Archive | July 2007

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

Jul16

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith. Recommended by Cassie at Scads of Books. Also recommended by Carrie K. at Mommy Brain.

This book also happened to be the first book in a new project: our new Family Reading Club. My sister and I together chose this book for June because both of us had been planning to read it. So far the Family Reading Club includes just me and my sis. But we’re planning to get others involved: Mom? Eldest Daughter?

I liked I Capture the Castle very much; Sis J was a bit lukewarm. The first interesting thing about the book was really about the author: Dodie Smith also wrote 101 Dalmatians, the story that was the inspiration for the Disney movie. Castle, as far as I can tell, has little or nothing in common with Dalmatians, aside from a tendency toward quirky, eccentric characters.

I guess it was the characters that “captured” me. I Capture the Castle is narrated by sevevteen year old Cassandra, who ives in somewhat genteel poverty in a drafty old castle with her older sister, her artist’s model stepmother, and her washed-up writer father. The only hope for the family to get out of poverty is for one of the girls to marry someone rich. (This is starting to sound like a Jane Austen novel, but it’s not like that at all.)

Cassandra tells the story in her journal. She’s a wonderful narrator, witty, insightful, and honest. Cassandra’s sister Rose is the pretty one, and she’s determined to do whatever it takes to get the family some money. Stepmother Topaz is a model for various famous artists, but by the time she pays her expenses in London while she’s modelling, she doesn’t bring home much income. Father James Mortmain wrote one highly praised novel, very popular in America, but after spending a couple of years in prison for a crime that was never committed, James got a bad case of writer’s block. All he does is read mystery stories and work crossword puzzles and show up for dinner expecting miraculous loaves and fishes.

Into this rather chaotic family, which also includes a Heathcliff-ish servant with a crush on Cassandra, walk two rich Americans, Neil and Simon Cotton. Rose is sure she’s going to marry one of the brothers; she doesn’t really care which one. And Cassandra is both an interested observer and a willing accomplice to Rose’s rather clumsy machinations. The book turns into a tragicomedy as Cassandra grows up and begins to realize that she has romantic feelings of her own. I really liked the ending of the book; let it suffice to say that the ending was not trite and expected.

A minor discussion in the book was of great interest to me. Cassandra considers escape from her feelings of unrequited love by burying herself in religion or in good works. She’s essentially a pagan with Christian cultural clothing, but she sees others who are happy in their churchiness or in doing good. So Cassandra thinks she could do the same and thereby achieve peace and emotional detachment. However, she decides finally that she’d rather hurt (better to have loved and lost) than take refuge in Christianity or even simple goodness. I think she has a very simplistic view of Christianity, but maybe for a seventeen year old who hasn’t been properly taught what being a Christian is all about, she’s fairly advanced in her thinking. I wanted to tell her that being a Christian doesn’t help you to avoid suffering and pain; it only gives you a framework in which to evaluate and give meaning to the suffering and emotional pain that is unavoidable in life. But of course, I had to remind myself that Cassandra is a fictional character.

Do you ever want to talk back to the characters in your books? Please tell me I’m not the only one.

The July book for our Family Book Club is The Camel Bookmobile by Masha Hamilton. You’re welcome to claim us as family and read it, too. Or not claim us and still read the book. SisJ’s already read the book; I still have to pick it up from the hold shelf at the library.

The Cure by Athol Dickson

Jul13

Thank you, Bethany House, for sending me a review copy of Athol Dickson’s most recent novel, The Cure. I continue to be impressed with the intellectual and spiritual depth of Dickson’s writing. I added River Rising by Dickson to my list of Best Fiction Ever. The Cure is a worthy successor to that novel, although River Rising remains my favorite.

What if there were a cure for alcoholism? What if you could take one dose of a certain mixture of chemicals and herbs and be cured completely of the desire for alcohol? No more cravings ever? How would such a cure change society? What would such a cure be worth in dollars?

The Cure reminds me somewhat of a John Grisham novel: lots of intrigue, South American missionaries, fugitives, criminals, homelessness, lawyers, a large pharmaceutical company, broken, imperfect people. I give that comparison as a person who has read almost all of Grisham’s novels and admired most of them. I do think both The Cure and River Rising have a spiritual and thematic depth that is lacking in Grisham’s novels. If you know someone who likes Grisham, and you want to give him a new book in that same vein, I would suggest The Cure.

I enjoyed the story very much, read it last night and this morning, and it got me thinking. What does it take to be “cured” of a sinful addiction? First, you want something that takes the desire away, but is that enough? I’ve heard that there’s such a thing as a “dry drunk”, a person who’s still enslaved to alcoholic behaviors even though he’s not drinking alcohol. Many addictions have a physical component. However, in any addiction there is also an element of sin, of idolatry, putting the addictive substance or behavior in the place of God Almighty, so one can be freed from the substance or behavior and still be enslaved or empty. That’s why AA insists in its 12 Step program that in order to become a recovering alcoholic, a person must place his trust in a Higher Power.

Some applicable Scriptures:

Matthew 12: 43-45 When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order.Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first.

Proverbs 26:11-12 As a dog returns to its vomit,
so a fool repeats his folly.
Do you see a man wise in his own eyes?
There is more hope for a fool than for him.

Romans 7:21-25 So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Anyway, it’s a great book. If you read it, come back and tell me what you think. I think I’m glad that Mr. Dickson is writing books, and I’m looking forward to reading whatever he writes next.

Writing Contests

Jul10

Goodnight Moon Celebration Contest: Johnson’s and HarperCollins Publishers are sponsoring a bedtime story contest in honor of the 60th anniversary of the publication of the classic, Goodnight Moon. Online submissions must be received by July 15, 2007.

Nancy Pearl, librarian extraordinaire, is asking:

What was your first book crush? Everyone has one. You know, the first time a book completely captured your imagination, transported you to a magical world, or introduced you to lifelong friends you will never forget?”

Sasquatch Books is sponsoring a national essay contest to celebrate that incredible feeling of having a book crush. The winning entry will receive a Book Crush Weekend in Seattle, including airfare for two to Seattle, two nights’ hotel stay, and dinner with Nancy Pearl. The winning essay will be published online at www.nancypearl.com.

Kids ages 13 and under—each month, Writer’s Digest hosts a special Your Assignment for Kids competition! Win publication and prizes!

Carrie of Mommy Brain has more links to writing contests here (scroll down to the end of the post).

Rules

Jul9

The Headmistress at The Common Room has a wonderful list of Rules My Mama Never Told Me I’d Have to Make. My favorite rule of hers: “Do not glue your Cabbage Patch doll to the floor. And not to Daddy’s flight jacket either. And don’t glue it to the couch. And not the chair. Do not glue that baby anywhere.”

And here are some rules my mama never gave me and never warned me about:

When constructing a toy cannon out of household odds and ends, do not use powdered red tempera paint for gunpowder on your mother’s bedroom carpet.

Do not urinate on the garden.

Do not eat a bottle of vitamins. If you do consume a bottle of vitamins, do not feed them to your two year old sister to disguise the amount of vitamins consumed.

Blue chalk is for drawing, not eating. (However, if you call Poison Control, they will tell you that it is probably not toxic.)

Do not put bologna in the computer CD drive.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, but judging from appearances, they are not: Books belong in the bookshelf; candy wrappers belong in the trash; and wet, dirty towels belong in the wash.

Flip-flops are not appropriate church attire. (I’ve given up on this one in order to save my breath for more important battles.)

Do not allow the (large) dog to sit on your baby sister.

Children should sleep in their own beds, not in their parents’ bed, not in the living room floor, not on the trampoline, not in someone else’s bed —in their very own beds.

Do not play tic-tac-toe with Sharpie marker on the wall. Do not play tic-tac-toe with Sharpie marker on the back of the new leather couch. Do not touch a Sharpie marker until you are eighteen years old, and then only with the written permission of both parents.

Mommy and Daddy are not substitute jungle gyms.

Picking up a snake at the nature center and bringing it to your mother to ask her to identify said snake is not a good idea. Especially if the snake might be a copperhead. Especially if the snake IS a copperhead.

Baby possums trapped in the trash can are not cute. They are likely instead to be vicious and rabid.

Poetry and Fine Art Friday: Riddle

Jul6

The Martyrdom of Jan Hus

The author of the following riddle poem, often attributed to Lord Byron, was Catherine Maria Fanshawe, born on this date in 1765.

‘Twas whispered in Heaven, ’twas muttered in Hell,
And echo caught faintly the sound as it fell;
On the confines of Earth, ’twas permitted to rest,
And in the depths of the ocean its presence confessed;
‘Twill be found in the sphere when ’tis riven asunder,
Be seen in the lightning and heard in the thunder;
‘Twas allotted to man with his earliest breath,
Attends him at birth and awaits him at death,
Presides o’er his happiness, honor and health,
Is the prop of his house and the end of his wealth.
In the heaps of the miser, ’tis hoarded with care,
But is sure to be lost on his prodigal heir;
It begins every hope, every wish it must bound;
With the husbandman toils, and with monarchs is crowned;
Without it the soldier and seaman may roam,
But woe to the wretch who expels it from home!
In the whispers of conscience its voice will be found,
Nor e’er in the whirlwind of passion be drowned;
‘Twill soften the heart; but though deaf be the ear,
It will make him acutely and instantly hear.
Set in shade, let it rest like a delicate flower;
Ah! Breath on it softly, it dies in an hour.

(The picture hints at the answer to the riddle.)

To This Great Stage of Fools: Born July 6th

Jul6

Mignon Good Eberhart, b. 1899. A contemporary of Agatha Christie, Eberhart wrote romantic suspense and mystery stories. Girl Detective writes about Eberhart and her books here.

Nancy Reagan, b. 1921.

George W. Bush, b. 1946 in New Haven, Connecticut. Happy Birthday, Mr. President!

Cheryl Harness, b.1951. Author and illustrator of many children’s biographies and books about American historical events, including Three Young Pilgrims, Young John Quincy, Young Abe Lincoln, and The Remarkable Benjamin Franklin. These are beautifully illustrated books, and Ms. Harness tells a good story, too.

Also, on this date in 1415 Bohemian reformer John Hus was condemned as a heretic and burned at the stake. He was a follower of John Wycliffe and promoted Wycliffe’s ideas in what is now the Czech Republic. John Hus refused to recant his teachings with the words: “God is my witness that I have never taught that of which I have been accused by false witnesses. In the truth of the Gospel which I have written, taught, and preached I will die to-day with gladness.”
Hus is believed to have been born on or around July 6, 1369.

Movie News

Jul5

I just read while cruising the blogs that the following new movies are due out soon:

A new Indiana Jones movie with Harrison Ford as a very old Indiana. (How old is Harrison Ford, anyway?) Director Steven Spielberg and Executive Producer George Lucas are also back in the saddle for this one. It has a May, 2008 release date.

A sequel to National Treasure. Mrs. Happy Housewife says the original National Treasure contains historical inaccuracies. No, no, say it ain’t so! We were using that movie as the backbone of our early American history curriculum. 🙂
The new National Treasure movie is about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. So that should take us through the end of the Civil War.

Becoming Jane, the movie about Jane Austen’s life and love, will be in theaters in August. I think it will be fun as long as no one’s expecting historical fact instead of fictionalized romance based Austen’s life.

Golden Door is already in release in some cities, according to the official website. It’s a story about immigration to the U.S. through Ellis Island in the early 1900’s. More American history curriculum. 🙂 I’m going to have an entire course covering the span of U.S. history soon. Not really, but the movie does sound interesting.

Finally, they’re not new movies, but Melissa Wiley is compiling a great list of movie suggestions for her Netflix queue. I’m definitely going to add some of them to my Blockbuster list.

A Place in the Sun by Jill Rubalcaba

Jul5

Setting: Thirteenth century B.C., Egypt under the rule of Pharoah Ramses II, New Kingdom, 19th Dynasty.

Main Character: Senmut, the nine year old son of the sculptor, Yuf.

Themes: hardship, suffering, luck, perseverance.

This seventy-five page historical novel is short but full of pain and suspense. Senmut is only nine years old (I kept reminding myself of his age throughout the story) when he is sentenced to hard labor in the gold mines of Nubia for a “crime” that was essentially an accident. It’s unfair and horrible, and I think that although the reading level of the book is fourth or fifth grade, the content is pitched at young adult readers.

I got a picture of ancient Egypt as a place that might be nice to visit, if I could successfully avoid breaking any of the many superstitious taboos that ruled the lives of the Egyptians, but it wouldn’t be a “place in the sun” that I’d want to call home. Senmut survives his ordeal and becomes something more than a slave in ther gold mines, but his escape and his success are really due to luck, or the favor of the gods, more than anything else.

I think this one would be a great choice to go with our ancient history study to show students that ancient Egypt wasn’t all Pharoahs and pyramids, that lots of common people suffered and died under the rule of some dictatorial rulers who thought they were gods and yet were afraid of the gods whose images they both worshipped and emulated.

Shadow Hawk by Andre Norton

Jul2

Setting: Ancient Egypt, mainly in and around Thebes, c.1590 B.C. during the reigns of Pharoah Sekenenre III and his son Pharoah Kamose. Also near the end of the Hyksos occupation of Lower Egypt.

Main Character: Rahotep, younger son of Ptahhotep, viceroy of Nubia. Through his mother’s lineage, Rahotep is entitled to be called Nomarch (Duke) of the Hawk, but his duchy is overrun and has been for some time by the Hyksos invaders.

Themes: war, obedience to authority, rebellion, freedom. (Even if you don’t care for Ms. Norton’s science fiction/fantasy works, which are full of “witchy” worlds and themes, you may very well enjoy this book, which is straight historical fiction, good versus evil, morally impeccable.)

Minor Details that I noticed:
There are a lot of battles and descriptions of battles. Boys might enjoy that aspect of the book more than girls.

Rahotep is a hero. He’s the younger brother, forced to flee from his older brother who is out to get him. So, he’s the underdog who makes good at Pharoah’s court. That sort of plot and protagonist still works for me.

Very minor as far as the story is concerned, but I noticed how much respect and worship the Egyptians accorded their Pharoahs who were thought to be gods, sons of Re, the Sun God. We would be ashamed, and misunderstood, if those ancient Egyptians saw what little respect we Christians sometimes give to the God of the Universe and his Son, Jesus.

. . . by custom he did not raise his eyes to the man on the improvised throne. . . .

Rahotep went down on his knees. ‘Life! Health! Prosperity! May the Son of Re live forever! I am one unworthy of his notice! Let the Son of Re know that this one is less than the dust on his sandals . . .’

Rahotep advanced to put his lip to the Pharoah’s sandal strap.”

Author: Andre Norton is mainly famous for her science fiction titles, but she also wrote historical fiction. Shadow Hawk was published in 1960.

During those early days, agents were really unknown. So, when I was ready to submit my first novel, I got an alphabetized list of publishers and sent it to the first name on the list, and they accepted it.”

Can you authors believe that kind of sucess?

I was children’s librarian at the Cleveland Public Library for over twenty years, from 1930-1951. Each month the librarians would receive a book to review. If there was some objection to the book, and we still wanted it, we would have an opportunity to defend it. I remember getting The Hobbit and nobody had heard of Tolkien, so I had to argue for it like mad.”

I always say that I read and loved Tolkien before Tolkien was cool, but I don’t have as good a story as Ms. Norton.

A lot of children’s stories these days, while being well written, are downbeat. They have no hope, and the protagonist is someone that you wouldn’t like, and they are no better off at the end of the story than they were at the beginning. This is a new format, and it’s getting in to stories in the Science Fiction and Fantasy fields.”

Ah, someone else is concerned with that pesky “sense of hope” again. I must say that I agree with Ms. Norton and decry the loss of hope in children’s books.

Quotations are from a 1996 interview here at Ms. Norton’s excellent website. Andre Norton died in 2005.