Strapless: John Singer Sargent and the Fall of Madame X

by Deborah Davis

Read this instead of working on my paper today, which puts me unfortunately even more behind. But it was a rainy day, and it was a good book. Actually, I really have no excuse except that I am a procrastinator. To my detriment, unfortunately. And to put the icing on the cake, I'm even writing about this book now, instead of working on aforementioned paper, even now.

This book is the story of a painter, one of his subject and paintings. Non-fiction, sort of art history + biography. It's also about Paris in the last half of the 19th century. I like it because it's a very thorough book on a very small subject. Everything in its context.

"One typically southern gothic story that circulated about Julie was that, on her wedding day, having been forced to abandon the man she loved to marry an older French aristocrat, she committed suicide by hurling herself against a giant oak tree on the plantation. The legend further claimed that Julie's wedding-gowned ghost haunted the property mourning her lost love. With stories like this, Julie remained in the shadows of her family for so many years that most people believed she was dead."

"Artists were eager to paint or sculpt Amelie. They bombarded her with requests, which she refused time and again. She understood that she must choose the creator of her first major portrait with great care, for it would be examined closely by admirers and detractors. Selecting a painter for a portrait ws an important personal decision, as important as wearing flattering clothes or arriving with the proper escort. Paris's wealthy and bourgeois commonly commisioned portraits of themselves, and patronized a select group of artists. Among the many candidates to consider, Amelie would not entrust her image to anyone until she was sure he was capable of creating a masterpiece."

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress

by Dai Sijie

Read this book about a month ago and realized I hadn't put it up yet. It was a quick read, but somehow, it hadn't made it to anywhere I had an Internet connection until now. I found it at the used bookstore, and I liked it. But beware, the backcover talks about flirting with the little Chinese seamstress, and there was definitely more than flirting going on. Or maybe naked swimming counts as flirting now, and I was just unaware. Ah well, kids today.

Actually, it was kids in the Cultural Revolution in China. A love story, and a tale of coping with oppression. And not having anything to read (when the government bans Western Literature, and most of your national literature). It makes me sad to hear about love triangles from the third wheel perspective, though. But it was a good book, and I think I'd recommend it. Definitely an interesting perspective on what it means to be "re-educated".

Incidentally, don't at least half the population have second toes that are longer than their big toes?

'"Have you fallen in love with her?' I persisted.
'She's not civilised, at least not enough for me!'"

"'She said she had learnt one thing from Balzac: that a woman's beauty is a treasure beyond price.'"

A River Sutra

by Gita Mehta

This book was great. Very vivid descriptions, interesting comments on culture, expectations, and the nature of the human heart. It was like a portal into rural India. I really enjoyed the book, and it was one of those where as you draw near the end of it, you wish that there were more to go. Incidentally, someone at work saw the book title and asked if it was like the Kama Sutra, and indeed, it is not. Actually, it's a real example of how those old posters that teachers have of how "Reading Can Transport You" (or something like that, making reading posters look like travel posters) actually do have a basis in literature, and how reading makes you feel. Maybe it's because so many people in the book are on journeys, it also somehow reminds me of Canterbury Tales (though this one is infinitely more readable).

C. was once talking about how books tend to find you, rather than you finding them, and about how important when you read them is to your understanding of them. At first, this jarred with my idea of me being ready for anything, whenever, but I think, in a larger sense, it's true. I probably would have gotten different things from this book a year ago, and had I not read certain books yet. I guess that goes toward the time honored tradition of re-reading one's favorite books, and the idea of balancing new input with enjoying expanding upon one's current resources. Only so much time in a day though.

"The monks enclose me in a circle until the crowd no longer knows which one of us has renounced the world today. In that closed circle I can hear the monks chanting:
'You will be free from doubt.
'You will be free from delusion.
'You will be free from extremes.
'You will promote stability.
'You will protect life...

And now, my friend, my brother monks are waiting for me in Mahadeo.
No, I cannot stay longer. You must find someone else to answer your questions.
If I am late, they will leave and I shall have to join a new sect of mendicants.
Don't ask me to do this, my friend.
I am too poor to renounce the world twice."

"I stared at him in astonishment, and Mr. Chagla's smooth face wrinkled with the effort of making me comprehend. 'It is not a woman who has taken possession of Mr. Bose's soul, sir. How can such a thing ever happen?'
'Then what is all this goddess business?'
'Sir, Really, sir.' Mr. Chagla sighed in frustration. 'The goddess is just the principle of life. She is every illusion that is inspiring love. That is why she is greater than all the gods combined. Call her what you will, but she is what a mother is feeling for a child. A man for a woman. A starving man for food. Human beings for God.'...'It is Mr. Bose who is making no sense, pretending desire is some kind of magic performed with black arts. But desire is the origin of life. For thousands of years our tribals have worshipped it as the goddess. you ahve heard the pilgrims praying ''Save us from the serpent's venom." Well, sir, the meaning of the prayer is as follows. The serpent in question is desire. Its venom is the harm a man does when he is ignoring the power of desire.'"