ACROBATS!

Jan. 22nd, 2012 06:02 pm
osprey_archer: (Default)
[personal profile] osprey_archer
I visited my aunt this weekend. She made cinnamon rolls and they were splendidly splendid. I must learn to make them. (But first, I must overcome my aversion to making yeast bread. The gratification is just too delayed.)

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We also went to see the Golden Dragon Acrobats perform. If you ever get a chance to see then, DO, because they are also splendid.

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And finally, I've been wending my way through Florence Morse Kingsley's 1907 opus, Those Queer Browns, which may be a socialist tract thinly disguised as a novel. It's sufficiently well disguised that I'm not sure yet, which is surely a point in it's favor.

It's told in documents - diaries, notes, etc. - and so far my favorite character is Agatha Brown, who keeps a journal she calls "Brown Studies" (this being a 19th century term for daydreams) and scrawls lines like, “He says the fact that I don’t positively dote on Higher Algebra and Trigonometry argues a weak spot in my mentality which must be strengthened by hard study.”

If the socialist tract doesn't take over the rest of the story, it may turn out to be another entry in the field of "books like I Capture the Castle."

(At some point, I need to define what it means for a book to be like I Capture the Castle. And hopefully come up with a less elongated appellation to describe such books.)

***

Speaking of books like I Capture the Castle: [livejournal.com profile] ladyherenya, I've thought of another. Juliet in The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society has a voice much like Cassandra's - in fact, I can rather imagine her as a grown-up version of Cassandra; Juliet's a writer just after World War II in Britain (and the history is handled really well).

It's an epistolary novel, and a lot of the letters are all about books and reading. I think you might really like it if you haven't read it already.

Date: 2012-01-23 01:41 am (UTC)
ladyherenya: (Default)
From: [personal profile] ladyherenya
I was just about to comment on your other post where we were discussing this!

I'll be interested to hear you final verdict on Those Queer Browns. I've never heard of it before...

I loved The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Wouldn't have thought of considering it as a book like I Capture the Castle, because it doesn't really have the coming-of-age aspect, but I definitely agree about the voice. (Guess it depends on exactly what is the criteria for this genre!)

I don't remember Daddy Long-legs very clearly, except I thought it was delightful. I'll have to reread it.

And you're probably right about Montgomery's Emily. I think her coming-of-age involves a lot of I Capture the Castle elements, but it's a way more gradual - and never a complete - break with her childhood self.

How important would you consider first person narrative or discussing books and reading to defining the genre?

Date: 2012-01-23 09:07 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] osprey-archer.livejournal.com
Those Queer Browns is a totally obscure book. I only picked it up because I was sorting through the old book section in the used bookstore where I work and it had a Gibson Girl on the cover.

Hmmm. I think I need to reread I Capture the Castle, because I can't remember how much Cassandra discusses books and reading. I know that she is a reader, and wants to be a writer, which contributes to the playfulness with language that seems to be a big part of these books; but I don't remember if there's lots of talk specifically about books.

The first person narration seems pretty important to me. It would be hard to have an I Capture the Castle-ish voice without it. (Although now that I think about it, I recall that large parts of the first Emily book are Emily's diary/letters to her deceased father, so that might work.)

Date: 2012-01-23 02:36 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bogwitch64.livejournal.com
cinnamon rolls...hmmmmmmm.....

Date: 2012-01-23 01:35 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] osprey-archer.livejournal.com
Is that a "cinnamon rolls are so delicious" hmm or a "I must make cinnamon rolls! Because they are so delicious!" hmmm?

Date: 2012-01-25 01:59 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] inspirethoughts.livejournal.com
Ooh Cinnamon rolls...I love them too! :)

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