Ok, I know that every blogger in Central Virginia has already posted pictures of today’s snow. But not everybody has Walden Pond in their pictures. By “Walden Pond,” I’m not referring to the place where Thoreau “went to the woods to live deliberately,” but to the little fishing pond in my apartment complex. It’s not exactly a natural wonder, but snow makes everything beautiful. I don’t need some transcendentalist to tell me that.
Author Archives
A tasteful fanfic
So…you see how long this post is, and you’re probably thinking, she’s already broken the resolution she made just yesterday. But this is an exception. I’ve been intending to post this story since last Thursday, when I had a rare dispensation of writing inspiration. That night, I wrote a short story about a guy who finds some of his lost confidence in a bakery (I’m looking for a more traditional distribution channel for that one), and I still had enough leftover writing high to dash off another quick story before I went to bed. This second one is a Harry Potter fan fiction. But put images of a Draco/Harry romance out of your mind; this one is in good taste, and nobody acts out of character. Be warned, though: you might cry. A few readers already have.
Fred Weasley’s funeral was eventful, something no funeral should be. They had it in the back yard of the Burrow, exactly where Bill’s wedding had been a year before. Charlie walked in late because he had forgotten how to get to the house, which made his mother cry even harder than she was already crying. Ron didn’t say a word all day; he just stared out into the middle distance with red-rimmed eyes. George wouldn’t look in the casket, and people kept starting when they saw him, as if they’d seen a ghost. He kept his head down during the funeral and completely disappeared during the part when everybody came up and greeted the family.
Percy disappeared in the middle of the funeral itself; his dad eventually found him sitting on the kitchen floor, sobbing about how he shouldn’t be there and nobody wanted him there, and how that explosion should have killed him instead of Fred. Mr. Weasley didn’t know what to say, so he waited until Percy stopped crying and then led him bodily out to where the funeral was still going on.
Ginny, who seemed the most composed of the family, made a brief speech about how lucky she was to have so many brothers, and how she loved them all, but Fred had taught her how to play Quidditch, and how he’d always said to her, “Be safe and be good, little sister,” and she’d say, “You too,” and they’d said it not even an hour before he’d died. Ginny had inserted oblique messages into her speech for certain brothers, but Percy wasn’t even there when she said the part about putting the past behind them, and Ron was completely checked out when she talked about trying to get along better with her brothers and not argue so much.
Bill felt torn between Fleur, who felt like an outsider even though she had the proper surname, and his mother, who looked very alone when Arthur was off chasing down their missing sons. The people who didn’t have the proper surname felt extraordinarily out of place. Harry had wanted to sit with Ginny, but Hermione thought the front row should be family only, so the two of them hovered restlessly in the second row. There were only a few others: some random extended family members; the awkward neighbors, the Lovegoods; Angelina Johnson, an old Quidditch teammate who had gone out with Fred once or twice. All the others who would have come were busy with losses of their own, or reluctant to leave their loved ones.
At the end of the day, everyone was so tired they didn’t even want to eat. Mrs. Weasley cooked anyway.
Read these other blogs.
I did not expect to find inspiration for my blog from a tutoring appointment I had to cover today. The tutee, a native Korean speaker, wanted me to check her blog posts to see whether they sounded like idiomatic English. I fell in love with her blog, banquet365.blog.com. Despite its title, My Continual Feast, it’s not exactly a food blog, though she does occasionally include some pretty delectable-looking descriptions and pictures of her culinary creations. In general, “feast” here should be understood in a metaphorical sense. It’s a feast consisting of notes from friends, watercolor Christmas cards, Central Virginia foliage, good dreams, and a beloved cat. It’s a feast, in short, of all God’s blessings. Looking at her blog made me a bit embarrassed of my long, sometimes pretentious posts. When I showed her my blog, I wished I had included more pictures, more recipes (told in narrative style), fewer words. (She did say she would use my blog as “homework” to practice her English reading comprehension…not exactly what I envisioned when I started it, but at least somebody is getting some use out of it.)
This is another blog that inspires me: allisonscoles.wordpress.com. The author of this one is a native English speaker, a very articulate one, but she manages to keep her posts simple and lovely, and people actually want to read them the whole way through. I want my blog to be more like these two that I’ve mentioned. Maybe that will really happen; maybe it won’t–after all, I’m me, not them. But you can probably expect a few changes over the next few weeks. Meanwhile, you should start following these other beautiful blogs.
More thoughts for the Academy
I’m slowly working my way through the Oscar-nominated films that I actually want to see. I watched Moneyball a couple of weeks ago and really enjoyed it, though I wouldn’t exactly say that my mind was blown. I just saw The Help this afternoon and liked it in spite of trying hard not to. I would still like to see The Descendants and Midnight in Paris; the rest of the nominees I could take or leave.
I was looking at the list of nominees the other day and thinking about how few of them I’ve actually seen–and not just in the Best Picture category, but all of them. I thought, “Did I just not see very many movies this past year?” That’s somewhat the case; my intense summer of PhD classes didn’t leave me much time for film-going (though I did make an exception mid-July; you get three guesses what the movie was). But as I reached back into my memory, I recalled that I did see a fair amount of movies released in 2011, and for the most part, they were good movies. Movies like Crazy Stupid Love, Take Shelter, 50/50, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (yes, I’m a bit biased on that last one, but I’m not the only one who thinks it got stiffed). Even Winnie-the-Pooh: no, it isn’t a Best Picture, but surely it’s better than at least one of the Best Animated Feature Film nominees? (I’m talking to you, Puss in Boots.)
What I’m saying is nothing new. You’ve seen this rant plenty of times already if you’ve been paying attention to Oscar buzz at all. But I’m going to steer my rant in a different direction. My admonition to my fellow armchair film critics is this: We can’t influence the mercurial tastes of the Academy. So let’s stop whining, and let’s stop feeling guilty if we don’t see all the films that get nominated. As I hope my list has shown you (and this is indeed a partial list; I would love to see your additions), good movies come out every year that don’t get recognized. We can still enjoy those movies, demonstrate our approval of them by paying to see them, and spread the word about them, as I’ve just done. Seriously. You should see those movies I mentioned. I have good taste. 😉
Happy birthday, Charles Dickens!
Today is the bicentennial of Charles Dickens’s birth. I have been trying to decide how best to use my blog to commemorate the day, and I haven’t come to a satisfying conclusion. I think the problem is that there’s too much Charles Dickens. I can’t pick just one favorite character from his teeming world, where every time you turn a London street corner you’re likely to run into an old enemy, a dear school friend, or a long-lost relative. Or, maybe just a singular character whom you ran into on that same street corner ten years before. I can’t pick just one favorite line from the most verbose Englishman since Shakespeare (I’m not doing an accurate word count, here; I’m just referring to the exuberant flow of language that characterizes the work of both authors), who mastered both snark and sentiment, and can still make readers who have never seen the Thames feel a creeping London fog rolling in with the night over the river.
To my readers who don’t know what I’m talking about: for the characters, read David Copperfield. For the descriptions, read Bleak House. For something short to start off with, read A Christmas Carol. And let me know what you think!
Best conference swag ever.
Dear readers, Penelope Clearwater has not abandoned you. For the past two weeks (approximately), she has been roving the world–or at least the Southeastern and Midwestern portions of the United States–to find things worth sharing with you. Here is one. More to come.
Harry Potter humor
Despite its title, I’m trying to make sure this does not become a Harry Potter blog, and I intend for my next few posts, after this one, to have nothing to do with HP. (For example, I’m planning to review the final David Crowder Band album, Give Us Rest, which was released last week.) But I couldn’t resist sharing a thought I had the other day: What if every bestselling novel and series released since J.K. Rowling started writing Harry Potter was actually about Harry Potter? Here are some hypothetical synopses.
1. A Series of Unfortunate Events. The life of Neville Longbottom.
2. The Hunger Games. An account of the brawl that inevitably ensues when a meal is served at the Weasley home. First come, first served.
3. The Help. A socially conscious young woman named Hermione Granger meets two house-elves, Dobby and Winky, who will change her life forever.
4. The Shack. An allegorical story set in the ramshackle structure outside Hogsmeade where Remus Lupin (see Twilight below) can ride out his lycanthropic fits without hurting anyone.
5. Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Never mind, this is the one about Neville. (I love you, Neville.)
6. The Half-Giant Man with the Dragon Tattoo. Things you didn’t know about Hagrid.
7. Eragon. A spin-off series in which the tattooed half-giant’s dream comes true: he befriends a talking Norwegian Ridgeback named Norbert.
8. Percy Weasley and the Ministry Aides. Ambitious Hogwarts grads take on stacks of paperwork of Olympian proportions. Olympian.
9. Left Behind. What happens to Harry when he has to stay at school because he didn’t get his Hogsmeade permission slip signed.
10. Twilight. Nymphadora Tonks has to decide whether she wants to be with Remus Lupin or a nattily dressed vampire who looks like Cedric Diggory.
We have a winner!
Congratulations to Allison, the winner of a lovely hardcover copy of A Jane Austen Devotional. Allison, I have already sent your address to the PR representative who sponsored the contest, so you should be receiving your book in the mail soon. Here again is the Jane Austen quotation that Allison shared as her contest entry, along with her commentary:
In which Miss Elizabeth accepts an invitation to the Lakes and consoles herself over the loss of Mr. Wickham with admirable humo(u)r:
“‘Adieu to disappointment and spleen. What are young men to rocks and mountains? Oh! what hours of transport we shall spend! And when we do return, it shall not be like other travellers, without being able to give one accurate idea of anything. We will know where we have gone—we will recollect what we have seen.’”
Having now been to the Lakes, I have a new appreciation for the heart-healing power of rocks and mountains!
Honorable mention goes to Vickie, who, I hear, has already gone out and bought her own copy of the book at Lifeway. The Charles Dickens contest received no entries, sadly. I do realize that C.D. is not everyone’s cup of tea, but perhaps some of you should try him out and see what you’re missing!
Review: Devotional books for classic fiction lovers
A Jane Austen Devotional and A Charles Dickens Devotional (Thomas Nelson, 2012) are beautiful books. When I received my copies in the mail, I was delighted by the lovely, understated cover art—a pastoral scene on the Austen volume and some calligraphic quotations on the Dickens—as well as by the size, perfect for holding comfortably in one or two hands. As a bonus, there’s a ribbon marker in each book, which is always fun.
When I opened the books, I continued to be pleased. The layout is attractive, with a passage from one of the novels on the left-hand page and the devotional reading on the right. I was happy to see that both books represent all of the major novels of both authors, a point on which I was particularly skeptical when I first heard about these books. I was worried that all of the quotations would be from Pride and Prejudice and Oliver Twist and that they would be very short and taken egregiously out of context. So far, however, during the week or so that I’ve been using these books in my personal devotions, I’ve read and enjoyed substantial quotations from less hyped works such as Northanger Abbey and Dombey and Son.
And yes, you read that right; I’m breaking a cardinal rule of book reviewing by writing and posting this review before finishing the books. But in the case of a devotional book, which is meant to be read in small pieces and has no narrative flow, I think that rule can justifiably be broken. Still, I’m hoping that some of the less positive observations I’m about to make may be proven wrong as I continue through the books. If that happens, I will be sure to revisit this post and make changes in the spirit of fairness and charity, which both Jane and Charles would no doubt approve.
I said that the quotations from the novels are well-chosen, and this is true. I am less satisfied, however, with the quality of the devotional readings. I’m finding them a little shallow, especially in the Dickens volume. I haven’t encountered any heretical doctrine, of course, and I’ve only run across one clearly misinterpreted Bible verse (it was removed from its context). But when I read the devotions, I get the impression that I’m listening to a very short sermon into which the preacher is determined to incorporate as many individual scripture verses as possible. I tend to prefer an expository style as opposed to a topical one, and these books are very, very topical. And it’s virtually impossible to do justice to any topic in just one page, which has very wide margins.
The reasons why the Dickens volume might be a bit weaker than the Austen volume are twofold. One is the coverage issue: Dickens wrote a lot of books, and some of them lend themselves more aptly than others to a life-lessons style of interpretation (A Christmas Carol is a gold mine; Pickwick Papers, perhaps not so much). I’m happy that the person selecting the excerpts was determined to represent a large sampling of the Dickens canon, but sometimes that determination leads the reader into odd places. The other reason is that unlike Austen, who was a clergyman’s daughter, Dickens wasn’t exactly an orthodox Christian. He was often critical of the church, and his doctrines skewed a bit toward the Unitarian. (Note: That statement is based solely upon my own observations, and I’m not a theologian.) Dickens’s novels contain many biblical motifs and symbols, which would make a fascinating book, but it wouldn’t be a devotional book.
Conclusion: If you are a lover of Austen and/or Dickens, buy the book(s). At the very least, they will look nice on your shelves. You will also enjoy revisiting some of your favorite characters and locations in all of literature (if you’re like me, that is). If you want to incorporate the books into your personal devotions, plan to use them as a jumping-off point for excursions deeper into Scripture. For example, I’ve been looking up the verses cited in the text and reading them in their surrounding context. I’m finding it to be a rewarding venture. Oh, and make sure you read the introduction(s). So far, my favorite part of either book has been a sentence toward the end of the Jane Austen introduction.
Returning
Maybe because I’ve recently spent some time back home with my family, or maybe because it’s the new year, a time when evangelicals like myself tend to talk a lot about repenting, refocusing, and returning to God. Whatever the reason, I’ve been thinking a lot about prodigal son stories–not that I’m a prodigal in the exact sense of the word, or a son for that matter, but I can identify with the biblical pig-slop boy pretty well. This morning in church we sang “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing,” and when we got to the line “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it” I wept a little bit (discreetly), and then I thought of a great blog post, based upon Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. (Would you expect anything else from me?)
I started thinking about how fitting it is that in a book that culminates with a massive high school homecoming (all those Hogwarts alumni and truant students, some coming back to be true to their school, and some coming back to destroy it), we get all these beautiful stories of return and restoration. Ron coming back to Harry and Hermione, led by a supernatural “tiny little ball of light.” Snape coming back to Dumbledore, on his knees, with a broken spirit. Percy coming back to be a Weasley again. Harry coming back to King’s Cross, where it all began–first in that bright moment of clarity between life and death, and then at the end, bringing his children to board the train to a restored Hogwarts, telling his son that it’s ok to be a Slytherin because things have changed now; broken social structures have been mended.
This has all probably been said before (by John Granger, no doubt), but it came to me like a discovery, and it’s a discovery I’d like to pursue. If you think of any return and restoration stories in Deathly Hallows that I’ve missed, let me know. And I’d love to hear about some of your other favorite homecomings in literature and film. (I’ll go ahead and state one that seems really obvious to me: The Hobbit, Or, There and Back Again.)
the Dr. Tess blog 