Wordless Wednesday: Belvedere

The Belvedere Art Museum in Vienna, Austria

More Wordless Wednesday here.

Photo by moi.

Center for Ray Bradbury Studies

In July Jay of Bibliophilica mentioned in a comment that there is a Center for Ray Bradbury Studies in Indianapolis. I was so surprised and delighted to find that out, but it wasn’t until I had a day off in November that I had the chance to visit the Center.

Jon Eller is the director of the Center and has written two biographies of Bradbury, the second of which will be published next year. He was kind enough to show me around and explain a bit of what they do. A lot of their work is devoted to creating definitive editions of Bradbury’s work. Many of his stories were edited extensively by editors who removed some of the beautiful language in his original version.

The Center is a treasure trove of Bradbury memorabilia. There’s an entire wall with different editions of his work including audiobooks, foreign editions and more. There are also movie posters from films based on his books and even a set chair that Bradbury used on one film set. There are awards Bradbury received from different organizations and a murky jar used as a prop on an episode of Hitchcock’s TV show based on a short story by Bradbury.

One thing I was surprised to learn is that Bradbury frequently revised his short story collections. He would sometimes remove a story that he felt had become dated and replace it with a new one. So it's difficult to determine the definitive edition of each collection because they sometimes changed over the years. There are also multiple names for some of his books. The Martian Chronicles is called The Silver Locusts in England. Another thing I had no idea about was that Ray Bradbury wrote the script for the 1950s film version of Moby Dick by John Huston. The man had a fascinatingly diverse career!

The 60th anniversary edition (see above) of Fahrenheit 451 (which has an introduction written by Neil Gaiman) includes an essay by Jon Eller himself. He actually sent me home with a copy and I am so excited to read all of the supplementary material!

The Center recently expanded its collection and will soon be moving to a new facility. In addition to the correspondence and materials they currently have, they will be adding a huge number of Bradbury’s own books and other items. They are also planning on setting up an area with the furniture from his own home to recreate his working office. I’m sure it will be incredible when it’s complete!

If you are in Indiana and would like to tour the Center you can contact them to schedule a visit at bradbury@iupui.edu 

If you would like to contribute to their expansion campaign you can do so here.

Photos by moi.  

Washington Square

Washington Square

by Henry James

★★★★

Catherine is a young woman living in New York City with her father in the 19th century. She is a plain sweet girl who has had a cold upbringing. After her mother died in childbirth her father never recovered. He married out of love and her death broke his spirit forever.  The result was a distant parent who treated Catherine with a mild objective interest at best.

As Catherine grows older she begins to attend parties and at one she meets the charming Morris Townsend. His immediate interest in her and his passionate attitude sweeps her off her feet. Her father, Dr. Sloper, forbids the match, believing Morris to be interested in her only for her money.

The novel is an opera of subtlety. In the first half we aren’t sure of Morris’ true intentions. We aren’t sure of the depth of Catherine’s feelings and we aren’t sure if her father’s suspicions are justified or if they’re a product of his controlling nature. There’s never a big reveal, just a series of quiet scenes that reveal the individuals’ true character.

Dr. Sloper’s sister, Mrs. Lavinia Penniman (a widow), lives with them and creates a strange dynamic. She thrives on drama and she pushes her own romantic notions on both Morris and Catherine, tainting Catherine’s judgment and unnecessarily pushing herself into the middle of their courtship.

SPOILERS

For me, the most interesting aspect of the book is Catherine’s nature and her evolution throughout the story. She kept her emotions tucked deep inside her, showing little of how she truly felt. As she matures and the plot unfolds she continues to stand strong. The suspense comes from inaction, a slow burn towards two potential outcomes. Catherine changes slowly; she begins to take pride in her obstinacy and finds the courage to stand up to her father. By the end of the book she may be living a lonely life, but she has found the strength to resist Morris.

The moment when Morris’ sister tells Catherine’s father not to let her marry her brother is a turning point. That’s the moment we truly begin to suspect Morris for being the shallow selfish man he is.

As we get to know her father, even if he is dismissive and condescending to her, I felt like he really did have her best interests at heart. He became so callous towards the world after his wife died that he didn’t understand how to be compassionate anymore. He whisks her off to tour Europe for months in a vain effort to make her forget him.

BOTTOM LINE: I liked this one more than I thought I would. There’s no major action, but watching Catherine slowly grow strong under the circumstances was beautifully done.

“He walked under the weight of this very private censure for the rest of his days, and bore forever the scars of a castigation to which the strongest hand he knew had treated him on the night that followed his wife's death.”

“…it seemed to her that a mask had suddenly fallen from his face.”