Fatted Guernsey Calves for Everyone!

My Dear Professor J,

Welcome back! Now where did I put that fatted calf... The return of the prodigal is always a cause for celebration and I'm sure no one is more pleased than our readers after a constant dose of me and my scrivener ways for so long. I have no doubt that they would agree with me when I say I hope you do not keep us waiting long for the return of your windbaggery. :)

Now my good man, although I understand your point, a modern man really can't complain to a modern woman about being compared to a carefully crafted image (saving the REAL discussion on that topic for the near future). Though what we are compared to is more likely to be visual than literary and often crafted literally. But along that line I would say that while I would want Juliet as well as the entertaining Guernsey women for friends I would want to be like Elizabeth; courageous and kind, thoughtful, smart, and subversive and rebellious when life calls for it. Brave.  But isn't that one of the things wonderful well written fictional characters can do--give us something to aspire to? Biographies can have the same effect, though often embellished and exaggerated. They can help us believe that our best is possible even when hope is dim. Wouldn't we all want to behave heroically when destiny calls for it?

All that being said, I will agree with you completely that women (especially the devotees of those formulaic romance novels) create in their imaginations the ideal man and then are disappointed by what reality has to offer. Isn't it great that men never do that? lol

Interesting to me that you thought the authors made a mistake with Mark's speech. Given his overall attitude, when I read that I felt he was mocking her and it made me cringe along with the rest of the letter in which his real character (or lack of it) is hinted at. Of course, we see it fully when he arrives on the island and wasn't "the least bit interested" in anything Juliet had been working on, and didn't ask any questions about it and then in the final straw assumes the worst of those who had been caring for Kit. Flowers seemed the one weapon in his wooing arsenal and he seemed to think a lack of patience and kindness could be made up for by roses and lilies. I felt the real flaw where he was concerned was that he was interested in Juliet at all, I thought him much more the trophy wife type. Donald Trump with an oily mustache. :)

For all the fun that the book is infused with, I'll admit to crying over the pregnant young woman frozen to the floor of her cell in the concentration camp--a haunting visual.

I loved some of the disguised bits of wisdom and understanding lurking about on the pages of this book:

Juliet knows that children are gruesome.  Did you know that Beatrix Potter and her brother use to collect dead animals and boil them so they could extract the skeletons and study them? It is one of the reasons her illustrations were  so charmingly life like.

She also lets us know if you really want to know people you should do what she did at Dawsey's and take "the opportunity to snoop through his books." One must have books; of course not having them tells us something too.

When Remy touches Juliet's shoulder on the beach and Juliet wrote that she felt she'd been given a gift. "...even such a tiny gesture as a touch takes trust."

When writing to Sidney about how she and Dawsey could have gone on forever longing for one another and pretending not to notice she writes, " This obsession with dignity can ruin your life if you let it."

What did you think about the Oscar Wilde letters? While the story of them was an interesting one, I thought it almost too neatly wrapped up the book.

More to say but I have to wash up. This slaying thing is really messy. ;)

The Prodigal Prof Returns

Dearest, dearest Madame M,

You have managed things (held down “the ethereal blog fort”) quite well Madame! Readers certainly enjoyed appropriate length posts, and I shall endeavor to keep up with that good sense (or rather, I shall endeavor for as long as I can before “returning to my windbag self,” lol).

Yes, we males suffer,a bit unfairly in the comparison and unexpressed (unrealistic?) expectation, at the hands of fairy tales and fictional men, for they are crafted, and we are, well, at best works in progress. :)

I too, admired the patient indulgence of Dawsey, who let Juliet take as long as she wanted to admire, well, anything. But that too, is, at least a little, related to the previous discussion on fictional men. Like the people on the “Real World,” fictional characters don’t seem to get bogged down in such inconveniences or time-stressors as jobs, money, multiple obligations, etc. Of course, one would like to think it’s because semi-secluded islanders have it all figured out better than we overtasked moderns (and there is probably some truth to that), but reality is what really intrudes when questioning some fiction.

The Freudian discourse has been questioned on many accounts, but is certainly keeping with the (then?) scientific penchant for wanting to rationalize God, the soul/spirit, and such like out of existence. Cartesian-Newtonian excess that is, one where too much becomes mechanical, where the pieces are all broken down to “understand” the “machine,” but fortunately we have quantum physics to thank (heavens!)for leading us by necessity back to more appropriate holism.

The written word is often superior for conveying a person’s character better first, when time and care is taken, and the expression capabilities of each communicator are not too far apart. Of course, honesty and relative transparency must be assumed for it to get the nod, as instances of written deceit (and manipulation) have in too many instances created problems or tragedy instead. Rare is the person who is clearly superior in person versus writing to pave the way on first contact. There is often puffery and projection where initial contact is only in person, and much of that can be avoided if thoughtful written correspondence precedes it.

As for grace/fruitfulness, many observers (Napoleon Hill being only one, and he thought it could be harnessed for great productivity) have commented on this phenomenon, and interestingly enough, it occurred recently with me and a friend I hadn’t communicated with in years.

Continuing some comments/observations on the book:

The plight of displaced people in Europe after the war was over, and the uncertainty of the whereabouts and disposition of so many, is well transmitted by the authors.

The authors also rightly point out something. There were Germans who detested what their country was doing, but they were vastly outnumbered by the believers, the dutiful, the blind, the ignorant, the acquiescing, the willing, the greedy, the plodding, the mindlessly patriotic, and those in denial.

The authors show flaw when, on page 153, they have the American (Mark Reynolds) speak like a Brit. Non-sequitir.

But on another matter, I agree with the authors through Juliet, commenting on the financier not wanting to make haste with financial affairs: “Let us leave well enough alone for the moment,” does indeed NOT sound like the words of a banker or trustee! :)

One More Thing...

Ever had to recover from a vacation? Me too. Going away for a couple of weeks means that things pile up back home and must be dealt with upon return. Sort mail? Catch up at work? Unpack? Wouldn't it just be easier to leave again? This the long way of telling y'all that you are going to have to wait a bit longer for Prof. J. to return to his usual windbag self.

So while we wait for that I'm going to expound a bit on the parson's idea about "fruitfulness" being drawn in when a person cares deeply about something or someone new. Suddenly your mind becomes hyper-aware of things relating to that person or events connected to a place one has just visited. New friends' names and work or interests are suddenly everywhere. The place you've just returned from is currently in the news. Is it? Was it always thus, but now we are aware of the connection?  Has the mind been quickened by new relationships or experiences?  I wonder along with Juliet who is right, her friend Sophie who thinks it's a coincidence, or the parson who believes we throw a kind of energy into the universe and a particular richness is "drawn in."

Find us on Facebook...

We now have a Facebook page where you can see what is posted on all our blogs in one spot. You'll find the link to it under The Housewife's picture.

A Bit of Lamb

I've no doubt that our readers are eagerly awaiting my blog partner's return, but must once again find me here holding down the ethereal blog fort, at the helm of the blog ship, or blog-sitting this little bundle of intellectual property we have joint custody of. Select whatever analogy is most entertaining to you.  

I'm just adding one or two things that jumped out of the book to me so as not to overwhelm our returning traveler, not that he has ever been at a loss for words. ;)


"I am so glad you want to talk about Charles Lamb on paper." I could certainly understand Juliet's happiness in finding someone who was willing to discuss something she was interested in by means of writing instead of face to face conversation. I wonder if she might have had a different response to Dawsey had she met him in person instead of on paper. How do you think her coming to know him through his thoughts and ideas, through the written word, affected her feelings about him and would she have had a different first impression if she'd seen him first? I wonder.

In this same letter she mentions that Lamb had a "genius for sympathy" which I thought was an interesting choice of words. Being a lover of the outdoors I understood what Wordsworth was trying to say but when CL responded with his feelings about furniture he had seen his whole life and a "book case which has followed me about like a faithful dog where-ever I have moved..." well, I understood that too.

The comic story about him being so drunk that he had to be carried home by the butler and then writing a letter of apology made me smile as did the letter when I found it online. Here is the link should you want to read it for yourself: Lamb's Apology for Drinking Too Much, compliments of the New York Times.


She closes this particular letter with a charming idea put forth by her friend, a parson:

"He thinks that if one cares deeply about someone or something new one throws a kind of energy out into the world, and 'fruitfulness' is drawn in."

She says he calls it "grace." I liked that concept very much and I wonder if the good parson (or the authors--I'm having trouble not thinking of the characters as real people--wasn't on to something).

Characters (Flawed and Otherwise)

Dear Reader, 

I hope you are treating yourself to this wonderful book and following along with us.

The authors of this book did something interesting by revealing all these wise and generous men of Guernsey to us and then contrasting them with Juliet's plague of a suitor, the egotistical Mark, who on the surface is supposed to represent all the things men think women are interested in.  He's rich and seems dashing and attentive. He cannot in the end, hold a candle to Dawsey, about who it can be said, "...let him walk into a room, and everyone in it breathes a sigh of relief." I loved it when he gave her a tour of Guernsey and she noted how he would stand back and allow her to enjoy the wonders of the island as long as she wanted. And what woman could resist a man that pigs are drawn to? :)

I was so pleased when Juliet came to her senses and threw Mark over. Imagining what her life would be like did it. "One year as his wife and I'd become one of those abject quaking women, who look at their husbands when someone asks them a question."  How sad if she had let that happen!

I took great interest in Will Thisbee (the rag-and-bone man) and his salvation from his search for religion by discovering Thomas Carlyle since I had finished not too long ago, that book of his letters to Emerson. You may recall that I bored you with numerous quotes from it several months ago. How amusing that the character of Thisbee found that Past and Present gave him "shooting  pains in (his) head. I've read a lot of books like that!

I liked the story that Professor J referred to before about Will's friend, Dr. Stubbins walking out on the Friends of the Sigmund Freud Society. The question he left them with is a good one: "Did any of you ever think that along about the time the notion of the SOUL gave out, Freud popped up with the EGO to take its place?" An astute observation and he was right to question the timing of it.  What do you think?

"Dr. Stubbins pronounced that you alone had transformed "distraction" into an honorable word--instead of a character flaw." I certainly related to that comment!  It was a great gift Juliet gave to them when she gave them a fresh way of looking at reading and discussing books.

I laughed when Isola discovers Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, and Mr. Darcy (I wonder if "Dawsey" is a bit of a tribute to that much loved character by the authors). The fact that she feels something has been kept from her and wonders what else might have been denied her was something I must say I've felt a time or two in life myself. Discovering something wonderful that everyone else seems to know about can make you feel just like Isola. I sympathized with her at that moment. Poor thing-- a life without Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet!

You may have noticed that I've been avoiding the more serious and sad parts of this book, heretofor.
While it has numerous entertaining characters and humorous stories concerning them, it is after all a story of war and occupation. The books and friendships are what hold the residents of the island together in their darkest hours, yet as the story unfolds the tragic demise of some and Elizabeth, in particular are heart rending. I'm getting to the real heroine of the story soon, she deserves her own post.

I'll put off that discussion until our good Professor returns.

O Professor, Where Art Thou?

Dear Reader, our friend, Professor Gallavant, is at it again, however I have it on good authority that he is embarking on a well deserved vacation. Some time spent someplace with beautiful weather (palm trees, even) sounds lovely after the week we've had here in the wind-blown, rain soaked south.

Enjoy yourself, my friend!

Not to worry, it isn't as if there isn't plenty more to be said about men and books and men IN books. :)