The Turn Of The Screw

 

This was to have been my entry in the ABC Book Challenge for the letter G – Ghost story. The Turn of the Screw immediately came to mind. The more I thought about it, the more I decided this needed its own stand-alone blog. I picked something else for the letter G.

 

The book was written in 1898 by Henry James. VERY creepy. I don’t know exactly when I saw the 1961 movie The Innocents on TV, but I started watching it. It had been some time since I had read the book, and even though the movie seemed familiar, it took me a while to realize this was really Turn of the Screw in movie form. I already knew the ending, but was too deep into the movie and I watched it until the very bitter end. Still creepy.

 

Several years later I went to a concert at Laxon Auditorium. I don’t remember any of the other pieces of classical music played, but one song grabbed me by the throat. It was a duet from the 1954 opera of Turn of the Screw, composed by Benjamin Britten and libretto by Myfanwy Piper. The duet was sung by the ghosts of Miss Jessel and Peter Quint. Laxon Auditorium had a center stage and two alcove/balconies on either side. The singers were on either side at the balconies with lighting on them that made them look ghostly. The song was “The Ceremony of Innocence is Drowned” which comes from a poem by Yeats. That song haunted me for years!

 

You can find versions of the opera on Youtube, but here is the link for that particular song. The staging was VERY well done.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StkbfUzJGkM

 

Thanksgiving At Walmart

 

I know it’s WAY past Thanksgiving, but I’ve talked so much smack about Walmart (and well deserved, IMHO) that I figured it was time for a positive review, since the negatives outweigh the positives usually.

 

99% of the time, Marv and I do the shopping together. The Wednesday before Thanksgiving I had to go out and get a few last-minute things before the kids got here that night. I expected nothing but stress and anger.

 

Plot twist!! It was actually a good trip! I got a good parking space, which means a lot to me. I try not to use my handicap placard unless I need it, and those spots are usually full anyway. But this space was a good one.

 

I got everything on my list! Except for the canned whole new potatoes. But I wasn’t in great need of them right away. I was only going to get them because I was at the store. But everything else was there! I even scored some toilet paper! It was only 1-ply, but so are leaves, and I’d rather use TP than leaves. The leaves were mostly brown and crunchy anyway.

 

Something I got that wasn’t on my list was Flurschen! It’s the candy that’s mentioned in the Winterhouse book series by Ben Guterson. It’s based on the candy that Liberty Orchards in Cashmere, WA makes. When I was growing up, it was called Aplets and Cotlets and was a fairly common thing to find. Haven’t seen it in years, though. You can order it directly online, but then you have shipping to deal with. I was in line at the checkout and there happened to be a display right next to me! Scooped up two different flavors.

 

So ya done good this time, Walmart…

 

ABC Book Challenge F – J

F – Free book                          Luther’s Small Catechism (1943) Concordia Publishing

I actually EARNED this book! I had to learn and recite a lot of Bible verses, several hymns and the Apostles’ Creed. It was presented to me on July 28, 1963 and written in it by the Sunday School Superintendent himself! I was 9 years old and just out of 3^rd grade. When it came time to start Confirmation at age 12, I was SO PROUD that my parents didn’t have to buy a catechism for me. I already had my own! It’s full of all the notes I took during Confirmation classes.

 

G – Ghost story                      Craven Manor (2017) by Darcy Coates

Good supernatural story. Daniel is an average guy who is really struggling in life. No money, no job, living with a loutish cousin. Cousin finds another roommate who can actually pay some rent and Daniel faces being homeless. He gets a mysterious letter offering a job as groundskeeper at the abandoned estate called Craven Manor. He never sees his employer and is given some odd “rules” about living there. He is paid in gold coins. He slowly learns the tragic history of the Myricks family who seem to have all died off, leaving the estate in poor repair.

 

H – Hot country setting           The Marriage Bureau for Rich People (2009) by Farahad Zama

Mr. Ali is a retired Government clerk in India. Being around all the time is driving his wife nuts. So he decides to open a marriage bureau. For a fee, he will do everything he can to find the right spouse for a man or women, be they Christian, Hindu or Muslim. Arranged marriages are the only acceptable way to find a spouse. It is the family of the potential bride or groom that has the responsibility of finding the right person. It was fascinating to read about the various customs that must be observed in an arrange marriage. There is a good description of a Hindu wedding as well as a Muslim wedding. I had to look up a lot of descriptions of various foods. Good story. Happy ending.

 

I – Industrial theme                 The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters by  Gordon Dahlquist

I wrote about these novels some time back in one of my regular monthly book reports. Truly a mind-bending saga. Right from the first, I was sucked into these books and only came up for air at the end of the third and last book. An evil Cabal of scientists discover how to record dreams and memories from the minds of people.

 

J – Junior novel                       Ivanhoe (1819) by Sir Walter Scott

Although originally written for adult readers, the edition I have was adapted in 1958 for juvenile readers by Joseph C. Gainsburg, who was a junior high school principal. Very clear to understand. Nice illustrations. My copy is in rough shape, as it was a text book. It gives an explanation of the three main types of people in the story: Saxons, Normans and Jews. It tells about some of the places where the action took place and also had a pronunciation aid. I enjoyed it immensely.

 

Scattered Thoughts Jan. 2021

 

I sometimes discover interesting things when I’m reading. Phrases that I’m not familiar with, items mentioned that I’m not familiar with, that sort of thing. Especially when reading an older book that takes place in England. If I can’t find the answers to my questions, I consult with my Brit penpal Carol. Sometimes it’s just a case of a “British” word versus an “American” word.

 

Being sent to Coventry. It means to be ostracized. Ignored. Couldn’t find a real reason for using the name Coventry. It seems to be quite a nice city in the West Midlands of England.

 

Charged Water. This came from a book where the gentleman mixed himself a drink consisting of whiskey and charged water. And of course, charged water was SO much better than just regular water. IT’S SELTZER. That’s all….

 

Needled Beer. This came from stories by Damon Runyan, who was one of my Dad’s favorites. Runyan’s stories were used as the basis for the musical Guys And Dolls. Lots of stories about Prohibition, bootlegging and whatnot. LOTS of whatnot…

It talked a lot about “needled beer” and I had no idea what that was. I asked my Dad and he professed not to know. Since I now know a lot more about his past, I’m sure he knew exactly what it was and was probably mixed up in making it and/or bootlegging it.

During Prohibition, near beer was legal. True beer was not.

Originally, "near beer" was a term for malt beverages containing little or no alcohol (less than .5 %) which were mass-marketed during Prohibition in the United States. Near beer could not legally be labeled as "beer" and was officially classified as a “cereal beverage.”

The public, however, almost universally called it "near beer.”

A popular illegal practice was to add alcohol to near beer. The resulting beverage was known as spiked beer or needle beer, so called because a needle was used to inject alcohol through the cork of the bottle or keg.

 

Stage Names

Gavin MacLeod of The Love Boat was born Allen See. His stage name was a combination of the first name of a fictional character he admired and the last name of a teacher who influenced him.

With these parameters, mine would be Tuppence Vanderley. Tuppence from the Tommy and Tuppence books by Agatha Christie and Vanderley from my beloved first grade teacher Norma Vanderley.

What’s your alternate name?