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At the Cafe We Used to Frequent
Nina thought about the question very carefully, chasing the rim of her cup with the tip of her finger. She valued the quiet inside of the café—it had a real weight to it.
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Birdsong in the Air, Lilies on the Stream: On Keeping Time and Learning from the Past in Christina Rossetti’s Goblin Market
In Christina Rossetti’s Goblin Market, the goblins call out to young maidens “morning and evening”, offering tantalizing descriptions of fruit “sweet to tongue and sound to eye” (Rossetti 1, 30). They promise berries, peaches, pomegranates, figs; a variety of fruit, “all ripe together/In summer weather” (Rossetti 15-16). But what they refrain from telling their victims is that the sweetness of their goods comes with a bitter aftertaste. The eternal summer—the promise of satiation—is nothing but “sugar-baited words” (Rossetti 234). The price that must be paid for this temporary feeling of satisfaction is a destructive and perpetual hunger that deadens the senses to everything but the desire for more fruit. Morns…
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The Flower That Blooms in Adversity: On the Value of Gentleness and Loving-kindness in Jane Austen’s Persuasion
At first glance, the quiet and reserved protagonist of Jane Austen’s Persuasion seems to fade into the background of her own story. Even the narrator, “taking her cue from the dysfunctional family”, begins Persuasion by shining the spotlight on the “self-centered Elliots”, rather than on her main character (Judge 42). However, as her protagonist prefers to linger behind the curtains in places where the Lizzie Bennets and Emma Woodhouses of the world would command the stage, Austen’s trajectory from such an introduction must then be to “bring Anne out of the shadows” in her own way (Judge 42). Anne Elliot’s personality, circumstances, and abilities do not make direct confrontations or…
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Spring Will Come Again: Story, Song, and Sorrow in Anaïs Mitchell’s Hadestown
“Orpheus with his lute made trees And the mountain tops that freeze Bow themselves when he did sing: To his music plants and flowers Ever sprung; as sun and showers There had made a lasting spring. Every thing that heard him play, Even the billows of the sea, Hung their heads and then lay by. In sweet music is such art, Killing care and grief of heart Fall asleep, or hearing, die.” —William Shakespeare, Orpheus “On the road to Hell there was a railroad line/And a poor boy workin’ on a song/His mama was a friend…
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Sweet Wild Grace: On Forgiveness, Redemption, and Humanity in Elizabeth Goudge’s The Rosemary Tree
“‘We are all very anxious to be understood, and it is very hard not to be. But there is one thing much more necessary.’ “‘What is that, grandmother?’ “To understand other people.'” —George MacDonald, The Princess and the Goblin Elizabeth Goudge’s The Rosemary Tree is a story about many different things: about family, relationships, secrets, second chances, redemption, living, and loving. The shining thread uniting all these different points is Elizabeth Goudge’s understanding of the strength and fragility of humanity, an understanding that extends beyond her characters to her readers themselves. She does not create characters that are wholly saints or sinners, but instead, acknowledges the beauty and brokenness in each…
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A Duty of Care: On Hospitality, Protection, and the Expression of Love in Redwall
Redwall Abbey, image c. Christopher Denise (illustrator) “I would read [the children of the Royal Wavertree School for the Blind] stories. Now sometimes, we’d get books that the publishers had sent in. So I’d read to them. And you know something? I didn’t like some of them books. I took a look through children’s books and I didn’t like some of them. And you know why? Because they were dealing with now. About this mess we’re living in the middle of. The modern age. And these stories were about technological progress, and the rise of computers, and teenage angst, I thought, augh. What happened to the magic? What happened to…
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If You Listen Closely: On Art, Love, and Chasing Your Dreams in Whisper of the Heart
The 1995 Studio Ghibli film Whisper of the Heart, directed by Yoshifumi Kondo and written by Hayao Miyazaki, follows a young girl named Tsukishima Shizuku on her journey to finding and dedicating herself to her dreams and ambitions. The themes of struggling in school and navigating love for the first time lend themselves to the narrative, rather than dominating it, and help further develop the themes of creative ambition and the artistic process in both Shizuku’s own life and the lives of the people she meets along the way. Though it is also a story of her friendship with Yuko, her mentorship with Mr. Nishi, and her budding relationship with…
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From Book to Screen: Capturing the Heart of Little Women
Little Women (2017), image c. BBC Little Women, the book Louisa May Alcott is most well known for, is a story that has touched readers all over the world since its original publication in 1868. The story of the four March sisters as they grow from girls to young women still remains relevant today because of the timeless themes that play out within its pages: sisterhood, perseverance, hope, and the wisdom gained through experiences both precious and painful. Many readers also find parts of themselves reflected in the March sisters, and draw courage from their lives. Meg’s desire to fit in with her peers and Jo’s struggle to overcome her…
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Becoming a Hero the Hard Way: On Unconventional Heroes and Everyday Heroism
“This is a story of becoming a hero the hard way.” —Cressida Cowell, How to Train Your Dragon What defines a hero? If we look at the heroes of old—Greco-Roman heroes like Hercules and Odysseus, for example, or the Prince Charmings of fairy tales and folklore—a pattern of traits and skills linking these characters together starts to emerge. Sharpness of mind, physical prowess, and charismatic leadership are qualities we find in the heroes of ancient myths and legends, qualities that are essential for survival in their often perilous worlds. Valour, bravery, and gallantry are qualities that surface as the princes and knights of higher and more comfortable standing encounter and…
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5 Comforting & Encouraging Book Recommendations
“I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo. “So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” —J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring “Hello. How are you doing?” As days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months, these words were the ones I found myself repeating over and over to friends, family, and classmates. If lockdown has taught me anything, it has taught me the importance of communication—not only in relation to the spread…
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More Than Fairy Tales: The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Brilliance of Children’s Literature
C.S. Lewis, the author of the well-loved Chronicles of Narnia, once said that “a children’s story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good children’s story in the slightest.” There are books that we fall in love with during childhood, which, upon returning to, seem almost lifeless compared to the shining stories from our memories. Discovering that a book you once loved does not hold the same lustre it did for you as a child feels like shedding another layer of yourself as you grow further and further away from the person you used to be. Those books return to their shelves, and are forgotten in the passage…
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Be Still: Slowing Down to Savour Life
“When we lose our sense of wonder we become dissatisfied with who we are,” Madeleine L’Engle says in her book on creation and human identity (Madeleine 51). When I came back to her words this month, I connected just as strongly to them as I had the first time I read them. Madeleine L’Engle is right, on many levels. Losing our sense of wonder not only prevents us from seeing and appreciating the blessings in our lives, it also makes us disillusioned with reality, and with ourselves. Our world goes at such a fast pace that we sometimes find it difficult to catch our breath, much less give ourselves time…
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The Strength To Move Mountains
Literature provides us with some of the strongest women in the history of fiction. The connections that form between the reader and the characters can be felt on a deep and personal level. But what does it mean for a female character to be “strong”? What and how can we learn from these characters about being or becoming strong? We must first examine the definition of strength. In the ancient world, the standard for strength often favoured a certain kind of man. Many writers today still fall back on the idolization of traditional masculinity, and consequently create female characters that embody masculine traits, characteristics, personalities, and interests. However, because the…
