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Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Gone With the Wind Read-Along: Week Three
Previous posts regarding GWTW Read-Along:
3/1/09: Read Along: Gone With the Wind
3/11/09: Gone With the Wind Read-Along: Week One
3/14/09: Gone With the Wind Read-Along: Week Two
I'm reading along with Matt at A Guy's Moleskine Notebook and several others; check his blog also!
This blog post covers Chapters 26 through 37. As with previous posts, there are spoilers here.
At Tara, Scarlett and those who are still living there face many more difficulties. A lone Yankee comes and Scarlett shoots him in self-defense. The only other person who knows Scarlett's secret of being a murderer is Melanie, who in spite of her ill-health after giving birth to Ashley's baby, helps Scarlett drag the body outside and bury him. Scarlett admires Melanie for her gumption, but still does not fully respect her.
More trouble comes to Tara not long after, again caused by Yankees. A group of them come and burn the cotton that Scarlett worked so hard to harvest.
At this point, the war is over, but the difficult aftermath of war is not over for the Southerners. It is very clear that the author Margaret Mitchell is very biased against the Northerners, also known as "Yankees", "Carpetbaggers", "Republicans", and "Scallawags". They make post-war life especially difficult for Southerners, constantly raising assessments (and therefore, additional taxes must be paid) on properties, including those on Tara (the O'Hara plantation). Scarlett stubbornly refuses to consider losing Tara and will do anything she can do to keep Tara.
It's interesting to see that women back then considered that the only way they could get ahead was to marry a rich person. Or, for that matter, to just be married, period. Scarlett gets very upset when her old friend Cathleen Calvert marries the Yankee overseer of the Calvert plantation. Cathleen has to do it or lose her home.
However, Scarlett is in a similar boat herself, when she realizes she will lose Tara if she doesn't come up with the money to pay the taxes on Tara. By this time, Ashley has returned from the war and is staying at Tara along with Melanie and the new baby. To raise money for the taxes, Scarlett comes up with the idea to go to Atlanta, find Rhett (who is reputed to be very rich), and proposition herself so that she can get from Rhett the money she needs. This is when she makes a new dress out of curtains at Tara; she does it because she feels that she will have more success "sweet-talking" Rhett if she looks attractive and well-dressed rather than the patched-up clothes that she and nearly every other woman in the South is wearing.
When Scarlett arrives in Atlanta, she discovers that Rhett is in jail. In a very small nutshell, he's there because of the Yankees. She goes to visit him in jail, and nearly has him, until he kisses her hands and sees how rough and blistered they are. He immediately knows something is up and wants to know why she lied about how well things were going for her and Tara, and put on "coquettish airs" when she should have been straightforward with him about the money she needed. He says he isn't able to touch his money, and therefore isn't able to help her anyway.
So, when she leaves the jail, and is trudging back to Aunt Pittypat's house (where she stays whenever she's in Atlanta), Scarlett runs into her sister Suellen's long-time fiance, Frank Kennedy. Frank offers a ride back to the house, and while doing so, tells Scarlett how successful he is with the new store he owns in Atlanta and a sawmill he is planning to buy. She quickly decides to herself "Suellen should not have Frank and his store and his mill! Suellen didn't deserve them. She was going to have them herself. She thought of Tara.....she grasped at the last straw floating above the shipwreck of her life. Rhett had failed her but the Lord had provided Frank".
Yes, Scarlett does seem cold and calculating here. But, again, remember, back in those days, women had little choice but to marry if they wanted to survive. Unfortunately, for Scarlett, it means stealing her sister's fiance away from her sister. Scarlett lies and tells Frank that Suellen has gotten tired of waiting for him and has gotten engaged to Tony Fontaine. She bats her eyes and flirts with Frank.
Scarlett and Frank marry after a "whirlwind courtship" of two weeks. Not long after that, Scarlett shows her true colors and Frank finds that she has a good head for figures. Page 616: "He felt there was something unbecoming about a woman understanding fractions and business matters and he believed that, should a woman be so unfortunate as to have such unladylike comprehension, she should pretend not to." Scarlett goes as far as to go to Frank's store to check it out and look at the account balances. She is taken aback at his poor business sense.
While she is at the store, Rhett (having been released from jail) shows up to cynically congratulate Scarlett on her marriage. They talk and it is clear Rhett still does want to help Scarlett financially, because as it turns out, Frank didn't have as much money as she thought he did. Frank did help her pay the taxes and therefore save Tara, but that was all. So, Rhett agrees to help Scarlett buy a sawmill.
When Frank discovers that Scarlett now owns a sawmill, Frank thinks it looks bad that not only does she own it, but that she insists on running the business herself. And not only that, but the money from the sawmill does not go back into the marriage budget but goes towards Tara and the running of Tara. This is yet another reminder to the reader that equality for women were non-existent back then.
This section also goes over the post-war effect on the former slaves. The author does not hesitate to use language describing them, that would make most of today's readers wince. Apparently, having all the slaves now free caused many problems. Some former slaves still remained at their master's home, like a few of Scarlett's such as her beloved Mammy, and Pork and a few others. But many had no where to go and "the Yankees and the Freedmen's Bureau" had no idea how to deal with them all. Page 555 of my copy describes "loafing Negroes" and drunk Yankee soldiers in Atlanta, and while Mammy and Scarlett is walking down the street in Atlanta (this is when Scarlett is planning on getting the money from Rhett, but he is in jail), Mammy swings her bag at a "black buck" loitering. Then, when Mammy and Scarlett gets to Aunt Pittypat's house, Scarlett sees Uncle Peter and is so happy to see him that she thinks she could "kiss the old black fool".
A lot of hate is built up towards the Yankees for causing change in the Southerners' lives. They hate the Yankees for "scaring the darkies" , and "kind-hearted whites" take in abandoned "Negro children", and "raise them in their kitchens".
Yes, a lot of this language would be considered conscending. But it (unfortunately) reflects some of the thinking back in those post-civil war days, and also by some in the South of 1936 when Mitchell wrote this book. Despite this, it is clear how attached Scarlett is to Mammy and Uncle Peter and others. However, I can't help but wonder what kind of book this would have been, had Mitchell written it today. Would she have tried to be more "politically correct"? What do you think?
In addition, this section made me think a lot of women's issues back in those days. Post-civil war, anyone had difficulties getting bank loans and the like, but women never could have. If a woman had to survive, and in a respectable way, she had to marry. Being a businesswoman was considered unladylike. I still continue to have the impression that Scarlett was born in the wrong era! It's true that there are still people today that consider it unacceptable for women to have a place outside of the home, but back then, almost everyone considered it unacceptable.
I feel that Rhett was probably one of the very few men back then who thought there was nothing wrong for a woman to be "liberated". He is pleased at Scarlett's interest in running a business (the sawmill), while Frank thinks it's embarrassing.
This is the first point during this read-along that I'm not ahead of the week's scheduled reading, but I don't anticipate falling behind. This week I will be reading chapters 38 through 50. Check back in a week or so, for more of Gone With the Wind!
3/1/09: Read Along: Gone With the Wind
3/11/09: Gone With the Wind Read-Along: Week One
3/14/09: Gone With the Wind Read-Along: Week Two
I'm reading along with Matt at A Guy's Moleskine Notebook and several others; check his blog also!
This blog post covers Chapters 26 through 37. As with previous posts, there are spoilers here.
At Tara, Scarlett and those who are still living there face many more difficulties. A lone Yankee comes and Scarlett shoots him in self-defense. The only other person who knows Scarlett's secret of being a murderer is Melanie, who in spite of her ill-health after giving birth to Ashley's baby, helps Scarlett drag the body outside and bury him. Scarlett admires Melanie for her gumption, but still does not fully respect her.
More trouble comes to Tara not long after, again caused by Yankees. A group of them come and burn the cotton that Scarlett worked so hard to harvest.
At this point, the war is over, but the difficult aftermath of war is not over for the Southerners. It is very clear that the author Margaret Mitchell is very biased against the Northerners, also known as "Yankees", "Carpetbaggers", "Republicans", and "Scallawags". They make post-war life especially difficult for Southerners, constantly raising assessments (and therefore, additional taxes must be paid) on properties, including those on Tara (the O'Hara plantation). Scarlett stubbornly refuses to consider losing Tara and will do anything she can do to keep Tara.
It's interesting to see that women back then considered that the only way they could get ahead was to marry a rich person. Or, for that matter, to just be married, period. Scarlett gets very upset when her old friend Cathleen Calvert marries the Yankee overseer of the Calvert plantation. Cathleen has to do it or lose her home.
However, Scarlett is in a similar boat herself, when she realizes she will lose Tara if she doesn't come up with the money to pay the taxes on Tara. By this time, Ashley has returned from the war and is staying at Tara along with Melanie and the new baby. To raise money for the taxes, Scarlett comes up with the idea to go to Atlanta, find Rhett (who is reputed to be very rich), and proposition herself so that she can get from Rhett the money she needs. This is when she makes a new dress out of curtains at Tara; she does it because she feels that she will have more success "sweet-talking" Rhett if she looks attractive and well-dressed rather than the patched-up clothes that she and nearly every other woman in the South is wearing.
When Scarlett arrives in Atlanta, she discovers that Rhett is in jail. In a very small nutshell, he's there because of the Yankees. She goes to visit him in jail, and nearly has him, until he kisses her hands and sees how rough and blistered they are. He immediately knows something is up and wants to know why she lied about how well things were going for her and Tara, and put on "coquettish airs" when she should have been straightforward with him about the money she needed. He says he isn't able to touch his money, and therefore isn't able to help her anyway.
So, when she leaves the jail, and is trudging back to Aunt Pittypat's house (where she stays whenever she's in Atlanta), Scarlett runs into her sister Suellen's long-time fiance, Frank Kennedy. Frank offers a ride back to the house, and while doing so, tells Scarlett how successful he is with the new store he owns in Atlanta and a sawmill he is planning to buy. She quickly decides to herself "Suellen should not have Frank and his store and his mill! Suellen didn't deserve them. She was going to have them herself. She thought of Tara.....she grasped at the last straw floating above the shipwreck of her life. Rhett had failed her but the Lord had provided Frank".
Yes, Scarlett does seem cold and calculating here. But, again, remember, back in those days, women had little choice but to marry if they wanted to survive. Unfortunately, for Scarlett, it means stealing her sister's fiance away from her sister. Scarlett lies and tells Frank that Suellen has gotten tired of waiting for him and has gotten engaged to Tony Fontaine. She bats her eyes and flirts with Frank.
Scarlett and Frank marry after a "whirlwind courtship" of two weeks. Not long after that, Scarlett shows her true colors and Frank finds that she has a good head for figures. Page 616: "He felt there was something unbecoming about a woman understanding fractions and business matters and he believed that, should a woman be so unfortunate as to have such unladylike comprehension, she should pretend not to." Scarlett goes as far as to go to Frank's store to check it out and look at the account balances. She is taken aback at his poor business sense.
While she is at the store, Rhett (having been released from jail) shows up to cynically congratulate Scarlett on her marriage. They talk and it is clear Rhett still does want to help Scarlett financially, because as it turns out, Frank didn't have as much money as she thought he did. Frank did help her pay the taxes and therefore save Tara, but that was all. So, Rhett agrees to help Scarlett buy a sawmill.
When Frank discovers that Scarlett now owns a sawmill, Frank thinks it looks bad that not only does she own it, but that she insists on running the business herself. And not only that, but the money from the sawmill does not go back into the marriage budget but goes towards Tara and the running of Tara. This is yet another reminder to the reader that equality for women were non-existent back then.
This section also goes over the post-war effect on the former slaves. The author does not hesitate to use language describing them, that would make most of today's readers wince. Apparently, having all the slaves now free caused many problems. Some former slaves still remained at their master's home, like a few of Scarlett's such as her beloved Mammy, and Pork and a few others. But many had no where to go and "the Yankees and the Freedmen's Bureau" had no idea how to deal with them all. Page 555 of my copy describes "loafing Negroes" and drunk Yankee soldiers in Atlanta, and while Mammy and Scarlett is walking down the street in Atlanta (this is when Scarlett is planning on getting the money from Rhett, but he is in jail), Mammy swings her bag at a "black buck" loitering. Then, when Mammy and Scarlett gets to Aunt Pittypat's house, Scarlett sees Uncle Peter and is so happy to see him that she thinks she could "kiss the old black fool".
A lot of hate is built up towards the Yankees for causing change in the Southerners' lives. They hate the Yankees for "scaring the darkies" , and "kind-hearted whites" take in abandoned "Negro children", and "raise them in their kitchens".
Yes, a lot of this language would be considered conscending. But it (unfortunately) reflects some of the thinking back in those post-civil war days, and also by some in the South of 1936 when Mitchell wrote this book. Despite this, it is clear how attached Scarlett is to Mammy and Uncle Peter and others. However, I can't help but wonder what kind of book this would have been, had Mitchell written it today. Would she have tried to be more "politically correct"? What do you think?
In addition, this section made me think a lot of women's issues back in those days. Post-civil war, anyone had difficulties getting bank loans and the like, but women never could have. If a woman had to survive, and in a respectable way, she had to marry. Being a businesswoman was considered unladylike. I still continue to have the impression that Scarlett was born in the wrong era! It's true that there are still people today that consider it unacceptable for women to have a place outside of the home, but back then, almost everyone considered it unacceptable.
I feel that Rhett was probably one of the very few men back then who thought there was nothing wrong for a woman to be "liberated". He is pleased at Scarlett's interest in running a business (the sawmill), while Frank thinks it's embarrassing.
This is the first point during this read-along that I'm not ahead of the week's scheduled reading, but I don't anticipate falling behind. This week I will be reading chapters 38 through 50. Check back in a week or so, for more of Gone With the Wind!
Busy Week!
Last week was very busy. I barely had time to do any of the things that I usually blog about, much less do any blogging itself!
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Last week, we celebrated my younger son's 8th birthday:
We picked up this:
Appointments on different days. Husband had stitches taken out of his knee and got cleared to drive again (but may be a while before he feels fully comfortable driving the above). I went in for my first adjustment of the cochlear implant processor since it was activated. I now have three programs on it: one for "normal" environments, one for "loud" environments (such as noisy restaurants), and a third for music. Also, instead of just volume control, sensitivity controls have been added. So, I have been fiddling around with the programs!
An old high school friend and her husband stopped by on Thursday to catch up for a while. I had not seen her in about 20 years!
Yesterday I took an all-day workshop on thread techniques and different type of threads to enhance quilt work; and about other influencing things such as needles, fusibles and interfacings. I learned quite a bit and had fun while doing it!
I think the only real reading I got to do this week was when I took some magazines with me to catch up on while getting my hair done on Friday. I was already ahead of schedule on the GWTW read-along, so I should be able to post on that within the next couple days.
The kids start spring break this week, so while we aren't going anywhere out of town for the week (husband will be returning to work this week after being off for three weeks due to his knee surgery), I probably will try to take a few day trips with them. Otherwise, we will all drive each other crazy if we are house-bound all week. :-)!
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Gone With the Wind Read-Along: Week Two
Previous posts regarding GWTW Read-Along:
3/1/09: Read Along: Gone With the Wind
3/11/09: Gone With the Wind Read-Along: Week One
I'm reading along with Matt at A Guy's Moleskine Notebook and several others; check his blog also!
Week Two of the GWTW read-along covers Chapters 10-25.
The Civil War is dragging on, and Scarlett and Melanie continues their stay at Atlanta at Melanie's Aunt Pittypat's house. Even though Rhett Butler is not generally accepted by "polite society" in Atlanta (because he hasn't yet joined the war; and is considered a profiteer), he is allowed to call on Scarlett because Melanie says so. Melanie thinks highly of most people, but especially Rhett.
Scarlett still thinks she is in love with Ashley, but has grown to enjoy Rhett's calls on the ladies. As quoted from the book (p. 221 of my copy):
"It's almost like I was in love with him!" she thought, bewildered. "But I'm not, and I just can't understand it."
I think part of Scarlett's confusion is her youth, but also the times' opinions on love and marriage. Many, including Scarlett's own father, have said that advantageous marriages are important and that love comes later. Although she thinks she loves Ashley, she knows she does not understand him. However, she and Rhett are very much alike which is why the two of them are attracted to each other. She is unable to let go of Ashley even though he is married to Melanie and Melanie is expecting their baby.
At one point, Scarlett and Melanie hear about the horrible causalities at Gettysburg, and the two of them rush to check out the causality lists. Scarlett anxiously looks for Ashley's name, but he isn't there, much to both her and Melanie's relief. However, Scarlett sees nearly all of her former Beaux' names on the lists, including the Tarleton twins and their two brothers. She does grieve over all these dead young men that she once knew. This hits home how terrible war is.
Chapter 22 is the beginning of Part Three of the book. War continues to take its toll; Sherman is back in Georgia again and the Confederate army keeps having to retreat.
Rhett is still calling on Scarlett, and Scarlett continues to refuse to see or understand why. Rhett admits to Scarlett that he is waiting for her to grow up (and mature), and he admits his attraction to her. But then he says he is also waiting for Scarlett's "memory of the estimable Ashley Wilkes to fade". A later scene has Rhett admit to Scarlett he'd like to have her as a mistress and she protests; not because it's ladylike to protest, but because she says all she would get out of it is "a passel of brats". Rhett laughs at this and says, "That's why I like you! You are the only frank woman I know, the only woman who looks on the practical side of matters without beclouding the issue with mouthings about sin and mortality". Scarlett gets angry at this and tells Rhett to go away!
The last part of this week's read-along has the "Yankees are Coming!" through Atlanta, and most Atlantans flee. Unfortunately, this is right when Melanie has to give birth without any medical help. In spite of this, they decide they need to escape Atlanta also. Scarlett wants to take them back home to Tara; even though she has been told not to go because her mother Ellen and sisters are sick with typhoid. As they prepare to leave, Scarlett asks her slave Prissy to go looking for Rhett for help, and he appears again. He helps the women and children to get part of the way to Tara, then (in Scarlett's eyes) abandons them to join the Confederate army.
When Scarlett and the others finally arrive at Tara, they learn that Scarlett's mother has died from the typhoid and her sisters are still very ill. Scarlett's dad, Gerald, is in shock over Ellen's death. In addition, almost all their slaves have left Tara. Scarlett realizes that she now has to deal with feeding and taking care of several people. Normally that would have been Gerald's responsibility, but the shock over Ellen's death has left Gerald no longer mentally competent.
Scarlett is overwhelmed by her new responsibilities and is thinking that what she has learned in life from her mother (good manners, how to catch a husband, etc) are useless. Scarlett thinks she would have been better off learning how to plow or chop cotton. Another quote (p. 434):
"She did not stop to think that Ellen's ordered world was gone and a brutal world had taken its place, a world wherein every standard, every value had changed. She only saw, or thought she saw, that her mother had been wrong, and she changed swiftly to meet this new world for which she was not prepared".
I continue to feel that Scarlett was born way ahead of her time. Today, she could easily be a CEO or something. But, back then, women who thought like she did were considered unladylike. Rhett realizes this, and this is part of his admiration for her. Today, Scarlett could wait to get married and have children when she was ready to have them; or even be able to decide she didn't want any children, without being almost completely morally condemned for it.
Next week's read-along chapters (26-37) should be interesting because it begins to deal more directly with attitudes towards slavery, along with continuing with Scarlett's story.
3/1/09: Read Along: Gone With the Wind
3/11/09: Gone With the Wind Read-Along: Week One
I'm reading along with Matt at A Guy's Moleskine Notebook and several others; check his blog also!
Week Two of the GWTW read-along covers Chapters 10-25.
The Civil War is dragging on, and Scarlett and Melanie continues their stay at Atlanta at Melanie's Aunt Pittypat's house. Even though Rhett Butler is not generally accepted by "polite society" in Atlanta (because he hasn't yet joined the war; and is considered a profiteer), he is allowed to call on Scarlett because Melanie says so. Melanie thinks highly of most people, but especially Rhett.
Scarlett still thinks she is in love with Ashley, but has grown to enjoy Rhett's calls on the ladies. As quoted from the book (p. 221 of my copy):
"It's almost like I was in love with him!" she thought, bewildered. "But I'm not, and I just can't understand it."
I think part of Scarlett's confusion is her youth, but also the times' opinions on love and marriage. Many, including Scarlett's own father, have said that advantageous marriages are important and that love comes later. Although she thinks she loves Ashley, she knows she does not understand him. However, she and Rhett are very much alike which is why the two of them are attracted to each other. She is unable to let go of Ashley even though he is married to Melanie and Melanie is expecting their baby.
At one point, Scarlett and Melanie hear about the horrible causalities at Gettysburg, and the two of them rush to check out the causality lists. Scarlett anxiously looks for Ashley's name, but he isn't there, much to both her and Melanie's relief. However, Scarlett sees nearly all of her former Beaux' names on the lists, including the Tarleton twins and their two brothers. She does grieve over all these dead young men that she once knew. This hits home how terrible war is.
Chapter 22 is the beginning of Part Three of the book. War continues to take its toll; Sherman is back in Georgia again and the Confederate army keeps having to retreat.
Rhett is still calling on Scarlett, and Scarlett continues to refuse to see or understand why. Rhett admits to Scarlett that he is waiting for her to grow up (and mature), and he admits his attraction to her. But then he says he is also waiting for Scarlett's "memory of the estimable Ashley Wilkes to fade". A later scene has Rhett admit to Scarlett he'd like to have her as a mistress and she protests; not because it's ladylike to protest, but because she says all she would get out of it is "a passel of brats". Rhett laughs at this and says, "That's why I like you! You are the only frank woman I know, the only woman who looks on the practical side of matters without beclouding the issue with mouthings about sin and mortality". Scarlett gets angry at this and tells Rhett to go away!
The last part of this week's read-along has the "Yankees are Coming!" through Atlanta, and most Atlantans flee. Unfortunately, this is right when Melanie has to give birth without any medical help. In spite of this, they decide they need to escape Atlanta also. Scarlett wants to take them back home to Tara; even though she has been told not to go because her mother Ellen and sisters are sick with typhoid. As they prepare to leave, Scarlett asks her slave Prissy to go looking for Rhett for help, and he appears again. He helps the women and children to get part of the way to Tara, then (in Scarlett's eyes) abandons them to join the Confederate army.
When Scarlett and the others finally arrive at Tara, they learn that Scarlett's mother has died from the typhoid and her sisters are still very ill. Scarlett's dad, Gerald, is in shock over Ellen's death. In addition, almost all their slaves have left Tara. Scarlett realizes that she now has to deal with feeding and taking care of several people. Normally that would have been Gerald's responsibility, but the shock over Ellen's death has left Gerald no longer mentally competent.
Scarlett is overwhelmed by her new responsibilities and is thinking that what she has learned in life from her mother (good manners, how to catch a husband, etc) are useless. Scarlett thinks she would have been better off learning how to plow or chop cotton. Another quote (p. 434):
"She did not stop to think that Ellen's ordered world was gone and a brutal world had taken its place, a world wherein every standard, every value had changed. She only saw, or thought she saw, that her mother had been wrong, and she changed swiftly to meet this new world for which she was not prepared".
I continue to feel that Scarlett was born way ahead of her time. Today, she could easily be a CEO or something. But, back then, women who thought like she did were considered unladylike. Rhett realizes this, and this is part of his admiration for her. Today, Scarlett could wait to get married and have children when she was ready to have them; or even be able to decide she didn't want any children, without being almost completely morally condemned for it.
Next week's read-along chapters (26-37) should be interesting because it begins to deal more directly with attitudes towards slavery, along with continuing with Scarlett's story.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Check Out This Book Give-Away
When I look at my Google Reader, every once in a while I'll actually go look at the blogs they recommend to me (they base their recommendations on the types of blogs I have on my reader).
Tonight, I checked out their recommendation for Ilka's Attic, blogged by Susan Tuttle. Her photographs in this blog are wonderful, and her mixed media art work is neat. She also happens to have recently authored the above pictured book, Exhibition 36.
And wouldn't you know it, Susan is giving away a copy of her book! I don't usually blog about give-aways (and only occassionally enter them) because I always feel my odds are very low of winning, but what the heck. If you want to have your own chance of winning, go to this post here! The deadline to enter is March 25th, so there is plenty of time.
Art and Science are Interlinked?
Alyson Stanfield's Art Biz Blog mentions this fascinating article:
A Missing Piece in the Economic Stimulus: Hobbling Arts Hobbles Innovation
As many of us know, the arts are often the first to be cut from funding at various governmental levels. But is it a good idea to do so? The above article, which is from Psychology Today, argues that cutting back the arts will in turn effect innovations in science and technology.
It provides a famous quote by the physicist Max Planck: "The creative scientist needs an artistic imagination".
Here are some examples from the article:
Certain crucial surgical stitches were invented by Alexis Carrel, who applied his knowledge of lace-making to these stitches.
Most innovations in bridge design were originated by artistically trained engineers such as Roebling and Maillart.
Samuel Morse (the telegraph) and Robert Fulton (the steam ship) were originally prominent American artists before they turned to inventing.
Almost all Nobel laureates in the sciences also engage in arts (such as dancing, playing music, doing visual art) as adults; reinforcing Max Planck's statement of the creative scientist needing an artistic imagination.
I have mentioned before on this blog the importance of supporting the arts. Once again, Americans for the Arts is a good place to start if you want to know how we can show our support.
A Missing Piece in the Economic Stimulus: Hobbling Arts Hobbles Innovation
As many of us know, the arts are often the first to be cut from funding at various governmental levels. But is it a good idea to do so? The above article, which is from Psychology Today, argues that cutting back the arts will in turn effect innovations in science and technology.
It provides a famous quote by the physicist Max Planck: "The creative scientist needs an artistic imagination".
Here are some examples from the article:
Certain crucial surgical stitches were invented by Alexis Carrel, who applied his knowledge of lace-making to these stitches.
Most innovations in bridge design were originated by artistically trained engineers such as Roebling and Maillart.
Samuel Morse (the telegraph) and Robert Fulton (the steam ship) were originally prominent American artists before they turned to inventing.
Almost all Nobel laureates in the sciences also engage in arts (such as dancing, playing music, doing visual art) as adults; reinforcing Max Planck's statement of the creative scientist needing an artistic imagination.
I have mentioned before on this blog the importance of supporting the arts. Once again, Americans for the Arts is a good place to start if you want to know how we can show our support.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Gone With the Wind Read-Along: Week One
Previous post(s) on the GWTW Read-Along:
Read Along: Gone With the Wind (3/1/09)
I'm reading along with Matt at A Guy's Moleskine Notebook and several others; check his blog also!
Week One (Chapters 1-9) of the Read-Along technically ended last Saturday, but I'm finally having a chance to write about my thoughts on the first 9 chapters. Of course, this book is so good that I'm already on chapter 33, but I will stick to the read-along schedule for my "reporting" on the book.
Warning: If any of you have not yet read GWTW or made it as far as chapter 9(even if you've seen the movie; because like many movies, it left out a lot of parts of the book) and don't want spoilers, stop here!
The beginning of the book starts with the sentence: "Scarlett O'Hara was not beautiful, but men seldom realized it when caught by her charm as the Tarleton twins were". Scarlett's looks are then described in detail. It is April 1861 and she is only 16 years old. It becomes very clear very soon that she is a great flirt and has many "beau". However, because of the times, and perhaps because she is a Southern woman, she is already thinking about marriage. At 16! I was shaking my head at that, and also later on when the book reveals that Scarlett's mother, Ellen O'Hara, also married young and was described as middle-aged at 32 years old. They say kids grow too fast nowadays; I think they did back then also but in different ways.
After Scarlett finds out that the man who she has always thought she was in love with, Ashley Wilkes, is engaged to Melanie Hamilton, Scarlett is determined to "win" Ashley back. At a barbecue held by Ashley's family which is when the engagement is to be announced, Scarlett sees a guest who is a stranger to her, none other than Rhett Butler. I love the passage that describes the first time she sees him and I will share parts of it here:
"....her eyes fell on a stranger, standing alone in the hall, staring at her in a cool impertinent way that brought her up sharply with a mingled feeling of feminine pleasure that she had attracted a man and an embarrassed sensation that her dress was too low in the bosom. He looked quite old, at least thirty-five. ......When her eye caught his, he smiled, showing animal-white teeth below a close-clipped black mustache. He was dark of face, swarthy as a pirate, and his eyes were as bold and black as any pirate's....There was a cool recklessness in his face and a cynical humor in his mouth as he smiled at her, and Scarlett caught her breath..."
Whew, to me, I have never been able to picture Clark Gable as Rhett Butler. After the above passage, can you imagine Clark as Rhett? Although I do admit Clark did a great job in the movie.
Later on, at this same party, Scarlett follows Ashley in the library and confesses her love to him. Ashley says he is still going to marry Melanie. Rhett overhears the conversation but does not make himself visible until after Ashley leaves Scarlett. This is when Scarlett and Rhett speaks to each other for the first time, and sparks really fly!
Things happen very quickly in chapters 7-9. Scarlett marries Melanie's brother, Charlie Hamilton, out of spite and quickly conceives his child. Just as quickly, along with becoming a mother, she also becomes a widow; because by this time the Civil War has started and almost all of the men (including all her old beaux) she had known have joined up; Charlie dies of sickness before he even sees battle.
Through all this, Scarlett comes across as a person who thinks of herself first. This self-centeredness is part of her personality, but also I think because of her youth; remember she is only 16 when the book starts. Chapter 8, which is also the start of Part Two of the book, has Scarlett (now 17 years old) joining her sister-in-law Melanie to stay in Atlanta. She despises Melanie because she's married to Ashley. I didn't like that Scarlett is constantly belittling Melanie, calling her a "silly goose" and such, because Melanie is truly a nice person and thinks so highly of Scarlett.
As a young widow, Scarlett feels very trapped. Because of the times, she is expected to stay in mourning, wear black for the rest of her life, and can't have any fun such as dancing. Therefore, it is a shock to Atlanta society when Scarlett encounters Rhett again at a fund-raiser for the Cause (the war) and as part of the fundraising, Rhett bids for Scarlett as a dance partner. He tells Scarlett that it is so obvious that she wanted to dance and he doesn't care what other people thinks. Sparks are flying between them again. Thus ends Chapter 9!
Week two of the GWTW read-along is through this week, and covers chapters 10-25. I'll wait until Saturday, or soon after that, to discuss. I may not give away as much of the plot then; I did a lot of that here, mainly to try to evoke a feel of what this book is like and is all about.
Read Along: Gone With the Wind (3/1/09)
I'm reading along with Matt at A Guy's Moleskine Notebook and several others; check his blog also!
Week One (Chapters 1-9) of the Read-Along technically ended last Saturday, but I'm finally having a chance to write about my thoughts on the first 9 chapters. Of course, this book is so good that I'm already on chapter 33, but I will stick to the read-along schedule for my "reporting" on the book.
Warning: If any of you have not yet read GWTW or made it as far as chapter 9(even if you've seen the movie; because like many movies, it left out a lot of parts of the book) and don't want spoilers, stop here!
The beginning of the book starts with the sentence: "Scarlett O'Hara was not beautiful, but men seldom realized it when caught by her charm as the Tarleton twins were". Scarlett's looks are then described in detail. It is April 1861 and she is only 16 years old. It becomes very clear very soon that she is a great flirt and has many "beau". However, because of the times, and perhaps because she is a Southern woman, she is already thinking about marriage. At 16! I was shaking my head at that, and also later on when the book reveals that Scarlett's mother, Ellen O'Hara, also married young and was described as middle-aged at 32 years old. They say kids grow too fast nowadays; I think they did back then also but in different ways.
After Scarlett finds out that the man who she has always thought she was in love with, Ashley Wilkes, is engaged to Melanie Hamilton, Scarlett is determined to "win" Ashley back. At a barbecue held by Ashley's family which is when the engagement is to be announced, Scarlett sees a guest who is a stranger to her, none other than Rhett Butler. I love the passage that describes the first time she sees him and I will share parts of it here:
"....her eyes fell on a stranger, standing alone in the hall, staring at her in a cool impertinent way that brought her up sharply with a mingled feeling of feminine pleasure that she had attracted a man and an embarrassed sensation that her dress was too low in the bosom. He looked quite old, at least thirty-five. ......When her eye caught his, he smiled, showing animal-white teeth below a close-clipped black mustache. He was dark of face, swarthy as a pirate, and his eyes were as bold and black as any pirate's....There was a cool recklessness in his face and a cynical humor in his mouth as he smiled at her, and Scarlett caught her breath..."
Whew, to me, I have never been able to picture Clark Gable as Rhett Butler. After the above passage, can you imagine Clark as Rhett? Although I do admit Clark did a great job in the movie.
Later on, at this same party, Scarlett follows Ashley in the library and confesses her love to him. Ashley says he is still going to marry Melanie. Rhett overhears the conversation but does not make himself visible until after Ashley leaves Scarlett. This is when Scarlett and Rhett speaks to each other for the first time, and sparks really fly!
Things happen very quickly in chapters 7-9. Scarlett marries Melanie's brother, Charlie Hamilton, out of spite and quickly conceives his child. Just as quickly, along with becoming a mother, she also becomes a widow; because by this time the Civil War has started and almost all of the men (including all her old beaux) she had known have joined up; Charlie dies of sickness before he even sees battle.
Through all this, Scarlett comes across as a person who thinks of herself first. This self-centeredness is part of her personality, but also I think because of her youth; remember she is only 16 when the book starts. Chapter 8, which is also the start of Part Two of the book, has Scarlett (now 17 years old) joining her sister-in-law Melanie to stay in Atlanta. She despises Melanie because she's married to Ashley. I didn't like that Scarlett is constantly belittling Melanie, calling her a "silly goose" and such, because Melanie is truly a nice person and thinks so highly of Scarlett.
As a young widow, Scarlett feels very trapped. Because of the times, she is expected to stay in mourning, wear black for the rest of her life, and can't have any fun such as dancing. Therefore, it is a shock to Atlanta society when Scarlett encounters Rhett again at a fund-raiser for the Cause (the war) and as part of the fundraising, Rhett bids for Scarlett as a dance partner. He tells Scarlett that it is so obvious that she wanted to dance and he doesn't care what other people thinks. Sparks are flying between them again. Thus ends Chapter 9!
Week two of the GWTW read-along is through this week, and covers chapters 10-25. I'll wait until Saturday, or soon after that, to discuss. I may not give away as much of the plot then; I did a lot of that here, mainly to try to evoke a feel of what this book is like and is all about.
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