Britt-Arnhild's House in the Woods

A Month in the Country. Blue Studio Reading Group. Updated

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Finished.
Five seconds ago. 

A month in the Country by J.L.Carr.

 

What a cute little tale. Thanks for suggesting it Kay.
Cute? Or is it not?

Kay has sent me some questions she has found online:

 

What is the symbolism of the painting in the novel?

Why is the story set in the country rather than a busy city?

What is Birkin like when he arrives, and how does he change?  What causes these changes?

How are Birkin and the original painter alike?

And with this the discussion is opened :-)

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The first thing I loved about this book was the referral to other writers/artists.
Thomas Hardy

Joseph Conrad
Edward Elgar

....where there more I missed?

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I´ll be back with more thoughs as the discussions continue..... 

 

 

 

While reading A Month in the Country, I was, in my mind, looking for images to show here during our discussions. I got several ideas, from walking in Miss Garnet´s Angel´s footstep in Venice, to a climb I did in a narrow belltower in an old Norwegian church last year (and blogged aboout). Lindisfarne was most in my mind though. The first three photos in the post are from Turvay, where I spent a week last year with the sisters at Turvey Abbey. But now I have moved to Lindisfarne, The Holy Island, where I have been three times. 

Kay´s first question, the symbolism of the painting. Tom Birkin caled it The Judgement, didn´t he? And we learn to know that the old body found in the coffin is probably the painter. Was he judged? I wonder if the painting and its symbolism is what stops Birkin from declaring his love for Alice Keach.

I have mixed feelings about this relationship. They are both married, and as this was in 1920 (this is what Birkin says himself when looking back from a much later point in his life), an afair could not develop between them. This made me sad, at the same time it is the way I live my life. I am married (and in love with my husband). This doesn´t prevent me from looking at other men, even "falling in love" from time to time. But I could, and would, never take a wrong step.

 

How are Birkin and the original painter alike?

I have no clue to this question. Do you?

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New Path on Mondays. My Extended Blog Family. And a book list

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We spent the weekend at our cabin.

While Terje was busy with his carpentry,
I drove in to the tiny little village with only 17 inhabitants.

The tiny little village with its tiny little vintage shop;
Tingstuo

Tingstuo's owner, Synøve, has a blog,
with the name Tingstuo, of course.

Synøve and I met through blogging a couple of eyars ago.
I blogged about a local late artist and an exhibition with some of her tapestries,
Synøve did the same,
and we met
in blogworld.

It didn't take long for a friendship to develop.

Saturday, as soon as Tingstuo closed for the day,
Synøve surprised us with a visit at our cabin.

 

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A few words about The Blue Studio reading Group's reading list:

The coming Sunday we are to discuss
A Month in the Country, by J.L.Carr,
suggested by Kay

 

 

I have not any other nominations for further reads,
but

Pondside has mentioned
The Cat's Table by Michael Ondaatje

Marily has mentioned
Eight Girls Taking Pictures, by Whitney Otto

Jane has mentioned
The Shomaker's Wife by Adriana Trigiani

 

And myself I want to add
The Piano Teacher by Y.K.Lee
(a novel set in Hong Kong under and after WWII) 

 Add your vote in a comment, and I will set up a list of further reads.

You can also nominate a book, of course.

 

Donna Leon. Blue Studio Reading Group

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I am enjoying a cabin morning in Venezia, with Donna Leoan and Caterina Pellegrini. It is time to discuss The Jewels of Paradise.

(I post as I go today, starting already after one photo and just one sentence.......continuing through the day)

My first point:

- when I started The Jewels of Paradise I had absolutely no idea this was not another Commissario Guido Brunetti book. For almost 100 pages I told myself, when will my dear Guido arrive..........

I think I missed a lot that way.

- my second point:

I LOVE the book

My third point:

I can never resist books which dive deep into a special theme. Like this one and the erea of the baroque and the life of the composer Agostino Steffani. I have spent many hours googling and listening to his music on YouTube, and I even downloaded for my iPad Steffani´s Stabat Mater.

My fourth point:

Cabin breakfast ready......I´ll be back.......

 

 

Niobe, which Caterina Pellegrini found on YouTube
Not exactly my favorite music

 

My fifth point:

Catarina Pellegrini walks around in Venezia/Venice just like commissario Brunetti. They have different eyes though, see different sights.

I love both their walks.

 

My sixth point:

In the Silece, I wonder if you and me are the only one who have had the time to read Donna Leon this week........

My 7th point:

I have tried all week to find a way to contact Donna Leon,
without luck.

 

My 8th point:

Jane, I agree with you, I do miss the fantastic meals Paola serves.
What I find in this book and not in the Brunetti ones though, is the visits to the library and the searches done. I love that!

 

And you are right Jane, about the cost of coffee at Florians.

 

I am reading........

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I am reading my latest Donna Leon;
The Jewels of Paradise,

 and I am totally transformed to the city which fills every corner of my heart
(doesd a heart have corners?)

I am walking the calles,
smelling the water from the canals,
listeing to the hustle and bustle of the vaporettos,
stopping for coffee.....

I have almost finished the book,
and look forward to discuss it on Sunday.

I will not reveal any secrets now,
even though it is hard, oh so hard,
not to tell you that it actually took me
almost a hundred pages to discover that..........

......oooops,
there I almost told you anyway.

 

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I do wonder though if I am the only one in The Blue Studio reading Group reading Donna Leon just now?

 

 

 

Blue Studio´s Reading Group. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. Updated.

text and images Britt-Arnhild

We celebrated my father´s 80th birthday last night.
Friends and family. A lot. And partying into the wee hours. Never did I know that people aged 80+ have energy to keep on for hour after wonderful hour. 

But I am not here today to talk about my father´s party, I am mentioning it just to let you know that because of the party I had no chance to prepare a Blue Studio Reading Group post yesterday. And then we slept long this morning, and now we have quite a few things to do to clean up after the party. But I just told Terje, please give me half an hour, will you, I REALLY HAVE TO START POSTING in my blog.

So here I am, up in the Blue Studio, listening to Terje cleaning dishes down in the kitchen, knowing that I should be with him.....and I will as soon as I have started the discussion here......

So here we wre.

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce.

I wrote Racel an email a little more than a week ago, and here is her reply to our group:

Dear Britt,

 

Please send my thanks and greetings to your reading group. I am sending some  questions over to you - so I hope they give you some more things to think about. I would love to know how you feel this very English setting comes across in Norway!

 

With best wishes,

 

Rachel Joyce

And here are the questions.

 

Some Questions

Harold’s journey is both physical and metaphorical. He is not the only character in the novel to go on a journey and Rachel Joyce has said that writing the book was in itself a journey. What other literary journeys does this novel call to mind?

Harold says he is not a religious man but his journey is called a pilgrimage and it is undoubtedly a leap of faith. How much and how consciously do you feel Rachel Joyce draws on Christian tenets and/or other belief systems in the novel?

Harold is a man with many flaws. Despite, or perhaps because of this, do you see him as an archetypal Englishman? Or is he an Everyman?

When we first meet Harold and Maureen, at the breakfast table, they seem in different worlds. To what extent did you see Maureen as the cause of Harold’s departure?

The mental health of several characters is called into question in the novel. Depression, Alzheimer’s and addiction are all diseases that touch many of us and yet mental illness remains to a great extent taboo in our society. How is Rachel Joyce using this? Do you find it effective?

Harold and Maureen are married but both are lonely. The couple Harold meets at Buckfast Abbey travel together but have also lost sight of what holds them together. What makes a marriage happy? How much is romantic happiness about being a pair and how much about other people and interests?

At the start of the book both Harold and Maureen have allowed friends to fall by the wayside. This story is about how we all connect with one another. What makes someone a true friend and how does Rachel Joyce represent friendship?

Regret is an emotion that plays a key part in the novel. Do you think Rachel Joyce sees it as a positive or negative force?

Is Harold’s relationship with David the inevitable result of Harold’s own upbringing?

Rachel Joyce writes beautifully about the English countryside – but how crucial to the telling of her story is the actual landscape she describes?  How would it change the novel if it was set in Scotland, perhaps, or France, or...?

The sea provides bookends for the novel and plays a vivid part in Harold’s memories. Is this significant?

How does Rachel Joyce use food and the sharing of food in the novel?

How much are Harold’s responses to his fellow pilgrims dictated by his past?

Was the ending of the novel a shock or the inevitable conclusion?

Who saves who in this novel?

Has The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry inspired you to do something out of the ordinary – take a journey? Renew contact with someone? Look at strangers with a new perspective? Do share your response at: www.facebook.com/unlikelypilgrimageofharoldfry

 

I´ll be back SOON, but now I HAVE to run down to help Terje!

 

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The post will be updated several times during the day.

 

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Harold Fry is not the person in the book who made the most impression on me. It is Queenie Hennessy. We hear so little about her, only that she has a very special place in Harold Fry´s heart, but slowly she is revealed to us. I wondered for a short time if there had been an affair metween Harold and Queenie, but knew that it had to be something different from sex.

If we look upon the pilgrimage as a metaphor, she is for me the one to give her life to save Harold and Maureen.

This book has so many layers.
I am still reflectin on them.

Your comments are helping me on this journey.
I´ll try to comment, but can´t promise to come back to all.

 

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By the way, the photos are from England/St.Albans in May 2012.

 

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What to read next?

This is our list so far:

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, by Rachel Joyce
(BrittArnhild)
Will be discussed Sunday February 17th

The Jewels of Paradice, by Donna Leon
(In the Silence)
Will be discussed Sunday February 24th

A Month in the Country, by J.L.Carr
(Kay) 
Will be discussed Sunday March 3rd

 

Nominations are open.
By next weekend I´ll make a list and we can vote for the March 10th discussion.

 

Blue Studio´s Reading Group

text and images britt-arnhild

I finished The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry last night.
Now I am really looking forward to discuss it with The Blue Studio Reading Group.
With YOU!

As  several of you have pointed out, it might be too challenging to finish Harold Fry by Sunday. So I have another suggestion:
The coming Sunday, let us discuss the topic of books and reading, without any spesific book or theme in mind. And let us suggest further reads. Then, the next Sunday we set for The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, and for the Sunday after that, The Jewels in Paradice by Donna Leon, and next Sunday A Month in the Country (I already have Donna Leon´s book, and I just ordered A Month in the Country from amazon)

You can suggest new books for The Blue Studio reading Group to read all the time, and I will put them down on the list, erasing them as soon as they are read and discussed (erasing meaning making a new list - books read by the group)

Book to be discussed:

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, by Rachel Joyce
BrittArnhild)
Will be discussed Sunday February 17th
The Jewels of Paradice, by Donna Leon
(In the Silence)
Will be discussed Sunday February 24th
A Month in the Country, by J.L.Carr
(Kay) 
Will be discussed Sunday March 3rd 

Suggestions for further reads:

The Shoemaker´s Wife by Adriana Trigiani
Suggested by Jane 

 

Other books mentioned:

The Cat´s Table, by Michael Ondaatje
(Pondside)
Eight Girls Taking Pictures, by Whitney Otto
(Marilyn)

Photos from a cloth market in Mysore, India

Life Enriched by Books II, or Booktalk on a Sunday

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Many years ago I started a blog category i called Booktalks on a Sunday. 
I think it is time to blow some life into it again.

For many years I wanted to start a reading group.
Last August I did. Now we are 9 friends and book addicts meeting every 6th or so week to discuss a book. So far we´ve read Linda Olsson´s Sonata for Miriam, Anne-Lise Marstrand-Jørgensen´s fictional biography of Hildegard von Bingen, Yann Martel´s Life of Pi, and for the next meeting we are reading Please Look After Mom by Shin Kyung-Sook.

 

Both the Booktalk on a Sunday posts with its many comments and book suggestions, and the reading group, are enriching my life.

 

I now have an idea, a suggestion for my blog readers.

Why not make a reading group online, in The House in the Wood´s Blue Studio?
Why not make every Sunday a day to share books? Talk about one book in particular, share favorites, listen to other readers, pick a book to read for next Sunday.

I do have a long list of books I would like to read together with you, different genres, different styles. After all, reading is a lot about broadening the mind.
I do have a long list of author´s I would love to invite to our events. And I am sure you have some you can invite as well.

 

To get us started, I am suggesting that we read The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce for next Sunday. It might be a too short notice for many of you to manage one book in a week, but let us try. And if it doesn´t work, the rules can be changed as we go. Like, we suggest a book to be discussed in two weeks. Then the Sunday in between can be for an open book discussion, or one of you can be a kind of guest blogger, presenting a favorite book, or we can find other book related themes for the in between Sundays. Or we can invite a writer to present his or her book.

It might also be a suggestion to set a date or a day for book suggestions to be in, then another day for voting. I don´t want to be the only one suggesting books. This is meant to be something we share.

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It is Sunday morning here in The House in the Woods.
Deep, beautiful winter, and Terje and I plan to go cross country skiing.
As I am sitting here writing, the white world outside my Blue Studio window starts to sparkle, I look out and see that the east sky is burning pink, sending reflections out to the wintery world.

Promises of a wonderful days. 

 

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Three first photos are from my day outside Oslo on Friday.

 

Now I am eagerly waiting, crossing my fingers, to hear how you respond to my House in the Woods Blue Studio Reading Group ideas.
Are you in?
Do you have a book suggestion for our next read?
Do you want to host a book discussion? 
Do you know an author we can invite?