DADDY LONG LEGS - part 7 - All is revealed!

This is for Saturday 1/23! 

March 5th. - Judy waxes nostalgic about the John Grier Home and what she learned there. 

• Julie never knows she is happy
• Judy's perfectly sure every happy moment.
• "I've a heart for any fate."

LOCK WILLOW. April 4th. - Sallie and Judy are at LW for Easter vacation and she's writing a book!

• Jervie says "Write what you know."
• "I was quite lonely without him--"
• Animal tragedies abound at Lock Willow!

May 17th. - Judy writes a brief, heartfelt invitation for DLL to come to her graduation.

• "Yours, with love and writer's cramp."

LOCK WILLOW. June 19th. - Judy has graduated and is writing at Lock Willow. 

• Jervie and Jimmy's roses? Second best.
• Lots of male visitors at LW.
• Don't attend commencement? Dead to her...

July 24th. - All the news from Lock Willow - including a recent visit from Jimmie McBride and a forthcoming visit from Master Jervie.

• Judy's in LOVE - with her book.
• Marriage is a deteriorating process, evidently. 
• Judy might raise broilers! Snappy ones?
• Jimmy's no financier - he's too kind-hearted.

August 27th. - This is a brokenhearted little missive of loneliness. 

• New York? Switzerland? Where are you Daddy?
• "I wish I knew you, Daddy."
• Elmer H. Griggs must be horrid.

LOCK WILLOW, September 19th. - Judy is very unhappy and needs to talk to DLL.

• "Something has happened...I need advice."

LOCK WILLOW, October 3d. - Judy completely spills her guts to Daddy Long Legs about her love for Jervie. 

• She sold her book! Still heartbroken...
• Letters very full of Master Jervie. 
• Fourteen year start gives him edge.
• "I miss him, and miss him. "
• "I may be dreadful, you know."
• Writer and wife, not mutually exclusive. 
• Jervie's sick AND DLL's sick? Strange...

October 6th. - Judy firms up her plans to finally meet Daddy Long Legs!

• If there's a butler, she'll faint!
• "Shall I ask for Mr. Smith?"

Thursday Morning. - Judy writes to her "very dearest Master-Jervie-Daddy-Long-Legs-Pendleton-Smith"

1. Ew...Judy writes sappy love letters.
2. "... like a shadow on my heart."
3. Phew, the butler was very nice!
4. "Dear little Judy, couldn't you guess...?"
5. Judy would make a bad detective.
6. "I can't be disrespectful to you!"
7. She belongs to someone at last.

Okay, dry your tears and lets look at some questions!

The letter where Judy says she is aware of being happy whenever she is happy was so interesting. Do you recognize your own happiness when it comes upon you? [I don't think I did when I was younger, but now that I have the wisdom of advanced age, I like to think I appreciate my own happiness more.]

Daddy Long Legs doesn't come to Judy's graduation. Did it feel like a big deal when you graduated from whatever you graduated from? [High school was weird because I was supposed to sing and then I had laryngitis and wasn't able to. But it was good because at my sister's and my graduation party (she from college, me from HS) that afternoon she got me wasted and I was thrilled to have an excuse to not talk and take a much needed nap. College graduation wasn't a big deal, I had mentally checked out 2 years before and was just marking time like in prison. (Although I do have a lovely picture of me with my future in-laws at the ceremony that I now treasure.) Grad school graduation was a HUGE deal to me. That's what happens when you pay for it yourself! I have a funny story about how petty I was to a classmate that day - as we were one-upping each other about how hard we worked getting our degree. But it has profanity so I shan't share it here.]

Judy loves writing! It is wonderful that she found her calling. Do you feel like you've found your calling? [They say find a job you love and you won't work a day of your life. I haven't worked since I was 40 and became a high school librarian. Hands down, it's the best job in the world.]

Judy reaches out to DLL about her Jervie problems. He now knows the jig is up and is, frankly, probably pretty worried that Judy will hate him for lying. Do you think it is his near-death experience that allows him to come clean? [I'm not sure that's why I'm asking...]

We find out that Judy turned down Jervie's marriage proposal because he's too fancy. He think's it's because of Jimmie McBride. If Judy hadn't written to DLL about it, would Jervie have figured it out eventually? [I'd like to think so, but Judy wrote all these letters and didn't connect the dots so sometimes you just can't see what's right in front of you!]

Do you think that Jervie-Long-Legs' near-death experience is what keeps Judy from being angry about the lying? Or did the fact that he knew her so well from her letters convinced her that he was aware of what he would be getting into in marrying her? And does that make up for the manipulation? To some degree? [I'm not sure about the first part. Even re-reading with the my mental gaslighting alarm going off, I still can't stop loving that man.]

And finally...

Did you see the big reveal coming? [The first time, not at all! But on subsequent rereads, I usually remember eventually.]

Thank you so much for joining me and for your awesome responses! Jessica starts FAMILY SABBATICAL on Monday. Be there or be square!

xoxo

Barb, currently in Beverly, but about to head for the South of France with the Ridgeways!

Daddy Long Legs - part 6

[ For Thursday - pp. 194-227]
March 5th. -Inspired by a crabby sermon, Judy decides to give dignity a try.

• "The Modern Generation" 100+ years ago.
• When Judy's respectful she's quite dull. 

April 24th. -Judy apologizes for not sending a newsy letter while actually sending a newsy letter. 

• Jervie missed them - off to Princeton!
• [Master Jervie must have been STEAMED!]
• A college girl gets so tired.

May 15th. - Judy's musings on public transportation, swimming lessons, her correspondence with men, the Senior Dramatic Club and her paper on the Care of Dependent Children.

• Fancy ladies don't chat in cars. 
• The probity of ones instructor is suspect. 
• Playing tennis gains exemption from gym??
• Someone is doubling down on their post.

June 4th. - Judy makes her own summer plans again. Let's see how this plays out.

• Julia goes abroad ALL THE TIME!
• Mrs. Charles Peterson seems perfectly lovely. 
• Up on her feet - almost walking.
• Golf? Hunting? Horses? Meditation? What, DLL?

June Tenth. - We knew it would come to this. Judy has to refuse DLL doing something too generous. 

• "One doesn't miss what one never had." [I know, it's 7 words, but I can't leave it out. It made me cry SO HARD!!]
• The English language needs another pronoun.
• Happiness as a matter of course.
• The World would repudiate her claim.
• Jervie knows Judy is an orphan. 
• Florence - a most uncommonly spoiled child.
• She'll be a very useful person. 
• Marry an undertaker - inspire his work.

August 19th. - Judy describes her cotton-headed charges. 

• Latin, English, algebra - two stupid girls.
• Fortunate enough to obtain stupid husbands. 
• A world filled with stupid men. 
• No one can dictate to Judy! 
• Master Jervie will be so surprised. 

CAMP MCBRIDE, September 6th. - Judy gets the message to go to LOCK WILLOW just a bit too late - HA!

• She loves him - despite his faults. 

October 3rd. - Judy's back at school updating Daddy Long Legs on her love life and her fashion choices. 

• "We do arrive fast in America!"
• Master Jervie was NOT so surprised. 
• Men, just leave intrigue to women.
• Julia's gowns could clothe the angels. 
• "He eloped with a chorus girl!" 
• Those fricking blue checked gingham aprons. : (

November 17th. - Judy throws her own book-baby into the fire like an evil, self-hating half-Jo, half-Amy hybrid!

• Good deal of humor - questionable taste. 
• Was Judy writing knock-off Edith Wharton? 
• Never accused of being a pessimist.

December 14th. - Judy waxes philosophic about dreams,  the meaning of life, cat duodenums and her own power to accomplish. 

• Life is monotonous enough at best. 
• She believes in free will - unreservedly. 
• Hmmm...maybe she's reading Ayn Rand. 
• This is a very abstruse letter. 

December 26th. - A charming thank you note from a happy girl.

• Seventeen Christmas presents? She'll become plutocratic!
• Homemade neckties are usually quote wobbly. 
• The sweetest man that ever lived.

January 9th. - Judy lobbies DLL to provide for a poor family. 

• "Perhaps it's all for the best."
• She's for a more militant religion.
• Philosophy teacher lives in the ether.
• Judy's much like The Little Princess

Jan. 12th. - Judy delivers the check and is irritated that the mom can't tell the difference between the good Lord and DLL. 

• DLL earns 10,000 fewer purgatorial years. 

Feb. 15th. - Judy is obsessed with Pepys.

• Self-Government association abolishes the ten-o'clock rule. 
• Preachers will preach about smart girls...

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
And now some questions!!

Judy notices the fancy lady not speaking in the streetcar. Do people speak on public transportation or in line a the grocery store where you live? [In New England they most certainly do not! But every once in awhile I can turn a Yankee with my mid-western charm.]

So Jervie is writing to her now so he is getting letters as Jervie. You know, just plain old Jervie, nothing to see here... Is it creepy yet? [Yes, a little bit.]

Would you have taken the trip and devil take the hindmost? [I read a quote that "Privilege makes people allergic to consequences." and that is kind of my attitude here. I would 100% take this trip, but I certainly understand why Judy didn't.]

Okay, Jervie is definitely taking advantage of his knowledge and being a bit manipulative. It rings SO MANY BELLS now that we know about gaslighting, but back then it was romantic and, if you had already read the book, clever.  Are you able to read it with old lady eyes or does it feel too gross? [Almost all of my reading is with old lady eyes, but I am glad to have a bit of a different perspective this time around.]

Judy calls her charges "stupid". I have a friend from church who I love, but she told me that she wouldn't let her kids use the word stupid when they were little. I asked her what she told them to say when something was, in fact, stupid. and she said they used the word "silly". Needless to say, this made me immediately insane because those words are NOT synonyms! Are there any words you weren't allowed to say (that weren't actual swears) because your parents wouldn't allow it? [We weren't allowed swears or hateful speech, which is good.  But we had made-up names of bodily functions that were freaking weird, looking back. With my kids I wouldn't let them "take the name of the Lord in vain" just because if they ever did it in front of my very religious mom it would break her heart. (I have found the Lord to be more forgiving.) But I was pretty okay with anything else.]

It sounds like Judy's first (burned up) novel was set in New York Society. Has anyone read Edith Wharton's THE CUSTOM OF THE COUNTRY? It was written the year after DLL and is about a midwestern social climber in New York. There is a New York Times bookclub reading it, and I know I will never have time to read it before January 28 so if you have read it, would you please let me know if there are any parallels? [I have not read it, I do not know. Hence the question.]

They're making fudge - so Betsy-ish.  It seems like a lot of work, now that you can just buy candy.  Do any of you make fudge? [Good grief, no. I had to really struggle to finish my Christmas candy in a timely fashion. If I learned to make my own delicious candy, I'd be doomed! But mostly I don't care for fudge.]

I'm getting a little whiplashed - Judy says a couple letter ago that free will determines her life and she's responsible for her own success but she recognizes that fate has dealt the little seamstress a terrible hand. Is this just that young adult wrestling with how the world works?  Would she have been so confident in her juxtaposing ideas if she didn't have her education? [I don't have a theory on this, but I'm interested in yours.]

A beautiful commentary on human nature, Judy says, is the fact that now that they can keep their lights on all night, they tend to all fall asleep before 9:30. Are you a night owl or a morning person? How much of that is based on the feeling of "getting away with something"? [I used to be such a night owl when I was young and told to go to bed by my parents. And when my kids were young and I was exhausted all the time I dreamed of being able to stay up late. Now that I get to make all my own decisions, I adore going to bed early and getting up at the crack of dawn. What is wrong with me?]

Of COURSE I pronounced Pepys "peppies" when I first read this. Didn't you?

The last post for this read will be on Saturday and then I pass the torch to Jessica for FAMILY SABBATICAL by Carol Ryrie Brink. I've never read it and am quite excited!

xoxo
Barb

Daddy Long Legs part 5

For Tuesday - [ pages 162-193]

August 25th. - Master Jervie finally visits!

• Mrs. Semple pampers Master Jervie scandelously!
• MJ is quite the citified dandy.
• "Nearly as long-legged as you, Daddy"
• The whole secret is being pliable. 
• Judy and Jervie completely skipped church.

Ship ahoy, Cap'n Long-Legs! - Judy is obsessed with Robert Louis Stevenson and wonders about DLL's identity.

• Could it be he knows Jervie?

September 10th. - Judy misses Jervie, discusses her writing and immediately gets published!

• Fifty dollars is quite the windfall.
• A scholarship - what a terrific honor!

September 26th. - Judy stands firm about accepting the scholarship, and for the first time she doesn't throw a hissy when disagreeing with DLL.

• Our little girl is growing up!
• Keeping up with Julia is expensive.

September 30th. - Judy digs in on the scholarship.

• "Strangers! - And what are you, pray?"
• It's no favor. It's a prize.
• Henceforth Judy intends to be FIRM!

November 9th. - A delightfully chatty missive about holiday plans, mythical creatures and Charity and Reform

• Wasteful country...throwing away women's votes.

December 7th. The founder's dance is quite the barn burner. 

• Little foundling is getting quite prominent.
• What a colorless life men lead. 
• Judy's terrible, vain secret - she's pretty.

December 20th. Judy's off on vacation, but first a sweet "thank you" note for her Christmas box. 

• She's deflected by such worldly frivolities. 

January 11th. - Judy's back at school and spilling the beans about vacation.

• Long time no letter - blame NYC.
• No idea entered the front door.
• Judy's future children? DEFINITELY not Pendeltons.
• Socialist = long hair and red ties.
• Judy's secret - live in the now.

Dear Comrade,  - Judy declares herself a Fabian. 

• Nobody wants revolution tomorrow at breakfast!

February 11th. - a brief update

• Will write soon - examinations are grueling.

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Is Jervie selfish or just so at home at Lock Willow that he feels free to behave naughtily? [I shan't give my opinion, but I do have one!]

Judy finally stands up to DLL and won't back down. Do you think it could be because he has confidence "handling" rich men because of her dealings with Jervie? [Clearly, I think that by the way I asked the questions. Not very sporting of me. But I am open to other interpretations.]

Judy realizes she is pretty! When did you realize you were pretty? [Sadly, I didn't realize it until I was about 50. I wish I had know when I was younger, but maybe it saved me from having bad character. Every morning when I go to work I ask Rich, "Aren't you lucky to have a wife as cute as me?" And he agrees that yes, yes he is.]

Judy is not impressed with the Pendletons. They seem cold and about as deep as a puddle. Does this explain a bit about Master Jervie? [Yes! That is what I didn't say in the first question!]

These questions are terrible. I will attempt better ones on Thursday!

Daddy Long Legs - Part 4

In other news - I wanted to inform you of another mail-related activity I am involved in. There is a program called Post Crossings, where you can send postcards to strangers all over the world and receive them in exchange. I have been doing it since the beginning of covid times and am becoming more and more invested. If you are curious about it you can take a look here - https://www.postcrossing.com/ - and if you want to hear me talk about it, my friend Alix and I will be giving a virtual talk at the end of the month for our public library. You can get the info for that here - https://beverlypubliclibrary.assabetinteractive.com/calendar/hold-for-postcrossings/

[This is for Sunday 1/17 and goes from page 127-161 of my 1940 G&D copy.]

March 24th. maybe the 25th. - She wins the short story contest, she gets a part in the play and she is going to NYC - could Judy's life be any better?

• Hamlet AND Jervie? SO MUCH FUN!

April 7th. - Judy tells the wonderful tale of her visit to the holy land - New York City.

• Is this Candace Bushnell or Judy?
• New York undermines John Greer Home.
• Judy on the stage? How perfect!
• Julia Pendleton - so nosy, so nosy.
• Nolite te bastardes carborundorum - but gingham. 

April 10th - a brief refusal

• No more charity, thanks. I'm good.

April 11th. - Once again, Judy learns - post in haste repent at leisure.

• Judy is a thousand legged worm.
• DLL doesn't belong to her. Yet.
• Back to wall, fighting the world.
• Childhood = long sullen stretch of revolt. 

May 4th. - Judy waxes philosophical on the nature of victory, the trouble with orphan-hood, the wonder of imagination and her favorite make-believe.

• Patricia is a perfectly normal name!
• Jervie's no Pendleton. DLL's no trustee.
• Only 60 years past Jane Eyre!
• JHG is no Lowell Institute, exactly.
• The Tale of the Burned Woodshed
• Imagination is the most necessary quality. 
• Adorable tea party. must post selfie.
• Writing to DLL acts as tonic.

Mr. Daddy-Long-Legs Smith. - The study of argumentation is strong in this one!

• Nice outline, it lacks bullet points. 
• Junket for dessert? No thank you.

June 2d. - Judy drops a summer bomb-shell. 

• The McBrides have opened their home.

June 5th. - Perhaps DLL should have come clean about his identity here. 

• What? No McBrides? Why DLL? Why?
• [Maybe don't mention Jimmie so much...]

June 9th. - When Judy's pissed, she doesn't give ANY extra words. 

• In compliance with instructions - Lock Willow. 

LOCK WILLOW FARM. August Third. - Judy doesn't apologize, she explains. 

• "It's the impersonality of your commands."
• "Arbitrary peremptory, unreasonable, omnipotent, invisible Providence"

August 10th. - Judy regales Daddy Long Legs with farm news instead of writing a story.

• That dreadful heroine, refusing to behave!
• Judy can't make DLL behave either. 
• We don't care for religious innovation. 
• Judy vows she'll see the world. 
• Another selfie, she's so danged cute!
• Friday. - There's going to be a special surprise guest! Can you guess who it could possibly be?
• Mrs. Dowd's cleanliness trumps her perfidy. 
• Hats were important before sunscreen. 
• Says Judy, "Don't fence me in."

-----------------------------------------------------------

Would you rather be in a play or go see a play? Why? And do you have any examples of wonderful times you have done either of those things? [I have too many backstage stories to tell and I need get this posted, but I will just say I'm a sucker for the roar of the greasepaint and the smell of the crowd.]

Do you remember your first overnight trip to a big city without a parent or guardian? Did you nearly die from the joy of it? [Yes! Being a young woman alone in a big city is just delicious! Doesn't matter which city although NYC is the one that always felt the most magical to me.]

Judy is alone in the world, for a young woman of this time that would be terrifying. In Anne with an E this was very evident in the way they presented Anne. Can anyone recommend books about girls in this situation? [I adored THE HIRED GIRL by fellow Maud fan Laura Amy Schlit! It's one of the best things I've ever read. I reviewed it here if you'd like a bigger picture.]

Judy's field day sounded fun - mine were always awful and filled with sports. Okay sporty girls - identify yourselves. Who enjoys this kind of activity? [I am singularly not sporty, but I do like to lift weights and sit in hot tubs. And I hike, but VERY slowly...]

I have never read JANE EYRE . Shocking, isn't it? I've not read WUTHERING HEIGHTS either, but I've seen the movie. I have read synopses and may have pretended to have read one or the other of those, or not corrected people when they assumed I had. What is the book you know you should have read, but just haven't, even though you believe it must be wonderful? [I already answered that, didn't I. And Jen DK has a hilarious, if possibly apocryphal story about outing me to a WORLD FAMOUS AUTHOR about this very topic. I shan't tell it, but if you ever corner her at a party, get her to tell it.]

I ate junket once, I think because of this book. I remember nothing so either it was horrible and I've blocked it out or it was just meh. Any junket eaters out there? What have you eaten because it was in a book that you may have regretted. Or fallen in love with? [Also onion sandwiches, of course. And every kid who ever read THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA has longed for Turkish delight. Unless they have ever had Turkish delight.]

So there are a couple of points in this section where DLL crosses the line. At which point should he (or his alter-ego who we shall not name in case there is someone reading this who has never read a book before and can't see the inevitable coming) have just come clean? [So hard to say because then the book would end and no big twist ending.]

That's it for me - more Tuesday!

DADDY LONG LEGS letters part 3

This covers pages 94-126 in my 1940 Grosset and Dunlap edition. 

LOCK WILLOW, July 12th. - Judy gives DLL the lowdown on Lock Willow.

• Jervie: he's the family's ice cream.
• Oh look, there's some Lesbian content!
• Miss Jerusha Abbott, future great writer.

Sunday - This letter is full of farm news, religion and Master Jervie.

• Thank heavens she doesn't inherit God!
• Semples - better than their own God. 
• Jervie was meant for something better. 
• Drunk cow scandal rocks Lock Willow.

September 15th. - Judy comments on her weight gain. 

• Remember when weight gain signified health?

September 25 - Back at school - Judy talks of roommates, politics and academics - particularly French.

• Orphan rooming with a Pendleton? Democracy!
• French convent? Foundling asylum? The same...

Vocabulary alert! 

• Inimical means unfriendly or hostile - also intending to cause harm, yikes!

October 17th. - Those fun college debates are discussed, as well as the outcome of the election. 

• Could one swim in lemon jelly?
• Sally was elected! "McBride Forever!" Huzzah!

November 12th. - Judy tells her Christmas plans and sends a photo. 

• Her first home visit's in WORCESTER??
• The sun was in her eyes. 

"STONE GATE," WORCESTER, MASS., December 31st.  - A newsy letter about Christmas presents and the visit with the McBrides. 

• A nice, fat, sunny cook? Anna??
• She felt benevolent as a trustee. 
• White gloved orphan leads the cotillion.

6.30, Saturday. - Judy describes Master Jervie's visit to...well...you know. It gets a little meta.

• "Julia's desirable uncle" called with chocolates. 
• Uncle Jervis - so youngish and good-looking!
• Julia says he's never this amiable...
• Don't throw dining-room clock into sea.

Jan. 20th.  - Judy muses on the possibility of her origins and tells a sad asylum story.

• Oh, are we expecting a denouement?
• Cookie stealing is a victimless crime.
• Tied like a naughty puppy. Damn.

February 4th. - Judy mostly discusses science and history, with a wee Jimmie McBride mention. 

• These professors keep contradicting one another!

March 5th. - The paper chase, finals and Shakespeare are all discussed. 

• Paper chase ends at Chrystal Spring
• What's the secret to not flunking??
• Judy learns Shakespeare earned his reputation.
• Judy would make a great Ophelia!

---------------------------

I had to dig deep for these questions and none of them has lit my world on fire, but I feel like there have to be questions and I would find the answers interesting!

Judy is surprised that Master Jervie was a redhead. Was being a redhead a good or a bad thing when you were growing up? [I always thought it was WAY cooler to be a redhead, but apparently now it is something you get teased for.] 

Okay, you're an orphaned child. Would you prefer a french convent - pretty good food, nice-ish nuns, but no boys and lots of religion -  or an orphan asylum - terrible food, indifferent care-givers, but less structured (except on Blue Wednesday) and a change of meeting Daddy Long Legs? [I think it's a bout a 50/50 split for me.]

Did you know octagon houses existed? In a related story - what is the strangest, goofiest or silliest thing you ever argued about or discussed at length? [I did NOT know they were a thing and when I read this every other time, I assumed it was a particular octagon building on campus and not an actual trend. I went to religious school and we used to try to irritate the teachers by asking if God could create a rock so big that God couldn't lift it. Never got a straight answer on that one, but a lot of dirty looks.]

Have you ever been to Worcester? [Yes! It's right nearby and we usually have the NEWBETSY Valentine's Tea at Judith Sumner's house, which has become the McBride house in my head. Try to get yourself invited there sometime - it's lovely!]

Have you ever taken part in a Paper Chase? How was it?  [Nope, but I did watch the series on television!]

What is your favorite Shakespeare play and/or Shakespearean character? [A Midsummer Night's Dream is my favorite play, but I love the Nurse in Romeo and Juliet the best.]

DADDY LONG LEGS letters part 2

Here are more six word summaries from DADDY LONG LEGS. This starts on page 63 of my books and ends on page 93 - your mileage may vary.  

On the Eve.  - If only she knew to whom she was writing!

• Julia Pendleton has no "off" switch. 

Sunday.  - She's got some good news and some bad news...

• Successes and failures - they even out.

[no date] - A sort of a lonely letter on a stormy night.

• Everyone needs Grandma - play along DDL. 

The Ides of March - Latin

• Beware, Judy, Latin will pay off. 

March 26 - Judy has a hissy fit. .

• Judy throws down. It's an ultimatum. 

April 2d. - An Apology

• "I was badly brought up." Ouch.

April 4m - A thank you note and an apology from the infirmary

• Her first present - the heart breaks. 
• No more questions. Ya hate girls?

8th hour, Monday. - Finally a long newsy one full of stories of animals in peril. 

• Far to slender to pop toads.
• Never using THAT hairbrush again!
• Jerusha "Judy" Abbot, meet Emily Dickinson.
• An overstaying guest? Je suis, Ackerly.

May 27th. - Judy contemplates an offer from Mrs. Lippett and writes my six word summaries for me!

• I HATE THE JOHN GREER HOME.
• I'd rather die than go back. 

[no date] - It is in French so I put it in Google translate. You're welcome!

Dear Daddy-Legs-Lanyards

You are a brick!

 I'm very happy with the farm, because I've never been to a farm in my life and I hate going back to John Grier, and washing the dishes all summer. There would be danger that something awful would happen, because I lost my humility from other times and I'm afraid that someday I would burst and crush every cup and saucer in the house.

Pardon brievete and paper. I cannot send my news because I am in the French class and I am afraid that the Professor will call me right away.

Goodbye,

I like you very much.

Judy

May 30th. - Judy is in a grand mood and writes about her first meeting with Jervis Pendleton.

• She'll write and write and write.
• DLL's just a different trustee bug.
• Turns out, old Jervie's a lamb. 
• She's a girl, not a foundling. 

June 9th.  - Judy talks about her summer plans. 

• She doesn't have to mind anyone!

LOCK WILLOW FARM, Saturday night. - Judy loves Lock Willow. 

• Fancy Connecticut goes like Marcelle waves. 

----------------------------------------------

Were you prepared for college? What did you flunk in college? 

Did anyone ever actually use blotting paper, like for calligraphy?

Are you always the last to leave a party? Do you tell stories that amuse you and perhaps no one else? You you, like me sometimes feel like you might be like Ackerly the overstaying guest?

Could you read enough French to understand the letter Judy wrote in French class? Are you bilingual? Trilingual? A genius??

Did you have a wonderful place that meant summer to you when you were young? 

DADDY LONG LEGS letters, part 1

Here is more of the group read of DADDY LONG LEGS

October 10 -  Judy becomes accustomed to college

• Did you even know Maurice Materlink?
• Jerusha and Julia are born enemies?
• My recaps are briefer than hers!

Wednesday - Unusual amounts of originality, except when Mrs. Lippett names orphans.

• A name change! A new life!
• She's killing me with those gloves...
• 97 orphans into 97 twins.

October 25th. - Please excuse her exhuberance.

• Cliffhanger over - Judy made the team.

November 15th.  - Education is fine, but it's no six new dresses.

• Thank heavens for Pritchett's good taste!
• Don't even with the poor box. 

December 19th - Judy creates her own imaginary DLL and vows to read.

• Please define yourself, Daddy Long Legs.
• Give me something to work with!
• Vacation: three blessed weeks to read.

Towards the end of the Christmas vacation. Exact date unknown. - Well that says it all. 

• Julia Pendelton wears silk stockings annoyingly. 
• Judy's composite family breaks my heart. 
• Broiled lobster, molasses candy, with love .

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Questions

When were you embarrassed that you didn't know something? I'll never forget when my mother pronounced epitome as eppy-Tome in front of my dad and he nearly drove off the road laughing. What are your Port Chere words?

Dare I ask how you decorated your dorm room?

I just did a little talk for my church about "otherness" and Judy's sense of intensity about not being labeled is still such a strong motivator, particularly among the young. One of the things I love about being over 50 is that I have fully embraced my inner weirdness - at what age did you do that?

What was your best reading vacation memory? For me it was binge-reading Neil Gaiman's AMERICAN GODS in line at Disney World about 10 years ago and getting the non from a bunch of disaffected teens on vacation with their families. Or reading THE GREAT GATSBY for the very first time at a bus stop in Brussles as bus after bus drove by and I stayed until I was finished.

DADDY LONG LEGS - Blue Wednesday

So I am going a group read of DADDY LONG LEGS for a listserv I am on and I have decided to post here while I am ramping up.

To prep for the group read I have been reading the book aloud. I am getting quite goofy with it. I have recorded it because, why not? It's in the public domain so no harm, no foul, as I believe they say in the wide, wide world of sports. I may try to attach "Blue Wednesday" to the end of this post. If you're curious about what it sounds like. I don't know if I will continue to record it, but I am really enjoying reading it aloud. It makes me much more attuned to details. 

For example, Jerusha was in charge of room F "where 11 little tots , from four to seven, occupied 11 little cots all in a row." Good grief, I was in charge of 5 toddlers for a few years and almost lost my ever-loving mind! And it sounds like she always had from four to seven. At least my kids grew up... Actually 7 is a pretty great age. I love 7-11 or so. They already have interesting, independent, sometimes even informed thoughts, but they don't know it yet. Any younger than that and they can be cute and funny, but not, generally, interesting. I guess what I have just admitted is that I socialize at an upper elementary school level. Moving on...

Soon page 23 of my copy the all-knowing narrator tells us that "Poor, eager, adventurous little Jerusha, in all her seventeen years, had never stepped inside an ordinary house; she could not picture the daily routine of those other human beings who carried on their lives undiscommoded by orphans." First off, what a gorgeous sentence. Kind of the crux of the book all in one beautifully meandering string of words. Bravo, Jean Webster. Secondly, holy shirtballs! Jerusha has NEVER been in a proper home! My gosh, it makes Jerusha's sense of humor even more amazing.

There is much to say about Mrs. Lippett, but I shall say, she's no Miss Clavell, but she's no Miss Minchin or Miss Slighcarp. And leave it at that. 

There are several words I had probably never said aloud in this chapter and I know that kind of sounds like a humble-brag because the language in here is very rich by today's "new adult literature" (it's a thing, look it up...) standards. But I am a 50+ librarian, I am supposed to know this stuff. I have an excellent reading vocabulary but I find that my speaking vocabulary is, well, I'm not giving a ton of perorations...that's for damn sure! Here are the words, by the way. I was going to write definitions, but you can look them up yourself. I want to get to the part of the book that I adore - the letters!!

Words I Have Likely Never Said Aloud Before:

• undiscommoded
• port cochere
• superintend
• punctilious
• peroration 

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These letters are spectacular! I love epistolary novels. The gold standard is, of course, 84 CHARING CROSS ROAD because it was TRUE! But there are some other good ones - that Gurnsey Pie one. And I read a YA book about a girl who was texting with a boy but she thought she was texting with his cousin. And of course I can't remember the name of it because remembering things is for other people. Anyway - I adore reading other people's mail. I just got the letters Kurt Vonnegut wrote to his first wife in college and during WW2 out of the library this evening and I might just devour it this evening. 

There are a lot of letters in this book and I am going to do six word summaries for each one, because we have all read this and if you haven't then I will try to attach the adorable copy that I digitized to this post because you really must read it at once. I will also try to attach the audio files in case you would rather listen, but NO CRITIQUES! I know my accent changes all the time and I read too fast. I would slow down if my voice wasn't so goofy.

So in the first 2 letters (which I am going to call letters 2 and 3 because we are going to consider "Blue Monday" a letter from the omniscient narrator to us) Jerusha has just gotten to Vassar and is introducing herself to Daddy Long Legs and giving him a bead on her surroundings. 

Letter One: Jerusha bemoans lack of name originality.

Letter Two: 

My room was the contagious ward!! Or maybe Sally and Julia sound just fine. Or perhaps Homesick-Schmomesick, I'm orphan asylum raised! Or even Basketball tryouts? Good God, a cliff-hanger!

Clearly I am going to have a difficult time sticking to six words. 

If I were putting up discussion questions they would be:

What is your favorite age range of children to befriend, teach or raise? (And it is perfectly fine not to like them at all, I couldn't stand children other than my own until I mellowed with age. Stop laughing, I really have!)

Who are your favorite literary orphans? Or your favorite orphan story if you like a horrible orphan like Mary Lennox?

What are your favorite epistolary novels? How about books of real correspondence?

That's all for today. 

Here is a google file with the PDF and sound files. The PDF is adorable and I am so proud of myself for having created it, I mean, the illustrations were done by Jean Webster, but the digital version on Project Gutenberg didn't have them in there so I had to photograph the pictures from my old yellowing copy and put them in and that sort of thing is NOT my strong suit! But I did it for the greater good because those illustrations are adorable and someday I will have one of them tattooed on my body! Ooh - we should vote!

Okay, NOW that's all for today.