Book Review: The Paris Wife

When I first started this blog, I promised myself that in addition to posting about my stitching, I'd also comment on the books I've been listening to during my morning walks.  Seeing that I've actually already completed several of them since I last posted a book review, it's time to keep the promise and share some of my thoughts on another one.  Thanks to Michelle and Elizabeth for gently reminding me to keep up with it!

Picking up where I left off, here's how I feel about The Paris Wife, by Paula McLain:

Why did I choose this book?  I have a long and tangled history with Ernest Hemingway.  It began with idle curiosity in high school when I raced through a copy of "The Old Man and the Sea", more or less to find out what the mystique was all about.  One of my very first freshman seminars in college was Literature of the Jazz Age, in which Hemingway's works were a topic of dubious attraction.  My professor had a grizzled white beard, patches on his elbows and smelled faintly of whiskey most of the time.  I remember then thinking that the only people who were more romanced with Hemingway than he was with himself were those who tried a little too hard to be just like him.  This impression was further solidified when Jim and I visited Key West on our honeymoon in 1981.  Turned out that weekend was also the very first Ernest Hemingway Days celebration.  The island was full of guys with white beards who smelled as if they'd been soaked in whiskey.  "What's up with that?",  I remember thinking.

Since that time, we've visited his home, watched his cats, staggered down Whitehead Street and listened to his works - good and bad - with each return.  I've come to see him not so much as a "great America novelist" as a kindred spirit who also found beauty and inspiration in those turquoise waters.  So of course I had to listen to this book - good or bad.

What was this book about?  The Paris Wife is the tale of Hemingway's early life in Paris with first wife Hadley, as told from her perspective.  During this time, he wrote "The Sun Also Rises", one of the pieces I was so unimpressed with in college.  It does a very nice job of explaining the larger context of its inception  It also put the breakdown of Hadley and Ernest's relationship and his affair and eventual marriage to Pauline Pfeiffer into perspective for me.  Most importantly, it prompted me to listen to "The Sun Also Rises", as performed by William Hurt.  At long last, I understand.  What a spare, heartbroken masterpiece.

What was my favorite scene?  It was the scene in which the Hemingway entourage visits the bull fights in Pamplona.  I could see in my mind all the tensions beneath the surface of the interactions, set against the thrill of the festival.

Who was my favorite character?  I don't suppose this is a very fair question of this book since it is so clearly Hadley's tale.  It's easy to sympathize and even feel sorry for her once Pauline enters the story.  But I also felt frustrated with her at times, though it may have been from looking at a traditional woman of the 1920's  through the lens of time.   Flawed and selfish as he was portrayed in the story and no doubt was in real life, Ernest gets my vote. 

Would I listen to this again?  I don't know, I might.  As far as it being a good listen, I think not so much.  But if my mood shifts and I feel the need to consider again Ernest Hemingway and his place in my own  life, I just might..

Working Terms

Here we are in April!  In Florida, that means spring break craziness and the return of beach season.  Jim and I made the most of it Saturday with an early morning ride to North Clearwater Beach and a long slow walk all the way up to Caladesi Island and back.    In spite of it being Easter weekend, the beach headed in that direction was serene except for the occasional dolphin sighting and pelican fly-bys. I just love seeing the tan lines on my feet deepening each weekend...

But the big news is that Frances Burwell and I have negotiated some terms for a healthy working relationship.  At least as of now, all past grievances seem to be forgotten. Even though the pace has been more than a little tedious at times, we've managed to move a bit closer to the end product, as you'll see here in all her current glory:

We got off to another rocky start again.  I could feel myself reaching the point where abandonment was quite likely.  Those satin stitches in all directions, along with the precision of all those little twisty loopy things were beginning to seem like more commitment than I was capable of right now.  I feel compelled to mention that the middle loopy thing has been stitched and restitched no less that 3 times and most likely will have to come out once more.  Turns out that if you're off by even a single thread with all that double running going on, nothing else that comes afterward is in the right spot.  It was enough to make me want to stab that needle right in my eye  put her down and walk away on occasion.  Take a look at this close up.  You'll see there isn't enough room at the top of the center twist to make the corner turn the same as the others, all because I made two stitches over 3 instead of the requisite 2.

  

How did this happen?  I realized I simply wasn't seeing the holes between the thread well enough, and yet not recognizing the goof until a devastating amount of stitching would need to be pulled out and redone in order to correct it.  Which meant coming to terms with the fact that the scroll rods weren't stretching the linen tight enough.  The hard truth is that it was time to resort to a hoop.  Ick, ick, ick.  Neither of us liked it, but if we want to get 'er done, that's how it had to be. 

Another compromise was that the outlining around the satin stitches could no longer be done in double running stitch if I wanted to retain any shred of sanity.  Much as I fought the thought of backstitching those glossy petals, it has to happen or she'll never see the light of day again.  So in the end, like most long-term relationships, the one between Frances Burwell and me is going to be built on compromise, hopefully to both our mutual benefit.

And during one of those times when I just had to walk away, I had an inspiration for a fun little knitting project I can knock out during our upcoming roadtrip to Illinois! 

Rachel, the hard-working and ever-chipper administrative assistant in my office, has decided to go have a baby boy next month.   How cute is this?  She's chosen a Charlie Brown and Peanuts Gang theme for his nursery, so I wanted to knit something special along those lines for her.  In a fit of frustration over Frances I got our my yarn box, thinking what might be in order was a nice brainless pair of socks.  Inside, I found this Charlie Brown looking yarn I'd picked up 3-4 years ago and never managed to do anything with.  Perfect!!  So during the hours and hours of miles between here and Illinois, I'm planning to knit up a baby sized Wallaby in the hopes that it will all be done before the baby actually arrives.  Stay tuned...