Or at least my words? :) I was amused by your reference, yet I got further tickled by wondering if the Guernsey women had fat calves on their legs, lol.
Once again I am in agreement with your thoughtful writing, and your analysis of the Guernsey women. I recognize and largely agree with your points about crafted images, although I think the craftings take on a different character between men and women: men don’t get very sophisticated in their idealizing, at least in the beginning! :)
After reading your thoughts on Mark’s speech, I may have to reconsider my opinion! He was so arrogant, however, that his words still seem “stretchy” to me.
Snooping the books of other people? I suppose I’ve done that in a way! Although in my defense, perhaps I am just asking myself that if I’m stuck there, would I have anything worthwhile to read? :) But certainly, there is also getting an appreciation of what interests or informs the person in the house (if anything!).
Ah yes, I agree with you about those Brits: those “stiff upper lips” in enduring things in silent dignity does so take its toll at times!
Yes, the Oscar Wilde letters were a bit too neat, but I had abandoned exactness by then and just continued to be entertained. Long has it been that a novel has DELIGHTED me through and through. I enjoy many novels, but rarely do they keep that feeling of delight from beginning to end, one where I want to slow down and savor most everything!
And so, even though perhaps by mentioning those letters you are wanting to put this thread to bed, I have more points! And here you thought you were sole royal occupant of the “One More Thing” throne-room! :)
“Sea air, sunshine, green fields, wildflowers, the ever-changing sky and ocean, and most of all, the people seem to have seduced her from City life.” Yes, Sidney, the homey, welcoming place we long for in our inner beings, as well as the need to be outdoors, with nature, with life, not this overly indoor existence!
“Damn, damn, and damn,” or if it’s really bad, “God damn, oh God damn.” Love Sidney’s response to really awful things. Seems so appropriate, and yet so reservedly British at the same time. We Americans always think we nail British expressions so well; I wonder if we really do?
The enduring presence—often spoken of in the present tense—of such a strong-willed and yet caring personage such as Elizabeth, even long after she is gone: well, one doesn’t have to be a devotee of the movie “Phenomenon” to have a feeling of such things. Sometimes the truly exceptional touch our lives and never let go, and although we may be diminished and heart-stricken by it, we are better off in the whole.
The authors intersperse appropriate vignettes of the terrible conflict of the war and occupations, and camps, and all manner of things. And just enough to tug at you emotionally while they inform intellectually! I said at the beginning of this thread that I was enamored with this short letter format. So easy to wrap things up, and yet leave open so much, but without all the heavy handedness in formulaic writing! Easy to read, easy to digest! Fan-boy here!
Sidney’s cutting his letter short to dress for a supper party: how little we Americans do of either—letter writing or dressing (up) for special meals. Our helter skelter pace and scattered “focus” (really, probably more of the lack of focus) cause us to miss so much of what can make living and the human condition so fulfilling.
I, well, to over-use a word again, delighted in reading about the theatrical British soldier and his comrades at St. Sampson’s Harbor. Enough of this sort of thing did happen—proof, if it was ever needed—that humor survives even the most soul-sucking of large human experiences.
I wonder what motivated the authors in doing so, or if they knowingly chose those names for tangential or momentary characters. Ariel and Zenobia, for example, made me think of a mermaid and the queen for Conan, respectively.
“Isola doesn’t approve of small talk and believes in breaking the ice by stomping on it.” Deli------, uhm, most entertainingly proper! :)
And Sidney’s “coming out,” to Isola and her response: if only all revelations—gender orientation and otherwise—could be handled so forthrightly and so sweetly in all directions! The authors have landed that magical connection that Tolkien made with many readers in The Hobbit: the desire to live in such a warm, accepting, entertaining, life-nourishing, life-fulfilling COMMUNITY.
Oh my word, I am positively gushing over this book! And my manner of speech, at least in writing, seems to have received a brushing of British flavor. It all comes so naturally doesn’t it? Guess we Americans can easily get in touch with our Tudor-hangover roots!
I better pause here before I lapse back into my endless driveling windbaggery! :)
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