Lilacs and Wind
Yesterday I went and saw the new Jane Eyre at the theaters with my mom. Not my overall favorite movie, but it was really good! (For a Bronte. Though no offense, I like the Brontes--though I don't get along very well with Emily much, Wuthering Heights just isn't my favorite.)
I had a major shock at the end of the movie. About a quarter of the audience were gasping in shock at the whole story. I just couldn't figure that out...these were college kids, four years or more my elders, and they didn't know the story? I thought everyone knew about Jane Eyre, like Pride and Prejudice. I've known that story since I was about eleven or twelve--though had never read the actual original book, which I'm reading now.
So that's my shock for the week: There are college kids with a very much deprived literary education.
Last night I also went outside in the beautiful evening--one of my very favorite summer hobbies--and listened to the wind, smelt the lilacs, got a book idea, and for several minutes was blissfully happy. I think too much at other times--making life rather...hard, for want of a better word.
Oh! I love dusk. It's the time of day where you can think, "Time can just stop here. Stop, and this moment will be frozen forever." It wakes up my senses and imagination.
But I just have to say that, before nuns and monks, the oldest and most beautiful--though not compared to the nuns' Even Song--Evening Mass was sung by the birds at twilight.
Nothing can compare, not even the birds' morning songs.
Have you ever just watched a bird soar in the breeze and wish you could soar like that, with the wind rustling through your wings? Hawks, by far, are the best at soaring.
Wind and lilacs, birds and literature, thoughts and writing, and the Anne of Green Gables movie have made up my week so far--with pieces of harp, science, and math.
Wish me out of writer's block everybody!
I had a major shock at the end of the movie. About a quarter of the audience were gasping in shock at the whole story. I just couldn't figure that out...these were college kids, four years or more my elders, and they didn't know the story? I thought everyone knew about Jane Eyre, like Pride and Prejudice. I've known that story since I was about eleven or twelve--though had never read the actual original book, which I'm reading now.
So that's my shock for the week: There are college kids with a very much deprived literary education.
Last night I also went outside in the beautiful evening--one of my very favorite summer hobbies--and listened to the wind, smelt the lilacs, got a book idea, and for several minutes was blissfully happy. I think too much at other times--making life rather...hard, for want of a better word.
Oh! I love dusk. It's the time of day where you can think, "Time can just stop here. Stop, and this moment will be frozen forever." It wakes up my senses and imagination.
But I just have to say that, before nuns and monks, the oldest and most beautiful--though not compared to the nuns' Even Song--Evening Mass was sung by the birds at twilight.
Nothing can compare, not even the birds' morning songs.
Have you ever just watched a bird soar in the breeze and wish you could soar like that, with the wind rustling through your wings? Hawks, by far, are the best at soaring.
Wind and lilacs, birds and literature, thoughts and writing, and the Anne of Green Gables movie have made up my week so far--with pieces of harp, science, and math.
Wish me out of writer's block everybody!
Hey, you writer you. Of course all the people in the audience might have read many other classics but never got round to Jane Eyre--which is a relatively minor classic compared with, say, Dante's Divine Comedy or Shakespeare's plays. But it is true that, at least in my limited experience, most of us tend to read far too little or far too shallowly.
ReplyDeleteLove ya.
--Dad
By the way, note that the spelling is 'college', unless you mean a pastiche of pictures, which is called a 'collage'.
your musings reminded me of this quote by daphne du maurier:
ReplyDelete“If only there could be an invention that bottled up a memory, like scent. And it never faded, and it never got stale. And then, when one wanted it, the bottle could be uncorked, and it would be like living the moment all over again.”
― Daphne du Maurier, Rebecca
i tend to agree with you on what i consider a lack of excellence among college (and high school) students. i am determined that my kids will embark upon their college/university experience ready to expand their education, not just to be starting it.
alas, i myself am guilty of reading too little of substance, and even that, too shallowly.
i am enjoying your blog; i've started at the beginning and am reading the posts in order. looking forward to reading more :)
-j fullmer