Emma

I like Emma - she's not perfect but tends to be a little self-absorbed and thoughtless, which I think more people can relate to than would admit. Yet she's got her good points. Her charity works, for instance, are sincere and from the heart, not just going through the motions to appear charitable. This is from chapter ten:

"Emma was very compassionate; and the distresses of the poor were as sure of relief from her personal attention and kindness, her counsel and her patience, as from her purse. She understood their ways, could allow for their ignorance and their temptations, had no romantic expectations of extraordinary virtue from those, for whom education had done so little; entered into their troubles with ready sympathy, and always gave her assistance with as much intelligence as good-will. In the present instance, it was sickness and poverty together which she came to visit; and after remaining there as long as she could give comfort or advice, she quitted the cottage with such an impression of the scene as made her say to Harriet, as they walked away, 'These are the sights, Harriet, to do one good. How trifling they make every thing else appear! I feel now as if I could think of nothing but these poor creatures all the rest of the day; and yet, who can say how soon it may all vanish from my mind?'"

Book Reference (note to myself)

In deciding which books to read, sometimes it's as valuable to know why people dislike specific books as to know which ones they love and why.

This blog post from Dominion Family is a year old, but I want to keep it bookmarked because the comments are helpful. One thing I already learned: I probably wouldn't like anything by Flannery O'Connor.

I'm enjoying Oliver Twist (I'm reading it my son for AO Year 5), and it makes me wonder if I might like Charles Dickens.

An Interesting Journey, continued

I've been posting links to a series of "Ebenezer" posts by online friend Camille tracing her experiences with parenting and how they changed her perspective. I could have added the continuing links to the same post, but her journey moved away from just parenting and into conflict over grace and theology at the conservative university where she was employed.
The Meeting
The Chapter
The Document

Foodscapes

These are amazing.


(The photographer's homepage is here, but I can't get it to work. The above link goes to a blog which also hosts other less suitable pictures. Browse with care.)

The Scarlet Letter - Introductory

I've been meaning to read this for a long time - I read it once in high school, but I want to try and read it for enjoyment. I didn't get much out of it last time. My friend Miss Roxie read it last year with her daughter, and she made it sound interesting.

This will a book I take to bed, so I'll mostly be reading whatever I feel like before I fall asleep - no schedule, and it may be slow going. I won't be blogging or summarizing or anything, I just thought this was interesting - I found this in the introductory:

"It is a little remarkable, that . . . when he casts his leaves forth upon the wind, the author addresses, not the many who will fling aside his volume, or never take it up, but the few who will understand him, better than most of his schoolmates or lifemates. Some authors, indeed, do far more than this, and indulge themselves in such confidential depths of revelation as could fittingly be addressed, only and exclusively, to the one heart and mind of perfect sympathy; as if the printed book, thrown at large on the wide world, were certain to find out the divided segment of the writer's own nature, and complete his circle of existence by bringing him into communion with it. It is scarcely decorous, however, to speak all, even where we speak impersonally. But--as thoughts are frozen and utterance benumbed, unless the speaker stand in some true relation with his audience--it may be pardonable to imagine that a friend, a kind and apprehensive, though not the closest friend, is listening to our talk; and then, a native reserve being thawed by this genial consciousness, we may prate of the circumstances that lie around us, and even of ourself, but still keep the inmost Me behind its veil."

Nathaniel Hawthorne thinks like a blogger. ;)

Emma Summaries

I'm going to do what Ginger started with Sense and Sensibility, summarizing each chapter, only, since I like the maxim 'brevity is the soul of wit,' I'm going to boil each chapter down to a really, really short summary. I'll just add to this post until I'm done.

ch 1 - Emma is a bit spoiled. Her beloved governess left to get married to Mr. Weston. Emma decides to find a match for Mr. Elton, who performed the wedding ceremony.

ch 2 - Mr. Weston's son Frank was raised by his mother's family after the mother died. Frank took on the name of his mother's family - Churchill.

ch 3 - Emma's small circle of friends includes Mr. Knightley, the two Bates ladies and Mrs Goddard, who runs a mediocre girls' school. Emma befriends Harriet Smith, an illigitimate girl raised by Mrs. Goddard's school. She's pleasant and pretty but has no pedigree or money. Harriet is friends with the Martins, who are poor farmers.

ch 4 - Harriet admires the Martin's son Robert, and he likes her, too - but Emma has more high-bred hopes for Harriet. She wants to match Harriet with Mr. Elton.

ch 5 - Mr. Knightley thinks Emma will give Harriet false airs, and Harriet will give Emma too much flattery - the friendship won't be good for either of them, and he tells Emma's old governess, the newly married Mrs. Weston.

ch 6 - Mr. Elton thinks Emma should draw a picture of harriet. He likes Emma and hopes to flatter her drawing skill. He frames the resulting picture. Emma persuades Harriet that Mr. Elton must really like her, Harriet.

ch 7 - Mr. Martin sent a letter proposing to Harriet, but Emma pressures Harriet (indirectly) to refuse him. So Harriet writes back to refuse, and she consoles herself by thinking of Mr. Elton.

ch 8 - Mr. Knightley is unhappy when he hears that Harriet refused Mr. Martin's proposal, especially since he had encouraged it with Mr. Martin.

ch 9 - Mr. Elton writes a riddle proclaiming his admiration for a lady. Emma thinks he means Harriet, and she convinces Harriet of it.

ch 10 - Emma takes Harriet on a charity visit. They run into Mr. Elton. Emma manipulates so that Harriet and Mr. Elton can be alone so he can proclaim his love - but he doesn't.

ch 11 - Emma's sister Isabella visits with her husband (Mr. Knightley's brother) and their five children. They'll be staying for ten days. Emma's father thinks ten days is too short a visit.

ch 12 - Emma has to constantly intervene to keep peace between her father and sister, Isabella. They keep coming to disagreements about health.

ch 13 - There's a small Christmas Eve dinner at the Weston's. Harriet gets sick with a cold and sore throat, so she can't go, and Emma is disappointed that the news doesn't distress Mr. Elton.

ch 14 - Mr. Elton makes a pest of himself with Emma. Mr. Weston's son Frank Churchill is planning to visit, but everyone fears that his aunt won't let him leave her to make the visit.

ch 15 - Emma ends up riding home alone in the carriage with Mr. Elton. She is mortified when he proposes to her; he is angry when she refuses.

ch 16 - Emma now realizes she had no right to meddle between Mr. Elton and Harriet. She's also indignant that Elton resented Harriet's affection because he considers her so much beneath him - yet he's just as much beneath Emma, and aspired to marry her for her money. His anger at her refusal betrays his feelings - he never really loved Emma.

ch 17 - Isabella and her family go home. Mr. Elton goes away for a few weeks (to stew, no doubt), and Emma gives Harriet the bad news that Mr. Elton hadn't loved her, but had wanted Emma. Emma is surprised to discover how much Harriet really is in love with the contemptible Mr. Elton.

ch 18 - Frank Churchill writes to the Westons that he will visit, and then has to cancel because his aunt won't let him go. Mr. Knightley thinks he's a weak, selfish person for not standing up to his aunt and doing his duty in spite of her whims. But Emma is ready to excuse and justify him.

ch 19 - Emma and Harriet stop to visit the Bates and learn that Jane Fairfax has sent a letter to say she will be coming to stay for three months while a family she lives with goes to Ireland to visit a recently married daughter (she was Miss Campbell, now she's Mrs. Dixon.)

ch 20 - Jane Fairfax is the granddaughter of Mrs. Bates and niece of Miss Bates. Her mother was the youngest daughter in the Bates family, but her husband was killed in a war and she died of heartbreak soon after. Colonel Campbell, a friend of her father's, raised orphaned Jane along with his own daughter (now Mrs. Dixon). His plan was to educate Jane to be a teacher, since he didn't have the means to support her forever or give her a good dowry.

Jane is beautiful, talented, elegant - but reserved to the point of seeming cold. It frustrates Emma because she can never be sure what Jane really thinks about anything.

ch 21 - Emma learns that Mr. Elton is going to be married - he seems to have gotten over her pretty quick! She wants to break it to Harriet before Harriet finds out from gossip, but Harriet is too ruffled about running into Mr. Martin and his sister to care as much as Emma thinks she should.

ch 22 - Mr. Elton's fiance Augusta is not as pretty as Harriet, but she has 10,000 pounds. Harriet, unfortunately, seems to run into Mr. Elton all the time - and it keeps her unrequited love in her thoughts. Yet she also seems to be thinking of Mr. Martin. Emma arranges for her to visit the Martins - not to revive the courtship, but to keep Harriet's mind off Mr. Elton.

ch 23 - Frank Churchill arrives. Emma finds him pleasing, but possibly insincere in his praise and flattery of everyone and everything. He knew Jane Fairfax when she was a fine young lady living with the Campbells. Now he will visit her while she's living in less privileged circumstances with her poor and talkative Bates relatives.

ch 24 - Emma goes for a walk through town with Frank Churchill and the Westons. Frank is interested in everything and pleased with all he sees, although he says that Jane Fairfax's complexion is pale and he agrees with Emma that Jane is reserved.

ch 25 - Frank goes all the way to London(town?) for the day to get a haircut. The Coles are giving a party. Emma suspects that they won't invite her because her station in life is so much higher than theirs. Emma does get an invitation. Her father will stay home where it's comfortable while Emma goes to the party.

ch 26 - The party at the Cole's. Emma and a privileged few come for dinner before the party. Frank Churchill is there for dinner. He chats with Emma all evening. Everyone is talking about a mysterious piano that was given to Jane Fairfax. Later, more people arrive, including Harriet and Jane Fairfax. Frank spends the evening pretending to like Emma and not Jane. But we know better. We've seen the movie.

ch 27 -Emma begins to hear hints of suspicion that Mr. Knightley likes Jane Fairfax, confirmed when Miss Bates goes on and on about apples. Apparently, when Mr. Knightley heard that Jane liked them, he gave the Bates an extra bushel - and apparently the last of his personal supply.

ch 28 - During a visit at the Bates, Frank Churchill teases Jane Fairfax (Emma thinks he's tormenting her about a secret attraction to Mr. Dixon who married her friend, but we know that it's Frank she likes) and Mr. Knightley, passing by, declines to stop in after hears that Frank Churchill is there.

This is about half the book. I'll do the second half in a brand new post.

What's England Really Like to a Tourist?

I finished A Walk with Jane Austen by Lori Smith and wanted to post one last quote, actually a few from one longer section.

"I sit here in the occasional rain, eating a ham and cheese toastie with chips and a salad with no dressing. The idea of a toastie does not bother me - sort of like grilled cheese without the butter - but I don't understand why no one here uses salad dressing. They sell it apparently, every kind you can imagine, only they forget to actually use it."

"Sandwiches are mostly bready things with the smallest amount of meat possible. At every opportunity they will put cucumbers on them. Or you can have something like cheese and onion, held together with mayonnaise. After a few days, I began to wonder how anyone gets enough protein in this country."

"It's impossible to get a good cup of coffee. Most everyone considers coffee to be the powdered instant stuff and even that they manage to make weak . . . half-and-half does not even exist here and they don't put out cream, so you have to make do with milk. Even at a restaurant, if you attempt to order decaf, they'll bring you watery instant with milk. Blech."

"I think the chocolate here is better."

I've just realized that all of these quotes are about what the food is like in England! I have to admit, even when I look back at historical periods, one of the things I always want to know is what did they eat? And on what kind of dishes? If I went to England, one of the first things I'd want to know is, what are their grocery stores like?

Lori Smith has a blog that includes excerpts from her book.

Movie: Jane Austen Book Club

We saw this last night (we used a ClearPlay filter.) We liked it, it follows the love lives of five women as they read through all six Jane Austen novels in six months. I plan to see it again.

I don't know if I would recommend this without a filter. (Ginger, maybe we could watch this one here at my house, since I have the filter!)

First it was J . . .

This morning Miss M was very annoyed because brother L told her that she couldn't have last night's chips for breakfast. She came to me and said indignantly, "L is a mean guy! We need to get rid of him!" I asked her what she thought we should do with him, and she said, "throw him down the stairs!" And then she started laughing at her own silliness.

Quote about C.S. Lewis from J Austen Book

"C.S. Lewis said every time you make a decision, you change the central part of you that chooses. He meant moral choices--whenever you choose to lie, for example, or not to lie, you change the substance of who you are and what you are likely to do the next time you have a choice to make."
(from A Walk with Jane Austen by Lori Smith)

She says the quote is in Mere Christianity. It reminds me of Charlotte Mason's perception of habit, how it changes the substance of the brain.