Things to Read

My book club is reading All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren. When we were assigned it (I didnt vote for it) I thought, "That old thing. Why re-read it now?"

Well, I didn't read it then, though I read reviews and such.  Wasn't interested in politics at all. So now, I read it, and came upon it as a new thing and the main thing I felt upon reading it was--nostalgia.

So much of it was evocative of my youth--the upbringing of the kids and young folk, the attitudes toward women and girls, the expectations of all that the young men were going to look forward to a world of opportunity, the prejudices kindly and not-so-kindly towards black persons and poor persons. The hordes of uneducated plain people, men mostly, who supported and responded to the call of Willie Stark who was supposed to be Huey Long in disguise.

The weather in the novel even made me feel nostalgic for that time...(the forties and fifties, my time, though it is set in the thirties). The houses, the neighborhoods...the lighting on the streets, even...the farms and the country people more prevalent than they now are...The respect for the "Judges"...there were several in the book and they all had their important niches in that society.

I liked the hero in spite of his being a worthless fellow.  He did the right thing in the end and had a 'happy' ending with his lady love. And was good to take in his old father, who it turned out was not his father, who needed a home at the last. It was nice to see servants in the houses, quiet, busy, respectful people doing needed work. Anyway...the book is very worth reading.

"Florid and overwritten," I thought as I read it, but nonetheless I read on. And I do not always do that nowadays. I kept reading because I wanted to keep sharing in the protagonist's thoughts. Read  it.

I also want to recommend The Summer Kitchen by Louise Andrews Kent. Mrs Kent was a New England lady who conjured up "Mrs Appleyard." "Mrs. Appleyard" was a New England lady who liked to write and liked to cook and did a wonderful job of both.  There are any number of Mrs Appleyard books, so read them!!  This book is divided into May-June-July-August, with three chapters in each section, each detailing a summer event or activity with recipes included!! Pleasant even delightful reading. I just noticed that my book split apart when I opened it...it is falling into ruin. That is how I know I am 85 years old; that, and the fact that all my music is also gone to rack and ruin. French sonatinas and Debussy albums which I remember as fresh and new in their pastel covers have deteriorated into something a little scary when I realize that something similar must be happening to me.  That is the way of time, and of paper and of flesh. So they tell me....YAZZYBEL