NB: Nota Bene

Note to self: Do NOT name a child "Cathy," especially a pretty, blond little daughter. It could be setting her up for failure.

I'm currently reading Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte...well, re-reading it, anyway. Note in the previous post that I've recently finished reading East of Eden (Steinbeck). What do these two have in common?? That's right: blond, beautiful sociopaths named Cathy. Did Steinbeck do this on purpose? I mean, the Heathcliff/Cathy story is one of the [horrible] greats in literature.

Wuthering Heights is an interesting study into the psychology of abuse and neglect, and a story of love and terrible loss. I must admit, though, that I'm feeling rather ambivalent about Heathcliff at this point (I'm approx. 1/2 way through). I mean, he loves Cathy desperately--like, to the point of being completely insane--and I think if she'd chosen him, he would have turned out completely different. He would surely have overcome what is probably some horribly dark, deep-seated depression. She probably would have convinced him to give up the revenge he had against Hindley for childhood wrongs as a waste of time, and he certainly wouldn't have ruined Isabella Linton's life; he wouldn't have cared in the slightest for the Linton family. Ah, but then, it wouldn't be such a famous story, would it? It's like Romeo and Juliet: no one would really care that much if Juliet and Romeo had both lived happily ever after...or lived at all, for that matter. No one would remember the evils of Heathcliff, or really of Cathy either if it hadn't been for the evils of the other. Wow. Convoluted, yes?

I can say, however, that once I've finished the re-read of W.H., I'm going to re-read something like Bridget Jones' Diary, or peruse the fiction shelves at Half-Price Books for a light read. Too many more tomes like this and I'll be slitting some figurative wrists.

Oh! And whilst searching for a post picture, I came across some interesting articles about Heathcliff's potential to be a psychological vampire. Why do so many things in my life eventually get around to that subject? Haha! I'll let you know what I think, and post the links to the articles if I think there's something there worth debating. Until then...

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"Timshel!" and A Second Life

Timshel: one of the many themes of John Steinbeck's East of Eden. It means "thou mayst" according to Steinbeck, who translates the meaning of the story of the Fall of Man to his readers through a Chinese man named Lee, who alternately speaks pidgin and waxes philosophical in contemporary English. How fantastic is that?

East of Eden is the first Steinbeck I've read and it had me from the start. You know how some pieces of "literature" require you to force yourself through the first few chapters before you get to the meat? Well, let me tell you, East of Eden is not like this at all! It caught my attention early and held it throughout the book, while I wondered which path each character would choose to follow. Such a rich, great story!

Now, it is a mighty large tome; my copy is over 600 pages, but come on: we all know you've read Twilight which pushes 500, and trust me, East of Eden is so rich in layers (and layers) of themes, and ends beautifully in poignant closure which modern works usually lack (although I'm admittedly a fan of Meyer's books).

In my searches, I've found that there was an EoE movie adaptation back in the 1950s which starred James Dean. Can someone please, PLEASE make this into a movie today?? PLEASE?? I'd love to see the trials of Charles and Adam, brothers in the Northeast and their discovery of the nearly beaten to death Cathy, whom Adam falls madly--and foolishly--in love with. Adam and Cathy's venture to California and the CRAZY drama there. Adam's sons: Caleb "Cal" and Aaron "Aron" (because two a's are too fancy) and their re-living of the oldest story of man. Ahh!! This would be fantastic!! You don't even know...unless you've read it, of course!

Plus, I'm sure R-Patz could pull off the moody, self-depreciating, dark Cal. I could definitely stand to see him in another movie... [daydreaming]

Er, anyway...sorry about that!

Also, just wanna throw this out there since this post eventually wound its way to R-Patz/Twilight. Stephenie Meyer has a new novella popping up on bookshelves June 5th, just in time for die-hard fans to read before Eclipse hits the Silver Screen. And, I'm pretty dang excited about The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner.

Meyer grew so much as a writer (which happens like every art) as she wrote the Twilight Saga and The Host, and I think it's pretty safe to say that the books got better. Well, maybe until Edward and Bella finally got it on; the inertia/suspense/etc. kinda died at that point...but whatever. So, I think Bree Tanner has a lot of potential and will be a fun supplement to Eclipse.

On that note, you know whose backstory I wanna have in novella form?? Jane and Alec. THAT would be juicy, bloody stuff. Oh well. A girl can dream...


Oh, and domo arigato, Amazon.com for the pics!!

Islands

The XX: Islands

Enjoy!

The Wisdom of a Four-Year-Old

My daughter walked outside the other day. It was a sunny day; the birds were singing. The grass was turning green and the sky was filled with those paper-thin, whispery clouds of spring days.

In the middle of the deep green grass, there was a lone dandelion bloom. Dandelions are weeds, pests of the gardening world, and where you have one, you're sure to have ten. They are the bane of many a gardener's existence.

What did my daughter say?

"Look what Jesus made for me."

Many seek such wisdom and simplicity, and our children possess it naturally. It's a beautiful thing.

(picture courtesy of Nicolas Zea, via wikimedia commons)

Fun x4

Some of you may have seen some or all of these, but they're so fun that I HAD to post them!!! :) Enjoy

If Thomas Jefferson, et al. were rock stars:




Think Verizon's Team Edward... What does it mean that I'm continually attracted to "vampires"??




This is just funny:



...and who doesn't love Betty White??

Woods

"I'm up in the woods
I'm down on my mind
I'm building a still
To slow down the time..."

Image Credit

The Best Thing about Valentine's Day???

50% off chocolate the week after! Okay...maybe that's not the best thing, but it ranks up in the top three, thankyouverymuch!