Whale Watching: For Jenny

"I am quite convinced that, with very few exceptions, the sea-air always does good."  From Austen, Persuasion Vol. 1 Ch. XII

Sometimes I get a bit squeamish about writing a blog.  Even though I enjoyed a lot of what this Ted Talk had to say, it made me feel like a blog is the lowest form of communication .

I am inspired to keep writing by a few faithful readers, especially my sister.  I shouldn't be surprised as she was the inspiration behind my first published book Expectations.  So, to say thanks, here's a little video I thought she would enjoy from Monday, Feb. 13.  (If you look hard enough, you can see the whales.)  Happy weekend!

Love,

Sam

The Woman in White: Book Review

I knew nothing about this classic when I picked it up on my friend Angela's recommendation.

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 Neither did I realize the great length as the initial copy I had from the library was a small edition with miniature print.  I could not finish it in three weeks, so borrowed my mother's copy.  She bought it because she read it was one of Nora Ephron's favourite books.  This copy revealed I was in for a 772 read!

This book is categorized as a Gothic novel.  Most of my knowledge of the Gothic novel is based on Jane Austen's satirization of the genre in Northanger Abbey.  This book tells a great mystery and is filled with memorable characters.

Wilke Collins was a good friend of Charles Dickens and I could see similarities in his characterizations and dialogue.  I was also intrigued by the narration of the story.  It is told in letter form from several character's points of view.  Collins does an excellent job of writing in different voices.  Experimentation with narrative voice seems popular in classic novels.  While most of our modern

Banff Springs Abbey

novels are told by a nebulous third person, Collins, the Brontes and Austen (in Lady Susan) enjoy telling their stories as letters.  There is something personal about this format if one imagines they are the intended recipient of the letters.

Collins epistolary style serves a distinct purpose in The Woman in White.  The initial narrator, Walter Hartright, intends to tell the of the mysterious Woman in White in order to set it straight.  In many ways, Hartright acts as a detective in this story.  I enjoyed the development of his character throughout the novel.  He at first seems to be a Mama's boy with little worldly experience, but the mystery itself reveals the strength and determination of his character.

The novel features two unforgettable Italian characters.  Professor Pesca at first seems earnest and ridiculous and his quaint turns of phrase are expertly recorded, but he later becomes and integral piece of the puzzle.  Count Fosca is another larger than life character and I would love to see him well played on screen or stage.

goodreads.com

Marian Halcolmbe is a worthy assistant to Hartright's detective work.  She is strong and courageous, but a bit inhuman in her selflessness.  Her Uncle Frederick Fairlie is another memorable character, not unlike Mrs. Bennet in his nervous confinement, but one hundred times more harmful.

I enjoyed the mystery of the book and was continually surprised by the way Collins put the puzzle together.  The language was enjoyable, but it took some effort to get through 772 pages.  I couldn't help wondering how a modern editor would change this book! 

"Something that will amaze the whole room"

``Both,'' replied Elizabeth archly; ``for I have always seen a great similarity in the turn of our minds. -- We are each of an unsocial, taciturn disposition, unwilling to speak, unless we expect to say something that will amaze the whole room, and be handed down to posterity with all the eclat of a proverb.''  Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, Vol. 1 Chapter XVIII

This is one of my favourite quotes from Pride and Prejudice.  It's one of those precisely-worded descriptions that make me say "Yup, that's me."  So maybe that's why, 15 years later, the following still bothers me. 

In order to get into the College of Education, I had to pass an interview.  The three experienced teachers tasked with letting me into the college asked me the following perplexing question:  

"If you had a teacher friend tell you she didn't want to continue teaching because it is too difficult nowadays, what would you tell them?"

I wonder how Subgirl would have
answered the question?

My answer was something like this.  "Firstly, I would tell them they should probably talk to their principal because I'm not even a teacher yet, so I'm probably not the best person to give advice.  Secondly, I might tell them teaching has always been difficult.  While families today may struggle more with divorce and remarriage than in the past, I know my grandfather went to a one-room school house where one teacher taught 50 students in all grades.  Most of her students spoke only German while she only spoke English."

Their blank stares and puzzled expressions told me this was not the answer they were looking for.  I failed to "amaze the whole room."  

I still think I gave a fine answer.  I would love to know the answer they were actually looking for.  

I made it into the College of Education and have had many wonderful years of teaching, but it's just something that pops up once in a while and makes me wonder.