A Christmas Carol

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

A Classic.  I have enjoyed trying classics out since I was never forced to read them in high school or college, well not the cool ones like Bronte or Austen or Dickens.  This year it so happened that I didn’t have anything to read the week of Christmas and I realized that I had never read A Christmas Carol, a classic in all sense of  the word.  I have seen so many adaptations of this story in film version that I cannot keep count, but I have never even attempted to read the book.  I have seen it live, a somewhat poorly performed musical rendition in Branson MO many years ago.  I have watched the Mickey’s Christmas Carol, The Bill Murray’s Scrooged, and within the last year or so I saw Jim Carey’s A Christmas Carol, animated, sort of.  I have grown up around this story, but never read one of Dickens’ words and I have not known the story from reading it with my own eyes. 

I loved it.  It is the story of redemption, a story of second chances.  I think of all of the wasted years, Scrooge missed all sorts of chances throughout his life and will have to make up for all of his poor decisions late in life, but he got a second chance.  When I think about it, we all get a second chance each morning when we wake up.  We have another chance to live life to the fullest and how many of us waste it.  We waste it by being lazy, not thinking of others, or our search for money, career, or possessions.  I think that Dickens’ gives us a great reminder that even if we are not visited by spirits in the night, we can still wake up and live each day like it’s our last.  Keep Reading my Friends!

boy, oh boy

Boys… better yet, brothers. What can I say about growing up as the only girl with 2 brothers? Ha! One thing is for sure, I was a tom-boy. I would much rather wear a pair of jeans or shorts than a skirt any day. I would have rather played in the woods than played dress up, and I would have definitely rather ran with my brothers and their friends than stay inside alone. My brothers are now two of the most wonderful men I know and I love them dearly. Then? Well that’s another story. Jordan my youngest brother was sometimes my best friend (yes, not all of the time-we would also fight like cats and dogs). He would play Ninja Turtles and Barbies with me, or board games or whatever. Jordan has never been one to be bored, as a small child he could play by himself for hours, I was the one that need to be entertained. So, when I say he would play with me, that was exactly it. Ky on the other hand was too old to play our little games, Jordan and I would play secretly with his toys, and somehow he would always know. I remember two specific times when Ky was gone to a friends and when he got back home, we were in trouble. One time, somehow he could tell we played with his transformer, and he probably knew because we apparently broke it. He was so angry I thought for sure we were goners. The other time was when Ky was gone for a whole weekend. The boys shared a room and for decoration, Ky had a baseball pennant collection. He had so many the entire room was covered in them, and of course each corner had a thumb tack in it. Jordan and I took out all of the thumb tacks and made a tent from the ceiling with bed sheets. We had so much fun playing in our hand made fort, but it was apparently the dumbest idea we’ve ever had in our young lives (and by that time, I’m certain that Jordan and I had burned the families storage building down, ran away to a gas station to buy kit kats, and played with the neighbors hundreds of cats when we weren’t allowed to), because when Ky got home I remember Jordan and I hiding in a closet waiting for our punishment. Now, 20 years later, my brothers are wonderful. Whenever we are all together we have a great time. We talk, we laugh, and we just enjoy each others company. All of that to say, I believe that I know little boys and how they act.

So, whenever I picked up Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, I felt right at home with Tom and Huck (Huckleberry Finn, that is). These two mischievous little guys will forever be marked in history as true American boys. I have two favorite scenes, the first is when we first meet Huck and he and Tom are talking about the dead cat that Huck has bought from another boy. And the other is when these two and another boy named Joe decide to run away and become pirates. The first is because of the boy’s conversation about the cat, for instance, Tom comments that the cat is “mighty stiff” and Huck informs Tom that dead cats can cure warts (of course it has to be in a graveyard at around midnight, and you have to speak an incantation). The second is because I love pirates…arrrr matey!

The dead cat that can cure warts leads me to another fantastic part of the story, which is all of the superstitions. It seemed like Tom had a little incantation for all situations, one of my favorite is when he sees a lady bug he tells it, “Lady bug, lady bug, fly away home, your house is on fire, your children’s alone,’ and she took wing and went off to see about it- which did not surprise the boy, for he knew of old that this insect was credulous about conflagrations, and he had practiced upon its simplicity more than once.”

Tom Sawyer is such a great character because he is mischievous, but he also has a good heart. He saved the girl of his dreams from a beating at school and took the beating himself. He always did the right thing in the end and was often the hero. This childhood classic should be in the homes of all American families. Besides it being one of America’s literary classics, it is a great story with many great lessons that we can all learn from. Samuel Clemens or better known as Mark Twain is of course one of America’s great authors he will forever me remembered for his work.

kissin' cousins...

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Wuthering Heights was first published in 1847. Interesting piece of information, the Bronte sisters first published their work under male aliases in order to be published without the prejudices of being a female writer (Emily’s sister was Charlotte Bronte, author of Jane Eyre). Wuthering- to blow with a low roaring sound or windy weather (yes, I looked it up to make sure I knew what it meant). This was an estate owned by the Earnshaw family, the main characters of the book are Catherine Earnshaw (Linton) and an adopted son who’s first and last name was Heathcliff. The home is aptly named for the windy weather that has permanently bent trees on the property. The book has two narrators, one is Mr. Lockwood, the man who is renting Thrushcross Grange from Heathcliff and also Ellen "Nelly" Dean, the nanny of Catherine Linton Heathcliff (daughter of Catherine Earnshaw Linton and Edgar Linton). The story has many plots, but the main being the love between Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw Linton. As the audience, we are learning the story from Nelly, as she tells it to Mr. Lockwood.

This classic of English literature was a fascinating read. Although it took some time to get through, it was not as difficult of a read as I thought it would be. From the beginning I was confused about what was going on. I think I had some presuppositions about how the book was going to be narrated. I assumed, knowing that the book was about two characters named Catherine and Heathcliff, that one of those characters would be the narrator. Confusion started on the first page when the narrator is talking about Heathcliff being “A capital fellow!” which I knew to be untrue from a synopsis I read. When Mr. Lockwood is talking about being a tenant of Heathcliff’s I was puzzled and had to go back and get all preconceived thoughts out of my head. Whenever I got to the 4th chapter I realized what was going on and I was able to focus on the story, so don’t be discouraged in the beginning, keep reading!

I think that this book should be on everyone’s must read list. I love the language! Bronte is very poetic, her characters can’t just say “I love you” they say things like “I cannot live without my life. I cannot live without my soul.” Of course the language of the 1800’s is unfamiliar to me, so I kept the online dictionary up anytime I was reading. Also, I can imagine that Emily Bronte received quite a bit of criticism for her work in her time. It shocked me how some of the character’s personas were portrayed, I’m sure that because of her character’s attitudes she probably had some difficulties. Catherine is an entirely selfish person and Heathcliff is surly, rude, and disagreeable. They couldn’t live with each other and they couldn’t live without one another either. It is a crazy love/hate story that all lovers of literature should read. I enjoyed this book thoroughly and I hope that you will pick it up and give it a try. Let me know what you thought about this blog or if you have read Wuthering Heights, what did you think about the book?

Here are some of my favorite quotes from the book:

It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff now; so he shall never know how I love him; and that not because he’s handsome, Nelly, but because he’s more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same; and Linton’s is as different as a moonbeam from lightning, or frost from fire. (Catherine Earnshaw)

That is how I'm loved! Well, never mind. That is not my Heathcliff. I shall love mine yet; and take him with me: he's in my soul. (Catherine Linton)

Kiss me again, but don't let me see your eyes! I forgive what you have done to me. I love my murderer--but yours! How can I? (Catherine Linton)

If all else perished, and he remained, I should still continue to be; and if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the universe would turn to a mighty stranger: I should not seem a part of it...Nelly, I am Heathcliff! He's always, always in my mind: not as a pleasure, any more than I am always a pleasure to myself, but as my own being. (Catherine Linton)

I wish you had sincerity enough to tell me whether Catherine would suffer greatly from his loss: the fear that she would restrains me. And there you see the distinction between our feelings: had he been in my place, and I in his, though I hated him with a hatred that turned my life to gall, I never would have raised a hand against him. You may look incredulous, if you please! I never would have banished him from her society as long as she desired his. The moment her regard ceased, I would have torn his heart out, and drunk his blood! But, till then - if you don't believe me, you don't know me - till then, I would have died by inches before I touched a single hair of his head! (Heathcliff)

And I pray one prayer--I repeat it till my tongue stiffens--Catherine Earnshaw, may you not rest as long as I am living; you said I killed you--haunt me, then! The murdered DO haunt their murderers, I believe. I know that ghosts HAVE wandered on earth. Be with me always--take any form--drive me mad! only DO not leave me in this abyss, where I cannot find you! Oh, God! it is unutterable! I CANNOT live without my life! I CANNOT live without my soul! (Heathcliff)