The Overstory by Richard Powers

I do love to theme my holiday reads where possible. A recent week long Far North Queensland break in beautiful, sunny Port Douglas on the edge of the Daintree Rainforest, gave me a chance to finally read this year's Pulitzer Prize winning book by Richard Power's The Overstory. (I also packed a book of essays called City of Trees by Sophie Cunningham as a companion read - to be reviewed soon).

The Australian cover of The Overstory has been one of my favourite designs throughout 2018 and it is now one of my favourite reads of 2019. In trying to work though my feelings about this book though, it's hard to go past Benjamin Markovits' Guardian review of The Overstory, where he said,

It’s an extraordinary novel, which doesn’t mean that I always liked it. Martin Amis’s brilliant description of what it’s like to admire a book – the stages you go through, from resistance to reluctance, until you finally reach acceptance in the end – is probably more linear than what usually happens. Because reluctance and acceptance can go hand in hand...

It’s an astonishing performance. Without the steadily cumulative effect of a linear story, Powers has to conjure narrative momentum out of thin air, again and again. And mostly he succeeds. Partly because he’s incredibly good at describing trees, at turning the science into poetry...

There is something exhilarating, too, in reading a novel whose context is wider than human life. Like Moby-Dick, The Overstory leaves you with a slightly adjusted frame of reference. Time matters differently; you look at the trees outside your window more curiously. Suspiciously, even.

Yes, yes, yes! It really is extraordinary and astonishing and exhilarating, with some qualifications.

Initially I thought that following the narratives of nine individuals would be hard to track and I made a few character notes on each one, during their origin chapters, but I didn't really need to in the end. Most of the characters was so fully realised which such rich backstories, that they were all clearly delineated in my mind.

I found the story mesmerising and haunting. Trees crept into my dreams and I found myself touching trees and smelling them on my morning walks, more so than usual. Our day trip into the Daintree even gave me a chance to hug an old, old tree with gratitude.

I also learnt so much. About the catastrophic chestnut blight and the so-called nature strips left by the logging companies on the side of the road, so that from the car you cannot see that entire mountainsides of forest have been logged behind them. About how trees migrate and communicate with each other. How they protect themselves and those around them from infestations. How intricate a forest system really is. And about how quickly we're losing the old forests of the world.

My qualifications?

At times I was concerned the story might tip over into earnestness or become too worthy for it's own good, but Powers reined it in each time.

I experienced resistance a few times - especially during the activism phase of the novel. Adam, the reluctant activist character was the one who helped me through.

At times it felt a bit too easy or convenient to create a divide between those who wanted to save the old growth forests and those nasty, greedy capitalists, who didn't. We all know it's not as black and white as that and that there's a lot of nuance and complexity in between.

The really hard part, though, is coming away from this story, wanting to help, wanting to make a difference, wanting for everyone to see how important it is for all of us to maintain diversity of species, but coming up with no real solution. The activism section of the book showed how futile it is in the face of rampant materialism and capitalism. Those advocating jobs and usefulness (in the name of making more money for themselves) will never see the point of long-haired layabouts, sponging off government handouts. And any scientific study is dismissed, ridiculed or declared 'unclear' - needing more time and more study before any action can possibly be considered - as another forest is cleared.

The only option Power leaves us with, in the end, is,

The best arguments in the world won't change a person's mind. The only thing that can do that is a good story.

The Overstory is a good story. It's poetic, urgent, timely, rich in detail, epic in nature and wears it's heart on it's sleeve. It is meaningful and satisfying.

I'm not sure we can say that this leaves us with a particularly optimist view of the human race, although, we can feel pretty sure that the trees will survive, somehow, somewhere, no matter what.

My copy of The Overstory in the Daintree Rainforest

Favourite Quote:

My simple rule of thumb, then, is this: when you cut down a tree, what you make from it should be at least as miraculous as what you cut down.

Favourite Character: The entire Hoel family who start this novel off with such a powerful generational story.

Favourite of Forget: Unforgettable

Facts:

• Shortlisted 2018 Man Booker Prize
• Winner 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
• Winner 2019 PEN/Jean Stein Book Award
• Longlisted for the 2020 International Dublin Literary Award

1/20 Books of Winter
The Overstory was read during my week in Far North Queensland - where the average daytime temperature was a glorious 27℃. The same week in Dublin had a chillier average of 17℃.
#justsaying

Aubade by Louise Gluck

I'm trying to stretch myself with poetry reading this year.

The best way to attempt this is to use my current novel reading as a springboard into a poem. Whether it be an epigraph, a quote or a reference made within a book, I plan to no longer just read over these parts quickly. Instead I will stop, take note, find the whole poem and consider slowly and purposefully the poem within the context of the book.

I'm currently reading The World was Whole by Fiona Wright. About halfway through is a chapter entitled, The World was Whole, Always where she quotes /A room with a chair, a window./ A small window, filled with the patterns light makes./

The image it created was very evocative and I appreciated how Gluck's general description of the room allows each reader to picture their own room, with the own chair, window and patterns of light. But it wasn't until I sourced and read the whole poem that I realised that Wright not only used a line from this poem for the chapter heading, but also for the title of the whole book. 

Further reading about Gluck revealed that she loves to reread Iris Murdoch "I love her wisdom and archness" (from Washington Square Review) and Franz Kafka. She was diagnosed with anorexia nervosa during her teen years and admired Joan of Arc as a child. She won the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for her latest collection called The Wild Iris.

I also learnt that an aubade is the opposite of a serenade, being a morning love song or a 'song from a door or window to a sleeping woman' (wikipedia). John Donne's poem, The Sunne Rising, is an example of an aubade.

Aubade was first published in 1999 in Vita Nova.

*

AUBADE

The world was very large. Then
the world was small. O
very small, small enough
to fit in a brain.

It had no color, it was all
interior space: nothing
got in or out. But time
seeped in anyway, that
was the tragic dimension.

I took time very seriously in those years,
if I remember accurately.

A room with a chair, a window.
A small window, filled with the patterns light makes.
In its emptiness the world

was whole always, not
a chip of something, with
the self at the center.

And at the center of the self,
grief I thought I couldn't survive.

A room with a bed, a table. Flashes
of light on the naked surfaces.

I had two desires: desire
to be safe and desire to feel. As though

the world were making
a decision against white
because it disdained potential
and wanted in its place substance:

panels
of gold where the light struck.
In the window, reddish
leaves of the copper beech tree.

Out of the stasis, facts, objects
blurred or knitted together: somewhere

time stirring, time
crying to be touched, to be
palpable,

the polished wood
shimmering with distinctions--

and then I was once more
a child in the presence of riches
and I didn't know what the riches were made of.

*

Jennifer @Holds Upon Happiness posts a lovely Poem for a Thursday each week. I love seeing which poem she picks but I rarely feel the urge to join in with one myself. However, today is one of those days when my recent reading provided the push I needed.

Eden's Outcasts by John Matteson

Eden's Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography. I started reading it in 2016. I thoroughly enjoyed the early part - Matteson wrote a very thorough and in-depth look at Louisa's childhood. But the font was small and things began to get difficult thanks to Bronson Alcott.

By half way through I had begun to actively dislike him. The family's time at Fruitland's was a turning point for me. Bronson's selfish, grandiose, madcap ideas had HUGE impacts on the rest of his family, who had no choice but to follow along.

My anger at his irresponsible actions, was unreasonable, I grant you, at this distance of two hundred years, but it was there, irrational or otherwise, and enough to stop me reading. For two years! Until the latest CC Spin spun me this book.

After such a long break, the story felt rather stale and I resisted picking it up again, until January. What to do next?
Start again? or pick up where I left off?

I tried picking up where I left off, but found myself a little confused. So I sat down with the first half of the book and all my underlining, to make some notes. I skimmed through and added jot points to this post to help me remember some of the important or interesting to me events.

At this point, I also realised that writing a review for this book was not going to just be about my journey with the book. If after only two years, I had forgotten most of what I had read earlier, then this post was going to have to be a place where I could keep my notes for future reference.

I already knew that this book was not going to be a keeper. I will not be rereading it at any point going forward. It will be passed on to others as soon as this post is finished. But the next time I reread Little Women, I may want to refer to some of the facts and thoughts presented in this bio.

For instance, both Louisa and her father, shared the same birthday, November 29 - 33 years apart and they died in the same year, 1888, not quite two days apart.

For Bronson,

• 'Life was a persistent but failed quest for perfection'.
• 'He believed that people had been given their weaknesses in order that they might triumph over them'.
• reform & redemption
• puritan 'nature was my parent'
• meager schooling - borrowed his cousins copy of The Pilgrim's Progress to commit 'favourite portions to memory' 
• "dear, delightful book"
• 'only the spirit that truly mattered'
• 'Bunyan's allegory was pivotally responsible for shaping Bronson's ideas of right conduct.'
• 'organised religion failed to bind him to its forms and dogmas'
• 'He never accepted the idea of Jesus as the Son of God' - he was a "superb specimen of humanity".'
• didn't pray
• thought that 'writings of Confucius, the Bhagavad Gita, and other Eastern texts should be combined with the New Testament to create an ecumenical "Bible for Mankind".'
• asceticism
• believed in his own genius 'the faith that he was both right and righteous became essential to Bronson'
• aversion to cruelty 
• only used corporal punishment as a 'regretted last resort'
• 'governed his students not by threats but by conversation, appealing to their feelings and sense of justice'
• believed that children 'possessed a collection of faculties that developed at different rates over time'
• Socratic dialogue was the 'chief avenue to the mind and soul of the child'
• influences - William Russell, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Plato - emphasising 'spirit of body'
• 'wholly immersed in the spiritual growth of his daughters'
• never understood the value of humour
• transcendentalist - Peabody, Emerson, Hedge, Thoreau
• 'he read not to absorb new ideas but to be confirmed in what he already knew'
• 'he had no ability whatever to set aside his own personality and enter into the lives and situations of others'
• 'could barely tolerate dissent of any kind'
• refused work that 'offended his moral principles'
• believed that 'Providence would rescue him'
• Fruitlands 'everyone agreed on the natural beauty of the farm. The improvements were another matter'.
• 'all should live according to the dictates of their own spirit' unfortunately everyone at Fruitands 'had a particular view of truth and righteousness.'
• 'The world had no good yardstick for measuring Bronson Alcott. His inspirations seemed saintly to some and deluded to others.'
• Hillside home became a station on the Underground Railroad
• affected by strange 'hallucinatory thoughts'
• 'Like many grandparents, he was evidently more at ease with his grandchild than he had been with his own offspring.'
• several speaking tours of the Midwest where he found '"the true American spirit.'"
• Tablets (1868) 'he reflected not on what adults might consciously do for children, but rather on what children unconsciously do for us.'
• 1879 collaborates to create a philosophical college in Concord offering a summer course of lectures.
• 1882 suffers a massive stroke.

The Alcott family and Orchard House around 1865 (Louisa May Alcott Memorial Association)

Louisa

• middle daughter
• defiant
• energetic
• resistant to discipline
• first surviving journal dates from the Fruitlands period
• Hillside first time she had a bedroom of her own.
• 'However much Emerson meant to Bronson during this time, he meant still more to Louisa, who found in him both a literary idol and a sympathetic ear.'
• 'These Hillside years correspond to the adolescence celebrated and fictionalised in Little Women'
• "Money is never plentiful in a philosopher's house, and even the maternal pelican could not supply all our wants on the small income which was freely shared with every needy soul who asked for help"
• family held together by shared narrative 'the tales they shared of their daily lives formed a bridge of sympathy and shared effort'.
• wrote The Inheritance - 'one can be both loyal to family and virtue and defy one's parents' wishes at the same time.'
• all her fiction is a 'plea for understanding the difficult process by which both characters and author must work out the ambiguities of personality and right behaviour'.
• 'Instead of looking for an alternative to her father, she apparently craved a better version of him'.
• Lizzie's death and Anna's betrothal affected her deeply. She believed that the soul of Lizzie was 'powerfully with her' and these trials brought her closer to the "Almighty Friend".
• 'the search for artistic excellence also involved a chaotic descent' like a whirlpool
• 1861-62 at the home of James Fields met - Longfellow, Fanny Kemble, Olive Wendell Holmes Sr & Harriett Beecher Stowe
• 1862 became an army nurse until she contracted typhoid pneumonia.
• Dr's gave her mercurous chloride (now known to be highly toxic and poisonous) to treat her illness which meant 'the last 25 years of her life were the history of glacially slow mortal illness'.
• Hospital Sketches (1863) 'popular beyond Louisa's highest expectations'.
• 1865 travelled to Europe as a travelling companion for the infirmed daughter of William Fletcher Weld.
• possible love affair with Ladislas Wisniewski in Italy (& one of the inspiratioons for Laurie in Little Women).
• Little Women (1868) 'put a permanent end to the real Alcott family's days of chronic want. Flush with royalty cheques, Louisa paid all the family's debts, and, to her astonished delight, had money left over to invest.'
• 1879 Louisa and May sail to Europe with a friend. Anna's husband, John Pratt died suddenly whilst they were gone.
• 'After she heard this news...,her writing took on a new purpose: both the spirit and the proceeds from this new novel must belong to the two "little men" who had been left without a father'.
• 1877 Abba dies.
• 1878 May marries in London but dies the following year due to complications after child birth - her dying wish was for Louisa to raise her daughter, Lulu.
• Louisa sells Orchard House after Bronson's stroke, so they could move to a warmer cottage in Nonquitt, Massachusetts.
• Jo's Boys published 1886 'its elaboration of Louisa's ideas on women's rights' and 'to be useful is to be blessed'.
• 1887 LM became a patient of Dr Lawrence's convalescent home in Roxbury.
• "At 55 one doesn't hope for much."
• 1st March 1888 visited Bronson, "I am going up. Come with me" LM: "I wish I could." He died three days later. The same morning, before news of her father's death could reach her, LM began to feel feverish and slipped into a coma.
• LM died 'barely forty hours after Bronson's death' 6th March 1888, the day of Bronson's burial.
• 8th March LM buried.
• LM adopted Anna's younger son, John before her death so that he could inherit her copyrights 'these he held as a trustee, dividing the income with Lulu, his brother Fred, and his mother.'

pg 307 

It has been suggested that the unyielding asceticism of Louisa's parents was a harmful force in her personal development. However, it may be argued with equal good faith that the staunchness with which they encouraged her to confront her inner failings was precisely what kept her sane.

I'm glad I pushed through my early dislike for Bronson. He never really outgrew his selfish, thoughtless ways, but there can be no doubt about the love he had for his family and the genuine affection and connection that existed between Bronson and Louisa.

Our families influence us, for good and bad, our entire lives. Our childhood experiences shape the adults we become. Matteson's biography explores this idea very thoroughly, with oodles of historical detail and recourse to primary sources. As he states at the end, it is impossible for those of us coming after, to know the everyday, unrecorded moments that make up any relationship.

pg 428

The life written is never the same as the life lived. Journals and letters tell much....But the bonds that two persons share consist also of encouraging words, a reassuring hand on a tired shoulder, fleeting smiles, and soon-forgotten quarrels. These contacts, so indispensable to existence, leave no durable trace. 

However, his award winning biography does a magnificent job of showing us everything else.

Susan Bailey has a most impressive blog all about Louisa called Louisa May Alcott is my Passion.

My Little Women review
My Good Wives review
My Little Men review
My Jo's Boys review

The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman

This is one graphic novel that really packs a punch.

The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman is one man's journey to understand what happened to his father during WWII. It's obvious from the opening pages that what happened to Vladek during the war had a huge impact on everything that came after. His marriages, his relationship with his son, Art, as well as having deep, abiding influences over Art's life to this day.

Art began his cartoon in 1980. It was serialised in Raw, an avant-garde comic magazine published by Art and his wife, Françoise Mouly, until 1991. The comic reflects conversations that Art began having with his father in 1978 about his war experiences. The story moves between these events and the modern day, where we see Art & Vladek's troubled relationship play our during their meetings.

There is a lot of sadness and unhappiness in this story.

Near the beginning of this story (in a story within the story) we learn that a teenage Art had spent some time in a mental health facility. Art's mother then committed suicide when he was twenty. 

Vladek and Anja were married before the war and had a young son, Richieu, who died during the war. Vladek and Anja survived the Polish ghetto as well as their time in Auschwitz and Birkenau, before eventually moving to Sweden (where Art was born in 1948) and then in 1951 emigrating to the States. 

Spiegelman uses animals as a kind of metaphor throughout.

The Jews are mice, the Germans cats, the Polish are depicted as pigs (which created a controversial reaction when the book was translated into Polish in 2001) and the Americans are dogs. In a humorous meta-fiction moment in the story, Art and his wife are discussing how he should draw her as she is French. Should she be a frog? Françoise suggests a bunny rabbit, until they agree that since she converted to Judaism she should also be a mouse. I suspect there are whole websites, papers and articles dedicated to unpacking the meaning behind all of this, but I'm too tired to search them out right now! However, I did read that Art once said that using animals "allowed me to approach otherwise unsayable things." (MetaMaus: A Look Inside a Modern Classic, Maus)

The Complete Maus contains two parts. 

Part I: My Father Bleeds History was first published in 1986, four years after Vladek's death. This part ended with Art walking away angrily from his father after learning that Vladek had destroyed all Anja's diaries and letters after her death when 'one time I had a very bad day'.

Art finds it hard to forgive his father for this act of destruction. 

Part II: And Here My Troubles Began shows Art struggling to come to terms with his newfound fame thanks to the publication of Part I. He has a young family and is obviously still trying to manage his own depressive episodes. 

Both Art and his father suffered from versions of survivor guilt, with Art not only living with his own memories but the stories of his parent's memories as well. The ghost memory of his brother, Richieu haunts him as well. Part II is dedicated to him, along with Art's own children, Nadja and Dashiell. (I read Nadja's memoir I'm Supposed to Protect You From All This a couple of years ago - it was one of the best memoirs I've read in a long time.)

This Pulitzer Prize winning book is not an easy read or a comfortable one, but if you only ever read one graphic novel in your lifetime, make it this one.
It's emotionally rich and complex.
The simple drawings convey so much emotion by the end, that I defy anyone to be left unmoved by the final page of the book. But it's Vladek's words that are at the heart of this story. Despite their complicated relationship, Art allows his father's words to stand. He bears witness to Vladek's story in an attempt to find meaning in something that is beyond understanding.

Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner

Angle of Repose is Wallace Stegner's Pulitzer prize winning novel from 1971.

Stegner created a part fact/part fiction story of life in 1880's America based on the real letters and journals of Mary Hallock Foote. After his book was published, a controversy brewed with some of Foote's descendants about how Stegner went about this merging of fact and fiction and his use of Foote's letters.

My edition of Angle of Repose carried Stegner's brief note explaining that,

though I have used many details of their lives and characters, I have not hesitated to warp both personalities and events to fictional needs. This is a novel which utilises selected facts from their real lives. It is in no sense a family history.

To my mind then, it was pretty clear, as I read the book, that this would be a kind of fictionalised biography.

Stegner combined real life people with fictional characters. His fictional characters spoke the words of real life people and the letters written by the real life Foote were liberally used (with minor changes) to tell the story of her fictional counterpart - Susan Ward.

Real and imaginary events existed side by side.

As the fictional Lyman Ward re-imagined his grandmother's life to suit the needs of his own personal narrative, so too, did Stegner, re-imagine this amazing story of a New York artist living life in the wild, wild, West with her adventurous, engineering husband.

The Irrigation Ditch, 1889, Mary Hallock Foote

Past and present informed each other as the fictional Lyman looked for lessons or clues to help him come to terms with his own life and failed marriage.

It was also very clear that Stegner (and his character Lyman Ward) had a great deal of affection and respect for Mary Foote/Susan Ward.

The time spent in Boise, Idaho, planning the building of a new dam, that could transform the barren desert, was particularly evocative - you could taste the dust and heat and feel Susan's growing isolation.

The Foote home, 1885, Idaho

The Angle of Repose is also a story about marriage.

The choices we make for love and for security and the courage required to see it through.
Stegner explores loyalty, hope, frustration and how to maintain a sense of self and independence.

We see the importance of open communication, but also how to turn a blind eye and hold your tongue at times. He delves into the daily negotiations and the battles of will. He shows how the small discontents can build into seemingly insurmountable mountains over time, so that guilt and forgiveness become the thing that keeps a couple together.

Angle of Repose was a tremendous read. It's another example of a fabulous Pulitzer winner that completely embraces and encapsulates a period of time and way of life in American history.

It felt like this book has taken me ages to read. But it was only 3 weeks in the end.
Angle of Repose was a book to savour slowly. At 557 pages with small font and minimum line spacing, it wasn't a small undertaking, however it was worth every minute, every page, every letter. In fact, for me, it was Mary's many original letters that made this story such an absorbing gem.

9/20 Books of Summer (winter)
57/110 Classics Club

Addendum, or the dangers of writing a review too soon.

As some of you know, I avoid reading reviews about the book I'm currently reading. I like to write my own review unfettered by anyone else's opinions.

However, every now and again, a book does cause me to do some research on it as I'm reading it. 

Angle of Repose was one of those books. I felt the need to find out about Mary Hallock Foote and where the fact and fiction existed in this story. I found a fascinating PDF of Foote's life at the Newsletter of the Idaho State Historical Society.

Reading this brief bio about the Foote's made me realise just how much of Mary's life was actually in Angle of Repose.

The main facts and figures and people are straight from Mary's real life. Stegner imagined conversations, motives and feelings to suit his literary purposes. When questioned afterwards, Stegner never denied his use of Foote's diaries and letters but it is curious that he didn't chronicle this properly at the time as one would expect of such a well-regarded academic.

The Newsletter above states at the end in it's bibliography that Angle of Repose is "A fictionalized telling of Mary Hallock Foote’s life, Angle of Repose is a great book, but don’t look to it for historical accuracy".

In the reviews and articles I've now read, I've come across a lot of literary regard for the character of Lyman. To my mind, as a character, he was nowhere near as interesting as his grandparents were. And I've now been wondering about the patriarchal attitudes that were still alive and kicking in the 70's, that not only saw Lyman's story as more relevant than Mary's, but also allowed Stegner to claim and bend a little known female writer's life to his own purpose, without any consequence.

I'm surprised that new editions of the book haven't rectified this oversight. Stegner clearly held his female characters in high regard and he wrote about them with warmth and affection. Yet, the more I read, the more it feels like something a little dishonest has happened here.

Should I have left my initial enjoyment of Angle of Repose alone?
Or does my new found knowledge, although tinged with shadows, allow me to view the book and the author(s) and the controversy in a more correct context?

The Pulitzer Project has several reviews for Angle of Repose which you can find here.
Jean @ Howling Frog Books review.
Rosemary and Reading Glasses' review.
Lisa @Bookshelf Fantasies review.

Classics Club February Meme

It's been a while since I participated in a Classics Club meme question. Mostly because I answered them first time around but also a little bit due to the fact that my life is busier now than last time around.

However, I have a lovely lazy quiet weekend ahead of me and I've been tempted into talking about the classics I'm reading this month.

February has been all about Louisa May Alcott and Little Women and Good Wives thanks to Suey, Kami and Jenni hosting a readalong this month.

I thoroughly enjoyed dipping back into these childhood favourites...so much so, that I plan to continue on and reread Little Men and Jo's Boys throughout March. If anyone would like to join me in reading these two lesser known Alcott's, please let me know in the comments below.

Although these four books are not on my official Classics Club list, they are on my Womens Classic Literature Challenge list.

Reading the Little Women books as an adult proved to be an interesting experience thanks to some knowledge about Alcott's life that I had picked up along the way.
As a child I didn't appreciate that she wrote these books based loosely on her family situation or that Alcott's family lived a life that was a little unusual to those of mainstream America.

This reread made me curious to know more...which leads me to the third book I hope to read during March - Eden's Outcasts: The Story of Louise May Alcott and Her Father by John Matteson.

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Biography in 2008. 
Louisa May Alcott is known universally. Yet during Louisa's youth, the famous Alcott was her father, Bronson—an eminent teacher and a friend of Emerson and Thoreau. He desired perfection, for the world and from his family. Louisa challenged him with her mercurial moods and yearnings for money and fame. The other prize she deeply coveted—her father's understanding—seemed hardest to win. This story of Bronson and Louisa's tense yet loving relationship adds dimensions to Louisa's life, her work, and the relationships of fathers and daughters.

These are not the only classics I plan to read in March.
Heavenali is hosting her wonderful #Woolfalong all year. I knew I didn't want to start with the 'toughies' Mrs Dalloway or To the Lighthouse, so I've been waiting for phase two to kick in.

The Voyage Out was her very first novel published in 1915 and I like the idea of starting at the beginning. Given that her writing has been described as experimental and full of 'intense lyricism and stylistic virtuosity' (thanks wikipedia) I think reading her books in order will allow me to develop my understanding of her in the same way as she developed her unique style.

In The Voyage Out, one of Woolf's wittiest, socially satirical novels, Rachel Vinrace embarks for South America on her father's ship, and is launched on a course of self-discovery in a modern version of the mythic voyage. Lorna Sage's Introduction and Explanatory Notes offer guidance to the reader new to Woolf, and illuminate Woolf's presence, not identifiable in the heroine, but in the social satire, lyricism and patterning of consciousness in one woman's rite of passage.

If all goes well I will jump into Night and Day (1919) and Jacob's Room (1922) in April, especially since my Wordsworth edition has them conveniently published in the same book.

Virginia Woolf’s second novel, Night and Day (1919), portrays the gradual changes in a society, the patterns and conventions of which are slowly disintegrating; where the representatives of the younger generation struggle to forge their own way, for ‘... life has to be faced: to be rejected; then accepted on new terms with rapture’. Woolf begins to experiment with the novel form while demonstrating her affection for the literature of the past.

Jacob’s Room (1922), Woolf’s third novel, marks the bold affirmation of her own voice and search for a new form to express her view that ‘the human soul … orientates itself afresh every now & then. It is doing so now. No one can see it whole therefore.’ Jacob’s life is presented in subtle, delicate and tantalising glimpses, the novel’s gaps and silences are as replete with meaning as the wicker armchair creaking in the empty room.

Do you have any classic reads on your radar this month?

So Big by Edna Ferber

So Big was my lucky #CCspin 11 book.

It ended up on my classic TBR pile because it was a Pulitzer prize winning book from 1924.

I'm trying to read my way through as many of the prize winning books as I can. So I was delighted with this spin choice.

I also had the pleasure of reading So Big in the company of Christy @A Good Stopping Point.
Her review is here.

First up, I loved the setting for So Big.

Chicago in the late 1800's is not a period of American history I am very familiar with, so I was fascinated to learn of the Dutch emmigrants who settled in the area as truck gardeners (or market gardeners as we would say in Australia).

High Prairie (now a community area of Chicago called Roseland) was home to a group of hard working Dutch families in the 1880's who eked out a living in this strange new land.
It was a tough life. Babies died, it was bitterly cold, it rained too much, it didn't rain enough, the days were long, life and education were ruled by the seasons, people suddenly got sick and died, there was never enough of anything.

Into this life, waltzes Selina Peake, the new school teacher with her dreams of beauty and adventure.

Her story didn't really go as I expected it to.

After getting to know Selina so well in the early stages of the book, her subsequent marriage and family life seemed to go by very quickly, and suddenly, her son, Dirk (a.k.a. SoBig because of a cute childhood game) was grown up and we were seeing the world, and Selina, through his eyes.

I thought this was going to be a story about pioneer life and women's issues. Instead it turned into a story about the privileged, entitled next generation taking the older hard working generation for granted. It was actually quite modern with its themes of living in the moment and embracing the beauty to be found in the everyday stuff of life.

I wasn't expecting a generational saga in such a slim volume.

Which isn't to say I didn't enjoy it.

I loved it.

Apparently, Ferber based Selina on a real life person called Widow Antje Paarlberg (whose family home has been preserved by her ancestors in South Holland, Illinois below).

Ferber wrote about 40 books and plays. Many of these have been turned into movies, including Show Boat, Giant, Cimarron, Saratoga Trunk and, of course, So Big. Who knew?

Isn't it curious how someone who was so popular and well-known in the arts community at one time, can disappear so completely from the scene in just one generation? In fact, it sounds like the ideal plot for a Ferber story!

Wharton Review

January is Wharton Review month where we can come together to celebrate and enjoy the writings of and about Edith Wharton.

Edith Wharton was born on the 24th January 1862 in New York City.

She was the first women to win a Pulitzer prize for Literature in 1921 for Age of Innocence. She was also nominated for the Nobel Prize in 1927, 1928, 1930.

The Pulitzer is awarded for "distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life."

Many of Wharton's books fit this criteria. But she also spent a lot of time in Europe, particularly, in Paris during WWI, which meant that many of her books had a fascinating Continental flavour as well.

Wharton's Goodreads author page can be viewed here if you need help getting started.
There is also a dedicated webpage called The Edith Wharton Society.

Spread the word about The Wharton Review by using #whartonreview on facebook, twitter and instagram.

There is no pressure or expectation with this month long review. Simply read, blog or comment on all things Wharton at your leisure.

I'm planning on reading Summer as well as knocking off some more chapters in the huge chunkster that is her biography by Hermione Lee.

I hope you can join us with a Wharton or two. We'd love to hear from you.
You can approach this anyone you like.
You can write an Introductory post, ask questions, provide background information about Wharton or her books and of course, review her wonderful books.
The main thing is to have fun and to spread our love for Edith Wharton's stories.

I hope that this months linky will become a great resource for anyone looking for recent reviews and thoughts about Wharton and her books.

Classics Club Spin #11

It's time once again to embrace all things spin-ish in the world of classic reading.

The Classics Club has announced #ccspin 11.

The lucky spin number will be drawn on Monday 7th December.
Simply read the book spun up for you by the 1st February 2016 and link your review back to the club.

Easy and fun.

I love it every time I see the Spin post pop up.
I love seeing what everyone else is reading and I love preparing a new list.

My previous spins have been mostly successful and/or enjoyable. I've also enjoyed reading along with other Classic Clubbers during most of the spins:

#1 The Magnificent Ambersons with Cat.

#2 Tess of the D'Urbervilles with Lakeside Musings & Several Four Many.

#3 My Cousin Rachel.

#4 The Brothers Karamazov with Bree who also read a Dostoyevsky novel for this spin. I gave up on this chunkster about halfway through, then I lost the bok during our move earlier in the year...serendipity, I say!

#5 The Odyssey with Plethora of Books. This one was a bit of a cheat as I had started it for another readalong, but struggled to finish. I added it to my list to motivate me to finish it. When no. 20 spun up it seemed like the gods had decreed it so!

#6 No Name by Wilkie Collins with Melbourne on My Mind.

#7 Silent Spring by Rachel Carson with Booker Talk - my first classic non-fiction spin.

#8 Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh has been my one and only dud Spin read so far.

#9 The Great World by David Malouf my first Australian classic spin.

#10 A Far Cry From Kensington by Muriel Spark.

I have read 52/125 on my ever evolving and expanding Classics Club list. My list will try to include some of the classic book already included in other challenges like my Women's Literature Classic challenge, #Woolfalong, #XmasinSummer and The Little House on the Prairie readalong.

1. Night and Day by Virginia Woolf
2. Indiana by George Sand
3. Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte        with Fortified by Books  & Randy Runt of a Reader
4. O Pioneers by Willa Cather    with Relevant Obscurity 
5. Summer by Edith Wharton     shared author with You, Me and a Cup of Tea
6. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad     with Relevant Obscurity
7. The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Charles Dickens    with Karen @Books and Chocolate
8. The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing           with Care's Online Bookclub
9. Ruth by Elizabeth Gaskell     with Jillian @Reading American Leaves
10. Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell    with Jessica @The Bookworm Chronicles
11. Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell        with Margaret @Books Please
12. Man and Wife by Wilkie Collins
13. Diary of a Provincial Lady by D M Delafield           with Audrey @Books as Food
14. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith       with Care's Online Bookclub
15. A Game of Hide and Seek by Elizabeth Taylor     with Jane @Beyond Eden Rock
16. Essence of the Thing by Madeleine St John
17. Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
18. The Good Earth by Pearl Buck
19. So Big by Edna Ferber     with Christy @A Good Stopping Point
20. The Dream by Emile Zola     shared author with Cleo @Classical Carousel

I wonder what Monday will spin us?

Later:

It's number 19!

So Big by Edna Ferber.

My reading buddy will be Christy from A Good Stopping Point.

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and widely considered to be Edna Ferber's greatest achievement, "So Big" is a classic novel of turn-of-the-century Chicago. 

It is the unforgettable story of Selina Peake DeJong, a gambler's daughter, and her struggles to stay afloat and maintain her dignity and her sanity in the face of marriage, widowhood, and single parenthood. A brilliant literary masterwork from one of the twentieth century's most accomplished and admired writers, the remarkable "So Big" still resonates with its unflinching view of poverty, sexism, and the drive for success

Happy Reading

A Good Scent From A Strange Mountain by Robert Olen Butler

I've been reading these short stories since my holiday in Vietnam at Easter.

I have thoroughly enjoyed each one, so I have no idea why it has taken me son long to get through this book.

Actually, yes, I do.

It's the font and the paper.

My edition of A Good Scent from A Strange Mountain came from an American publisher. It didn't cost very much. It's made with rough textured, off-white (okay, yellowed) paper and the font - type and size - is ghastly.

Australians often bitch and moan about the price of books here, but we pay for what we get. Our books are usually published on good quality paper, well-bound with generous fonts. It costs a bit more money to do this, but I think it is worth it.

I don't enjoy picking up this book.

It feels cheap and nasty.

Which is a shame, because the stories are delightful - poignant, descriptive and insightful.
Like many North American books about Vietnam, it focuses on the Saigon and South Vietnam experience only. Or more accurately, South Vietnamese immigrants living in Louisiana.

Butler served in Vietnam as a counter-intelligence special agent from 1969-1971 and later worked as a translator. So I guess that makes the connection and the reason why obvious.

The truly remarkable feature of these stories though, is how well and how completely Butler enters the Vietnamese character's psyches. It feels authentic and it feels respectful.

As an aside, I was curious to see that Butler has now been married five time!

Winner of the 1993 Pulitzer Prize.

A Good Scent From A Strange Mountain is no.15 in my #15in31 challenge - yay me!
Thanks Andi for the inspiration and encouragement to finish so many books this month. Now I just have to get on top of the reviews!

Gone With the Wind - Final Post

Phew! We made it.

After two months of all things Scarlett and Southern sentiment it is time to draw the curtains and dim the lights on the O'Hara's and the Confederacy.

Rereading Gone With the Wind after twenty+ years was an unexpected treat. I was worried that it may have dated or that I may have moved on in my literary tastes. I was delighted to discover that it was as fresh, rich and as engaging as the first read.

Yes, there are modern concerns about the depiction of slavery, women and the Confederacy. And Mitchell has infused the story with a strong sense of nostalgia. However these views reflect not only the period of time that Mitchell wrote about, but also the period of time that Mitchell herself grew up and lived in.

Our reading of GWTW is now influenced by the thoughts and beliefs of our period of time.
In the future, different understandings and sensibilities will have evolved again and our reviews will simply be a part of the timeline of this remarkable book.

I believe that this is what makes GWTW a classic.
 
Despite the constantly changing landscape that is its historical, social and cultural contexts, the underlying themes of friendship, strength, courage, belonging and morality have been and will be endlessly fascinating to readers across all times.

Corinne, early on in the Gone With The Wind readalong, mentioned that Margaret Mitchell was very interested in psychology and that the development of Scarlett's character reflected this interest.

From the start I was struck by Scarlett's distinctive behaviour and language which had lots in common with Borderline Personality Disorder. But as the story went on I realised that Scarlett didn't exhibit the usual BPD characteristics of unstable self, hostility and irresponsibility.

A quick google search found that Scarlett's character more accurately reflects Histrionic Personality Disorder (HPD).

A few of the typical HPD characteristics are:

• Attention-seeking behaviour
• "life of the party"
• Initially lively, dramatic and charming
• Use physical appearance to draw attention to themselves
• Inappropriate sexually seductive or provocative behaviour
• Rapidly shifting and/or shallow expression of emotions
• Impressionistic speech style lacking in detail
• Self-dramatisation, theatricality & exaggerated expression of emotion
• Highly suggestible
• Considers relationships to be more intimate than they actually are
• Craves novelty, stimulation & excitement
• Impulsiveness
• Intolerant of, or frustrated by delayed gratification
• "drama queen"
• "victim" or "princess"
• Manipulative
• Unconcerned about how their actions harm or upset others

A common BPD/HPD saying.

Antisocial, Narcissistic, Borderline, and Histrionic Personality Disorders are all closely related since they all share the same core feature of antagonism.

This core feature is an exaggerated sense of self-importance, insensitivity towards the feelings and needs of others, and callous exploitation of others. These antagonistic behaviors put the individual at odds with other people. If an individual has one of these antagonistic personality disorders, they are very likely to have another. (mentalhealth.com)

Initially I had planned to add quotes or descriptions that highlighted Scarlett's HPD traits. But there were so many that in the end it felt completely unnecessary to rehash the whole book to prove each point!

However my curiosity and interest in this side of Scarlett's personality gave me insights into why we love to hate her and hate to love her. 

Yes, she is strong, independent and very capable. She can also be sassy, smart and sexy. We can admire and even respect these traits. However her motivations, words and subsequent actions so often negated the good she actually did. 

Having experienced up close and personal the roller coaster ride of someone with BPD, I understand Rhett's "I don't give a damn" comment.
It is exhausting being around someone like this, especially an untreated, in denial someone like this.

The constant drama's lose their appeal very quickly and the emotional manipulations take their toll until you just can't do it any longer and you simply don't believe or trust they can ever change (despite all their promises to the contrary).

Which is why I firmly believe that Rhett and Scarlett will never get back together. Scarlett's future manipulations to get Rhett back will only reinforce to Rhett why he should keep his distance. Peace, charm and grace are not in Scarlett's repertoire.

In my opinion, the main feeling Rhett experiences as he walks out the door is one of pure relief (tinged with sadness and regret no doubt, but relief nonetheless).

Rhett is no angel, but he is fully cognizant of his own behaviours and motivations. He accepts responsibility for his actions and character flaws. At the end he simply realises that Scarlett's charm is best viewed from afar. The reality of living with it is no longer so delightful to him.

Mitchell's ending may not make every reader happy, but it reflects the usual (untreated) HPD/BPD relationship trajectory.

I found myself surprised by how much I thoroughly enjoyed this reading of GWTW though. Comments and reviews that have come my way over the years, had led me to believe that it wouldn't live up to my fond memories. And the BPD connection made for some uncomfortable reading at times.

If you haven't read GWTW yet, please reconsider. It's an epic read with fascinating characters, set during a remarkable period of American history. It's a Pulitzer Prize winning, American classic for very good reasons.

Interesting facts from Margaret Mitchell's real life that turned up in GWTW:

• Grandfather Mitchell was a Confederate soldier who made a large fortune selling lumber in Atlanta during Reconstruction.
• Her maternal grandfather emigrated from Ireland and eventually settled near Jonesboro on a plantation.
• Her family lived on Peachtree Street.
• In 1918 she became engaged to Clifford Henry who died shortly after in action in France.
• The following year Mitchell arrived home from college the day after her mother's death of Spanish 'flu.
• She was an "unscrupulous flirt" and found herself engaged to five men at once!

Curious facts about GWTW:

• Scarlett was actually called Pansy O'Hara right up until publication.
• Mitchell wrote the last chapter first.

My check-in post for chapters 21-30 is here.
Chapters 31-40 is here.
And chapters 51-60 is here.

Gone With the Wind - check in

So close...the end is in sight...only three chapters to go.

But for now, this is the official check-in post for chapters 51-60 of Margaret Mitchell's Pulitzer Prize winning Gone With the Wind.

The birth of Bonnie sees lots of changes occurring in the Butler household. Mammy has finally accepted Rhett and Rhett has been smitten by his beautiful baby girl. After a rather compromising afternoon with Ashley, Scarlett decides that she does not want any more babies (to preserve her 17 inch waist and to enjoy a similar marriage to Ashley and Melanie). So Rhett is banished to the spare bedroom.

Wade is upset because he is not invited to the birthday parties of the Atlanta old guard families. Rhett decides that Bonnie will never know this kind of pain and he sets out to win over all the old families.

Scarlett continues on her self-absorbed, self-obsessed path and finds herself alone once again with Ashley. Curiously she has discovered that her feelings for him are no longer of the raging passion kind, but more of a loving, comfortable friend. But it still looks very bad, when India and Mrs Elsing walk in on Scarlett being comforted in the arms of Ashley at the lumber mill.

What follows is one of the most uncomfortable, awkward birthday parties in the history of mankind at Melanie's. Scarlett desperately tries to get out of it, but Rhett forces her to attend to face her shame. But, of course, dear, loving, unsuspecting Melly stands by Scarlett with ferocious tenacity.

At home, a night of unbridled, drunken, rough sex leaves Scarlett bewildered and slightly shamed by how much she enjoyed herself. Rhett's drunken declaration of love satisfies her age old desire to finally have Rhett exactly where she wants so she can manipulate him. Except that things don't go exactly to plan.

Poor Scarlett is still as bewildered by other people as she has ever been. She is completely unable to see other people's perspective or understand that other people have different motivations to herself. As a result, everything that happens is always a surprise or a shock to her and everyone is mystery.

Rhett ups and leaves her, taking Bonnie on an extended holiday to visit family in Charleston. Melly sticks to Scarlett like glue to ensure that the Old Guard of society continue to accept Scarlett on Melly's terms.

After a few months Scarlett realises she is pregnant again, but for the first time, with a child she is actually looking forward to having. She thinks a boy might appease Rhett and return their marriage to what it was before.

Sadly, when he does return home, miscommunication, fear and an argument result in Scarlett falling down the stairs. For a while she is gravely ill, suffering a miscarriage, broken ribs and a high fever. Rhett is distraught with guilt, fear and love.

Scarlett's recovery is slow, but after a brief visit to Tara she comes back home, pale and still weak, but much better in mind and spirits.

In the meantime, young Bonnie has been learning to ride her pony. Bonnie has become quite willful and spoilt and she insists on taking a jump that is too high for her pony. Tragically, she falls and breaks her neck.

Rhett, in his grief, shots the pony before getting rip roaring drunk. Scarlett blames Rhett for Bonnie's death and lashes out with her bitter, cruel words, sending Rhett into a downward spiral of grief, self-hatred and drunkenness.

Mammy has to call on Miss Melly's help when Rhett refuses to allow Bonnie to be buried because she will be scared of the dark. Scarlett and Rhett are unable to comfort each other as their marriage cracks wide open under the pressure. Rhett turns to alcohol and Belle Watling for support and Scarlett realises that she has nobody but Melly to turn to.

This section is full of tragedy and despair.

Watching Rhett and Scarlett's marriage disintegrate is heart-breaking because they both do actually love each other and are so alike it should be easy for them. But pride, fear and an inability to be open and honest drives wedge after wedge between them. They continually bring the worst out in each other and they seem to enjoy baiting each other with their cruel, spiteful words.

The frustration continues to be Scarlett.

Her inability to assess, evaluate or understand anyone's point of view except her own has moved me from pity to infuriating impatience to eventually not giving a damn (sound familiar?)
She might be spunky and determined and hard-working, but sadly her selfishness, manipulative behaviours and outright meanness makes these good qualities count for naught (in my opinion). There even comes a point when you believe that she is finally getting what she deserves! She doesn't even bring out the best in her readers (& I am no Miss Melly)!!

Of course, Scarlett is a brilliant protagonist.

Full of drama, contradictions and provocations, she is a constant source of light, dark and movement. We don't have to like her; I'm not sure we're even meant to, but we can admire her at times, even if that admiration is grudging and tinged with disbelief at times.

How is your relationship with Scarlett progressing?

If you have missed any of the previous check-ins but would like to post your latest link here, please feel free to add them. Sorry this post is a bit rushed, but as regulars to my blog will be aware, we are in the middle of moving house. Finishing this post today has been my little treat/break inbetween boxes and cleaning out the shed (ugh!!)

I've left this linky open for a month to give folks plenty of time to jump on in.

With only three chapters to go until the end, let me add here how much I have enjoyed this readalong. Being able to read such a huge chunkster in such fine company with such a generous time frame between each check-in, has made this a very easy and do-able event.

Would anyone else like to host the last check-in and wrap-up post on the 1st August? I may have time next weekend or I may just be a blubbering mess curled up amongst the detritus of packing boxes!
Please let us know in the comments below if you'd like to host so we all know where to head to when we're finished.

I'm using #gwtwreadalong on Instagram if anyone wants to post pics of where they've been reading GWTW.

Schedule: 

Friday	May 1: first post – just to enthuse about how excited we are to begin.
Saturday	May 16: first check-in on Chapters One through Ten
Saturday	May 30:  check-in on Chapters Eleven through Twenty
Saturday	June 13:  check-in on Chapters Twenty-One through Thirty
Saturday	June 27:  check-in on Chapters Thirty-One through Forty
Saturday	July 11:  check-in on Chapters Forty-One through Fifty
Saturday	July 25:  check-in on Chapters Fifty-One through Sixty
Saturday	August 1:  check-in on Chapters Sixty-One through Sixty-Three (final discussion)