This Week's Miscellany (11/03/23)

Hallowtide, Edgar Allan Poe, Goblin Market, Arvo Part, and Signed Copies of Books?

Hi, I’m Haley! Book midwife (editor) and author. Hello to new subscribers and welcome all to another edition of This Week’s Miscellany. TWM is full of my favorite things from around the web, typically trending literary.

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And we’re back in business after a wild October of travel and illness!

I’ve been calling this month “Nowhere November” in my head because we are staying in town with a much lighter schedule of school, sports, and social obligations and living my dream of Going Nowhere. Bowling season is a wrap, the fall play is almost here, and the Halloween and autumnal choral concerts, parties, and festivals are done as of this evening.

After Meltdown May and the first two weeks of December (can we call those weeks Dreadful December?), I think October is the busiest month for those of us with school-aged kids.

All that to say: so sorry that it’s been quiet on the ol’ Substack. My brain is recharging after some burnout and my body is recharging after illness and sleep deprivation.

But check out these Halloween darlings:

We’ve got:

-The Phantom of the Opera

-Elizabeth Bennet (Pride & Prejudice)

-Kiki (Studio Ghibli’s Kiki’s Delivery Service)

-St. Margaret of Scotland

I am a little bit obsessed with how cute my Kiki was.

Mailbag

I’ve been including some questions from readers in TWM lately. Here’s a good one:

Why do you think there has been no decent movie made of Mansfield Park?  Is it because our current culture, especially in popular media, just cannot fathom or portray such a virtuous person as Fanny?  Can we not comprehend such things as meekness, fraternal correction, and perseverance in virtue? 

I’ve actually thought about this a lot. I think it’s a combination of factors. The novel doesn’t lend itself to film because so much is happening in Fanny’s internal monologue and none of the films have figured out how to handle that. Fanny is also very introverted and the character transformations happen around her. She is the fixed point. This makes for quite the challenge and filmmakers have altered her character to be more rebellious and outgoing, but this causes new problems because the plot simply doesn’t work well if you change Fanny. And then there is the issue of trying to speak to a culture that sees no value in Fanny’s commitment to virtue. She’s viewed as a judgmental party pooper. I don’t have high hopes for Mansfield Park film potential! What do you think?

Links

On Loving the Familiar by

Katie Marquette

There was a study conducted in the U.K. where students were taught about magpies (those funny little black and white birds) - some of them were taught only scientific facts, the others were taught folklore and stories, and then they were all asked - should magpies be protected? Should we care about them, help them survive as a species?

The students who were only taught the science, the facts, were much less likely to think they needed protection, but the students who were taught stories wanted to protect the magpies.

In fact, I imagine, they had started to love these birds. All because they’d been told a story.

I shared about why Halloween is an important communal festival:

A Case for Trick-or-Treating

St. John Chrysostom said “Ubi caritas gaudet ibi est festivitas” or “where love rejoices, there is festivity.” Our culture’s lack of festival reveals a void where love should dwell. Festival should bind us together. If we bring back festival, can love follow? I think we should try it. Let’s go trick-or-treat.

And one of my colleagues on the WOF publishing team keeps cranking out great articles. Here’s a great one for spooky season:

Hauntings and Atonements in “Goblin Market” by Andrew Tolkmith

The month of October impels people to dwell upon fearful things. As days grow shorter and darkness inhabits more of our waking hours, the human mind yearns to ponder the darkness and everything darkness connotes. Many generations now have had consistent recourse to Gothic literature to meet this yearning. Dracula, Sleepy Hollow, Frankenstein, the writings of Poe and Goethe, and all their many iterations and descendants appeal to the masses perennially. Among the treasures of this creepy tradition stands the Victorian poet Christina Rosetti and her defining narrative poem “Goblin Market.”

My friend

Joy Clarkson

has a great piece on Arvo Part’s incredible music and Hallowtide:

Through the Prism of Eternity by Joy Clarkson for Plough

The veil between time and eternity feels thin these days. We see our loss and ache through the prism of eternity, in which the dead and the living seem close and not far away.

Arvo Pärt’s music uniquely evokes this plaintive consolation; the poignancy of our fragile lives elevated and intermingled with eternity.

And I always love LuElla D’Amico’s writing!

Edgar Allan Poe’s Catholic Imagination by LuElla D’Amico for ND’s Church Life Journal

One can imagine that Poe found particular solace in a virginal female figure like Mary, a woman whose body never decays and dies, as his wife’s was while he was composing this poem, but rather is assumed into Heaven. While “the death of a beautiful woman” is a “poetical topic,” it is not one that offers peace, and, certainly, one would surmise, it would not have done so for this particular writer who experienced numerous losses of “beautiful” women in his life. Significantly, Poe emphasizes Mary’s power in this poem, referring to her in line four of “Catholic Hymn” as “Mother of God.” This title hails her as Theotokos (translated from the Greek as “Mother of God”). Recognizing Mary in this way is central to Catholic Marian theology, which distinguishes Mary’s maternal relationship with Jesus and her role in the Incarnation.

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Reading

Finished:

Tending the Heart of Virtue by Vigen Guroian

The Ninth Hour by Alice McDermott

The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion

The Deep Down Things by Amber and Seth Haines

Currently Reading:

The Uses of Enchantment by Bruno Bettelheim

Speaking of books…

Currently accepting orders for signed copies of any of my books. Just fill out the linked Google form, easy peasy. Will ship out mid-late November in plenty of time for Christmas. Might I recommend The Curious Christmas Trail?

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The Year of Jane

Last reflection on Northanger Abbey drops next week, then we’re on to Persuasion!

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Coming Soon!

-Mini book reviews and the Ultimate Jane Austen Film Guide (for paid subscribers)

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2024 Pilgrimage

Our pilgrimage to Belgium and Germany in 2024 is already half full! We’re keeping it small (we just love the experience of a smaller group of pilgrims). Considering how many sign ups we already have, I would advise interested parties to register immediately:

REGISTRATION NOW LIVE: Heavenly Hops Pilgrimage with Fr. Harrison Ayre to Belgium and Germany.

Feel free to shoot me an email if you have any questions at all about the trip. Let’s go to Belgium!

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend. And a huge thank you to Emily, Dani, and Jim for upgrading to a paid subscription. This is a reader-supported newsletter so if you enjoy getting these emails, please consider supporting this Substack by upgrading to a paid subscription with the button below.

Thanks for reading!

Haley

(Editor of Word on Fire Spark, Author, Former Podcaster)

Haley’s Children’s Mystery Series about Mouse Nuns

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