My day at the Library of Congress

My Library of Congress venture

Or…

(my library card’s cooler than your library card)

Which may be the first time a coolness competition was suggested between library card holders.

I mentioned on this blog a while ago that I intended to read one of my novels at the Library of Congress using one of the library’s copies.

I planned this specifically for, what I believe is the shortest novel in my quest, The Call of the Wild by Jack London, because I wanted to read the novel in entirety at the Library (I am not a speedy reader).

I set out on this venture today (nearly called it a quest, but one quest is enough). You might notice, I am feeling rather parenthetical today.

Anyway, I set out on this venture this morning, but being a government bureaucrat myself, I anticipated a snag or two, which true to form happened with the first bureaucrat I encountered.

Oops, no – that’s not true. Security at the front entrance was polite, professional, and painless (if you’ll excuse the bit alliteration). But the next bureaucrat tried to confound the entire venture. Once past security, I approached information. I already researched some of this, I knew they had the book, and I knew where to go. I told the information person, I wanted to obtain a copy of The Call of the Wild and read it at the library. I asked where the Jefferson reading room was.

At this point he chuckled derisively (not hyperbole, his expression and laugh virtually said:  "silly man"), but he literally said ”well this isn’t a regular library” (I knew that), “you can’t check out books here to read” (knew that too). He then proceeded to tell me about the tour and the numerous exhibits, etc. and I had to interrupt him to tell him, I had come to the library to use it as – you know – a library, and I wanted to READ – A BOOK.

When I finally got this point across, his countenance physically changed almost as if he were insulted. He then told me, the reading room is for researchers (not true), except in the sense than any U.S. legal resident can conduct “research” of literature for personal pleasure. When I persisted that I had come to read, he finally, told me where to go to get my reader’s card (the cool library card I boasted of), that would give me access to the reading room, and library holdings. 

(Yeah, I know - looks like a mugshot. They get their training from the DMV.)

After that, the rest went fairly smoothly. The remaining bureaucrats (there were 6 more) before The Call of the Wild was actually in my hand, were all helpful. One was exceptionally polite, and went out of his way to help.

To be fair, the information desk man is probably a volunteer, and so I shouldn’t be too critical. And although, he started things off as a bit of a downer, it all turned out well; it was a wonderful, memorable experience.

The Jefferson reading room is a pretty hallowed place. Imagine any library and the compulsion to be quiet and reserved – then multiply that by a 100 or so. It’s also beautiful, with ornate wood furniture, masterpieces of painted and sculpted art, rows and rows of books, and of course the marvelous smell of books. 

The reading room is directly below the Library rotunda you see from the exterior picture. Inside it is painted with an elaborate mural depicting (and titled) Human Understanding by Edwin Blushfield.

Other sections of the library are similarly spectacular, and the exterior is, as you have seen superb. In a city filled with magnificent structures, this is one of the grandest.

I did read The Call of the Wild cover to cover in a bit over two hours. I’ll get to the review in a day or two. For now, I’ll just say it was very good, quite enjoyable. The physical book itself was not remarkable. It was a paperback, 1990 edition by Dover. As I said, it was paperback, but the library had it hardbound in a simple red cover.

After reading, I did wander a bit. In fact, I was – once lost while wandering. (See what I did there?) But I quickly found my way again. I viewed the Guttenberg Bible and the Giant Bible of Mainz.

At the gift shop, I got a Library of Congress coffee mug and a 2016 Alice in Wonderland calendar for my daughter.

All in all, a great experience.

NOVA this week will return next week to its regularly scheduled posting.

Top Ten Tuesday (August 11, 2015)

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish

Top Ten Authors I've Read The Most Books From

J.R.R. Tolkien – The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, The Children of Hurin, Tree and Leaf,The Smith of Wooten Major, Farmer Giles of Ham, Mr. Bliss.

Charles Dickens – A Tale of Two Cities, David Copperfield, Great Expectations, Oliver Twist, A Christmas Carol

Tom Clancy – all the Jack Ryan series, stopped after that.

Patrick McManus – The Grasshopper Trap, How I Got this Way, Rubber Legs and White Tail Hairs, Never Sniff a Gift Fish, They Shoot Canoes Don’t They?, The Night the Bear Ate Goombaw, The Good Samaritan Strikes again, Real Ponies Don’t Go Oink (this one is authographed)   BIG RECOMMENDATION. McMcanus is an outdoorsman humorist. These are all short story collections and quite hilarious. One of the few writers who can make me laugh out loud.

George Orwell – 1984, Animal Farm

James Joyce – Ulysses, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

William Faulkner – The Sound and the Fury, As I Lay Dying, Absalom, Absalom!

John Steinbeck – The Grapes of Wrath, Cannery Row, Of Mice and Men

Joseph Conrad – Heart of Darkness, Nostromo

Mark Twain – The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Ernest Heminwgay – The Sun Also Rises, A Farewell to Arms, For Whom the Bell Tolls

Ooops…that’s eleven.

A review of three works by J.R.R. Tolkien (not part of my Quest)

Faërie is a perilous land, and in it are pitfalls for the unwary and dungeons for the overbold. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien, On Fairy-Stories

For reasons I won’t go into, I took a brief break from my quest, and decided to read these three works by Tolkien: Mr. Bliss, Smith of Wooten Major and Farmer Giles of Ham (two short stories combined in one book), and Tree and Leaf (three distinct works, under one title).

Mr. Bliss: I’m a big Tolkien fan, but I only recently learned he wrote and illustrated this delightful children’s book. Mr. Bliss is an only slightly eccentric English gentleman who loves to wear tall hats. His other eccentricity is keeping (secretly) a Girabbit (cross between a giraffe and a rabbit). The story is all about Mr. Bliss’ mishaps the day he decides to buy a motorcar. I’ll leave it at that. I hope to add guest reviews by one or more of my Grandsons, but those must wait until after Christmas, when they receive their editions of Mr. Bliss.

Smith of Wooten Major is a fairy story (see Tree and Leaf for more on this topic), about a smith, I’ll leave you to infer where he was from. As a child, the smith, truly only the smith’s son at the time, unknowingly swallows a small magic star that was baked into a festive cake, along with coins intended as prizes for the children. When he is a bit older, the boy coughs up the star and it attaches to his forehead, though barely visible unless you know to look. The star is his passport to Faërie or Fae (see Tree and Leaf for more on this topic). The smith, leads a charmed but sometimes disquieted life until he meets both the Queen and King of Fae and learns that he must pass the star on to a worthy heir.

Farmer Giles of Ham is easily summarized by the full title: The Rise and Wonderful Adventures of Farmer Giles, Lord of Tame, Count of Worminghall and King of the Little Kingdom. If you have not had your coffee yet, and are having difficulty I’ll help you; It is the story of a farmer who becomes King.

Both are short stories, and will likely leave you disappointed if you are expecting anything like The Lord of the Rings, or even The Hobbit. They are charming, and excellent examples of fairy stories, a topic that Tolkien discusses in detail in Tree and Leaf.

Tree and Leaf is actually three different works. First, there is an essay Professor Tolkien wrote On Fairy-Stories. The second is a fairy story: Leaf by Niggle and third is a poem: Mythopeia that he wrote for his friend C.S. Lewis.

On Fairy-Stories is a scholarly essay. Honestly, much was over my head. Tolkien attempts to answer three questions: What are fairy-stories? What are their origins, and what is the use of them.

If I try to summarize any of his answers, I will do them terrible disservice. A few salient points though: They are not exclusively or even primarily children’s tales, though children may enjoy them. Neither are they about diminutive sprites. In the closest thing to a simple definition, Professor Tolkien writes: that fairy-stories are…stories about Fairy, that is Faërie, the realm or state in which fairies have their being. Faërie contains many things besides elves and fays, and besides dwarfs, witches, trolls, giants, or dragons: it holds the seas, the sun, the moon, the sky; and the earth , and all things that are in it: tree and bird, water and stone, wine and bread, and ourselves, mortal men, when we are enchanted.

Leaf by Niggle is another fairy story. It is about an unremarkable artist, Niggle, who becomes obsessed with a single painting of an immense tree. Although Niggle spends nearly every spare moment on the painting it never seems near completion. It is growing. Niggle by the way, was rather good at painting a leaf, but not nearly so accomplished at painting an entire tree, let alone a landscape. Niggle’s work is hindered by a bothersome neighbor and an impending journey he must soon make. The nature and destination is always quite vague to the reader, and even a bit mysterious to Niggle. He does not even know when he must begin the journey, but he knows the day is fast approaching. The day of course comes, Niggle must abandon the tree and the mysterious journey begins. There is a fantastic account of the journey, rather dismal in the beginning, but taking an unexpected and satisfying turn in the end. The part of the story that I loved though, takes place back in Niggle’s town. Long after he is gone, a fragment of Niggle’s painting, a single leaf, hangs in the local museum over the caption Leaf by Niggle.

Finally, Tree and Leaf concludes with a poem: Mythopeia. Tolkien wrote this poem for his friend C.S. Lewis. **sigh** I cannot begin to tell you how poignant this poem was to me. I do not know the half of the famed friendship between Tolkien and Lewis. It is clear, at one point Lewis had at the very least disdain, and more likely contempt for fantasy, or fairy-story, or myth. In fact, Tolkien dedicates the poem to Lewis: To one who said that myths were lies and therefore worthless, even though ‘breathed through silver’. The poem serves as Tolkien’s retort, certainly to Lewis’ disdain for fairy-story, but also for Lewis’ agnosticism. It would appear, that over the years, and by his friendship, Tolkien was able to dissuade Lewis from both these errors.

Excerpt from Mythopeia

The heart of man is not compound of lies,

but draws some wisdom from the only Wise,

and still recalls him. Though now long estranged,

man is not wholly lost nor wholly changed.

Disgraced he may be, yet is not dethroned,

and keeps the rags of lordship one he owned,

his world-dominion by creative act:

not his to worship the great Artefact,

man, sub-creator, the refracted light

through whom is splintered from a single White

NOVA this week (August 1, 2015)

Observations from my weekly wanderings, usually in Northern Virginia (NOVA), but since nova means “new” you could also take it to mean new this week.

And the pic is just a really sweet 65 Chevy NOVA.

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Hope you caught the Blue Moon last night, and got done all those things you do only once in a blue moon. The next one won’t be until January 2018. It also happened to be a Super Moon last night, or a Super Blue Moon – double treat.

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Scripture from this week’s reading of The One Year Chronological Bible (NIV): He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8

This is my favorite Bible verse. I have many favorites, but this is THE FAVORITE. So, I can’t quote it without adding my thoughts. It’s a simple formula for life. It’s about me – act justly: I should do what’s right. It’s about how I relate to others: love mercy: I should be forgiving of others when they don’t do right. It’s about my relationship with God – walk humbly with My God.

It is my tendency to get the first two backwards. I want to be forgiven, or better yet accepted faults and all, but I am very quick to demand others act justly and treat me right. But when I have them backwards – life is frustrating, because I don’t get them my way. When I get them in God’s good order – life is very peaceful, because they are both within the ability of my freewill to make them happen.

And to walk humbly with my God? We are told that pride is a virtue, but I’ve found that it is an insidious little evil and destroyer of relationships. The solution? When I walk with God, how can I be anything but humble?

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Random Quotation of the Week: Things are the way they are now, more than they ever have been before. ~ Gerald R. Ford

You can’t argue with that.

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Excerpt from my current read, a magnificent description of a hangover:  Dixon was alive again. Consciousness was upon him before he could get out of the way; not for him the slow, gracious wandering from the halls of sleep, but a summary, forcible ejection. He lay sprawled, too wicked to move, spewed up like a broken spidercrab on the tarry shingle of the morning. The light did him harm, but not as much as looking at things did; he resolved, having done it once, never to move his eyeballs again. A dusty thudding in his head made the scene before him beat like a pulse. His mouth had been used as a latrine by some small creature of the night, and then as its mausoleum. During the night, too, he’d somehow been on a cross-country run and then been expertly beaten up by secret police. He felt bad. ~ Narrative from Lucky Jim

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New vocabulary from my current read:

Soporific: causing sleep or sleepiness

Imbroglio: complicated dispute

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Vanity Plate of the week:  Two of em, Star Wars theme: R2 DROID and IZAJEDI.

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Other thoughts: I think the Coca Cola bottling company is making a big mistake. I had to drink Pepsi four times this week because I couldn’t find a Joe or Joseph bottle. I cheated once with one that read Joel, but the guilt was too much. I won’t do that again.