Adventures by the Fireside

I saw something interesting on the internet once.  Actually, I've seen it a lot.  It has many different forms, but they all look pretty much like this:

The main point that they all express is a longing to visit the worlds of various books.  They are disappointed that they didn't discover Narnia, that they never got Hogwarts acceptance letters, that satyrs didn't take them to Camp Half-Blood, and some even that they didn't end up in the Hunger Games (I don't really understand this one--who wants to fight other teenagers to death?).  They all count on Gandalf to take them on adventures when they're 50.  


These are expressions of people who, if you asked them, would say they love the stories these wishes come from.  However, if they think they haven't gone on any of these adventures, they don't really understand the things they claim to love.  I pity them.  You see, I discovered Narnia long ago, and have visited it times innumerable since then.  I have been to Hogwarts and Camp Half-Blood.  I have wandered Prince Edward Island in the company of Anne Shirley, and I have traveled to the Magical Land of Oz.  I have been "There and Back Again" with Bilbo and the dwarves, and I have even journeyed with the Nine Companions in their quest to destroy the Ring of Power.  I have gone on these and countless other adventures, all the while sitting in the comfort of my own home.  Every time I read these book, I revisit those places and adventures.  Even though the books remain the same, they never grow old or boring, because I have changed since I last visited.  Paraphrasing Heraclitus, I like to say that no book is read twice by the same man.  With each new reading, I see the story more clearly and experience it more vividly.  That is why if you look at my book log, you will see that I have read most books at least twice, and that I have read some, such as The Lord of the Rings,by J.R.R. Tolkien, or Waking Rose, by Regina Doman over 15 times (LotR is probably closer to 30).  The characters I love to read about are not flat and one-dimensional to me; rather, they are friends, almost as real to me as my friends, and more real that people I don't know.  I don't need to imagine what it would be like to go to their land and meet them, because I already have, scores of times.  

So, if the people who agree with these sort of ideas and make pins of them 
have not gone on these adventures and become friends with these people, I have two things to say to them:

1) I am so, so sorry that you haven't yet . . .

2) But, don't be sad, because you CAN go on the adventures you desire, and you CAN meet your book friends.  Now stop reading this and go visit them! :) 

"Living Epistles"

Today I was looking at Anne of Green Gables pins on Pinterest, because that’s the sort of geeky thing I like to do.  One link led to another, and I ended up reading the comments on an article, which is generally not a very good idea, since most are often ignorant and/or stupid.  However, this time it turned out well, because now I have something to write about!  I don’t remember what the actual article was about, but I remember the comment.  It was a woman complaining that in the first books of the Anne series, there are feminist ideals, and Anne seems to have a career.  She was lamenting the fact that in the later books, Anne’s career fades away and she seems stuck “doing her duty” taking care of her children.  She seems to imply that Anne would have been happier if she could have just stuck to her career and not have to be burdened by taking care of children.

 I agree with this anonymous commenter that Anne’s focus does shift from writing to children part way through the series.  However, I do not agree that this change of focus is sad or is unwanted by Anne.  Although Anne’s desire to write is prior in time to her desire to be a wife and mother, it is the latter which truly makes her happy and which is her true vocation.  This is clear in the books dealing with Anne’s life after her marriage, but particularly in Anne of Ingleside.  Throughout the book, Anne is continuously thinking about how much she loves her children and how she delights in taking care of them.  Not that she is always perfectly, unnaturally happy—the last chapter where Anne thinks Gilbert no longer cares for her shows that even the happiest of people have bad times and gives the whole book a more realistic quality. 

  In light of the reality present in the books, the commenter’s remark seems pretty ridiculous, but it is, unfortunately, indicative of the mindset of our times.  Modern generations seem to have lost a few very important ideas: that vocations exist, that women chose to be wives and mothers, and that doing so is not being repressed.  With these concepts forgotten, purposely or otherwise, it is no wonder that this woman was disappointed in Anne in the later books.  But I pity her, not being able to see of understand the beauty I see and understand in Anne’s joy in her “living epistles,” as she calls her children once, and in living her vocation to the fullest.

The Cherry Tree Revised

Well, this didn't work out so well.  I started this blog a year and a half ago (about) and in that time, I posted once, and that was just an introduction to my blog.  This is an attempt at a re-boot, if it can be called that.  I'm planning to write about all kinds of thing, not just book reviews.  My first year and a half of college have taught me a lot of things, and one of those is that I really like writing my opinions on pretty much anything to do with literature or story telling in general (which includes TV shows and movies, etc.).  I will probably end up writing about, or at least mentioning, The Lord of the Rings and Middle Earth in general a lot, since Tolkien is my favorite author.  However, I do NOT want to write on those topics exclusively.  Despite what some people may think, I am not obsessed with LOTR, and I have strong opinions about many other topics.

So, for my first real post, I want to talk about Downton Abbey.  In particular, the first episode of fourth season, which just aired in America on Sunday night.  This is my first year watching it as it airs, since I only just discovered it this past summer.

**SPOILERS**

If you have not seen season 4 episode 1, read beyond this at your own risk!

These are my (not so organized) thoughts on the season 4 premier.

First of all, about the servants. I am not surprised O'Brien left.  After all, she was seriously contemplating it in the season 3 finale.  However, I am disappointed that she just ran away in the night without giving her notice or saying goodbye.  And I am not happy with her replacement.  For one thing, it is not a good idea to have Edna back in the house, no matter how much training and experience she's had since she left.  When she was there the first time, she was not good for Branson.  I really hope she doesn't work out, or Cora realizes that she's up to no good.  Edna is just as bad, or maybe even worse than O'Brien.  At least O'Brien was loyal to Cora (in the later seasons) and cared about her (though apparently not enough to stay).  Edna seems to have ulterior motives in wanting to be Cora's ladies' maid, probably concerning Branson.  She also bodes ill for Anna.  Practically as soon as she arrived, she let Thomas convince her to falsely put Anna in a bad light.  Poor Anna doesn't deserve any more trouble, since she and Bates have had enough to last a lifetime.  They deserve to be left alone to be happy now.

I don't like Jimmy leading Ivy on, but I'm a little bit hopeful that he's not just leading her on, and he actually does like her.  I mean, those tickets are an awful lot to spend just to hurt Alfred.  Speaking of Alfred, I wish he would like Daisy.  He is obviously better real friends with her than he is with Ivy, and he liked Daisy before Ivy came.  Plus, Daisy deserves to be happy.  She had William before, but she could never be really happy with him because of the war (and Mrs. Patmore pushing her).  By the time she realized that she really loved him, he was dead.  Alfred and Daisy would just be so perfect together! He wants to cook, not be a footman, Daisy doesn't want to be stuck as the Cook's Assistant forever, and Mr. Mason (William's father) offered to leave her his farm, suggesting that she could run it and cook/bake things to sell.  Together, Daisy and Alfred could run it and be very happy.

As for that nanny, she was horrible.  I didn't like the looks of her from the start.  I am so glad Thomas told Cora about her.  He was honest for once in his life.  I think Thomas genuinely cares about Sibby.  After all, he WAS friends with Sybil, as much as a servant (excluding Branson) could be, and he was truly upset when she died.

Throughout the episode, I got so frustrated at Robert for trying to keep Mary away from everything. I understand that he was honestly trying to help her, but what she really needed was to have a job to do, to have some connection to the world again.  If everyone does everything for her, she could think she has no need to continue living, and so sort of drift away.  Robert should have known to listene to Branson and the Dowager.  After all, the former just went through the same trauma of loosing his spouse at a very young age after only being married for a short time, and the latter has also lost her husband (and is almost always right).  It is good that Mary decided to take part in life (and the running of the estate) again.  If Robert were left to manage it by himself, things would probably go downhill pretty quickly.  He doesn't seem to be able to (or want to) change his old ways for new, even when people show him they are better.  

I could probably say much more about this, but as this post is already quite long, I will say no more.  Feel free to comment!  If you have seen the rest of season 4 online already, I beg you, please do not give any spoilers for future episodes.

N.B. In my book, a spoiler is any fact about the episodes I haven't seen, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant.  Thanks!

Welcome to The Cherry Tree!

Hi! I'm Linette!  I started this blog to post reviews of books that I read.  I know I'm always looking for advice on what to read, so I'm hoping my reviews will give other people some ideas!

Now, before I post any reviews, I want to explain why I called my blog "The Cherry Tree."  When I was little, I memorized the poem "Foreign Lands" by Robert Louis Stevenson.  I always loved how the child could see so much just by climbing into the cherry tree.  When I was trying to think of an appropriate name for my blog of book reviews, it occurred to me that reading is sort of like climbing into that cherry tree.  When I read a book, I get a view of  "many pleasant places more/ that I had never seen before," just like the child in the poem.  I hope you can see the "many pleasant places" through my reviews.