Jane Austen
Pride and Promiscuity: The Lost Sex Scenes of Jane Austen
by Arielle Eckstut
Hidden by Jane Austen's younger sister, the material which makes up this book throws an entirely new light on all of Austen's work, making explicit the latent and repressed sexuality that underlies much of her fiction. The discovery also forces new assessments of Austen herself. Along with the sex scenes were found letters to her editor and her sister arguing and anguishing over the extensive cuts shewas asked to make for her novels to be seen as decent and acceptable to the public.
Published for the first time, these missing pages are sure to astonish and delight all Austen devotees.
Gobbledygook
In the Otago Daily Times this morning, Paul Gorman's column What's With That? was "addressing" the vexed "issue" of changes in language, specifically the use of gobbledygook and codswallop (his words). I think of it as the specific misuse or deliberate overuse of words in an attempt to sound intelligent. He had several examples in his column such as "learnings", "going forward" and "at the end of the day", all of which make one want to scream.
I'm adding a couple more which are painfully overused these days: "event" and "experience". Have you noticed that heart attacks and strokes have all but disappeared and been replaced by the ubiquitous and thoroughly infuriating "medical event". Likewise, we no longer have rain or hailstorms, we suffer "weather events".
Continuing my curmudgeonly tirade, nobody goes out for dinner any more - they now have a "dining experience" and one no longer drives a car but has a "driving experience". The same is true for "the shopping experience". And don't get me started on "at this point in time" and many hundreds more. Aaaaaarrrrrggghh.
The Book of VIrtues
Stop reading now if you don't think these traits are important: responsiblity, courage, compassion, loyalty, honesty, friendship, self-discipline, and perseverence. However, most of us hope that our children will develop all these qualities. For that to happen, they need examples of good and bad, right and wrong, cowardice and bravery and so on.
A good place to find them is in great works of literature. William J Bennett in The Book of Virtues: A Treasury of Great Moral Sories has collected hundreds of stories into an anthology which offers a rich vein of moral stories dealing with the above character traits; nice clear examples of the ideals by which we wish to live.
The stories come from sources as wide as Aesop's fables, Greek mythology, Aristotelian philosophy, fiction, the Bible and many more. A huge resource for parents and children alike.
Tiny Houses
He has a few tips for making the most of small spaces: storage is crucial; planning carefully is vital; letting in as much light as possible is a must; and think of building up rather than out .
To get in the mood before the programme starts, why not get a copy of Lloyd Kahn's
Tiny Homes, Simple Shelter
It is a real feast for your eyes and it will fire your imagination and feed your dreams. You'll be more than ready for George Clarke.
New Zealand Poetry
If happiness is a goat with a violin
or any such other
improbable thing,
sadness is always and only
a man with a guitar,
his fingers touching its neck,
slowly brushing its strings.
Whose collection of poetry does the above poem come from?
Peter Olds: Under the Dundas Street Bridge
Hugh Lauder: Over the White Wall
Elizabeth Nannestad: If He's a Good Dog He'll Swim
Anna Livesey: Good Luck
Bill Manhire: Milky Way Bar
Not sure? Then pop in and have a look at all or any of the above books and the many more in our New Zealand poetry section (or browse in the online catalogue).
Travel
By Laurence Sterne; Apples in the Snow: A Journey to Samarkand by Geoffrey Moorhouse
What these volumes have in common is the word 'journey'. They all deal with genuine journeys: I mean when someone travels somewhere or goes on a voyage. The word makes one think of historical explorations or feats of physical bravery and endurance, treks, tours, expditions or even cruises. You get a sense of adventure and, essentially. travel.
What kind of journeys do people make these days? They seem to go on fitness journeys or learning (aaargggh) journeys or spiritual journeys or self-improvement journeys or weight-loss journeys. You even hear of journeys through the City Council Planning Department to get a building permit or journeys through the health system to get a consultant appointment.
Let's save the word 'journey' for movement between different physical locations that involves actual travel with some luggage (or even without). Try using a bit of the huge vocabulary offered by English and choosing a more appropriate word for the learning journey.
Men / Women
Why Men Don't Listen and Women Can't Read Maps
by Allan & Barbara Pease
Have a look at this list and decide if you think men or women are better at them:
- reverse parallel parking
- doing more than one thing at once
- driving at night
- map reading
- mathematics
- listening
Would she be proud of you?
Tamara Sheward and Jenny Valentish (eds)
Your Mother Would Be Proud of You: True Tales of Mayhem and Misadventure
Just as I started to write today's item on the above book, my brain wandered off at a tangent (which it does quite often). The positive thing is that it was a vaguely related topic, which is sadly not necessarily normal for me. This tangent concerns the use of the expression 'I'm proud of you'.
Your mother and father can certainly be proud of you (as they have had a lot to do with most things you achieve). A teacher could be proud of you for passing an exam, for example, as he/she has had a hand in that A grade. You can definitely be proud of yourself as in the main you are responsible for the successes in your life, although it would be rather odd to be proud of yourself for winning the lottery as you've done nothing to deserve it.
Which brings me to the heinous crime of saying "I'm so proud of you" to someone you hardly know. An example is Jesse Mulligan interviewing a world famous classical musician on National Radio recently and saying "I'm SOOO proud of you" when she mentioned a competition she had won. It is condescending, sycophantic and cringe-making. Make sure you avoid this unctuous, oily, insincere use (which just makes everyone think of Uriah Heap).
