Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion

This read begins June 15th.

I will start this a coup,e days early because it is next up on my list.

I will be starting in a few days, Terry. Trying to finish up the book I am on first.

I'm also working on finishing my current book and this will be next :)

I will be joining in as soon as my book arrives. I checked my porch at least a dozen times today and my cat has been giving me a quizzical look, lol!!

Lori wrote: "I will be joining in as soon as my book arrives. I checked my porch at least a dozen times today and my cat has been giving me a quizzical look, lol!!"

So cute, Lori! Mine would be making a mad dash to get onto the porch! :D

My book is sitting here, Lori, but I don't think I will be able to begin reading it today. I hope yours is on the porch before nightfall. My cats would just be making sure it wasn't somehow about food...their food, of course.

I just read the first chapter this morning. I won't really be able to read this weekend at all, so hope to make some headway. My daughter has prom on Saturday and my mother's 75th birthday on Sunday. Not to mention Father's Day ;)

I love the writing right away, as I expected I would :)

Well, Sara, your wish has been granted. My book was in the mailbox today! How about that. Hallelujah! I should be able to read a bit after I pick up groceries.

I don't expect any open time today, but I will start tomorrow. So glad your copy arrived, Lori!!!!

Candi-- you certainly do have a busy weekend, but all happy occasions, so I'm delighted you have such pleasant reasons not to be able to read. Excited that you are feeling happy about this one after only one chapter!!!!

Candi: What a wonderful weekend to plan for! And I do agree with you about the first chapter - a very promising beginning! 🤗

Chapters 1- 3: (view spoiler)[
Test (hide spoiler)]

That was a test, lol!!! It’s been a while.....

Chapters 1 - 3: (view spoiler)[ I’m really enjoying this so far. And may I say that it’s a bonus that I can read this out in the fresh air on my deck, the birds chattering in the background. It just seems so fitting and it’s enhancing my reading experience.

At first I thought this was going to be about Van Gogh but I’m getting the sense that it’s going to be Jeanne’s story.

BTW, I had to look up Le Figaro. It seems that it was and still is a popular newspaper in France. I guessed as much but it’s nice to verify. I’m not satisfied with what I found on L’homme de bronze, an art magazine perhaps?? (hide spoiler)]

This is what I found on L'homme de bronze, Lori.

"The man of bronze" covers the period from 1879 to 1947. It is a weekly newspaper appearing on Sundays, of an A2 format and comprising 4 pages.

It bears witness to the intellectual, political and social life of the city of Arles, and the view that local scholars have on national events.

It is the main documentary source on Arles history from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century.

I agree that this is going to be Jeanne's story. I only had the time to read two chapters today, hoping for more tomorrow and some time to get my thoughts together.

That’s great, Sara! Thanks! I could have read another chapter last night but I wanted to digest what I’d read so far. Also, the writing is scrumptious so I want to savor it.

Further thoughts: (view spoiler)[ I’m intrigued by the mistral, or “wind of change” that Jeanne us thinking of in Chapter One. “That it can call to the animal nature in a person who’s always seemed calm.” I also thought about her life up until the story begins.

There is also the sameness of her life after she married Charles. “One by one, rules came. The hospital grounds are only one restriction from this nest, military man.” I felt a bit sorry for her not being allowed to open a window or door. Of course, I am sure that women of the time were ruled by their husbands and that this is probably not unheard of. (hide spoiler)]

Correction: neat instead of nest. Autocorrect is the bane of my existence. Lol!

I had that same sense that (view spoiler)[she is in a prison of sorts, just like the inmates of the asylum, and Charles seems to treat her with that same sense of authority vs. care. But, she was once a risk taker...she bathed naked in the square at Arles.

A night sky may give her pause, but they're still the same stars. She is about to meet a man who will give her a different way of looking at those stars. (hide spoiler)]

I am more than half into the novel. There are two things about style that bother me with this book. I am not overly fond of present tense novels, and I am not sure why. It’s almost as though I don’t trust the novelist, so buy in is more difficult.

I also am not fond of the frequent phrases in place of sentences. Limited use would be better tolerated by me.

Otherwise, I do see that the writer can paint gorgeous descriptions and she has great insights into Jeanne’s spirit and the confining limits of her life.

Sara: Yes, exactly! I love your thoughts! I really must slow down a bit though. I went back and found this shortened passage (view spoiler)[. “...and she thinks of the bars on the windows, the flaking paint and the leather straps and she feels the ring on her finger, turns it with the pad of her thumb.” (hide spoiler)]

Terry wrote: "I am more than half into the novel. There are two things about style that bother me with this book. I am not overly fond of present tense novels, and I am not sure why. It’s almost as though I don’..."

Sorry the style isn't appealing to you. It can be so difficult to get involved in a book if the author's style rubs you the wrong way.

I'm fine with it so far, and I have read Fletcher before and don't expect to have any problems.

Lori wrote: "Sara: Yes, exactly! I love your thoughts! I really must slow down a bit though. I went back and found this shortened passage [spoilers removed]"

Great quote, Lori. (view spoiler)[ the sense of her confinement is so evident, and the ring brings the cause right into focus. (hide spoiler)]

Through Chapter 4: (view spoiler)[ I am very curious as to why Laure left, especially since Peyron appears to be such a caring and gentle person. All the boys have gone a distance away, the youngest all the way to America. Were they fleeing Charles? I can certainly see why Jeanne would be lonely, when she is barred from the hospital, the most likely place for her to interact with at least the nuns.

She and Vincent are not off to a very good start. Of course no one prepared her for the ear, since she was never supposed to see him in the first place. (hide spoiler)]

Now that I am quite far into the book, I am enjoying it more. It reminds me of books written in the early days of the women’s movement. Then, women who were through with child rearing looked about their lives and wondered how it had gotten so small, so constrained.

Chapter 4: (view spoiler)[ I was also wondering about the boys and their departure. Getting away from Charles, or they could have inherited Jeanne’s spirit, a little of both perhaps?

I loved Fletcher’s description of Van Gogh. I will think of him as a fox now, lol! And no, Jeanne and Van Gogh didn’t exactly hit it off. (hide spoiler)]

Terry wrote: "Now that I am quite far into the book, I am enjoying it more. It reminds me of books written in the early days of the women’s movement. Then, women who were through with child rearing looked about ..."

So glad it has picked up for you. I feel it has a very slow start. It would be very frustrating to feel you had a life to live yet, but be so held down by someone that you could not even decide for yourself whether to open a door or window in your own home.

I wonder what we would be thinking if we didn't know this was Van Gogh. He would not have had any "identity" for these people, since he enjoyed no fame in his lifetime. I thought it was almost sad when Jeanne was listing the things Arles was known for (Van Gogh, of course, not included) and I thought to myself, what I think of immediately whenever Arles is mentioned is Van Gogh. He became the thing that made tourists go to this place...to see the yellow house.

How many of us have listened to this while reading? Show of hands please.

https://youtu.be/oxHnRfhDmrk

✋ The first thing I did was listen to that song!

I've read through Chapter 7. I'm enjoying it immensely! This is indeed Jeanne's story. Fletcher's description of place is always so well done. It's always evident that she admires the natural world.

I love Jeanne's spirit, which she seems to have inherited from her father. But like most women of her time, she was dependent on a man - if not a father, then a husband. I can see where she probably felt such joy in raising her children. But what was there for a woman after the children had grown and gone away? I think she imbued the sense of spirit in them and they obviously had more choices as men to go where they pleased. I feel a little connection to Jeanne as my children - not so young now after all! - are preparing for their futures! Of course, I am hoping to have more options available to me than did Jeanne when they are completely gone from here!

Sara - I did not have that song in my head before, but I sure do now!! :D

Well, I also remember hearing that song on my transistor radio, which was a ladybug radio. Lol!!

Lori wrote: "✋ The first thing I did was listen to that song!"

lol. Somehow I knew that.

Candi wrote: "I've read through Chapter 7. I'm enjoying it immensely! This is indeed Jeanne's story. Fletcher's description of place is always so well done. It's always evident that she admires the natural world..."

She was so generous with Benoit when he offered to stay. She set him free, which is sometimes the hardest thing a parent can be asked to do. Especially hard since he went such a long distance away! It does seem all she exists for is the care of others: her children, her father, her husband, but the children are grown, the father is gone and the husband is all too unaware of her worth.

I could really relate to this from chapter five: (view spoiler)[And just as this illness changed his life, and hers, and Claudette's and their house on rue de l'Agneau, so it changed that old, cracked globe. It felt different in her hands--smaller. She'd hold it like an egg that could break under her touch. Because now Jeanne's mind could not be on future of foreign countries, it had to be on the cutting up of food, the emptying of chamber pots. Her life moved around her father, and loving him more closely--and how could she resent this?

This perfectly describes what happens when you become a caregiver, the world narrows down and everything becomes small, and tasks become large. You don't "resent" it, but you feel it and it is accompanied by a sadness that comes from seeing that, whatever it is to you, it is worse for the person you are caring for. (hide spoiler)]

Ooh, Sara! That song is an ear worm!

Almost through, I like where this novel heads.

Sorry, Terry. :D

Fletcher has done that to me before. I think is this going anywhere and then she makes it all come together. I'm glad to know the read has improved for you and makes me excited to get some real reading time. I have been reading in snatches.

My hot water heater sprung a leak this afternoon and I spent a lot of the day mopping up water and dealing with that. I have a plumber coming in the morning. Didn't even ask what the weekend rate was. He sounds like a very nice person, so I am going to just hope for the best. Got to get it replaced. Can't live for long without hot water.

Here are some relevant images.

Van Gogh portrait ofMadame Trabuc:

https://uploads0.wikiart.org/images/v...

And her husband:

http://art-vangogh.com/image/Saint%20...

And the hospital:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ho...

Good luck, Sara! Yes, the book much improved for me, so my advice to all is to hang in there.

I thought this was interesting, too, from News.artnet.com: In his forthcoming book Breaking Van Gogh, James Ottar Grundvig posits that Van Gogh’s mental decline can be attributed in part to foxglove, which was used as a remedy for mental health patients at the time, but that contains “a natural toxicity that affects the heart.” The medicine, taken “in concert with lead poisoning from the oil paints, along with his consumption of absinthe…” he wrote, “put Van Gogh on an accelerated destructive path that would lead to death.”

Sara wrote: "Candi wrote: "I've read through Chapter 7. I'm enjoying it immensely! This is indeed Jeanne's story. Fletcher's description of place is always so well done. It's always evident that she admires the..."

I love your thoughts, ladies! And the quote from Chapter 5, Sara!

Terry wrote: "Here are some relevant images.

Van Gogh portrait ofMadame Trabuc:

https://uploads0.wikiart.org/images/v...

And her husband:

http://art-v..."

Terry: Thank you so much for the portraits! I am glad to hear the second half of the book has been more enjoyable for you. 🤗

Terry wrote: "I thought this was interesting, too, from News.artnet.com: In his forthcoming book Breaking Van Gogh, James Ottar Grundvig posits that Van Gogh’s mental decline can be attributed in part to foxglov..."

That is very interesting, Terry. I’d heard that absinthe was pretty potent stuff. Sad, too, isn’t it?

I loved the portraits, although they don't match the mental image I had of either Jeanne or the Major. Even today, some of the medications we take to solve our medical problems cause other, and worse, ones. I have no doubt the lead in the paint was a major contributor. He painted non-stop, so he was exposed to it for long, long periods of time, and lead is known to contribute to mental disorders.

I have seen Starry Night along with a large selection of his works when they were touring and came to the National Gallery. The impasto gives the works another dimension that simply cannot be conveyed in a print. I can see why his work was greeted as it was in his time. It was a huge departure from what painters were doing just prior to him and his subject matter was always so simple, perhaps even crude and ugly at times, but so true and real.

One of my favorites of his paintings. I stood and looked at this for a long time, because it says so much about who he was and also about what he saw and held important:

A Pair of Shoes

Sara, the portraits didn’t fit my images of Jeanne and her husband, either. It’s hard to imagine that Jeanne doing handstands. And the Major in the portrait doesn’t seem a commanding sort to me. The Pair of Shoes is quite wonderful. It would be something to see in person.

I have never had absinthe. However, some of Van Gogh’s work reminds me of the experience of LSD, something I did have a fair amount of when I was a young hippie in the 1960s. It I could be a matter of perception. I perceived the world differently on LSD. We do not really understand well the nature of consciousness, after all. We know much less about how other creatures experience the world.

The experience of seeing the air and all of nature as constantly in motion and revealing color as it moves — those are what I see when I look at his most expressive works. Those remind me of the altered LSD hallucinatory consciousness I experienced. You can say it was the drug that altered my perception, but who is to say that our “real world” perception is the only true way to see things? I have often wondered how butterflies see the world.

If Van Gogh’s state of consciousness was similar to my experience on LSD, he might feel compelled to paint that experience, although it could be impossible if in the middle of what we might call an episode. I used to paint with oils. They are a messy medium. It is easy to see how one might get paint in your mouth, in your hair, all over clothes and yourself. But to deliberately eat it is another thing entirely.

I am through Chapter Ten: (view spoiler)[ I feel a little drained and very sad. I don't think Charles means to be mean, I believe he thinks he is protecting Jeanne, but he is just cruel to isolate her as he does. The parts about her father and her aunt all but stealing the business tore at me. I feel what she is experiencing, wanting to care for him and yet watching the need to do so erode all of her dreams and resources. How horrible this must have been for him--if he even understood what was happening.

Then there is Charles ultimate rejection when she gets the nerve to make the advance toward him for some intimacy, so reassurance that he sees her and knows she is there. Her only friends now seem to be the statues at the ruins. Laure may have made this life bearable, but she obviously fled for some of the same reasons that Jeanne is unhappy. (hide spoiler)]

I want to say that Fletcher never disappoints me. She puts so much feeling into her descriptions and characters.

I’ve read through Chapter 7 and will check back in later this evening if I can get through Chapter 10. Paul woke up feeling very industrious this morning and so I ended up helping him select our new roofing shingles.

Terry - Van Gogh was definitely in an altered state mentally from what the most of us might perceive, whether from the absinthe, the herbs, or just the mental illness. I don't know about LSD personally, but I do understand how some of his paintings might remind you of that.

Lori - Any time the hubby is in the mood to work, take advantage. I got the hot water heater changed out for a very reasonable price and I really dodged a bullet. It was on the verge of a complete flood.

Sara: Sounds like the water heater episode could have been much worse. Glad to hear it’s resolved. I know what a mess that can be from experience. We once had a water heater with a tank and the tank burst. Ugh! Water sprayed all over and soaked the carpet in the basement.

Chapter 10: (view spoiler)[ I agree with everything that Sara has said. I was pretty angry with Charles for dismissing Jeanne. It took a lot of courage for her to come to him in her nightgown like that. It made me wonder if he has any medical issues that he’s keeping from Jeanne, the kind that would prevent intimacy. I could see his type not admitting to that sort of thing.

On a brighter note, I am glad to see Jeanne recover some of her former gumption. I’m anxious to see where this takes her.

Terry: I read your comments about LSD with interest and really value your insight. I don’t have any firsthand knowledge of the drug either but it definitely made me look at Van Gogh with more understanding. So, thank you for sharing that. 🥰 (hide spoiler)]

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