Victory Song - A Reader Writes

Mark Twain's Satire: Prince & the Pauper

I read Mark Twain's The Prince and the Pauper on the red eye flight home last night. 

You know the story - it's been told over and over again.  Poor boy changes places with prince.  Both rise to the occasion, etc.

Yet the poor boy, Tom, is totally without guile.  So it takes him a bit longer to understand what is happening.  And the prince, Edward, is totally without perspective.  So the shock of life outside the palace is at first entertaining, then frightening, then intolerable, then enlightening.  Both of them manage to suffer through, despite their longings for past familiarities. 

I love the part where Tom finds a book about life at court and reads it eagerly, in an attempt to figure out what is expected of him. And where he must endure a 20 minute delay in his dressing routine because there was a snag in one of the stockings they attempted to dress him with.  Also love his reaction when a woman who is accused of being a witch (She is supposedly the creator of storms) is brought before him. He had called her away from the executioner.  He asked her eagerly if she might make a storm?  And she tries her best, to please the king who would free her, but to no success.  He says sadly, "Your powers are gone, but if you should find them returned, please come to me quickly for I shall very much like to have you make me a storm."

Edward to his credit, stays noble. Even when forced to be among the gang of thieves, he ruins all their plots by warning those about to be robbed and refusing to carry out his duties.  One night he finds shelter in a barn and curls up next to a calf.  He is warm and comforted in ways that he has not been by humans in a week, and falls asleep almost happy.  In the morning, a rat, who has made a nest in his blanket, runs off and he laughs, "Well, if a king is lying with a rat then he must be at the bottom of his luck, so mine is surely about to be improved."  That's the spirit, eh?!

In the end, Edward needs Tom to help prove that he's actually the king and Tom needs Edward to take over just in time for the coronation (Edward's father, the brutal and unloved Henry VIII, having died while the switch was on).  So they have a chance to be true to each other, and thus life long friends.  Good job!

I aspire to be as wholesome, constant and noble as those two boys.  As always with Twain, it is a lovely story  with thoughtful characters.  He was such a great satirist, but I suspect too subtle.  The idea of a poor child acting in much the same manner as a good prince... that must have seemed too strange in an age when education and opportunity were only for the rich.  Although, that was his point, of course.

Too bad that Twain did not make his social point at the time, but good for us that this tale has lasted because of the quality of its story and depth of understanding of human nature.

I recommend The Prince and the Pauper for all, rich and poor, of any age!

Confessions of a Closet Catholic

My friend Francesca recommended this book to my sister, who passed it on to my mother and myself.  It's the first book from Sarah Darer Littman, who seems to really understand not only the universality of faith but also what it's like to be a teenager - and a middle child.  What a great story!

It's the story of Justine (nickname Jussy) who is Jewish, although her parents are not particularly religious or active.  Her new best friend is Catholic, and so Jussy decides to give up being Jewish for Lent.  The result is both wonderful and hilarious, as well as heartbreaking.  Jussy certainly learns a lot about the various paths to faith, the similarities among religions and the beauty of discovery.  But she also learns to like herself a little bit (it's hard to like yourself when you are 14, or 40, so I can certainly relate to that!) and she finds out that her parents are a bit cooler than she hoped.  I love the part where she says, "Just when you think your parents are clueless they do what you least expect - they understand you."

What I loved most about this little book is that Jussy's "Bubbe" (Grandmother) is just incredibly wise and wonderful.  She's just what I would aspire to be - kind, giving, worldly, beautiful in spirit and simple/focused in her faith.  Jussy feels that she's the only one who understands her, and is a great source of strength, comfort and inspiration.  When Bubbe has a stroke, Jussy panics - thinking that the stroke is God's punishment of her own exploration of faith.  The advice and counsel that Bubbe provides is beautiful and exceptional - as applicable to Jussy's early discovery as it is to any of us of any level of faith.  I felt that Bubbe spoke to me as well - and that made me yearn for that level of support and comfort in my own life. 

We are all on our own journey in this old life of ours, and this book is a nice reminder that asking questions and learning from each other eases our own path.

I recommend Confessions of a Closet Catholic, by Sarah Darer Littman.  Thanks so much, Francesca!

Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys

I confess I don't remember reading either The Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew when I was a kid.  I do remember loving the Bobbsey Twins, though.  Anyone else?

Back to the story.  When my dear friends Katelyn (13) and Gretchen (11) were up visiting New York back in the Summer, we went to see the Nancy Drew: Girl Detective movie.  We all loved it, and I realized that I was woefully ignorant of these classics.

Later that month, my mother and I found a bunch of Nancy Drew's in a used bookstore down at the beach, and shared them between us and then I sent them to Katelyn and Gretchen.  The girls and I did a search for Number One - "The Secret of the Old Clock."

I really enjoy them, they are like bite sized bits of fun.  Nancy has the best luck of anyone I know in fiction or real life - somehow she is protected from utter destruction during some pretty tight spots by her wonderful combination of intelligence, patience and risk-taking bravery.

I notice that both with Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys that they are really good kids.  They put on their seat belts, they are respectful to elders, they love their dads and they drink milk.  That doesn't mean they don't love a great joke or a lazy afternoon - or even a "favorite date" as they say in The Hardy Boys.

I wondered who came first and turns out that the Hardy Boys launched in 1927, three years ahead of Nancy Drew (1930). Both original series ended in 2005, but both have updated series on the way.  In fact, the first title in a new crossover series, Nancy Drew: Girl Detective and The Hardy Boys: Undercover Brothers, written jointly by Carolyn Keene and Franklin W. Dixon, will be released in summer 2007.   How cool is that!

I recommend starting anywhere, with any volume. The early ones are the best stories, I think, but all of them are good.   Like any series, the creativity gets a bit stale and forced after the 100th volume!

The best place to buy them is at a used bookstore.  You can also check out:

Nancy Drew and The Secret of the Old Clock (book one) by Carolyn Keene

The Hardy Boys and The Tower Treasure (book one) by Frank Dixon

Raphael and the Noble Task

I found this little book on one of the many sidewalk stands on Broadway.  The man who sold it to me said, "Excellent choice, I give you two dollars off for having good taste!"

Catherine Salton tells a marvelous coming of age tale about a chimiere (say it shim-AIR) - a stone statue of a dragon-headed griffin (a mythological creature usually with a lion's body and the great wings of an eagle) named Raphael.

Raphael's job - as a stone chimiere located on the Great Cathedral of this town many years ago - is to guard the great portal. So he's hanging out up there on top of the tower, above the great entranceway, and he guards the place.  He's not so sure what he's guarding for or against, but he's diligent and committed. 

For hundreds of years, Raphael seriously guards. But he always feels a bit lonely - despite his friends the mice and pigeons.  And he has this feeling in the bottom of his stomach that never quite goes away - the same feeling we all have sometimes when we wonder what is our purpose and if we are doing all the things that we should be doing in order to have a good and fulfilling life.

Through a series of excursions into the Cathedral - yes, as in all our childhood wishes, the chimieres and some of the other statues can move around! - Raphael decides that the unmet feeling in the bottom of his belly is because he has not yet embraced his Noble Task - his reason for living.  Despite being carved so many years ago, Raphael is still quite a young creature.  And he has no mentor or older brother to help guide him.  So naturally, he has this whole Noble Task thing somewhat confused.  His heart is pure and so we suffer with him.  Of course, his search for this Noble Task and the subsequent adventures, are what the story is about.

Raphael's tale is wonderfully told, with humor and good grace and a lot of endearing, if not always pleasant, creatures and people.  I cried and laughed out loud (at different points!) - the mark of an excellent story.

The hard part is how to decide who to share this book with next... so many of my nine to twelve year old friends will love it!  I recommend it for all - nine to ninety!

Rahael and the Noble Task by Cathrine Salton