Infinity Dreams

Happy Belated St. Patrick's Day everyone!

(Did you wear green? Did you get pinched? How do you observe the holiday?)

I have been nominated by Fawnabelle Baggins over at 

http://imgeekynerdyandproudofit.blogspot.com/

For the

(^^^Sounds real official, doesn't it?)

Thanks Fawn!

To be an Infinity Dreams Award Participant, you must observe the following guidelines:

• Use the Infinity Dreams Award picture
• Thank the blogger who tagged you
• Tell us 11 facts about yourself
• Answer the 11 questions
• Tag 11 bloggers (I'm gonna bend this one...they're guidelines, not rules after all...I don't think I know 11 active bloggers)
• Give 11 questions

11 Facts:

1. I have 4 brothers and 5 sisters (and we all share 1 mom and 1 dad)

2. I've worked as a Registered Nurse for almost four years.

3. I've been to Disneyland and Disneyworld and I believe Disneyland is the superior park.

4. My voting affiliation is American Independent. I have confidence in the integrity of the people I vote for and unfortunately they never win.

5. I can't drive on the freeway because it scares me

6. My favorite color is navy blue, though I also like dark purple.

7. I've been to Canada, Australia (Sydney, Melborne and Tasmania), and Mexico. Though I haven't toured extensively. I'd like to someday work as a travel nurse in Africa or South America. 

8. I love corgi's and german shepherds. They're my favorite type of dogs.

9. Today I made my own diy deodorant and toothpaste for the first time :D

10. Lizard People Are Real

11. I am also a person

11 Questions:

1: Favorite dessert?

Cream Puffs 

Recipe (Taken from the good housekeeping illustrated cookbook) :

The first thing I do is make vanilla or chocolate pudding, then I put it in the fridge to chill.

Then take

• 1/2 cup butter or margarine 
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 eggs

Step 1: Grease 2 large cookie sheets (I usually skip this step). Then prepare the paste: in a 2 quart saucepan over medium heat, heat the butter, water, and salt until the butter mixture boils. Then remove from heat

Step 2: Add flour all at once. With wooden spoon (Although I have often used a metal spoon...for shame!) vigorously stir until mixture forms a ball and leaves side of pan. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Step 3: Add eggs to the flour mixture, one at a time, beating well after each addition, until smooth (I use a machine mixer to expedite this process). Cool mixture slightly.  

Step 4: Using a large spoon and rubber spatula, drop batter into cookie sheets in 12 large mounds, 3 inches apart, swirling top of each (alternatively, I often utilize muffin tins and drop the batter in two dollops: A larger one on the base, with an indentation or impression I make with fingers or a spoon. A smaller one on top, which I form into a little wisp) . Bake 50 minutes (or until top of puff appears golden brown)

Step 5: Remove from oven: cut slit in side of each puff. Return to oven: bake another 10 minutes (I skip this  step...I just take the puffs out when they look done). Turn off oven; dry puffs in oven 10 minutes (I usually let them dry on the counter). Cool. Prepare filling: cover and chill. 

Step 6: When puffs are  cool, slice top of each puff. there should be a cavity. If there is not, or if the cavity is too small, take a spoon and hollow out the inside a bit.Then fill each shell with chilled Vanilla pastry Cream (I use the vanilla or chocolate pudding). And replace the top half of the pastry. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar (if desired) and viola!

(Nom Nom Nom!)

2. Favorite homecooked meal? 

Inside out ravioli. It's my grandma Viola's recipe, but I can't find her recipe book right now :(

3. Sun or rain?

I love rain. I love the smell, I love the sound, I love it when the clouds are overcast and the color of the world is soft. Everything seems so clean and peaceful. (Of course, I live in the desert so that may color my bias).

4. Cupcakes or cookies? 

Cookies, I like cupcakes but I know how to make cookies better and with more variety.

5. Favorite movie and/or musical? 

I've been having a hankering for Muppet Treasure Island recently, which is sad I cuz I don't have it on DVD and we don't have any VHS machines anymore :(((

I also really love Les Miserables, but I listen to the music more than I watch it. 

6. Favorite song? The Willow Maid by Erutan. (Honestly, all of her music is so beautiful...)

Here are some links to her stuff:

http://www.erutanmusic.com/

https://play.spotify.com/artist/4eiYHJLlxeKQXAw0UDoXJl

7: Flats or heels? 

Flats (Heels look pretty on some people, I don't like them on me though and I also don't think they are comfortable).

8: White or black?

Black 

9: Favorite book? 

This is a hard one! Aside from the obvious (The Hobbit, and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls) I think of Watership Down. My favorite character is Hazel-Rah, and I loooooovvvvveeee Frith!

(Suprisingly, it's not about a watership that went down...it's about bunnies! And it's fantastic!)

10: Favorite quote/poem:

"I sit beside the fire and think

of people long ago

and people who will see a world

that I shall never know."

-(From Bilbo's Song)

I have a whole Pinterest Board dedicated to this:

https://www.pinterest.com/mormonhippie/my-garden-of-time-and-space/

11: Favorite TV show? 

I think Once Upon A Time Season 1 is probably my favorite because I watch it over and over again. It's very feel-good and kind of like a chick-flick. Plot-wise,the concept is still fresh. One of my favorite episodes is the one where Emma helps "Hanzel and Gretel" reunite with their dad. 

Tagged: 

Keamy at mrsdorn.tumblr.com or khaosgurl.blogspot.com/

Morfenwin at morfinwin.tumblr.com

Red at redahead.blogspot.com/ or https://www.facebook.com/wanderingredhead1/?fref=nf

Reyofsunshine at rayofsunshine1992.blogspot.com/

Murray at whatiamore.wordpress.com/

(Anyone else who secretly follows my blog is welcome to participate)

Here are your 11 questions:

1. What is your preferred nickname (for yourself)?
2. Who is your favorite LOTR character?
3. Do you have a favorite band? If so, what is their best song?
4. What is your political affiliation? If you don't have one how do you feel about Trump, Clinton, Saunders et all?
5. What do you think of Reylo?
6. Are Lizard People real?
7. How old is/was the oldest person you've ever met and how did you meet them?
8. What kind of flower is your favorite?
9. When was the last time you took a road trip and where did you go?
10. Dolls or action figures?
11. Favorite painting?

Sisterhood of World Bloggers

I've been awarded The Sisterhood of World Bloggers Award by my blogging buddy over at imgeekynerdyandproudofit.blogspot.com Thanks, Fawn!




As part of this, I'll answer the questions she gave me, and then nominate other blogs with my own questions.

What is your favorite fandom?

As far as fandom community, probably The Lord of the Rings. Every fandom has trolls, but for the most part people who are into Lord of the Rings aren't elitist, the just want to share the whole experience. It's really nice.

Are you obsessed with that fandom?

Not at the moment. (Star Wars is...still in theaters...)

What is your favorite book and why?

The Hobbit is my favorite book because it introduced me to Tolkien's world and I relate to Bilbo.

What is your favorite hobby?

Reading. It's really the only hobby I've kept since school, unfortunately.

How much time and effort do you put into your hobby?

Quite a bit. Follow my Reading Adventures here: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1952119-ebster-davis

Where would you live in any fictional world and why?

I want to say The Shire. I'd probably live in Brandybuck Hall though (communal dwelling with family etc.).The Brandybucks aren't particularly adventurous, but they live right near the border of The Shire. They have regular dealings with humans and dwarves and everyone else in the four farthings are kind of leery of them because of that...

What is your favorite movie and why?

That kind of changes depending on my interest at the time.

Right now it's probably a tie between Les Miserables (2012), and Austenland. Les Miserables is and intense, passionate and complex about the human condition and our connection to a higher power and morality (it also has really awesome, intense singing in it). Austenland is about what it's like to be in a fandom. (Sometimes it's a really good thing that helps us have fun and connect to other people, and we can sometimes get carried away too much), it makes me laugh every time I watch it!

What is one meal that you think you can eat every day forever?

Right now, I think it's Ortega Burger with Cheese with Sweet Potato Fries (with the powdered sugar on the top). Yummers.

You just won the lottery. What would you buy first?

I'd buy my sister tuition.

If you were a cookie, what kind of cookie would you be?

Macadamia nut, white chocolate, and cranberry cookie.

(Sweet and tart, and crunchy)

Here are my Nominations:

Keamy at mrsdorn.tumblr.com or khaosgurl.blogspot.com/

Morfenwin at morfinwin.tumblr.com

Red at redahead.blogspot.com/ or https://www.facebook.com/wanderingredhead1/?fref=nf

Reyofsunshine at rayofsunshine1992.blogspot.com/

Murray at whatiamore.wordpress.com/


My Questions:

1) What's the last book you read/listened to, and did you like it?
2) Dark or Milk Chocolate?
3) What's the funnest game you've ever played? (It can be tabletop, sport, or digital platform)
4) Do you have a favorite scent (perfume/lotion or natural), if so what is it?
5) What's your birthstone?
6) Which Hogwarts House do you think you'd be in?
7) If you could teleport anywhere in the world where would you go and what would you see/do?
8) What is your least favorite movie?
9) What is the strangest food you've ever eaten?
10) What is your favorite of Padme Amidala's dresses?

Star Wars Doesn't Suck: The Force Awakens

You know how I did a series a while back on how The Hobbit Stinks?

Well, I decided I want to do the same thing for the Star Wars series. With one minor alteration, though:

I'm only going to be talking about the parts of the series that I like

As much as I'd love to talk about how much Star Wars Sucks, I just can't.

You see, within this blog I use Stink (or Suck) to mean that I think something's interesting: It inspires critical thought and imagination, or it helps me connect with other people. My experience with the Star Wars Fandom is that discussions like that are too easily misinterpreted. Instead of a celebration, instead of enjoying something, it becomes about negative feelings and an irrational degree of hatred.

(Today, I choose the light side.)

(If you've been part of the Star Wars Fandom for the past 15 years, you probably have an idea of what I'm talking about:


The Prequels Suck, Jar Jar Binks Sucks, George Lucas Ruined my childhood...)


I don't think a discussion like that would be very fun, and I don't want to feed into that cycle. Suck has dominated the Star Wars discussion for far too long, NO MORE! There's a lot to enjoy about Star Wars, even if you don't love every aspect of the story or the way it was executed...

So without further adieu, here's

Seven Ways "The Force Awakens" Didn't Suck (In no particular order):

1) The Music-

I was not aware John Williams was still doing the score for this franchise until I saw his name in the credits. Honestly, I think a lot of the music in this movie seemed understated compared to the other work he's done. However, I think it was entirely appropriate for the movie.

My favorite song is "The Scavenger". It's the song where we first meet Rey (When she's sliding down that sand dune) and includes a rendition of her character's theme on what sounds like a piano, which makes it even more enchanting and beautiful. I'm not sure how to describe it other than it sounds comfortable and exiting all at the same time.

What a fantastic song to usher us into this adventure!

For Kylo Ren, we only gets little snippets of a theme and they're kind of spread out throughout the movie. At one point, it kind of sounds like a segment of Darth Vader's theme. I'm excited for an expanded/rebranded theme for this character in the future.

2) Sci-Fi

(This more applies to the book version.)

A lot of people in the Star Wars fandom prefer to experience this story as a space-fantasy. No one likes long winded explanations of how some random piece of advanced technology works (Star Trek cough cough)

However I personally really enjoyed the description of Starkiller base. The writers doesn't just ask you to suspend disbelief (Oh, no...another Death Star. Here we go again...) they put an effort into making this big-scary-weapon believable and convincing.

(The whole maintenance-man outlining his understanding of the weapon to the scientist thing was also kinda funny. It made the whole scenario more accessible to me.)

3) Relationships- 

I love how this story still continues to be about family, and that the family doesn't have to be related to each other.

"The supreme happiness of life consists in the conviction that one is loved;

 loved for one's own sake, 

loved in spite of one's self."-Victor Hugo

It doesn't really matter, in the end, whether these people are related. I'm already sold that their connections with each other are legitimate and important.

This is probably the biggest triumph of this movie for me.

4) The Characters

I really think there's too many to go over here, because I think all of them were really good

...so I'll pick three:

• Luke Skywalker

Luke and Obi-Wan are my favorite characters in the franchise, I've always been kind of curious with what might have happened to Luke after The Return of the Jedi. In the Star Wars Extended Universe/Legends, he really seemed to kind of model his life after Obi-Wan so I was curious to see what this story would make of him. 

A lot of people were confused when we finally see Luke. I was really really impressed with what the storytellers did with him: with this teenie-tiny bit of screen time, they've re-established Luke as a relevant and dynamic character. 

Luke may want to be Obi-Wan, but he is totally NOT Obi-Wan. He cannot play it cool when it's NOT COOL! 

(This face has seen some shit)

^^ All this with NIL dialogue and, like, five seconds of screen time. 

Kudos to Mark Hamill on your magnificent FACE!!

(If they mess him up in the next episode, I will be seriously so sad....but more on that later...)

• Rey the Scavenger

Because I want to, I'm gonna do a little compare/contrasty thing with Rey and Luke:

In some ways, Rey is really reminiscent of Luke at the beginning of the Classic trilogy. In other ways, not so much-

Rey and Luke both come from desert planets, they're both dreamers, they're both really talented, they both have a largely optimistic attitude towards life, and they're both compassionate. I'd even go so far as to suggest that their names mean pretty much the same thing (in English, at least).

But as far as temperament, they're a bit different: Luke is argumentative, competitive, and confident. Luke grew up with a family, and he was eager to establish his independence. Rey is a bit more understated by comparison, she's patient, and because she grew up separated from her family, she cares more about belonging than achievement.

I read some reviewers who've said she's a more complex and relatable version of Luke. I really don't see that as the case. However, I do see her characterization and her journey as an excellent example of the heroine's journey

(WARNING: Literary Nerd rant below)

The heroine's journey was developed as a response to Joseph Cambell's "The Heroes Journey" a literary device that explains positive growth and change in people in terms of a quest or mission.

Most notable aspect of the Heroes journey, to me, is the fact that people...even heroes do not embrace change. Most of the time they are compelled to change by some external factor or motivator.

Anyway...

The Heroes Journey explains this change in terms that make sense within a masculine framework...the way men tend to look at life and deal with problems.

The Heroines Journey is very similar, however it focuses on how women might view a situation or conflict.

A big part of Luke's journey was about belonging, but for a whole two movies he didn't see it that way. Luke was always focused on a larger goal.

A big part of Rey's journey is about achieving something (balance to the force) but she has no perspective on that at this point, for her this journey is about finding that belonging.

It's a very similar journey, but two different ways of looking at it.


END RANT.

Rey's personality and her journey do a good job of reflecting what a lot of girls might want out of life.

(Contrary to popular belief, not everyone wants to be a princess)

• Han Solo-

(For Some reason, I really seem to identify with the flawed mentor role)

A two word spoiler about Han from my nephew is what convinced me to see this movie in theaters, instead of waiting until it came out on DVD. I had to know why and I was not disappointed with the explanation.

This movie arguably gives him the most satisfying character arc in the franchise. It rivals Obi-Wan, it even rivals Anakin. Because his journey is a lot more relatable than either of them. His journey isn't so much about redemption as it is about awakening.

Han was never a bad guy but he was, in his younger years, selfish, greedy, skeptical, and out of touch with his spirituality. Throughout the series we get to watch him become more loving, giving, and ultimately selfless (That's more than Obi-Wan Kenobi ever achieved!) We see him embrace his connection to a higher power. 

The awakening we see in this movie isn't in the force-welding members of the population as much as it is in regular people:Han, Finn, Maz, and Lor San...who are discovering their own connection to the universe.

(On a side note, it makes me happy that Rey got him as a mentor. Luke had someone who cared about him achieving his destiny for the greater good, Rey got someone who cared about her as a person.)

5) Jakku-

I have soft spot for desert planets, apparently.  My favorite locations are Niima outpost, the old Star Destroyer, and the interior of Rey's AT-AT/apartment. They have a lot of personality, kind of like my hometown.

6) Evil Inc.

The Force Awakens brought back one of the things I really liked about A New Hope that we kind of loose as the Classic Trilogy progresses: That, for the most part, the Evil in the empire is of a complicit nature.

Like, collectively they're this big, ruthless, sinister organization that will heartlessly wipe out your whole planet without a moments hesitation. As individuals they're kind of petty, segmented into their own little departments and concerned primarily with their own internal affairs.

Evil Inc. in "The Force Awakens" are like the children of those people (and they're, like, really pissed that their parents lost their jobs when the empire fell.) Its' fun to watch the group dynamics between Starkiller base leaders, between the stormptroopers, and it is rewarding to watch FN-2187 break free from the destructive mindset that enslaves his co-workers.

(Even though I do think it's a bit ironic

 that he leaves the order because he doesn't want to kill

 and then ends up killing...his old friends...

(Yeah, I'd probably take it personally too.)

7) Continuity-

Star Wars has always been an engaging and immersive story; one that only becomes more compelling as the saga goes on.

The narrative is really pretty dynamic when you think about it:

When you watch Episode V, you wanna go back and watch Episode IV to kind of see how this new information fits into the narrative.

Every new installment follows in this tradition. Each new episode continues the plot, and also sheds new light on the saga and redefines the context of the story as a whole.

Episode VII is no exception. After watching it, I couldn't help but go back and watch the Classic and the Prequel Trilogies.

("Not from a Jedi")

("It is your destiny")

(I'm amazed at how seamless the integration is. Thematically you almost feel as the grand vision of what Star Wars is about hasn't yet been realized. What exactly is the legacy of Darth Vader?)

Assuming you've watched the previous episodes, the viewers will know Darth Vader was kind of a pawn: He was this immensely powerful guy, but he was kind of being played by both the Jedi and the Sith. (First of all...WHY would Kylo Ren want to be like that?)

In the classic trilogy we see that both the Jedi and the Sith try to lay a similar claim on Luke. By Kylo Ren's actions, we assume this pattern continued on to the next generation.

What grand purpose was Darth Vader meant to achieve? And importantly (in the context of this movie, at least), what could you tell a 13-15 year old kid to make him think that it was a destiny worth achieving? 

It's remarkable that the possible answers to these questions are already scattered throughout in the Star Wars Saga. They've been under our noses for years, and yet I've hardly payed attention to them because they're so vaguely defined. (What is balance to the force, exactly? We haven't gotten a clear answer to that question

...yet.)

What follows here is speculation on my part, based on my own perusal of Star Wars Canon. I'm sharing it here because I'm interested to see how it holds up at the end of next year. I encourage you to share yours (should you be so inclined) in the comments below.

Mormonhippie's Star Wars Theory (**Warning: Here there be spoilers!)

I wouldn't put a simple lust for power beyond Kylo Ren, but I'm inclined to think it's more than just entitlement. It's pretty clear he doesn't actually take pleasure in doing bad stuff, the temptation is actually coming from the light side and he considers it a duty to adhere to this difficult path that he's chosen. 

a) Kylo Ren was brainwashed (very likely, IMHO...judging from Han and Leia's conversation.)

b) Snoke told Benjamin Chewbacca Organa-Solo the truth about how Darth Vader was created: Giving him a screwed-up view of the purpose of his life. 

This is something his parents probably didn't know: The Jedi believed Anakin to be the result of a sort of immaculate conception, later on we see Darth Sidious telling Anakin about "The Tragedy of Darth Plaguis". When I first heard it I just assumed it referred to biologic regeneration...like stem-cell stuff...but actually it's supposed to refer to the synthetic creation of biologic beings.

In the novelized version of Revenge of the Sith, Darth Sidious even takes credit for Anakin's creation via Plaguis' weird force-hack. (That's right: Anakin Skywalker is a Voodo-Frankenstein-Monster). The whole reason Anakin, Luke, Leia and Kylo exist, and the reason they have their affluence with the Force, is because their gene line was specifically created to bring balance to the force?? to serve the Dark Side. 

(^^I guess it all depends on your point of view...)

That's my theory, anyway. What do you think? 

What was your favorite part of The Force Awakens?

What do you think of Reylo?!

I'm gonna be doing a post on each of the Star Wars movies and also on The Clone Wars, because I think it's an integral part of the Star Wars saga, between now and the next time the movie comes out 

(almost two years...yelp!)

A Sicilian Romance

by Ann Radcliffe

Published: 1790

Link: https://librivox.org/a-sicilian-romance-by-ann-radcliffe/

Listening Time: 7 hours 21 minutes


Emilia and Julia are two sisters who live in a remote castle on the island of Sicily, Italy. They are raised by their governess Madam de Menon because their dad already has an older son and doesn't want to give them the time of day. He's off partying in the city with their brother, and their new stepmom, Madame de Vellorno (who is kind of a cougar).

One day Julia and Emilia's dad announces he's coming back and he's bringing a party with him! The girls get really excited because they don't get much of a chance to hang around a lot of people. It kind of feels like Anna in Frozen to me (except they don't sing).

I was totally expecting their brother to be a spoiled jerk but he's not. He's actually really nice and he brought his really cute friend with him! Julia and her brother's bff fall in love and from this point it feels like Julia becomes the primary character in the story. Well, this causes a problem for two reasons: 1) Dad already has another man picked out for Julia, and 2) Stepmom is being all creepy and making unwanted advances towards Julia's intended. Both of them will do almost anything to keep the two apart.

The story has a lot of twists and turns. At one point I stopped reading because it looked like a character (who I liked) died. But when I went back to the story there were even more twists to it. There are a lot of dark secrets in this family but it actually ends pretty happy. :D

I really enjoyed the twists with the girl's governess, she's kind of like the Professor Lupin in the movie version of "The Prisoner of Azkaban": where at first you think he's just a mentor character, but he's also an important link to the past and helps them uncover a bit of a mystery if you pay attention to what s/he's saying.

I think the biggest failing in this book is there isn't as much dialogue as I'd like. I really enjoy how Mrs Radcliff crafts conversation in some of her later stories and there isn't so much of that here. However, it is one of Mrs Radcliffe's first books and she does have A LOT of intrigue and suspense in the story, and I can see how this style developed in her later stories.


This is the end of my Gothic Literary Adventures of 2015.


It's been mostly a solitary adventure. For me it felt like this:

(So I'm glad I got to share some of the #feelings I've been carrying around all year:) )

Next year my reading adventures are to include children's stories: some of which I've read before (Like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), others will be a new experience (The Alice in Wonderland series)

I'll also will continue my book vs. movie adventures:

Next will be "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" (LOVED the book, We'll see how the 1996 version holds up!).

If you like to read, I invite you to friend or follow me on goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1952119-ebster-davis

If you're not familiar with the site, it's kind of like a social network where you update what books you're reading and what you think of them as you reading. I update there regularly, and I think it's a really fun way to connect with other readers and find new books to read. 

Thanks for sharing this adventure with me! I wish you happiness and peace as we enter the holiday season :D

The Castle Wolfenbach

By Eliza Parsons

Published: 1793

Theme: Courage

To be honest, I haven't been able to finish this one yet, I'm just under half-way thorough. It's in the public domain and there is a copy of it on the internet. It's free, but it's not on librivox yet so I have to physically read it and that's been a challenge for me this past year (although I have been getting better).

Here's the story so far:

It's about a young noblewoman named Matilda Weimar, she's on the run with her elderly manservant and gets taken in by generous persons of lower social class than herself (a few of whom happen to live in an old abandoned castle...which I think is really cool!). Matilda explores the castle and discovers some of the mysteries left by the previous inhabitants; the Wolfenbaches. She also get's comfortable enough to divulge some of her own mysterious past to her new friends.

After a while, Matilda's new friends help her find a job as a companion and friend to a noblewoman who is their distant relative. Life is looking like it's getting better and then a figure from Matilda's past shows up and

he's a pretty destructive, creepy guy.  

The impression I had of early-gothic female characters is that they're really wimpy, there's a whole infograph about how much they faint or swoon, but so far I'm not finding that. They're pretty brave, sometimes even more so than their male companions.

Matilda's got her Alfred Pennyworth looking after her, but he's not gonna go to the creepy upstairs of the castle. Matilda does because she's got this little inkling that maaaaybbe the house isn't really haunted. She's really proactive in her life, too. When her guardian starts getting creepy and confusing, she doesn't keep quiet and passive until the situation hits a crisis point, she and Alfred takes action.

I also really like that, when two women get together in this story, they don't talk about boys...they talk about other girls! This story is over 200 years old and it passes the bechdel test. I feel like Catherine Moreland had better female literary role-models than I did...


I'm hoping all of the "Horrid Novels" in the public domain eventually become available as audiobooks. I actually bought a headset and started reading this one aloud, but I don't quite like the sound of my voice so I'm not sure if I'll finish it.

By Ann Radcliffe 

Published: 1797

Link: https://librivox.org/the-italian-by-ann-radcliffe/

Listening Time: 18 hours 47 minutes

Theme: karma

This story is also by Ann Radcliffe and I felt like she did such a good job with the character development for the heroes in "The Mysteries of Udolpho" that I had high expectations for this one. In this one, though, she takes all of her character development and gives it to the villain. The main characters feel like something out of a romantic comedy: their motives are simplistic, they want to be together and some mysterious entity is trying to keep them apart.

Monk Schedoni has a backstory, and tragedy and angst! And he's eeeevvvvilll. Just read the part where he's convincing a certain main characters mom that it's perfectly OK to kill an Innocent girl. (He almost convinced me!). The twist with his character was pretty remarkable, I'd say it's the best thing about this story.

Unfortunately he's the only thing remotely "Goth-y" in this book. Like I mentioned earlier, everyone else feels like they're living in a rom-com and I think that could have worked towards this story's advantage:

• Vivaldi trying to convince Ellena he loves her (even though her face has been covered with a veil the whole time they've ever been around each other)
• Vivaldi trying to convince Ellena's foster-parentals that he's totes not a creepy stalker (even though he follows her home repeatedly)
• Vivaldi being in turn creepily stalked by an unknown person
• Wacky-side characters who just can't get to the point

But I feel she spent so much time trying to make them funny, she forgot to make them likable.

I feel like this is just one of those stories that you read for the villain. Those aren't always bad types of stories, but at the time I read this I felt like the concept is overdone. Yes, we know sometimes people are marginalized and/or misunderstood...NO it's NOT Ok to kill people!!

There is one really powerful point Mrs Radcliffe makes at the end through the lives of Ellena's "real parents" and how they, unknowing that she's their daughter, help or harm her by the types of lives they lead; the good and bad they do affects her (which in turn affects them). What goes around comes around kind of thing.





I'm currently seeing Vivaldi like this:

I don't think I've ever seen anyone who looks exactly like Schedoni, but he'd be like an older Phantom of The Opera, but with a beard.

The Mysteries of Udolpho

It's October 31st :D

Happy Halloween! I hope you have a good day, stay safe and eat lots and lots of candy.

I'm so glad I got this one done, and I'm glad it's my "Halloween Post". There are a few more stories I have to go through, but really this is the best. 

So...Trick or Treat!:

  

by Ann Radcliff

Published: 1790 

Link: https://librivox.org/mysteries-of-udolpho-by-ann-radcliffe/

Listening Time: 32 hours (It's actually a set of four books)

Quote: “A well-informed mind is the best security against the contagion of folly and vice. The vacant mind is ever on the watch for relief, and ready to plunge into error, to escape from the languor of idleness. Store it with ideas, teach it the pleasure of thinking; and the temptations of the world without, will be counteracted by the gratifications derived from the world within.”

Theme: discipline

Of the first-wave gothic stories, this one is my favorite. I can see why Catherine Moreland (and Jane Austen) thought so highly of it. For someone like me, who prefers short stories to long ones, it took a bit of adjustment but it was actually really absorbing. There are these beautiful descriptions of various landscapes and travels. 

It was also really suspenseful: there's a couple of really great mysteries going on. Some of them center around what's happening in the Castle Udolpho and some of them have to do with the St Albert family history. 

But my very favorite part was the characters. When I read the last Harry Potter book, I was really impressed with how Mrs Rowling wrote Harry. Throughout his childhood, Harry has these role models who he looks up to, and kind of idolizes: Hagrid, Sirius, Dumbledore and Lupin. As the story progresses, and in the last book particularly, Harry has to develop his own fortitude and become his own individual. 

I remember reading The Deathly Hallows right after it came out and being so proud of Harry standing up to Lupin when he was wrong. Hermione couldn't do that, Ron wouldn't have done that. Harry is not just a man, he is THE Man. 

That's pretty much how I felt about Emily's coming of age in these books. She's just a kid at the start and she goes through a lot of terrifying stuff. But instead of making her a damsel in distress character, she becomes her own person. She becomes THE Woman. 

Emily St Albert-

(This is how I see her as a kid, also my face for Arwen as an elfling.)

A part of what makes Emily such a resilient character is the way she was raised. Both of Emily's parents were born to wealthy but semi-dysfunctional families and decided they didn't want that for their own lives. They're kind of like the hippie-homeschooler family of the 1600's.

So Emily is raised as a naturalist. Then, while she is still young, the family suffers a tragedy. Her two brothers die and her Mom and Dad get sick. Although they recover, her parent's comes to the realization that they won't always be there to protect their daughter. And because of the way they've chosen to live their lives, their respective families can't be fully relied on to provide that support and protection. If they die, Emily will be on her own and she'll have to deal on her own. 

The term disciplining sometimes has a negative connotation today; people associate it with things like a parent/child power struggle or abuse, but for Emily it means that she was given responsibilities and expectations at an early age. 

In society, particularly back then, girls were given different expectations than boys. Girls could be temperamental or flamboyant and it wasn't as big a deal to control their behavior because they're not going to be the ones to own property or make their own living, and they're typically going to have a father or husband to protect them from consequences of this behavior. Emily's parents know this isn't going to be the case for her: she's already their primary heir and they both have poor health so she's given less lenience in her behavior. She learns what's acceptable, and what's not acceptable, how to compromise but most importantly she learns about her inherent worth, something that no one, no matter what they say or how they treat her, can ever take away. 


Valancourt Duvarney-

When Emily and Mr St Albert meet Valancourt, they strike up a friendship really easily. Mr St Albert sees Valancourt as a vision of what he was like at a younger age. He's generous, sincere, and a genuinely good-hearted person, but also naive and inexperienced...As Mr St Albert likes to think, "This young man has never been at Paris."

When he falls in love with Emily, he thinks he can fix all of her problems for her. I find it surprising that a lot of readers think she should have just married him instead of going into her Aunt's custody until she came of age. That would have been a disaster for both of them. He's so clearly ill-prepared to be a husband at the start. Emily needed to grow up and become her own woman, and Valancourt had to go to Paris.

Singor Montoni-

This is Emily's uncle by marriage. He can put on a charming and affectionate face but he's really a thug and  he's dangerous. Emily going toe-to-toe with him was one of my favorite parts of the story, this was when I realized she'd grown up into the woman.  She figures out that there are times to be a Griffindor, and there are times where it's better to be a Ravenclaw. 





Note:

I really liked the librivox recording, but there are a few readers who have pretty thick accents. This didn't become a problem until the very end when there's this really, really really BIG reveal (what's behind that curtain...huh?!?!) and I couldn't figure out what the word was so I had to listen to that little segment several times...

Then I laughed.

I'd really love to own a print copy of this series. Not a paperback, but hardcover and preferably in the full four volumes. That would be awesome!