bookshelves of doom

Droolworthy.

PenguinSets.

I'm leaning towards this one. 

(If, obvs, I had any extra money at the moment.)

Jack Black as Lemuel Gulliver?

That's what Variety says... and apparently Gulliver is now a "free-spirited travel writer".

Huh.

Mansfield Park -- Jane Austen Chapter Two tweets.

Back to Mansfield Park! Chapter Two. about 23 hours ago from web

Fanny Price: "..though there might not be much in her first appearance to captivate, there was, at least, nothing to disgust her relations." about 23 hours ago from web

Mrs. Norris is horrible and so is Sir Thomas. I haven't made me mind up about Lady Bertram yet, but I'm not v. inclined to like her either. about 23 hours ago from web

"Nobody meant to be unkind, but nobody put themselves out of their way to secure her comfort." about 23 hours ago from web

Mary Lennox should give Fanny Price some 'How to Grow a Spine' lessons. about 23 hours ago from web

Lady Bertram: "...spent her days in sitting nicely on a sofa, doing some piece of needlework, of little use and no beauty,..." about 23 hours ago from web

"...thinking more of her pug than her children, but very indulgent to the latter, when it did not put herself to inconvenience." about 23 hours ago from web

"There was no positive ill-nature in Maria or Julia; and though Fanny was often mortified by their treatment of her,..." about 23 hours ago from web

...she thought too lowly of her own claims to feel injured by it." Okay, I'm seeing why some people might get irritated with Fanny Price. about 23 hours ago from web

Sir Thomas helped Fanny's brothers re: education and employment. So he's not really horrible, I guess. (So far.) Just an ass. about 23 hours ago from web

Huh. So I assume Cousin Edmund is the love interest? I can't believe I've never actually read this book. http://tinyurl.com/3hr5a7 about 23 hours ago from web

_____________________________________________________________

Previously:

Chapter One

Mansfield Park -- Jane Austen Chapter One tweets.

Just started Mansfield Park. about 17 hours ago from web

"But there certainly are not so many men of large fortune in the world, as there are pretty women to deserve them." Hee! about 17 hours ago from web

Uh oh: "But Miss Frances married, in the common phrase, to disoblige her family..." about 14 hours ago from web

"...and by fixing on a Lieutenant of Marines, without education, fortune, or connections, did it very thoroughly." Again, uh oh. about 14 hours ago from web

Mrs. Norris is kind of a troublemaker. http://tinyurl.com/3hr5a7 about 14 hours ago from web

Rats. Must put down book, as Alias is on. (First season, disc three. Yes, this is my first time through.) about 14 hours ago from web

Will Tippin is a tool. about 14 hours ago from web

"...an husband disabled for active service, but not the less equal to company and good liquor..." My uh-ohs continue. 43 minutes ago from web

"...such a superfluity of children, and such a want of almost everything else..." Heh. http://tinyurl.com/3hr5a7 41 minutes ago from web

Gosh. She's preparing for her ninth lying-in, and her oldest is ten? She's spent most of the last ten years pregnant! 39 minutes ago from web

'What if they were among them to undertake the care of her eldest daughter, a girl now nine years old...?" Ah, yes. 35 minutes ago from web

Sir Thomas is a bit more hesitant about taking the girl in than the ladies are... 34 minutes ago from web

"You are thinking of your sons - but do not you know that of all things upon earth that is the least likely to happen;..." 31 minutes ago from web

"...brought up, as they would be, always together like brothers and sisters? It is morally impossible." Oh, I doubt it. 31 minutes ago from web

"...though I could never feel for this little girl the hundredth part of the regard I bear your own dear children..." That bodes well. 28 minutes ago from web

"My own trouble, you know, I never regard." HA! People never say that if it's actually true. 26 minutes ago from web

"...she knew quite as well how to save her own as to spend that of her friends." Mrs. Norris is TERRIBLE!! (Yet so entertaining.) 23 minutes ago from web

Awesome. She's basically taking credit for adopting a child but is now saying, "Oh, no, I couldn't possibly actually TAKE CARE of her!" 21 minutes ago from web

Oh, wow. This is going to be the most unhappy childhood ever, isn't it? "...how to preserve in the minds of my daughters the..." 18 minutes ago from web

"...consciousness of what they are, without making them think too lowly of their cousin; and how, without depressing her spirits too far,..." 17 minutes ago from web

"...make her remember that she is not a Miss Bertram." Why even take her in? 17 minutes ago from web

Oh, good. Now he's approving that his daughters carry the "smallest degree of arrogance" towards their cousin. 16 minutes ago from web

End of Chapter One. No slow start for our Miss Austen. I can't believe that I am already so revved about the characters and story! 11 minutes ago from web

"I got better."*

From comcast.net:

A man assigned "The Crucible" in an adult education English class doused his teacher with a nonflammable liquid and threatened to burn her as a witch, police said.

(via Guys Lit Wire)

*Don't pretend you don't know the quote.

Say it ain't so.

From the Guardian:

Van Helsing and his intrepid band of vampire hunters might have disposed of Bram Stoker's creation Dracula more than a century ago, but a sequel to the novel by Stoker's great grand-nephew will see them under attack from the undead once again.

I hope you know how hard it was for me to NOT make a 'bloodsuckers' crack. 

I... oh.

From the Globe and Mail:

Despite her great success, it is known that she suffered from depression, that she was isolated, sad and filled with worry and dread for much of her life. But our family has never spoken publicly about the extent of her illness.

What has never been revealed is that L.M. Montgomery took her own life at the age of 67 through a drug overdose.

I wasn't told the details of what happened, and I never saw the note she left, but I do know that it asked for forgiveness.

Wow.

Another confession.

I joined another book club.

This time it wasn't pretend accidental, though.  It was totally on purpose.  For Josh's birthday.  He's (okay, okay, we've) been talking about doing the Library of America subscription thing for ages, but I knew he'd never actually do it, so I did it for him.

I swear, this is not like the Christmas when I gave him that the Rokenbok set I not-so-secretly wanted*.  The LOA subscription is totally a gift for him.  FOR REAL!!

________________________________________________________

*He upwrapped it and just started laughing.  And then told me I was busted.  And then proceeded to mock me all day long, and every single Christmas since.  But whatever.  I win, because there is Rokenbok in my house.

Frankenstein gorgeousity.

Sounds like an oxymoron, I know.  So go and look.  You'll see that I'm right.

(via Newsarama)

The Big Read III?

I'm going to take advantage of my current French Revolution mania and finally read A Tale of Two Cities.  Anyone in?  If so, I'm planning to start next Wednesday & I'll post a schedule shortly.

The Classic Tales podcast.

I got hooked on this podcast while making zucchini bread this weekend -- it's so much fun.  Not only did the Fitzgerald story get me giggling, it convinced me to go back and read more of his stories.

Sarah Beth Durst* on swan stories.

From Sarah's Journal:

One day, the king of this kingdom (not her father) is hunting in the forest. His hunters find the girl in the tree and ask her who she is. Hoping they'll leave her alone, she throws down her gold chain, her garters, and lastly her dress.

Is this really the best plan? Perhaps getting naked is not the best way to inspire them to leave.

(via Finding Wonderland)

I have GOT to get to that Annotated Brothers Grimm book.  I've only read as far as the table of contents.  I'm happy to report, though, that the book includes the stories (ahem) How Children Played Butcher With Each Other and The Evil Mother-in-Law.

*Have you read her books yet?  Get on that.

Ah, the internet.

Due to a Roger Sutton* update on my Facebook** news feed, I put my massively fantastic Google skills to good use and found this.

Enjoy.

I think.

*Blame him!  Blame him!

**What do you think of this "new Facebook" stuff?  I hate it.  Then again, I generally fear change, so that isn't very surprising.

The Dead Fathers Club -- Matt Haig

Chapter One: The First Time I Saw Dad After He Died

Pretty excellent hook, right?

As his father is the one being mourned, eleven-year-old Philip Noble is mightily surprised when the man himself appears at the gathering after the funeral.  Philip seems to be the only one who can see and hear his father, which puts him in a very difficult situation: especially after his father informs him that not only did his brother, Philip's uncle, murder him, but also that it is up to Philip to avenge the murder.

Yep. The plot sounds familiar for a reason -- The Dead Fathers Club is Hamlet.  Set in a pub.

Philip tells the story, and readers will either like his voice a lot or dislike it intensely -- the story comes out in a big gust (though with short chapters), as he forgoes the use of apostrophes, quotation marks and commas.  Personally, I enjoyed it -- I loved the way he described things ("His eyes had mouth locks in them so I couldnt speak."), though I did find that I had to go back and re-read bits occasionally -- it's very easy to lose the thread of what he's saying if you look away for even a moment.

At first, the book mirrors Hamlet pretty closely, but by the end, there will be some major surprises for even the most well-read Shakespeare scholars.  While part of the fun, for me, was in spotting the parallels (Ross and Gary were, of course, a riot, and I liked Leah more than I've ever liked Ophelia), it isn't at all necessary to know the play to enjoy the book.  It's an excellent story in its own right, about a grieving boy stuck an impossible situation.

I did find it interesting that the book jacket and some of the reviews I've read refer to this book as being 'hilarious'.  While parts of it were very funny, I wouldn't have described it as even 'darkly hilarious'. It's too painful for that, because of Philip's grief, because of his confusion and indecision about what his father is demanding of him, because of his worry that maybe he's completely lost it and this is all in his head, and (not least of all) because of the regular trials of being eleven.

I'd recommend it to those who enjoyed The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, as well as, of course, those who enjoy fractured Shakespeare stories like Scotland PA.  Here's a taste from the very beginning, the first conversation between Philip and his father -- if you like this, pick up a copy:

     He nodded to the door and so I shut it and then he said Dont be scared.
     I said Im not.
     His voice sounded the same but different like he was standing far away but I could hear him more clearly than ever. That doesnt make sense but that is how he sounded.
     And the second thing he said was Im sorry.
     I said For what?
     He said For everything.
     And when he said it I thought he was talking about the past when he was alive but now I am not sure.

(cross-posted at Guys Lit Wire)

Anne Carroll Moore vs. Stuart Little.

Do not, do not, do not miss this article -- it's chock-a-block full of fantastic quotes and stories:

In her New Yorker column, White took aim at Moore: “A number of experts in children’s literature have pronounced ‘The World Is Round' a good book, but that does not surprise me, since, with a few exceptions, the critics of children’s books are remarkably lenient souls. They seem to regard books for children with the same tolerant tenderness with which nearly any adult regards a child. Most of us assume there is something good in every child; the critics go on from this to assume there is something good in every book written for a child. It is not a sound theory.”

Not only is it full of "Ooooo, BURN!"-type quotes, but it reminded me that I'd like to read The Minders of Make-Believe, as well as the letters and essays of E. B. White:

White replied that he had started writing a children’s book, but was finding it difficult. “I really only go at it when I am laid up in bed, sick, and lately I have been enjoying fine health. My fears about writing for children are great—one can so easily slip into a cheap sort of whimsy or cuteness. I don’t trust myself in this treacherous field unless I am running a degree of fever.”

It also, of course, made me want to re-read Stuart Little.

J.M. Barrie DEATH CURSE.

I didn't know about the death curse.  Did you?  And that's just how the essay starts.  This vision of J. M. Barrie's relationship with the Llewelyn Davies/du Maurier family is quite different than the one in Finding Neverland.  Yowza.  I'd like for Inspector Alan Grant to sort it all out for me.

Speaking of reading surprising things about authors -- I finally got around to picking up my Morte D'Arthur (I was thinking of that for The Big Read III, any takers?), and discovered in the introduction that Thomas Malory* may have written a good portion of it while in prison.

*If in fact he is the Thomas Malory who actually wrote it, yadda yadda yadda.

Carnegie medal winner announced.

And the winner is... Phillip Reeve, for Here Lies Arthur.

Those of us in the States who've been wanting to read it for ages and ages and ages* will have to wait until November.  Because that's when it's coming out.  Unless, of course, you break down and order a copy from the UK. 

At this point, I'm seriously considering it.  I hate waiting**. 

___________________________________________________

*What do you mean, bitter?  I'm not bitter, I SWEAR.

**And I've been waiting forever.  Of course, instead of complaining on and on, I could do something productive -- sit down and finally start reading that other Arthur book I've been meaning to get to...

Christopher Myers does Jabberwocky.

I haven't been up on the picture books for a long, long time, but this one sounds fantastically fantabulous -- I'm sure you'll feel the same way if you give Jules' review at Guys Lit Wire a read.

"I don't think there is a casual reader of Nancy Drew," says writer Fran Lebowitz. "There may be casual readers of Proust, but not of Nancy Drew."

NPR on Nancy Drew.

This one's for you, Erin.

One of my favorite patrons is a rising sophomore and a homeschooler.  She's got to read some classics this summer.  She's a voracious reader already, but she didn't seem too majorly keen on the assignment -- so let's find her some fun classics, shall we?  Which ones did you love at that age, and what did you love about them?

Oh, please, please, please tell me that these will be released in the US.

This is just one of the fourteen new Bond covers Penguin commissioned.

I'm in love.  I want the set of books so badly that I'm feeling a bit faint.  Also, I want all of the covers in poster format, I want, I want, I want.

One timewaster to rule them all.

A wiki of Alice illustrations. 

If I don't post for the rest of the week, blame Fuse.

New Puffin Classics.

Well, new covers and introductions, anyway -- the books themselves, of course, are classics.

You can read some of the new intros over at the Telegraph:  Melvin Burgess wrote about Call of the Wild, Meg Rosoff wrote about Black Beauty, Eoin Colfer wrote about Treasure Island and Jonathan Stroud wrote about Just So Stories.

I'm a huge sucker for nice, new clean copies, not to mention matching sets.  I want 'em.

(via Achockablog)

And the Fugs do it yet again...

...they made me spit seltzer (orange flavored, of course) on my monitor YET AGAIN.

It was the Phantom Tollbooth* reference that did it.

There was a Eric Carle reference recently, too.

*Speaking of, I'm hoping to post some new bracelets today -- including Milo/Tock.

[Later:  Mission Accomplished!]

Digital Dr. Seuss.

Am I the only one who's a little skeeved out by this?

Is the fact that I'm a little skeeved out proof of my ever-increasing old fogieness?

Zombie Author Alert.

Aaaand the author most recently exhumed is...

Ian Fleming.

Obscure Fairy Tales.

Sarah Beth Durst (author of the fantabulous Into the Wild, which I inexplicably never wrote up, but trust me, it rules*) has a segment on her blog called (you guessed it!) Obscure Fairy Tales.  The most recent installment was on Snow White and Rose Red:

The daughters are fast friends. Snow-White says, "We will not leave each other." Rose-Red says, "Never so long as we live." And their mother finishes, "What one has she must share with the other."

Red-herring #2: the Promise. Ooh, foreshadowing! They're going to be forced apart! Or the mother will have to make some hideous choice between them! Or the fate of one will uplift and/or destroy the other! Very dramatic! Except not. They just like each other. And that's one of the things that I love about this story: the two sisters and the mom all love each other. No one's trying to enslave or poison or eat or dismember their relative. Refreshing.

I'll be spending my morning reading the rest of those.  But, Leila, you say -- won't that get in the way of your job at the library?  Oh, I reply -- I didn't want to have to brag, but... SNOW DAY.  Tra la, tra la.

(Link via Wands and Worlds)

*Seriously.  It RULES.  Read it.

Perfect choice, but...

...the conspiracy theorist in me still finds the idea creepy:

Sci-fi novel "Ender's Game" to become video game

Nope. Not an Onion article.

From Reuters:

LONDON (Reuters) - A chain of retail stores in Britain has withdrawn the sale of beds named Lolita and designed for six-year-old girls after furious parents pointed out that the name was synonymous with sexually active pre-teens.

Woolworths said staff who administer the web site selling the beds were not aware of the connection.

Hee hee hee.

The BBC's Ballet Shoes adaptation gets a rotten review.

From the Guardian:

I have several gripes: Winifred came across as a horrid backstabber, not the talented, earnest but dowdy kid of the book. I loathed Posy-the-Precocious, a bitching Bonnie Langford, who hardly dances at all - she dances all the time in the book and it's her obsession with dance that makes her so interesting. But my real beef is that Heidi Thomas' adaptation got the one thing wrong that for me, as child and adult, is special about the book: the family.

Who out there still hasn't read Ballet Shoes?  Work on that.

Pip, you rascal.

In Wales:

Alcwyn Jones, 59, hollowed out a copy of the Dickens classic Great Expectations as a secret hideaway.

But a court heard police found a £2,000 haul of amphetamines in the volume. Jobless Jones admitted he had the hollowed out book in his flat.

Prosecutor Lawrence Jones said, “He claimed he kept a spare house key in it – and had no idea how the drugs were in there instead.”

I am inspired.

Look at this Moomin gingerbread house:

I happen to be the proud owner of a Dalek cookie cutter.  Now I want to build the little guys a fortress. 

Actually, just thinking about it inspired me to look for more... and more I found!

A crocheted TARDIS Christmas tree ornament:

A crocheted Dalek (with free pattern!):

And, just for kicks, I'll throw in this bit from Bad Santa, which is in no way safe for work:

Destined to be a holiday classic.  We bought it as soon as it was released on DVD, and we've watched it AT LEAST once a year since.  I love it, I love it, I love it.

(First link via whip up.)

Cupid: A Tale of Love and Desire -- Julius Lester

Psyche is the youngest of three princesses, a young woman of such extraordinary beauty that there are no words to describe her.  Though she doesn't want or understand the attention, people worship her as they would a goddess -- and it does not go unnoticed by Venus, the goddess of Love.  The jealous goddess sends her son, Cupid, to deal with the situation.

Of course, Cupid immediately falls in love with Psyche, and then the trouble really begins.

According to his Author's Note, Julius Lester originally meant Cupid: A Tale of Love and Desire to be about seventy-five pages long.  It was to be a simple retelling of the Cupid and Psyche story in the voice of a Southern black storyteller.  But, like Gerald Morris, as he did research, he discovered gaps that he wanted to fill and characters who he wanted to include, so the proposed seventy-five pages ended up more than doubling.

While many readers will find the storyteller's asides distracting, others (myself included) will feel that his voice enhances the story.  I enjoyed his personal asides (some of which, according to the Author's Note, are about Julius Lester and some of which are not) and his relationship with the story:

I could try to explain that, but the story is jumping up and down on my foot and pulling on my shirt because it wants to know what is going to happen to Psyche.  Isn't that interesting?  Even a story doesn't know how it is going to turn out because who knows what a storyteller will say once he or she gets going good.  Sometimes even I don't know until I hear the words coming out of my mouth.

His voice (on the page) is such a performer's voice that I could hear him speaking as I read, and I can easily imagine Cupid finding a home with theater geeks -- it seems like it'd be prime monologue material.  I don't do audiobooks, but I listened to the entire excerpt available at Random House, which I'm embedding here.

Romantics will enjoy it.  I'm not talking about fans of the little-r romance novels of Stephenie Meyer or Lurlene McDaniels.  I'm talking about teen Romantics-with-a-capital-R, who will get all twittery about passages like this:

I'm going to get philosophical for a moment since this is a philosophical novel.  In love, and perhaps only in love, are the finite limitations of self dissolved and we merge, not only with the beloved other, but with wonder itself.  In love, whether it is love of another, of music, art, or whatever, we belong to someone or something and are no longer alone.

It is very much "A Tale of Love and Desire", but it is also a coming of age story for both Cupid and Psyche, a story about letting go for Venus, a story about a boy who falls in love with someone of whom his mother doesn't approve and a story about the differences between love and lust, about sacrifice and conquering fear.  I admit that part of me would have liked to see Psyche kick Cupid to the curb and head off into the sunset, either alone or with Favonius the West Wind, but A) Cupid isn't all that bad, he's just got a lot of growing up to do, and B) that's just not the way the old story goes. 

Then again, if it's the storyteller who has the power...

The Big Read: Rebecca -- Daphne du Maurier Chapters 25-27

Chapter 25 -- In which it is decided that the whole crew will head to London to meet with the mysterious Doctor Baker.

The truth screamed in their faces and they did not see.  They all stood there, staring at one another, and they did not understand.  I dared not look at them.  I dared not betray my knowledge.

I'm with her, man.  How have they not put two and two together?  Woman's specialist, then she wanted to speak with Favell, who was her lover...  DUH.

"Is my word enough for you?" said Maxim, turning to Colonel Julyan.  And for the first time Colonel Julyan hesitated.  I saw him glance at Frank.  And a flush came over Maxim's face.  I saw the little pulse beating on his forehead.

That must have been just crushing for Maxim. 

I held out my arms to him and he came to me like a child.  I put my arms round him and held him.  We did not say anything for a long time.  I held him and comforted him as though he were Jasper.

And I didn't detect any irony in that statement.  Granted, comforting a dog is quite different than absentmindedly petting a dog, but still.

Just when I thought there were no laughs left in this book:

"Giles and I think it much more likely that if those holes weren't done by the rocks they were done deliberately, by some tramp or other.  A Communist perhaps.  There are heaps of them about.  Just the sort of thing a Communist would do."

As usual, poor Beatrice, trying to do the Right Thing but instead, putting her foot in it.

Chapter 26 -- In which the description of London provides a contrast to Manderley, and the de Winters, Julyan and Favell meet with Doctor Baker.

While I can't imagine that she won't be back to Manderley before leaving forever and ever, the beginning of this chapter felt like a farewell.

Re:  Baker's information -- Oh, wow.  Rebecca set Maxim up.  While I can't go so far as to say that she forced his hand, she did goad him into it.  She wouldn't have wanted to go the other way.

Now I really do feel bad for him.  I, too, fell into all of the traps this darn book had to offer.

Chapter 27 -- In which Mrs. Danvers gets her revenge.

I think he's right -- Rebecca did win.  Not just because she tormented him (and then, in turn, his new wife) from Beyond the Grave, but because he ended up losing the one thing that he'd always loved, too.

I rather want to turn to the beginning and start again. 

Previous posts:

Chapters 1-3
Chapters 4-6
Chapters 7-9
Chapters 10-12
Chapters 13-15
Chapters 16-18
Chapters 19-21
Chapters 22-24
Full Schedule

Other reader/bloggers:

The Leaky Dinghy
Reading with Becky
There's always time for a book

Much better than Jinx.

The Big Read: Rebecca -- Daphne du Maurier Chapters 22-24

Chapter 22 -- In which the boat builder lets loose at the inquest and our narrator faints.

"It seems so odd to us, Madam, that she should have let herself be trapped like that in the cabin.  She was so experienced in a boat."

"Yes, Frith.  That's what we all feel.  But accidents will happen.  And how it happened I don't suppose any of us will ever know."

Can you imagine a conversation like this taking place a few chapters ago?  Everything Frith said would have sounded ominous, and Mrs.deW2 would have been all nervous and monosyllabic.  But, now -- he's almost asking for guidance and telling her that he'll "do anything that might help the family" and she's in complete control of herself and of the conversation.

They talked about him as Max de Winter.  It sounded racy, horrible.

Remember when she wanted to call him Max?  When she was jealous that Rebecca had always called him Max?  I wonder if Rebecca called him that to irritate him.

This was good:

I still avoided his eye, but I was more convinced than ever that he knew the truth.  He had always known it.  From the very first. . . . I understood it all.  Frank knew, but Maxim did not know that he knew.  And Frank did not want Maxim to know that he knew.   And we all stood there, looking at one another, keeping us these little barriers between us.

At the inquest:

The coroner was a thin, elderly man in a pince-nez.  There were people there I did not know.  I glanced at them out of the tail of my eye.  My heart gave a jump suddenly as I recognised Mrs. Danvers.  She was sitting right at the back.  And Favell was beside her.  Jack Favell, Rebecca's cousin.  He was leaning forward, his chin in his hands, his eyes fixed on the coroner, Mr. Horridge.

Uh oh.

You know, I wondered if anyone was going to mention the holes in the bottom of the boat.

Chapter 23 -- In which our narrator faces down Jack Favell, we learn for very sure that Frank knows The Truth, and Colonel Julyan is called to Manderley.

Have you noticed that whenever Mrs.deW2 is in a dark place mentally, she starts thinking of Mrs. Van Hopper?

Wow.  Jack Favell is a pig.  If Rebecca was at all like him, I rather think that Maxim's actions were somewhat justified.  (A divorce probably would have been a better move and all, but that wouldn't have been very Gothic, would it?)  If he'd come to Manderley with the intent of killing Maxim, or of getting Maxim to admit to wrongdoing, that would be something.  But, no.  He came to blackmail him.  Gross.

Chapter 24 -- In which Ben and Mrs. Danvers are questioned, and Rebecca's appointment diary is unearthed.

I do think that class -- or maybe, more simply, deportment -- has been a factor in the conversation between Favell, Maxim and Julyan.  If Favell hadn't been drunk, had been able to keep himself calm and in check, if he'd, you know, repressed his urge to blackmail, he'd have come off as much more believable and sympathetic (not to mention honest), and Julyan would have probably taken him more seriously.   OR, you know, he could have brought the note to the authorities before the inquest.  Or even brought it up at the inquest. 

But he's just horrible horrible horrible, and even if it is simple snobbery that is keeping him from being taken seriously, I can't say that I care very much.

Now, finally, Ben comes into it.  And he is AWESOME.

Next up:  Mrs. Danvers.

Oh wow, I did NOT see that coming.  It was also pretty awesome, even though she did it for (I'd assume) very different reasons than Ben.  She's... something, huh?

Phew.  I feel like I held my breath all the way through that chapter.  Sorry about the lack of notes.  My head is spinning.

Previous posts:

Chapters 1-3
Chapters 4-6
Chapters 7-9
Chapters 10-12
Chapters 13-15
Chapters 16-18
Chapters 19-21
Full Schedule

Other reader/bloggers:

The Leaky Dinghy
Reading with Becky

The Big Read: Rebecca -- Daphne du MaurierChapters 19-21

Chapter 19 -- In which a ship runs aground and Maxim reveals a Big Secret.

Now that there's an outside crisis, it's as if Mrs. Danvers never tried to convince Mrs.deW2 to commit suicide:

"We had better go down," she said, "Frith will be looking for me to make arrangements.  Mr. de Winter may bring the men back to the house as he said.  Be careful of your hands, I'm going to shut the window."

Temporary insanity on both their parts?  After the events of Chapter 18, seeing Mrs. Danvers act at all concerned about the narrator's welfare was rather jarring.  And she seems to have no fear whatsoever that there will be any repercussions, either.  Does she have a hold over Maxim, or does she just trust in Mrs.deW2's apparent inability to stand up for herself?

Maxim is down at the cove, smoking up a storm (I'm surprised the man still has lungs) and dealing with a ship that's run aground.  He still hasn't spoken to Mrs.deW2 since before the dance.

Is it just me, or is Frith acting nicer?  After being such a big jerk previously, it seemed odd to me that he's all chatty now.  Maybe he's different when in crisis mode?

Ah, this makes it more understandable:

I thought how alike people were in a moment of common interest.  Frank was Frith all over again, giving his version of the story, as though it mattered, as though we cared.  I knew that he had gone down to the beach to look for Maxim.  I knew that he had been frightened, as I had been.  And now all this was forgotten and put aside, our conversation down the telephone, our mutual anxiety, his insistence that he must see me.  All because a ship had gone ashore in the fog.

The paragraph beginning: "I wished I could lose my identity and join them" made me wonder how cross-class connections are treated in du Maurier's other books.  They certainly haven't turned out very well in this one.  So far, anyway.

Another run-in with Idiot Ben:

"She's run aground," I repeated.  "I expect she's got a hole in her bottom."

His face went blank and foolish.  "Aye," he said, "she's down there all right.  She'll not come back again."

I rather suspect that Ben isn't talking about the ship.  And is the narrator being deliberately obtuse?  I hope so.  Because if she's not, I've lost all hope. 

The next page makes me think that she was willfully misunderstanding him -- for the first time, looking at Manderley gives her "a funny feeling of bewilderment and pride that it was my home".  She feels as if she belongs.  Maybe because talking with Ben really drove it home for her:  Rebecca is dead.

Re: Captain Seale's visit: !!!!

It's amazing that incidents that are so completely devastating to Mrs.deW2 hardly even register with Maxim.  He's so wrapped up in himself and oblivious.

Re: Maxim's secret: !!!!!!  And even more !!!!!

Is it totally sick that now I actually like him a little bit?  Probably.  But I do.  Because at least he's been all tormented about THAT, and not about Rebecca herself.

I'd guess that Ben saw it happen.  But does Frank know?  And does Mrs. Danvers suspect?

Chapter 20 -- In which we hear about The Other Side of Rebecca.

"I love you so much," he whispered.  "So much."

What?  WHAT??  Now he tells her?

"You were so aloof," he said, "always wandering into the garden with Jasper, going off on your own.  You never came to me like this."

What?  WHAT??  Now I hate him again.  Jackassery unchained, man.  Un.  Chained.

"You remember the precipice.  I frightened you, didn't I?  You thought I was mad.  Perhaps I was.  Perhaps I am.  It doesn't make for sanity, does it, living with the devil?"

Yeah, I'd agree with him.  I think it's pretty clear that he snapped somewhere along the way.

If I don't find out what Rebecca said on that hilltop, I'm going to freak out.  I mean, I've got plenty of guesses, but I want to know.  Too bad there's not another version of the book from Maxim's perspective.

Are we talking orgies?  Orgies?  Yikes.  And, in all probability, knocked up by her cousin?  Awesome.

I did not say anything.  I held his hands against my heart.  I did not care about his shame.  None of the things that he had told me mattered to me at all.  I clung to one thing only, and repeated it to myself, over and over again.  Maxim did not love Rebecca.  He had never loved her, never, never.  They had not known one moment's happiness together.  Maxim was talking, and I listened to him, but his words meant nothing to me.  I did not really care.

Yow.  Don't let her anywhere near a cult leader.

Chapter 21 -- In which our narrator finally asserts herself.

I think that the narrator is a little bit crazy, too:

My heart, for all its anxiety and doubt, was light and free.  I knew then that I was no longer afraid of Rebecca.  I did not hate her any more.  Now that I knew her to be evil and vicious and rotten I did not hate her any more.  She could not hurt me.

I'm not saying that I don't understand what she's saying -- I do.  But she still sounds crazed.

It occurred to me that she's the one with the power in their relationship.  She might not have realized it yet.  Heck, maybe she won't realize it at all.

Ah.  Now that she's not worried about Rebecca, she's not having any trouble giving orders to the servants.  Even to Mrs. Danvers:

"I'm not used to having messages sent to me by Robert," she said.  "If Mrs. de Winter wanted anything changed she would ring me personally on the house telephone."

"I'm afraid it does not concern me very much what Mrs. de Winter used to do," I said.  "I am Mrs. de Winter now, you know.  And if I choose to sent a message by Robert I shall do so."

Oooooo, SNAP.  An "Oh, and by the way, you're fired" would have been good, too, but I'm okay if we start small. 

"It's gone forever, that funny, young, lost look that I loved.  It won't come back again."

So, yeah.  I was right about his reasons for marrying her -- or why he found her attractive in the first place -- she's Rebecca's opposite.  I wonder if her new-found confidence will turn him off.

Past entries:

Chapters 1-3
Chapters 4-6
Chapters 7-9
Chapters 10-12
Chapters 13-15
Chapters 16-18
Full Schedule

Other reader/bloggers:

The Leaky Dinghy
There's always time for a book
Reading with Becky

The Big Read: Rebecca -- Daphne du MaurierChapters 16-18

This is shorter than usual, as I'm still recovering from my Food Coma.

Chapter 16 -- In which Mrs. Danvers isn't just scary, but downright evil.

Ugh.  I wouldn't be happy about semi-random people just dropping in on me unannounced (just in time for tea, of course), either. 

Frank Crawley was invaluable at a moment like this.  He took the cups from me and handed them to people, and when my answers seemed more than usually vague owing to my concentration on the silver tea-pot he quietly and unobtrusively put in his small wedge to the conversation, relieving me of responsibility.

Frank is quite protective of Mrs.deW2, isn't he?  She recognizes that.  She also feels on firm enough footing with him to tease him a bit, and even flirt with him -- there was a moment when she struck me as not-very-modest, actually, and it seemed to me that it may have struck him the same way.  But then, just a bit later, he and Maxim decide that he (Frank) and Mrs. Danvers will make all of the arrangements for the ball, cutting Mrs.deW2 out of the process:

I was glad, of course, to be relieved of responsibility, but it rather added to my sense of humility to feel that I was not even capable of licking stamps.  I thought of the writing-desk in the morning-room, the docketed pigeon-holes all marked in ink by that slanting pointed hand.

AUUUUUUUUUUGH.  Those damn labels.

Maxim is the least romantic romantic lead ever.  Less romantic than stupid Heathcliff, even.

I wished he would not always treat me as a child, rather spoilt, rather irresponsible, someone to be petted from time to time when the mood came upon him, but more often forgotten, more often patted on the shoulder and told to run away and play.  I wished something would happen to make me look wiser, more mature.  Was it always going to be like this?  He away ahead of me, with his own moods that I did not share, his secret troubles that I did not know?  Would we never be together, he a man and I a woman, standing shoulder to shoulder, hand in hand, with no gulf between us?  I did not want to be a child.  I wanted to be his wife, his mother.  I wanted to be old.

Again, mixed feelings on my part.  I wished something would happen to make me look wiser, more mature.  Lady, "something" isn't just going to happen.  You have to actually take action.  Not on the Maxim front -- I think I've finally reached the point where I see him as a Lost Cause -- but just for herself.  She could still live there with Mr. Broodypants, but begin to create her own life.  Get a train set, for Pete's sake.  At the same time, though, I feel bad for her.  She doesn't want to be the child, she wants Maxim to be the child.  She wants him to need her.  It's all just so depressing.

Ah, her sketching becomes a Plot Point.  Oh, God, is Mrs. Danvers going to trick Mrs.deW2 into wearing something that Causes a Scene?  I don't know if I'll be able to handle it.  She's so horrible.

Quite the dinner conversation:

"If I told you I was thinking about Surrey and Middlesex I was thinking about Surrey and Middlesex.  Men are simpler than you imagine, my sweet child.  But what goes on in the twisted tortuous minds of women would baffle anyone.  Did you know, you did not look a bit like yourself just now?  You had quite a different expression on your face."

"I did?  What sort of expression?"

"I don't know that I can explain.  You looked older suddenly, deceitful.  It was rather unpleasant."

So.  Did Maxim marry our narrator because he saw her as honest and innocent?  And are those qualities that Rebecca didn't have?  I don't doubt that he's plenty tortured about Rebecca, but I'm starting to wonder if his reasons for being tortured about her are actually as obvious as they appear to be.

"A husband is not so very different from a father after all.  There is a certain type of knowledge I prefer you not to have.  It's better kept under lock and key.  So that's that.  And now eat up your peaches, and don't ask me any more questions, or I shall put you in the corner."

Yecch.  I'll put him in the corner.

The day of the dance:

I felt very much the same as I did the morning I was married.  The same stifled feeling that I had gone too far now to turn back.

The chapter has been rough, and I haven't even found out why Mrs. Danvers suggested that dress (though I certainly have my suspicions).

I knew it.  I knew it.  I knew it.  The dress scene made me nauseous.  It was all the more crushing because she'd been so happy getting ready, and I can't remember the last time she'd been happy.  And did you notice how she went from happy to somewhat frenzied to almost delirious? The tension mounted up and up and up, way before she even came down the stairs.

Why?  Why why why why why would she trust Mrs. Danvers?  She knows -- KNOWS -- that Mrs. Danvers hates her.

Whew.

Chapter 17 -- The Ball.

You know, I was impressed with her for refusing to go down to the party, but then I also gave her points when she finally did go down.  I don't think I'd have been able to do it. 

Chapter 18 -- In which we get a heaping helping of Danvers Crazy.

Mrs.deW2 comes to terms with her situation:

That was why I had come down last night in my blue dress and had not stayed hidden in my room.  There was nothing brave or fine about it, it was a wretched tribute to convention.  I had not come down for Maxim's sake, for Beatrice's, for the sake of Manderley.  I had come down because I did not want the people at the ball to think I had quarrelled with Maxim.  I didn't want them to go home and say, "Of course you know they don't get on.  I hear he's not at all happy."  I had come for my own sake, my own poor personal pride.  As I sipped my cold tea I thought with a tired bitter feeling of despair that I should be content to live in one corner of Manderley and Maxim in the other as long as the outside world should never know.

Like I said, train set.

Frank's on his way over, but I have no idea what he's planning on telling Mrs.deW2, or if he's worried that Maxim might be planning to off himself.

I hadn't realized that Mrs. Danvers raised Rebecca.  Her description of Rebecca made her sound extremely unattractive -- so selfish and self-absorbed.  Up until she started trying to convince the narrator to commit suicide, I was actually feeling kind of bad for her.  If the rockets hadn't gone off, distracting Mrs. Danvers and Mrs.deW2, what would have happened?  Would she have jumped?

Past entries:

Chapters 1-3
Chapters 4-6
Chapters 7-9
Chapters 10-12
Chapters 13-15
Full Schedule

Other reader/bloggers:

Reading with Becky
There's always time for a book
The Leaky Dinghy

The Big Read: Rebecca -- Daphne du MaurierChapters 13-15

Chapter 13 -- In which Mrs. Danvers has a super-sketchy visitor.

"You must be very brave," he would say, "I am afraid you must be prepared for a great shock."

AS IF.  As if Frith would break anything to her gently.  Rather, he'd dump it on her, and then when she freaked out, he's say, "Ah.  Yes.  Well, the first Mrs. de Winter was always so stalwart at times like this."

Also, was that just one of those random, uncontrollable thoughts, or was that a semi-attractive daydream?

Now she's sneaking cookies, and she's afraid the servants will see:

I went and ate them in the woods, in case one of the servants should see me on the lawn from the windows, and then go and tell the cook that they did not think Mrs. de Winter cared for the food prepared in the kitchen, as they had just seen her filling herself with fruit and biscuits.  The cook would be offended, and perhaps go to Mrs. Danvers.

I can't imagine living in such fear.  And the fear is so much of her own making.  I realize that much of it originally stems from her personality and the class issues, but if she wants it to change, she's got to stand up.  I also feel like her fears are snowballing.

One of the odd things I'm discovering about reading this so slowly is that each time I pick the book up, a good amount of time has gone by for me, so I keep expecting the narrator to have had a revelation in the meantime.  I know that makes absolutely zero sense, but I feel a little jolt every time I start again and discover that she's still stuck in the same place I left her.  (Makes me think of the story "Red wolf, red wolf" by W. P. Kinsella.)

Rather telling that she's so happy with Maxim away from Manderley.  And that she realizes it.  There's something off about the way she describes it, though -- as if Maxim is a schoolteacher.  Again, yick.

She totally brought Jasper on her walk so he'd run off to The Beach of Death.  (And, yes, for companionship, since he's one of the few at Manderley she's comfortable with...)

"I done nothing," he repeated, "I never told no one.  I don't want to be put to the asylum."  A tear rolled down his dirty face.

AH HA!  What has Ben never told, and who threatened him with the asylum? ?? ???

Oh.  That's who threatened him.  Yikes.  But what hasn't he told?

The scene with Mr. Favell STRESSED. ME. OUT.  Why would Mrs. Danvers have anything to do with him?  He doesn't seem like the sort she'd spend time with.  He sounded so... fleshy.  Is he a blackmailer?  Why did he keep trying to get Mrs.deW2 to go for a ride with him?  Was it so that other people would see them together, as a way to start gossip about her?  Am I the most paranoid person on the planet?

On to the west wing...

Chapter 14 -- In which Mrs. Danvers gives our narrator the Grand Tour of Rebecca's room.

Why are there fresh flowers in Rebecca's room?  Is it because Maxim can't let go, or is it because Mrs. Danvers can't?  Or is Mrs. Danvers using the room as a Secret Love Nest?  (Okay, that last one was just ridiculous.)

Then I heard a step behind me and turning round I saw Mrs. Danvers.  I shall never forget the expression on her face.  Triumphant, gloating, excited in a strange unhealthy way.  I felt very frightened.

No kidding.  I'm terrified, and I'm just reading it.  It's funny that I question the narrator's reliability when it comes to almost everything else, but when Mrs. Danvers does stuff like this, I take her at her word.

I couldn't take notes at all during that scene.  Yow.  Mrs. Danvers wins, man.  She's way scarier than Hannibal Lecter.

"Sometimes I wonder," she whispered.  "Sometimes I wonder if she comes back here to Manderley and watches you and Mr. de Winter together."

A ghostly Rebecca would be less frightening than what is suggested by this whole scene, which is that Mrs. Danvers is doing the watching for her dead mistress.

Chapter 15 -- In which our narrator meets Maxim's grandmother and overhears a blowout in the library.

Beatrice drives like Agatha Raisin.

This is the first time she's made me laugh in ages and ages, and it was probably inadvertent.  (On the narrator's part, I mean, not du Maurier's):

I had an uneasy feeling we might be asked to spend the approaching Christmas with Beatrice.  Perhaps I could have influenza.

Ooooooooh.  Mr. Favell was Rebecca's cousin.  So what was her background?  He had money, what with that car and all, but he sure didn't strike me as Maxim's type, class-wise.  Or are we talking New Money vs. Old Money?  There's clearly something going on there -- Beatrice didn't want to talk about him (which seems odd in itself) and:

"I did not take to him much," I said.
"No," said Beatrice.  "I don't blame you."

And she mentions that she was very seldom at Manderley when Rebecca was alive.  What's THAT all about?  Holy cow, these three chapters were HUGE.

The only thing that mattered to me was that Maxim should never come to hear of it.  One day I might tell Frank Crawley, but not yet, not for quite a while.

Again, she doesn't feel that she can talk with her own husband.  (Not that I can really blame her -- it isn't as if he's reacted very well in the past when she's tried to talk to him.)

Whoa.  What do you want to bet that Mrs. Danvers'll blame Mrs.deW2 for the scene with Maxim? 

Nice to see that Maxim was so happy to be reunited with his new wife.  Yeesh.

Past entries:

Chapters 1-3
Chapters 4-6
Chapters 7-9
Chapters 10-12
Full Schedule

Other reader/bloggers:

The Leaky Dinghy
There's always time for a book
Reading with Becky

Boys reading Blume.

From the Guardian:

Salvation came in the shape of Judy Blume. Within a year I had read most of her books - quite remarkable, on reflection, given that these were works aimed largely at young American girls and whose covers advertised this fact. This was distinctly girly material, but I just couldn't get enough of Blume. Her instructive novels provided an alternative education about subjects which just weren't being taught at school.