Fun With Dick And Jane

I was taught to read with Fun With Dick And Jane. While I didn't particularly enjoy that book, I appreciate that it was an important step on my road to reading.

In the words of Anna Quindlen:

It is like the rubbing of two sticks together to make a fire, the act of reading, an improbably pedestrian task that leads to heat and light. Perhaps this only becomes clear when one watches a child do it. Dulled to the mystery by years of STOP signs, recipes, form letters, package instructions, suddenly it is self-evident that this is a strange and difficult thing, this making symbols into words, into sentences, into sentiments and scenes and a world imagined in the mind’s eye. The children’s author Lois Lowry recalled it once: “I remember the feeling of excitement that I had, the first time that I realized each letter had a sound, and the sounds went together to make words; and the words became sentences, and the sentences became stories.”

Passing Time in New Zealand

More from the Queen about the purpose of books:

When Sir Kevin tries to understand the Queen's new love of reading:

'I can understand,' he said. 'Your Majesty's need to pass the time.'

'Pass the time?' said the Queen. 'Books are not about passing the time. They're about other lives. Other worlds. Far from wanting time to pass, Sir Kevin, one just wishes one had more of it. If one wanted to pass the time one could go to New Zealand.'

I agree with the Queen. There is never enough time for all the reading I want to do.

Though I'd love to visit New Zealand and pass the time there.
(And, of course, I'd take a book.)

Defined By The Queen

‘Yes,’ said the Queen. ‘We would make a good team. Ah, well. The road not travelled. Who’s that?’

‘Who, ma’am?’

‘The road not travelled. Look it up.’

Norman looked it up in the Dictionary of Quotations to find that it was Robert Frost.

‘I know the word for you,’ said the Queen.

‘Ma’am?’

‘You run errands, you change my library books, you look up awkward words in the dictionary and find me the quotations. Do you know what you are?’

‘I used to be a skivvy, ma’am.’

‘Well, you’re not a skivvy now. You’re my amanuensis.’

Norman looked it up in the dictionary the Queen now kept always on her desk. ‘One who writes from dictation; copies manuscripts. A literary assistant.’

I've discovered part of the time I am an amanuensis. Who knew?

Reading With The Queen

I just finished reading a fun novella. It was The Uncommon Reader, A Novella, by Alan Bennett. I've never read anything by him before, but apparently he's well known in Great Britain. This book is a fun read, with many parts that made me smile/laugh/grimace I'll share with you.

When the Queen had just picked up her second book from the mobile library:

“The Pursuit of Love” turned out to be a fortunate choice and in its way a momentous one. Had Her Majesty gone for another duff read, an early George Eliot, say, or a late Henry James, novice reader that she was she might have been put off reading for good and there would be no story to tell. Books, she would have thought, were work.

And a bit later, as the household began to notice her reading....

As it was, with this one she soon became engrossed, and passing her bedroom that night clutching his hot-water bottle, the duke heard her laugh out loud. He put his head round the door. “All right, old girl?”

‘Of course. I’m reading.’

‘Again?’ And off he went, shaking his head.

This novella was very entertaining. It was interesting to see inside the life of royalty, and see how reading fits/doesn't fit with the duties of being a royal.

Check it out.

Two Loves In One

Ok, I've got something to show those of you who read this blog. Go to the link below and take a look at her wall hanging....go as close as you can!

http://feeddog.blogspot.com/2007/02/quilt-update-card-catalog-and-assembly.html

So much fun - combining quilting and books - two loves...

Sigh.

I wish I had more free time to quilt and read...

They're Not Real?

One of my favorite quotes:

Literature duplicates the experience of living in a way that nothing else can, drawing you so fully into another life that you temporarily forget you have one of your own.

That is why you read it, and might even sit up in bed till dawn, throwing your whole tomorrow out of whack, simply to find out what happens to some people who--you know perfectly well--are made up.

That's from bestselling author Barbara Kingsolver, from her book High Tide in Tucson. Hm. I've never read anything by her but I think maybe I'll go pick up that one. In looking online at an excerpt of that essay, I have no clue how that quote fits, but it looks like it would be great reading.

A Great Example of Stealing

Storytime!

Chalons-sur-Marne, Winter, 1971

The barracks at the Gunnery School.

When it comes to assigning details, Private So-and-So (serial number 14672/1, well known to the service) systematically volunteers for the least desirable, most disgusting detail, the one usually handed out as a punishment, that has tried the bravery of greater men: the legendary, infamous, unnameable latrine detail!

Every morning.

With the same half-smile.

"Who wants latrine detail?"

He steps forward.

"Private So-and-So!"

With a sense of mission, as if he were going off to storm Hamburger Hill, he grabs the mop and pail, his company colors, and marches off, much to the relief of his fellow soldiers. He's a brave man. No one follows him. The rest of the company lies low in the trenches for more honorable details.

The hours go by. Where has he gone? We almost forgot him. We did forget him. But just before noon, he shows up with a salute to the sergeant. "Latrines clean as a whistle, sir!" The sergeant receives the mop and pail. He'd like to ask the question that's on his mind, but basic human respect stops him. Private So-and-So salutes again, turns on his heels and marches off, his secret still intact.

The secret is contained in that thick book in his uniform pocket: the 1,900 pages of Gogol in a paperback college edition. The complete works. Fifteen minutes of noxious detail, and he's free to spend the rest of the morning with Nikolai Gogol.

Every morning through the winter, seated comfortably on a throne in a locked stall, Private So-and-So soars far above latrine detail. Nikolai Gogol, down to the last word!...

The army likes to celebrate its exploits.

But of this one, only two lines remain, written high up on the edge of the water closet. They are among the most meaningful in all contemporary poetry:

It's no lie when I tell you, pedagogue,
That I read all of Gogol in the bog.

(*While we're on the subject, old Georges Clemenceau, aka "The Tiger," another famous fighter, thanked his chronic constipation, without which, so he said, he would never have had the pleasure of reading Saint-Simon's Memoirs.)

From "Better Than Life," the book.

Yes, I Steal.

I do steal. A lot.

Wait - that may not sound right. Before you react too strongly, read these excerpts from "Better Than Life," that awesome book I talked about in the last post (or was that the first post?).

"Time spent reading, like time spent loving, increases our lifetime. If we were to consider love from the point of view of our schedule, who would bother? Who among us has time to fall in love? Yet have you ever seen someone not take time to love? I've never had the time to read. But no one has ever kept me from finishing a novel I loved."

"Time spent reading is always time stolen. Like time spent writing, or loving, for that matter. Stolen from what? From life's obligations. Which is probably why the subway - the very symbol of life's many obligations - is the world's largest reading room."

And finally,

"If you have to ask yourself where you'll find the time, it means the desire isn't there. Because, if you look at it more carefully, no one has the time to read. Children don't, teenagers don't, adults don't. Life is a perpetual plot to keep us from reading. 'Reading. I'd love to, but what with my job, the kids, the housework, I don't have the time.' 'You have so much time to read - I envy you!'"

Please - learn to steal.

Steal bits of time for reading - on the bus or subway, at long stoplights, at night before bed, in the bathroom, wherever. Steal it from your life's obligations. You'll be better off for it.

Better Than Life. Really.

Last night I was adding something to my reading journal, from the book I just finished.

My "reading journal" is a blank book into which I copy quotes, stories, conversations, etc. - ones that I've come across in my reading that I don't want to lose forever. You know how it is, you read something great, and later try to remember where you read it and how it went. I was tired of that happening.

So, of course, after I added the new quotes to it I had to flip around, re-reading things I've written in there before. As it always does, it brought me to tears - so many beautiful quotes!

I'm not much of a blogger...But I decided to give it a shot.

The title of this blog makes reference to "Better Than Life", a book by Daniel Pennac. It was translated from the French years ago. I can't remember where I heard of it, but it sounded like something I might enjoy, so I requested it through the library (I don't buy many books). It was so inspiring and hit me so hard that I instantly went online to find a copy. I didn't care if it was gently used - aka "previously enjoyed" - and I bought my copy and a few extra copies to give away when I felt so inspired.

It is a wonderful book about helping children learn to love to read. He includes what he calls "The Readers Bill of Rights" - and, boy, do they hit home! I love the way he writes - very engaging - and so many parts got copied into my reading journal. Here's his "The Reader's Bill of Rights" - see if you "get" them:

The Reader's Bill of Rights
1. The right to not read
2. The right to skip pages
3. The right to not finish
4. The right to reread
5. The right to read anything
6. The right to escapism
7. The right to read anywhere
8. The right to browse
9. The right to read out loud
10. The right to not defend your tastes

If you haven't read it yet, it is time to.

A different cover than any of my copies, but the same guts http://www.amazon.com/Better-Than-Life-Daniel-Pennac/dp/1571103171

And one more quote from the book, to whet your appetite for what's to come -
"For a reader, one of life's pleasures is the silence after the book."

Wow.

Enjoy. Soon.