Confession: I'm not a very good reader

"I mean, I can read, of course. And I'm not suggesting you can't read out of doors."

D'ya get it? huh? huh? That was a quote from the 2005 Pride and Prejudice, which I watched last night. Guess what, I've only read Pride and Prejudice completely once (I reread parts of course). Shocked? Confused by what this all has to do with itself? Lemme 'splain...

I read the first of the Boxcar Children books in first grade and loved it, then hated the second so stopped reading outside of school assignments.

Around seventh grade I decided I was going to be pretentious and work through the British classics, starting with Whuthering Heights. Woof. Do not start your 12 year old with unabridged Emily Bronte. I'm amazed I continued after 60% of all characters died (I did the math, it's in my journal).

Amazingly I moved on and got Pride and Prejudice from a book order (remember those?!). It was paper back and had a terrible painting of blue satin and pearls on the cover with yellow writing. I underlined every word I didn't know. Words like "condescend" (thanks Collins!) and "felicity". Oh man, good times. I loved P&P and remembered that some yahoo sent it to the printer so that it read "how ardently I admire and






love you."
The last two words were on the NEXT PAGE! I had to turn the page! Ugh, the worst. Can you even imagine? Anyway, I loved it and got the '80s BBC production to watch right away, then the '95 when I realized the '80s version was not "the good one".

This was the beginning of my reading phase, and a foreshadowing of its end. I began setting reading goals for myself, and my reward was watching the film...eventually I couldn't read fast enough and so just left the books behind. BUT I did get quite a bit knocked out.

I...
read each Austen before I was 16.
read one of each Bronte before I was 18.
read a Gaskell, read a Forster, and started some Dickens and Thackery and Rand.
read more Brontes and an Ishiguro and Salinger.
read a lot of historical romances and a little dragon fiction...

I tried to keep up with each BBC or Merchant/Ivory film I found that had been adapted from a novel, but I just got lost in the films and left the books all together.

Am I proud of this? No. Have I tried to fix it? Yes, but I fail. I've come to accept that I am not a good reader. I read sewing books, Wikipedia articles, any and all historical tidbits I can find that add up to hours, but it seems my novel days are over. I have reread Persuasion and Little Women and North and South and Ella Enchanted. Part of it is that I have this idea that I've read all the good stuff. I'm sure the novels are better than the films I've read, but I know Tess of the D'Urbervilles ends at Stonehenge...I know how Bleak House and Howards End go.

I'm terrible, believe me, I know. I have this whole self-loathing thing for my bad reading habits. Everyone assumes I read because I've seen the films, or Wishbone, and/or have a pretty quick and ready knowledge of Brit Lit in general. People give me referrals thinking they've found someone with whom they can share the loveliness of their new literary find, but it's no good.

I love to read actually. When I have a good book I love to be transported and get consumed and I stop feeding myself and all of those things, but I just have the hardest time starting. Reading the first Boxcar book in first grade was actually forced on me by my mom and I was not happy about it. I remember. She made me read it, and I loved it, then it was over and I was done.

So there it is, my dirty secret. I'm not a great reader. Now you can all shun me and ignore any conversations we've had about books.

What I have read:
Persuasion, Emma, Sense and Sensibility, Mansfield Park, Northanger Abbey, Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, Whuthering Heights, Agnes Grey, Tennant of Wildfell Hall, A Room With a View, North and South, The Remains of the Day, Little Women, The Great Gatsby, The Importance of Being Earnest, Pygmalion, The Catcher in the Rye

What I've started:
Vanity Fair, David Copperfield, The Mayor of Casterbridge, Gone With the Wind, This Side of Paradise, Wives and Daughters, Howards End, The Fountainhead, Catch-22

A rather old list of what I've seen can be found here.

What Jo March would wear to her wedding.

Those around me recently know that I've had a mild Little Women obsession. I finished the book again and I just think it's the best, barring Persuasion. I've also been trying to create something every day (again...a resolution I have mixed results keeping). So, I decided a paper project would be to design Jo's wedding dress.

She would have gotten married anywhere from 1868-71 by some calculations. The silhouette might be a little slender, but she wouldn't have gone all out. I had a time deciding how fussy and feminine she'd be. The dress is definitely not white. She's too practical for that, and would want to wear it again. I want it to be a nice light blue (like the color of this blog maybe...), yellow, or light brown like this dress. I imagine Amy would have put away something for Jo and that's where the lace collar and cuffs come from, that can be removed for less formal occasions.

After I was satisfied with Jo I drew Professor Bhaer and had a heck of a time with his face, until I just looked up a picture of Gabriel Bryne from the film. He's wearing Colleen Atwood's design for him. And he has a beard. Professor Bhaer has a beard.

And Jo looks a little like me. I worked SO hard not to make her as tall as me (ok, I didn't try that hard)...I'm trying to draw real people...but all my faces, unless I really try, end up looking like me at least a little. And if I try really hard they look A LOT like me :)

Anyway, here you go.

New Book: The Wedding Dress

Late Christmas present.
The Wedding Dress: 300 Years of Bridal Fashions by Edwina Ehrman

It's by V&A Publishing and has a butt ton of super high quality photos of Victoria and Albert gowns with a history of the last 300 years of bridal fashion. It also has great photos of the Duchess of Cambridge's dress.

I loff it.

Also, people often ask me at work if I know what I'll wear for my wedding now that I'm around dresses all the time. Answer: no. I'm so far from getting married let alone dating anyone that I can't even begin to think what I'll wear when I do. I know I'll make it and it'll probably be a natural, or a soft white. That's as far as I've gotten. Everything else is dependent upon whom I marry, when, where, etc etc. 

Future book buys

I just spent a night of delicious soup and dessert, laundry and perusing friend Jack's costume book collection. He has two books that are next on my buy list...

First: The Art of Fabric Manipulation by Colette Wolff

I've wanted this one for awhile. It's got all sorts of great instructions and illustrations for smocking, pleating, quilting, ruffles, tucking, stuffing, cording etc. It's great and I want it!

Second: Couture Sewing Techniques by Claire B. Shaeffer

It's exactly what it sounds like and has lots of illustrations and photos of garments.

Books to re-read in the next 5 months

I've settled into a nice routine for the build at USF and will do so again when I'm just dressing. This is my list of books to re-read in the next 5 months a la my having read the Austens before 16 and one of each Bronte before 18.

:-:To Kill a Mockingbird...bc we're doing the play here and I'm sure I'm going to get so much more out of it than I did in 8th grade.
:-:Pride and Prejudice...bc I've never actually re-read all of an Austen again besides Persuasion.
:-:Persuasion...bc it's my favorite and I love it!
:-:Emma...bc I love Knightley
:-:Northanger Abbey...bc it cracks me up
:-:Sense and Sensibility...bc it's not my favorite, but I want to like it more.
:-:Mansfield Park...bc it's under appreciated.
:-:Little Women...bc I'm craving it recently, just watched the movie last night, and I don't think I fully appreciated Prof. Bhaer in 6th grade.
:-:Vilette...bc I waffle between liking it more than Jane Eyre
:-:Jane Eyre...bc I lurve it
:-:NOT Wuthering Heights...bc that's unnecessary nonsense

Books to read for the first time:

:-:The Professor...lots o' Charlotte's are the same-ish, but s'ok, I love a good age gap ;)
:-:Shirley...to round out my Charlotte anthology
:-:Lady Susan...to round out my Austen anthology
:-:Something totally fluffy that doesn't have vampires, suggestions? I need to read some more Ishiguro, but he might not be fluffy enough for me.

I also want to read a book on the history of Washington, DC and some other nonfictions, suggestions?

You better believe I'll be posting s'more insights on these novels, and maybe doing some renderings of the Austens at least.

The Remains of the Day

Sometimes I'm absolutely not inspired to blog, then my mom happens upon The Remains of the Day on TV.

The summer before college I got a TV/DVD player and Blockbuster online and I, in effect, watched most of the important costume dramas to that point in time. Amongst them were many Merchant/Ivory films. I read and/or purchased the accompanying books; read A Room With a View, bought Howards End. 

I was determined to read The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro before I watched the film and I couldn't wait to see it so I ran to the library and hunkered down...HOLD UP. I've been going through my journals and I cross referenced RofD that summer, but I guess I watched it the summer before my senior year, strange. Anyway, this is what I had to say after I read it...

source

Sunday 18 June 2006
Oh man, I just sobbed bitterly and uncontrollably for like five plus minutes at the end of The Remains of the Day. Are you joking me?...OH Stevens! I lost it, I was all sprawled on my bed from many a maneuver all night to try and get comfortable, my comforter all twisted, my mouth guard in, just sobbing and weeping uncontrollably...I just laid there all contorted absolutely blubbering... AOAoGH!

Huh, I can't find an entry about actually seeing the movie. I do say that the library didn't have it. Oh well, anyway....

The Remains of the Day is amazing. S'bout Stevens the butler and his butling. The book is his telling of the good ol' days of Darlington Hall right before the Second World War. You quickly realize that Stevens is the perfect butler because his sole, and I mean sole purpose in life is to be of the most assistance to his employer as possible no matter what his employer does, or what he feels for others. It's just profoundly heartbreaking and amazing. The film stars Anthony Hopkins as Stevens and Emma Thompson as Miss Kenton the housekeeper with James Fox as Lord Darlington and Hugh Grant as Lord Darlington's godson. It's absolutely magnificent. Hopkins and Thompson are my favorite on screen couple and are just, ah! just SO good! If you like Downton you'll LOVE this, it's pre-Julian Fellowes, back in the day when Merchant and Ivory were the name in aristocratic and posh British costume dramas.

Go read it, cry a lot.

Barnes & Noble binge

I haven't been in a Barnes & Noble for two years, to the day. The last time I went was for a blind date and we had hot chocolate and there was no book buying involved. Completely unaware at the time that today was my two year B&N anniversary I headed that way after I realized that I couldn't stand reading The Great Gatsby  at the library everyday (bc my BYU card is no longer active). So off I went and got Gatsby and then made the mistake of checking out the bargain books....

Anything Erte must be mine, and Mucha is like my favorite to the max, plus Taschen is like the best publisher ever. Sad story: I have nowhere to put these books, nor do I know when I'll be using them, but now they're mine!! On the way home I thought of all the times I went to B&N with bestie Sarah and always got books and how my bookshelves at home are covered with books I won't have room to store for many many moons. Oh books, how I love thee.