the elegance of the hedgehog

Upon learning that a movie based on The Elegance of the Hedgehog (entitled The Hedgehog) is coming out soon, I've been reminded that this book has been on my to-read list for quite some time now.  It also started me on a whole train of thought about the Hedgehog and the Fox ("The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing"), but that's a whole other story.

Anyways, I finished reading The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery yesterday, and, despite my absolute love for Terry Pratchett humor, this was one of the best books I've read in a while.  I mean, I can see how it was a NY Times bestseller.  

One of my kinds of books exactly - completely relatable narrators and lots of philosophising: about Art, beauty, life.....yup, the kinds of things I like to think about, plus the kinds of things that I don't know enough about to philosophize about.  And all in gorgeous prose.  Admittedly I cried at the end of the book, but it wasn't one of those completely despairing endings.  Bittersweet.  But not completely depressing.  (For example, I didn't feel as depressed as I did when I read Girl in Translation, which isn't even supposed to be that depressing, I don't think).  The ending was sad, yes, but it held so much hope.  So. Much. Hope.  And redemption.

I mean, who can't love a book that waxes poetic on the joy of drinking tea for a page and a half?

"Yes, the world may aspire to vacuousness, lost souls mourn beauty, insignificance surrounds us.  Then let us drink a cup of tea.  Silence descends, one hears the wind outside, autumn leaves rustle and take flight, the cat sleeps in a warm pool of light.  And, with each swallow, time is sublimed."

and a bit on architecture:

"An open door introduces a break in the room, a sort of provincial interference, destroying the unity of space.  In the adjoining room it creates a depression, an absolutely pointless gaping hole adrift in a section of wall that would have preferred to remain whole.  In either case a door disrupts continuity, without offering anything in exchange other than freedom of movement, which could easily be ensured by another means.  Sliding doors avoid such pitfalls and enhance space.  Without affecting the balance of the room, they allow it to be transformed.  When a sliding door is open, two areas communicate without offending each other.  When it is closed, each regains its integrity.  Sharing and reunion can occur without intrusion."

and about the food critic who lives in the building (who, by the way, is the focus in Barbery's novel Gourmet Rhapsody - which I'm reading next):

"To write entire pages of dazzling prose about a tomato - for Pierre Arthens reviews foods as if he were telling a story, and that alone is enough to make him a genius - without ever seeing or holding the tomato is a troubling display of virtuosity.  I have often wondered, as I watch him go by with his huge arrogant nose: Can one be so gifted and yet so impervious to the presence of things?"

kunst.

"No man can ever make a beautiful image out of his private imagination unless he has replenished his mind by much painting from life.  That can no longer be called private study but has become Kunst acquired and gained by study, which germinates, grows and becomes fruitful of its kind."
      - Albrecht Durer

Kunst, a sort of marriage between knowledge and art....I think I've found myself a new favorite word!

And may I please apply Durer's ideas about art and observation from nature to my last post on Bach's Inventions?  (Oh discipline...)

Praying Hands, 1508

(I love hands...)

I posted a few of Durer's self-portraits here.

house of mirth

"Goddesses?  Well, I can only say that if they'd been mortals and had to wear corsets, it would have been better for them."

haha, gotta love Gerty Farish.

Dreamers - Albert Joseph Moore

Invocation - Frederick Leighton

"Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player, that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more; it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."
-William Shakespeare

the art of driving.

me. dad. empty church parking lot at 6 am. right turns. brakes. accelerator. reverse.

i've already finished my first year in university, but this is only my second time behind the wheel (unless you count that disastrous go with the legoland cars in windsor, when i was really little...).

and although i'm not particularly fond of that behind-the-wheel feeling (it stresses me out...i wish driving wasn't so necessary around here...), i'm beginning to understand it.

it's  like an art form, painting perhaps: sharp turn here, use some of that blue paint straight out of the bottle; straighten out the wheels, soften the edge with some white; oops, going a little too much to the left there, better add some orange; get closer to the curb, fine tune it with a smaller paintbrush...


"'Music -' said Lucy, as if attempting some generality.  She could not complete it, and looked out absently upon Italy in the wet.  The whole life of the South was disorganized, and the most graceful nation in Europe had turned into formless lumps of clothes.  The street and the river were dirty yellow, the bridge was dirty grey, and the hills were dirty purple. Somewhere in their folds were concealed Miss Lavish and Miss Bartlett, who had chosen this afternoon to visit the Torre del Gallo."- A Room With A View

...and i bring you - imelda!

as i have named her.

the keys, from below. how fascinating! they're like...mushrooms or something!

"darcy smiled and said, 'you are perfectly right.  you have employed your time much better.  no one admitted to the privilege of hearing you can think anything wanting.  we neither of us perform to strangers.'"

note to self: get a good camera. this gets more frustrating by the day.