A Pair of Blue Eyes

Given the fact that I don’t read his works quite as often as those of some other classic writers, I forget how much I enjoy reading a Thomas Hardy novel. I also forget how frustrating they can be, resulting in the urge to yell, “No, no, don’t do it!” at characters about to make the fate-changing mistakes that play key roles in his stories. The events depicted in A Pair of Blue Eyes were no exception to this, although they were slightly less dramatic than the action of some of his other novels, like Tess of the D’Urbervilles.

Hardy’s heroine in A Pair of Blue Eyes in Elfride Swancourt, a twenty-year old girl who leads a sheltered life with her widowed clergyman father. Excitement enters her rural country world in the form of Stephen Smith, a young, guileless architect from London who comes to stay with the Swancourts while working on the restoration of the local church. He quickly falls in love with Elfride, who returns his affections largely out of proximity and novelty, and agrees to become engaged to him. When it’s revealed that Stephen is actually the son of some of the lower-class tradespeople in the village, Elfride’s father, who places a great premium on family lineage, withdraws his support for the match. This obstacle increases Elfride’s love for Stephen and she agrees to secretly elope with him. After travelling by train to London, Elfride has second thoughts and insists on returning home. In a twist that seems like nothing from our modern perspective, the fact that she travelled alone, unmarried with a man is potentially more damaging to her reputation than if she had gone through with a secret marriage. She and Stephen agree to keep their trip a secret and to maintain their engagement, hoping that Stephen can win her father over after earning fortune and success working in India.

During the year that passes with Stephen away in India, Elfride’s father remarries a wealthy neighbor, throwing Elfride into a higher sphere of society. Through her new social position, she meets Londoner Henry Knight, her stepmother’s cousin and, coincidentally, Stephen’s former mentor and friend. Unaware of her connection to Stephen, Henry finds himself drawn to Elfride’s innocent manner. Although she briefly tries to maintain her loyalty to Stephen, Elfride eventually becomes engaged to Henry without so much as a word to Stephen, leaving him to discover that he has been snubbed upon his return from India. Despite feeling hurt and angry, Stephen tries to protect Elfride by keeping quiet about their past relationship. But, this being a Hardy novel, the truth eventually comes out in a way that makes Henry question his feelings and assume the worst about Elfride.

Like many Hardy novels, the mistakes and misunderstandings that drive the plot are often the result of small choices, and often come out of social norms that can feel very dated, almost quaint, to the modern reader. Yet the secrets, romances, and tragedies that result from them seem just as entangled and dramatic as any modern-day soap opera. A Pair of Blue Eyes wouldn’t be the Hardy novel that I’d recommend to someone just starting to read his work, but it is an interesting read if you’re looking for a lesser-known classic to tackle.

Friday Fancies

Who's excited for the Olympics to start tonight? I am, although I'm probably looking forward to seeing scenes of London more than any of the actual competitions. I do enjoy watching certain events, like swimming, but I wish they'd show more of the unusual sports, like archery or fencing. Which Olympic sport is your favorite?

(image via here)

Here are some interesting things to check out when boredom inevitably sets in around hour 3 of the Opening Ceremony:

All of this London talk makes me feel like having a cup of tea. I wish I had some from the Jane Austen Tea Collection by, fittingly, Bingley's Teas. I'd like to try a cup of Compassion for Mrs. Bennett's Nerves.

Even though I still haven't gotten around to using Instagram, I some of these photo editing apps look fun.

Wouldn't you like to have a book themed summer picnic?

 Or if you're feeling a little more materialistic, you might enjoy shopping Nordstron's Anniversary Sale vicariously through this series. That was always a big back-to-school shopping event for me (especially the year I got a pair of burgundy Doc Marten boots!).

Summer Supper

I've been trying to focus my summer cooking around dishes that require little or no cooking time. I've been making a lot of new varieties of salads, quinoa, and other veggie-centric meals. There's one in particular that I keep coming back to at least one or two times per week.

Despite appearances, it's not pasta.... 

...it's actually a zucchini dish. Adapted from a recipe from this cookbook, it would be a perfect meal for someone who's trying to avoid carbs in their diet. Personally, I just like it because it tastes delicious and is easy to put together:

Start by prepping your veggies: chop up one clove of garlic, slice a couple of handfuls of grape tomatoes in half, and use a vegetable peeler to slice 2-3 zucchini lengthwise into long, thin strips. You can use either green or yellow zucchini. I used all yellow for this batch, which is why it looks like homemade fettuccine.

Once you've prepped everything, heat the garlic in a frying pan with olive oil and a few pinches of red pepper flakes for about a minute, then add the zucchini and season with salt and pepper.

After the zucchini cooks for a few minutes and begins to look tender, add the tomatoes. Cook them until they start to release their juices to create a light sauce.

Remove from the heat and stir in some ricotta cheese, anywhere from a couple of tablespoons to a half cup, depending on how much you're making.

I hope you try this. It's a good one!

Be Quiet

When Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking was released several months ago to much hype in various articles and in author Susan Cain's TED talk, I immediately knew that it was a book I'd be interested in reading. I have a very distinct memory of the day in grade school, probably during a vocabulary lesson, when we learned the meanings of extrovert and introvert. The teacher asked for a show of hands for the following: Who considered themselves an extrovert? Who was an introvert? And who thought they were a combination of both?

Of the entire class of about 25-30 kids, not a single person raised their hand for introvert. Not even me, a girl whose parents had by then gotten used to hearing the refrain "she's a perfect student, but needs to speak up more in class" during their parent-teacher conferences. Although I certainly knew I was an introvert, I raised my hand for the "combination of both" category. Looking back, it makes sense. What introvert, especially an introverted kid, would want to raise their hand to be singled out in front of a crowd? And since I now know that roughly half the population considers themselves to be introverted, I think it's safe to say that at least a few of my classmates were lying along with me that day. Although we were just learning the meaning of those words, we already had the sense that being talkative, loud, and boisterous were desirable qualities while being quiet, thoughtful, and reserved were traits to be covered up or corrected. It's this societal preference for extroversion that Cain uses as the basis for her studies in Quiet.

Cain, a self-proclaimed introvert, writes about how extroversion emerged as the prized personality trait in Western culture. She discussed the various way that our society orients itself around extroverts, from school desks that are clustered into pod-like groupings to workplaces that have adopted open floor plans and endless collective brainstorming sessions. On a more social level, Cain addresses, and debunks, the stereotype that introverts are backward hermits who like to be locked away by themselves all the time. She instead described common types situations that introverts prefer: meaningful conversations over small talk; dinner with one or two people over twenty; meeting a friend at a favorite coffee shop over a crowded, unfamiliar bar.

Through the experts she interviews and the research findings she cites, Cain goes one step further to show how introversion, rather than being a chosen behavior tendency, is actually something innate to a individual's personality that develops out of some combination of nature and nurture. One of the most interesting studies she discusses is one in which infants were exposed to jarring, unfamiliar things, like a loud whistle or brightly flashing lights. Some of the babies stayed fairly calm, while others reacted by crying and flailing their limbs. Researchers later followed up with these babies to see which had grown introverted children and which were extroverted. They discovered that, contrary to what you might assume, those who became introverts were the ones who had been more upset by the unfamiliar stimuli as babies. This is because introverts are inherently more comfortable with things that are familiar, expected, and controlled, and tend to be more easily upset by the unknown or unexpected than extroverts are. Though adult introverts hopefully no longer cry and thrash their arms around, their dislike of the unexpected manifests itself in other ways, like over-preparing for a work meeting rather than speaking off the cuff or feeling a little bit anxious when going to a new restaurant to meet a friend. Somewhat ironically, introverts, who are naturally more deeply observant than extroverts, are better at taking in and process details in crazy or hectic situations. We'd just rather not be processing and observing them at the same time as we're called on to react to them.

There are many other interesting points made and examples given in this book, but I don't want to risk watering them down even more than I already have with my ramblings. The only fault I can find with Quiet is that it may be a book that preaches to the choir. Although Cain continually returns to the idea that both introverts and extroverts have qualities that can benefit each other, it's clearly a book written by an introvert for introverts. And even though it's refreshing for us quieter types to get some long overdue personality validation, I'd be very curious to hear an extrovert's take on the book.

So, are you an introvert or an extrovert? Or did I just ask for a virtual show of hands?

Friday Fancies

In all honesty, there are some weeks when it's a stretch to come up with a few links to share for my Friday Fancies post. This was not one of those weeks. There seemed to be interesting things everywhere I looked online this week, starting with my favorite discovery, the art of Janet Hill. I'm completely enamored with her work. It's as though she specifically set out to capture my aesthetic in her pieces. I basically want to buy everything in her shop, but I think I may settle on these two. And maybe this one. The portrait below was a closer runner up, though. (Doesn't she remind you a little of Lady Mary Crawley?)

(image: Kathleen would never be described as beautiful, but there was something extraordinary about her by Janet Hill, via here)

Here are the (many) other things that caught my eye this week:

It was so hot the past few days that I couldn't resist trying this homemade ice cream. A refreshing treat from just four ingredients, no churning needed.

Speaking of food, Fictitious Dishes features meals from five famous novels.

I wonder which literary character would eat this crazy looking breakfast muffin? (And by crazy, I mean amazing.)

Can one of these pop up somewhere near me?

Nice bookmarks made from the spines of old books.

A new period drama coming to PBS this fall.

Some very sweet, personalized wedding couple and bridal party illustrations.

Wouldn't you love to show up to a work meeting or a class with one of these notebooks?

Some fanciful phone booths popping up around London.

And the Underground New York Public Library just might be one of the most compelling photography/ blog projects I've seen yet.