Ouachita Challenge

Posted on April 11, 2011 by pagesofjulia

Friends, I’ve had a hard time getting around to writing this race report. It didn’t go all that outstandingly well for me, and I’m a bit embarrassed and humbled. And I’ve been struggling with how to describe my experience without doing too much whining or making too many excuses. I’m not a fan of excuses. I think they come naturally to all of us, myself included, but I TRY to refrain from singing them too loudly or constantly, because such behavior, in others, strikes me as an annoying failure to take responsibility for one’s own performances. I find that the best, the fastest, the strongest bike racers out there (and the best people in general) are those who quietly allow their performances to speak for them rather than trying to explain themselves into a better light. I’m not the best, the fastest or the strongest, but hopefully I’ll get better.

Okay so. Let me start with a brief explanation of events leading up to the Ouachita Challenge, and I’ll try to go as light on the excuses as possible.

The story starts last fall, when I burned out (after a very busy, fairly successful spring season that I tried to carry through summer and fall) on bike racing and gave myself permission to take a big, fat break. This big fat break quickly became the longest I’d ever been off the bike, and I trained for and ran a 5k with my Pops which was great, and it was generally good to have a break. But these breaks are hard to come back from! which may be why I don’t take them much. I had some issues with motivation and some issues with the major infected saddle sore of my career. January and February saw me fitfully riding amidst difficulties. The spring in general was a bit busy because I took a grad course on top of my usual work, etc.

The Husband and I signed up together to race the Ouachita Challenge, back in December or thereabouts. This is a big-deal marathon mountain bike race in the Ouachita National Forest in northeast Arkansas. Registration opens at 1am on a Tuesday or something and sells out in about 10 minutes, so you have to plan ahead. We got our spots secured months ahead of time and from there largely counted down woefully while observing what good shape we weren’t in. In the final month before the race I got sick twice. Imagine a sinking feeling in your stomach. Yep.

We drove to Arkansas in two days, taking time to stop off in Tyler to ride the trails at the Tyler State Park. I’d never ridden these trails before (being thwarted by rain the last time we tried). They’re great fun! Swoopy, fast, flowy, and really beautiful. I had a good time there. We headed into Arkansas on Saturday to ride part of the course.

By this time I had worked myself up into a state of panic over this race. I was heading into what might be the biggest, hardest event of my career, in what I felt was the worst shape of my career. I think the worst part, though, is the fear of the unknown: I knew nothing about the trails we’d be riding, so I really didn’t know how bad it would be. I was pretty terrified.

So to pre-ride, we tackled what we were told was the hardest, most technical part of the race. It was fairly demoralizing; Blowout Mountain is, well, it’s a mountain, and we don’t have those where I come from. It was also pretty technical, periodically covered in rock gardens that I did not find to be rideable. Chris and our buddy Rob might have been more upset at the unrideable rock gardens than I was, though – I am fairly familiar with race courses that require me to get off my bike occasionally, but these tough guys aren’t, so much. What I was most worried about was the climbing! I was gasping for air and continuing to feel terrified.

Race morning I felt resigned to do what I had to do. I didn’t have any feeling of excitement or anticipated enjoyment or even competitive spirit; I just felt that I needed to steel myself to a grand slog of pain. Chris and I had pre-ordered commemorative 10th anniversary event jerseys (not cheap) and I was determined to NOT wear my jersey unless I finished the event. Maybe it’s silly, but this was actually a pretty big piece of motivation for me.

So. After that long intro, I wonder if you’re still with me. I think my race report will be the shortest part of this race report! It went: paved road, followed by dirt road, gently climbing, maybe 8-10 miles. First singletrack, more climbing, less gentle. First checkpoint: I see Rob’s girlfriend Lisa; she cheers for me; I’m doing less badly at this point than I’d feared. I give her thumbs up. Then we hit Blowout Mountain, and yes, it’s at least as bad as it was yesterday. Argh! Come down Blowout: fun! I like to descend, and this is some fun, flowy descending, just enough rock to be interesting without having to slow down too much. More climbing. (I don’t know the names of all these mountains.) More suck. Then we hit the road again (paved, then dirt) – this is the transition between the Ouachita Trail (famously technical, climby, and hard) and the Womble Trail (famously fun and flowy). We have epic headwind; people are suffering; but I actually pass a few people here, feeling okay. Apparently I’m not entirely reformed from my roadie past, because at this point I feel like: please give me another 50 miles of headwind-road and NO MORE CLIMBING. (Later I hear Chris felt the same way at this point. Houstonians have much more experience with headwind than we do hills, let alone mountains!) Hit the Womble Trail, which I’m told is the fun part; ride some Womble feeling like okay, this is fun trail, but I am TIRED. Hear we’re only halfway done. Feel unhappy about this news. More climbing! I know climbing is relative: if somebody from Austin tells you something is “flat” and you live in Houston, you should not trust this data. Maybe the mountain-dwellers feel that the Womble is not so climby but I was hurting. I cramped starting on Blowout Mountain (early in the day) and by the last 15 miles of the race, I was cramping in my fingers, toes, back, abs, arms and of course every muscle in my legs. I think my kidneys cramped. I drank about 2 1/2 gallons of water over the course of the day, most of it electrolyte-enhanced, and ate a fair amount too; but it was the hottest day I’d seen all year (it hit 95 degrees) and it just wasn’t enough. Also, I was nauseous at the start line (I was getting sick again, but it was probably mostly nerves) and all the way to the finish – all day, nauseous, and therefore not eating or drinking as much as I would have liked. I hit a checkpoint at which I was told I had 14 miles to go, and I really thought I was closer to the finish than that, which is demoralizing. Those last 14 miles were really a mental battle. I had to get off the bike and walk out a cramp once or twice; I was talking to myself (I’m pretty sure it wasn’t out loud). I was thinking about that stupid jersey, of all things! The last, oh, 2 miles or so are small town roads (mostly dirt), and I felt that I was close, but still just had to tell myself to grind along…

There were time cut-offs at several check-points on this race – not unusual for marathon racing. But this was the first time I’d been concerned about them. I failed to put a watch on my handlebars when we left Houston, so we stopped on the drive up and bought me a little digital bracelet-style watch for $5 at a gas station. I wanted to watch out for the time cut-offs (if you’re going too slow, they don’t let you finish), and I also wanted to finish in 8 hours. Well, I made every time cut-off, but by less and less at each one. In those final miles, I knew I would be allowed to finish, so I just had to make myself do it. As I approached the school where the race started and finished, I looked at my watch and saw 3:58pm (since we’d started at 8, 4pm was my 8-hour time). I crossed the road to the school… and the volunteers said, “just up that hill!” What!! A HILL! Argh! I got off to walk up the hill. I couldn’t ride. What can I say, I’m a weakling; I’m fat and out of shape. I had done so much walking all day (up the sides of mountains, through rock gardens) that my cycling shoes (old and worn, but also just not intended for walking this much) had chewed the skin off my heels in silver-dollar-sized spots. Walking hurt, but I couldn’t ride it. So I’m hobbling up the hill to the finish… with an audience (great)… 3:59… and they’re yelling, “30 seconds to make it under 8 hrs! 20 seconds!”

walking up TINY hill to finish. photo courtesy of Lisa. thanks Lisa


Well, I made it. I think my official time was 7:59:49. Not only Chris, my loving and caring Husband, but also our friends Rob, Holt, and Lisa had waited to see me finish. This meant a lot; Rob and Holt had finished their race just minutes under 6 hours, so they had really spent some time there to show their support. I wasn’t able to say it at the finish, of course, but it was very touching; I really felt the love. I hobbled around the finish area til I thought I could sit without cramping, and I got out of those shoes immediately.

It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, and I really feel like it nearly killed me. But I wanted to be able to wear my jersey! And now, I can! (I wore it the very next time I got on my bike.) This race was harder than I thought it would be. Worst shape of my racing life, yes. But I think even in decent race shape, the climbing of mountains is extranormal for a power-based, anti-climber from Houston, TX like myself. I’m not sure I’d do this race again unless I was prepared to travel to train on actual mountains ahead of time. But I’m so very glad I did it. Even at an embarrassingly slow finish time, this is an experience no one will take away from me. Next up: I want to run a half marathon this year! Glutton for pain, that’s me. Thanks for bearing with this unreasonably long write-up. See you on the road or trail.

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The Mapping of Love and Death by Jacqueline Winspear

Posted on April 11, 2011 by pagesofjulia

It’s that time again! Time for the Maisie Dobbs Read-Along!

This week’s book is The Mapping of Love and Death, and of course the title is significant. Our mystery is the questionable wartime death of a young American man who enlisted with the Brits (in WWI) as a cartographer; he was allowed to do this because of his extraordinary skill and training in the field, and because of his father’s British origins. Maisie is struck by the young man’s very likable family, who are attacked in their hotel immediately after meeting with her, and land in the hospital in critical condition.

Maisie tracks the mystery of what turns out to be a murder in the trenches (characteristically, delving into the war-related past to solve a mystery of the present), as well as the question of what happened to the cartographer’s sweetheart. As a bonus, of course, she solves the attack on the parents, too. In what is almost becoming a predictable format, the past – in this case, the father’s familial past in Britain before his emigration – plays an important role. We see some tragedy in this book, but things are ultimately resolved to general satisfaction in terms of the mystery.

Two important things happen in Maisie’s world: Maurice Blanche, her lifetime mentor, friend, and father figure, dies. And she takes on a new beau, far more promising than anyone we’ve met so far, because she has a truly emotional reaction to him rather than being detachedly “fond” as she was of Dr. Dene. The new beau is James Compton, son of her patroness the Lady Rowan, and I suppose I’m (naturally) naive to the difference in their social classes being such a big deal, but I couldn’t help but be a bit impatient with this question. I thought it couldn’t help but be resolved – as it was – by Lady Rowan’s demure acceptance of the inter-class question. She’s always been a nonjudgmental friend to Maisie. I was a bit surprised at her protest, which was unrelated to social class, and now I’m especially impatient to see Maisie declare her intentions and continue to “walk out” with James. The book left us hanging on this point. I suppose I’ll look forward more anxiously than usual to A Lesson in Secrets, the new Maisie book, released just a week or two ago. (It’s en route to the library now and I shall read it first thing.)

So let’s review. Another mystery was solved, satisfactorily but also according to a pattern I’m becoming very comfortable with – if not perhaps a touch bored. Maurice died, which is a very real personal tragedy for Maisie, as well as being one of those silver-lining opportunities for greater personal growth and independence, much as Simon’s death was. Ah yes, I didn’t say that she is now a quite wealthy young woman! Thanks to being the overwhelming heir to Maurice’s fortune. She has a new man, one I find very promising, if she can quit being wishy-washy and say YES Lady Rowan, I adore your son! I suppose it’s hard to think about remaining an independent businesswoman and get married, especially in her time. But James seems so wonderful, surely he’d be supportive?

I have left out any consideration of Billy Beale, generally one of my favorite characters. His family life & drama didn’t play quite such a strong role in this book; but that’s good for them, the reason being, that they had less drama. Billy’s still dreaming of emigrating to Canada, and I have a feeling Maisie’s new-found personal wealth will trickle towards the Beales; but there may also be a new mouth to feed around that household soon! So who knows. I continue to hold Billy and his family close to my heart and look forward to meeting with them again soon.

I believe that sums it up. I enjoyed this Maisie book, as all the others. But there is very much a pattern to the structure that can be comfortably rhythmic and predictable but has thoroughly ceased to make me gasp. For truly suspenseful, edge-of-my-seat mystery novels, I have learned, I must look elsewhere. That’s okay. There are lots of good suspense writers out there. I can’t wait for the new Michael Connelly to arrive! And I recently really enjoyed my first experience with Lisa Gardner; and there’s Elizabeth George… she hasn’t settled into any kind of predictable pattern, yet, to me. Although, come to think of it, her Barbara Havers character frustrates me in the same way Maisie does: I want to shove them or shake them into realizing the teeny tiny steps they could make that would get them so far… it’s taking awfully many books for these women to realize their own worth in certain areas. But don’t get me ranting. 🙂

Still loving Maisie and still loving the read-along! Check out our fearless leader Book Club Girl for discussion of The Mapping of Love and Death.

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a promise of things to come

Posted on April 6, 2011 by pagesofjulia

Hello friendly blog-readers. I hope you’ll forgive me for some place-holder posts this week. Briefly, I’ll tell you what’s going on…

Last weekend the Husband and I traveled to Arkansas to compete in the Ouachita Challenge, a 60-mile marathon mountain bike race on the Ouachita and Womble Trails in the Ouachita National Forest. I’ve raced, oh, 6 or 8 marathon mountain bike races, but I have to tell you, this one is in another league. It honestly nearly killed me, but I finished it, and I’m not recovered yet! I do intend to write up my experience, although I don’t know where my race report will end up just yet. Maybe here; maybe over at my personal/cycling website, maybe even in The Racing Post, who knows. I’ll announce it here when I get to it.

The next thing is that this coming Saturday marks the end of my semester-long class in Database Searching. It’s been a really great class – it’s kept me interested and engaged and actually looking forward to Saturday morning classes, which is saying a lot. I’m so glad I’m taking it. But, that said, the final paper and presentation due this week are stressing me out a bit. I feel the need to devote my time to schoolwork this week rather than to much blogging.

I did read Love You More by Lisa Gardner on the trip, and we listened to two audiobooks: The Pied Piper by Ridley Person, and Shoot Him If He Runs by Stuart Woods. So, I have a few musings to write up for you when I find the time. I’m also about halfway through The Mapping of Love and Death by Jacqueline Winspear now (I still get to read on my lunch hour, you know!) but that one is scheduled for next Monday the 11th, in sync with Book Club Girl‘s read-along.

So this is my plea: stick with me for a few days of hecticness, and next week, I’ll be back on track!

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Cirque du Soleil: Ovo!

Posted on April 5, 2011 by pagesofjulia

Last Tuesday night, March 29, the Husband and I went with my parents to see a Cirque du Soleil show called Ovo. Oh my! What to say to describe this? I had never seen Cirque before, and knew it was something very impressive and unique, but I don’t think I was prepared. And I’m not sure I can paint it for you if you’ve never seen one of their productions. But I shall try.

For starters, it was really like an old-fashioned circus in some ways. I think I was picturing something more like theatre, in a fancy hall, with the audience in their finery. And they do perform in concert halls and theatres sometimes; but this was a circus tent (“big top”) set up in a very large parking lot (at a horse-racing track). It sounded like a circus when we stepped inside (circus music!) and

one of my favorites

smelled like one (popcorn!) and, well, it looked like a circus – bright colors and vendors and beer and wine in plastic glasses. The crowd was very diverse and variously dressed in more and less formal attire.

As expected, the performers were in outrageous costume. They were a troupe of various insects: grasshoppers, spiders, a ladybug, and more. And their tricks… wow. There were acrobatics and truly athletic feats of flexibility, balance, and strength – like a combination of gymnastics and dance and yoga. There was juggling, dancing, people being thrown in the air and caught and flipped… tumblers… tightrope

unicycle! on a high wire!

walking… and a truly amazing trampoline act. There were trapeze artists swinging above our heads. (The Husband and I were both reminded of the Drive-by Truckers song The Flying Wallendas. Happily no tragedies this evening!) I had not expected to be thoroughly terrified by almost every act! But I was so thrilled and exhilarated, too. There is also a story involved, of the egg (ovo), and all the insects’ interest in it; and there is a love story. But really, this show is short on plot. And that’s okay; the acrobatics and skills and various performances are the whole point.

I’m so glad I got a chance to see this amazing show. It was a very special experience, and the performers are very, very special talented people (and some of them clearly have joints that bend in extra directions, but that’s another issue). What a treat! What a magical night! And how cool and interesting to see that circus performers are still around – I think I had sort of thought that this was a dying or dead industry, but I’m glad that it’s alive and well at least in the Cirque du Soleil company. I was also glad to not see any animal acts; I’m not sure I’m really up for the animal-cruelty questions in a traditional circus, and there was plenty of thrill with these human performers!

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movie: The Lincoln Lawyer (2011)

Posted on March 23, 2011 by pagesofjulia

I didn’t let being sick stop me! I made the Husband take me to a movie Friday night! So I saw the first Michael-Connelly-book-made-into-a-movie on opening night! This is especially momentous because the Husband does not Do Movies. This is the second movie we have seen together in a theatre. (He has a slightly higher tolerance at home on the couch. Like maybe 10 movies, ever.)

It was pretty great! I was excited, because it’s Connelly, and it’s a great story, and I thought McConaughey had some potential as Mickey Haller. (I hadn’t thought of Haller as being quite that pretty, myself, when I read the book, but I was open.) But I was also concerned, just as in reading The Paris Wife (which I loved! did you notice?), because I love Connelly and the movie is never as good as the book, and there was a high risk of disappointment.

cute Maggie McFierce

But I liked it! Yay! (The Husband did too. Remember he’s a part-time Connelly fan.) Of course, being a two-hour Hollywood movie, it cut significantly from the book. I was tolerant. It stayed with the feel of the plot; Haller was a baller, and his being pretty worked, and I thought Marisa Tomei was the CUTEST Maggie McFierce. It was enjoyable. Was it a Connelly novel? Heck no, but it followed his atmosphere, and I enjoyed it. And then I went to bed.

McConaughey with Connelly

I wonder if maybe he sold that book for a movie, first, to see how it would go, rather than any of the Bosch series. I figure once he releases Bosch to the big screen, he will have committed, and will have to let them keeping making Bosch, for better or worse. Which led to a question: who do we like to play Bosch? Anybody? The Husband had an idea, but I didn’t know the actor so it hasn’t stuck in my head. I have no ideas because I’m not very good at Hollywood. :-/ Please share! Who is Bosch? I see him as being stout and muscled, not terribly tall, with dark hair, and weathered by violence and stress, but still a touch ruggedly handsome while NOT being pretty. Who is this?

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how to blog, cont’d

Posted on March 19, 2011 by pagesofjulia

So I’ve been wanting to share with you another how-to-blog kind of post I found quite a while ago. In fact, this one is so good I feel the need to make very little comment.

I found this post by Thomas at My Porch at about the time it was posted, at the end of 2010; I don’t know how I came across it, but I liked it so much I have been following this blog ever since. The parts that dictate what blogs he does, and doesn’t, find interesting were the best parts for me; I took his tips to heart because they made so much sense to me. I’ve reproduced the relevant bits over here in short:

Blog posts I am most likely to read?

1. Anything to do with a list. Even if I don’t agree with the criteria or the subject, a post about lists will always get my attention. Lol. I, too, enjoy lists, and here I’ve just been given permission to go crazy with them.

2. Anything with pictures of books. I prefer the stacks of owned books. For some reason piles from the library fail to inspire me. I did indulge on this one this week, but I don’t very often do stacks of book, let alone the just-acquired stacks so popular in blog posts. Frankly, I can’t get excited about someone else’s shopping, whether at a bookstore or a library. I want to hear about these books when you read them; until then I don’t much care.

3. The more personal and newsy the better. I love hearing about your hobbies, your travel, your cooking and baking, your pets, and even your kids (unless it falls into the “children are our future” camp of over adulation). This is the one I have most taken to heart; I felt encouraged by this statement. I, too, care about the personal aspects. I’m not trying to read your diary; I’m interested in a reading blog first and foremost. But, I think our reading lives do bleed into our personal lives and vice versa, and if I get to read some personal musings (like what Sheila does, over at Book Journey), I feel a bit better-connected.

Blog posts I am least likely to read? These are mostly good for an lol.

1. Anything with vampires. I just don’t dig the paranormal and I find this genre tedious.

2. Young adult fiction being read and reviewed endlessly by grown women. I am not dissing YA, and I am not dissing those who have a professional interest, those who review them for a YA audience, or those who review one or two of them in passing. But this year I was a judge for the YA category in a blog beauty pageant and it really soured me on the legions of twenty-something females who appear to be frightened of leaving their tween years behind them. One expects them to have Justin Bieber posters on their walls and fluffy pom-poms on the ends of their purple pens.

3. Reviews of audio books. I read and enjoy reviews of TV shows and films, but I just pass over audio book reviews. Interesting. I don’t do a lot of audiobooks, so fair enough; but I’m not sure I’m against reading about them especially. As long as it’s still about the book, it’s a book review to me – unless you’ve spent a bunch of time discussing the reader’s voice, I guess.

4. The one million Booker Prize recaps. I used to pay attention to these, but there just seem to be too many of them these days.

5. Anything by bloggers who seem to be completely devoid of any sense of humor.

6. ARC reviews. I won’t say that I never read them, but I prefer to see what bloggers read when they get to choose for themselves. (Full disclosure: I have reviewed one ARC. But I would have picked up the Maggie O’Farrell novel anyway.)

Biggest shortcomings as a book blogger?

1. My over the top, intolerant, un-nuanced pronouncements that make me feel temporarily smug (see the answers to the previous question).

2. My inability to recap plots in a way that isn’t boring or overly reductive. Here, here. I’m also conflicted about plot summaries. Part of me feels like if you’re interested in this book, you have 1,000 plot summaries at your fingertips (if you know how to read blogs, I’m assuming you’re also comfortable with google, amazon, b&n…). Why do I need to re-summarize it for you? But then, I would hate for any post or review to seem gapingly incomplete. I, personally, go back and forth on the necessity of plot summaries at all. Perhaps you’ve noticed?

3. I am sure there are more…but I am too lazy to think of them.

4. I get lazy.

One thing I wish every blog included?

Geographic location of the blogger. I don’t need to know the street you live on, but I really like knowing where a blogger lives. And unless you live in Gibraltar it would be nice if you could be a little more specific than just noting the country. Again something I took to heart – I immediately went back into my blog and confirmed that I do have my hometown of Houston, Texas clearly stated. I share this feeling; I like reading about what kind of weather you’re having, for instance, and then I need to know where you are, don’t I? It’s snowing, really, where? (It’s about 80 degrees here right now.)

Things that puzzle me (good for more lols)

1. British bloggers tend to get lots of influenza. What’s up with that? I worry about you all.

2. Mailbox Mondays. Who is sending all of these books? Is there an international directory of mailing addresses that I don’t have access to? I don’t necessarily want to get books, but I sometimes want to send books. But I feel like sending books unsolicited would seem a little creepy. How does one ask for an address without seeming to be a stalker? Thomas, thank you for addressing the elephant in the room. I have never understood either. However, I work in a giant world of books and really would not want them to start flowing in through the mailbox, too, so I am NOT soliciting, thank you.

3. Feeds.

4. Mincemeat.

5. Why I am using up months’ worth of blog post topics in one out of control stream of consciousness.

Well, anyway, some of that got a little silly, but I couldn’t resist borrowing Thomas’s humor for a laugh over here! (Take it as a compliment, please, sir.) Since we addressed the question of How To Blog earlier this week, I wanted to include some of the tips I found and appreciated at My Porch. Do you have any agreements or disagreements with his ideas?

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How To Blog (I’m still learning, myself)

Posted on March 15, 2011 by pagesofjulia

Today I was fascinated by a post I found on Eva’s blog, A Striped Armchair. (By the way, welcome back Eva! Missed you!) A commenter asked her about how she composes posts – mostly, how quickly, and with how much editing. This question caught my attention because I was asked the same thing recently (out loud, in the real world, but still). My answer is similar to Eva’s: I mostly write off the cuff, and almost always publish in the same session as I compose. But that’s in the nature of my blog; I intended it to be about my personal responses to the world, mostly books, but occasionally other stuff, too. I (try to) always check first for typos and broken links, but generally I then click “publish” and move on. This is not my full-time job.

Interrelated to this question, for Eva, is the question of whether she “reviews” or “recommends” books. This question spoke to me as well. I conceived of a reading blog initially while taking a class in Readers Advisory services – meaning, the service librarians provide in helping readers find books they might enjoy. This art-science involves listening to what readers have enjoyed in the past, and seeking books that share similar qualities. It definitively excludes making a personal judgment or statement about these books. I enjoyed my Readers Advisory class (the second I’ve taken in fact) and love the idea of the service; but as it turns out, my blog never really went that way. Because this is my personal space, I like to keep my voice, and it just feels natural to tell you how I feel about the books I read.

I follow about 40 blogs, ideally checking in every day. These are mostly reading blogs (a few writing blogs, and one or two miscellaneous/funny ones I just can’t resist). And the ones I enjoy most are the ones in which I can hear a (preferably hilarious and/or thoughtful and reflective) personal voice describing that reader’s reaction to a book or a life event. I find real people and personal reactions far more interesting than clinical book reviews. Perhaps that’s part of why I’m comfortable letting my personal perspective live in my blog.

Eva directs her readers to another post here, in which The Boston Bibliophile debates the appropriateness of a personal voice in a bibliophile’s blog. I don’t disagree one bit with her conclusion to keep her personal life out of her blog. I mean, golly, in a world of blogs, personal websites (I have one of those, too), facebook, twitter, and the rest, I fully support someone seeking a little privacy. And maybe The Boston Bibliophile has other reasons for keeping that blog a bit anonymous; she does mention that she has another, private, more personal blog for friends & family. All of that makes sense to me, for her.

But for me, it makes sense to do it this way. For example, to respond to one of The BB’s questions, yes, I think one’s religious sensibilities does color our reading of at least those books that overtly involve religion. Every book I read is filtered through my own set of experiences, beliefs, and understandings of the world; how could it possibly be otherwise? Since I’m not speaking for a corporation or anything, I feel most comfortable recognizing my own perspective when I write about books. I find other bloggers’ “reviews” (or recommendations) most interesting when they involve the personal. But, I’d never seen The BB’s blog before today. Maybe I’ll find it fascinating; I’m not judging, but merely responding to the two above posts.

Thank you to Eva and The Boston Bibliophile for giving me the chance to consider my style here at pagesofjulia. These are my pages, and I’m comfortable with the influence of julia on them, but it’s always a good idea to think one’s position through!

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Pardonable Lies by Jacqueline Winspear

Posted on March 10, 2011 by pagesofjulia

Book 3 of the Maisie Dobbs mystery series by Jacqueline Winspear is called Pardonable Lies. From the author’s website (because I’m lazy, and because this is a fine one) I give you a synopsis:

In the third novel of this unique and masterly crime series, a deathbed plea from his wife leads Sir Cecil Lawton, KC, to seek the aid of Maisie Dobbs, psychologist and investigator. As Maisie soon learns, Agnes Lawton never accepted that her aviator son was killed in the Great War, a torment that led her not only to the edge of madness but also to the doors of those who practice the dark arts and commune with the spirit world. Determined to prove Ralph Lawton either dead or alive, Maisie is plunged into a case that tests her spiritual strength, as well as her regard for her mentor, Maurice Blanche. The mission will bring her to France and reunite her with her old friend Priscilla Evernden, who lost three brothers in the war, one of whom has an intriguing connection to the case.

Set against a finely drawn portrait of life between the World Wars, Pardonable Lies is “a thrilling mystery that will enthrall fans of Jacqueline Winspear’s heroine and likely win her new ones” (Detroit Free Press).

This episode involves the rift between Maisie and her mentor, Maurice. I’m not terribly impressed with Maisie’s decision-making in this book. I think it’s a time of growth and learning for her, though. Out of her rift with Maurice comes a greater independence in her own work (which is rather patronizingly and, I thought, unnecessarily explained to us by Winspear), which she did need. But she also showed a stubbornness in this book that endangers her own health and therefore those things she cares so much about: her business, her cases, Billy’s employment. She needs to confess that she’s human, and be willing to accept help when it’s both offered and needed. I was also frustrated with her treatment of Dr. Dene. I know she has precious little experience “walking out with” a man, and her one love affair ended tragically and she’s hurt. Still, I felt that she treated Dene rather cruelly. Surely someone as intuitive as Maisie could come up with more humane behavior towards a man who rather loves her, who she cares for (if less) in return. But I guess that’s the great irony: psychologists with screwy relationships, mechanics whose cars don’t run. Right?

But, I had a good time with Maisie, again; enjoyed the several cases she solved and the puzzles she unriddled. I thought the case of Avril was interesting, but I especially enjoyed the cases of the two missing soldiers. I think Winspear’s best subject matter may be the war and it’s painful aftermath; perhaps that’s why these were such powerful, moving stories. That, and I love Priscilla and enjoy getting to know her family.

Although I am very, very late, I am heading over to Book Club Girl‘s website to join the discussion about this book, so come on over there with me if you like. On Monday, March 14, I’ll be posting, and we’ll be discussing, An Incomplete Revenge. Next up (in order, and on time!) I’ll be reading-along book 6 of the Maisie series, Among the Mad. Stay tuned!

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further response on Marginalia

Posted on March 10, 2011 by pagesofjulia

Well! Wouldn’t you know. Coincidentally… do you believe in coincidence? Maurice Blanche, mentor to Maisie Dobbs, says that coincidence is the messenger of truth… but coincidentally, my Shelf Awareness email of the day opens with the following quotation from NPR’s Andrei Codrescu:

I’m reading a new book I downloaded on my Kindle and I noticed an underlined passage. It is surely a mistake, I think. This is a new book. I don’t know about you, but I always hated underlined passages in used books…. And then I discovered that the horror doesn’t stop with the unwelcomed presence of another reader who’s defaced my new book. But it deepens with something called view popular highlights, which will tell you how many morons have underlined before so that not only you do not own the new book you paid for, the entire experience of reading is shattered by the presence of a mob that agitates inside your text like strangers in a train station.

“So now you can add to the ease of downloading an e-book the end of the illusion that it is your book. The end of the privileged relation between yourself and your book. And a certainty that you’ve been had. Not only is the e-book not yours to be with alone, it is shared at Amazon which shares with you what it knows about you reading and the readings of others. And lets you know that you are what you underline, which is only a number in a mass of popular views…. Conformism does come of age in the most private of peaceful activities–reading a book, one of the last solitary pleasures in a world full of prompts to behave. My Kindle, sugar-coated cyanide.

–Andrei Codrescu on NPR’s All Things Considered

How’s about that, hm? Rather a different take on Sam Anderson’s concept that I discussed in yesterday’s post. Just thought you might be interested. I fully sympathize with Codrescu’s feelings about having other readers’ impressions imbedded in what I’m reading: it clouds my experience. Even if I do care what another reader thinks, I want to hear about it after I’ve read the work myself, unsullied, the first time. What do YOU think about writing in books? Sometimes, never, always? Of course only in books that belong to you. Right?!

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Broadway presents Billy Elliot

Posted on March 10, 2011 by pagesofjulia

Sorry, friends, I have just realized that I failed to write up my experience last Friday night seeing the Broadway show, Billy Elliot. Here we are now.

I went into this one without a clue of what the story was about. Sometimes I like to do that. But, I think it is almost always better to have an idea of what it’s about. Maybe I just got lazy.

what DO you call it?

My synopsis: Billy Elliot is the young son of a north English miner. The backdrop for Billy’s story is the miners’ strike of the 1840’s, and this sets the emotional scene for Billy’s struggle. He lives in a working-class world of economic hardship and strife, and his home life is male-dominated; his mother is dead and his grandmother is a bit batty, but his brother and father provide macho male energy to go around. In this environment, Billy is taking boxing lessons, but at heart he is a dancer. He stumbles into a ballet class full of little girls (in his boxing helmet or what do you call it? and all) and takes off.

Predictably, his love for the ballet, when discovered, does not make his family proud. But, as the story goes, the town’s miners are crushed and learn to put their pride in this gifted son of the community, and Billy ends up with his father’s support.

It was a touching story, and quite humorous at times, and a touch political – I liked the Margaret Thatcher gags, although I confess I’m not up to speed on the contemporary politics. There’s something absolutely irresistible about a little boy singing and dancing his heart out; and the young actor did some extraordinary dancing. I loved it.



But, I have to say, this play had weaknesses. Unlike RENT, and West Side Story, this was less than perfect. There were definitely moments, for me, when the action lagged; I got impatient on several occasions for them to go ahead and get on with it. I get it, Billy’s brother is mad. He’s going to run offstage and do something. Do it already. The story was good, the music was good (ahem, by Elton John), and the dancing and emotion was great. But the pace could stand an adjustment, in my opinion.

Oh and also – I enjoyed the relationship between Billy and his friend, was it Mark? This little boy likes to dress up in his mother’s dresses, and while doing so, is the one to suggest ironically that Billy might be a little “poof” for enjoying the ballet. Mark (or whatever his name is) turns out to be the “poofy” one, in fact, but they have a touching friendship and when they dance around in little-kid-drag, there are some fun comedic moments.

All in all, I had a fabulous time, as usual, and feel so lucky to get to see shows like this one. Next up, Urinetown! followed by Cats!

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