Thoughtful Thursday - beauty

Ok, this time it will be a real can of worms. Why does beauty matters soooo much in our modern times?  Why did it matter so much for ancient Greeks and Romans? First some quotes:

Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart.  ~Kahlil Gibran


Against Him those women sin who torment their skin with potions, stain their cheeks with rouge and extend the line of their eyes with black coloring.  Doubtless they are dissatisfied with God's plastic skill.  In their own persons they convict and censure the Artificer of all things.  ~Tertullian


That which is striking and beautiful is not always good, but that which is good is always beautiful.  ~Ninon de L'Enclos


It is amazing how complete is the delusion that beauty is goodness.  ~Leo Tolstoy


There is a road from the eye to the heart that does not go through the intellect.  ~Gilbert Keith Chesterton


I'm tired of all this nonsense about beauty being only skin-deep.  That's deep enough.  What do you want - an adorable pancreas?  ~Jean Kerr, The Snake Has All the Lines


Beauty is indeed a good gift of God; but that the good may not think it a great good, God dispenses it even to the wicked.  ~Saint Augustine

Beauty isn't worth thinking about; what's important is your mind.  You don't want a fifty-dollar haircut on a fifty-cent head.  ~Garrison Keillor

Image via Wikipedia - a real beauty of a manuscript

Now my questions: 

• why, in your opinion, beautiful people get better grades, earn better salaries and rise more rapidly to important positions than their plain-looking colleagues (just don't say it is not the truth because it is) ?
• why some people delude themselves and their children that you can be ugly and still succeed easily if only you are clever/good/intelligent/hard-working/pious enough etc...?
• what should an ugly person do in a society where good looks are so coveted that people practically worship them as they can open almost every door?

• is plastic surgery a solution for ugly ducklings? 

Wishful Wendnesday 28 July

The meme is hosted by Brooke Bluestocking Guide.

My wish today concerns a whodunnit entitled "The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie" by Alan Bradley.

Cover via Amazon

Synopsis (from the publisher):

It is the summer of 1950—and a series of inexplicable events has struck Buckshaw, the decaying English mansion that Flavia’s family calls home. A dead bird is found on the doorstep, a postage stamp bizarrely pinned to its beak. Hours later, Flavia finds a man lying in the cucumber patch and watches him as he takes his dying breath. For Flavia, who is both appalled and delighted, life begins in earnest when murder comes to Buckshaw. “I wish I could say I was afraid, but I wasn’t. Quite the contrary. This was by far the most interesting thing that had ever happened to me in my entire life.”

To Flavia the investigation is the stuff of science: full of possibilities, contradictions, and connections. Soon her father, a man raising his three daughters alone, is seized, accused of murder. And in a police cell, during a violent thunderstorm, Colonel de Luce tells his daughter an astounding story—of a schoolboy friendship turned ugly, of a priceless object that vanished in a bizarre and brazen act of thievery, of a Latin teacher who flung himself to his death from the school’s tower thirty years before. Now Flavia is armed with more than enough knowledge to tie two distant deaths together, to examine new suspects, and begin a search that will lead her all the way to the King of England himself. Of this much the girl is sure: her father is innocent of murder—but protecting her and her sisters from something even worse.

Review: Cousin Kate by Georgette Heyer.

Synopsis:

Cover of Cousin Kate

The plot of this book seems to be a cross between Mansfield Park and Pride and Prejudice by J. Austen with a dash of “Vanity Fair” by William Makepeace Thackeray.

Kate Malvern, the main heroine, is a daughter of a British officer, Major Malvern. She was born and brought up on the Iberian Peninsula during Napoleonic wars, 'following the drum'. At the beginning of the novel she finds herself in dire straits although not for the first time in her life. Her mother died when she was only twelve, her father was a victim of an accident not long ago and, being a gamester, he left his daughter a few trinkets and significantly more debts. After his death Kate was obliged to earn her living – not an easy task for a Regency period woman without any training. She was lucky to find a place as a governess but her luck didn’t hold too long - after the brother of her employer had proposed marriage and met with a refusal, she was fired. Now she is looking for a new ‘situation’ staying meanwhile with her former nurse, Sarah, now Mrs Nidd, whose husband owns a small inn in London.

Kate doesn’t lack brains, she is quite pretty and enterprising to boot, but these factors are actually hindrances in the career of a governess – rich families are afraid of pretty scheming women who might try to ensnare any eligible bachelor among their lot. Sarah, seeing that her beloved Miss Kate becomes quite desperate and wants to find any job, even as an ‘abigail’ (i.e. maid), decides to take matters into her able hands and write to the closest living relative of late Major Malvern – his younger sister, Minevra Broome of Staplewood. The letter, written without the knowledge of ambitious Kate who had opposed such a plan, achieved fantastic effects. Short afterwards Lady Broome presented herself personally in London, talked with her niece and proud Sarah, expressing the kindest concern when it came to the fate of her late brother’s only child, and invited Kate to Staplewood for the summer. It was an offer no impoverished orphan could refuse. What’s more, Minerva almost immediately started showering Kate with presents, repeating that she had always wanted to have a daughter. Soon enough her niece feels very much indebted to her – being a honourable girl she is determined to show her gratitude when the occasion demands it. However, she can’t even guess what she might be asked to do. After all her aunt, being such a rich lady, can’t possibly want anything from a penniless orphaned girl of twenty-four?

Staplewood is a great manor with a splendid park but the family which lives there is not especially happy. Sir Timothy Broome, the husband of Minevra, is a kind gentleman but rather feeble and their only son, Torquil, a very handsome boy of nineteen, is prone to sudden swings in mood and difficult to manage. Soon enough Kate meets another cousin, Philip Broome, who doesn’t like her aunt and seems to think ill of Kate too. Torquil enjoys her company very much but in a peculiar manner – once he even tries to strangle her for ‘fun’. Overall Kate feels rather let down. Although she doesn’t have to worry where to find money for food and shelter she lacks company and entertainment. There’s no busy social life going on in Staplewood – no dances or parties, even family dinners are a bit too formal. In the meantime Kate's aunt very indirectly tries to sound her niece out: what would she say if anybody offered her the undeniably lucrative 'position' of the future Lady Broome…the reason of Minerva's uncommon generosity is going to surprise Kate in a very negative way.

What I liked:

Certainly the main heroine was likeable enough as she was given plenty of Lizzie Bennett’s traits (from “Pride and Prejudice”). The narration was well-paced so I found myself riveted to the book very soon; in fact I finished it in one day! Apart from that the sense of period is superb indeed, especially when it comes to the language of lower classes. Mr. Nidd Senior is a treat every time he opens his mouth, Sarah too!

What I didn’t like:

Don’t expect the plot to surprise you - this book does sound a bit schematic, especially if you read any other Heyer romances. I also found it strange that after a week of very casual acquaintance any sensible man might feel obliged to propose to a girl…especially a dowryless girl. I am not especially fond of such rapturously romantic gentlemen but perhaps, being a woman who lives in the twenty-first century, I am somewhat spoiled.

The final verdict:

A nice, light, entertaining novel but nothing more – I can recommend it to any Austen fan, especially as a summer reading. I am curious about other books of this author - are they are similar?

Silent Saturday - say it with pictures!

Thoughtful Thursday - children's books

"There are some themes, some subjects, too large for adult fiction; they can only be dealt with adequately in a children's book." — Philip Pullman

 Do children's books and Young Adults books nowadays -all these fantasy fairy tales, novels and poetry- are, in your opinion, better or worse than they used to be? Why so many adults admit to reading them? Does it mean the children's literature has got better or the adults have become more childish, immature? Can children's books be deep and thoughtful? Can adults actually benefit from reading kids' lit? Is reading YA books really "as easy as eating popcorn" (according to one lit professor)?

And finally: do adults who find that their recreational reading requirements are in the main met by children's books really miss a lot?

Wishful Wendnesday 21 July

The meme is hosted by Brooke Bluestocking Guide.

Today my wish will be rather science than fiction. I would like to read "Brilliant: The Evolution of Artificial Light" by Jane Brox.

"In Brilliant: The Evolution of Artificial Light, Jane Brox illuminates the fascinating and forgotten history of man-made light, tracing its development through centuries of sputtering, smoking candles, to the gradual refinement of gas and, finally, electric light. Brox captures the sense of wonder that permeated the Chicago World's Fair as electric light lit up the "White City," and shows how quickly we became reliant on electric light, recounting the trepidation and anxiety that accompanied the mandatory blackouts of World War II and the power outages that have plagued New York City's power grid since the 1960s. Brox also addresses the unexpected consequences of light pollution, detailing the struggles of astronomers who are no longer able to see stars, and migrating birds that confusedly circle lit buildings at night until they die from exhaustion. Brilliant is an eloquent account of how a luxury so quickly became a necessity, and permanently changed human history. --Lynette Mong"

Review: „Incarceron” by Catherine Fisher

Review: „Incarceron” by Catherine Fisher

Synopsis

The book is the first part of a dilogy, set in a fantasy kingdom which used to be ruled by the Havaarna Dynasty. One of the rulers, king Endor, after a period known as the Years of Rage (a rebellion? a war?) had decided to improve his country by stopping the Time. No change, no stress for the monarch. In practice it meant imprisoning people in the artificial Era (by the look of it 17th century) by a set of rules called the Protocol although the country’s technology seemed to be far more advanced.  The orders of the king had forced people to hide all the sophisticated technology behind the Era décor, exactly as in a theatre. To make everybody perfectly happy the king also ordered a group of scientists, called Sapienti, to create an ultimate prison. The Sapienti came up with the idea of Incarceron, which was supposed to be not only a prison but also a kind and considerate guardian for the inmates, with health care, good working and living condition, the right entertainment etc. (yeah, sure, whatever). Seventy Sapienti agreed to inhabit the prison and supervise the criminals dumped there -they did it out of free will because they thought it would be a thrilling Experiment. More or less half of the kingdom's population, a fallout of the Years of Rage, have been sentenced to go to the prison pernamently. Incarceron was also given a life and personality of its own, becoming a kind of independent AI creation. It was sealed permanently then. Outside it has been attended to by a Warden of Incarceron, one of the most powerful people in the country. So far only one human has been rumoured to escape Incarceron and his name or nickname was Sapphique. Nobody knew how he had done it and whether it was true at all.

The narration shows the reader two points of view: one of a prisoner, called Finn, who believes he came to Incarceron from the outside, and the second of the current Warden’s daughter, called Claudia, who is being prepared to get married and become the next Queen.

Through Finn’s eyes we see that the prison is closer to hell than to the idealistic notions of the Sapienti who had created it. The place is horribly unpleasant, some inmates fight each other, forming pillaging bands; the life of prisoners is rather short as they often fall ill and nobody cures them. The prison, although efficient and sustainable, plays its wicked games with the prisoners too. It seems nobody controlls it anymore. In some cells, called Wombs of Incarceron, new inmates and strange animals are grown from recycled dead matter. Finn is believed by one of the local Sapienti, Gildas, to be cell-born and thus special. Gildas hopes Finn might even help him escape because the boy gets strange visions having a kind of epileptic fits from time to time. Finn’s oathbrother, Keiro, considers the whole escape a waste of time, though; like most of inmates he doesn’t believe in any outside world. It all changes when Finn finds a strange crystal object with a crowned eagle inside – the same symbol he has tattooed on his wrist. Perhaps his visions are something more than just figmentsof  imagination after all?

Following the chapters of Claudia we learn that the last Havaarna king died leaving his young son under the tender care of a step-mother, who (no surprises here) had also a child of her own, a boy called Caspar. Young prince Giles used to be betrothed to Claudia but when he was fifteen he had a riding accident and died. Now Caspar, the earl of Steen, is the heir to the throne. His mother, queen Sia, rules the kingdom till he reaches 18 and can be crowned. Claudia is going to marry Caspar very soon and be the future queen. Her father, John Arlex, the Warden of Incarceron, has been preparing her for that role since her birth. No expense was spared to turn Claudia into a perfect politician – intelligent, ruthless, pragmatic and cunning. Her tutor, Jared Sapient, imparted knowledge in such a way that Claudia enjoyed learning and soon became a real jewel among teenagers. However, she is not happy – although she lives in luxury her father treats her like an object, a tool to fulfil his ambition, and she starts resenting it more and more. Her fiance, Caspar, has always been a spoiled brat; at the age of seventeen he is already a dim-witted, brutish, drinking philanderer, who couldn’t even finish his education (well, why bother?). Little wonder Claudia is less than eager to marry him. She starts to investigate the accident of prince Giles and finds out that the heir apparent might be alive after all. Where could he be hidden, though? Wouldn’t a prison be an excellent place? Especially one you simply have no hope to escape?

What I liked:

The story is intricate but very well-told, with dynamic pace of narration and surprising twists now and then. I loved the fact that the two  worlds  presented - the prison and the kingdom – were actually so much alike. The imaginative scale of the authoress made reading this book a Rollercoaster adventure. The descriptions really worked for me - this book is an excellent movie material. What’s more, I found it very realistic that each of the characters had their dark side so close to the surface - Claudia is not just a young high-born girl and Finn is more complex than just a brutal prisoner. As they have to act, fight and lie to survive they change with the story. The ending is simply incredible - I haven't seen it coming for sure. All in all a very good read, not only for children.

What I didn’t like:

I don't want to pick holes in the plot as I haven't read the second part yet. Just let me tell you I didn't like the eyes of the Warden of Incarceron. Why? They changed colour through the book! Very disconcerting!

Page 70 (paperback edition) 'Crystal eagle, dark swan' part 6 :”His black eyes watched her closely”.
Page 382 'The Lost Prince' part 29 :”His grey eyes held hers and the light in them was keen and sharp”.

Perhaps in the second part we will be given a reason for the change. If not, the editor should be given a slap.

The final verdict:

I loved this book and I can't wait to get the second part!! Highly recommended!