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Tuesday, May 31, 2005
May reads
Mansfield Park.
That's it, that's the only book I've read in its entirety during the month of May. I don't know WHEN the last time was that I only read one book in a month; it's almost embarrassing. We bookish nerdy types have our image to maintain, after all.
Excuses:
- I've been crocheting lots. I made a baby blanket for my sister-in-law (well, for her baby, who's due to arrive any day now) as well as a baby's sweater set which I hope to sell but will probably end up giving away, and I've begun another sweater set too (this has to do with the promise I made myself that I would clean out my craft box this year. The yarn with which I am making these sweater sets? was bought to make something for C. When she was in utero. I have a bad, bad habit of not finishing projects, and I'm trying to reform. We'll see how long it lasts; I have about eight other projects lined up when this one's done.
- Thanks to the crocheting, I've been watching movies. And not JUST P&P on endless loop, although Austen has certainly been a mainstay in my DVD experience. I've also watched "Les Miserables" with Liam Neeson (worth watching) and a handful of other more forgettable rented films.
- School. School is going really well. Who knows why that should interfere more this month than any other, but still. (I have come up with a slightly more time-consuming, but much better method by which the kids do their chapter summaries... but all told I don't think that makes much of an additional cut into my reading time.)
- Um. I am halfway through Emma and also My Sister's Keeper which I just picked up at the library today?
- I've been reading out loud to the family (Swiss Family Robinson) and hearing the kids read out loud to me (Ramona and her Father, Max's Chocolate Chicken, and Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, which C recently bought for herself even though I have a copy, a wise move since my copy is a tattered one I got in the third or fourth grade and I'd rather not have her completely destroy it).
- Probably The Nikon is a lot to blame. It's hard to read and take pictures at the same time. Although I feel like I've kind of lost it with the photography thing. All of a sudden all the pictures I take look really boring.
- I've been outdoors lots.
That's all I can come up with -- a pretty poor covering for my shame, when all's said and done. Maybe I should just give it up and admit that I'm not the nerd you thought I was.
About Mansfield Park -- what a book. I don't think it's anybody's favorite Austen book, simply because Fanny is not as likeable a heroine as Elizabeth or Anne (my personal favorite) or even Emma; she's not strong-willed in a spunky way; she doesn't stand up for herself; she doesn't win her man by making him crazy about her against his will, but rather by default when the woman he really is crazy about turns out to be a soulless heathen. I'm not as bothered by some aspects of the book as most other people are -- I can get past the extremely dated narrative objection to (shock and horror) PLAYACTING because I can see it as a representation of moral collapse and indecency, which I do have a problem with myself. I like that the lack of moral underpinnings in Henry and Mary Crawford (I just now realized that our two cats are named after an Austenian brother and sister) is a major stumbling block in their relations with upstanding people, and I like the disapproval subtly heaped on Sir Thomas because he neglected the moral training of his children, and I like the fact that a married woman who ran away with another man felt the consequences for the rest of her life. In short, I'm enough of a fuddy-duddy that a lot of the story resonates with me in a way that it fails to do with most modern readers. ;)
Comments
The worst thing about the consequences to Maria is the total lack of consequences to Henry. The only thing that happens to him is not getting to marry Fanny, and she was always in love with Edmund anyway. (Granted he wasn't technically an adulterer, since he wasn't married, but it was still wrong.) The other worst thing is that the prison is utter and forever: even should she finally come to understand the gravity of what she did and repent for it, there are no steps she could take to escape or even atone for her situation.
Posted by: dichroic at June 1, 2005 07:37 AM
P (not sure if you want to use your real name online, but I can't just call you dichroic, so you get an initial like everyone else ;), you're right about Henry. I mean, Austen makes sure we know that the loss of Fanny IS a huge consequence to him, but his troubles are all internal (he had a chance to live a happy life loved by a good woman and he threw it away). There's no social stigma at all for him. I hadn't thought about that.
Posted by: Rachel at June 1, 2005 08:47 AM
RIGHT ON about Mansfield Park. It's a great Austen book to discuss, because there's so much emotional and moral terrain to cover. *salivating*
Oh, and: "a slightly more time-consuming, but much better method by which the kids do their chapter summaries"
Spill it! I want details about this new method.
Posted by: Kristen at June 1, 2005 12:13 PM
Reading outloud to your family is so cool! I mean, it's very classic and so anti-TV. I keep meaning to read Hitchhiker's Guide outloud to Jason, but when I'm reading, he's snoring. Ah well. Here's a good crocheting assignment for you! My birthday is coming up...My new favorite colors are aqua blue-green and brown. Stripes work well, thin yarn (wool makes me itch)...Something good for fall.
Posted by: jenn at June 1, 2005 09:02 PM
So. I had jury duty on Friday...guess what I did all day? That's right. Let's discuss MP soon. :)
Posted by: Kristen at June 6, 2005 03:48 PM
