Kondo - One Year On

Last year, I started off with a few posts on my experience with the Konmari method.  I proudly recorded how I managed to get rid of bags of clothes, books, and junked several bags worth of shredded bills, old cheque books, old lecture notes etc.  But the question in my mind was whether I could keep it up.  Would the neat shelves, toiletry cabinet, book shelves remain neat and tidy?

My T-shirt drawer

Well, I am pleased to report that slightly more than a year on, all is well.  My t-shirts remain relatively neat and tidy, with all the clothes folded and stacked on their end. It was such a simple innovation but indeed, it helps me pick out the clothes I want to wear easily without disrupting the rest.  And, it proved easy to maintain.

Likewise, my toiletry cabinet looks neat and tidy.  The extension rods which I inserted (to form an extra shelf) helped me separate and organise some of my smaller items from the larger containers.

And my bookshelves?  Well, aside from the fact that it took me a number of trips to the library (to put the books on the exchange shelf),  and that I've had to restrain my book purchases over the last year, my bookshelf indeed remains quite organised and not as cluttered as before.

And paper!  Organising paper!  I have to confess that it is not quite done yet and there's still about two drawers' worth of papers to sort, organise and shred.  But, there has been some (slow) progress.  And as for the new paper coming in, I just junk it all in one box rather than attempt to sort the bills upfront.  Next year, I'll go through and decide what to shred and which really needs keeping (hopefully only a few key records).

As for miscellaneous and sentimental items, they remain in their sorted boxes for now.  Maybe I'll get round to clearing those later in the year.

All in all, I can confidently say that Marie Kondo has indeed helped create lasting change in my overcrowded room.  My surfaces have remained largely clutter-free, my shoeboxes are valiantly storing my socks, umbrellas, toiletries, etc etc.  Can't say that there's been life-changing magic at work but I'm quite happy nonetheless.

Paper, paper, all is paper

Over the past month, I have spent half every weekend clearing out my paper.  

According to Marie Kondo, paper is the third category for clearing, after clothing and books.  It is really my weak point as I find it really difficult to throw papers away!  Marie Kondo listed the papers which people keep:

- old lecture notes (check)

- old cheque books (with just counterfoils remaining) (check)

- old payslips (check)

- old credit card statements and bills (I only keep three years worth, in my defence)

- greeting cards (check)

- warranties and instruction manuals (check)

To which I have to add, old course and education certificates, travel-related paper like old maps and tourist brochures, bank statements, insurance documents, car and home maintenance related documents etc etc.

You get the picture.  My room is a veritable fire trap.  My cabinets and drawers are full of paper, and stacks lie on the desk and side table.  I opened up one big box which has been hidden in my cabinet for the longest time - only to find it full of papers which I had to sort through.  Some were old bills and the like but a lot were letters, cards and little travel souvenirs like postcards and pictures.  Sorting all the papers out took a very, very long and tedious time.

Marie's rule of thumb: discard everything, except (I) those documents which you must keep indefinitely for legal/contractual purposes, (ii) those documents which you need to take action on, and (iii) those you want to refer to and need to keep for a limited period of time.  

I can't say I followed her instructions to a T.  But, somehow her instructions succeeded in pushing me to discard my undergrad notes, my old payslips (except for my very first payslip - consider that komono not paper!), the cheque book stubs, expired warranties etc.  I decided to keep only two years' worth of credit card statements, not three (slowly, slowly).  Old car repair bills (for vehicles which were scrapped years ago) also made it into the bin.

Marie Kondo says in her book that her clients' record is fifteen 45-litre bags.  I'm not sure what the volume of my bags is, but I've filled about ten large shopping bags.  And, I've not quite finished since I still need to get a shredder to shred my bank statements in (I was a little reluctant to just tear them up).   

What I found very useful was Marie's suggestions on how to file papers.  Just keep them in three files reflecting her categories above.  She observed that most people have very elaborate filing systems, so much so that it makes it difficult for them to file papers away.  The far simpler filing system she proposed makes it easier for people to keep their papers.  Thinking about it a bit, I totally agree!!!  I have since simplified my "incoming" documents - instead of sorting them into my handphone bill, utilities bill, credit card etc, I will just put them all in the same big folder marked "2016" which I can then go through and decide what to shred or keep at the end of the year.  (I am afraid that I'm not really capable of throwing away my old credit card bill once it is paid).  So hopefully, this easy filing system will help me keep my papers sorted.

I was so tired of clearing just paper, that along the way, I did concurrently work on other categories.  I finished clearing out my clothes.  Five bags worth, ready to cart away.  Not the empty closets which some Konverts boast of but pretty good, for me.  I also sorted a little komono along the way, clearing out stationary and miscellaneous junk drawers.  

So that's paper (mostly) over.  Now to the rest of the komono.

Tidying up for the new year

It started when I heard that my sister had asked our mother for a book on home organisation for Christmas.  I was shopping for Christmas presents at Kinokuniya and saw this book entitled "the life-changing magic of tidying up: the Japanese art of decluttering and organizing" by Marie Kondo.  I vaguely recalled reading  about her off my Facebook feed and so thought the book would be just the thing for my sister and picked it up immediately.

Of course, my mother had got her the exact same book.

So I kept and read the book instead.  Further research online threw up lots of "before & after" pictures, testament to the efficacy of her method.  So I decided to give it a try. 

Marie Kondo's first step is to de-clutter, before deciding how to store what is left.  Her default is to get rid of everything, except those things which "spark joy".  And she starts off with clothes (including bags, shoes, etc), before moving to books, papers and komono (miscellaneous items).  Thus far, this is what I've done:

1. Cleared out my t-shirts and my underwear drawers, and folded them Kondo-style, and stored vertically.  It was amazing to see how orderly the drawers became and how much space suddenly emerged!  And how easy it is to see my things after that.  

I have to admit that I didn't quite follow her instructions with the rest of my clothing.  Because I had recently done a mini-purge, and also because I found out that my relative was sending a box of clothes overseas in about a month or so.  It made more sense to hang on for a fuller "kondo-ing" of my wardrobe nearer the date.  

2.  Cleared out my bag collection and got rid of three huge bagsful of bags.  Because my umbrellas were stored with my bags, I took the opportunity to organise them as well (I didn't purge any because I have been known to leave my umbrella behind me, so will leave it to natural attrition to reduce their numbers).

3. Shoes.  Ok, so I only got rid of two pairs.  Not that I have that many to begin with.  There was one "maybe" which I decided to keep for now.  I'll throw it out when I next buy a pair of shoes; its partly the need to preserve my share of the real estate in the shoe storage areas.

4. Toiletries.  This effectively means I've Kondo-ed my bathroom.  Paid special attention to the cabinet under the sink (where I installed a few Daiso extension rods to create a shelf for good measure).  Confession: I could not bring myself to get rid of my entire collection of hotel supplied goodies. I use them!  I do!!! But maybe I don't need to keep on taking them back any more...

I have to admit that Marie Kondo's instruction to strive for "ultimate simplicity" in storage solutions struck a chord around here.  For years I have had this little plastic chest of drawers under the sink where apparently I am supposed to retrieve soap, first aid things, etc.  In practice the drawers were hardly used and the bandages inside seem a little old.  My hotel "selections" were occupying one drawer but it was also very difficult to find what I was looking for in the drawers.  I got rid of the drawers, and used a shoebox -Marie Kondo's recommended solution instead.  That also put one empty shoebox to good use.  

5.  Books.  Okay, this was not that much of a purge as others have done.  Partly because I just can't bring myself to get rid of too many.  I know that Marie Kondo says "sometime means never" but then I recently read a book which had been sitting there for years so there.... Maybe I got rid of some 45-50 books, but because the bookshelves were overstuffed previously, this means they have just reverted to being nicely full.  And I can actually find books I want to read!   My bookshelves, full as they are, spark joy.

I also worked on the family cookbook collection.  Again, we could have gotten rid of a few more but my mother felt bad getting rid of some which were given as gifts.  

What's left : paper (this is going to be a tortuous session) and komono.   Looks as though I'll need to do another update.

I am hoping that all this decluttering will help me start 2016 on the right note!

"To be as good a monk as I can"

After reading "The Seven-storey Mountain", I was inspired to start on "The Sign of Jonas", Merton's journal of his life after entering the monastery, through the period of his novitiate to his ordination as a priest, and in the early years of his priesthood.  It shows how Merton came to understand the nature of his vocation better, and how his writing formed part of his vocation too.  As he says, "To be as good a monk as I can, and to remain myself, and to write about it: to put myself down on paper, in such a situation, with the most complete simplicity and integrity, masking nothing, confusing no issues..." (p234).

In terms of style, it is quite a different book - the first was done as a narrative, whilst this is more a journal and series of reflections about his life. I must admit that the narrative style of "Mountain" appealed to me far more, and frankly the drama of Merton's search for Christ and his yearning to enter the monastery is more exciting than figuring out that he was really meant to be a Cistercian rather than a Carthusian.  (I guess it was a little educational for me though, as I didn't really know anything about both Cistercians and Carthusians before reading this book).

Having said that, there are many worthwhile reflections and points to ponder in "Jonas".  Here are my favourites:

• On God's love. If He can be said to thirst it is because He thirsts to do us good, to share His infinite Life with us.  But we prevent Him by our selfishness from doing so. Detatchment will procure for us the greatest good, the pure love of God for Himself alone because He alone is good: amor amicitiae. That is the bond of perfection that unites us to Him.  "Above all things have charity, which is the bond of perfection and may the peace of Christ exult in your hearts, in which you are called unto one Body.  And be grateful".  (Colossians, 3:14-15) (p39)
• On the Trappists' attitude towards work.  If we want something, we easily persuade ourselves that what we want is God's will just as long as it turns out to be difficult to obtain.  What is easy is my own will: what is hard is God's will... ... And because we make fetishes out of difficulties we sometimes work ourselves into the most fantastically stupid situations, and use ourselves up not for God but for ourselves. (p41)
• On Martyrdom.  There is nothing magnificent about us.  We are miserable things and if we are called upon to die we shall die miserably... .... And perhaps we are already marked for sacrifice - a sacrifice that will be, in the eyes of the world, perhaps only drab and soory and mean.  And yet it will end by being our greatest glory after all. (p79)
• On Christ as the way to the Father.  Jesus came to us having nothing of His own.Not merely did he have nowhere to rest His head, not only was He poor on earth, but He explains that the very fact of His divine generation means that He has absolutely nothing of Himself and yet He is everything... ...He lived in the very heart of the Sabbath which is the interior life of God where "the Father works and I work". (p217)
• On the grain of wheat.  I am alone in my insufficiency - dependent, helpless, contingent, and never quite sure that I am really leaning on Him upon whom I depend. Yet to trust in Him means to die, because to trust perfectly in Him you have to give up all trust in everything else. (p239)
• On growing in faith.  ... I have discovered that after all what monks most need is not conferences on mysticism but more light about the ordinary virtues, whether they be faith or prudence, charity or temperance, hope or justice or fortitude. And above all what they need and what they desire is to penetrate the Mystery of Christ and to know Him in His Gospels and in the whole Bible... (p337)
• On solitude. In this age of crowds in which I have determined to be solitary, perhaps the greatest sin would be to lament the presence of people on the threshold of my solitude.  Can I be so blind as to ignore that solitude is itself  their greatest need?  And yet if they rush in upon the desert in thousands, how shall they be alone?  What went they out into the desert to see? Whom did I myself come here to find but You, O Christ, Who have compassion on the multitudes. (p357)

In a way it was quite appropriate to read "Mountain" at Christmas, since it was really about Merton being reborn with Christ.  In a way "Jonas" is about Easter, because Merton is learning how to die to himself and live in Christ. So a good book to read during Lent!

"A Bethlehem where Christ comes to be born"

One thing I like to do at the end of the year is to catch up on my serious reading. And with the rain pouring down every other day, sitting home with a good book in hand is often, indeed, the better choice.  Better still if it comes with a nice cookie and warm tea on the side :-)

Anyway, this December, I've been able to finish three books.  "The Accidental Diplomat", by Maurice Baker, is a series of stories of this veteran Ambassador's experiences, both in the Japanese occupation and after, including the highlights of his tours in India, Philippines and Malaysia.   Then, I tackled the massive biography of Dickens - "Charles Dickens: A Life", by Claire Tomalin.  This is the second time I've read Tomalin's meticulously researched biographies - the first was her life of Jane Austen.  Indeed, I really learnt so much more about Dickens than ever before! Of course I knew basic facts, like his early days spent working in the blacking factory whilst his father languished in the debtors' prison.  But I never realised the energy and drive which characterised him and on the negative side, I certainly didn't know he deserted his wife and had a secret mistress!

But the third book I finished, just on Christmas Day, was "The Seven Storey Mountain" (Harcourt Books, 1999 edition).  Thomas Merton's account of his spiritual journey - leading him to become first a Catholic and then a Trappist monk.  

Merton takes us through the key events of his life - marked with sorrow as he lost his mother at age 6, his father at age 16, and his younger brother about 10 years later, soon after he entered the monastry.  His brother was a bomber in WWII and he died when his plane went down.  It was one of the most poignant and moving moments in the book.

But the main thrust of the book was how Merton transformed from a wayward young man, into a fervent Catholic who went to daily mass (!), seeking for an ever-closer relationship with God.  His story was so inspiring that it led to young men all over the US looking for the nearest Trappist monastry.

I find it inspiring too - and would like to share my favourite quotes from the book here:

"When a ray of light strikes a crystal, it gives a new quality to the crystal.  And when God's infinitely disinterested love plays upon a human soul, the same kind of thing takes place.  And that is the life called sanctifying grace." (p186)

"...aseity - simply means the power of a being to exist absolutely in virtue of itself, not as caused by itself, but as requiring no cause, no other justiication for its existence except that its very nature is to exist. There can be only one such Being: that is God." (p189)

"The life of the soul is not knowledge, it is love, since love is the act of the supreme faculty,the will, by which man is formally united to the final end of  all his strivings - by which man becomes one with God. " (p209)

"All that is necessary to be a saint is to want to be one.  Don't you believe that God will make you what He created you to be, if only you will consent to let Him do it.  All you have to do is desire it." (p261)

"I had to be led by a way that I could not understand, and I had to follow a path that was beyond my own choosing.  God did not want anything of my natural tastes and fancies and selections until they had been more completely divorced from their old track, their old habits, and directed to Himself, by His own working." (p319) 

"The soul of the monk is a Bethlehem where Christ comes to be born - in the sense that Christ is born where His likeness is re-formed by grace, and whre His Divinity lives, in a special manner, with His Father and His Holy Spirit, by charity, in this "new incarnation," this "other Christ." (p417)

 Indeed, I do think the last quote applies not to just monks but for all of us.  Blessed Christmas to all, as we start off a new year ahead.

 

 

Waxing philosophical - it's cat's play

Books lead you, one to another.  Last month, I read "Swerve: How the World Became Modern" by Stephen Greenblatt.  Swerve tells the tail of a Florentine named Poggio Braccionlini, who rose from being an ordinary clerk to become a Papal Secretary.  Unfortunately the Pope Poggio served was subsequently forced to retire (history lesson for me - learning about the period when there was more than one Pope) and Poggio lost his job.  He decided to pursue his passion to locate long-lost classical texts and in 1417, found a copy of the poem De Rerum Natura, by the Roman poet-philosopher Lucretius, in a German monastery.  Lucretius was a disciple of the Greek philosopher Epicurus and as such, the poem expounds on the Epicurean philosophy (pursuit of pleasure as the highest good in life) and lots more besides.  The book's title is supposed to denote the point at which the western world moved away from the gloomy Stoicism which characterised the Middle Ages to experience the re-birth of a more liberal, enlightened age - also known as the Renaissance.  Many reviewers (see here, and here) do not quite agree with the fundamental thesis that the discovery of this poem caused such a fundamental shift in western philosophy.  I am not going to attempt my own assessment.  But the book goes on to recount how this poem influenced other influential readers and thinkers who have influenced many others in their turn - people like Botticelli (he who painted the Birth of Venus, La Primavera, etc), Thomas Jefferson (American President and author of the US Declaration of Independence), and Michel de Montaigne.

Michel de Montaigne?  Who is he, you may well ask?  I had never heard of him till reading Swerve (I am no philosophy student).  But it so happened that I went to the library soon after finishing Swerve and was randomly browsing along a particular shelf when I came across  a book: "When I am playing with my cat, how do I know she is not playing with me: Montaigne and being in touch with life" by Saul Frampton.  Instantly struck by the profundity (or maybe pro-felinity) of that simple question, I borrowed the book.

Ariel: I'm afraid she is definitely playing with me

Thus, serendipitously, surreptitiously, I came across Montaigne.  Turns out that Montaigne is a French philosopher, a famed essayist.   Montaigne's philosophical approach derived from his experiences (or essais, or "tastes"  of life).  He drew from what he experienced through his senses to make observations about life, and living.  In this, he differs considerably from Descartes, who some 30 years after Montaigne, would take a far more rationalist approach  ("I think, therefore I am"). 

Frampton's book helps us understand Montaigne and his essays. Born in 1533, to a Gascon nobleman, Montaigne would encounter sorrow and death (of his father, best friend, brother and first daughter) within a short period and in 1570, decided to retire to his estate to think gloomy thoughts.  However, his reflections during this period led him to realise that life, at the end, was well worth experiencing and living, with humility and grace.  He asks himself, "what do I know?" and comes to realise that there are no absolutes, that life cannot be lived in black and white.

Which brings us to the famous feline quotation.  When I am playing with my cat, how do I know she is not playing with me?  In this particular essay, Montaigne challenges man's presumption of superiority over the natural world around him.  (See further explanation here.) Perceptive indeed, given that our actions have shown that whilst we can certainly change the climate, we don't know how to change it back. 

Frampton's book is reviewed here and here and here.  One reviewer feel that he has not captured the richness of Montaigne's work.  But others say that it is a good introduction- to give the reader a taste, an "essais" of Michel de Montaigne.  Which is what he has done, at least for me.  I find I like Montaigne.  I like his openess, his humility, his warmth and humanity.  I like that he plays with cats.  I find I want to read more about him.  Books lead you, one to another.

For more on Montaigne, you can try reading his essays.  I also came across this series of posts from the Guardian.  Looks like this Renaissance philosopher still has much to teach the modern world.

Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling

For my Christmas present, my very clever sister gave me "Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling", by Ross King - a fascinating account of how Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.  Along the way, he paints a picture of the politics of Italy and the Church at the time, and the dynamics between the Pope, Julius II. and the artistic community.

But what I really enjoyed was the description of how Michelangelo learnt the art of fresco as he painted the ceiling, how he grew in confidence over the course of time, and especially the author's insights into Michelangelo's creative thought process as he worked on the different panels of the painting.  I like how he also integrated the story of Raphael, who was working on the frescos for the Pope's study and rooms around the same time.

I had of course visited the Sistine chapel just about one and a half years ago (as recorded in a previous post) and craned my neck looking up at the ceiling the whole time.  Unfortunately we were not allowed to take photos :-( But I recall looking at the ceiling and thinking that there was such a contrast between one half of the ceiling, where the panels appeared to be more crowded with smaller figures, as opposed to the majesty of the other half, where the masterpieces of God creating dark and light, and the creation of Adam (with the famous finger) were.  The book explains that the more crowded panels were painted first.  Thereafter, the scaffolding for that half of the chapel were removed and Michelangelo got his first look at the frescos from the floor of the chapel.  He realised that they were not impactful due to the size and composition, and thereafter increased the size of the figures and simplified the composition for the second half of the ceiling. 

These, and more insights, can be found in the book.   I do recommend it for any art lover planning to visit Rome/the Sistine Chapel.  The only downside is that there were not enough colour plates in the book.  I would have loved more.  Instead, I had to look at the paintings online on the Vatican Museum's website - the virtual tour of the chapel - whilst reading the relevant section in  the book.

French Cooking with Julia Child

I took my first French cooking class more than a year ago. That started me off baking, after I realised how easy it was to make a delectable chocolate lava cake. Actually there were some issues there with the outcomes because my actual oven temperature was well below the stated levels and I had to deal with underbaked cakes, but the process was easy enough. So I tried out a few recipes from Chocolate and Zucchini and went on baking from there. But where French cooking was concerned, that's as far as it went.

So fast forward a year and a bit. I'm flying back after a holiday, the in-flight entertainment hangs for the umpteenth time. I borrow my cousin's copy of "My Life in France" (MLiF), Julia Child's (JC's) story of her introduction to France, French food and the art of French cooking. I read Chapter One, end of flight, return book. Interest definitely piqued. A few weeks later, my cousin SMSes: do I want to watch "Julie & Julia", a movie based on MLiF and "Julie & Julia", a book by Julie Powell, a blogger who cooked her way through all the recipes in Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" within a year. We go to movie, I walk out and buy "Julie & Julia","Julia's Kitchen Wisdom" (a slim little book which JC describes as a "mini aide memoire for general home cookery") and borrow MLiF from my cousin. That's what Meryl Streep's exuberant, effervescent portrayal of JC can do to a person. I highly recommend both MLiF and the movie.

Going through the recipes, I started with a basic omelette. JC highlights the technique (the ingredients are same old, same old - eggs plus butter, salt and pepper) which her French chef teacher taught her - the "shake-and-jerk" method. You beat the eggs, season them with salt & pepper, put butter into the frying pan and when it's hot, add the eggs. Allow the eggs a few seconds to solidify and then pull the handle vigorously towards you. Somehow Newton's Laws of Motion apply and the egg curls up upon itself in the frying pan till it is a beautiful, neat oval. Then you sort of unmould it into a plate. My unmoulding technique needs work but nonetheless I was very happy with my efforts. Next, scrambled eggs. Beautiful.

But making an omelette or scrambled eggs are not something to write home about. I set my sights on making beef bourguignon, a dish which is not easy to spell or pronounce. It was featured twice in the movie and frankly it made me salivate just watching. My brother's birthday provided the occasion. My mother provided the beef. It only took me five hours to turn out a thoroughly delectable pot full of tender beef in an absolutely scrumptious broth, chock full of carrots, onions, mushrooms.

It was a slow, painstaking process which started with my making lardons (streaky bacon boiled for about 6 minutes to remove salt and smoky flavour), then drying the beef with paper towels before frying, to facilitate browning (what Julia doesn't tell you: use good quality paper towels which don't stick to the meat), and then popping beef, lardons, browned onions and carrots, one bottle of red wine plus assorted herbs and beef stock in a pot and cooking till the beef was tender. Whilst the beef was cooking I sauted some mushrooms, and brown-braised sliced white onion. The recipe calls for pearl onions but I couldn't find them in Fairprice so settled for a large white onion. The onions were fried in butter and oil till brown, then added chicken stock, a teaspoon of sugar and salt. They turned out silky smooth and sweet and yummy beyond words. The mushrooms and onions are added to the beef when cooked. But I still wonder how the pearl onions would have turned out.

Reactions: I seem to have gotten good reviews all round. There were leftovers, but I put that down to the rather excessive quantities of beef my mother thought necessary for the occasion. And this gives me an opportunity to eat more of the dish.

For anyone who wants the recipe, the link is here. I should note that there are differences in the recipe and the version in Julia's Kitchen Wisdom. Kitchen Wisdom omits the dredging with flour before the beef stock and wine added. The tomato paste is also replaced with a can of diced tomatoes.


Julia: I'm hooked!

More Jane

Further to my earlier post, Wannabe Jane, I have read all of 3 more Jane paralit books. For a change, one was a Persuasion rather than Pride & Prejudice knock-off!

Captain Wentworth's Diary is another effort by Amanda Grange to dig deep into the innermost thoughts and feelings of Jane Austen's heroes. It is pleasant and a nice enough read. Grange spends some time and effort on how Anne and Captain Wentworth first met and fell in love, and how their engagement was broken. The next section then goes into how he returned to England, to stay with his sister Mrs Croft and then meets Anne again. My main problem with the book is that there are no surprises, whether in the plot or in how the characters are developed. Grange could, for example, have spent more time on the relationship between Wentworth and his brother, or between Wentworth, Harville and Benwick, to bring out the cammeraderie and solidarity amongst the naval officers as a powerful sub-theme of the book. Alas for an opportunity missed.

I also finished reading The Way of the World (subsequently published as Mr Darcy's Daughters) and The Exploits and Adventures of Miss Alethea Darcy, both by Elizabeth Aston. I started off enjoying Elizabeth Aston's books and it is perhaps fortunate that I started off with The True Darcy Spirit for if I had started off with The Way of the World I may not have picked up another book! Granted, one should not import expectations and views about the various characters in Pride & Prejudice into the reading of these Jane knock-offs, and they should probably be treated as totally separate books, but it is very hard to picture Darcy and Elizabeth trotting off to Constantinople just when their daughters go off to London for the first time! Darcy, the careful brother who took such great care of Georgiana? Elizabeth, who was so worried about the possible impact of her frivolous sister's trip to Brighton? It is just not consistent with what we know about these characters. For an author who is trading on Jane fans' love of her work and characters to get people to read/buy her work, I'd have liked to see greater efforts to be true to the characters. And this holds true even if the Darcys do not actually make an appearance in the books! Way of the World also suffers from too many undeveloped characters and plotlines; probably just too ambitious an undertaking in the first instance. As for Miss Alethea's exploits and adventures, they certainly take place at a breathless pace, so much so that one is a little tired of them by the time the book ends. Fortunately, Aston has developed as an author since these earlier efforts; I vastly prefer her subsequent books such as The True Darcy Spirit.

Thanks to my efforts, my mother has started reading these Jane paralit books too, the first being Capt Wentworth's Diary. I asked her how it was and she expressed some disappointment. Well, what does one expect? Just because it is Jane Austen paraliterature does not mean that it is anywhere near Jane's standards! One does not exactly expect these books to be in print 200 years into the future. But they are entertaining reads in themselves, well worth picking up to fill an idle hour.

Wannabe Jane

Over the past few months, I have been reading Jane Austen paraliterature. i.e. books inspired by the writings of Jane Austen, in particular, "Pride and Prejudice". How did this start? Of course, it is my mother's fault. She bought my cousin a birthday present, "Mr Darcy's Diary" by Maya Slater. Of course neither of us could resist reading it first. (Incidentally my gift was a spa treatment.) In the past, I do recall reading sequels such as Joan Aiken's "Mansfield Revisited" and Emma Tennant's "Pemberley" (recall this was really bad). But not much else.

I have now realised that over the past few years, in particular after the screening of the landmark BBC production of "Pride and Prejudice", Jane's characters and stories have inspired many writers to pick up the story where she left off. Specifically, most of these writers seem to be inspired by Colin Firth in a wet shirt. There's of course, the one and only "Bridget Jones' Diary". But to be fair, despite the name of the leading man, and the similarities to P&P plot lines, Bridget is her own woman and we love her, just as she is :-)

After reading through a few of these Jane Wannabe books, I thought I'd better start keeping track. By and large, they fall into a few categories:

• The alternate perspective: Principally, Darcy's. There're not one but two entitled "Mr Darcy's Diary". The first I read, by Maya Slater, portrays Darcy as a Regency Rake. Hmmm. I don't think so! But I liked the second, by Amanda Grange. It sounds like Darcy's voice throughout, and she expands on the action at critical points quite well, especially Darcy's search for Wickham and Lydia in London. She also expands the story a little at the end to include a Christmas at Pemberley. I just got a little tired of the word "satirical" especially in relation to Caroline Bingley - her "satirical" comment, look, etc. Another book in this category is Janet Aylmer's "Darcy's Story". That one reproduces massive chunks of dialogue from the original book (boring!), and doesn't really expand very much on the original story. Granted, there is some effort to expand on the relationship between Darcy and Georgiana in particular - but it's just not enough.


• The Sequel - ok I admit I can't remember what happened in the Joan Aiken and Emma Tennant sequels mentioned earlier. Maybe a re-read is necessary. But I did read the Mother of All Sequels, Sybil Brinton's "Old Friends and New Fancies", written in 1913, and which aims to provide a sequel to all the Jane Austen books! I admit that it is a major task and she gets kudos for effort. But at the end, there were too many threads to weave together, too many characters to follow-through on - at the end of it, I find I really don't care two hoots. What I did enjoy, however, were Elizabeth Aston's charming novels on the next generation of Darcys. I'm not too sure whether these are properly called "sequels" as they are self-contained stories in their own right. I've only read two - "The True Darcy Spirit", and "The Second Mrs Darcy". The characters have some connection to Mr and Mrs Fitzwilliam Darcy, eg their daughters, Darcy's cousins, cousin's wife etc but the notable exceptions are Elizabeth and Mr Darcy who are only mentioned and never actually appear in the books! The novels don't try to be written in the style of Jane Austen - indeed, Aston owes a far greater debt to Georgette Heyer in coming up with these Regency romances. Which still makes them fun and highly enjoyable!


• The Modern Jane - Finally, modern chicklit meets Jane Austen. Mr Darcy throws a long shadow into the lives of modern gals who dream of meeting him in their daily lives. So these American misses (I suppose this is so that they can appeal to the US market) fly over the Atlantic to find the England of Jane Austen. In "Austenland" by Shannon Hale, American girl goes off to a stately home in England for a month's "theme vacation", where all the guests pretend they are living in the days of Jane Austen. "Mr Darcy and Me", by Alexandra Potter, is about an American on a guided tour of Jane Austen's England where she realises that the Mr Darcy she fantasises about can't match up to the real life reporter who joined the tour trying to work out what's so great about this Darcy chap. The BBC production is featured in both books, with special mention of the lake scene. Neither book is that great - eg the plots are a little predictable but I did derive some moderate enjoyment from these books (particularly Mr Darcy and Me) because they did not pretend to be anything other than chick lit. Neither of the main female characters can hold a candle to Bridget, though.

The ultimate test - most of these books were borrowed from the library. Which would I actually want to buy and keep on my bookshelf? Hmmm... tough one there. I think only Amanda Grange's Darcy's Diary passes that test and maybe I could consider an Elizabeth Aston book.

Now to move on to the novels inspired by the other JA books!

Spirit and Structure

Today was our last full day in Paris – how time has flown.

We went for mass in Notre Dame – we’d checked out the mass times when we were there previously. It was an interesting mass. The previous day, the cathedral had hosted “La ceremonie d’adoubement des nouveaux Chevalier et d’investiture des ecclesiastiques et dames de l’Ordre equestre du Saint-Sepulcre de Jerusalem”, which I presume means the investiture of the new knights and dames of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. I looked the name of the order up subsequently; at the time I read the notice I thought it was the “Order of Saint Sepulchre” and was thinking how strange it was to have a saint with such a name… pardon my (lack of) French indeed. Anyway, the mass appeared to be a celebratory mass for the new knights and dames, who filed in procession down the aisle to their reserved seats in the front of the church. The celebrant was Cardinal John Patrick Foley (a US Cardinal), the Grand Master of the Order.

The other unique feature of the mass was that it was sung in Gregorian chant, so the Gloria, Kyrie, Agnus Dei etc were in Latin. I remember thinking how pleased my dear mother would be – she’d know all the words and probably could sing along quite comfortably.

After mass, I had wanted to see St Chapelle – but was confronted by a fairly long queue. So we had lunch instead at a café on the Left Bank, opposite the Notre Dame. It was a pleasant little seat, with a good view of the river, and the buildings on the Ile de la Cité so although the restaurant was pretty pricey for the rather average food we got, we were nonetheless fairly happy.
I realized from scrutinizing my guidebook that we were only a block or two away from the Shakespeare and Co bookshop. So as soon as I’d downed my “Belle Epoque” crepe (bananas, chocolates, almonds, and four huge globs of Chantilly cream) I popped off to see the bookshop whilst my friend went off to another flea market. I’d read about the bookshop in my guidebooks and I must say I wasn’t disappointed. First, it was open - in Paris on a Sunday - and pretty crowded too! There was a quiet buzz about the place, people standing about the door looking at the Seine and the Notre Dame - a pleasant place to be.


Shakespeare & Co is an antiquarian bookshop, and indeed it reminded me of the old second hand bookshops down Charing Cross Road in London. But there are new books too, and a good section just inside which features books about France (all in English of course). The very thing I was looking for! So I bought a book (mentioned in an earlier post; now you know that I did edit my posts before putting them up) entitled “Sixty Million Frenchmen can’t be Wrong” by Jean-Benoit Nadeau and Julie Barlow, an attempt to explain “what makes the French so French”. We all know the French Paradox – they drink lots of wine, cheese and other fatty foods and yet have low obesity and few heart problems. Likewise, although the French seem to have high taxes, restrictive labour laws, large public sector etc etc – the economy still seems to be doing pretty well (in relative terms), with high labour productivity. The authors’ theory is that the reason why France works is the harmony between the “spirit” of the French and the structures they have given themselves, and the book spells this out in greater detail. I could have bought more books if I’d wanted to, but time was short and the weight of my baggage a weighty issue indeed. I was rather pleased, though that the book bears a “Shakespeare and Co” stamp on it.

The rest of the day was spent museum visiting, to maximize my museum pass (especially since I couldn’t go into Ste-Chapelle). Started off at the Louvre, where I’d decided to look more at the French paintings and early European paintings. There was another contemporary art exhibition going on at the time by Jan Fabre and the exhibits were scattered throughout the Louvre – so when I went into this huge room of old European paintings to see a coffin with a peacock head and tail sticking out.


I was running late after rushing through the French painters, but I could not resist and just before I left, went to take a peek at the Leonardo paintings – the Madonna of the Rocks, Virgin & St Anne and the one and only Mona Lisa. There were some “da Vinci Code” moments, I must admit. I checked out the weight of the Madonna on the Rocks and speculated whether it would be indeed possible for an elderly man with a bullet wound to insert a secret message behind it. As for the Mona Lisa, the best picture I got was of the crowd around her. (Note: After coming back to Singapore I discovered that the Louvre actually has a thematic trail on the “Da Vinci Code” which includes their comments on the factual elements in the book.)
I had planned to meet my friend at the Rodin Museum and so I rushed there. By this time, I was pretty exhausted, having rushed from place to place and wandering around the Louvre without many opportunities to take the weight off my feet. The Rodin Museum, like the Picasso museum, is in a huge old mansion. But the difference is that this was not being renovated and there was a great difference indeed. It was a pleasure to walk through the beautiful rose garden to the statue of The Thinker in the middle. The museum was closing soon so I had only a few minutes to rush through the rooms (it said that it was closing at 5.45pm but in reality they chased us out with about 10 minutes to spare).

We went that night for dinner at Restaurant 404, recommended by Eric as one of the best North African restaurants in Paris. It had a great atmosphere indeed and we were fortunate to get in there by 8.05pm. We were seated together with a couple who had not made a reservation (I have not sat with another group at a restaurant since my student days in London). But it was easy to see why they did that – the place had many reserved seats and it filled up pretty fast. By seating us together it was more likely that we would be served and leave at the same time, so there would be a whole table of 4 released, giving them more flexibility. I enjoyed the dinner – had a tagine of duck and apple which I rather enjoyed. We had dessert and also some mint tea, which I’ve not drunk since I was in Dubai (really must remember to do it here in Singapore, especially as I have a pot of fresh mint just outside the door!).

But we could not stay and soak up the atmosphere. Back to the apartment to pack!

Incidentally, for the whole of our stay in Paris, I never did manage to get online. Most of these posts were written off notes done during our stay there and then posted once we got back to Singapore.

P.S. Ok, I admit it! I also had to see the spot where the big inverted glass pyramid and the small little pyramid almost touched. Here it is.

p.p.s. I am also not unaware that the "Grand Master" phrase has Da Vinci Code echoes.

The thrill of seeing one's name in print

It has been more than a month since my last entry. Somehow, the new year has not exactly filled me with new, inspiring thoughts to pen down and share. It didn't start off too well - my mother was hospitalised for dengue fever and so we spent New Year's Eve in the hospital and New Year's Day paying another visit. Stressed, tired for most of the first week.

Anyway I have also been spending some time realising some of my self-publishing projects which I have been doing through Blurb. I received my "Blog Book" on my months in the US and Mexico, and also the rather slimmer journal on my brief trip to Siam Reap. Nothing particularly new or exciting for readers of this blog, contentwise, but definitely looks good on my bookshelf. My only problem is that after going through the text so many times, I don't find it particularly interesting to read right now; it is also irritating to find little errors scattered throughout the book. I look forward to taking the books up at a later date when my memory of what I wrote has dimmed a bit.

For my next project, I'm thinking of doing a family cookbook, something which combines my favourite recipes from my many many cookbooks :-) and recipes pilfered from various family members. It is going to be a really long haul project if I am to cook, photograph and then write about each one. Still, it is quite an interesting project which will occupy me for some time. And one which I can potentially take orders for!

In the meantime, may I proudly present my three self-publication projects: