The Eighth Day

 

The Eighth Day by Thornton Wilder
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really liked this classic that was on our Book Club list for 2020. Several members did not like it at all. There are a lot of characters to keep straight and most of the time I didn't. The structure of the story was disconcerting and added another deterrent to keeping the characters straight. The story was divided into time and place segments that overlapped. The beginning seemed to be the end and the end was the beginning. That being said, there were several passages that I went back and studied. They seem to be put in place to give the reader insight in the author. I wondered how they fit into his life and the people in his world.

This read reminded me of reading 'The Great Gatsby' in high school. I learned about symbolism that writers use to convey hidden messages to the reader. I tried to figure out if Mr. Wilder used this technique. If it was there, I didn't find it. One member said she thought 'The Eighth Day' meant that God created the Earth in seven days and we were to take over and get to work on the eighth one. Another said the writer's concern with evolution that prompted the title. I never really got to that depth in meaning. It was just a story with some life and history lessons thrown into the mix. I still think it was auto-biographical.
Note: Not sure what happened to John?

If you like to read classics, I am recommending this one. 

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Personal Notes:

Mrs. Wickersham

page 182 "No one has ever done anything for me, spontaneously."

page 198 "You and I have a certain quality that is rare as teeth in a hen. We work. And we forget ourselves in our work. Most people think they work; they can kill themselves with their diligence. They think they are building Athens, but they're only shining their own shoes.

Roger Ashley

page 208 ..."he never ceased to search for his life's career-to explore, observe, weight , and eliminate the professions. He didn't want to waste any years on the wrong choice and he wanted to start preparing himself as soon as possible. (He was 17 1/2 -at that age I was a junior in high school. I think my English teacher had us write an essay on what we would like to do for a career. I had no idea. I wrote on being an interior decorator. I ended up being a banker, but did some interior decorating for a year or so.)

SHELTERED-IN is a Good Thing

I find time to work on my quilt UFO's*

*Unfinished Objects sometimes called WIP-Work in Progress

finish a collage project, 

work on a paint by sticker book that was a Christmas present. 

and even venture into painting with acrylics. 

In between all of that my husband and I work jigsaw puzzles (starting the 22nd one today). Here are some of my favorites:

We go to church on the computer and started our own Bible study to begin each day. We always went to the grocery store, but now are getting back to most of our 'away from home' activities. The result: our priorities reversed. Now our 'at home' activities come first and then we get out and about. Which is a very good thing since we are retired. 

A Painted House

 

A Painted House by John Grisham
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was a book club selection for me. I had never read a John Grisham book and enjoyed reading it. You will get a true picture of what it was like to make your living by growing and picking cotton. Mr. Grisham did not hold back. It was not an easy life; it was a time when people made their good times with people-family, friends, and neighbors.

This story brought back good childhood memories for me. It takes place in 1952 and is told by a seven-year old boy, Luke. In 1952 I was 12/13 about about 6 years older than Luke. Even at that age I don't remember being as introspective as Luke.  

From 1942 to 1946 when I was closer to Luke's age, I lived on a dairy farm with my Mom and Dad in an unpainted house. These were some really good times for me as a child. Luckily I did not have to work picking cotton like Luke.

I do remember gathering eggs and my MOM killing a chicken to fry for dinner.  She and I picked blackberries to make a pie. I gathered eggs from our chickens and stopped when I put my hand in a box and met up with a black snake.

I had a sandbox, a horse named Red, and a cat with kittens. 

My friends came to

visit. We rode Red.

That's me with Hank

Giles and Dad on 

Red. Then, we had

a wienie roast

 

 

Me on Red.

I got my first dollhouse furniture one Christmas. (That was the Christmas I played detective and discovered that my Mom's handwriting matched Santa's.) I had the measles and they kept me in the dark so my eyes wouldn't be affected. I stayed with Berniece, a black woman who lived up the road, when my Mom had to go to town with my Dad.  I remember riding on a hay baler with my dad and trying to milk a cow.

My Dad and I by unpainted house with my new storybook doll. It looks like we did get a painted screen door.

I started the first grade there and rode the school bus. Then, we moved to the city so I could go to school without having to ride the bus. I was little for my age and my mom thought I might fall off and get hurt. I am not sure, but I think she was like Luke's mom. I can see her smile as we packed up and moved. 

Enough of my memories. I think you will like Luke's story. It takes about three-fourths of the book to develop the scene and characters. Hang in there. All will be revealed in the last fourth of the story. Recommend.

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Educated by Tara Westover
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was a Book Club assignment. It was very hard for me to relate to the reality of this woman's life. In fact, after about 50 pages I thought I might give it up. Tara seemed to be a character in a book not a real living person. Her situation seemed unreal and she didn't seem motivated to do anything about it. Even when she had people supporting her and advising her to move away; she refused to leave. However, she is a real person that has lived through, what to me, is a nightmare. I am utterly amazed that she was able to overcome her childhood and family to the extent that she did.  

I started pulling for her after pages 242 and 243. I saw hope when her professor give her this advice.

"You act like someone who is impersonating someone else. And it's as if you think your life depends on it." Dr. Kerry page 242

He continues on page 243: "The most powerful determinant of who you are is inside you," he said. "Professor Steinberg says this is Pygmalion. Think of the story, Tara." He paused, his eyes fierce his voice piercing. "She was just a cockney in a nice dress. Until she believed in herself. Then it didn't matter what dress she wore." 

Tara did not disappoint. I think this was a turning point for her. It certainly wasn't the end. There was much more to come, but she persevered and won in the end. Recommend.

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DAY TRIPPING TO HEBER SPRINGS, ARKANSAS AUGUST 23, 2019

MEMORIES OF TIMES BEFORE BEING SHELTERED-IN

We headed to Heber Springs and the Ruland Junction Toy Train Museum. We had seen it on 'Exploring Arkansas' with Chuck Dovish. We grew up traveling on 'real' trains'. We love trains. I especially love cabooses. My husband had a Lionel Train set. (Unfortunately, his mother cleaned out the attic and gave it away.) 

Luckily we had my phone and GPS or we would have never found the museum. It is in a neighborhood next to the Ruland home. He built the Depot structure to house his collection of toy trains and memorabilia. There is a main floor and a balcony full of trains. How many I do not know. Daniel Hipp is the Trainmaster and Docent. He described what we were going to see and some history of the collection.

Then, he went into action. On the first floor he had at least three trains going at the same time. He was at the controls. Then, we went to the balcony and he let lose about nine trains. All were in motion. It was amazing.

After the train museum, we headed to one of our favorite diners, Mack's Seafood and Steaks. They always have a pot of pinto beans and great cornbread. It goes great with chicken fingers. We had catfish this day-the beans went good with it, too.

We came home through Conway and the back way to Hot Springs to get a picture of a church that Chuck wants to paint. What a great find!

A great 'Day Trip'. 

We always say: "We ought to do this more often."

Escape from Sheltered-In

Yea! Freedom...perfect place...we escaped to the woods. 

A 'trail walk' was perfect for our get-away!

We wore our masks. We met a few people and were able to stay six feet away. They stopped and stepped away or we did. 

It's great to breathe the fresh air and get a little exercise. 

Highly recommended!

Book Report: Outliers: The Story of Success

Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was really fascinated with the amount of research that Mr. Gladwell did to write this book. His insights were completely out of my 'box'. It certainly got me to thinking at a different level.

He defined an 'outlier' as something that is situated away from or classed differently from a main or related body. Also, a statistical observation that is markedly different in value from the other of the sample. "Outliers are those who have been given opportunities and who have the strength and presence of mind to seize them."

Briefly, here are some of his outliers:
1. The year you were born matters as related to the cut-off date for joining a sport team.
2. 10,000 hours is required to achieve the level of mastery associated with being a world class expert in anything, i.e. Beatles, Bill Gates, Paul Allen. Their success was also a product of the world in which they grew up.
3. Intellect and achievement are far from perfectly correlated. If a study group consisting of all geniuses is formed work on a project, the success of the project would have been the same level of success if IQ was not considered as a qualifier.
4. No one ever makes it alone. That includes rock stars, professional athletes, software billionaires, or Chris Langan, the smartest man in the world.
5. Three Lessons from Joe Flom-1. Importance of being Jewish 2. Demographic luck-time born. 3. The Garment Industry and meaningful work.
6. Harlan, Kentucky (Chapter 6) Die like a man like your brother did. It makes a difference not only where your father or grandfather grew up, but also, your great, great, great, great Grandfather.
7. Planes are safer when the least experienced pilot is flying because it means that the second pilot is not afraid to speak up.
8. National cultures are most content when they place the highest emphasis on effort and hard work. If you speak English you have about a 50% chance of remembering perfectly a group of numbers. If you speak Chinese, you have almost a 100% chance to get it right.
9.For its poorest students, America doesn't have a school problem. It has a summer vacation problem.
Maybe these bits and pieces will entice you to read 'Outliers: The Story of Success'. Also, be sure and read the Epilogue, a Jamaican Story.

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FOLLOW YOUR BLISS

The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have had this book for a long time and have read parts now and then. I have watched the video of the TV Series with Bill Moyers and Joseph Campbell which the book documents. I decided to really read 'The Power of Myth' chapter by chapter, word by word. Most of the time I did not understand what I was reading, but at other times the words inspired me. This lead to the following passages that I wanted to save to read again. Maybe some day I will read the book again to see if the words make sense to me after a period of time and experience has passed. Joseph Campbell's basic words to live by have been in my vocabulary since I watched that video. "Follow Your Bliss"

The following are those words that I want to ponder.
Page 12:
Moyers: So there are mythological rituals at work in our society. The ceremony of marriage is one. The ceremony of the inauguration of a President or judge is another. What are some other rituals that are important in society today?
Campbell: Joining the army, putting on a uniform, is another. You're giving up your personal life and accepting a socially determined manner of life in the service of the society of which you are a member. That is why I think it is obscene to judge people in terms of civil law for performances that they rendered in time of war. They were acting not as individuals, they were acting as agents of something above them and to which they had by dedication given themselves. To judge them as though they were individual human beings is totally improper.

Campbell
Page 17: I don't know what's coming, any more that Yeats* knew, but when you come to the end of one time and the beginning of a new one, it's a period of tremendous pain and turmoil. The threat we feel, and every body feels-well, there is this notion of Armageddon coming, you know?
*refer to Yeats poem "The Second Coming".
Page 28: "Here you have the important transition that took place about 500 B.C. This is the date of the Buddha and of Pythagoras and Confucius ad Lao-tze, if there was a Lao-tzu. This is the awakening of man's reason. No longer is he informed and governed by the animal powers. No longer is he guided by the analogy of the planted earth, no longer by the courses of the planets---but by reason.

Page 56:
Moyers: What is a metaphor?
Campbell: A metaphor is an image that suggest something else...The reference of the metaphor in religious traditions is to something transcendent that is not literally any thing.
Page 57: Campbell: The inner world is the world of your requirements and your energies ad your structure and your possibilities that meets the outer world. And the outer world is the field of your incarnations. That's where you are. You've got to keep both going. As Novalis said, "The seat of the soul is there where the inner and outer worlds meet."

Campbell:
Page 58: There has to be a training to help you open your ears so that you can begin to hear metaphorically instead of concretely.
Page 60: I think the clergy is really not doing its proper work. It does not speak about the connotations of the metaphors but is stuck with the ethics of good and evil.
Page 64: ...You can make a choice, either to throw it all off and go into the forest to meditate, or to stay in the world, both in the life of your job of politics and achievement, and in the love life with your wife and family. Now, this is a very nice myth, it seems to me.
Page 66: Affirmation is difficult. We always affirm with conditions. I affirm the world on condition that it gets to be the way Santa Claus told me it ought to be. But affirming it the way it is--that's the hard thing. and that is what rituals are about.
Page 67: ...Eternity isn't some later time. Eternity isn't even a long time. Eternity has nothing to do with time. Eternity is that dimension of here and now that all thinking in temporal terms cuts off.
And if you don't get it here, you won't get it anywhere. The problem with heaven is that you will be having such a good time there, you won't even think of eternity. You'll just have this unending delight in the beatific vision of God. But the experience of eternity right here and now, in all things whether thought of as good or as evil, is the function of life.
Page 118:
Moyers: What happens when you follow your bliss?
Campbell: You come to bliss. ... We are having experiences all the time which may on occasion render some sense of this, a little intuition of where your bliss is. Grab it. No one can tell you what it is going to be. You have to learn to recognize your depth.

Page 149:
Moyers: What's my ego?
Campbell: What you think you want, what you will to believe, what you think you can afford, what you decide to love, what you regard yourself as bound to.

Page 154:
Moyers: What are the "thou shalts" of a child that he needs to shed?
Campbell: Every one that inhibits his self-fulfillment.

Page 182:
Moyers: So when you say, "Save the earth", we're talking about saving ourselves.
Campbell: Yes. All this hope for something happening in society has to wait for something in the human psyche a whole new way of experiencing a society.

Page 207:
Moyers: As you've moved among various world views, dipping in and out of cultures, civilizations, and religions, have you found something in common in every culture that creates the need for God?
Campbell: Anyone who has had an experience of mystery knows that there is a dimension of the universe that is not that which is available to his senses.

Campbell
Page 229: Just sheer life cannot be said to have a purpose, because look at all the different purposes it has all over the place. But each incarnation, you might say, has a potentiality, and the mission of life is to live that potentiality. How do you do it? My answer is, "Follow your bliss." There's something inside you that knows when you are in the center, that knows when you're on the beam or off the beam. And if you get off the beam to earn money, you've lost your life, And if you stay in the center and don't get any money, you still have your bliss.


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