De-Sidetracking Myself

It's been quite a while since my last post, and I blame partly myself, but partly my choice of book, that I haven't posted. "The Island at the Center of the World" presented a unique challenge to me in that it's a non-fiction book that outlines a very long, complicated history. I've finished the book, and have recorded a brief review below. I think from now on I'll stick to fiction books. It's much easier to want to review fiction than write a book report.

I finished reading "The Island at the Center of the World" by Russell Shorto. In short, it was a well written tome of endless information. For a non-fiction work, it kept me riveted and excited to turn the next page. I learned a great deal about the history of New York, when it was known as New Amsterdam. What I found most interesting is that, as it does today, New Amsterdam was open to people of many different races, religions, and creeds. It represented a haven for the oppressed and poor; a place to start over. The island of Manhattan was a lush, verdant paradise of hardwood and softwood forests, teeming with wildlife and streams and rivers that were overflowing with fish, shellfish, and most importantly, beavers. It provided a welcome opportunity for individuals from many different walks of life -- it has been calculated that one married couple, a prostitute and a pirate, have sired over 1 million people -- to create families, businesses, and dynasties.

The Native Americans were respected allies and were included in many trade and political agreements. They also helped the Dutch secure a stronghold on the beaver pelt trade while New Amsterdam was in the hands of the Dutch government (which is very confusing at that time-- the Government comprised of smaller Dutch states). By the time the English took over New Amsterdam, though, the beaver population was largely depleted, and the relationship with the Native Americans had soured.

Here is a link to a recent NY Times article that talks about the man who has translated the documents "The Island at the Center of the World" is based upon. It does a much better job than I ever could at describing the work of Charles Gehrig, someone who is fluent in an extinct form of Dutch and who has been translating documents in the basement of the New York Library for 35 years. NYTIMES

My next book that I will review (I've already devoured it) is "The Historian." It's a fantastic book. Look for a post in the next few days.

Back from a Break

Faithful Readers,

First off, I apologize for the long lapse between posts. I've been extraordinarily busy with work and play, and have not found time to sit down to begin blogging about The Island at the Center of the World. I hope that, over the next few days when I'm in Baltimore, I'll be able to find a few hours to sit down here and there to update you on the progress I've made in the book. Trust me, you'll want to check back often, because this book is off the hook.

Before I begin with an initial background on what this book is about, I'd like to share with you an anecdote from my yester years. I was eleven when I started at St. Paul's School for Girls. I received a pretty hefty packet of summer assignments a few days after I graduated from fifth grade, and one of those assignments was to make a brochure for a town in colonial America. I wanted so badly to impress my new classmates (some of whom I hoped would look past the braces, glasses, and acne and see me for the cool, hip kid that I was), so I worked really hard on this project. For whatever reason, I equated a cool American History class assignment with having lots of friends- needless to say I can share with you now that I was quickly labeled a nerd. (Never fear- I made some amazing friends that I still keep in touch with today - but my little eleven year-old self was shocked that a cool history project did NOT equal lots of friends).

Well, I chose to do my history project, a travel brochure, on New Amsterdam. See, my friends, I was born in Manhattan. Mt. Sinai Hospital, to be exact, in the middle of a huge thunderstorm, at exactly 4 p.m. But I digress. I was proud of my birthplace and where I grew up (until I moved to MD when I was seven), and I wanted to share with my new classmates the fact that I was a worldly, unique gal whom they should all immediately be-friend. Well, I went all out on this project, and received an A++!! I learned about the Dutch settlers of New Amsterdam, and their relatively productive relationships with the Native Americans- until the English beat their butts and the Dutch lost control of what would become what and some might say the most powerful and important city in the world.

That is, in a nutshell, what The Island at the Center of the World, is all about. You might say the author, Russell Shorto, stole his idea from my sixth grade travel brochure, but I'll go ahead and give him this one. Shorto, a writer whose sentences are both intelligent, educating, and freaking hilarious, has based the entire 325-page book on documents that have been largely ignored since the British took control of the island. These documents, all primary sources comprising of diary entries, letters to stock holders, and observations of explorations, were found in the basement of some building or another, written in a largely extinct form of Dutch, and are in the process of being translated by a Dr. Gehrig. They describe a colony that was formed by one of the most powerful colonial companies of the age: the Dutch West India Trading Company. The colony, New Amsterdam, and it's subsequent outposts, were bastions of cultural inclusion and freedom of expression, much like the country from whence they were founded. Native American relations were not strained; in fact, the colony probably survived and thrived because of the strong relations with the Native American tribes in the area. In short, it was everything that New England and Virginia (the two other culturally and historically relevant colonies) were not. But more on that later.

I'm almost halfway through the book now, but I need to break up my posts chapter by chapter. The first installment is about Henry Hudson: a man who inevitably paved the way to the colonization of the west of America. Check back soon for that post.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Book Number 2

I've chosen to read The Island at the Center of the World by Russell Shorto, on the advice of my grandmother (hi Mimi!). It is the "epic" tale of New Amsterdam, as New York was previously known as prior to the English takeover of the colony. Shorto wrote this book based on recently uncovered and translated primary sources from the early days of the Dutch colony.

I'm very excited to read the book - I was born and raised until I was seven in New York, and I still visit my grandma up in Troy a few times a year. The state, and the city, holds some of my very favorite memories growing up, and I'm looking forward to learning more about my birthplace.

The Final Chapters of Persuasion

Sorry for the delay in posting. I was incommunicado this weekend up in Vermont, and was unable to find a good block of time to dedicate to writing this blog. I finished Persuasion in the hills of Vermont, as rain pelted down on the roof of the small home I was visiting. The landscape reminded me exactly of what England must have looked like in Persuasion: misty hills, dark and mysterious forests. I was reading the book in front of a fire, and surrounded by close friends - very similar to how Anne must have spent her days. The setting couldn't have been more perfect.

Well, the last time we talked Anne had made it to Lyme. Well, not much happens of note for a few pages. Anne visits her friend, Mrs. Smith (the one who had that great outlook on life), and finds out that a rumor has traveled far and fast that Anne was going to marry William Elliot. Anne heartily disagrees, saying that she wouldn't marry him; we all know it's because she's in love with C. Wentworth. Mrs. Smith then goes on to dish that William Elliot was best friends with her late husband; in fact, William was a poor man who used Mrs. Smith and her husband on his way up the social ladder. Even more surprising, William shared with Mrs. Smith some thoughts and feelings about his own inheritance, saying that "no way would I ever want to have the Elliot name" (I'm paraphrasing there). Even MORE surprising: William forced Mrs. Smith into poverty! Although, at this point, I don't really find this surprising; William is a sneaky jerk - and we find out that he was only interested in Anne so that he could keep an eye on Mrs. Clay (the lady who was going after Sir Elliot, Anne's father). Oy vey.

So with that plot line petering out, we move on to the real juicy gossip: Anne and C. Wentworth end up together, and totally in love. In fact, we find out that C. Wentworth had always been in love with Anne and hadn't loved anyone else since their fateful split eight years prior. C. Wentworth tells Anne that he still loves her after overhearing Anne discussing the difference between men and women in relationships. Her quote is below.

"I hope I do justice to all that is felt by you, and by those who resemble you [a third party man]. God forbid that I should undervalue the warm and faithful feelings of any of my fellow-creatures. I should deserve utter contempt if I dared to suppose that true attachment and constancy were known only by woman. No, I believe you capable of every thing great and good in your married lives. I believe you equal to every important exertion, and to every domestic forbearance, so long as --if I may be allowed the expression, so long as you have an object. I mean, while the woman you love lives, and lives for you. All the privilege I claim for my own sex (it is not a very enviable one; you need not covet it) is that of loving longest, when existence or when hope is gone."

Then C. Wentworth slips Anne a hastily written note that says, and I'm paraphrasing: "I love you so much, I offer myself to you again, don't say man forgets sooner than woman because I've been loving you for eight years and haven't loved anyone else."

So, Anne and C. Wentworth live happily ever after. They had loved one another for eight years apart, and now get to spend the rest of their lives together. Yay!

Final Analysis

All in all, I thought this book was great. The language slowed me down at first, and led me to grade this book at a "B" because of the fact that most people in the year 2009 would have a hard time relating, or even understanding, it. [Which is unfortunate, but we can move on]. I felt very smart reading the book on the T into work every morning. I [somewhat] smugly turned my nose up to the people reading Jodi Picoult or Stephanie Meyer books, but then felt pretty bad about it; people pick books to read for the entertainment factor, not to feel smart. Everyone has their own standards for what constitutes entertaining, though. I've read both Jodi and Stephanie - easy reads, and pretty entertaining. However, for me, a book is truly entertaining when it challenges me by stretching my mental dictionary, teaches me about new theories and eras, and expands my greater appreciate for the written word.

Books have a fabulous history. There were book stores in Lyon, in the first century BC. Libraries were in existence as early as 377 AD. To possess books was to show your wealth, and your knowledge. Your wealth, because you could pay a tutor to teach you to read, and your knowledge because you could read them. Books really started to have an impact on the development of societies, cultures, and governments when the movable type printing press was invented in the 15th century, when the rich and landed nobility had access to centuries of knowledge from philosophers, poets, and writers. Persuasion is a novel that I feel can have an impact on those who choose to read it. It may not be as lyrical and empowering the Illiad. It may not be as socially relevant or philosophically enlightening as Jean Jacques Rousseau's Discourse on Inequality. But Jane Austen's Persuasion is a novel that still touched and moved me, and because of the beautiful imagery and colorful and deep characters Austen drew for me, Persuasion re-inspired not only my love of reading novels, but my hope and faith in the power of writing. I hope that some of you out there will choose to pick up Persuasion and see for yourselves.

Chapter 11-17

This portion had the most riveting and page-turning action I've read in the entire book. I couldn't put the book down it was that good. I'll save my commentary for the end, once we've all had a chance to digest the plot twists.

Chapter 11 starts off with the entire household of young adults adventuring to Lyme to meet C. Wentworth's old Navy buddies. The chapter starts off with Austen stating: "The young people were all wild to see Lyme." I immediately visualized one of those National Geographic documentaries about a pack of predatory animals taking down an ungulate, and anyone who was standing in their way was the proverbial ungulate. So the crew, including Anne, Mary and Charles, Louisa, Henrietta, Charles Hayter, and C. Wentworth take off in a moment of wild abandon to visit Lyme and meet C. Wentworth's friends. The rest of the chapter continues on boring-ly enough until Austen introduces a Captain Benwick character, a widower (well, not exactly -- he had been engaged to this lady when he was called away to the war; while he was away she died, and he's been quiet and strange since) who takes great comfort in speaking with Anne about books and poetry. It seems as though C. Benwick likes Anne very much.

Chapter 12 continues with Anne and Henrietta taking a brief pre-breakfast stroll and happened upon C. Wentworth and Louisa on their pre-breakfast walk. They all decided to turn back for breakfast when Anne literally ran into a gentleman. This guy checked out Anne pretty thoroughly, (I believe Austen used the phrase: "he looked at her with a great degree of earnest admiration") apologized, and continued on his way. Anne then ran in to him again at the Inn she was staying at in Lyme; he was also lodging there, but he left before she had the chance to properly introduce herself. It was then decided, by Mary (that most horrid of creatures, she really makes my skin crawl), that this gentleman was none other than Mr. Elliot, the heir-presumptive of Sir Elliot, and Anne's cousin! The very man who turned down Elizabeth, Anne's sister, so very rudely! Unfortunately, Mr. Elliot took off in his "curricle" before anyone could flag him down. (That's a pretty manly means of travelling, wouldn't you agree?)

The page-turning action occurs in the very same chapter during the young people's last walk along the cliffs of Lyme. Louisa, being a dainty woman, needed help down the stiles that spotted the landscape. C. Wentworth would allow her to jump into his arms to help her down. In what I can only imagine to be a hugely awkward and poorly coordinated maneuver on Louisa's part, she jumped too soon (or C. Wentworth wasn't ready in time, I can't really tell) and she hit her head and feel in to a coma!! You read that right! The little dolt hit her head and suffered a major contusion to her brain. Needless to say, Henrietta and Mary freaked out. Anne was the only person who maintained her senses. She sent for a surgeon and help to carry Louisa back in to the city proper. Louisa turned out to be OK (just a little athletically-slow), and took her sweet time recovering.

Now Anne's time with the Musgrove's at Uppercross is limited. As you may recall, Lady Russell was to come and collect Anne on her way down to Bath, so Anne could reunite with her other miserable family members. So Anne reluctantly leaves the Musgrove's and makes her appearance in Bath, and is promptly inserted into Sir Elliot's, Elizabeth's, and Mrs. Clay's House of Craziness. All the three of them have been doing is figuring out how best to insert themselves into the relatively bustling society of Bath. They have more calling cards than they can count and count themselves among the premier families in the area. Anne (and the reader) has the pleasure of learning all about who Elizabeth, Mrs. Clay, and Sir Elliot have been meeting and what they think of them. And, to add another interesting plot twist, Mr. Elliot, that lowest-of-low and ungrateful heir-presumptives, had the nerve to show his face. But, noting Mr. Elliot a hugely wealthy and newly single (by seven months...the mourning period is almost over), and the added fact that he has taken an interest in coming around and treating Sir Elliot with the "respect" he deserves, Elizabeth and Sir. Elliot see no reason to keep him at an arm's length. That and the fact that he's single. To add to the insanity, some royal family relations, "cousins", the Lady Dalrymple (I always think her name is Dimple) comes to Bath and then Sir Elliot and Elizabeth fall all over themselves again to try to get in with them. Which, inevitably, they do. All of this action takes place over a number of chapters.

Anne, in an effort to escape the travesty that is her family, has decided to meet up with an old school acquaintance, and I found that this side story demonstrates Austen's magnificent writing skills in the best light. The friend has suffered from a great deal of pain and tragedy: the husband, who was rich, died and left her with an astounding amount of debt, and the stress of it all caused her to come down with rheumatic fever, which leaves her partially crippled. Talk about being dealt a bad hand. But Austen described this woman's fortitude with such eloquence that I had to re-write it here for you to enjoy:

"A submissive spirit might be patient, a strong understanding would supply resolution, but here was something more; here was that elasticity of mind, that disposition to be comforted, that power of turning readily from evil to good, and of finding employment which carried her out of herself, which was from Nature alone. It was the choicest gift of Heaven; and Anne viewed her friend as one of those instances in which, by a merciful appointment, it seems designed to counter-balance almost every other want."

Isn't that beautiful? I believe this passage shows Austen at her best, and which makes me consider Anne to be quite an intuitive and emotionally-healthy being, despite the fact that she was raised by a most vapid man. Anne was lucky to have known her mother, but having lost her at a young age (thirteen or fourteen), right when any child is beginning to shape their emotional outlook as an adult, it's a wonder Anne is as well-adjusted as she is. I feel like the only negative part of her life is the fact that she is surrounded by such awful people. If she would only remove herself from their influences then I would grow to respect her for the role-model Austen is trying to paint her to be.

It does seem as though Austen is shaping Anne as a role-model for the young women of the early 19th century. Anne is the Miley Cyrus, the Kristen Stewart, the Taylor Swift of that century. The fact that Miley Cyrus is the role model for the next generation of young women is truly horrifying to me. Where is the hardship in that girl's life that will teach her how to be a woman? (Your life is not hard when Disney is telling you what to do). I think that every child is shaped in a positive (and negative) way by the trials and tribulations that they face growing up; Anne clearly demonstrates that it is possible to deal with a difficult situation and grow into a human being and woman who is capable of confidently coping with problems that arise in your life. I wish Anne Elliot was a role model for the next generation. I admire Anne, and I'm excited to see how the rest of the book turns out.

Chapters 5-11: Or, Anne's Pity Party

Here we are, plugging our way through Persuasion by Jane Austen. Before I begin my synopsis, I'd like to deliver my evolving opinion of the novel: the plot pretty much serves as the first "textbook" for all modern-day romance and chick-lit authors. Now, don't get me wrong here. I devour books written by Sophia Kinsella, Marian Keyes, and that author who wrote the Twilight Saga. I love me a good chick-lit book. But there is something to be said for reading a novel written by the author who, in all likelihood, created the genre. It adds a layer of excitement, an element of surprise for me, as I eagerly turn each page of the book to see where Austen will take me. Even though I think I've predicted the final outcome of the book, I'm still interested in finishing it. I think the fact that I WANT to finish the book even though I've read countless like it before, stands alone as a testament to Austen's standing as a writer whose skills transcends centuries.

SPOILER ALERT: Will continue until the end of the post.

Chapter 6 begins with the start of Anne's two-month visit at the home of her sister Mary's husband's family, Uppercross. Charles Musgrove, Mary's husband, and his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Musgrove, and his two younger sisters Louisa and Henrietta, are all ensconced within a huge amount of familial in-fighting. Anne put it best when she thought to herself: "...the sort of necessity which the family-habits seemed to produce, of every thing being to be communicated, and every thing being to be done together, however undesired and inconvenient." Needless to say, almost a whole chapter was dedicated to describing the intricate and annoying family dynamics of the Musgroves, including when Anne becomes a mediator between all of the family members. However, what is exciting is that the very own Captain Wentworth, the man that Anne loved passionately for a few months but was persuaded by the (evil, in my opinion) Lady Russell and her father, Sir Elliot, to reject because he was below the family's "standards," has made his entrance.

As I mentioned in my teaser yesterday, C. Wentworth is a kind, generous, and very polite man. I also envision Liam Neeson as the man who would play the C. Wentworth in the movie, but that is beside the point. Needless to say, C. Wentworth is prime property for the very eligible "Miss Musgroves" Louisa and Henrietta, and the two ladies know this very well and act accordingly.

I'd like to take some time now to address how Anne has been handling all of this. When C. Wentworth first came to Uppercross, she tried to busy herself with all manner of projects to prevent an encounter. When she finally did sit down to dinner with him and the rest of the Musgroves, he was cool and distant, whereas Anne tried everything in her power not to be noticed by him. And, since, as the reader, I am privy to Anne's prolific thoughts about how he mustn't truly love her, but how could he really forget their time together, but after the way she treated him why would he ever want to even look at her...we find out that both Anne and C. Wentworth are both still very much in love with one another, even if the plot is suggesting otherwise. And Anne is not handling this whole experience very well.

I discovered the fact that C. Wentworth still loves Anne when he showed up early to the Cottage where Anne was staying while she was at Uppercross. He was there to pick up Charles Musgrove, Mary's husband, to go for a hunting outing. Anne was babysitting her two young nephews and C. Wentworth strode into the room and Austen wrote: "The surprise of finding himself almost alone with Anne Elliot, deprived his manners of their usual composure....before he walked to the window to recollect himself, and feel how he ought to behave." Now, if the simple fact that Liam Neeson, err, C. Wentworth lost all sense of manners and how to behave at the mere sight of Anne tells me that he still loves her. And, Anne's constant quibbling tells me that she still loves him.

But here is the rub. Lousia Musgrove and Henrietta Musgrove are gunning hard for C. Wentworth. Henrietta is taken out of the game when her old suitor, Charles Hayter, came back in the picture and she realized that Louisa had a stronger hold on C. Wentworth anyway.

A final major plot development is a very long walk that happened one morning throughout the countryside surrounding Uppercross. Louisa, Henrietta, C. Wentworth, Mary and her husband Charles, Charles Hayter, and Anne all went a'strolling one fine October morning. During a brief rest, Louisa and C. Wentworth went off by themselves to stroll. Anne, wanting to go pick some nuts off of some hedgerow bushes, was minding her own business when she heard Louisa and C. Wentworth talking. Louisa was discussing the fact that Charles Musgrove had actually offered marriage to ANNE before Mary! And Anne rejected him!! C. Wentworth was very interested in the timing of this rejection and discovered from Louisa that Anne had rejected Charles M. during the exact time that C. Wentworth and Anne had been in love. Verrry interesting. And C. Wentworth's interest in this fact is all too telling about his still existent love for Anne.

Anne also overheard C. Wentworth expound upon how he finds women with characters of "decision and firmness" very attractive, and that: "It is the worst evil of too yielding and indecisive of character." Anne practically went in to convulsions over that. (Remember, she was too yielding and indecisive of character to remain with C. Wentworth in the face of pressure from her family.)

Needless to say, I'm excited to see what happens. Anne is off to Bath to reunite with her father and sister, Elizabether, soon.

Look for Chapters 6-14 Tomorrow evening

Dear Readers,

Due to a meatloaf that took an exorbitant amount of time to cook tonight, I will be delaying my post for chapters 6-14 until tomorrow night. I wanted to give you a quick teaser, in the meantime.

SPOILER ALERT

1. We meet Captain Wentworth (remember, the man with whom Anne fell desperately in love with but backed out of an engagement with upon some major cajolling on the part of Sir Elliot and Lady Russell and a rather weak spine on the part of Anne) and find out that Anne is STILL a total ninny when it comes to stepping up and telling C. Wentworth she is still *madly* in love with him.

2. Little Charles, Anne's nephew, breaks his collarbone. Horrors! (He's a brat anyway- and it gave Anne an excuse to duck out of seeing C. Wentworth a lot).

3. The descriptions of C. Wentworth remind me of Liam Neeson. Perhaps it's the fact that both Liam and C. Wentworth are polite, soft-spoken gentleman who also happen to have a high level of intelligence and the ability to kick some major butt in the way of fighting (C. Wentworth was at war with France on behalf of HRM, Liam was at war with European sex traffickers on behalf of his daughter- connection MADE).

Look for a more detailed synopsis and review tomorrow night.