The “Celebration of Heart and Home” is a blog carnival to showcase posts on mothering and making the house a *home*, i.e. homemaking! This along with our faith is the heart and soul of a loving home. Let’s share our joy and widsom.
Amyable at Among Women is starting this new blog carnival, and you can enter your post on the subject of making a home. Details here. The plan is to post the carnival in time for Mother’s Day.
*I’m sure this is a first for me; I’ve never read a novel translated from the Turkish before. In fact, I can’t even name a Turkish novel or a Turkish poet or writer. Can you?
* (p. 4) The beginning is a little disconcerting. We have a narrator (I) who calls himself a long-time firiend of Ka, the seeming main character. Who is this narrator? The author? How does he come to write such a story in which he tells us the thoughts of Ka the poet-protagonist?
*(p. 30) Head-scarves: Are they a symbol of subjection and slavery, or of rebellion and Islamic faith and fundamentalism? Eldest Daughter and I discussed the head covering controversy as it was publicized in France last year. The French see wearing head-scarves as a statement about being different, being non-French, whereas to me, as an American, it seems to be an issue of religious liberty. If Muslim girls want to wear head-coverings, why shouldn’t they be allowed to do so? I guess the question is whether or not they really want to wear the head coverings, or whether they’re being forced to do so. In Snow the girls want to wear head coverings, and the government and their parents and the schools are opposed to the practice.
*(p. 87) This book reads like a Russian novel, Dostoyevsky or Tolstoy. It has the deep foreboding atmosphere, the introspection and fascination with philosophy and religion, the seemingly irrelevant details that combine to create a memorable setting. If the conflict in the novel is between East and West, I think the East is the victor, at least in terms of writing style. Turkey itself is caught between East and West, I suppose. But I never thought of Turkey’s being caught between Russia and Western Europe, more between Islam and Byzantium. Islam has won, though.
*(p. 100) I’ve decided to substitute the word “Allah” for the (translated) word “God” as I read. I’m sure that the original text referred to Allah, and I’m also sure that “God” in a Western (Christian) sense is not a good translation. They’re not the same, are they?
*(p. 245) I don’t like any of the people in this book. The main character, Ka, is dishonest and manipulative, and he can’t decide who he is or what he wants. He wants happpiness, and then hewants to be unhappy. The suicide/head scarf girls also come across as manipulative and unsure of their goals or desires. Ipek, the woman Ka is supposedly pursuing, is alternately a seductress or a coy schoolgirl-ish kid, even though she’s already been married once. And everybody is poor and hopeless and aimless. Maybe the author is trying to show how poor and hopeless and aimless life is in the Turkish countryside. If so, it’s not good PR, but I’m convinced.
* (p. 249) The “love” scene—Yuck!!!!!! “According to the notes Ka made about his lovemaking . . .” Either things are really different in Turkey, or I’m a prude.
* (p. 250) I was wondering if someone died at the end of this book, and now it is revealed. Why does Parmuk write in such a cryptic, detective-novel fashion? Is this style supposed to sustain the reader’s interest?
* Symbols: snow, of course, Ka’s coat, the head scarves, hair, writing poetry, the drink that’s supposed to be poisonous only to Turks. The snow makes Ka think of, even believe in Allah. Ka’s coat is his Western protective covering, the opposite of the girls’ head scarves. Hair, a girl’s hair uncovered, is a symbol of wantonness and Westernized rebellion and atheism. “The only thing Turkish families teach their daughters here is how to be hairdressers . . . There are hundreds of Turkish hairdressers in Frankfurt.” Ka’s poetry comes to him in the midst of noise and confusion; he can’t write any poetry in Frankfurt where he’s alone and there is silence. Salvation through poetry? Poetry reveals the meaning of life? What is the meaning of the drink that may or may not be poisonous?
*Ka’s poems come to him like epileptic seizures. He is seized with a poem and must drop everything to commit his poem to paper. Does poetry really get written this way? Are Ka’s poems really any good? Or is he as crazy as Sunay, the actor, and the rest of the residents of Kars? If I believed that common people in Turkey really thought and acted as the characters in this novel do, I would be further estranged from the Islamic world and the adherents to Islam, not not more inclined to understand and believe in the possibility of reconciliation between East and West. Is it Parmuk’s intent to convey this hopelessness concerning understanding between East and West? The characters in this novel are deeply disturbed and caught up in a totally hopeless situation. The author says at one point that Ka’s fate is not determined, that he has opportunities to choose, to escape his fate, but everything in the novel points to the opposite conclusion: the newspaper that is written and printed before the events take place, Ka’s own pessimism and his end which is revealed long before the end of the novel, the Islamic submission to the will of Allah, the emphasis on play-acting as if we’re all unwilling actors in a play written by someone else (a madman?).
I’m going to post these rambling thoughts on the novel, Snow by Orhan Pamuk, even though I haven’t quite finished the novel, because the discussion starts today at Reading Matters. Go there for more discussion of the novel. I may post some more cohesive reflections on Mr. Pamuk’s book after I finish it.
Susan Wise Bauer’s new book, The History of the Ancient World: From the Earliest Accounts to the Fall of Rome, is available on Amazon for preorder. It’s due out next February (2007).
Stefanie hears voices, a multiplicity of voices telling her to read multiple books. Oh, that I could blame it all on my voices!
Amardeep Singh gives an overview of a discussion in the Indian blogosphere about how to review a book. That’s Indian, as in India. I’m still just amazed that I can sit at my computer in Houston, TX and read the opinion of an Indian reviewer on the latest book or political event or ….. What a wonderful world!
Mr. Dawntreader tells us why men hate Pride and Prejudice. I think he’s got it about three-quarters wrong, but then, he’s a man. You read it and judge for yourself. And if you think he should now be required to READ Pride and Prejudice, leave him a comment.
This series of Russian detective novels sounds interesting. Have any of you read any books by Boris Akunin?
From the blog amy loves books, an actual question from a sample ninth grade standardized test:
45Which would be the BEST method for
reading the directions for playing a new
board game?
A skim the directions
B look for a summary or list of key points
C slowly read all of the directions
D read the first few paragraphs only
If you are in any grade or no grade and know the correct answer to that question, you get a prize. But first you have to tell me why your answer gives the “BEST method.” Surely, not all the questions on the test are this stupid. At least at home, if my students must take a standardized test, I can tell them it’s a game and that they just have to learn how to jump through the hoops in order to get from where they are to where they want to be. (SAT college aptitude tests, for example.)
By the way, Amy sounds like a wonderful teacher, and she’s already had the discussion at her blog about public schools vs. homeschooling. SO don’t bug her about it. But really, what are they teaching the children in schools these days?
Patry Francis of Simply Wait is fast becoming one of my favorite writers. I can hardly wait to read her first novel, Liar’s Diary, when it is published next March. Meanwhile, there are short stories and blog posts, like this one about a chlldhood memory of a teacher with a secret.
Rick Saenz writes about a diverse family economy, putting together several small family enterprises, none of them large enough or profitable enough to support the family by itself, and making of all of them a workable family economic plan. I wonder if this idea can work. I’m intrigued, but somewhat skeptical. What if each business or enterprise requires a lot of time, especially to start up, and still none of them is profitable enough to justify all the time spent? I have been and will be watching the Saenz family to see how they make it all work.
Debra envisions a Homemaking Retreat where the inspiration consists of BLondie, June (Cleaver), and Debra’s very own home, decorated in vintage 1930’s style decor. The decorating isn’t something I could do, but a retreat to enjoy hers would be lots of fun.
Lars Walker writes about living in the first draft. Basic idea: This life is a first draft. We need to tolerate imperfection in ourselves and others and keep on muddling through.
Blest With Sons is taking control of her ADD, by God’s grace, and asking for organizational tips. Go on share your best advice. She asked for it.
Harper Lee, b. 1926. Enough has been said and written about To Kill a Mockingbird. If you haven’t read it, put down whatever you’re reading now, especially if it was published after 1940, and go borrow or purchase a copy of Miss Lee’s book and read it.
Lois Duncan, b. 1934. Author of many YA suspense novels, including Killing Mr. Griffin and I Know What You Did Last Summer.
Morse, Samuel Finley Breese, b. 1791. With funding from the U.S. government, he constructed the first telegraph line in the US between Washington, D.C. and Baltimore Maryland. The first message sent on this telegraph line on May 24, 1844 by Morse himself was, “What hath God wrought?” (Can you imagine the furor over such a “religious” message nowadays, government funded, no less?)
Bemelmans, Ludwig, b. 1898. We like Madeline. “She was not afraid of mice–she loved winter, snow, and ice. To the tiger in the zoo, Madeline just said, ‘Pooh-pooh.’” She’s definitely a positive role model––brave, bold, and adventurous. Mr. Bemelmans was born in Austria.
Lanz, Walter, b. 1900. Animator and creator of Woody the Woodpecker.
From Jen Robinson’s Book Page.
3 Children’s Books that I Would Like to Live in:
*Middle Earth, of course, after Sauron’s defeat. But I couldn’t live through the whole story. I’m too chicken.
*Narnia during the long reign of High King Peter, Queen Susan, King Edmund, and Queen Lucy. I had friends in junior high who actually had a date set upon which they were expecting to be translated or transported or something to Narnia. I wonder what ever happened to Chris and Lisa? 🙂
*In New York during the Pushcart War (by Jean Merrill). I could learn to use a peashooter and meet Frank the Flower.
3 Schools from Children’s Books that would have been Cool to Attend:
*The school in Carolyn Haywood’s Betsy and Eddie books.
*Avonlea School with Anne and Gilbert and Diana
*Laura Ingalls Wilder’s homeschool where she and Mary and Carrie and Baby Grace learned with Ma and Pa. The Ingalls girls did eventually attend formal schools, but it seems to me they learned more and had more fun at home with Ma and Pa Ingalls.
3 Books that I Like, but would NOT Want to Live in:
*Joan Aiken’s The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, as close to horror as I get.
*A Wrinkle in Time, also too scary to live in.
*Little Women. When Beth dies, I have to be able to tell myself that it’s just a story. If I lived there, I couldn’t.
3 Schools from Children’s Books that would NOT have been Cool to Attend
* The progressive school that Eustace Scrubb and Jill Pole attend in The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis
*Any school in any of Dickens’ novels. (Hey, I read Dickens to my children. Don’t you?) I think I read that Dickens himself had a bad school experience, and his characters don’t fare well at school either. In Nicholas Nickleby’s school children are beaten and taught by incompetent teachers; David Copperfield also attends a poorly run school; and Oliver Twist goes from the orphanage to Fagin’s School of Pickpocketry, not much of an improvement, I’m afraid.
*To show that I know that not all homeschools are equally wonderful, I must say that I would have run screaming from the house if I had to live and learn with Mrs. Bennett of Pride and Prejudice. As I have said before, it’s a wonder that Elizabeth and Jane turned out so well, and no wonder that Lydia didn’t. (Yes, my (young adult) children read Pride and Prejudice, too. No, they’re not prodigies; I force feed them) 🙂
Oh, I just thought of another book that I’d love to live in: I wish I could live on Aunt Hill with Rose and all her cousins in Eight Cousins by Louisa May Alcott.
How about you, what fictional worlds would you like to inhabit? Don’t cheat like I did; stick to children’s books.
John James Audubon, b. 1785. Naturalist, artist and author of Birds of America. Did you know he was born in Haiti?
Charles Francis Richter, b. 1900. Author, inventor, seismologist, inventor of the Richter scale to measure the magnitude of earthquakes. Would you rather live in earthquake country, tornado alley, or on the hurricane coast? I’ve lived in tornado alley, and it’s scary because tornadoes are so unpredictable; they can change directions very quickly, touch down, wreak havoc, and then disappear. You get used to the idea, however, and tornado watches are commonplace and often go unnoticed by native West Texans. I now live in the path of a possible hurricane, and although you can see them coming, it’s difficult to know when it’s necessary to leave—as evidenced by Katrina and Rita. I’ve never lived where an earthquake is likely, and I never want to live there (California). The idea of the earth no longer being firm and trustworthy under my feet is beyond scary; it’s just not right.
Bernard Malamud, b. 1914. American author of novels and short stories, including The Natural and The Fixer. I’ve never read any Malamud, but my mom took a Jewish American literature class once upon a time, and I typed her papers (thirty plus pages long on a typewriter!). So I feel as if I am at least acquainted with Mr. Malamud’s work.
Patricia Reilly Giff, b. 1935. Author of light reading material for children, especially girls. I’ve read a couple of her books, and they’re OK.
What are ten key chapters of the Bible that would summarize its message? Difficult question. K of K’s Cafe: The 30 Second Blog gives her list here. Are you back?
I’m not sure it’s possible to do this. I heard J. Vernon McGee preaching on the radio today, and he said that if the Holy Spirit had wanted us to have one gospel, harmonized, he would have given it that way instead of giving us the four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. This summarization of the Bible in ten chapters, although intriguing, sounds like much the same proposition as harmonizing the four gospels.
Anyway, I’ll give it a try. I think that if you read these ten chapters, you’d get a good introduction to the message of the Bible:
Genesis 2-3: Creation and Fall
Exodus 20: The Law
John 1: Emmanuel
Matthew 5: Jesus Teaches
Luke 15: The Loving Father
John 3: For God So Loved the World
John 19-20 Crucifixion and Resurrection
Romans 10: Salvation
So which ten chapters would you choose?