February 3, 2006
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Special Flavours
I’ve enjoyed reading Shadows On the Rock by Willa Cather during my half hour on the elliptical walker. There is a nice shelf for a book, and the head bobbing doesn’t bother me. Here’s a lovely excerpt from this morning’s read. Let me set it up. Cecile is a 12 year old girl who lives and helps her father, an apothecary. She has run the household, since her mother died. She spent two nights down the river, away from home for the first time. The conditions were rustic, the bed she shared with four other girls was dirty (filthy) and she had a fit of homesickness. She just returned home and is eager to prepare dinner for her father. The “dogs cooked with blueberries” refers to a dish the native Indians had cooked for one of Cecile’s friends. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
She put on her apron and made a survey of the supplies in the cellar and kitchen. As she began handling her own things again, it all seemed a little different,–as if she had grown at least two years older in the two nights she had been away. She did not feel like a little girl, doing what she had been taught to do. She was accustomed to think that she did all these things so carefully to please her father, and to carry out her mother’s wishes. Now she realized that she did them for herself, quite as much. Dogs cooked with blueberries–poor Madame Harnois’ dishes were not much better! These coppers, big and little, these brooms and clouts and brushes, were tools; and with them one made, not shoes or cabinet-work, but life itself. One made a climate within a climate; one made the days,–the complexion, the special flavour, the special happiness of each day as it passed; one made life.
Comments (4)
Gee…Emma just finished this book this week.
She did not share anything like this with me. Perhaps this kind of book does not ‘speak to her’ at her age.
Interesting.
It sounds delightful!
Donna, did she read it for class? Since it was unknown to me, I thought it was obscure. I loved the French phrases. My high school French comes in handy once every 5 years!! The plot didn’t go ANYWHERE. I read it more for the lyrical writing than anything. I enjoyed it, but wouldn’t re-read it, except for a few sections I’ve written down.
Anna, would you like the book? I’ll bring it to the retreat if you would. I’m looking for someone to give it to. If you aren’t interested that’s fine too.
I had Emma read it since it was written by Willa Cather and because it fit into her timeline. I don’t remember where….but I have seen this book recommended over the years.
It just fit. She is now reading Ivanhoe and finds it rather…difficult. Not the language but the descriptions.
She is reading this book with a Smarr guide. The vocab. is trying!