A Bit More

I read a bit more of Enchanted this afternoon. It's still an interesting story, though not as captivating as the WWII portion was. After I'd done some reading I hopped onto YouTube to see if there were any clips of Sabrina, since that's the section I'd just finished, and there are.



A couple of things jumped out at me. It's odd to read about how Hepburn and Bogart were getting along... and he spits... and the first clip I pulled up was the two of them dancing and him almost proposing to her. What a strange thing it must be to be an actor in a situation like this, and work with someone that despises you, yet have to pretend to be in love with him. My other thought was surprise at what she'd said about her voice:

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"When I first came here, I had no voice at all. It was terribly monotonous, shrill and inflexible -- all of which it still is, only a little less so." (page 107)

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I think that her assessment of her voice is more than a little harsh. But that seems to be very like her: always inclined to downplay her successes. I wonder if this is a product of the upbringing described on page 11:

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A Victorian baroness to her fingertips, [Audrey's mother]  was now more than ever restrained, having lost the spontaneity and gaiety of her youth. She was a serious mother who always had her daughter's best interests at heart, but the warmth in that heart was cooled by her conviction that dignity forestalled cuddling, and that anything more effusive than a perfunctory good-night kiss was indecorus.

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In any case, this suspicion of her own achievement seems to have served Audrey very well.

OK, I Cheated

I peeked ahead, but I did it online. Jo does, indeed, get married. But not to Laurie.


And now, on to the thinking part.


Summaries

Chapter 30: May Chester has revenge on Amy for Jo's pranks when they were out visiting. Jo talks Laurie and his boys into rescuing Amy from the out-of-the-way table she'd been sent to at the fair. Amy holds up with amazing grace. Jo learns that Amy, not herself, will be going to France with Aunt March. Jo works hard, and with success, at not spoiling Amy's good fortune with her regrets.

Chapter 31: Amy writes home to the family. She tells of the various sights she's seen and the art she has enjoyed. She also mentions that she thinks Fred Vaughn, of the English family at Laurie's picnic, may ask her to marry him. She says that if he does she intends to accept, though she is frank about not really loving him.

Chapter 32: Mother is worried about Beth, who is unhappy about something. Jo discovers that Laurie loves her and she runs away from it.


Ponderings:

I cannot help but disagree with Mother's advice to Jo! Mother says,

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"I don't think you are suited to one another. As friends you are very happy, and your frequent quarrels soon blow over, but I fear you would both rebel if you were mated for life. You are too much alike and too fond of freedom, not to mention hot tempers and strong wills, to get on happily together, in a relation which needs infinite patience and forbearance, as well as love." (Page 321)

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It is the first time that I have truly disagreed with what Mother had to say when advising her girls. Obviously, the way that Jo feels, nothing will happen in the immediate future, but I can't help but think that Mother underestimates the way that people can learn to get along with each other. It seems to me that the first necessary ingredient for a good marriage is a good friendship, and Jo and Laurie already have that. Were Jo to be inclined to accept his offer I think they could have done a good job of it.


I did a little math to try to figure out how old Amy is at this point. I think that 17 is the oldest that she could possibly be, and it is quite possible that she is only 16. The description of the girls in chapter 1 says that Meg is 16, Jo 15, and does not give an exact age for Beth or Amy. Still, the oldest that Amy would be is 13. She would have turned 14 sometime in the year that we witnessed in part one, and then had three years between part one and part two. So the oldest she could possibly is 17.

Meg was also 17 when John proposed to her, and Amy now is considering if Fred Vaughn will ask her to marry him, and says she intends to accept if he does. This is interesting to me. I have long thought that we, as a society, keep our children children for longer than may be good for them. In Meg's case, there was some talk of her being young yet when John asked her, but no scandal. In fact, the thing that folks talked about the most was his lack of money. So she was not extraordinarily young to be engaged. Now, Amy, at the same age or slightly younger, is also considering marriage. The thing that is interesting to me about this is that the concern here is also money, not age. Further, Meg and Jo dropped out of school (though not education) and began working relatively young. They had real responsibility, and it gave them real maturity. There's this from the beginning of the book:

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"When Mr. March lost his property in trying to help an unfortunate friend, the two oldest girls begged to be allowed to do something toward their own support, at least. Believing that they could not begin too early to cultivate energy, industry, and independence, their parents consented, and both fell to work with the hearty good will which in spite of all obstacles is sure to succeed at last. (Page 43)

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Mother has clearly put in some effort early on to teach the value of work, and the girls are good workers. But she drove home the lesson in chapter 11 with the week of "vacation," which the girls did not enjoy at all:

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"Mother, did you go away and let everything be, just to see how we'd get on?" cried Meg, who had had suspicions all day.

"Yes, I wanted you to see how the comfort of all depends on each doing her share faithfully. While Hannah and I did your work, you got on pretty well, though I don't think you were very happy or amiable; so I thought, as a little lesson, I would show you what happens when everyone thinks only of herself. Don't you feel that it is a pleasure to help one another, to have daily duties which make leisure sweet when it comes, and to bear and forbear, that home may be comfortable and lovely to us all? ... Work is wholesome, and there is plenty for everyone; it keeps us from ennui and mischief, is good for health and spirits, and gives us a sense of power and independence better than money or fashion. ... Have regular hours for work and play, make each day both useful and pleasant, and prove that you understand the worth of time by employing it well. Then youth will be delightful, old age will bring few regrets, and life become a beautiful success, in spite of poverty."

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I think that you begin to see the fruits of Mr. and Mrs. March's teachings here in the second half of the book when the March girls are young, yet sensible and responsible. Ready for the challenges that their lives bring them. Responsibility, not age, seems to be the thing that creates an adult. When I look around the ward and consider the youth who seem the most "grown up" it is inevitably the ones who have real responsibilities in their homes. You can observe the opposite on any college campus: the most irresponsible are very often the ones who have parents who pick up the whole tab for the education, who make it all too easy. It makes me think that our society does wrong to its teens in expecting them to act like children, without any true responsibility, for as long as possible, rather than stepping up and acting like the young Men and young Women they are. Many things are different now than they were in the Civil War Era, and so our approach to teaching responsibility must be somewhat different than the March family's. But I do think that taking a leaf from their book and requiring work from children, from the time they are old enough to toddle around, is a very good idea.

Tough Times

My, but the March family has been having a tough time in these chapters! Everyone seems to be hitting a lot of trials more or less all at once.

Characters:

Mr. Davis: Amy's teacher. He does his best to teach and keep order, but isn't terribly gifted at it. He makes Amy dispose of her limes & then slaps her hand.

Katy Brown, Mary Kingsley: part of Amy's "set" at school.

Jenny Snow: a girl at school who tortured Amy about her "limeless state" tries to make nice when she's got them, and then turns her in when she's not favored with one.

Annie , Bellem & Sallie Moffat: Well-to-do girls that Meg visits for 2 weeks.

Mr & Mrs Moffat, Clara, Major Lincoln, Hortense, Ned, Fisher: "Extras" in the Moffat party.


Vocabulary:

Because there were a few words I needed to look up.

Dem·oi·selle: A young woman. [French, damsel, from Old French dameisele; see damsel.]

Benignanat: 1. kind, esp. to inferiors; gracious: a benignant sovereign. 2. exerting a good influence; beneficial: the benignant authority of the new president.

Apollyon: destroying angel of the bottomless pit (a name sometimes given to the Devil), from Gk. translation of Heb. Abaddon (q.v.), prp. of apollyein "to destroy utterly," from apo- "from, away from" + olluein "to destroy."

Summaries:

Chapter 7: Amy talks Meg into giving her a quarter for some pickled limes, which she takes to school in defiance of the rule. Mr. Davis finds her out, confiscates the limes, and slaps her hand several times before having her stand on the platform until recess. Mrs. March withdraws Amy from school over the matter, promising to consult with Father about where to put her next. Until then, Amy will study at home with Beth.

Chapter 8: Jo & Amy quarrel, it ends poorly when Amy burns the book that Jo has been writing. Amy tries to apologize, but Jo refuses to accept. When Amy follows Jo & Laurie skating she falls through rotten ice that Jo failed to warn her about. Marmee and Jo have a long and productive talk about how to master anger.

Chapter 9: Meg spends two weeks with the Moffat girls, with mixed results. While she does have some genuinely good times, the Moffats are much more wealthy and have very different priorities. This places Meg in an awkward position more than once. Further, she tears her dress, so the Moffats dress her up like a fashion plate or a doll & she indulges in champagne, flirting, and other minor faults. She is most disturbed by the assumption that Marmee plans to see her married to Laurie.

Ponderings:

The first thing is a minor one. My edition has a few footnotes, and in chapter 7 when the Irish children receive Amy's precious limes the footnotes are quick to point out an Alcott prejudice. The notes don't give any justification for their slander by way of excerpts from notes, letters or the like, and I'm not sure that I see the situation the same way the book's editor did: It seems to me that middle-class school girls and poor street urchins would be likely foes, whatever the origins of the urchins.

On to the book itself.

I am completely impressed with Marmee's Mothering. She is gentle, protective, nurturing. She is able to praise and rebuke with equal tenderness and effectiveness. Her children know what good behavior is, and (with the exception of Jo listening to her demons about the ice, which she thoroughly repented of) and they perform as expected. It makes me wish that I could read a parenting book written by Marmee! Marmee deals with the limes incident in a way that is both sympathetic and just. She urges Jo toward forgiveness, and then helps her find hope again when Jo learns just how serious a fault a quick temper is. (No wonder the Lord tells us we should not be angry! Unintended consequences of angry actions cause all sorts of real-life heartache.) And she is right there and ready to help Meg sort out the tangle she finds herself in at the Moffat place. Further, Meg was well enough prepared to be able to handle herself in this difficult situation. One thing that is surprising is to hear that Mrs. March has a temper like Jo's. I think the way that Father helps her overcome it is beautiful. It's such a consciously thoughtful, Christ-like way of parenting.

Some of my favorite bits of Marmee wisdom from our chapters:

"I should not have chosen that way of mending a fault," replied her mother, "but I'm not sure that it won't do you more good than a milder method. You are getting to be rather conceited, my dear, and it is quite time you set about correcting it. [Way to have her take responsibility both for the fault and for the correction!] You have a good many little gifts and virtues, but there is no need of parading them, for conceit spoils the finest genius. There is not much danger that real talent or goodness will be overlooked for long; even if it is, the consciousness of possessing and using it well should satisfy one, and the great charm of all power is modesty." -Chapter 7, page 74.

"My dear, don't let the sun go down on your anger; forgive each other, help each other, and begin again tomorrow." -Chapter 8, page 80

"Watch and pray, dear, never get tired of trying, and never think it is impossible to conquer your fault." -Chapter 8, page 82

"I've learned to check the hasty words that rise to my lips, and when I feel that they mean to break out against my will, I just go away a minute, and give myself a little shake for being so weak and wicked." -Chapter 8, page 83

"I gave my best to the country I love, and kept my tears till he was gone. Why should I complain, when we both have merely done our duty and will surely be the happier for it in the end? If I don't seem to need help, it is because I have a better friend, even than Father, to comfort and sustain me. My child, the troubles and temptations of you life are beginning and may be many, but you can overcome and outlive them all if you learn to feel the strength and tenderness of your Heavenly Father as you do that of your earthly one. The more you love and trust Him, the nearer you will feel to Him, and the less you will depend on human power and wisdom. His love and care never tire or change, can never be taken from you, but may become the source of lifelong peace, happiness, and strength. Believe this heartily, and go to God with all your little cares, and hopes, and sins, and sorrows, as freely and confidingly as you come to your mother." -Chapter 8, page 85.

"I was very unwise to let you go among people of whom I know so little -- kind, I dare say, but worldly, ill bred, and full of these vulgar ideas about young people. I am more sorry than I can express for the mischief this visit may have done you, Meg." -Chapter 9, page 98. [I love that she has the strength to apologize to her children. Admitting your faults to those who are "under" you is a very difficult thing to do.]

"I want my daughters to be beautiful, accomplished, and good; to be admired, loved, and respected; to have a happy youth, to be well and wisely married, and to lead useful, pleasant lives, with as little care and sorrow to try them as God sees fit to send. To be loved and chosen by a good man is the best and sweetest thing which can happen to a woman, and I sincerely hope my girls may know this beautiful experience. It is natural to think of it, Meg, right to hope and wait for it, and wise to prepare for it, so that when the happy time comes, you may feel ready for the duties and worthy of the joy. My dear girls, I am ambitious for you, but not to have you make a dash in the world -- marry rich men merely because they are rich, or have splendid houses, which are not homes because love is wanting. Money is a needful and precious thing -- and, when well used, a noble thing -- but I never want you to think it is the first or only prize to strive for. I'd rather see you poor men's wives, if you were happy, beloved, contented, than queens on thrones, without self-respect and peace." -Chapter 9, page 100.

A Lot to Talk About: the Introduction

So, I'm munching my way through the introduction to our new Music book, and there's a lot to talk about here! Mr. Levitin starts with his own story - or rather, with the story of the book, how he came to mix science and music. Sounds like he's done some fascinating things in his time. But after he tells a little about his background, he begins drawing you into his vision. He points out the view that drew him in so compellingly that he wrote a book about it. And it is a fascinating view.

Americans spend more money on music than on sex or prescription drugs. Given this voracious consumption, I would say that most Americans qualify as expert music listeners. We have the cognitive capacity to detect wrong notes, to find music we enjoy, and to tap our feet in time with the music - an activity that involves a process of meter extraction so complected that most computers cannot do it. Why do we listen to music, and why are we willing to spend so much money on music listening? Two concert tickets can easily cost as much as a week's food allowance for a family of four, and one CD costs about the same as a work shirt, eight loaves of bread, or basic phone service for a month. (Page 7)

First of all, I find the fact that computers have such a hard time finding the beat to be fascinating! It's such an intuitive, second nature thing for me, I'd never really thought about it as a complected thing. I teach 5 year olds how to create their own beat in our piano lessons. They usually come to me more than able to bop along with the beat in our listening exercises. When I teach them about keeping a beat we talk about simple things - ticking clocks, heartbeats, that sort of thing. I've yet to come across a child who didn't pick it up quickly, although some do struggle more than others to internalize the ability to keep it consistently even and steady.

Andy and I haven't done so much concert attending lately - with regret, we've decided it's not in the budget right now. But some of our best, most memorable dates have been to either concerts, or music and dance performances such as Lord of the Dance. We counted the cost of tickets to see Kodo well spent when they came to town while we were at Purdue when we were poor college students. I'd not thought previously about the relative cost of music. Interesting.


Mr. Levitin goes on:

To ask questions about a basic, and omnipresent human ability is to implicitly ask questions about evolution. (page 7)

I think I'm going to have to disagree with the author here. I think it much more invites inquiry into the nature of God, as we are his offspring. The page and a half discussion of evolution and the emerging field of evolutionary psychology is simply irrelivant in my eyes. Fortunately it appears he doesn't linger long on the topic too much in the book.


This part I liked:

The power of music to evoke emotions is harnessed by advertising executives, filmmakers, military commanders, and mothers. ... Mothers throughout the world, as far back in time as we can imagine, have used soft singing to soothe their babies to sleep, or to distract them from something that has made him cry. (Page 9)

When so many people are running down Motherhood as an unworthy occupation, too trivial for a modern, educated woman, it pleased me to see Mothers listed in such company. I skipped some of the paragraph in which he talks about how various profession use music to tell us how to feel (because I'm typing one-handed while my baby sleeps on my lap), ending with how Moms use it to calm their children. It's probably a little off his topic, but I think Moms & other caregivers use it for much more than soothing an upset child. Music is used for learning (A, B, C, D.... Fifty nifty United States from thirteen original colonies...) and playing games (Ring around the rosie...) and providing motivation for work (say, cleaning a bathroom to William Tell or Bon Jovi) to name a few.

Your brain on music is a way to understand the deepest mysteries of human nature. That is why I wrote this book. (Page 11-12)

Big goal! I'm excited to see how he does!