[ For Thursday - pp. 194-227]
March 5th. -Inspired by a crabby sermon, Judy decides to give dignity a try.
And now some questions!!
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.
- Jervie missed them - off to Princeton!
- [Master Jervie must have been STEAMED!]
- A college girl gets so tired.
- 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.
- Julia goes abroad ALL THE TIME!
- Mrs. Charles Peterson seems perfectly lovely.
- Up on her feet - almost walking.
- Golf? Hunting? Horses? Meditation? What, DLL?
- "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.
- 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.
- She loves him - despite his faults.
- "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. : (
- Good deal of humor - questionable taste.
- Was Judy writing knock-off Edith Wharton?
- Never accused of being a pessimist.
- 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.
- Seventeen Christmas presents? She'll become plutocratic!
- Homemade neckties are usually quote wobbly.
- The sweetest man that ever lived.
- "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
- DLL earns 10,000 fewer purgatorial years.
- 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
Barb
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