When I was
Young I prayed
That God would
Grant me children and wisdom.
God gave me children
And just enough
Wisdom to know
I should have prayed
For patience.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Monday, October 26, 2009
The Miserables
Based on the strong recommendation of Rose, my second favorite college student, and the only one I know who is an English major at Cal, I have started reading Les Miserables.
The back of the book informs me that “Many of the characters are well known: Valjean… Javert… Fantine… Cosette… Thenardier… Gavroche.” Seventy pages in, I have met none of these people. Les Miserables is a long book.
Anna Karenina is also a long book, which several summers ago, I read, thinking that the very act of plodding through it would somehow make me a better person. No. That’s a lie. I read it so that I could say that I read it. And, look here. I’m doing just that.
I read Anna Karenina.
Well. Okay. This may be another lie. I did not read ALL of it. Every other chapter was a political treatise about farmers or poor people or something. They were very boring, and had nothing ot do with the plot. So, after the first third of the book, I started skipping those chapters. Honestly, I’m sure that Socialist propaganda was written for somebody, but it wasn’t me.
I read 2/3 of Anna Karenina.
I mention Anna Karenina only as contrast. Les Miserables is actually very good. Well, so far. The book, at least the edition which I am reading, is twelve hundred pages long. I suspect that the seventy that I have read thus far are, for the most part, a digression, (Can one digress before one has begun?) having little bearing on the plot. But, I don’t care. I have thoroughly enjoyed meeting Monseigneur Myriel, the Bishop of Digne. Victor Hugo is very insightful and witty. And the language (even in translation) is poetic.
A few of my favorite quotes:
“A dowager, one of those ladies who mistake audacity for wit…”
“Success is an ugly thing. Men are deceived by its false resemblance to merit.”
The back of the book informs me that “Many of the characters are well known: Valjean… Javert… Fantine… Cosette… Thenardier… Gavroche.” Seventy pages in, I have met none of these people. Les Miserables is a long book.
Anna Karenina is also a long book, which several summers ago, I read, thinking that the very act of plodding through it would somehow make me a better person. No. That’s a lie. I read it so that I could say that I read it. And, look here. I’m doing just that.
I read Anna Karenina.
Well. Okay. This may be another lie. I did not read ALL of it. Every other chapter was a political treatise about farmers or poor people or something. They were very boring, and had nothing ot do with the plot. So, after the first third of the book, I started skipping those chapters. Honestly, I’m sure that Socialist propaganda was written for somebody, but it wasn’t me.
I read 2/3 of Anna Karenina.
I mention Anna Karenina only as contrast. Les Miserables is actually very good. Well, so far. The book, at least the edition which I am reading, is twelve hundred pages long. I suspect that the seventy that I have read thus far are, for the most part, a digression, (Can one digress before one has begun?) having little bearing on the plot. But, I don’t care. I have thoroughly enjoyed meeting Monseigneur Myriel, the Bishop of Digne. Victor Hugo is very insightful and witty. And the language (even in translation) is poetic.
A few of my favorite quotes:
“A dowager, one of those ladies who mistake audacity for wit…”
“Success is an ugly thing. Men are deceived by its false resemblance to merit.”
Uno, Dos, Tracey
Hello,
Welcome to my own corner of the internet. I want it to be a cozy place where I can share what is on my mind. Parenting, cooking, life as I see it. I hope you enjoy it here.
Welcome to my own corner of the internet. I want it to be a cozy place where I can share what is on my mind. Parenting, cooking, life as I see it. I hope you enjoy it here.
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