Wednesday’s Word of the Week: Snollygoster

Sep7

Snollygoster: Popularized in the 1890s by H.J.W. Ham, a Georgia Democrat, a snollygoster is someone who wants political office at any cost â€” regardless of principles or platform. Itâ€™s possible the word came from the German phrase schnelle geister, which means quick spirit.

Maggie Galehouse at Bookish included this word in her post about the book Slinging Mud by Rosemarie Ostler.

There’s a tendency these days to assume that all politicians are snollygosters–at least to some extent. All candidates for political office are corrupted, and every word they say, every action they take is calculated for effect and to get votes. So you get statements like this one from The Daily Beast about Michele Bachman:

“On Monday, Bachmann didnâ€™t talk a lot about her religion. She didnâ€™t have toâ€”she knows how to signal it in ways that go right over secular heads.”

She’s a snollygoster, using her Christianity, covertly, to get votes. Kinda like a Christian fanatic undercover secret agent gal. Or maybe that’s Sarah Palin.

President Obama is accused of “pandering” to get votes–to the black community, to the gay community, to feminists, to Hollywood, to almost any group he even acknowledges or speaks to. He’s just a snollygoster who wanted to be president no matter what he had to say or do to get there.

Or Mitt Romney is a snollygoster because he changed his position from pro-choice to pro-life.

Rick Perry is a snollygoster who stays as quiet as possible and enters the race as late as possible so that he doesn’t say anything that will get him NOT elected.

If they’re all snollygosters with no fixed principles and no core character, what’s a citizen voter to do? I think we’ve become way too cynical. Maybe Rick Perry is trying to be thoughtful, not evasive. Maybe Mitt Romany truly changed his mind about abortion. Maybe Obama believes in gay rights and truly wants to help the black community, and he’s doing the best job he knows how to do as president. Maybe Michele Bachman quotes the Bible because she gets her ideas and core principles from Scripture, and she’s not trying to send secret coded messages to the Christians while retaining the secular conservative vote.

And maybe I’m naive and credulous. But it’s a lot easier to assume the politicians are telling the truth about what they believe and about what they want to accomplish, and then I can decide on the basis of what they say they believe which one best fits my values and political philosophy. And if you’re a snollygoster, well, the truth will out. You can’t fool all of the people all of the time.

1911: Books and Literature

Sep6

The 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica (eleventh edition of the encyclopedia) is published as a 29-volume reference tool with articles written by some of the leading scholars of the time: Algernon Charles Swinburne, Bertrand Russell, T.H. Huxley, Ernest Rutherford.

Copyright Act in Britain: Britain establishes six copyright libraries to which copies of all books published in the country must be sent: Bodleian Library (Oxford); British Library (London); National Library of Scotland (Edinburgh); National Library of Wales (Aberystwyth); Trinity College, Dublin; and Cambridge University Library.

Frances Hodgson Burnett publishes the children’s classic, The Secret Garden. Mary Lennox, a ten-year-old girl, is born in India to British parents. Spoiled and with a temper, she is unaffectionate, angry, rude and obstinate. A cholera outbreak kills her parents, and Mary is sent to England to live with her uncle. As Mary begins to experience the outdoors and the garden and the companionship of her cousin, Colin, and the housemaid’s little brother, Dickon, she grows into an unselfish, but still strong-minded, young lady. She is also able to help Colin to grow out of his fear of death and his invalidism.

Z-baby listened to the Focus on the Family Radio Theater audio version of The Secret Garden so many times that we all almost had it memorized. It’s a full-cast drama with actress Joan Plowright doing the narration, and it’s quite well done.

G.K. Chesterton publishes the first collection of “Father Brown” short stories. Father Brown is a nondescript, humble Catholic priest in London who has a knack for solving crimes.

Edith Wharton’s new book is Ethan Frome, the Edith Wharton book that everyone gets to read for English class because it’s short. I read it a long, long time ago for English class, and I don’t remember anything about it except for the snowy New England setting. Was there a skiing or sledding accident? Or was that some othr short novel set in New England? If you want to read Edith Wharton, read House of Mirth or Age of Innocence.

1910: The Arts

Sep6

Go here to look at some amazing photographs from Tsarist Russia, taken in color circa 1910. I have a tendency to think that people lived in black and white that long ago whereas the beautiful colors of God’s world existed then, too. Look and see if you don’t have to keep reminding yourself that the photographs are of real people from the early twentieth century, not actors dressed up as Russian peasants.

Tango fever sweeps Europe and the United States as fashionable young people learn to dance the tango, a dance that originated in the slums of Argentina.

I’m not sure why this couple is dancing about on the edge of some kind of pier or marina, but you can see why many found this new dance to be quite shocking and suggestive.

Texas Tuesday: Oh, Those Harper Girls! by Kathleen Karr

Sep6

A few years ago I read Kathleen Karr’s The Great Turkey Walk out loud to some of the urchins, and I remember us deriving immense enjoyment from the humorous story of a simple boy named Simon and his turkey drive across the Midwest. Well, I would love to read this book, Oh, Those Harper Girls!, to my younger children sometime when we’re studying Texas history. I’m sure they would love getting to know the six Harper sisters: March, April, May, June, Julie, and Lily. (Lily, the youngest was born in April, but that month had already been taken. Hence, Lily.)

The Harper girls live in Texas, in 1869, just after the Civil War, with their refined mother and their ne’er-do-well daddy on the Double H Ranch. Unfortunately, the bank is going to foreclose on the Double H if the Harpers can’t come up with enough money to pay off daddy’s bank loan. Fortunately, Daddy H has a plan. Unfortunately, the plan involves rustling some of the neighbor’s cattle and re-branding them with the Double H brand. Fortunately, the girls fail at cattle rustling. Unfortunately, Daddy has another plan . . . etc, etc, etc.

Oh, Those Harper Girls! is a wonderful comedic farce set in frontier Texas. I think kids and adults together could read this one and enjoy the broad humor as well as the subtle touches or irony and understated absurdity. For instance, the Double H, which is falling apart and mortgaged to the hilt, has a backyard full of “black ooze that kept creeping up around the plants no matter what Mama did to get rid of it. Disgusting, thick, sticky stuff. . . Wouldn’t you know her daddy would pick just such a site to build his ranch on. Poor Daddy never did do the right thing.” Only thirty years too soon.

For some Texan hijinks with a little comedic romance and jail-breaking and a stage tour and stagecoach robbery and even a foiled bank robbery all thrown in for free to keep the story moving along, you can’t go wrong with Ms. Karr’s portrait of six sisters trying to survive and thrive in heat- and poverty-stricken Central Texas. Near Fredericksburg. But the sisters eventually get to go to New York and go on stage at Tony Pastor’s Opera House. (We’ll join the Astors at Tony Pastor’s/And this I’m positive of/That we won’t come home/That we won’t come home/No, we won’t come home until we fall in love!)

His Other Wife by Deborah Bedford

Sep5

There was a certain man from Ramathaim, a Zuphite from the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.He had two wives; one was called Hannah and the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none. Year after year this man went up from his town to worship and sacrifice to the LORD Almighty at Shiloh, where Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, were priests of the LORD. Whenever the day came for Elkanah to sacrifice, he would give portions of the meat to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters. But to Hannah he gave a double portion because he loved her, and the LORD had closed her womb. Because the LORD had closed Hannahâ€™s womb, her rival kept provoking her in order to irritate her. This went on year after year. Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the LORD, her rival provoked her till she wept and would not eat. Her husband Elkanah would say to her, â€œHannah, why are you weeping? Why donâ€™t you eat? Why are you downhearted? Donâ€™t I mean more to you than ten sons?â€ NIV

His Other Wife is the story of a divorced woman, Hilary, and her son, Seth, and Seth’s “other family”, his father, the woman his father is now married to, and their children. The horrible effects of divorce and desertion are not soft-pedaled, but the story manages to jump from one character’s viewpoint to another and make the reader understand to some extent why everyone did what they did. Eric, the dad in the story, is a selfish adulterer, but he’s also a father who loves his son and wants to connect with him. The other wife, Pam, is competitive with an uncontrolled tongue, but she’s also fragile and insecure and trying to make a family with her husband, Eric. Hilary is lonely and way too dependent on her son for her own emotional stability, but she’s a good mom and a persistently loving one. Seth has his own issues, but he’s too busy keeping mom afloat and trying to make her happy to deal with his own emotional needs.

Then, tragedy breaks the entire family dynamic wide open. The story is loosely based on the family dynamic in Hannah’s story in I Samuel. But whereas Hannah and Peninah were rivals in having children, Hilary and Pam are competing for the love and attention of their children, especially Seth. The characters and their interactions are well-written and engaging in this book, and the calamity that brings out all the hidden dysfunction in the family makes the story move along and continue to grab the reader’s attention all the way to the end.

This novel is published by FaithWords, and there is some Christian content and teaching embedded in the story. Hilary’s faith both sustains and challenges her, even though she doesn’t think of herself as much of a Christian, just a semi-regular church-goer who prays emergency “help!” prayers when things go wrong. But in the book, God honors even those simple prayers and brings stability and peace into Hilary’s life when she is desperate enough to look to Him. It wasn’t over-poweringly preachy to me, but others may disagree with that assessment. His Other Wife was a good, thoughtful read which put great characters into an arresting situation that brought out the best and worst in each of them. Good dialog and good psychological insights complete this solid story of two families who must come together for the sake of a son who is suffering a life-changing trial.

1910: Events and Inventions

Sep5

February 12, 1910. A force of 2,000 Chinese troops march into Lhasa, the capital of Tibet. The 13th Dalai Lama, Thubten Gyatso, is forced to flee to India.

February 20, 1910. Boutros Pasha Ghali, the first native-born prime minister of Egypt, is assassinated by an Egyptian nationalist. Egypt is under British control, and the Egyptians themselves have only limited power of self-rule.

February 27, 1910. U.S. surgeons find and remove a nail from the lung of a boy by using an X-ray machine.

May 6, 1910. George V becomes King of Britain upon the death of his father, Edward VII.

May 31, 1910. The Union of South Africa becomes a self-governing dominion of the British Empire. The new government will be led by Prime Minister Louis Botha who was a leader in the defeated Boer army that fought against Britain in 1900-1901. He is now a convinced supporter of South Africa’s independence and participation in the British Dominion.

June 30, 1910. Russian prime minister Pyotr Stolypin easily persuades the Duma to pass a law that ends most aspects of Finnish independence. Russia takes over Finland completely.

August 22, 1910. After defeating the Russians in war and in peace, Japan officially annexes Korea.

October 4, 1910. Republican revolutionaries overthrow the Portuguese monarchy. 20 year old King Manuel II, who came to the throne after the assassination of his father and brother two and a half years ago (1908), flees to Gibraltar.

November 20, 1910. In Mexico, rebels begin the attempt to oust president and dictator Porfirio Diaz, who has ruled Mexico for over thirty years. Leaders in the rebellion include Francisco Madero, Emiliano Zapata, Pancho Villa, Victoriano Huerta, and Pascual Orozco.

More than a million immigrants enter the United States in 1910. The largest ethnic groups are Italians, Poles, Jews, Slovaks, and Greeks.

1910: Statistics and Interesting Facts

Sep3

In 1910:

The average life expectancy for men was 47 years. Only 14 percent of the homes had a bathtub. Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone.

There were only 8,000 cars and only 144 miles of paved roads. The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph.

'1910 - Oldsmobile Model 23-24, limited, 6 cylinders.' photo (c) 2009, New York Public Library - license: http://www.flickr.com/commons/usage/

The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower!

In Old California was the first film to be made in Hollywood.

Map of the World in 1910.

The average US wage in 1910 was 22 cents per hour. The average US worker made between $200 and $400 per year. A competent accountant could expect to earn $2000 per year, a dentist $2,500 per year, a veterinarian between $1,500 and $4,000 per year, and a mechanical engineer about $5,000 per year.

More than 95 percent of all births took place at home.

Ninety percent of all doctors had no college education. Instead, they attended so-called medical schools, many of which were condemned in the press AND by the government as ‘substandard.’

Sugar cost four cents a pound. Eggs were fourteen cents a dozen. Coffee was fifteen cents a pound.

Most women only washed their hair once a month, and used Borax or egg yolks for shampoo.

Canada passed a law that prohibited poor people from entering into their country for any reason.

The five leading causes of death were:
1. Pneumonia and influenza
2. Tuberculosis
3. Diarrhea
4. Heart disease
5. Stroke

The American flag had 45 stars.

The population of Las Vegas, Nevada, was only 30!

Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and iced tea hadn’t been invented yet.

There was no Mother’s Day or Father’s Day.

Two out of every 10 adults couldn’t read or write and only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated from high school.

Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at the local corner drugstores. Back then pharmacists said, ‘Heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind, regulates the stomach and bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health’.

Eighteen percent of households had at least one full-time servant or domestic help.

N.T. Wright on Reading the Bible

Sep3

I’ve heard of Mr. Wright, but I don’t really know much about him. Nevertheless, this brief talk on Bible reading is inspirational:

And it’s a lovely addendum to this post: 52 Ways to Read and Study the Bible in 2011.

Setting: Turn of the Century, 1900-1909

Sep2

Historical fiction is a great way to learn about history. In fact, I learned a lot of my history facts from novels. I’m often moved by a fiction book to go look up the story behind the story, to see if the author got her facts right. Here are a few adult fiction titles set in or around the turn of the century—nineteenth to twentieth, that is. No, I haven’t read all of these, but I have tried to give you a link to a review written by someone who has for each book listed. If you have reviewed any of these, leave a link in the comments, and I’ll add your review to the list. Or if you have read another book set in the early 1900’s that you liked, please share.

The Tale of Hilltop Farm by Susan Wittig Albert. Author Beatrix Potter solves mysteries in this book and the ones the follow in the series when she moves to Hill Top Farm after the death of her fiance. Reviewed by Allison at On My Bookshelf.

City of Tranquil Light by Bo Caldwell. Highly recommended. A young Mennonite missionary in China meets and marries a fellow missionary and lives through the turmoil of civil war. Semicolon review here.

Anna’s Book by Barbara Vine. Mystery and suspense in early twentieth century London. Reviewed by Superfast Reader.

Arthur and George by Julian Barnes. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle attempts to exonerate a falsely imprisoned man named George.

Beautiful Dreamer by Joan Naper. Chicago, 1900. Reviewed by Sarah Johnson at Reading the Past.

The Birth House by Ami McKay. A midwife in a Nova Scotia fishing village. Reviewed at Maw Books Blog..

Empire by Gore Vidal. Caroline Sanford runs a newspaper dynasty during the years 1898-1907–with insights into the Spanish-American War, the Hearst newspaper conglomerate, and the presidencies of William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt, among other historical events and persons.

A Flickering Light by Jane Kirkpatrick. In 1907, a fifteen year old girl dreams of a career in photography, a dangerous job reserved for men. Reviewd by Tracy at Relz Reviewz.

Jack London: Sailor on Horseback by Irving Stone. Biographical novel about the eponymous author.

Lake of Fire by Linda Jacobs. Romance blossoms in Yellowstone National Park, June, 1900. Reviewed by Sarah Johnson at Reading the Past.

Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns. Highly recommended. Will’s grandfather elopes with a woman half his age three weeks after his wife dies in 1906, causing a scandal in their small Georgia town. Cold Sassy Tree is on my list of the 100 Best Novels of All Time.

City of Light by Lauren Belfer. 1901 in Buffalo, New York as Niagara Falls is being harnessed for electricity.

The Outlander by Gil Adamson. Idaho and Montana, 1903. A nineteen year old woman murders her abusive husband and then runs away from his brothers who are thirsty for revenge.

The Quickening by Michelle Hoover. American Midwest in the early 1900’s. Reviewed by Caribousmom.

Painted Ladies by Siobhan Parkinson. A community of artists in Skagen, a fishing village in the north of Denmark, live a Bohemian lifestyle while producing great works of art. Reviewed by Sarah Johnson at Reading the Past.

For more historical novels of the twentieth century, look at HistoricalNovels.info.

Wednesday’s Word of the Week: Apophenia

Sep1

First, I read this post at Ace of Spades about how climate change may lead to an increase in mental illness because, as far as I can tell, schoolchildren tend to get depressed at a greater rate after experiencing a hurricane or cyclone. The post ends with the word “apophenia”. Isn’t that a lovely word? But I had no idea what it meant.

So, I went to my all-purpose, handy dandy, reference tool: Wikipedia. Yes, I use Wikipedia frequently to look up the stuff that I want to know, and so far I haven’t experienced any life-altering inaccuracies. Apophenia, quoth Wikipedia, is the experience of seeing meaningful patterns or connections in random or meaningless data. Ah, what a useful word in a world where conspiracy theories and seemingly random phenomena abound.

But is it apophenia or the hand of God when I see answers to prayer, and meaningful encouragement in Scripture that speaks to my immediate needs? And what about this statement at the end of the Wikipedia article: “The popular TV show, Lost, involves extensive use of apophenia in its storyline, including Biblical and numerological patterns, mis-identified faces, intentional use of pareidolia, and more.” Were the writers of Lost saying that the numbers and the patterns and the way people came together and crossed paths was randomness perceived to have meaning, apophenia? Or was there really within the Lost world supposed to be a meaning behind the island and all the things that happened on and off-island? Or were some things “apophenia”, like Hugo’s fear of of the numbers and his perception that he was cursed, and other patterns and coincidences meaningful, such as the idea that certain people were “brought” to the island to work out their salvation in fear and trembling?

I think the world is like Lost island: there are true incidences of apophenia, such as gamblers who think they have lucky numbers, people who see climate change-related calamities in every change in the weather, and even Christians who believe they hear the voice of God in events that are simply serendipitous happenings with no special message from God embedded in them. However, we should be very careful about crying “apophenia” when God may very well be at work orchestrating events and people to do His will. Was it apophenia when Esther found herself in exactly the right place and time to save her people from annihilation? Or was it apophenia that Jesus came to a world that was prepared to deal with him in a way that would fulfill prophecy and work out God’s plan of salvation prepared from the foundation of the world? There may be such a thing as too much ascribing of all fortuitous events to God at work, but there is also the danger of being blind to the wonderful ways in which the God of the Universe designs each detail of His world to work out His purposes.