"Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young."
-Henry Ford (as cited in www.vivafifty.com)
Do you agree with Ford? What do you think of his statement about growing older? Although sometimes I feel that my body is never going to "stay young," I do believe that my mind can stay young if I continue to try to learn everything that I can. The funny thing is that I'm interested in way too many topics, especially when it comes to history, countries that I've never visited, and books. I don't learn because I'm trying to impress anyone or because I have to "live up" to some sort of expectation placed on me by society. I do it because it brings me enjoyment - it's that simple. I will always think of myself as a learner, so don't look puzzled when you see me reading all of the "extra" material in a book or when I'm learning Italian for no "good" reason. That's just me.
So, that brings me to one of my favorite subjects, books. I finished two books this week: A Garden in Paris by Stephanie Grace Whitson, and Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson. Both of these have the themes of growing older, looking back at one's life, and broken relationships. For good measure they both throw in a little romance as well, so if you enjoy that sort of thing, you will like these books. Whitson's book is about a widow who is about fifty years old. She has one grown daughter who has her MBA and a fiance. Mary, the widow, decides to write a letter to her French boyfriend from many years ago and travels to Paris alone before she even gets a response from John Luke. She didn't leave a forwarding address or a return date for her daughter, so she panics and thinks she's gone crazy. Liz, the daughter, goes to Paris with her fiance and reunites with her mother, only to find that her mom is having a great time in Paris with some of her new young friends and John Luke. As it turns out, John Luke hasn't had much luck in relationships because of his life on the sea, so he is "available" and sparks begin to fly once again. But you need to read the book to know the full ending. Liz and Mary do make amends about their troubled relationship as mother/daughter, and Liz realizes for the first time that her mom made many sacrifices in order to be a wife and a mother: she gave up traveling, playing the violin, and doing anything that she really loved. Mary learns that it's never too late to change your life and to move forward.
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand is the second book that I read for the new book club that I'm in. It reminds me a little bit of the Mitford series books, except this book isn't nearly as sugary or "upbeat." But the themes of the joys of simplicity, unconditional love, and family honor resonate throughout the pages. The Major is a retired army officer who lives alone in a small English village, Edgecombe St. Mary. He is a widower and has one grown son, Roger, who lives in London and enjoys the finer things in life, unlike his dad. He is fixated on knowing people who will help his career and get him the money that he wants for all of the nice things that he thinks he needs. His dad, on the other hand, enjoys his small quiet village for what it is, and he begins to fall for a Pakistani widow, a shopkeeper that he often sees at work in her store. They begin a friendship and sparks soon begin to fly, so to speak. In her culture a woman does love live alone and run a business, so her nephew is sent to live with her. He disapproves of his aunt's relationship with the Major for a while, but later on he begins to respect the Major when he sees how kind he is. There are several strained relationships among the characters, and this causes the Major to feel very frustrated and alone. He doesn't get along well with his own son, and many people disapprove of his relationship to Mrs. Ali, the widow. As a Pakistani, she is a minority in the small village, and she has very few friends. Interwoven throughout the story is the Major's desire to own both of the rifles that his father left to he and his brother. After the death of his brother, Bertie, he tried to get the other rifle so that the pair could stay together as they were originally intended to be. It's a sweet story that I think you'll enjoy. It's not a sappy story - there are many flawed characters - but the characters are believable and authentic. The Major finds that although he is older, he still has the desire to have good friendships and even a little bit of romance. He doesn't let anyone "put him out to roost."
This week I plan to begin reading a book by Charles Dickens, Little Dorrit. I'll admit that I've never heard of the book but it sounds interesting so I'm going to give it a try. I also have a book to listen to in the car.
Thank you for reading my blog! Many of you are newer readers, so I thought I'd share my list of books that I've read since 1984. I know I did this in the beginning, but I'd like to start again since I've read more books in the past couple of years. This might jiggle your memory and remind you that you wanted to read a particular book. This time I'll only list five books at a time instead of ten.
Books that I've read since 1984, alphabetically by author:
1. Kinfolks falling off the family tree by Lisa Alther
2. Blue Christmas by Mary Kay Andrews
3. The Bridge on the Drina by Ivo Andric
4. Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now by Maya Angelou
5. A Woman in Berlin by "Anonymous". This is the memoir of a woman who survived WW II and kept a journal for 4 months during the Russian occupation of Berlin.
Have a great week, and try to stay cool!
-Melissa Hill
Book Blogger
www.onegoodbookblog.blogsppot.com
Here I am in Monroeville, Alabama in the month of June. I learned a lot about Harper Lee and Truman Capote. Lauretta and I had a blast being nerds!
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