The Metaphorical Magpie

Listen to Maurice Sendak read Where The Wild Things Are

Barnes and Noble has an online monthly storytime video. This month's features Sendak!

This book was such an important part of my childhood, and really my life. Hearing Mr. Sendak read the story was a treat.

 

 

 

A passage

Last week, I read a copy of Bambi by Felix Salten. I found a hard cover edition from 1929 at my local Salvation Army. Inside it was stamped that it was the property of school 23 in Jersey City, dated Dec. 13 1948. Somehow sixty years later it is now in my hands. The spine is torn but that did not stop me from admiring the handsome stag printed on the cover.

I remember seeing the movie, Bambi, as a little girl in a local theater that played matinees of old children's classics. Realizing the gist of the plot, I blurted out, "Bambi's mother is dead!" and then the whole theater full of kids started to cry. The movie is, I will say, loosely based on this book. Yes, Bambi's mother does indeed die in the book and many others join her. This book is a beautiful description of life's natural cycles - and it's violent interruptions by He, or mankind. Filled with wonderful descriptions and funny characters, like a screech owl that delights in scaring the other animals and a squirrel that is a total busybody.

I'd like to share a passage with you. It doesn't deal with the plot at all. I just love the description of morning breaking. And the bit about the magpie, of course.

From Chapter VII

Another night passed and morning brought an event.
    It was a cloudless morning, dewy and fresh. All the leaves on the trees andthe bushes seemed suddenly to smell sweeter. THe meadows sent up great clouds of perfume to the tree-tops.
    "Peep!" said the tit-mice when they awoke. They said it very softly. But since it was still gray dawn they said nothing else for a while. For a time it was perfectly still. THen a crow's hoarse, rasping caw sounded far above in the sky. The crows  has awakened and were visiting one another in the tree tops. THe magpie answered at once, "Shackarakshak! Did you think I was asleep?" Then a hundred small voices started in very softly here and there. "Peep! peep! tiu!" Sleep and the dark were still in these sounds. And they came from far apart.
    Suddenly an blackbird flew to the top of a beech. She perched way up on the topmost twig that stuck up thin against the sky and sat there watching how, far away over the trees, the night-weary, pale-gray heavens were glowing in the distant east and coming to life. THen she commenced to sing.
    Her little black body seemed only a tiny dark speck at that distance. She looked like a dead leaf. But she poured out her song in a great flood of rejoicing through the whole forest. And everything began to stir. The finches warbled, the little red-throat and the gold finch were heard. The doves rushed from palce to place with a loud clapping and rustling of wings. The pheasants cackled as though their throats would burst. The noise of their wings, as they flew from their roosts to the ground, was soft and powerful. They kept uttering their metallic, splintering call with a soft ensuing cackle. Far above the falcons cried sharply and joyously, "Yayaya!"
    "Diu diyu!" the yellow-bird rejoiced. He flew to and from amonf the branches, and his round yellow blody flashed in the morning light like a winged ball of gold.

Wreck This Journal: Week One

(Psst- click image for larger view if you like.)

It took me a few tries to get my hands on a copy of Wreck This Journal. First I tried my local Borders store. I wandered around the store to no avail, tried the computer which told me to look in the children's department, talked to a clerk who also directed me to actvities for children. I couldn't find it but I did walk out with two cookbooks and copy of Gourmet magazine that I couldn't resist. Next stop was Barnes and Noble where, again, I needed a clerk to help me but she was very nice and actually went out into the store to locate it for me. She pulled it from the shelf, put it in my hands and walked away.

The first thing I noticed were some fingerprints around the spine. I wondered if that was part of the design and absentmindedly rubbed them off. It immediately struck me as ironic that I was purchasing a book that is meant to go through all manner of abuse and the first thing I do is rub off a few teeny grasy fingerprints.

This project may be harder for me than I thought.

Last night, I thumbed through the book and began to feel the alarm bells go off.

TAKE IT IN THE SHOWER?!!!

LET A FRIEND DEFACE IT?!!!

When I read "crack the spine," I actually shrieked out loud, CRACK THE SPINE?" plaintively.

I grew up in a house where books were considered your friends. Copies of books from my childhood are in the pristine condition I received them in. I did not tear. I did not scribble. Hell, in college, I didn't even use a high lighter in my text books.  To spare them that indignity I took a lot of notes by hand. I wouldn't even buy used books if they were all marked up. I just thought it was so rude and the things people underlined weren't always what I thought has vital anyway.

So now, I am confronted with this little unassuming book that is asking me to do all sorts of things that break my rules- bending down pages, cutting, tearing, putting in sticky substances, spilling and heaven help me- tongue painting.

Whew.

Faced with a free rainy afternoon today, I found a page I felt comfortable beginning with. I rummaged through my very neglected craft cabinet and found some watercolor colored pencils. I traced the blue hand first and then wondered what it would look like with my hand balled up, so I pulled out the orange pencil to find out. Pleased with the results, I moved into an "OK" hand position with purple. Suddenly I felt the urge for quotations and spent some time happily flipping through my Oxford Dictionary of Quotations. Which then somehow led me to reading poems by Rumi, Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, and Dorothy Parker.

Then I was inspired to add phrases containing the word hand or hands, the parts of the hand, things you can do with the hand.

Basically, this one page unlocked my creative pathways in several directions.

I'm not sure where the book will take me next week but I'm curious to find out.

To see what other book bloggers are doing this week with the book, visit The Next Chapter: Wreck This Journal- Week 1.

Getting out the ol' wrecking ball

I've signed up for The Next Chapter book blogging group run by Jamie Ridler, certified professional co-active coach and blogger at  Starshyne Productions. Starting on Friday June 5, we'll be delving into Wreck This Journal by Keri Smith.

The Shopping Sherpa has been playing with the book over the last few months. It looked like she's had fun so I decided to give it a shot.

You still have time to join, too. Basically you buy the book and post about your progress on your blog every Friday. Visit The Next Chapter:Wreck This Journal for the sign up sheet and the answers to all your questions about the group.

Sweet beckonings

Periwinkle posted this video by Amy Krouse Rosenthal entitled 17 things i made. Intrigued after watching, I delved further and watched the one below. Which made me sit at my kitchen table and cry for it's sheer loveliness. Please watch.

Now, stop sniffing, find a hanky and go visit Amy online to find out more about how you, too, can participate in her project, The Beckoning of Lovely, which will create a film made of content of by people like you and me making the things we make. Guerilla goodness gets me every time.

Amy is the author of the book  The Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life and a long list of childrens' books, odes to cookies, life lessons, mothering and more.

I'd like to bake her cupcakes.

"Stay gold, Ponyboy"

Whenever I see golden leaves, I think of that scene from The Outsiders in which Ponyboy recites the poem "Nothing Gold Can Stay" by Robert Frost. The book by S.E. Hinton was the first one I remember staying up all night to read. The story of these boys electrified my prepubescent imagination. Already consciously feeling like an outsider and left to raise myself in some ways, I identified with them in ways I hadn't in all the earlier fiction I'd read. This was the first exploration of class wars I'd ever encountered.  I wasn't as poor as they were but I was poor enough at times as a kid to have it be painfully pointed out by the "better" kids. I felt the contempt grow between us just as it had between the groups in The Outsiders.

Do kids still read books like this anymore? It seems like there is so much fantasy for them to read. Books like this one help youth learn about navigating the world.

Did I just sound like a grumpy old lady? My apologies.

What book kept you up all night as a kid?

Woman of Letters: Irène Némirovsky and Suite Française

I thought I should share a comment I received on my Summer Reading post.

Hannah from the Museum of Jewish Heritage writes:

I recently read your post about Irène Némirovsky and wanted to let you know about an exciting new exhibition about her life, work, and legacy that will open on September 24, 2008 at the Museum of Jewish Heritage —A Living Memorial to the Holocaust in New York City. Woman of Letters: Irène Némirovsky and Suite Française, which will run through the middle of March, will include powerful rare artifacts — the actual handwritten manuscript for Suite Française, the valise in which it was found, and many personal papers and family photos. The majority of these documents and artifacts have never been outside of France. For fans of her work, this exhibition is an opportunity to really “get to know” Irene. And for those who can’t visit, there will be a special website that will live on the Museum’s site www.mjhnyc.org.

The Museum will host several public programs over the course of the exhibition’s run that will put Némirovsky’s work and life into historical and literary context. Book clubs and groups are invited to the Museum for tours and discussions in the exhibition’s adjacent Salon (by appointment). It is the Museum’s hope that the exhibit will engage visitors and promote dialogue about this extraordinary writer and the complex time in which she lived and died. To book a group tour, please contact Tracy Bradshaw at 646.437.4304 or tbradshaw@mjhnyc.org.  Please visit our website at www.mjhnyc.org for up-to-date information about upcoming public programs or to join our e-bulletin list.

This sounds like a fantastic exhibit. I've never visited this museum although they often have some really interesting exhibits. I think this one is worth the trip. Once you read her book and learn more about her, I think you'll be fascinated, too.

On the opening day, September 24, Denise Epstein will discuss her mother's life and work with Némirovsky's translator and literature professor Sandra Smith. Tickets are $15.

Location:
    Museum of Jewish Heritage - A Living Memorial to the Holocaust
    Edmond J. Safra Plaza       

36 Battery Place
        New York, NY 10280      

      

Hours:
Sunday-Tuesday, Thursday 10 a.m. - 5:45 p.m.;
Wednesday 10 a.m. - 8 p.m.
Friday 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. (During Daylight Savings Time)
Friday and the eve of Jewish Holidays
10 a.m. - 3 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time)
Closed Saturdays, Jewish Holidays, and Thanksgiving Day.       

Admission:
$10 adults, $7 seniors, $5 students, children 12 and under are admitted free.

Free admission every Wednesday from 4 p.m. - 8 p.m. Note: This applies to general Museum admission only. There may be a separate admission price for public programs.

Summer Reading Groupies Roundup

Toward the  beginning of the summer, I joined Rebekah' s summer reading group. Here are the covers I was able to crack over the last few months. My library is now allowing books to be checked out for a whole month. I took advantage of that in June and July. Then I went to a library sale and a few thrift shops and came home with a whole shopping bag of interesting reading material. I'm hoping to pass the new acquisitions along after I've finished them.

Some unplanned themes appeared in my selections. There were two books set in New York City spaced about a hundred years apart. Two were also set in Paris. Although, the city wasn't a major character in any of the books.

Queer Street by John Wiley. This book is out of print so no link. I picked this up at a rummage sale at a Jewish temple. Among the piles of vintage books, the pale blue cover and title popped out at me. I read it over Memorial Day weekend. A quick paced story of a well-to-do family at the turn of the century in Manhattan. Three sisters navigate society, marriage and morals. There were plot twists I didn't see coming, a unique perspective of a age in New York never to be again. I actually enjoyed this quite a bit. I think this would be a good movie if adapted. - I am going to pass this on to a certain someone who loves all things NYC.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver. A library pick. As much of a foodie and gardener as I am, I found Kingsolver's prose to be a bit too preachy and not passionate enough for my tastes. But her daughter's sidebars on recipes were a delightful highlight for me. I did glean some tips on growing and harvesting and made special note of some vegetable varieties Kingsolver had success in growing.

The House in Paris by Elizabeth Bowen. A library sale purchase. I am typically  a very fast reader but this book requires that you read it slowly. The language commands your attention. This story uses the plot device of a young girl stopping between trains at a friend of the family's in Paris to tell the story of love, loss, and betrayal surrounding the adults that live in the house and another child visiting there for the day. This book is available to anyone who would like to read it next. Let me know of your interest.
 

The Art of Influence: Persuading Others Begins With You by Chris Widener. Picked up on the free rack at work. This is a very thin volume that packs a big amount of common sense advice on how to conduct yourself in business and life. I will gladly pass this on to someone else.

Tender at the Bone: Growing Up at the Table by Ruth Reichl. Library pick. I gobbled this up in one sitting. I just sat up and read it all in one swoop and then sheepishly went to bed. I adore Ruth Reichl and it was a treat to read the story of her life in her own words.

Dumbfounded. Big Money. Big Hair. Big Problems. Or Why Having It All Isn't for Sissies by Matt Rothschild. Picked up on the free rack at work. Funny as hell! This memoir of a boy raised by his Jewish grandparents in the world of high society on the Upper East Side . The grandmother is such a pip. As she succumbs to old age and Matt comes to terms with his unsatisfactory relationship with his mother and his own sexuality, this memoir alternately is touching and howling funny. Free to a taker.

Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky. Library selection. This was the best thing I read all summer. This is sort of a Diary of Anne Frank for grown ups. Nemirovsky wrote this book of interconnected stories as World War II was beginning. Set in Paris and the French countryside, she follows a group of people from vastly different walks of life and examines how they handle having to flee their homes or have them occupied by German officers. Sadly, she herself died in a concentration camp. The characters are so perfectly drawn. Her observations sharp and profound. If this book crosses your path, please make time for it.
 

The Stillmeadow Road by Gladys Taber. I checked this and out a companion book of photos from the library. i discovered Taber's works over the winter when I picked up two of her books at the Salvation Army. Essentially, she was the Martha Stewart before Martha Stewart. Divorced she and a long time friend (possibly more) Jill moved from the city to Connecticut where they raised dogs, gardened and savored a simpler life together. In this book, she moves through the seasons covering what happens at their place Stillmeadow throughout the year.