Back at uni... feeling a bit strange

Person of the Day: Kelly Jones
Word of the Day: la musica
Quote of the Day: Have A Nice Day

In the past month or so the number of people asking me if I was looking forward to going back to uni has been quite many. It's an odd question, I find. Easy to answer if you are really excited about going back, but difficult to answer if you're not entirely sure. I'm one of those who finds it difficult to answer.

Whilst I have partly looked forward to it (nothing can really keep me away from my lovely novels, plays and poems) another part of me has struggled with the idea of going back. But how do you say that to all those people asking? I don't. I simply lie, not something I like to do often - infact, I hate to do it. I put a big smile on my face and answer "yes, I'm really excited about going back" whilst inside I seem to be struggling with all sorts of different feelings. Tearing myself away from my home is one of the things I find hardest, the others, the thought of having to speak to new people, to orientate myself again and to fend for myself.

So, here I am. Back in the north. Adjusting once more to living away from home. And whilst I find it a struggle, I am happy to have my books surrounding me to keep me company - they do a very good job.

J.M.Barrie, Peter Pan and Neverland

Person of the Day: J.M.Barrie
Word of the Day: immortality
Quote of the Day: Thou wast not born for death, immortal Bird!

Last night I was asked by a friend to simply answer a question about the meaning of Neverland. So after pondering over this for a little while I decided to find out what Barrie intended Neverland to be.

From the information I have gathered within a few hours there is no explicit statement that says J.M.Barrie meant Neverland as a place where dead children go. It may, however, be implicit in how he presents it.

Neverland is portrayed as a place where people may cease to age. People in this respect are children as we witness in Peter Pan. It is often thought of as a metaphor for eternal childhood, immortality and escapism - things which the first generation Romantics, particularly Wordsworth, were concerned with.

One of Barrie's novels explains that Neverlands are found in the minds of children. He emphasises the importance of the imagination. Barrie suggests that a map of a child's mind would be virtually the same as a map of Neverland. Neither Neverland nor a child's mind has boundaries.

The nature of Neverland might stem back to Barrie's youth. His brother died at the age of fourteen and this tragic death had a profound effect on the children's mother. Barrie was a witness to his mother's deep sadness. Perhaps we might take from this that Neverland provided an imaginary world where children could be immortal; Barrie, it appears, wished he could bring his brother back to make his mother happy again.

A further occurance which very likely contributed to Barrie's Neverland is his meeting with the Llewelyn Davies family: a mother and her boys. Barrie became close to the family and helped looked after the boys when they became orphaned. His relation with the family provided much of his inspiration for Peter Pan.

J.M.Barrie's witnessing of death in childhood and the effect the death of a loved one has on a child clearly influence his work to a great extent, with the theme of immortality running on through Peter Pan.



The information I've found on J.M.Barrie and Neverland is very little, so if anyone knows more please do leave a comment

Where are all the young people who...?

...love Shakespeare? Or, for that matter, any of the Classics?

When I talk about 'young people' I mean between the ages of 18-25ish, I suppose. As far as I can see there seem to be hardly any. Aside from two possibly three of my friends I know no one around my age who likes Shakespeare and the rest of the Classics. Having said that, of those friends I mentioned only one 'sort of' likes Shakespeare. Okay, so I know a lot of people think that they're pretty difficult to get a grasp of, and boring, and long etc. etc. but even at uni where I'm studying English Literature, I have not yet come across anyone who really likes Shakespeare and/or the Classics.

So, if you're someone who does like watching/reading both/either, leave a comment with who your favourite is.

A Pure Woman

Person of the Day: Thomas Hardy
Word of the Day: tragedy
Quote of the Day: (refering to stars)Which do we live on—a splendid one or a blighted one?

Last night was the beginning of the four part adaptation of Thomas Hardy's Tess of the D'Urbervilles. Of all the BBC classic adaptations I have watched, I have not yet come across one which I feel has been less than good. As per usual I expected Tess to be as good as all the others. And as the episode ended I felt it had met all expectations.

Gemma Arterton played an excellent Tess and did a very convincing job of Tess's shocking change from child to adult at the hands of Alec D'Urberville. Whilst the rape scene was uncomfortable it was done just as I had imagined as I read that section of the book. The conversation between Tess and Alec was delivered extremely well and resulted in a very firm dislike of Alec. Other scenes I felt Gemma Arterton excelled in were those with Alec's mother (after her rape) and Tess's own mother (when she tells her mother that she could have warned her about the darker side of men). I could not help but feel something tugging at my emotional side.

Hans Matheson portrayed the seductive and cruel Alec D'Urberville with some amount of brilliance. In this episode he made it so easy for the audience to feel hatred towards him for his unkind and unthoughtful treatment of the innocent Tess. But despite Alec's harshness towards Tess, Hans Matheson managed to convey to the viewers Hardy's intention of creating well-rounded characters, suggesting that there is more to Alec than first meets the eye.

And last but by no means least, the haunting scene where Angel first sees Tess left me longing for more (and the episode was hardly under way). The two actors held the painful gaze between Tess and Angel which tells all of Tess's tragic future. The camera shots that included the beautiful country scenery captured the wonderful description by Hardy. And Angel turning his back on Tess... I need say no more.

Introducing the Characters...

Person of the day: Heath Ledger
Word of the day: arabesque
Quote of the day: Here's much to do with hate, but more with love

Just over a year ago I had my first seeds of thought for a novel. I'd begun many novels before that and had even more ideas, but I never got very far with any of them, more because of dislike of my own writing than anything else. But these seeds continued to grow as such. A little over a year on and I've got the plot planned out, characters becoming more complete by the day and nearly four chapters written. It seems very little but, as my family and friends know, I am someone who takes a lot of time over things. My first challenge was to begin writing my ideas down, which I succeeded in doing fairly quickly after my initial idea. My second challenge was to write the first chapter, which I have to say took a long time to complete. My third challenge is to complete my novel. This I am nowhere near doing, but I am more determined to do than I have ever been before.

My first spark of inspiration for this novel was on July 8th 2007. It may seem strange, but on that day two men met for the second time in a Wimbledon final: Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. I expected something similar to the previous year, but I was pleasantly surprised and altogether inspired by the fantastic tennis they both played. And at some point during that match I felt all my passion for writing come back from a little holiday it had taken. I was extremely excitable and had ideas streaming from my mind. Since then there has been a constant stream of thoughts.

Here I post the first of what I hope will be several entries charting the progress of my novel. The first shall introduce the characters of my novel.

Emily Keats - the heroine
Alejandro Lorca
Philip Eliot - the narrator

These three are the most important in the novel and will appear (or at least be spoken about) in pretty much every scene in the novel. Of next importance are:

Benjamin Eliot - older brother to Philip
Juliet - wife of Benjamin
Agnes - friend to all the above
Ivy - the antagonist
Alejandro's older brother
Alejandro's younger sister
Alejandro's older sister

There are other characters who appear during the story, but some of these characters may need to be cut out due to number and length. I will update on these character once I am further into my novel.

On Reading Dickens

In the past half an hour I have finished reading Great Expectations. I am not sure what my own expectations were of this book before I started reading it. I remember watching the film when I was much younger and being scared half to death by Magwitch and the weirdness of Miss. Havisham. But reading the book I found to be an entirely different experience. Pip as narrator and central character to the novel provides an attraction to an otherwise rather dark story. The character himself may have many faults but his open and lovable character makes him all the more endearing to Dickens' readers. Any doubts I may once have had about reading Great Expectations have been firmly locked away, thanks to Dickens' creation of Pip, along with Estella, Herbert, Joe, Magwitch and the chilling, mysterious Miss. Havisham.

I may once have had doubts about Dickens himself, about his ability to write. I wondered whether he really was as great as his Victorian companions: Bronte, Bronte, Eliot and Hardy. But again these doubts have been put to rest because of the magesty with which he unravels Pip's great expectations. Pip is a wonderful creation. And through the trials and tribulations put before him, Dickens' readers are able to feel for him and grow closer and closer throughout the novel. By the end I just wanted to give him a great big hug.

Estella, well known for her beautiful looks but icy glare, grew on me more than I ever thought she would. Perhaps because she was just an object to be used for revenge for Miss. Havisham, and as a result she turned away Pip, who really loved her, and led a life of misery for many years. I couldn't help but feel extremely sorry for her.

Miss. Havisham and Magwitch, I feel, add an extra bit of power to an already great novel. Both are intriguing and strange and with Pip's narration Dickens' readers are able to understand their somewhat odd ways.

All in all a great read which exceeded my expectations.