On "An Impenetrable Screen of Purest Sky": A Book Review

Title: An Impenetrable Screen of Purest Sky

Author: Dan Beachy-Quick

Genre: Fiction

About the book…

Daniel is stuck in his past, but he is also stuck in his present. His past contains loss; a mother lost to him after giving birth to a sister, who also dies soon after being born, a father consumed by a desire to translate a myth about a giant, and the chance to move his life in a different direction. His present contains his memories of the past, a teaching job he no longer enjoys, and a book he can't seem to finish. Part stream of consciousness, part poetry, and part story within the story, Daniel's reflections slowly unfold a world much more complex than it initially seems.

What I think  

This book is a little hard to describe and I don't really feel that the above description does it justice, but one thing that I can definitely say is that it's thought provoking.

Despite the fact that the shift between the different styles of writing could be somewhat jarring, it's well woven together in such a way that each part flows into the next. In fact, some of my favorite parts were the stories within the story, the way they related to the larger themes, and how they all tied together in the end. 

There are parts that ramble and get borderline boring, but that never actually reached that point as far as I was concerned.

There are also a lot of literary references mixed in, with large portions talking about Moby Dick. Unfortunately, not having read that yet (after having looked at “Benito Cereno” from seven different angles of literary criticism a few years ago, I’m not so fond of Melville just now), I feel like I may have missed some of what was going on with these references. Many of the others, though, were added in beautifully.

To sum it all up…  

A book I enjoyed for its thought provoking nature and unique viewpoints on life. It’s not your typical novel, but well worth the read. ♥

On Antique Store Visit!

After nearly ten months of neither having gone to the antique store or thrift store, I've been in the mood for some treasure hunting. Despite it being boiling hot today (after a lovely cool three day start to fall, which I would like to go back to now), I ventured out to the air condition-less antique store to see what I could find.

All in all, I'd say it was a rather successful outing. A small jewelry box, a brooch, a seemingly never ending pile of vintage valentines, a flocked birthday card (that appears to be an artist whose Christmas cards I'm fond of), two Christmas postcards, three lovely old photos, two hats, and a red scarf that I'm over the moon happy about finding, since I've been wanting a red scarf, all for a little under sixty-dollars. 

A smaller version of a cat brooch I have. (Actually remembered to use the right camera setting, hooray!)

 Some lovely old photos of women in hats...

 and this woman sitting and reading a book.

 ♥ ♥ ♥

On a Happy Roald Dahl Day!

Happy Roald Dahl day everyone! Today would have marked the 100^th birthday of this author of both adult stories and whimsical children’s books.

To celebrate, this week at work we’re doing a Roald Dahl craft with the option of making a collage postcard for either James and the Giant Peach or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.   

I had also really wanted to decorate the area craft time is held in and at some point during the past two weeks I got it into my head that I wanted to hang paper seagulls from the ceiling and have them attached to a giant paper peach. Then last Thursday I thought “why not recreate my postcard design on a larger scale?” and that’s what I did!

I cut out large newspaper buildings to represent New York and colored them, this was followed by cutting out a giant peach, and then went to work on sketching a pattern, cutting out, coloring, and gluing beaks on my seagulls.

Friday it all went on the wall and we have our very own James and the Giant Peach wall in the back corner of the children’s area!

The magically suspended seagulls are being held in place by invisible thread and push pins. Invisible thread, being pretty near actual invisibility, is terrible to work with, but very much worth the effort when you’re done!

While it has never been at the top of my list as a favorite Dahl book, I think James and the Giant Peach has moved up in the ranks a bit after this.

What are some of your favorite Dahl books or stories? ♥

(First three photos by me, last one by my co-worker)

On "Mouse House": A Photo Post

My copy of the newly released reprint of Mouse House by Rumer Godden arrived today! Hooray!

 Book review probably forthcoming. ♥