"It is very helpful to read with a commonplace book or reading-diary, in which to put down any striking thought in your author, or your own impression of the work... Such a diary, carefully kept through life, should be exceedingly interesting ..." Charlotte MasonLet's hope so!
Books 2012
January
La's Orchestra Saves the World by Alexander McCall Smith
Betrayed in marriage and widowed, La moves to the countryside of Suffolk during the war (WWII) where she lives a quiet life and starts a small, rag-tag orchestra to try and boost morale in her town. Though set in a time of turmoil, this is a gentle little novel about healing and hope. Not a "great read" but good for when you want something not too hard, but still thoughtful.
"Clouds had built up, heavy purple banks; rain would reach her soon - it was already falling on the ploughed fields to the east, a veil of it drifting down, caught in the slanting afternoon light, white against the inky bulk of the clouds behind. She stood quite still, transfixed by the moment; as happens sometimes, when we are not expecting it; we stop and think about the beauty of the world, and its majesty; and the insignificance of our concerns and cares. And yet, we know that they are not insignificant - at least not to us... they loom large, are wounding, are sore. So each one of us should do something to make life better for somebody, to change the course, of events, even if only in the most local sense. Even a handmaiden can do something about that."
"Absurdly, irrationally, she believed that music could make a difference to the temper of the world. She did not investigate this belief, test it to see whether it made sense; she simply believed it, and so she chose music that expressed order and healing; Bach for order; Mozart for healing. This was the antithesis of the anger and fear that could unleash the missiles; this was music showing the face of love, of forgiveness."
To Pause at the Threshold by Esther de Waal
