bonjour cass – Bookish Butch

Must read, housekeeping and pictures I really like

First off,

you have to read this post,

on, My Words! it is brilliant,

http://fcs2.wordpress.com/2011/02/17/the-fl-words/

Also Amy and Cass,

did a joint review of The Price Of Salt,

check it out here,

http://amckiereads.com/2011/02/14/joint-review-the-price-of-salt-by-patricia-highsmith/

or here,

http://bonjourcass.com/2011/02/14/review-the-price-of-salt-by-patricia-highsmith/

or both,

they are slightly different,

Also I wondered if one of you wizzes, could help me, with a slight problem. How the hell do you put, a button on your blog? And how do I leave a comment on blogger, it never works. It pains me to show such ignorance but, it must be done. Help!

So, the rest of this post is just pictures,

of some of my favourites,

and things, people, I find beautiful,

and since beauty is in the eye of the beholder…

Bruce Chatwin by Robert Mapplethorpe. I love Chatwin, his books, his life and of course, his boots.

My favourite writer, John Irving. Drinking my favourite beverage, coffee, in Amsterdam. If he’d be wearing plaid it would be perfect:-)

My favourite bisexual, Colette, with her butch, Missy.

Shakespeare and company in Paris. Enough said.

The truly bookish are never deterred. London during the Blitz.

I knew you were waiting for them. Yeah, baby Blundstones.

Tamara De Lempicka, knew the female form.

Forbes plaid, my favourite.

The most beautiful structure on earth, Brooklyn Bridge.

Babe Ruth, now that’s a gut!!

Emma Thompson. Esquire magazine once had a caption that read: The woman we would most like to read Ulysses in bed with. I can see that.

Well, that’s it for now,

I’m tired I’ve got to turn in.

Later girls,

The Price Of Salt-An Appreciation

Today was a magnificent day,

in Montreal,

sunny and clear, clear skies,

The Habs won,

sales were good,

and my hormones are in their good stage.

Fist Pump:-)

Even Though,

I was busy,

which is,

let me be perfectly clear,

a good thing,

I managed to finish,

The Price Of Salt by Patricia Highsmith.

A good book,

a damn good book.

I don’t really do reviews,

as you know,

more appreciations,

both Amy and Cass,

of Amy Reads and Bonjour, Cass respectively,

will be reviewing,

they are on my blog roll and I’ll let you know when they post,

I read this book as part of the GLBTQ Challenge,

I’ve been wanting to read this book for years.

It was published in 1952 by The Naiad Press,

a legendary lesbian publishing company.

Highsmith published this book under a,

nom de plume, Claire Morgan.

A beautifully written novel,

and since Highsmith,

went on to be a queen of the noir genre,

you feel the tension,

you know,

the does she, doesn’t she tension.

real erotic tension,

that’s what I felt.

A sexy and serious novel,

about love.

If you are looking for,

some explicit love scenes,

keep looking,

this is a novel about being in love,

for the first time.

How wonderful it is,

how scary it is.

Therese Belivet,

is a young aspiring set designer,

she meets Carol Aird,

a thirty something married woman.

For Therese it is immediate,

love at first sight.

The recognition of Carol,

as,

exactly who she needs.

Therese is a wonderfully innocent character,

so young,

not naive, not blind,

a little scared but,

courageous.

Carol is a cool customer,

or so we think,

at first,

a sophisticated older woman.

Therese is under her spell from the beginning,

The dusky and faint smell of her perfume came to Therese again, a smell suggestive of dark green silk, that was her alone, like the smell of a special flower. Therese leaned closer towards it, looking down at her glass. She wanted to thrust the table aside and spring into her arms, to bury her nose in the green and gold scarf that was tied close to her neck.

This is their first date,

second meeting,

the kid

has got it,

bad.

Takes a good writer to get,

your blood pumping with so little,

the use of language is amazing.

Carol is confident but,

far from aggressive,

she let’s Therese decide.

These women want and love each other.

It was brave to write this in 1952,

the love that dare not speak it’s name era.

A very satisfying read,

there is tension,

sexual,

societal,

familial,

but, ultimately,

there is hope of,

love,

being worth the sacrifices,

being worth transcending,

what others think.

It’s about finding and fighting for what you need.

Very good.

Well worth any one’s time.

I still haven’t absorbed it all.

I hope I gave you a taste for it.

Later girls,

Book Apocalypse and, more butch stuff:-)

For those of you longing for book talk,

here is my participation,

in book apocalypse at http://bonjourcass.com/.

I hope and pray I don’t have to read,

all of them:-)

It was enjoyable,

Cass is fun and smart,

and always has bitchin’ ideas.

If you have never read her blog,

take the opportunity,

peruse.

Earnest: showing depth and sincerity of feeling: earnest words; an earnest entreaty.

The other night,

I was called earnest,

My guard went up,

the old butch armour,

stoicism.

Did it mean,

Boring?

Staid?

Lackluster?

Someone, you can count on.

A bird dog,

a boy scout.

a best friend type.

Then I looked it up.

Pretty good word,

I like it,

a 19 Th century word,

a gallant and old-fashioned word,

a butch word?

Maybe.

My question about butch,

in a previous post,

sparked interest and creativity,

on the part of a few bloggers and readers,

http://feralgeographer.wordpress.com/

http://lovesmukiwa.blogspot.com/

Keep it coming.

My friend the busy writer,

says Butch should be brave,

well,

I’m butch,

I don’t think I’m brave,

but,

I am earnest and,

I am a work in progress,

so perhaps,

soon,

I will grow up to be,

BRAVE.

Later girls,

Wrap up for 2010

I have been going over what I read for 2010.

I was under the impression,

that I had read much less than 2009.

Not really.

2009: 58 books

2010: 54 books

Not much of a difference.

If you consider that 2010 had the following factors going against it,

1-Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics,

two weeks spent in front of the television.

2-My mom’s heart attack,

non stop worrying and no concentration.

3-The summer of hell,

‘nough said.

4-The Habs making it to the Stanley Cup semi-finals,

first time in 15 years.

That makes for several weeks of no reading,

well not much reading,

I always read.

I started my reading year with,

Last Night In Twisted River,

John Irving, my man.

I will be ending it with,

Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh.

Rich and full.

I am shocked to see,

I have read 1 French Language book,

only one.

It was a decent one but,

by no means a masterpiece,

L’Élégance Du Hérrison by Muriel Barbery.

I must do better in 2011!

I read 12 mysteries in 2010,

I used to read 30-40 a year,

now,

quality more than quantity.

As far as Male/Female author ratio is concerned,

22 were by male authors,

that leaves 32 for the women.

The author I read most this year,

Somerset Maugham, 4 books.

The author I discovered this year and will be reading more of,

Andrea Levy.

Non-fiction reading not much,

7 books,

mostly literary memoirs and collections of letters.

I like fiction.

I didn’t count rereads but,

there must be 4-5.

I also didn’t count the 4 novels I read in manuscript form,

they are by a good friend of mine,

I’ll tell you about them when they come out,

if she wants me to.

So for 2011,

I will be participating in The GLBT Q Reading Challenge,

( I also added the Q, following the example of Amy, it is as it should be)

here is the list of books I will be reading:

The Price Of Salt by Patricia Highsmith

Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin

Maurice by E.M Forster

Normal by Amy Bloom

The Gilda Stories by Jewel Gomez

The sixth is to be determined.

Any suggestions?

Also I would like to read Thomas Wolfe’s,

Look Homeward, Angel and Of Time And The River,

Big, thick, Southern fiction.

Since I was a child,

I have been attracted to the tragic destiny of Wolfe.

This year I try,

hard.

I’m hoping Cass doesn’t make us read our Bunker List,

I may never be heard from again:-)

I will let her reveal the said Bunker list when she sees fit but,

let me tell you it’s a doozy.

More French language books, GLBTQ, and some dense Southern Literature,

so goes the objective for 2011.

Let’s see how well I do.

I wish you all a Healthy and Happy New Year celebration.

Grab your girl/guy or whoever and tell them you love them.

Because the world needs more love and more readers:-)

Later girls