this novel by Helen Simonson. The setting is a small town in England: Edgecombe St. Mary (another of those great British names), in the present. The main characters are Major Pettigrew and Mrs. Ali, the neighbor with whom - despite obstacles - the Major develops a friendship and then a romance. These two characters are very likable and complex; they, along with the other characters, are beautifully drawn. The plot is interesting and well-constructed; it, along with the characters, kept me eagerly reading. Village England, besides being the setting, is practically another character in this novel. Although it has many of the characteristics we Anglophiles are so familiar with, in fiction if not in actual close-up knowledge, it is more complicated than its usual portrayal. The author is not afraid to show not only the good points about England and about village life today, but also the defects, such as prejudices, materialism, and lack of respect for the past. Although in some ways the novel has a strong flavor of the past, it also acknowledges how England is changing and becoming more multicultural; this acknowledgment is, happily, more than lip service. But the major (so to speak!) drama and draw of this novel are the internal struggles and changes that the noble but very human Major Pettigrew goes through during the course of the narrative. Please find and read this wonderful novel!

I Love My Built-In Bookcases

Four years ago, when we were house hunting but I was briefly out of town, my husband told me about a house he had found and was excited about. The main draw was the location and the view. But knowing me and my devotion to books very well, he also told me of an added inducement: "It has built-in bookcases!" When I got back from my trip and saw the house, I loved it as much as my husband did, for many reasons, and one was those bookcases. They are floor-to-ceiling, with an abundance of space for many books. Of course I love bookcases in general: at home, in my office at the university, anywhere.... But there is something extra special about built-in bookcases. They are an integral part of a room, a sign that someone made books a priority when the house was built. They are so solid, so permanent. Readers, we bought the house and moved in very soon after. And one of the very first things I did when we moved in was to arrange my books on those magnificent, roomy built-in bookshelves!

Maisie Dobbs is Back

Although I have been a lifelong reader of mysteries (see my 1/27/10 post), I have "gone off" mysteries a bit the past couple of years. However, the publication of a new Maisie Dobbs mystery, "The Mapping of Love and Death" (HarperCollins, 2010), by Jacqueline Winspear, lured me back to the world of mysteries. This novel, the seventh in a wonderful series, all of which I have read, is as compellingly readable as its predecessors; I read it in one day. The series is set in England, post-World War I. Maisie Dobbs came from poverty but was discovered to be unusually bright, and with support from some rich patrons, received an excellent education, served as a nurse during the war, and now has her own small detective agency. In this most recent story, she is asked by an American family to find out information about their son's last weeks before he died in France during the war, and about a woman he had met before his death. In the course of unraveling an ever more complicated mystery, Maisie also deals with large changes in her personal life. If you enjoy mysteries, and you haven't yet discovered Maisie Dobbs, I urge you to find and read these novels about her, preferably starting with the first one, titled simply "Maisie Dobbs." I am guessing you will then be hooked, and will have the pleasure of the next six novels in front of you! If you are, on the other hand, already a Maisie Dobbs fan, you probably don't need my urging to find and read this latest installment of her story.