A Christmas Carol Read-a-long: Stave 2

I read Stave 2 of A Christmas Carol in one sitting because I just could not put it down.  It covers Scrooge's visit by the first spirit.  I once again loved Dickens' writing style, and he was able to capture Scrooge's emotions beautifully.  I really loved Scrooge's confusion when he first wakes up and then hears the clock going off.  And what I really, really loved was getting a glimpse into hard, mean Scrooge's past, when he was a nice, joyful child and young man who enjoyed Christmas and being with friends and family.  With each glimpse of Christmases past, we see how Scrooge is slowly sinking into his greed and isolation.  I think I'm with Sheery in feeling that losing his Belle, the woman he loved, was probably one of the last straws before he became who he is in the present story.  It's sort of like losing his good friend in life, he lost all connection with the outside world and lost himself in his greed.

One of my favorite passages is when the first spirit shows him his last encounter with Belle:
"Our contract is an old one.  It was made when we were both poor and content to be so, until, in good season, we could improve our worldly fortune by our patient industry.  You are changed.  When it was made, you were another man."
"I was a boy," he said impatiently.
"Your own feeling tells you that you were not what you are," she returned.  "I am.  That which promised happiness when we were one in heart, is fraught with misery now that we are two.  How often and how keenly I have thought of this, I will not say.  It is enough that I have thought of it, and can release you."
"Have I ever sought release?"
"In words.  No.  Never."
"In what, then?"
"In a changed nature; in an altered spirit; in another atmosphere of life; another Hope as its great end.  In everything that made my love of any worth or value in your sight...."

I never would have thought that Dickens could write such heart-wrenching words.  As I read this, I could really feel what Scrooge's poor fiancee was going through, giving up the man she once loved and had hoped to have a long and happy life with.  (Mind you, I'm sometimes a sucker for a good sappy and heart-breaking love story..)

I'll be posting my thoughts on Stave 3 later this week :)  For more info on the read-a-long, or to read what others have to say about A Christmas Carol, stop by Sheery's blog.

A Christmas Carol Read-A-Long: Stave One

 

The read-a-long at Sheery's Place of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol has begun.  I pretty much devoured Stave One, and I want to get this post up before I continue reading :)  To hear what others in the read-a-long have to say, visit Sheery's blog.

 

The beginning of A Christmas Carol was awesome, to say the least.  I've never read any Dickens before, and now I'm thinking "well why the hell not?!".  He is brilliant.  And I'm officially going to stop listening to my whiny friends when they start going, "mehh.  Dickens is so boring and I hate the way he writes and he just sucks and...blahblahblahblah...". 

 

As I'm sure most people know, the story opens up with Scrooge at work on Christmas Eve.  He is super duper nasty, just like in the movies.  But I feel like he's a lot meaner in the book.  Just listening to (or read, I guess..) this: "Oh!  But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge!  a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner!  Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-containd, and solitary as an oyster.  The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, shrivelled his cheek, stiffened his gait; made his eyes red, his thin lips blue; and spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice.  A frosty rime was on his head, and on his eyebrows, and his wiry chin.  He carried his own low temperature always about with him; he iced his office in the dogdays; and didn't thaw it one degree at Christmas."

 

Now that is what I call a really great description.  And the whole book (or at least what I've read of it) is filled with them.  Dickens is a fantastic writer, and even though I know what happens because I've seen the Disney movie (loooovvvvveeee that cartoon!) a million times, I was still on the edge of my seat while reading.  Scrooge is nasty, and Dickens' writing brings it out in him so well.

 

I also am really loving the way Dickens will intervene in the story to add information.  At the start of the chapter, he goes off on a tangent about how doornails aren't really that "dead" to him, and the phrase should be "dead as a coffin-nail".  It had me cracking up. 

 

Another part of the writing that I'm currently in love with is how Dickens pretty much tells us what is going to happen ahead of time.  The story starts with "Marley was dead, to begin with."  And then a whole long explanation about how Marley was definitely dead, and Scrooge definitely knew he was dead.  So that, of course, once Marley's ghost shows up, we're not like, "Well, what if Marley faked his death??" 

 

So far, I am loving A Christmas Carol, and I'm off to start reading Stave Two.  This book would be perfect for reading aloud.  I'm going to my grandmother's tomorrow and I'll see if maybe she'd like me to start reading it aloud to her :)

 

I hope all you Americans had a great Thanksgiving!

A Christmas Carol Read-A-Long + Grad School Woes

 The wonderful Sheery over at Sheery's Place is hosting her first ever read-a-long, of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol.  I have decided to sign up to participate.  This will be my first read-a-long experience and I'm really excited.  I've had this book for years now and have not yet started to read it.  Christmas time is the perfect time to start :)  If you are interested in joining along, make sure you visit Sheery's Place and sign up with the Mr. Linky.

Now onto the next topic of this post.  Graduate schools.  I am so stressed.  I graduate from Buffalo State College in May with a B.A. in French Language and Literature.  I definitely want to get a Masters degree, and possibly even a PhD.  (stay in school as long as possible because you won't have to enter the real world....that's my reasoning anyway....)  I don't need to start in the Fall.  In fact I'll probably wait until next Spring or the following Autumn to begin grad school.  I do after all need money.  And I think my brain needs a break.  I need to start seriously thinking of where to go.  I LOVE and ADORE the program at Portland State (in Oregon) and I've wanted to visit the city for a long time.  My boyfriend has expressed a wish to live there for a bit many times.  So it seems perfect.  I'm also looking at other schools around the country.  I just feel really bad leaving my mom and my dog at home.  And I have no idea how to do the whole "moving across the country" thing. 

I also need to take those darned GREs.  And there is Math on them, which I haven't taken since my Freshman year at college.

Have you experienced future grad school stress??  I seriously feel like I'm going crazy.

Review: Gouverneurs de la rosée by Jacques Roumain

Gouverneurs de la rosée (or Masters of the Dew in English) is a beautiful and haunting story about life in a small village in Haiti.  It is a story about Manuel and his family.  It's a story about his love for beautiful Annaïse.  And most of all, it's a story of his small town's struggle to survive through hard and desperate times.  Written in 1944 by Haitian-French writer Jacques Roumain, this novel brings the reader straight into poverty-stricken Haiti.  Here's a photo of Roumain:

I read this book a few years ago for a class I took at Buff State on Haitian-French literature.  I plan on reading it again soon.  If anyone else wants to read it too, maybe we could do a read-a-long.  The book can be found in English too (as Masters of the Dew).  It's easiest to find (in both French and English) through Amazon Canada.

This is one of those books that changed my life and changed the way I think about foreign literature.  It also opened my eyes to Haiti.  Before reading this book in class, we spent half a semester just learning about the history of Haiti!  We learned about the natives that used to live there, about the first colonists, the Haitian revolution and Toussant L'Ouverture, and what led to the poverty of Haiti found in this novel.  At first this book can seem a little bit frustrating because Roumain uses many Haitian words in the dialogue that are not in French dictionaries.  My teacher was awesome and gave us a list of some of the most common ones used, along with a list of the native plants that are often referred to throughout the story.

Religion plays a big role in this novel too, and there are some scenes of vodou ceremonies.  Because of this, my teacher gave us a week's lesson on the basics of Haitian vodou and how it's intertwined with Christianity.  If you don't know anything about this topic, the ceremonies and prayers in this book could be confusing.

I say all of this because if anyone decides they want to read the book, I'll willing to do the read-a-long to help peeps out.  Of if you want to brave it on your own, let me know if you want some of the resources my professor gave me.

I can promise that you won't regret reading Gouverneurs de la rosée (Masters of the Dew).  It is filled with so much beautiful imagery and there's symbolism in nature, in the colors Roumain uses to describe settings, everything.  There is also the beautiful connection and love between Manuel and his family.  This novel is a tearjerker and a masterpiece, and it deserves to be more well-known in the United States.

Title: Gouverneurs de la rosée
Author: Jacques Roumain
Date of Publication: 1944
Number of Pages: 245
Genre: Fiction
Source: personal copy