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#54 Dreamers of the Day
Dreamers of the Day: A Novel
This novel tells the story of Agnes Shanklin, a dowdy, severely skeptical 40-year-old spinster who still needs the reassurance of her mother’s approval before making any decision. When Mumma and the rest of her family dies during the influenza epidemic, Agnes inherits a small fortune. Despite the nagging voice of Mumma in her head, she begins to dress in a way that flatters her figure and decides to follow in the footsteps of her deceased sister Lillian, the woman through whom she’s lived vicariously since their days in college. She takes a trip to Egypt, the land of Lawrence of Arabia and her trip happens to coincide with Churchill’s Cairo Conference.
Agnes is an intelligent woman who feels she knows the true inner workings of American domestic and foreign policy and how it was that United States got involved in WWI. Very near to the beginning of her dialog with the reader, she explains how it was the use of marketing language and lies involving Mexico that got this nation fired up to fight. I found it interesting that the narrator handily denounces such strategies near the beginning of her story while using the rest of her story to dish out her own propaganda.
It must be as frustrating to live a life full of self-righteous skepticism as it is at times to read Agnes’ story. Here she is a woman who takes a huge leap of faith in herself and, as a result of a connection made by her sister, happens upon Lawrence of Arabia, Gertrude Bell, and Winston Churchill in Cairo, Egypt at a most decisive time in history. Simply because of Lawrence’s affection for Lillian, Agnes is given the opportunity to take part in important discussions with some of the most important political leaders of her lifetime. Even while she feels as though she is looked down upon for being a woman and an American, she was constantly critical of their manners and their convictions. Their real-life experiences mattered not. She knew better than they did.
Separating myself from Agnes’ intellect, I enjoyed reading this book. I identified with Agnes’ inner relationship with her mother a great deal. As the oldest child, you sometimes feel the need to not go after what you want in order to lighten the burden on your parent(s). My parents did not expect this of me the way that Agnes’ mother seemed to, but I believe that we both operated from the same mindset. I very much appreciated Agnes’ mistrust in herself, her body, and male attention. I also enjoyed the author’s descriptions of the landscape, culture, and people of the Middle East. The description of the day that Agnes spent with Churchill and company riding camels to see the pyramids captured the experience perfectly.
In the end, I was disappointed with the literary device the author used to turn Agnes’ story into her own morality lesson about American politics today. It would have been much more beautiful and moving had she painted the story as it was in watercolor.
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21011
That is the total number of pages I read in 2007. Since I read a total of 53 books this year (always add one more for good measure), that’s an average of 396 each. That is really unbelievable to me, and I was there for each and every page. I will forever be proud of this accomplishment.
#53 Queens of England
Queens of England by Norah Lofts
I took the girls to the library last Saturday and was actually able to get them to stay in the children’s portion of the library for long enough for me to pick out some books. There is a member of the Historical Fiction board named Divia who happens to make spectacular book suggestions and I was curious to see how many of those books were available. I’m not typically a big user of the library as I have a hard time returning books on time. Still, even the small fines do not come close to the total amount of buying a book. In 2008 I’m vowing to buy very few books (no more than one per month – unless I get gift cards or find out that I’m the only living beneficiary for an amazingly huge inheritance).
While I picked up Nefertiti and The Blood of Flowers, I also looked up what was available by Norah Lofts. I’ve recently started to hear good things about her, but didn’t expect to find anything because it is somewhat old. To my delight, the library system has a few of her books. The branch we were visiting had the Queens of England and I couldn’t resist picking it up as well. While the girls sat in the miniature tepee and read Christmas books to each other (Allison’s stories border on the bizarre with sentences almost always ending in “he/she said), I opened the book and started reading. I absolutely loved the overviews on each queen. There wasn’t a great deal of coverage on any one woman, but there was just enough to give you a feel for what she might have been like.
I was not surprised in the least that the Kings of England were not faithful to their Queens, I did find the number of sexually ambiguous or homosexual Kings interesting. While Queen Isabella is vilified as the She-Devil of France, Edward II had many male “favorites.” In fact, he so “favored” the Despensers (a father and son) over his wife and his duties as the King that he ended up losing his crown as a result. All the same, it is her reputation that was ruined. Go figure…
There were a couple of times where I got a little lost in Lofts’ narrative from time to time. For some odd reason, it was usually within the second paragraph written about the current queen. As I didn’t have this problem with Elizabeth of York through Elizabeth I, this had more to do with my limited knowledge of British history than it does with Lofts’ writing.
As Elizabeth II was the reigning monarch in 1977, the year in which this book was published, there is a chapter devoted to her. I found that to be my favorite portion of the book. Ever since watching “The Queen” this year, I’ve become quite fond of her. Without any history other than what was ever reported in the tabloids about her children and daughters-in-law, I didn’t think much of her at all. I can very distinctly remember being upset for Princess Diana after her death because of the way the Queen and company were acting. That movie and reading this book in particular have opened my eyes a great deal to the role of the monarchy. As Diana grew up with royal blood in England,she would have known the very basic information that was covered in this book. As such, she could not have gone into her courtship and marriage to Charles as the innocent lamb she would have liked everyone to believe. She knew what she was getting herself into. I am thinking specifically about her statement that there was “three of us in this marriage.” Only one mistress – and a female at that? Those are much better odds than many of the past Princesses of Wales had.
What I really took away from this book was a much broader picture of the history of the British monarchy. As my loyal readers are well aware, I’ve spent a good portion of 2007 with Henry VIII, his six queens, and his three heirs to the throne. It was really nice to learn where it all started.
She's My Queen
#52 ~ The Autobiography of Henry VIII
The Autobiography of Henry VIII: With Notes by His Fool, Will Somers
As 2007 was the year that I fell in love with the Tudors, what better way to close it than by reading this book by Margaret George? It was a great choice. From the beginning where Will Somers and Catherine Carey Knollys exchange letters regarding the “manuscript” of Henry’s memoirs through the very end where Will writes about Henry’s funeral it is a pleasure to read.
Having read all of Philippa Gregory’s Tudor series and the Carolly Erickson’s The Last Wife of Henry VIII first in no way diminished this book. George’s descriptions of the executions of Anne Boleyn and her male companions gave me an almost physical response despite the fact that I knew what was going to happen. I had a hard time getting to sleep the night I read those accounts. I found myself willing Catherine Howard to get a clue/brain and change her behavior. Alas, she did not.
It was interesting to see how different authors portrayed the different historical characters. For example, Mary Boleyn is portrayed completely different here than she is in The Other Boleyn Girl. She is simply a royal whore in this book while she is a woman forced to become a token in her family’s plot in Gregory’s novel. It may simply be naive on my part, but I hope that she really was a woman of some virtue. Someone had to have been. I also enjoyed the characterization of both Mary Tudor, Queen of France and Charles Brandon.
In the other books, Henry came off as plain crazy and perhaps even a touch evil. In George’s book I liked that Henry felt more human. We can all delude ourselves when we want reality to fit into a specific box. It’s just that Henry had executioners available to take care of the messier realities. I really enjoyed this version of the love affair between Henry and Katherine of Aragon. How might history have changed had their son lived? Where would the Tudors be today? Although this book was over 900 pages long, it was a quick and enjoyable read. It was a wonderful way to complete my reading goal for the year.
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To buy this novel, click here
Early Christmas Pressies for Literate Housewife
I have had the most wonderful things happen to me over the past two days – I’ve received two free books in the mail!!!
Yesterday there was a package waiting for me from Simon and Schuster. I thought it might be the book that I snagged as part of LibraryThing’s Early Reviewers group. When I opened it, I was excited to find a brand new hard cover of Philippa Gregory’s The Constant Princess! This was completely unexpected. I’ve already read the book, but to have a pristine hard cover is outstanding!!! I’m not exactly sure what I did to merit the give away. I did register for updates from their website about Philippa, but that’s the only thing that I can think of. Who cares how or why? I’m completely thrilled! Thank you, Simon and Schuster!
Today, there was another package on my doorstep. This time, it was from Random House. Sure enough, it’s the absolutely perfect Advanced Reading Copy of Dreamers of the Day by Mary Doria Russell that I snagged on LibraryThing!!!! I cannot wait to start reading it!!!! Thank you Random House and LibraryThing! I will post my review as soon as I’m finished reading this book.
Here’s hoping that you’ll find some great reads in your stockings as well.
#51 In Watermelon Sugar
In Watermelon Sugar
I have had my readers, the director of my department, and finally my husband pick the next book I read. His choice for me was In Watermelon Sugar. Although this is the third unnamed narrator in last four books that I’ve read, this book is otherwise nothing like anything else I’ve read.
It’s a poetic fantasy that tells the tale of the unnamed narrator and his love affairs with Margaret and Pauline. Margaret was his first love, but she fell from his favor when it appeared that she favor moved from living in the iDEATH community to collecting items found in the Forgotten Works. When the narrator found that he could not understand Margaret any longer, he turned his affections to Pauline, a woman whose life was simple and dedicated to iDEATH.
Throughout this novel, Brautigan creates a world where many of the structures and other materials are made of watermelon sugar and you can tell the day of the week because of the color of the sky. On just a aesthetic level, it is a beautiful place. Even the image of coming from the coffins laid to rest at the bottom of the river feels right and beautiful. It even makes communal life seem peaceful, so long as their aren’t others from the outside causing trouble.
This book will definitely take some time for me to fully absorb. Before I can truly understand it that I’ll need to read it again. While one view is that In Watermelon Sugar points to the importance of maintaining harmony in a community, I think more is happening than that. The narrator, while in a relationship with Margaret, became uncomfortable when her interests took her away from the community. His reluctance and fear of change are what drove him to Pauline. To me, that says that it is easier to remain in community once you’re there. It doesn’t highlight the merits of doing so. While the narrator is quite a likable fellow, how much easier was it for him to cloak his personal weakness and guilt by pointing out Margaret’s odd behavior and supposed abandonment of iDEATH than to be honest about his own behavior? To me, Margaret is an unsung character. Perhaps even Neko Case agrees with me (or I her):
Everything’s so easy for Pauline
Everything’s so easy for Pauline
Ancient strings set feet a light to speed to her such mild grace
No monument of tacky gold
They smoothed her hair with cinnamon waves
And they placed an ingot in her breast to burn cool and collected
Fate holds her firm in its cradle and then rolls her for a tender pause to savor
Everything’s so easy for Pauline
Girl with the parking lot eyes
Margaret is the fragments of a name
Her bravery is mistaken for the thrashing in the lake
Of the make-believe monster whose picture was faked
Margaret is the fragments of a name
Her love pours like a fountain
Her love steams like rage
Her jaw aches from wanting and she’s sick from chlorine
But she’ll never be as clean
As the cool side of satin, Pauline
Two girls ride the blue line
Two girls walk down the same street
One left her sweater sittin’ on the train
The other lost three fingers at the cannery
Everything’s so easy for Pauline
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Book Blogger Con
Have you heard about the 1st Annual Book Blogger Convention that will be held in NYC during the BEA? You should check it out. I know it will be a fantastic experience. Unfortunately I won't be able to attend due to family obligations, but I'll be trolling blogs for up to the minute news.
WE Magazine’s A Woman Blogger to Watch
Literate Challenges
What's in a Name? 3
Random Reading Challenge
